I just wrote a love poem, how did that make me so powerful?

Xiao Wanjin narrowed his eyes, a thought surfacing in his mind:

Could it be that something has happened in the capital?

Is Song Yao's father making a move?

Is the Chen family planning to secure this marriage before the news spreads?

"Interesting..." he muttered to himself, "The Chen family has a good plan; we can't let them get away with it..."

……

……

On the other side, when Xu Qing found Xiao Mingyuan, the fat man was in his study, holding a copy of the Three Character Classic and lost in thought.

His face screamed, "I don't want to learn."

Seeing Xu Qing enter, he felt as if he had been granted a pardon, and slammed the book on the table: "You've finally come! If you hadn't come to see me, I would have suffocated from reading this book."

"I'm in big trouble now..."

Xu Qing didn't exchange pleasantries with him, but simply recounted what happened at Song Yao's house today.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Mingyuan's round face darkened, and he kicked the table leg: "It's that Chen guy again! What exactly is he trying to do!"

"He wants to marry Song Yao," Xu Qing said coldly. "Is it just because he's attracted to Yao Yao's face?"

Xiao Mingyuan scratched his head: "So what are you planning to do? Should I get my dad to intervene?"

Xu Qing shook his head: "Your father's business is big, but the Chen family has connections in the officialdom. No matter how much influence your father has in the local area, he can't overpower the county magistrate. A head-on confrontation isn't the solution; we need to leverage their influence."

"Leveraging someone's influence?" Xiao Mingyuan's eyes lit up. "Whose influence?"

"We need to find someone who can go toe-to-toe with Chen Shijin, preferably someone even more powerful than him, someone the Chen family can't touch."

Xiao Mingyuan slapped his forehead: "Isn't that readily available? It's Su Man from Zhuangyuanlou, Miss Su!"

Xu Qing immediately shook his head: "That won't do. We don't have any deep-seated interests with her, and she and Chen Shijin aren't enemies."

Xiao Mingyuan stroked his double chin and thought for a while, then suddenly slapped his thigh.

"I've got it! There's someone at Songlin Academy, the magistrate's nephew, named Li Yan. He and Chen Shijin are sworn enemies; they've disliked each other since the day they entered the academy, and they've been fighting each other there for two and a half years!"

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow: "Tell me more."

Xiao Mingyuan then revealed all the details he knew...

Magistrate Li Chungang had been in Hengyang County for two and a half years and had established a foothold there.

County Magistrate Chen Chengsong was Chen Shijin's father. He and the county magistrate were outwardly friendly but inwardly at odds, and the two had been fighting openly and secretly for several years.

After all, one was a representative of the local faction, and the other was an official from outside; these two forces were naturally antagonistic.

As the magistrate's nephew, Li Yan was naturally Chen Shijin's rival in the academy.

From the very first day of school, the two competed fiercely in various poetry gatherings and assessments, neither willing to concede to the other.

"If we could get Li Yan to help..." Xu Qing nodded, "then Chen Shijin would have to juggle both sides and wouldn't be able to take care of Song Yao."

"But how can we get Li Yan to do it? He doesn't know that we don't get along with Chen Shijin." Xiao Mingyuan said with a worried look. "Although we both dislike Chen Shijin, we don't have much of a relationship with him."

Xu Qing glanced at him, her gaze lingering for a moment on the open Three Character Classic: "Then let's find a way to let him know."

A glint of inspiration flashed in Xiao Mingyuan's eyes: "Now that I'm famous for my poetry, I can take one of your poems to him and ask for his opinion. It'll be a good starting point; writers love that. He'll definitely think it's good, and then I can tell him it was written by you, Xu Qing..."

Xu Qing interrupted him: "Now is not the time to put me in the spotlight. Just say what you wrote."

Xiao Mingyuan paused for a moment, then nodded: "Okay. I'll go now!"

Seeing his impatient look, Xu Qing reached out and grabbed him.

"Don't rush off. I have an idea... I think besides reciting poems according to the actions, you have another amazing talent that you might not have realized yourself."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Xiao Mingyuan asked in surprise.

"Everyone has strengths, and your strength is a real skill. By relying on that skill, you can become someone they truly cannot do without. Then you won't always need to bring out your poetry."

"Huh? Where?" Xiao Mingyuan touched his double chin. "My double chin is particularly good at holding food? Or rather, my specialty is being able to eat a lot, does that count?"

Xu Qing pondered for a moment, then paced back and forth.

"You're the son of a merchant. What are merchants good at?"

After thinking for a while, Xu Qing smiled and said, "I've got it!"

He unfolded a piece of paper, wrote a string of words on it, and then pushed it in front of Xiao Mingyuan: "Try to calculate it."

Xiao Mingyuan looked down and saw that it was a math problem.

"A bolt of cloth is three feet and five inches long. If one foot and two inches are used to make one garment, how many garments can be made? How much will be left over?"

Without even thinking, he blurted out, "Two pieces, one foot and one inch left."

Xu Qing wrote down a few more more complicated questions, and Xiao Mingyuan answered them all correctly.

Xu Qing had a better idea of ​​what to do, so she tried something bigger... and asked him.

"Then I'll give you a long, hard question. What's nine times nine? Eight times twelve? Seven times fourteen?"

Xiao Mingyuan paused for a moment, then blurted out, "Nine times nine is eighty-one, eight times twelve is ninety-six, seven times fourteen is ninety-eight... What's so difficult about that?"

Xu Qing's eyes lit up: "How did you figure that out?"

Xiao Mingyuan scratched his head: "When I was a child, my dad and my sixth uncle did accounts at home. I would lie on the side and watch them use the abacus. I learned how to do it by watching them."

Later, when they were settling the accounts, I listened in. As they recited the numbers, I mentally went through them as well. I don't know how I memorized them…”

Xu Qing leaned back, looked at him, and her eyes began to sparkle:

"Do you know what this is? It's called mathematical talent. Nine out of ten scholars in our Great Liang Dynasty are not good at mathematics, but you are different."

You used to feel like you were worthless, but it was just that you hadn't found the right direction.

Xiao Mingyuan blinked his round eyes, stared blankly for a while, and then slowly grinned, looking silly.

"Really? My special skill... can come in handy?"

"Of course you can." Xu Qing patted his shoulder. "But let's not talk about that today. You should memorize this poem first... and let Li Yan join the game first."

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Xiao Mingyuan jumped out of bed with his poetry manuscript in his hand, not even bothering to eat breakfast. He put on his newly made silk robe and rushed to Songlin Academy.

This is a golden opportunity, we can't miss it.

Now, he enjoys this feeling of being envied by others more and more.

After leaving the Xiao residence, he turned back, straightened his collar in front of the bronze mirror, took a deep breath, and patted his chubby face.

"Remember, don't panic, don't panic..."

When Xiao Mingyuan arrived at Songlin Academy, the morning bell had just rung.

He stepped across the threshold and bumped into someone...

Chen Shijin.

Chen Shijin, dressed in a moon-white long gown and holding a book, was about to walk out.

His face was as long as a donkey's, and there were two dark circles under his eyes, clearly indicating that he hadn't slept well last night.

Clearly, news of the operation's failure had reached the Chen residence.

When Chen Shijin saw Xiao Mingyuan's fat face, he visibly paused.

His eyes were as cold as the dead of winter.

The bullet hit Xiao Mingyuan's face, carrying an overwhelming sense of malevolence.

Xiao Mingyuan's heart skipped a beat, but then he remembered Xu Qing's words...