Chapter 119 The Scholar Who Favored His Concubine Over His Wife (Part 11) Taking Pure Love to...

"The order of the game is: Water!" The order officer showed the bamboo slip in his hand to everyone and announced loudly.

Originally, it was a game played by seven teams, but it gradually evolved into a grand event for many scholars and literati. The winner of each team would then form a new team, and after several rounds, only three people remained on the field.

They were Song Ce, Liang Zibai, and a scholar named Xia Zhijie. Wang Hechuan had already been eliminated in the third round.

Wang Hechuan gritted his teeth and looked at Song Ce, who had a calm and collected expression. He then said to the students he was on good terms with, "I want to see how long this pretentious pseudo-dynasty scholar can hold out on this stage."

Yu Tianqiong, standing to the side, looked somewhat embarrassed. Wang Hechuan clearly didn't know Song Ce, so why did he have such a deep prejudice against him? Since the two of them knew each other, Yu Tianqiong couldn't say anything in front of everyone. She could only gently tug at Wang Hechuan's sleeve, signaling him to calm down.

On stage, countless poems related to "water" flashed rapidly through Song Ce's mind. As the game progressed, the difficulty increased progressively.

Compared to Song Ce's seriousness and Xia Zhijie's solemnity, Liang Zibai lightly tapped his palm with his folding fan. Born into a scholarly family and well-versed in poetry from a young age, he was naturally adept at the drinking games common at poetry gatherings. He glanced at the expressions of the two opposite him and felt a sense of confidence.

Liang Zibo cleared his throat and spoke first: "The character 'water' is the first character, and the water sparkles beautifully on a sunny day."

When it was Song Ce's turn, he smiled slightly and said gently, "The character 'water' is in the second position, and the river flows away as spring is about to end."

Xia Zhijie nodded slightly, “The character ‘water’ appears three times in the Chinese zodiac, and ducks are the first to know when the spring river warms.”

Liang Zibo: "The character 'water' appears in the fourth position; the shade of trees reflects on the water, loving the gentle sunshine."

Song Ce: "The character 'water' appears five times; clouds are carefree, water is leisurely."

Xia Zhijie: "The character 'water' appears six times; on a fine day, I seek out fragrant blossoms by the Sishui River."

In his final line, Liang Zibo smiled proudly: "The character 'water' appears seven times; the ancients and the moderns are like flowing water."

After a short round of the word "water" ended, there was a moment of silence in the audience, followed by applause from someone. Then, the game master gave out word games such as "flower," "moon," "spring," "pear," "night," and "sky," and all three responded fluently, which put the game master in a difficult position.

Wang Su, sitting below the stage, stroked his beard, waved to the crowd, and laughed, "If this continues, I'm afraid the three of them won't be able to determine a winner even by midnight tonight. How about you all follow the example of the ancients and use one thing to explain two different things?"

Upon hearing this, the assembled scholars and literati immediately exclaimed, "Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Wang Sushou's suggestion was unanimously approved, but the three people on the stage had different expressions. Liang Zibai gently waved his folding fan, feeling that he had a wealth of knowledge and could answer the questions, even though it was difficult. Xia Zhijie frowned slightly, as if he was thinking of a solution. Song Ce, on the other hand, remained calm and nodded slightly in agreement.

Liang Zibo spoke first again, his folding fan opening with a "whoosh," and he said loudly, "Picking up pearls in a dream, picking up one, losing one."

After a moment's thought, Song Ce said slowly and deliberately, "Searching for plum blossoms in the snow, searching without finding a trace, following without finding a trace."

Xia Zhijie, standing to the side, frowned and pondered for a long time. Just when everyone below the stage thought he was about to admit defeat, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he said loudly, "A candle in the wind, half of it flows away, and half of it remains."

In this round of challenges, all three delivered witty and clever remarks, drawing cheers from the audience. The game master smiled, raised his hand to signal quiet, and announced loudly, "The three of you are truly admirable for your quick wit. However, since this is a competition, there must be a winner. So, shall we conclude this round with the Five Classics Linked Branches Challenge?"

