Since solving riddles became mandatory, all the scholars in the hall started trying.
According to the rules, if you can't guess the riddle, you have to put it back, and you can't reveal the riddle to others to prevent cheating.
The riddle and its answer can only be revealed after the riddle has been solved.
Rules are rigid, but people are flexible.
Logically, the group could discuss it, with the first person guessing first. If they couldn't guess correctly, they could secretly tell the others the riddle, and then everyone could figure it out together before guessing again, thus earning a guaranteed fifty taels.
But human nature is sometimes like this: if you can't figure out a riddle, you don't want others to know or figure it out, because wouldn't that make you seem incompetent?
So a quarter of an hour passed, and only one person in the hall guessed the riddle correctly, winning fifty taels of silver.
This spurred some people to try again and again, feeling that they were always just a little short and that they were always wrong.
When they finally realized they had no money left and discovered their pockets were empty, they exclaimed that they had been tricked, but there was nothing they could do.
Perhaps this is the mentality of gamblers!
Inside the private room, watching the endless stream of people trying to solve the riddles, the group was overjoyed. Master Qu said, "Congratulations, Manager Hu! Judging by this momentum, Juxianlou is going to make a killing tonight just from the entrance fees and lighting fees!"
Shopkeeper Hu waved his hand, "It's nothing, just a small amount of money!"
He wasn't being modest, because this amount of money was indeed just a small sum for him; he was going to earn much more tonight!
Meanwhile, the bald waiter had already come from the lobby into the private room, waiting for Manager Hu's instructions.
"Manager Hu, can we let him leave?"
"It's ready!"
Just as the bald waiter was about to leave, Manager Hu quickly called him back: "Oh, right, let him guess five correctly first, and then..."
"..."
The bald waiter nodded repeatedly as he listened, and then left.
...
Just then, a huge dark figure arrived at the doorway.
"Dad, Piaopiao is being bullied!"
"..."
The moment that sound came out, the private room fell silent.
The one who spoke was naturally Liu Piaopiao. At this moment, she bit her lip, trying to make a cute and coquettish voice, but her voice was originally rough, so when the voice came out, it was really frightening in terms of both visual and auditory effects, and everyone in the room was startled.
"Piaopiao, say hello first!"
Prefect Liu glared at her and said.
"oh."
Liu Piaopiao agreed and said, "This humble girl, Piaopiao, greets the young master, Master Qu, and Manager Hu!"
The Crown Prince of Yu nodded and smiled, "Piaopiao, tell me, who bullied you?"
Liu Piaopiao instantly perked up: "It was a stinky old man! He took all five of the lanterns I prepared! I was furious and wanted to chase after him to beat him up, but he got away!"
"this…"
The Crown Prince of Yu was stunned. What woman would dare release five lanterns at the Lantern Festival? Sure enough, the bold and unyielding Piaopiao needed no explanation to anyone…
"madness!"
It was Prefect Liu who stepped in and scolded him: "Look at you! I told you to prepare more lanterns, but you wouldn't listen! If you prepare a dozen or twenty, do you think an old man can collect them all?"
"Dad is right."
Liu Piaopiao nodded, but was still angry: "I don't care, that old man picked up all my lanterns, so I don't have a chance to find a good husband. Dad, you have to teach him a lesson for me!"
"Nonsense! Why bother arguing with an old man? Does he think he can help you find your Mr. Right?"
She pointed downstairs and said, "Piaopiao, what do you think of that person?"
Which one?
Upon seeing Jing Zhe's handsome, chiseled face, Liu Piaopiao practically drooled: "Dad, I think my Mr. Right has appeared..."
"..."
"Alright, since Piaopiao is satisfied, we'll just wait for Manager Hu to use his skills to bring him into our Liu family!"
"Is there any need to resort to any other methods?"
Liu Piaopiao's eyes lit up: "Once I go over there and say something, with my looks and family background, how could he dare to disobey? Besides, I, Liu Piaopiao, disdain using other means to get a man!"
"..."
Yu Wang's son and the others were amazed by her confidence and were already looking forward to seeing what kind of sparks would fly when Jing Zhe and Liu Piaopiao met!
"Nonsense!"
Prefect Liu glared at Liu Piaopiao: "He has a wife. If we don't use some tricks, why would he comply?"
"A wife? Why would Father introduce someone who already has a wife to me..."
Liu Piaopiao muttered a dissatisfied grumble, but when she thought of Jing Zhe's somewhat devilish appearance, she suddenly felt that it didn't seem like a big deal.
Then, looking down through the window, I saw Zhang Xiaoyu standing next to Jing Zhe, looking exceptionally well-matched.
"Is that her? Look at her, she's so small and skinny, she's nowhere near as good as me!"
Then he waved his hand, "Forget it, I'll listen to Father and let Manager Hu use his methods! Hmm... after all, it's an arranged marriage. Father has the final say on this!"
"..."
After saying that, Liu Piaopiao went downstairs in a cheerful mood. Once she left, the oppressive atmosphere in the room lessened...
...
Because participants had to solve riddles to attend the poetry gathering, it didn't take long for almost everyone in the hall to solve a riddle, but very few people actually succeeded.
Seeing this, Zhou Ziqiong breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Actually, this collaboration with Juxianlou was negotiated between her father, Zhou Gui, and Manager Hu. Just like last time when Zhou Gui took it upon himself to buy so much cotton from the Prince of Jin, Zhou Ziqiong was against it this time as well.
In her opinion, although these riddles were provided by the Zhou family and were quite difficult, the answers were given to Juxianlou because they were the organizers.
If Juxianlou tries to do something underhanded, the Zhou family's cloth shop will suffer heavy losses!
After all, for each riddle solved correctly, Juxianlou and Zhoujia Cloth Shop would have to pay 25 taels of silver. For ten riddles, that would be 250 taels, and for two hundred riddles, that would be 5,000 taels!
However, Zhou Gui laughed and said that Zhou Ziqiong was overthinking it.
Because in that case, Juxianlou would suffer the same losses as them. No matter how stupid Juxianlou is, they can't do something so foolish as to hurt the enemy a thousand and themselves a thousand, right?
Zhou Ziqiong reminded Zhou Gui that if Juxianlou really wanted to tamper with things, the only one who would pay in the end would be the Zhou family. As for Juxianlou, why would they pay?
However, Zhou Gui still didn't believe it, because if Juxianlou could do such a thing, their Zhou family could too. How could Juxianlou dare to do it?
Just like when she bought cotton last time, Zhou Ziqiong couldn't argue with her father, Zhou Gui, and could only helplessly pray that nothing unexpected would happen.
Now that the riddle-guessing game was coming to an end and everything seemed fine, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief: It seems I was just overthinking things?
————
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