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

Mr. Zhang clasped his hands in greeting: "Young master, please step forward to fight!"

Xiao Mingyuan forced himself to remain calm, picked up the pastry, and took another bite.

I thought to myself: What do I know about couplets...?

How can this be done?

Xiao Mingyuan was about to refuse...

He remembered the promise they had made together.

If you can't do it yourself, then let Xu Qing step in!

So he deliberately gave a cold snort.

"You shameless bastard surnamed Zhang, I'll beat you once, then change the subject and keep challenging me. What kind of class do you think you are, even trying to match couplets with me? For someone like you, my reading companion is enough!"

Xiao Mingyuan slammed his hand on the table. "Xu Qing, do you dare to fight?"

Xu Qing raised her hand: "Dare!"

Xiao Mingyuan stuffed the last bite of pastry into his mouth, patted the crumbs off his hands, and stood up unhurriedly.

"Mr. Zhang, you just said that after matching poems, we can match couplets. After matching couplets, do we need to match other couplets?"

Mr. Zhang was taken aback: "What do you mean, Young Master Xiao?"

Xiao Mingyuan chuckled: "It's nothing. I just think... please stop coming up with one idea after another, it's never going to end."

Mr. Zhang clasped his hands in a fist salute, saying, "If you win this time, I won't say another word!"

Xiao Mingyuan clapped his hands: "Okay, remember your words."

He turned his head to look at Xu Qing, "Xu Qing, you check it out."

All eyes turned to the young man wearing a light gray robe.

Xu Qing walked to the desk, spread out a sheet of paper, and picked up a pen.

His gaze lingered on the first line of the couplet for a moment, then he lowered his head and began to write.

After a short while, he put down his pen and turned the paper over.

The second line is...

"Nine out of ten households are poor; even scraping together eight taels, seven mace, six fen, five hao, and four li, they are still half-hearted—utterly despicable!"

The hall was silent for a moment...

then……

"hiss……"

Someone gasped.

"You can do that?"

Some people couldn't help but admire it.

"My God, this is so well written!"

"The numbers are reversed from ten to one, and the sentence directly and bluntly retorts..."

The first line of the couplet boldly insults us Hengyang people by saying we don't understand classical texts; the second line retorts that you are nothing but a bunch of first-rate scoundrels!

"The antithesis is perfect, the meaning is fierce, and the insults do not contain any vulgar words."

Mr. Zhang slammed the teacup back onto the table with a clatter, spilling tea all over the table.

He stared at the second line of the couplet with his mouth agape.

It was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over his head; he couldn't utter a single word for a long time.

The teacup in the hand of the Prince of Jin was suspended in mid-air, neither able to hold it nor put it down.

The composed smile on his face froze.

Xiao Mingyuan burst out laughing as well, covering his mouth with his sleeve, his shoulders trembling as he clearly struggled to hold it in.

Li Yan clenched her fist slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips, before resuming her composed demeanor.

And sitting at that inconspicuous little table in the corner...

The servant dressed in servant's clothes had just picked up a piece of osmanthus cake when he heard the second line of the couplet. The osmanthus cake stopped at his lips, and his eyes immediately lit up.

His companion nudged him, and he snapped out of his daze. He lowered his head and stuffed the osmanthus cake into his mouth, chewing a few times as if to cover it up, but he couldn't suppress the smile on his face.

Mr. Zhang took a deep breath and composed himself.

He stood up, walked around the desk, and went to Xu Qing.

He stood in front of the second line of the couplet, looked at it again, and then nodded: "This second line is well-matched. The numbers are neat, and the meaning is rebuttal. I accept it."

He paused, his gaze falling on Xu Qing's face: "But that was just a warm-up. I have another couplet for you to try and match."

He turned around, picked up his pen, dipped it in thick ink, and wrote a passage on the paper.

The first line is...

"In the painting, the dragon neither roars nor the tiger howls, and the little page is laughable."

Upon hearing this couplet, Zhou Kang and Sun Decai exchanged a glance, and a gloating smile simultaneously appeared on their faces.

Zhou Kang muttered, "Let's see how he responds this time. A mere pageboy, thinking he can turn the world upside down?"

