Chapter 782: First Volume_Chapter 782: Too Lazy to Debate With You

First Volume_Chapter 782: Too Lazy to Debate With You

Regarding the various insults, Qin Feng felt no shame but rather pride; the more the Northern Di people hated him, the more it proved that everything he had done was absolutely correct.

The people present realized this point, and instead felt so frustrated they wanted to die!

Because according to common sense, the higher one's position and power, the more one cares about one's reputation, yet this iron rule seemed to have no binding force when applied to Qin Feng.

Moreover, the people realized that the harsher they cursed Qin Feng, the more flourishing Qin Feng's great reputation within Liang Kingdom became.

After all, when enemies suffer, naturally friends rejoice!

Just then, one of the young masters present suddenly realized something and exclaimed: "Qin Feng is not purely indifferent; he... he made the debate that Sun Yu carefully prepared completely meaningless."

Once these words were spoken, everyone finally awoke as if from a dream.

Sun Yu called Qin Feng a thief in order to belittle Qin Feng, but the problem was that "a thief of Northern Di" was equivalent to "a hero of Liang Kingdom." Thus, regardless of whether Qin Feng was a thief or not, it could not change Qin Feng's reputation, and therefore there was no point in debating.

Qin Feng appeared to retreat, but in reality, from the very beginning, he had already won.

Sun Yu's mouth gradually fell open as he looked at Qin Feng in disbelief; besides his mastery of poetry, Qin Feng's thinking was also so meticulous.

Qin Feng did not waste any words on Sun Yu at all, and asked directly: "Where is the Third Pass?"

The people exchanged glances, and in the end could only step aside from the staircase leading to the Third Pass.

Under the gaze of countless pairs of admiring yet hostile, complex eyes, Qin Feng passed two passes without the slightest effort, striding with great steps straight toward the Second Floor.

Jing Ci at the Wine House across the way frowned tightly: "He won again... so quickly?!"

"Could it be that the scholars of our great Di are so unable to withstand a single blow against Qin Feng?"

Although Jing Ci had prepared a backup plan, the talented scholars and beauties who had set up the Fen Xiang Wen Tan were all outstanding young people from Yucheng, representing the face of Yucheng and even the entire scholarly circle of the great Di.

If they lost too disgracefully, wouldn't it fail to suppress Qin Feng and instead backfire on themselves?

Jing Ci's mood gradually grew heavy, because Qin Feng had already reached the Second Floor of Huijuan Lou, directly facing the Second Floor of the Wine House. Through the Window, Qin Feng's figure was displayed before Jing Ci's eyes with perfect clarity.

Jing Ci could not help but begin to reassess this young man.

Given Qin Feng's age, unless he was diligent and ambitious, in most cases he would be just a young master who only knew how to play and dabble in refined pursuits.

Yet the man before her had already become a National Hero of Liang Kingdom!

Through acquired effort, he had risen to the rank of First Marquis Under Heaven, and enjoyed many honors no less than those of the Tianlu Marquis.

Why was it that the young people of the great Di differed so much when compared to Qin Feng?

Jing Ci racked her brains and could not understand; she could only quietly watch Qin Feng, personally observing how he would handle the next three passes!

The defenders of this Third Pass were a pair of Sisters.

The elder sister was named Zheng Qiao, and the younger sister was named Zheng Yu.

The two Sisters were the beloved daughters of the Registrar of Yucheng, and were also the foremost talented women.

The two young women had long heard all about Qin Feng's performance in the first two passes, so facing Qin Feng, they showed no arrogance, but instead appeared extremely serious and solemn.

Zheng Qiao bowed slightly in greeting; not only were her movements graceful and natural, her voice was also full of an intellectual beauty: "This Young Lady greets Marquis Qin."

"In the First Pass, Marquis Qin took spring, summer, autumn, and winter as his topics in succession, composing verses with effortless brilliance, which shows the excellence of his mastery of Poetry. Although my sister and I are also versed in Poetry, we are not particularly skilled at it, so we shall not show off our inadequacy before Marquis Qin."

"Might I ask, does Marquis Qin understand couplets?"

Seeing Zheng Qiao so well-bred and sensible, Qin Feng's first impression of her was extremely favorable, so he responded with a smile.

"I know a little."

As far as Qin Feng knew, in this era, couplets were still a relatively niche literary activity.

Although couplets had a long history, dating back to before the Qin Han period when "peachwood charms" hung outside doors were in fact a form of couplets.

The true flourishing of couplets did not occur until the Ming Qing period.

Because this niche hobby could hardly grace the Da Yao Zhi Tang, fewer than half of those present understood couplets, and those truly skilled in them were even rarer than phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Compared to the bustling First Floor, this Second Floor was noticeably much quieter.

The talented scholars and beauties present to watch and cheer did not speak rashly, but simply quietly watched Qin Feng and the Zheng Sisters play their game.

Zheng Qiao's gaze toward Qin Feng could not help but soften somewhat.

"All the world says that Marquis Qin is endowed with talent surpassing all others, that mountains and rivers, stars and constellations from all corners are all mastered by him and produced at will. Today, seeing Marquis Qin, this Young Lady truly believes what it means to be a universal talent."

"I have here an upper couplet; I wonder if I might ask Marquis Qin to complete it?"

Zheng Qiao gave a look, and Zheng Yu beside her picked up the upper couplet prepared in advance and unfolded it.

The scholars present all began to murmur softly.

"Two, three, four, five..."

"This is a couplet? How very strange!"

Because not many people understood couplets, everyone felt that just a few numbers could form a couplet, which was too simple. Yet when they quietly pondered and tried to complete the lower couplet, they felt somewhat puzzled.

Could the lower couplet be six, seven, eight, nine?

Almost the moment everyone thought of this, Qin Feng had already casually given his answer: "Heh heh, it seems Miss Zheng has indeed studied this deeply. This upper couplet appears simple but actually hides profound meaning. I shall complete it for you with six, seven, eight, nine."

At these words, even the most composed young master could not help but mutter.

"What kind of couplet is this? Miss Zheng, surely you're deliberately going easy on Qin Feng?"

Just then, Zheng Qiao's eyes lit up slightly, and she said excitedly: "As expected of Marquis Qin, you completed it at once. Might I further ask Marquis Qin to bestow a horizontal inscription?"

Before Qin Feng could respond, Ning Hu beside him could hold back no longer and blurted out: "Simple, the horizontal inscription... eleven! Ha ha."

Looking at Ning Hu's smug appearance, none of the scholars present could help but purse their lips, feeling that this couplet game was simply child's play.

Who would have thought that Zheng Qiao shook her head: "Not good, not good, this horizontal inscription does not match the meaning expressed by the couplet."

Hearing this, those scholars whose faces were full of contempt muttered even more in their hearts.

The upper couplet two, three, four, five, the lower couplet six, seven, eight, nine—purely a pile of numbers, what profound meaning could it have?

Unbeknownst to them, Qin Feng had already seen through Zheng Qiao completely. This couplet, rather than testing Qin Feng, was better said to be deliberately probing the depths of Qin Feng's ability.

If Qin Feng could not even handle such an entry-level couplet, then Zheng Qiao could act without any scruple and strike hard.

This little girl is quite the schemer!

Qin Feng didn't waste any words. He picked up the brush and wrote two large characters on the xuan paper.

Ning Hu stared at the horizontal scroll Qin Feng had given, baffled. "South and north?"

"The couplet uses numbers, the horizontal scroll uses directions — they clearly don't match."

Ning Hu voiced the question on everyone's mind, but when the crowd looked at Zheng Qiao, they found her even more excited.