Chapter 95: Forget it, you're still coming?

"Dragon boat race?" Tuan Tuan's eyes lit up: "Is it fun?"

"It's fun! But we won't go in the water; we'll just watch the excitement on the shore."

"Mom! I want to go! I've been stuck at home for days! Let me go, okay?" Tuan Tuan immediately ran to Cheng Ru'an's side, pulling her hand and acting coquettishly.

Cheng Ru'an got a headache as soon as she heard the words "lively excitement"; she wanted to keep her daughter from going, but she couldn't keep locking her up all the time.

Lu Qingjia looked at Tuan Tuan, the young alliance leader really pitiful, and quickly chimed in: "Please put your mind at ease, Princess Consort; invite Brother Xiao, and we'll go together—we'll definitely look after her."

Cheng Ru'an hesitated for a while, then agreed, arranging a few guards to follow; as they were leaving, she repeatedly warned: "You must be careful in crowded places!"

The three of them arrived together at East Lake; Xiao Ningxun gripped his sister's hand tightly, not daring to loosen it for a moment.

"Xiao Ningxun! Lu Qingjia!" Tuan Tuan looked up and saw her student Wu Qilin, with an unfamiliar boy standing beside him.

"Brother, this is the little master I told you about!" Wu Qilin said to that boy.

"He's your brother!" Tuan Tuan recalled, the older brother had said that Wu Qilin's brother and he were classmates.

Wu Qimu lowered his head to look at her, so small: "Little master, hello, I'm Wu Qimu."

Tuan Tuan slipped her small hand behind her back, adopting the dignified manner she had as a teacher at the Guozijian, and nodded seriously: "Mm, good."

Wu Qimu's foot slipped, and he almost couldn't keep his balance.

Xiao Ningxun smiled: "You guys came to watch the dragon boat race too?"

Wu Qilin was the quickest to speak: "Not just us—today even Master Yun Yai came, and he's holding a pure talk gathering over there."

"What's a pure talk gathering, Third Brother?" Tuan Tuan asked, tilting her little head.

Xiao Ningxun didn't want to bring his sister to a crowded place: "It's not interesting; we can just stroll around."

As they walked leisurely to the lakeside, they saw banners fluttering on the lake's surface, several dragon boats preparing to set off, and crowds of spectators lining both banks.

There was also a table where bets were being taken; a man in blue stood beside it, shouting loudly: "Come, come, place your bets! Ladies and gentlemen, pick whichever dragon boat you think will win and try your luck!"

Tuan Tuan pulled her brother's hand and squeezed to the front of the table: "What are you doing?"

The man in blue glanced at the several people, his attire splendid; he guessed they were the son or daughter of a wealthy family, and hurriedly greeted: "Little miss, this dragon boat race is about to start—look, their prows are flying different-colored flags."

"If you're sure which boat will win, you can place a few coins of silver with me; if you guess right and that boat really wins, those few coins of silver could turn into several taels!"

"Really?" Tuan Tuan widened her eyes, face full of disbelief.

"Naturally it's true; with so many people here, if I tried to deceive you, could I get away?"

Tuan Tuan looked at the dragon boats on the lake, tugged her brother's hand: "Third Brother, the boat with the yellow flag will win—let's bet on it."

Xiao Ningxun naturally wouldn't refuse his sister; he immediately took out two taels of silver and placed them on the table: "My sister bets that the boat with the yellow flag will win."

"All right! I'll note it down for you."

Lu Qingjia and the Wu Qilin brothers each also picked two other dragon boats and placed their bets.

The race began; the dragon boats shot off like arrows from a bow, cutting through the green waves and racing toward the finish line.

The surrounding drumbeats, chanting, and the spectators' shouts were deafening—truly extraordinarily lively.

Xiao Ningxun lifted Tuan Tuan high up so she could see more clearly.

Tuan Tuan stared without blinking, her little fists clenched tight to the drumbeat, excited to the point her face flushed red.

Lu Qingjia and the Wu Qilin brothers squeezed even further to the front of the crowd, loudly cheering for the dragon boats they favored.

Soon, the dragon boats reached the finish line.

As expected, the dragon boat bearing the yellow flag that Tuan Tuan bet on took first place, while the boats Lu Qingjia and the Wu Qilin brothers bet on all lost.

The man in blue figured out the accounts: "Little miss, great eyesight! Here—your two taels of silver have now become twelve taels!"

"Wow! That much!" Tuan Tuan clapped her little hands and shouted excitedly: "I want to keep playing!"

In the second round, Tuan Tuan won another twenty taels.