Although everyone present was a scholar, there were bound to be some who had never heard of such an uncommon drinking game. Immediately, someone in the audience loudly asked, "May I ask, sir, what is the 'Five Classics Intertwined Branches Game'?"

Upon hearing this, the official laughed heartily and explained in detail: "The so-called Five Classics Couplet Order is to extract a sentence from the Five Classics and make sure that the last word of the first sentence is the same as the first word of the second sentence."

These words immediately caused an uproar among the crowd. With the Five Classics now presented, this event was no longer a simple drinking game, but rather resembled a test.

Liang Zibai took a deep breath, gripping his folding fan tightly in his hand, his mind racing, and remained silent. Xia Zhijie, like him, frowned as he looked at the order-giver, his face somewhat pale.

After a moment, Song Ce looked at everyone and slowly recited: "Always speak of filial piety, and think of filial piety as a principle."

Upon hearing this, Liang Zibo abruptly looked up at Song Ce. After a long while, he whispered, "The three queens are in heaven, and the king is in the capital. The king is in the capital, and the virtue of the world is sought." Those in the audience who were more learned naturally noticed the trick in Liang Zibo's words, as both he and Song Ce had taken the same passage from the Book of Songs.

Xia Zhijie closed his eyes slightly and sighed, "I concede." With that, only Liang Zibai and Song Ce remained on the stage.

The officer standing by nodded slightly and smiled, "Continue."

Song Ce paused for a moment, then continued, "He who is virtuous and wise will be close to his nine clans. When the nine clans are in harmony, he will govern the people. When the people are enlightened, he will bring peace to all nations."

At this moment, Liang Zibo bit his lip, racking his brains. This was the final round; success or failure hinged on this one move. But the more anxious he became, the less he could think of a response. After a long while, Liang Zibo gave a slight bitter smile and said softly, "I lost." With that, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Song Ce, indicating that he was completely convinced of his defeat.

"Excellent! Excellent!" The game master stepped forward and announced loudly, "In this poetry competition of the Chaoli Poetry Gathering, Young Master Song Ce's quick wit and superior skills have been witnessed by everyone present. Therefore, I hereby declare that Young Master Song Ce is the winner!"

Seeing this, Xia Zhijie smiled with relief and raised his hand to congratulate Song Ce.

Watching Song Ce receive a standing ovation from the audience, Wang Hechuan's anger intensified. His face flushed red, and he snarled, "That bastard, that bastard just got lucky!"

Yu Tianqiong shook her head helplessly and whispered, "Brother Hechuan, victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Why do you care so much? Everyone here can see that Song Ce is indeed quite talented."

Wang Hechuan couldn't hear anything right now; he just stared intently at Song Ce on the stage, his eyes filled with resentment.

On the other side, Liu Xinhui, who had angrily walked out of the hanging flower gate, also saw Song Ce being surrounded by a group of literati. Her face was terribly gloomy. She snorted coldly and turned to leave.

Just then, a woman dressed in coarse linen clothes came from the right with a bamboo basket in her hand. Liu Xinhui did not see her and bumped straight into her.

"Ah!" Liu Xinhui screamed, startling the woman as well. Her bamboo basket clattered to the ground, scattering the freshly picked water chestnuts everywhere. The woman quickly knelt down to pick them up, repeatedly apologizing, "Miss, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Liu Xinhui staggered back a few steps before barely regaining her balance. Her almond-shaped eyes widened as she glared at the other woman and shouted, "Blind slut! Don't you have eyes? How dare you bump into me?"

The woman trembled upon hearing this and timidly said, "Miss... please don't be angry, it's all my fault." As she spoke, she took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, which was a little wrinkled but quite clean, and wanted to go forward to wipe the dust off Liu Xinhui's skirt.

Liu Xinhui suddenly realized what was happening, took a step back, slapped the woman's hand away in disgust, and shouted, "Dirty thing, don't touch me!" The commotion they made was so loud that the scholars and literati who had just finished their drinking game also heard their argument.

Wang Sushou frowned slightly and asked the servant beside him, "Who is making such a ruckus in Baohua Garden? What kind of behavior is this?"

