Little Sizi came to my house and became the family's darling, and Li Shimin got anxious.

"What kind of auspicious beast is this?" Li Yinxun asked in a low voice.

Li Lizhi explained softly from the side, "Judging from its shape, it should be a 'bixie' (a type of amulet). Legend has it that bixie can drive away the five poisonous creatures and protect the home. Hanging it at the door or placing it in the hall during the Dragon Boat Festival can ensure the safety of the family. You can't usually find bixie ornaments made like this in the market. I never expected to see one at the night market today."

No wonder there were so many people there.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, a time when warding off evil spirits and poisons is of utmost importance, the significance of an exquisitely crafted amulet far exceeds that of the object itself. It is an auspicious object that protects the home and its inhabitants; who wouldn't want one?

The host in the decorated booth was an elderly man with a long beard, dressed in a blue cloth robe, holding a folding fan, and had the air of a scholar.

He walked to the high table, took a piece of Xuan paper from beside the brocade box, and read aloud the final riddle of the night.

"No head at the end, no feet at noon; hidden in the fifth month, bound by a single thread."

The crowd fell silent for a moment, then began to murmur amongst themselves.

"Duan without a head... 'Duan' without the top? Is that 'Li'?" A young man who looked like a scholar spoke first. "The answer is the character 'Li'!"

The old man smiled and shook his head: "That's not right."

"Noon without feet... the character 'noon' without the bottom part? That's ten?" another person quickly added. "End without head is 'stand,' noon without feet is 'ten'... put them together..."

He pondered for a moment, then hesitated before asking, "Xin?"

The old man continued to shake his head.

The murmurs in the room grew louder.

The learned scholars took turns trying to figure it out, some by analyzing the shape of the characters, some by deducing their meanings, and some by considering the timing of the Dragon Boat Festival, but none of them succeeded.

This riddle is extraordinary.

It seems to involve wordplay and also relates to the lunar calendar; it appears simple, but it contains hidden mechanisms.

While individual characters may be acceptable, combining two characters creates numerous obstacles.

Li Lizhi stood at the back of the crowd, frowning and pondering for a long time before finally letting out a soft sigh.

"This riddle is novel in its approach. I have never seen such a unique riddle before. It interweaves wordplay with the lunar calendar, and each part is interconnected. You can't solve it if you miss a single link."

Li Yinxun stared at the four riddles for a long time, then silently shook his head.

Modern people's sensitivity to language is far less than that of people in the context of classical Chinese.

She simply kept quiet and watched as everyone pondered deeply.

Guo Qian tilted his head slightly and said, "I understand."

The sound wasn't loud, but it was crystal clear.

Li Yinxun turned her head to look at him, somewhat surprised.

The murmurs in the room hadn't stopped, but those nearby had heard him and turned to look.

Guo Qian spoke calmly and steadily.

"The character '端' without the head is '立' (lì). The character '午' without the foot is '十' (shí). Combining '立' and '十', we get the character '辛' (xīn)."

"The fifth month is considered an inauspicious month, the month in which the Dragon Boat Festival falls, and was anciently called the poisonous month. The inauspicious month hides the bitterness, meaning that poisonous creatures lie dormant and evil spirits secretly arise."

"A single thread binds the character '辛' (xin) with the character '丝' (si) added on top, forming the ancient character '糉' (zong).

After the last sentence, the entire room fell silent.

"Zongzi refers to the zongzi eaten during the Dragon Boat Festival, which is what people today call zongzi."

Three breaths later, the old man closed his folding fan and slapped the table in approval.

"Wonderful! 'Duan' has no head and 'Li' (立), 'Wu' has no feet and 'Shi' (十), together they form the character 'Xin' (辛); the fifth month hides 'Xin', bound with a single thread, resulting in the character 'Zong' (糉), which is exactly the zongzi (角黍) of the Dragon Boat Festival!"

