"Very simple."
Jiang Xiaobai smiled and said, "Since this is a contest between scholars and warriors, let's dispense with the one-on-one matches."
"How about all six of us compete at once? One round to decide the winner!"
Huh?
Everyone in the hall froze at his words.
All six competing at once?
That was certainly novel!
But how exactly would six people compete at once?
Every official present wore a look of surprise and curiosity.
Jiang Xiaobai wasted no more words. He looked up at Xiao Jinxuan, whose expression was equally interested.
"Your servant dares to ask Your Majesty to have someone prepare six bronze trays, six bronze command tokens, a little lamp oil, and several sheets of paper."
"The bronze trays will represent granaries, the paper our provisions, the oil an enemy's fire, and the bronze tokens our military orders."
"All six of us will act at once. Whoever retrieves the command token from the fire fastest, without destroying the provisions or overturning the granary, wins."
Here, Jiang Xiaobai paused briefly, his gaze sweeping over Tang Ningshuang and the other two warriors. "One additional rule: no projecting internal energy."
Qin Zhaoye immediately frowned.
Lu Chenshan also froze for a moment.
Tang Ningshuang frowned even more deeply. "If we aren't allowed to use internal energy, does this even count as a contest?"
"Of course it does."
Jiang Xiaobai looked at Tang Ningshuang and smiled. "On the battlefield, brute force can't break every deadlock."
"If an enemy sets fire to a granary and Miss Tang strikes it with her palm, the fire may go out, but the grain will scatter too."
"That isn't saving the grain. That's... saving the enemy some trouble."
"Well..."
Tang Ningshuang fell silent for a moment.
"So my proposal tests more than courage."
Jiang Xiaobai continued, "It also