UGB Chapter 19 Riddles, a little trick!
Chapter 19 Riddles, a little trick!
Old Huang's voice came from outside the door.
Lu Yuan changed into a moon-white long robe and casually tied his hair up.
He pushed open the door, and Old Huang was already waiting outside, still wearing that same gray, coarse cloth clothes, his back slightly hunched.
The two walked along the bluestone road toward Zhuque Avenue.
The moonlight was beautiful.
After walking about half a mile, Lu Yuan suddenly spoke.
"Old Huang, just how strong are you?"
Old Huang paused for a moment.
It paused for only a moment, then continued to stagger forward.
"This old servant's strength?" His cloudy eyes curved slightly. "Don't you know it all, young master?"
Lu Yuan did not press further.
His intention was simply to test the waters.
However, Lao Huang's words were tantamount to admitting that he knew martial arts.
As for what kind of strength... that sentence itself implies that he already considers Lu Yuan to be a sensible person.
Since that's the case, then let's continue to be the wise ones.
Old Huang didn't want to say more, and it wouldn't be good for him to keep asking.
Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze, his steps unchanged, as if nothing had just been said between the two of them.
Suzaku Avenue looks completely different tonight.
The entire long street was lined with all kinds of lanterns.
Layer upon layer, row upon row, stretching from one end of the street to the other, illuminating the entire street as if it were daytime.
The streets were lined with stalls, and the air was filled with the sweet aroma of roasted chestnuts and osmanthus wine.
The Mid-Autumn Lantern Festival is the most lively night of the year in Qingzhou City.
Lu Yuan saw Qin Zhao next to the stone lion at the street corner.
Tonight she wore a lotus-colored, high-waisted ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), with a thin, gossamer-like gauze over it.
The lamplight illuminated her face, making her features appear exquisite.
Lu Yuan was taken aback.
It wasn't an act.
I was genuinely taken aback for a moment.
The girl in red from before and the girl in front of me, lifting her skirt and smiling slightly, are completely different people.
The phrase "remain calm in the face of danger" twitched slightly, and his expression instantly returned to calm.
"Miss Qin is quite different today," he said.
Qin Zhao's maid, standing behind him, covered her mouth and chuckled.
He leaned close to Qin Zhao's ear and said in a voice that Lu Yuan absolutely couldn't hear:
"Miss, Young Master Lu is staring at you in a daze."
Qin Zhao's pretty face flushed crimson at a visible speed.
She raised her hand as if to hit the girl, but couldn't bear to take her eyes off Lu Yuan.
"...Let's go."
Lu Yuan turned around and walked towards the lantern market first.
Qin Zhao hurriedly caught up with him and walked alongside him.
Old Huang and his maid followed a few steps behind.
The maidservant occasionally covered her mouth and giggled, while Old Huang maintained his expression of complete incomprehension.
The flow of people on the street automatically made way for them.
The boy was tall and straight, and the girl had a face as beautiful as a peach blossom.
Someone whispered behind him:
"Aren't those the genius of the Lu family and the daughter of the city lord?"
"They really do look like a perfect match!"
……
The two ignored the gossip.
They strolled around side by side like that.
Finally, I stopped in front of a riddle stall.
It was a very large stall, with seven or eight ropes strung horizontally and vertically, and various colored paper lanterns hanging from the ropes.
Each lamp has a red string hanging down from it, with a strip of paper with a riddle written on it tied to the string.
A crowd had already gathered in front of the stall, and several scholars were deep in thought, staring at the slip of paper.
Qin Zhao reached out and tugged at Lu Yuan's sleeve, her eyes sparkling with a smile.
"Let's give it a try."
At this moment, Lu Yuan's mind was filled with thoughts of how to devise his next move and how to cleverly evade Qin Zhao's feelings.
Before he could answer, an untimely voice interrupted.
"Isn't that the brute from the Lu family? What, he's here to solve riddles too?"
The speaker was a scholar in a long gown, holding a folding fan in his hand.
Behind him were three or four young people dressed similarly.
Lu Yuan recognized him...
That was the one who sat next to the man in the blue robe at the Yuelai Teahouse that day.