He stroked his long beard, his eyes full of admiration, "This riddle has been set for three days, and over a hundred talented scholars have been unable to solve it. Tonight, we finally have someone who can solve it!"

The crowd was stunned for a moment, then burst into thunderous applause and cheers.

"good!"

"This young man is truly learned!"

The scholars who were watching clapped and praised, their faces showing complete admiration.

The ingenuity of this riddle became clear after Guo Qian deciphered it; every step was perfectly aligned, yet no one could reach the end alone.

Standing in the crowd, Li Yinxun watched Guo Qian being surrounded by people and receiving praise, her surprise even greater than when she heard the answer to the riddle.

She and Guo Qian have been together for almost six years.

She knew he was skilled in mechanics, could drive, repair electrical appliances, and was adept at managing business.

But she didn't know that he also knew how to solve riddles.

She didn't even know which character he meant by "zòng".

Guo Qian noticed her gaze, turned his head to look at her, and looked smug.

Li Yinxun raised an eyebrow, her eyes asking: When did you hide this skill?

Guo Qian shrugged and smiled without answering.

Li Lizhi, who was standing to the side, was also re-evaluating Guo Qian and looking at him with new respect.

Normally, this person has a very low profile when he doesn't speak, but I never expected him to have such talent and knowledge, which he has kept hidden for so long.

Due to the large number of people and distractions at the scene, the group accepted the small talisman and left, strolling slowly towards the palace.

In the Lizheng Hall, neither Li Shimin nor Empress Zhangsun had gone to sleep yet.

Li Yin and his companions took the three princesses out of the palace to stroll through the night market, but they didn't return for a long time. The couple kept worrying about them, so they simply sat and waited.

They waited until they heard soft footsteps outside before returning, chatting and laughing.

Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun immediately noticed that Guo Qian was holding an exquisite little brocade box, which looked like it was no ordinary item.

Just as Empress Zhangsun was about to ask them how their fun was, Li Lizhi started chattering and told them everything that had happened that evening.

He recounted the riddles from the night market in detail, and then said excitedly, "Tonight's riddle was truly extraordinary. A large group of scholars, literati, and students stood around, but no one could guess it. They all frowned and racked their brains. In the end, it was my uncle who solved it."

After listening, Li Shimin looked a little surprised, then smiled and nodded: "I see. I didn't realize my brother-in-law had such insightful observations."

Feeling a little uncomfortable at being praised by an acquaintance, Guo Qian honestly explained.

"It was purely by chance that I came across this Dragon Boat Festival riddle on my phone. I didn't recognize the character in the answer, so I looked up its meaning and origin before I remembered it."

Li Shimin shook his head in disagreement, "If it were someone else who didn't know them, they wouldn't care. Why would they bother to investigate? This is the answer you gave."

Empress Zhangsun nodded, so that's how it is. It's quite a rare coincidence.

Chengyang was young and looked completely bewildered. It took him a while to realize that it wasn't that his uncle was amazing, but that he had seen the answer beforehand.

The little princess woke up early and fell asleep again on the way back.

Empress Zhangsun slowly stood up, her gaze gently falling on Guo Qian's back.

The little princess was sleeping soundly on his broad shoulder, her little face rising and falling gently with his breathing.

"Brother-in-law, you've really worked hard today."

Just as Guo Qian was about to reply, the little ox on his back suddenly let out a soft moan.

Almost reflexively, Guo Qian immediately adjusted his posture slightly and gently shook his body to make the child on his back sleep more soundly.

Then, with practiced ease, he reached back with one hand and gently and rhythmically patted the little princess's bottom.

Li Shimin witnessed this scene, and seeing this dignified man make such a move, his majestic face nearly cracked.

Empress Zhangsun saw this and nodded inwardly, full of approval.

There's no need to wait for future verification; the natural tenderness and patience shown at this moment are enough to show that the person in front of me will definitely be a good father in the future.