In the third round… Lu Qingjia and the Wu Qilin brothers simply stopped choosing on their own and all followed her in placing bets.

Six straight wins!

"Wow, little master, you're truly divine!" The Wu Qilin brothers stared, mouths agape.

Lu Qingjia also clicked his tongue in amazement: "Young alliance leader, you're amazing!"

They were all excited and wanted to keep going.

The man in blue wore a worried frown: "Gentlemen, don't say this is just a makeshift stall I set up for the dragon boat race; even a regular gambling house on the street couldn't withstand your kind of winnings."

"Please, show some mercy and go try your luck elsewhere?"

Tuan Tuan asked: "Third Brother, did we win a lot?"

Xiao Ningxun counted: "Hmm, we've won over a hundred taels."

Tuan Tuan asked the others: "How about you?"

Lu Qingjia: "I won eighty taels."

The Wu Qilin brothers: "We won ninety taels."

Xiao Ningxun coaxed her: "Indeed it's not little; we shouldn't stay here all the time—there's still plenty to eat and play ahead. Let's walk forward; if you like it, we can come back later."

Tuan Tuan reluctantly said to the man in blue: "I'll come back later!"

The man in blue thought, "Forget it, you're still coming?" He waved his hands repeatedly: "No, my little lady, please just forget about me—hurry on, hurry on."

They continued forward; by the roadside an old artisan was blowing sugar figurines, with various sugar-blown birds and beasts, lifelike, stuck on his stall.

Tuan Tuan sighed: "Too bad the little preserved plum is left at home; otherwise, I could have Grandfather blow one shaped like it for me."

Xiao Ningxun crouched down, pointing at the sugar-made birds and beasts: "Which one do you like, Tuan Tuan? Brother will buy it for you."

Tuan Tuan pointed at the biggest sugar cat: "I want this one! It looks like my big cat!"

Just as Xiao Ningxun was about to pay, several others refused to be left out, rushing forward: "Let me! Let me!"

"Third Brother, step aside and let me do it!"

Several young masters actually started arguing over who would get to buy the sugar picture for Tuan Tuan.

In the end, Xiao Ningxun silently paid the money, handed the candy cat to his sister, and helplessly glanced at those few lively fellows.

Tuan Tuan held up a candy cat almost half her size, licking it happily, completely unaware that she had already sparked a small 'dispute'.

While chatting and laughing, the group leisurely came to an open spot by the lake.

Only a simple wooden stand stood ahead; beneath it gathered many scholars and students, numerous though they were, the atmosphere lacked the bustle of other places.

On the stand, an old man in plain white robes, his hair and beard white yet his spirit vigorous, sat with eyes closed, his demeanor calm.

At the side of the stand hung a cloth banner bearing the three characters 'Clear Talk Platform'.

This was the Clear Talk Assembly set up by the contemporary grand scholar Yun Yai Xiansheng, where regardless of background, anyone could mount the stage to expound their views or debate with like-minded peers.

Xiao Ningxun held his sister, intending to listen quietly from the outskirts, when a somewhat sharp voice sounded from behind him:

Isn't that the person, the so-called 'Little Mute' who's stupid and can't speak?

Everyone turned their heads, seeing a group of richly dressed scholars escorting a green-clad youth whose face bore a look of contempt.

He looked at Xiao Ningxun and sneered, 'Someone as ignorant and poorly learned as you, a mute gourd, dares to come to Yun Yai Xiansheng's Clear Talk Assembly?'

'Clear talk, clear talk—it's about eloquence; you can't even speak, why are you here? You've come to the wrong place!'

Those behind him burst into laughter at his words.

Tuan Tuan's eyes widened at once, Wu Qilin's face darkened, Wu Qimu furrowed his brows, Lu Qingjia was about to retort, and Xiao Ningxun tightened his grip on the arm holding his sister,

He stared straight at him and spoke.

His voice clear and even: 'Judging learning by the loudness of one's voice, and measuring one's inner depths by how much one speaks—how is that different from judging by appearance?'

'Yun Yai Xiansheng set up this Clear Talk Platform to seek true knowledge, not to indulge in verbal cleverness. If you were to take the stage, what you wish to say could hardly be anything more than this?'

Those around heard this and all turned to look, faces showing surprise.

The green-clad youth froze on the spot, his face full of disbelief.

Even Yun Yai Xiansheng on the stage slowly opened his eyes, his gaze falling on the youth holding a small child, whose visage was handsome.

He spoke loudly: 'What this young lord said is not wrong; please, the two of you, come up on stage to converse.'