146: Chapter 146 The Candle Riddle

Seeing this, Chen Mo could not help but feel a bit puzzled.

The Management Group hadn't even held a voting activity yet, and they were already presenting a riddle?

Or perhaps it was because after choosing the Beans game, the game played at night upon arriving at the Daming Palace was complementary to the Beans game.

There was only one voting activity per day; it chose the daytime, but also implicitly chose the nighttime.

The eunuch took out a fire starter, brought it to a nearby oil lamp to light it, and after gently waving it, the flame dimmed.

He brought the spark to the candle wick, and after a "sizzle" sound, the candle instantly burst into flame.

Then, another eunuch bent down, puffed out his cheeks, and blew out the flame.

While the candle on the table was burning, for some reason, the red lanterns hanging from the beams and the oil lamps illuminating the side gradually dimmed.

And that burning candle was the most conspicuous light source in the palace.

Now that the light source was extinguished, the surrounding oil lamps turned from dim to bright again.

Red can represent both celebration and danger!

Everyone was surrounded by the heavy red color and could not help but feel nervous.

At this moment, the candle was already extinguished, with only intermittent wisps of wax smoke drifting from the wick, along with the distinct plastic smell unique to burning candles.

Zhu Zhanji pointed at the candle on the table, showing a look of confusion.

He said, "This is the difficult problem posed to us by the barbarians on the other side of the Han boundary, ever since we arrived in this godforsaken place."

"I only have these people under my command, and my advisors, the Three Yangs, are all nowhere to be found."

"The remaining civil and military officials of the entire court are also unable to solve this riddle."

Hearing this, Jiang Xinyi could not help but sigh.

"Although Yang Shiqi and the others are clever, I still prefer Zhang Juzheng."

"Who is Zhang Juzheng?" Zhu Zhanji was stunned upon hearing this.

"Uh... Your Majesty, you don't need to know; that is too far away for you, and besides... I don't want to cause a butterfly effect."

"Butterfly effect? What kind of term is that?"

The surrounding wax statues of officials all glanced sideways at each other, completely unable to understand.

As expected of a group of heaven-sent prodigies; the things they say are all so different.

Seeing the curious expressions of these ancients, Jiang Xinyi found them quite cute.

"Of course you wouldn't know about the prodigy who extended the life of the Great Ming."

Zhu Zhanji suddenly looked sorrowful, covered his face, and whispered, "Perhaps it's all my fault."

"As the Son of Heaven, I have not been able to uphold the heavenly way or follow the hearts of the people."

"Not long ago, I found out that the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Eastern Depot, and the Western Depot were actually using their power to commit countless acts of rape, plunder, and crime behind my back!"

"They were originally meant to eradicate evil for the common people, but I never expected that, as they grew more and more bloated, they would become the source of evil themselves."

"This is my dereliction of duty," Zhu Zhanji said shamefully.

Hearing this, Chen Mo could not help but think to himself.

"This is not your problem; this is a root of disaster left behind since your ancestor Zhu Yuanzhang; the distribution of power was flawed from the start."

"It was only because I listened to a national advisor recommended by Eunuch Liu, listening to the slander of a villain, that led to the current situation and our sudden arrival here."

"I need to solve the four difficult problems on the opposite bank to restore my troops and horses, crush the barbarians on the other side, and return to the Great Ming!"

"Now only this one palace remains; every time I try to walk out, I am intercepted by an invisible force."

"You shall be the one!"

Zhu Zhanji suddenly reached out and pointed at Jiang Xinyi, saying, "Everything you say is profound; you shall be the one to solve the riddle."

Seeing that Zhu Zhanji actually pointed at Jiang Xinyi, Chen Mo could not help but raise an eyebrow.

He really knows how to pick; he actually picked the President.

The President's breadth of knowledge across various disciplines is much better than mine.

By the way... isn't it the first person to touch the domain who becomes the riddler?

Shouldn't it be Lu Chengfeng who goes to solve the riddle?

Chen Mo felt puzzled.

But in any case, the President is definitely the best choice!

Having been chosen, Jiang Xinyi did not show the slightest hesitation; she immediately stepped forward, stopping only three feet away from this legendary emperor.

Between the two was a wooden table placed horizontally, and they stared at each other across it.

"Then... Your Majesty, state your riddle; what are the rules?" Jiang Xinyi asked.

Zhu Zhanji nodded and pointed at the candle that was still emitting wisps of wax smoke.

"The barbarians on the other side said to find a way to make the candle relight, without using anything that is burning."

"And I can only use things that are available inside this palace!"

"But among the things in this world, what else can ignite something besides fire?" Zhu Zhanji wore a troubled expression.

Compared to the king on the other side, here in the Daming Palace, Chen Mo and the others were much freer.

Everyone was able to crowd around and watch together.

But they all tacitly agreed not to speak much; after all, these were the rules: only the person chosen could comment on the riddle.

The couple saw the scene before them and could not help but frown.

"How is this possible? Relight the candle without fire? And only using things in this room? This is simply impossible!" the two retorted sharply.

They had also encountered a situation where they had to solve a riddle earlier that morning.

However, the one they encountered was that same King of Madrid that Chen Mo and the others had seen.

Whereas the Daming Palace seemed to only appear at night.

They were both clear in their hearts that although Zhu Zhanji was currently polite to them, once the riddle failed to be solved...

...it would mean losing their heads!

Hearing that noisy voice, Zhu Zhanji also frowned, his imperial majesty flaring up.

The wax generals on both sides immediately stepped forward, pressing their wax blades against the couple's heads.

"Although you are prodigies, if you cannot help me solve it, then you are no longer prodigies!"

Zhu Zhanji's mood swings were quite significant; was it because the Thriller Game had altered this emperor's personality?

Upon hearing this, the couple immediately raised their hands, not daring to say anything more.

Only Little Fatty, who kept clutching a chicken leg and a large white steamed bun, was eating there with grease flowing from his mouth, his face full of a happy expression.

"You damn fatty, eat, eat, eat, all you know is how to eat!" Boyfriend scolded.

"Anyway, even if I'm going to die, I can't be a hungry ghost."

"Treating every meal as the last supper is my principle."

Hearing this, the couple's mouths twitched; they were too exhausted to even retort.

Jiang Xinyi rested her chin on her hand and pondered for just a moment.

Then, a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and she said, "Your Majesty, this is too simple!"

"Too simple?!"

The surrounding palace officials were all stunned upon hearing this.

Although Zhu Zhanji's expression didn't change, his heart was also surging with waves.

"Then... this divine woman, how exactly is the riddle to be solved?"

Jiang Xinyi adjusted her glasses and walked quickly over to where Little Fatty was.

Little Fatty was holding an orange; it must be said, he was quite particular when peeling an orange.

The orange peel was peeled off completely intact; when spread out, it looked like a lotus flower.

It was not peeled in strips like normal people do.

"Little Fatty, I'm taking the orange peel!" Jiang Xinyi grabbed the orange peel from the table.

Little Fatty stuffed an entire orange into his mouth and nodded while chewing.

Jiang Xinyi held the orange peel in her hand.

She signaled for the eunuch to light the candle again.

The eunuch did as instructed, and the originally dim wick suddenly shot out a flame again.

Jiang Xinyi immediately blew out the flame and then held the orange peel a few centimeters above the candle.

The drifting wax smoke, like ribbons, passed through both sides of her fair, slender fingers.

Then, a scene that astonished everyone appeared!

The originally extinguished candle...

...after Jiang Xinyi forcefully twisted the orange peel a few times...

With a "whoosh!" sound.

The wick suddenly shot out a flame, spraying sparks in all directions like fireworks!