Li Yi suddenly stopped in his tracks. The young maidservant was just about to catch up to him and was caught off guard when she bumped into him.
She rubbed her chest in pain. When she raised her head, she found that the son-in-law had turned his head and was looking in the direction of the crowd.
"One hundred taels?"
Li Yi muttered this number. If he had heard correctly, the two people talking on the outskirts of the crowd had just said these three words.
For the current Li Yi, anything related to money was a sensitive word. Even if they were separated by a distance of several zhang, it would not escape his ears.
He, who had originally not planned on watching the show, immediately walked over to the crowd with quick steps.
"Dare I ask, brothers, what is happening here and why is everyone gathered here?" Li Yi first bowed to the two people who had just spoken and then asked with a smile.
The two people were chatting happily and were naturally displeased to be interrupted. But when they turned their heads and saw that the person standing in front of them was also a scholar, the displeasure on their faces immediately disappeared. One of them smiled and replied, "Brother, you may not know, but today, a few of the poetry clubs in Qing An Prefecture are competing in poetry in Drunken Fragrance Tower. The winner can participate in the Mid-Autumn Poetry Meet tomorrow … I'm afraid that not long after, there will be excellent works circulating."
Li Yi's clothing, no matter how you looked at it, looked like a scholar. Perhaps it was because of this that the two men dressed in Confucian robes were very friendly towards him.
Li Yi had no interest in poetry clubs or poetry meets. This friend had talked for a long time but still had not gotten to the main point. Li Yi decided to give him a reminder.
A smile appeared on his face and he pretended to ask carelessly, "Brothers, the one hundred taels of silver you just mentioned …"
"Oh, that one hundred taels of silver is the prize for this competition. At the end, it will be given to the winner of the poetry meet." The other person paused for a moment and then explained.
For scholars like them, the main point should be this poetry competition. Money was a worldly possession. The one hundred taels of silver was not the main point of their attention.
A scholar should treat money as dirt.
However, as a fake scholar, this was the focus of Li Yi's attention.
It was a hundred taels of silver! If he won, he could take it away with him. In this way, wouldn't he be able to pay the rent for the shop?
These hundred taels of silver were obviously tailor-made for him.
"Thank you, brothers!" Li Yi smiled and cupped his hands at the two of them. He then looked at the servant girl standing behind him and said, "Xiao Huan, let's go in!"
Xiao Huan nodded, followed behind Li Yi, with a look that said wherever the son-in-law was, she would be there.
"Brother, please wait!"
Li Yi had just taken two steps when a voice suddenly came from behind him.
He turned around and looked suspiciously at the young scholar. "Is there anything else, Brother?"
"Do you have an invitation?"
"Invitation?"
Li Yi's expression froze. "What invitation?"
The young scholar explained, "The Drunken Fragrance Restaurant has been booked today. Only those with an invitation can enter. That is why we were refused entry."
"So, we can't go in?" Li Yi said with a face of disappointment.
He seemed to see the one hundred taels of silver in his hands fly out of his arms.
"That is not entirely the case." The scholar pointed to the front and said, "You can go in without an invitation. However, you need to guess the riddles correctly."
Li Yi felt a little depressed as he watched this man speak so slowly. He was so wishy-washy and not manly at all. If he had something to say, he should have said it quickly. If he only said half a sentence at a time, it would be easy for others to misunderstand …
"If that is the case, then guess the riddles before going in."
Guessing riddles was something that Li Yi had played since he was young. He had much more experience than these ancient people and did not need to cheat at all.
The two men looked at each other and said with a wry smile, "These riddles are problems that were not solved during last year's Lantern Festival. If they were so easy to solve, we wouldn't be waiting outside the door."
"Whether we can guess it or not, we will know once we try." Li Yi smiled and held Xiao Huan's hand as they walked to the front.
At the front of the crowd, people were surrounding a few red lanterns and arguing endlessly. At the bottom of the lanterns were white strips of cloth with riddles written on them.
"A white snake crosses the river, a red sun above its head."
Li Yi looked at the strips of cloth at the bottom of the lanterns. His expression did not change but he was cursing in his heart.
What kind of stupid riddles was this? There were no hints and it did not say whether it was a word puzzle or a guess. How could people guess it?
Wasn't this deliberately making things difficult for people?
At the side, some people guessed that the answer was "boat" while others guessed "dan". However, the manservant standing at the side did not respond. Obviously, they did not guess the correct answer.
Li Yi originally wanted to rely on his intelligence to guess riddles, but now he could not count on it. Cheating was the right way to go.
With a thought, a thick book of ancient and modern lantern riddles appeared in his mind.
Li Yi did not believe that this book, which was as thick as an encyclopedia, would not have this stupid lantern riddle.
Searching according to the first word, "white", "snake" … "A white snake crosses the river, a red sun above its head." Found it!
In just ten seconds, a smile appeared on Li Yi's face.
He waved to the manservant and waited for him to come over. He smiled and said, "A white snake crosses the river, a red sun above its head. The answer to this riddle is "oil lamp". "
The surrounding crowd was stunned at first and then immediately burst into an uproar.
"What oil lamp? Even if it is a blind guess, it should be an accurate one."
"Exactly, what does the white snake, red sun and oil lamp have to do with each other!"
"If you have guessed it, get out of the way. Don't block the way!"
…
…
A few people were not polite with their words. They had racked their brains for so long and still could not guess it correctly. Why was a newcomer joining in the fun?
"Young Master is very talented. The answer to this riddle is the oil lamp." The manservant was stunned for a moment. Then, a surprised expression appeared on his face as he immediately bowed and said.
"What!"
"He actually guessed it correctly!"
"Why is it an oil lamp?"
"I know!"
"The wick is the white snake, and the flame … isn't it the red sun?"
…
…
This riddle was actually very common. However, because there were no hints, the range of guesses was too wide. If one did not have a flash of inspiration, it would be very difficult to think of the oil lamp.
When Li Yi said the answer to the riddle, people quickly figured it out. It turned out that the answer was actually so simple. Many people immediately beat their chests and stamped their feet. While sighing at this scholar's good luck, they were also very regretful that they did not think of this earlier.
The two scholars who were chatting with Li Yi looked at this scene with their mouths agape. It was hard to imagine that he actually guessed it correctly!
"Can I go in now?" Li Yi looked at the manservant and asked.
"Young Master, please!"
The manservant hurriedly extended his hand and made an inviting gesture.
Li Yi waved to the young girl behind him and said, "Xiao Huan, let's go in."
The young servant immediately nodded. The young master was really amazing. He even guessed the riddle that so many people could not. Xiao Huan saw the oil lamp every night and did not think of it!
A pleasant smile appeared on her face. Just as she was about to follow Li Yi in, the manservant quickly caught up and blocked the two of them. With a troubled expression, he said, "Young Master, you can only go in alone."
"Why?" Li Yi looked at him and asked with a frown.
Hearing this, Xiao Huan immediately grabbed the corner of Li Yi's clothes worriedly … Xiao Huan did not want to be separated from the young master.
"Because Young Master only solved one riddle. According to our rules, only you can go in alone." The manservant explained patiently.
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