Upon receiving the order, the servant immediately trotted out and peered around for a moment before reporting back, "Sir, it's Miss Liu arguing with a peasant woman." Before he could finish speaking, Liu Xinhui's angry voice rang out again: "You filthy slut, pay me back for my hairpin!" She raised her hand to her temple, her fingertips holding half of the dangling jade hairpin, while the other half fell to the ground.

The woman's eyes reddened with anxiety. She hadn't finished picking all the water chestnuts in her bamboo basket when she frantically pulled a few copper coins from her clothes, pleading, "Miss, this is the money I got from selling water chestnuts. I haven't sold many today. Once I get the money, I'll..." Before she could finish, Liu Xinhui kicked the basket over, scattering the fresh water chestnuts everywhere. "How many coins? You wretched woman, are you trying to fob me off like a beggar? This jade hairpin was a gift from my grandmother; you couldn't afford to pay for it even if you sold ten lakes of water chestnuts!"

These words caused a stir among the crowd in the garden. Several scholars shook their heads and sighed, while others whispered among themselves, "This eldest daughter of the Liu family is far too arrogant." Xia Zhijie, who had originally intended to seek knowledge from Song Ce, also stopped and frowned, saying, "This old woman made a mistake without thinking. Why press her like this?"

Wang Hechuan frowned slightly and looked at his father. Sure enough, Wang Sushou's face was ashen, clearly extremely dissatisfied with Liu Xinhui's behavior.

Just then, Song Ce pushed through the crowd and tried to step forward, but was stopped by Liang Zibai beside him. He asked in confusion, "Brother Song, where are you going? This matter is none of your business..." Before he could finish speaking, Song Ce smiled faintly, pushed his hand away again, and strode out.

Song Ce walked up to the old woman and knelt down to help her pick up the water chestnuts. Liu Xinhui felt a pang of guilt when she saw Song Ce suddenly emerge from the garden. But after a while, Song Ce was only gently comforting the old woman, completely ignoring her presence.

Seeing this, Liu Xinhui's anger intensified. She snorted coldly and said, "Brother-in-law, there are no outsiders here, so why are you pretending to be so sympathetic?"

“Miss Liu.” Song Ce helped the old woman up, then put all the water chestnuts back into the bamboo basket before speaking calmly, “This woman did not mean to offend you. Why are you being so aggressive? If you really cherish that jade hairpin, why not find a craftsman to repair it first?”

"Repair it?" Liu Xinhui laughed angrily. "Truly befitting someone from a humble background. Didn't anyone teach you that a broken hairpin is unlucky? Even if it's repaired flawlessly, I would never wear it again!"

"If you're talking about bad luck, I think it's this woman who's unlucky. She didn't check the almanac before going out and accidentally provoked a mad dog. She's suffering in silence," Song Ce said.

Enraged by this, Liu Xinhui grabbed a water chestnut from the ground and hurled it at Song Ce. To everyone's surprise, the water chestnut missed Song Ce and instead struck Wang Sushou, who was rushing over with an angry expression.

The group of literati who had followed Wang Sushou were stunned, and Wang Hechuan, who was walking beside Wang Sushou, was also frozen in place.

Upon realizing who she had hit, Liu Xinhui's face turned deathly pale. Her hand trembled as she pointed at Song Ce: "You...you did this on purpose..." Before she could finish, her knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed to the ground, only to be caught by the old woman.

Wang Hechuan was the first to react, rushing forward to stand in front of his father, Wang Sushou, and angrily said, "Sister Liu... Miss Liu, how dare you!"

The scholars and literati behind him whispered among themselves, "This young lady of the Liu family is too reckless." "She actually dared to smash Lord Wang; she's probably in big trouble."

Wang Sushou raised his hand to signal Wang Hechuan to step back. He bent down to pick up the water chestnuts on the ground and looked calmly at Liu Xinhui: "Miss Liu, what do you mean by this?"

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Author's Note: Oops, I hit Grandpa! [droopy-eared rabbit head]

The poem borrows from ancient poems and content from the Five Classics. This is just to clarify.