Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

Under the night sky, the moon hangs high in the sky.

Inside the house, Chu Ning sat cross-legged and adjusted his breathing.

As his breathing gradually stabilized, he took out the Bu Tian Dan.

Opening the box, a crystal clear pill lay quietly inside.

He picked up the pill between his right index finger and the sow's and stuffed it directly into his mouth.

Suddenly, a chill came over me and my body trembled.

But then, the medicinal power entered the body, and streams of warm currents flowed through every part of the body.

Chu Ning's eyes lit up, and he immediately held his breath and concentrated, then continued to absorb the medicinal power.

As time went by, white smoke continued to come out. White smoke continued to come out of Chu Ning's body and the foul air began to be expelled.

A night passed in a flash, and Chu Ning spent the entire time practicing.

The next day, the situation outside the villa remained the same.

There are still many people waiting outside to place their bets.

Because there are so many people, it would be impossible to complete the betting within four days.

To this end, Deng Hongwen took prompt action and sent people to hire many scholars from the Han Dynasty Hanlin Academy to come and record.

For convenience, Deng Hongwen moved the table directly to the street outside the yard.

There are more than fifty scholars from the Hanlin Academy, plus the literate people among the White Horse Cavalry, a total of seventy people!

The speed of recording and action was faster, people who placed bets kept leaving, and the number of people on the streets was decreasing rapidly.

Although more people were arriving, at least not as slow as before.

Such a big event in Chang'an City soon spread throughout the streets and alleys, and the whole city was talking about it.

Imperial Palace, Weiyang Palace.

The midday sun shone into the hall, illuminating a tall figure.

Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty stood at the entrance of the palace with his hands behind his back, looking towards the direction of Chu Ning Villa, and said calmly:

"I didn't expect Chu Ning to cause such a big scene. Marquis Guanjun, what do you think about this?"

Huo Quji smiled faintly behind him: "The King of Chu is a man of sentimental character. He did this probably for his princess."

"Oh?"

Liu Che raised the corner of his mouth slightly, revealing a hint of amusement: "Tell me about it."

Huo Quji explained with a smile: "His princess Shen Wanying was once the one Cao Zhi admired. Now that these two meet, they will naturally not look at each other well."

"In my humble opinion, this competition will probably involve a lot of fighting, so Your Majesty needs to prepare in advance."

"Prepare in advance?"

Liu Che frowned: "You mean Chu Ning will recite some poems in order to win?"

"You asked me to prepare in advance. Do you want to invite more great scholars to come?"

Huo Quji nodded and smiled, "Yes, we must invite great scholars to judge, and also invite several generals with outstanding martial arts to keep an eye on their competition to avoid casualties."

Liu Che laughed and said, "I am very pleased that you can think of this. I will leave this matter to you."

"I obey your order!" Huo Quji responded, bowed and left.

Liu Che looked at his departing back with a hint of admiration in his eyes.

At this moment, a white-faced eunuch came forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager asks you to come over right now."

"Go right away?"

Liu Che frowned and asked, "Do you know why the Empress Dowager wants to see me?"

"This...slave doesn't know."

"Forget it, I'll go over and ask."

After saying this, Liu Che got up and went to Changle Palace.

Liu Che could not be careless about the Empress Dowager.

Although the power has been obtained from the other party, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse.

Changle Palace.

A group of pigeons were eating food on the ground, and an old woman with wrinkles on her face and wearing a gorgeous palace dress was feeding them with a silver plate.

There was no aura of a superior from her, and her eyes were narrowed into a line, making it impossible to see her expression.

If it weren't for the luxurious palace dress she was wearing, it would be hard to believe that she was the current Empress Dowager Dou Lianyi of the Han Dynasty!

At this moment, the sound of footsteps came.

Liu Che walked over with light steps.

"Greetings to the Empress Dowager." Liu Che bowed.

Dou Lianyi didn't even look at him, grabbed a handful of rice and threw it down, saying calmly: "It's rare for the emperor to take time out of his busy schedule to come here."

Liu Che laughed and said, "The Empress Dowager is joking."

Dou Lianyi shook her head: "Forget it, I am just a dying man, I won't force you to come and see me if you don't want to."

"However, I heard that the emperor left the palace in plain clothes yesterday?"

Liu Che narrowed his eyes, and a strange look flashed across them.

Not many people knew that he had left the palace yesterday, but I didn't expect the Queen Mother to know about it.

Indeed, the power of the Empress Dowager cannot be underestimated.

Liu Che smiled awkwardly and said, "An interesting thing happened in the city yesterday. I have nothing else to do, so I wanted to go out and take a look."

"Funny thing?"

Dou Lianyi said calmly, "Does the emperor think opening a gambling table is fun? In just one day, Chu Ning made more than 10 million taels of silver!"

"All this silver belongs to our dynasty. If Cao Zhi loses, or the game ends in a tie, our dynasty will lose a lot of silver. Have you ever thought about this?"

It turns out that this is what I came for!

Liu Che sneered in his heart.

Although her rights were taken back, she still had a huge influence in the city, which put pressure on him.

"That's what the Empress Dowager taught me."

Liu Che lowered his head, looking like he was being taught a lesson: "However, with Chu Ning's strength, it is almost impossible for him to defeat Cao Zhi."

"Let's talk about literary talent first. Cao Zhi is recognized as the most talented scholar in the world. No one's literary talent can surpass him. Chu Ning will definitely lose this game!"

"As for the martial arts competition, I sent someone to investigate the strength of the two. Cao Zhi has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, and he is probably at the level of a first-class master."

"Although Chu Ning has been on the battlefield in the past two years, his strength is second-rate at best. Even if he takes elixirs, he can't be a match for Cao Zhi."

"Even if Chu Ning beats Cao Zhi in martial arts, the best result would be a draw!"

This explanation made Dou Lianyi shake her head repeatedly.

"Emperor, although you are intelligent, you do not understand human nature."

Dou Lianyi sprinkled a handful of rice and said calmly: "Who is Chu Ning? He is a person who even the Emperor of Chu is troubled by."

"A bastard born in the common people fought his way out of a crowd of princes in just two years. Do you think he is a fool?"

"If he wasn't absolutely sure, would he agree to the competition, and even make such a big offer?"

"I know you want to say he has money, but even if he has money, he can't squander it like this."

Liu Che's face slightly changed after hearing these words: "The Empress Dowager is absolutely right."

Although he said that, the situation was already like this and he couldn't change it.

We can't send someone to interrupt Chu Ning's opening now, right?

Besides, he also deposited one million taels of silver.

If he interrupts it now, wouldn't his one million taels of silver be wasted?

Besides, he still didn’t really believe that Chu Ning could win.

Seeing Liu Che's expression, Dou Lianyi knew that her words were useless, so she could only shake her head helplessly:

"Forget it. I am old and the emperor won't listen to me."

"How about this, you send someone to place the bet for me."

"yes?"

Liu Che reacted as soon as he opened his mouth to agree.

Did you hear wrongly?

The Empress Dowager wants to place a bet?

"You heard that right."

Dou Lianyi seemed to know what Liu Che was thinking, and said calmly: "I want to place a bet."

"One million taels, I bet on Chu Ning to win!"