0109 Shining Night (Part Two)
Zhan Yaoguang looked in the direction of the sound and vaguely remembered the man's previous offense and covetousness towards Shu Fu. His face, hidden behind the mask, immediately turned cold and stern.
"Why is he here too?" Shu Fu frowned slightly, feeling quite annoyed.
The boy glanced at her sideways and said, "I don't really care about that lamp. Since you dislike it, let's leave now..."
Shu Fu nodded, and just as the two turned around, someone called out from behind, "If no one responds first, I would like to invite someone to come forward—I wonder if that gentleman in red would be willing to come up and have a match with me?"
As soon as Liang Zhiyan spoke, the crowd immediately became excited, and everyone's eyes darted around.
The red color was eye-catching, and Zhan Yaoguang himself was also conspicuous. Before long, someone pointed at him and said, "Isn't that the young man standing under the lotus lantern?"
Everyone turned to look at them, and some people began to whisper among themselves.
One person said, "Judging from his figure and demeanor, he must be a very dashing young man. I wonder if he has any talent in literature..."
Another person said, "So what if he has some literary talent? The other party is a Hanlin Academician, a true expert in scholarship. He would most likely lose if he accepted the challenge. If it were me, knowing I would lose, I would simply not go."
Another person countered, "He's holding hands with a woman next to him. Even if it's just to save face in front of his sweetheart, he'll probably have to agree."
Ignoring the commotion on the other end, Zhan Yaoguang looked down at Shu Fu and asked in a low voice, "He figured it out?"
Shu Fu glanced at Liang Zhiyan again, then looked away and shook her head at Zhan Yaoguang.
"It shouldn't be. If someone like him really figured it out, he would be grabbing me and questioning me right now. As for why he insists on comparing himself to you..."
She pondered for a long time but couldn't come up with a specific answer, so she told Zhan Yaoguang her guess: "It's probably to show off how extraordinary he is to the ladies beside him."
Shu Fu's unintentional guess played right into Liang Zhiyan's plan.
That day at Fanchuan Villa, his scheme somehow leaked out. Li Miao was furious and immediately had him captured, stripped naked, and thrown out the door, truly losing all face.
Fortunately, the area within several miles was filled with the villas of prominent figures in Chang'an, and very few people came there. Liang Xing was also truly loyal. After calming himself down, he ordered Fu'er to guard him while he went into the city first to buy a set of neat clothes, which was enough to cover up the situation.
But this incident cast a shadow over his heart. In the past few days, no matter what he did, he always felt that other people looked at him with strange emotions. Even today, when he took a skilled musician from Pingkangfang to enjoy the lantern festival, he felt several times that the man looked down on him.
Especially when they arrived at the Jianfu Temple Pagoda, the young couple dressed in red stood side by side in front, which made the head of the group look at them several times.
Although everyone present wore a mask or similar headdress, the outstanding individuals always stood out and were eye-catching, attracting attention even without actually showing their faces.
He was displeased, so he decided to challenge that person to a contest.
Seeing that Zhan Yaoguang remained silent for a long time, Liang Zhiyan's pent-up emotions finally calmed down a bit, and he appeared calm and composed. He then asked with an elegant and measured demeanor, "What has your mind, my lord? If you are truly unwilling, I will certainly not force you."
Zhan Yaoguang finally raised her head and looked straight at him: "I am not good at poetry and prose. Compared with you, I am no match."
A soft sigh immediately escaped from the onlookers, lamenting that such a bright and cheerful young man was illiterate in poetry and literature, a truly regrettable flaw in a beautiful jade.
Zhan Yaoguang didn't take it to heart. He wasn't ashamed of it, nor did he feel embarrassed or ashamed of being refuted. Everyone in the world has their strengths and weaknesses. It's true that he wasn't good at poetry and prose, but others might not be as good as him in other things.
“I won’t compete with you,” Zhan Yaoguang said, taking Shu Fu’s hand and stepping forward. “But my wife wants to compete with you for this lamp. I wonder if you’re willing?”
This was after Shu Fu had been told to him. He himself was not angered by Liang Zhiyan, nor did he act impulsively.
However, Shu Fu was thoroughly fed up with Liang Zhiyan and was unwilling to give up the lamp she had her eye on for nothing, so she decided to outdo him.
There's only one problem—
She couldn't make a sound, lest Liang Zhiyan realize it was her.
Upon hearing this, Liang Zhiyan frowned and said, "Even if I win today, I won't be able to hold my head up because of a weak woman like Lingzheng."
"We haven't even competed yet, how can you be so sure you'll win?" Zhan Yaoguang raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and gestured with his chin to the waiter beside him. "Could you please bring me a table and some paper and pen? My wife has a throat ailment and can't speak, so she can only write it down and I'll relay it to her."
The shop assistant knew that this evening's events would surely provide some talking points, ensuring the silk shop's future prosperity. He immediately replied with a cheerful "Alright!" and waved his hand, ordering several other shop assistants to fetch paper, pens, tables, and chairs.
He even used pen and paper to answer, which is naturally slower than answering verbally. How dare this young lady look down on him like that?
Liang Zhiyan's expression was displeased, and he said coldly, "Since you are so arrogant, I will not show you any mercy. Don't blame me for bullying you if you lose."
Shu Fu nodded and wrote three words in Zhan Yaoguang's palm. Zhan Yaoguang looked up and said with a hint of arrogance, "My wife said, 'Please do as you please.'"
Just then, the silk shop assistant finally brought over a table and chairs, along with a set of writing implements.
Shu Fu gathered her skirt and carefully sat down on the stool. She then heard the very shrewd shop assistant loudly proclaim, "The set of writing implements that this lady is using today is genuine Huzhou brush, Huizhou ink, Xuan paper, and Duan inkstone. Our silk shop owner, Master Zhao, said that after the competition, this set of fine items will be given as a prize to all the elders!"
Another round of cheers erupted from the audience, and the waiter finally cleared his throat with satisfaction: "In that case, if there's nothing else, I'll strike this gong, and you two may begin!"
———
Feifei secretly added: "My wife."
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