Sun Decai: "That's right, that's right, don't they have any self-awareness?"

Mr. Zhang put down his pen, stood with his hands behind his back, and a cold smile finally reappeared on his lips.

That smile also carried a clear hint of disdain...

He pointed at Xu Qing's face with the first line of the couplet and cursed: "You're just a lowly pageboy, how dare you show off here?"

Several local students in the hall had a change in expression.

This isn't just a competition of couplets; it's a direct insult.

However, they were powerless to do anything about it...

Because it simply doesn't match up!

Even if it's an insult, so what?

My skills are inferior to others, my skills are inferior to others!

Su Man frowned, about to speak.

Xiao Mingyuan snorted coldly and sat back down in his chair.

"Xu Qing, give him a piece of your mind!"

Xu Qing stood before the desk, inwardly laughing:

Isn't this just walking into the line of fire? He was a famous couplet in his past life, and he even appeared in a movie.

He glanced down at the first line of the couplet, flicked his right hand, and lifted his robe with his left.

He started writing in a flurry of words.

Seeing this, Xiao Mingyuan gestured to Xu Qing's movements.

He muttered to himself, "That pose looks really cool, but only a handsome person can pull it off. If I tried it, I'd just be a nimble fat guy at best..."

After Xu Qing finished writing, she turned the paper over.

The second line is...

"On the chessboard, the chariot has no wheels and the horse has no reins; when the checkmate is called, be careful."

Xu Qing put down his pen, speaking calmly and deliberately.

"I am but a pageboy, so it's understandable that Mr. Zhang compares me to a dragon that neither roars nor howls. I, in turn, compare you to the general on a chessboard... A chariot without wheels and a horse without reins can still checkmate. Tell me, who should be wary of whom?"

He said it very calmly, without deliberately emphasizing it.

But every word is barbed!

Mr. Zhang's expression changed.

He stared at the second line of the couplet, his lips trembling...

He wanted to say: This is clearly sophistry...

But he swallowed his words.

Because he knew in his heart that this couplet was not only perfectly matched, but also had a stronger momentum than the first line.

"How laughable, how laughable is this little pageboy"... that's looking down on someone with contempt.

"Calling out to the general to be on guard"... that's looking at him at eye level, reminding him, and even placing himself in the position of "general".

Xu Qing's composure and calm demeanor exude the qualities of a scholar!

Mr. Zhang's fingers trembled again, and he reached out to hold onto the edge of the table.

The heir apparent of the Prince of Jin tapped on the table behind him, clearly impatient.

Mr. Zhang gritted his teeth and straightened up again.

The way he looked at Xu Qing was completely different from before...

He had some confidence a moment ago, but now that confidence has completely leaked out...

Mr. Zhang remained silent for a long time.

He slowly withdrew his hand from the edge of the table and stood up straight again.

His expression carried a sense of unwillingness, a stubborn refusal to admit defeat.

"Let's try another couplet."

He turned around, picked up his pen, and this time wrote very slowly, each word as if he had used all his strength.

"Ten mouths and one mind, thinking of the emperor, the country, and the nation."

This is a couplet that uses wordplay to convey meaning. The character "思" (si, meaning to think) is composed of "十口" (shi kou, meaning ten mouths). The following three "思" characters are arranged in a row, with the meaning progressing layer by layer, from the monarch to the country and then to the state, showing a grand vision and majestic momentum.

Even among the literary circles of Beijing, this first line of the couplet is enough to leave most people unable to come up with a matching line.

When Mr. Zhang wrote it, he clearly used all his best skills.

Xu Qing glanced at the first line of the couplet and barely paused.

He picked up his pen and began to write, his strokes flowing smoothly, completing the entire piece in one go without the slightest hesitation.

"Eight eyes share the view, appreciating the flowers, the moon, and the spring scenery."

Xu Qing spoke calmly:

"Mr. Zhang wrote about... longing for his ruler, his country, and his nation—it's very grand. My response was about... appreciating flowers, appreciating the moon, and appreciating the spring scenery."

Your thoughts are too deep, and the placement is inappropriate...