The Empress Dowager feigned a low exclamation, "A variable affecting the national fate? What should we do?"
Ms. Chu cried, "It must be a jinx, that's why it took my son's life."
"Why are you wailing?"
Yu Nianzhao turned his head and scolded, startling Ms. Chu into forgetting her tears.
"What if it is a variable? I am the good kind of variable, one that can protect the Great Chao Country. So what? Does this bother you?" Yu Nianzhao said, hands on hips, with great ferocity.
"A variable that protects the Great Chao Country? You sure have a high opinion of yourself." Duke Luu was left speechless by Yu Nianzhao's audacity.
"It's not audacity; this is what I've calculated." Yu Nianzhao said leisurely, "Is Yong'an better at fortune-telling and divination than I am? How about you try figuring out if this variable of mine is a bad one?"
Yong'an was momentarily at a loss for words in response to Yu Nianzhao's compelling speech.
