Chapter 783: First Volume_Chapter 783: A Pair Made by Heaven and Earth

First Volume_Chapter 783: A Pair Made by Heaven and Earth

As the saying goes, laymen watch the excitement, while insiders watch the craft.

A private school teacher present, who often wrote couplets for others, stared at the horizontal scroll of the couplet and suddenly burst into loud praise without any warning.

"Excellent! Wonderful! Miss Zheng, though merely a woman, her heart worried for the kingdom is in no way inferior to any of you present."

The crowd grew even more confused and began pressing the private school teacher with questions.

"Isn't it just a couplet? How did you drag in worrying for the kingdom and its people?"

"Besides, this couplet and its horizontal scroll are only numbers and directions—where does it say anything about worrying for the kingdom and its people? What's going on here!"

The private school teacher pointed at the couplet: "The upper line is two, three, four, five; the lower line is six, seven, eight, nine."

"The upper line is missing one; the lower line is missing ten. The hidden meaning is 'missing one, lacking ten.'"

Some of the smarter literati had already realized something and muttered softly: "Missing one, lacking ten… missing clothes, lacking food?"

"Could it be that what Miss Zheng means to express is that, after this National War, our great Di has paid out enormous War Reparations, leaving countless common folk without clothes or food, suffering unbearably?"

The private school teacher nodded: "Precisely so!"

Once the hidden meaning was clear, the Literary Gathering present looked at Zheng Qiao with burning admiration in their eyes.

What amazed everyone most was that this couplet, which seemed utterly simple, actually contained such profound meaning!

In an instant, many people developed a strong interest in "couplets" themselves.

The crowd hurriedly pressed the private school teacher.

"What does this horizontal scroll mean?"

The private school teacher, hands clasped behind his back, rocked his head and said: "Very easy to understand. It has south and north, but lacks east and west. In other words… there is nothing."

Missing clothes, lacking food, having nothing…

Every single person present had their eyes light up.

"Miss Zheng is using the couplet to tell Qin Feng that the common folk of great Di lack clothes and food and have nothing, asking Qin Feng to show mercy and reduce the Reparations!"

"Miss Zheng's great righteousness puts us to shame!"

"Who would have thought that such a small couplet could hold such wonders within!"

The Third Pass, originally the least favored, instead drew countless gazes.

Yet Zheng Qiao's attention was entirely fixed on Qin Feng. From how Qin Feng had so casually unraveled the mystery of her upper line, it was clear that his mastery of couplets was nothing like the "slight understanding…" he himself claimed.

Zheng Qiao sighed inwardly—could there truly be nothing under heaven capable of giving Qin Feng pause?

Even knowing full well that Qin Feng was well-versed in couplets, Zheng Qiao still could not resist wanting to match wits with him.

It wasn't to belittle Qin Feng; it was purely the excitement of suddenly encountering a master, uncontrollable.

"Marquis Qin, please hear the upper line!"

"Shuishang Yue Wei Tian Shang Yue!"

The literati racked their brains, trying to think of a lower line. Unfortunately, they rarely put effort into couplets in daily life, and for a moment their minds went completely blank.

Even those scholars who understood couplets fell silent at this moment. They simply could not produce a match on such short notice, and even if they could come up with something, it would hardly be a fine line, so naturally none of them would offer it up to embarrass themselves.

As a result, every gaze naturally converged on Qin Feng.

The Zheng Qiao before him actually caused Qin Feng to revise his opinion of the Northern Di people slightly. He smiled and replied: "The person in my eyes is the person before me."

The moment the lower line was spoken, Zheng Qiao could not help but flush crimson across her cheeks, gently biting her thin lips. She hurriedly avoided Qin Feng's burning gaze, her heart pounding wildly.

She knew perfectly well Qin Feng was matching couplets, yet she kept feeling he was flirting with her—but she had no proof.

The young masters watching read Qin Feng's lower line over and over.