At the time, he was so angry at his Analects that he slammed his fist on the table.
Sun Zhongwen.
He was a renowned scholar in the academy.
She was also one of Qin Zhao's suitors.
He glanced at Qin Zhao beside Lu Yuan, a hint of jealousy flashing in his eyes, and his tone became even more sarcastic.
"Young Master Lu, these riddles aren't something you can solve by just being strong; you can't guess them by practicing martial arts."
"Your 'since we're here, let's make the best of it' line at the teahouse that day had everyone in our academy in stitches."
His companions beside him burst into laughter in agreement.
Someone deliberately raised their voice and said, "A warrior discussing classics is like a cow chewing on a peony."
Qin Zhao's expression changed immediately.
She stepped forward, blocking Lu Yuan's path, her voice as cold as ice:
"Which of his statements that day was unreasonable? If you can point it out, you can come to me. If you can't, then shut up."
Sun Zhongwen was momentarily speechless.
But seeing Qin Zhao actively defend Lu Yuan only made the jealousy even more unbearable.
Taking advantage of the crowd of onlookers, they became bolder:
"Miss Qin, you are mistaken. We came to the lantern festival to solve riddles and admire the moon. If Young Master Lu has any real skills, why not solve a few riddles to broaden everyone's horizons?"
"Why hide behind a woman when something happens..."
He deliberately dragged out the last syllable.
"Want to be a spineless coward?"
The scholars around him burst into laughter.
The laughter was loud, attracting even more onlookers.
As the crowd gathered, their arrogance grew even stronger, and the scholars began to argue amongst themselves.
"Weren't you quite talkative at the teahouse the other day? Why did you fall silent in front of the riddle stall?"
"His 'Lunyu' is only good for fooling those who don't know anything. When it comes to serious knowledge, they don't even dare to open their mouths."
"How about we test him first? How do you write the characters for 'riddle'?"
Lu Yuan stood in the crowd, surrounded by a chorus of mocking voices.
He didn't want to deal with this group of people.
It's just a riddle, so what if you guess it right?
It's a waste of time to not find good keywords.
But when Sun Zhongwen uttered the word "good-for-nothing," he changed his mind.
He doesn't cause trouble, but he's not afraid of trouble either.
I'll just show off again today.
What if we can even find a related keyword?
"Hehe, riddles are just a piece of cake."
Lu Yuan gently pulled Qin Zhao back to his side, his gaze sweeping over the note in Sun Zhongwen's hand, his tone calm:
"Draw it as a circle, write it as a square, make it short in winter, make it long in summer... the day."
He didn't even pause to think when he read out the answer to the riddle.
Sun Zhongwen was taken aback.
He glanced down at the note in his hand...
It was the very riddle he had been racking his brains over but couldn't solve.
Before he could react, Lu Yuan had already pointed to the rows of densely packed paper lanterns on the stall.
His fingers traced a line from left to right, and the words he uttered were almost continuous.
"The insect enters the phoenix's nest and flies away—the wind."
Seven people with green grass growing on their heads - flowers.
Heavy rain fell on Hengshan Mountain—snow.
Half a friend has disappeared—the moon.
The character with the radical "thousand" at the top and "wood" at the middle, the sun shining down—fragrant.
One person, one mouth, one long hand—take it.
……
He read out thirteen riddles in one breath.
Each answer is separated by the mere moment it takes to point to the next lamp.
He didn't frown, pause, or say "let me think about it" from beginning to end.
It was as if they were reciting a list they had already memorized.
"However, it's just a small trick!"
After reading it, he withdrew his hand.
"All correct!"
Someone slapped their thigh behind them.
He solved all the riddles on the stall!
"Thirteen steps! In one breath! Not even a single stutter!"
"A mere trick? My god, is he really that arrogant?"
Sun Zhongwen's smile vanished completely.
More and more people gathered to watch.
Some people started pointing at his face and snickering.
He gradually felt that he was losing face.
He gritted his teeth and pulled a yellowed piece of paper from his pocket.
"Lu Yuan, you think riddles are just a minor skill? I have a riddle here from last year that's been hanging here ever since and nobody's solved it. If you can solve it, I'll be impressed."