Chapter 197: First Volume_Chapter 197: Shave Your Bald Head

First Volume_Chapter 197: Shave Your Bald Head

Seeing Qin Feng tangled up with his three sisters, the Princess of Qiyang Commandery spat softly: "So what if he has talent? He's still a shameless lecher! He won't even let his own sisters go, pfft!"

In the blink of an eye, One Cup of Tea Time had already passed.

The Third Prince, sitting at the bow sipping tea, looked at Lin Feimo and asked casually: "Young Master Lin, how is it going?"

Lin Feimo's face went deathly pale. He instinctively glanced toward the grove and cursed inwardly: "Damned slave, why hasn't he come back yet? And those so-called Jingdu scholars — does solving a mere lantern riddle really take this long?"

The Thirteenth Prince chuckled lightly: "Young Master Lin, can you figure it out or not? If you really can't, just prepare well for the next one. Qin Feng needs to win at least four riddles to win — what's the harm in giving him two first?"

Seeing that his servant still hadn't returned, Lin Feimo could only blush and answer helplessly: "I can't guess it."

The Princess of Qiyang Commandery didn't hesitate. She immediately turned and asked Qin Feng: "Qin Feng, what is the answer?"

At this moment, Qin Feng's head was clamped under Liu Hongyan's armpit, with her little pink fists raining down on his skull.

Qin Feng cried out in pain while flashing a shameless grin.

What lantern festival, what lantern riddles — go sit wherever it's cool.

What's the fun in guessing riddles? Playing with my sisters is the real fun!

Seeing that Qin Feng wasn't paying attention at all, the Princess of Qiyang Commandery stormed over furiously, grabbed Qin Feng by the collar, and dragged him onto the deck, snapping: "If you space out again, I'll push you off right here. Believe it or not!"

Last time, Qin Feng was pushed off from here by Li Rui.

He still has psychological trauma from it to this day.

Qin Feng quickly backed down with a fawning smile: "I'll tell you, alright?"

Only then did the Princess of Qiyang Commandery drag Qin Feng back from the edge of the boat.

Qin Feng straightened his clothes, looked at Lin Feimo whose expression was shifting between dark and light, and feigned surprise: "No way? You can't even guess such a simple riddle? Aren't you supposed to be the Number One Young Master of Jiangnan? Surely your past fame wasn't all bought and sold?"

Lin Feimo had already been stewing with pent-up frustration. Being mocked like this by Qin Feng nearly made him spit up blood in rage.

Moreover…

The gathered sons of officials and nobles, who had originally looked at Lin Feimo with awe,

now had a Weimo shift in their gazes.

Some in the crowd even began pointing fingers at Lin Feimo.

Lin Feimo couldn't help but clench his fists. Not only had he taken a beating from Qin Feng during the day, but if he lost this contest too, his face would be utterly ruined!

Lin Feimo glanced toward the Northwest of Jingdu and sneered inwardly: "Don't worry, Qin Feng — you won't win!"

Seeing Lin Feimo stay silent, Qin Feng found himself rebuffed and could only turn to face the crowd. Hands on hips, he couldn't help but show off: "Now you all know why I've never placed in the lantern riddle contests at past festivals, right? It's not that I can't do it — it's that if I joined, there'd be nothing left for the rest of you."

The gathered sons of officials and nobles all pursed their lips, wearing expressions that said "you really know how to put on an act."

The Princess of Qiyang Commandery glared: "Are you done?!"

Feeling the Princess of Qiyang Commandery's ferociously murderous gaze,

Qin Feng, who had wanted to keep showing off a while longer, could only reluctantly reveal the answer: "The answer is the character '庄'."

Upon hearing the answer, an immediate burst of heated discussion erupted on the scene.

The young men frowned, lost in thought.

"Zhuang? That can't be right. This character has nothing to do with 'South Gaze Lone Star Eyebrow Moon Rises'."

"Wait! I think I get it. 'South Gaze' refers to the '王' at the bottom of the character '望'! 'Lone Star' is a single dot, and 'Eyebrow Moon' is a crescent moon, shaped like a left-falling stroke. Dot, stroke, king — put them together and isn't that exactly the character '庄'?"

With the answer in hand, working backward to understand the riddle's surface became effortless.

The crowd awoke as if from a dream, as if parting clouds to see the sun — their thoughts suddenly cleared.

In an instant, gazes of admiration and burning respect converged on Qin Feng from all directions.

Hands on hips, chest puffed out, Qin Feng looked at Lin Feimo with a face full of smugness: "Young Master Lin, are you actually any good? If you lose two more riddles, I'll have won. If I'd known you were this weak, I would've raised the stakes another notch."

Qin Feng wasn't just trying to provoke Lin Feimo — he genuinely intended to play a "father-and-son match."

But considering the Lin Family's great power and that it wouldn't do to go too far, he could only Withdraw and Seek the Next Best — changing from "acknowledging a son" to "acknowledging a student."

Lin Feimo's cheeks flushed red, and he gritted his teeth: "You've only won two riddles. Don't get cocky — watch the third one!"

At the same time, outside a wall in the Northwest of Jingdu, a hellish scene unfolded.

Over twenty Assassins lay sprawled across the ground, the grass stained red with fresh blood.

The only remaining Assassin knelt paralyzed on the ground, the short blade clutched in his hand trembling violently. Staring at Xie Bi before him, his eyes were filled with terror.

Xie Bi's hands were already stained red with blood, yet his expression remained perfectly calm: "This is the capital — Tianzi Jiaoxia. How dare you petty thieves break in? What you don't know is that within Two Hundred Li of Jingdu, the Saint's eyes and ears are everywhere. Let alone the likes of you common thieves — what of the Di Secret Agents? Since the Northern war was decided, over thirty Di Secret Agents have been rooted out by the Saint, and all met with Carriage Dismemberment or death by a thousand cuts!"

Seeing Xie Bi step forward, the Assassin stabbed out desperately with his blade.

The short blade had barely reached midair before Xie Bi seized it in his hand.

The razor-sharp blade couldn't even cut through the flesh of Xie Bi's palm!

No — it was that Xie Bi's grip was so powerful that he simply crushed the blade, leaving the sharp edge nowhere to do its work.

Crack!

With a slight squeeze from Xie Bi's hand, the short blade snapped in two.

Li Zhan, not far away, took a handkerchief from his sleeve and dabbed the scattered blood from his face, saying with a smile: "You blind fools. The man standing before you is the Duke of Ning — one of the Four Great Experts of the Capital. Even if we gave you twenty or thirty more men, what could you do?"

Upon hearing the words "Duke of Ning," the Assassin's eyes instantly lost all color.

Throughout the jianghu, the fame of the Iron Blood General Xie Bi thundered like rolling drums!

Xie Bi casually tossed aside the broken blade and said calmly: "I won't make things hard for you. You don't need to say who the mastermind is — just tell me plainly: was the assassination target Qin Feng? And how did you manage to sneak up to the city walls without any of the four Camps nearby noticing? Who opened the gap for you?"

The Assassin simply stared at Xie Bi, his lips beginning to move — but in the next instant, Xie Bi's hand shot out and clamped his jaw, forcing his mouth open. The poison hidden between his teeth was extracted by Xie Bi and casually tossed aside.

Li Zhan's sharp laughter rang out again: "Didn't our household already warn you? This is the Duke of Ning! How could such childish tricks escape the Duke of Ning's eyes? Let alone a废物 like you — even JinziAssassins from the Heavenly Ranking have fallen before the Duke of Ning in great numbers!"

The Assassin had completely given up. Seeking a quick death, he could only stammer out his answer: "Yes… the target is indeed Qin Feng…"