Suddenly realizing something, they pointed at Qin Feng and growled: "You rascal Qin Feng, daring to use the couplet as a pretext to take liberties with our Yucheng talent!"

"'Shuishang Yue Wei Tian Shang Yue, the person in my eyes is the person before me'… what a fine couplet! But this scoundrel Qin Feng is clearly casting flirtatious glances at Miss Zheng!"

"Despicable!"

Facing the crowd's accusations, Qin Feng spread his hands and put on an innocent look: "Miss Zheng worries for her kingdom and its people—she's far better than certain people. I admire patriots the most, even when they stand on the opposing side. Being unable to help feeling drawn to Miss Zheng is only human nature."

The moment these words were spoken, the crowd all spat in disgust.

"Disgusting!"

"Shameless!"

"You with your thick brows and big eyes, how dare you speak such shameless words with such righteous air."

"Our Yucheng talent—is she someone you can lay a finger on?"

Just then, the crowd despairingly discovered that Zheng Qiao's little face was blushing crimson, her bright eyes rippling with waves, as if she had already lost her heart to the shameless scoundrel before her.

Damn it, what kind of situation is this!

Zheng Qiao gently bit her lip and replied shyly: "Marquis Qin, your skill is impressive. Please hear another couplet of mine."

"Three dynasties: Shang."

A green-robed young master who had long secretly admired Zheng Qiao, eager to show off, and seeing that this upper line did not look difficult, after a brief brainstorm hurriedly completed it.

"Four dynasties: the great Di court!"

The moment this couplet was spoken, thunderous applause erupted on the spot. Though they had no idea what was good about the lower line, today's spotlight absolutely could not be monopolized by Qin Feng alone.

"What a 'Four dynasties: the great Di court'—marvelous, marvelous!"

"Heh heh, brother, your lower line and Miss Zheng's upper line are simply a pair made by heaven and earth—hahaha."

Faced with the praise pouring in from all directions, the green-robed young master's head nearly lifted to the sky. He turned to look at Zheng Qiao, only for his heart to instantly turn cold.

Because Zheng Qiao's gaze at him was filled entirely with contempt.

"My upper line was 'Three dynasties: Shang,' and you give me 'Four dynasties: the great Di court'? Utter nonsense!"

"If you don't understand couplets, don't come out here making a fool of yourself—don't let the people of Liang Kingdom laugh at us."

Facing Zheng Qiao's merciless rebuke, the green-robed young master wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into, his heart chilled to the core.

The young masters who had just been cheering were all baffled.

Three dynasties against four generations, Shang against the great Di court— isn't that perfectly matched?

Not knowing where the problem lay, the crowd could only look toward Qin Feng.

"Qin Feng, aren't you so clever? You do it!"

Qin Feng didn't know whether to laugh or cry, feeling that these people had completely lost their reason just to belittle him.

Under everyone's gaze, Qin Feng blurted out: "The four sections of the Book of Songs—Feng, Ya, and Song."

The Private School teacher slapped his thigh: "Brilliant!"

"Miss Zheng used three dynasties to summarize the successive changes of the Shang era."

"Marquis Qin used the four sections to summarize Feng, Ya, and Song. The Ya in the Book of Songs is divided into the Greater Ya and the Lesser Ya, which together with Feng and Song make up the four sections!"

"Perfectly matched! Now this is what one calls a match made by heaven and earth."

Only then did the young masters watching the show realize that the couplet looked simple but was in fact extremely difficult.

But when they looked at Qin Feng, they truly could not bring themselves to admire him, because Qin Feng was rubbing his nose and winking at Zheng Qiao.

"Miss Zheng, did you hear? Everyone says the two of us are a match made by heaven and earth."

The onlookers around them wished they could rush up and tear Qin Feng apart— this fellow was utterly shameless!

But Zheng Qiao, shy and timid, with a dazed look in her eyes, could no longer hold her own.