Lian Erye in the Red Mansion

The maids brought over the dice cup, and Aunt Xue took it, shook it gently, and revealed a three.

The third person down from Aunt Xue is Yingchun.

"Haha, Second Sister will be the commander for this first round."

Jia Baoyu, in high spirits, immediately stood up, took the dice from Aunt Xue's hand, and handed them to Jia Lian: "Second Brother Lian, you roll first."

Jia Lian didn't stand on ceremony and randomly shook a number, but it wasn't three.

Then Jia Baoyu, Daiyu, Tanchun, and Li Wan were not among them, but Jia Lan cast a three-point ballot.

When the exquisite dice rolled a three and stopped, Jia Lan's little face also scrunched up into a three.

Looking up at her smiling uncles and aunts, Jia Lan confessed, "I...I don't know how..."

Seeing his adorable reaction, everyone laughed even harder.

Jia Baoyu was overjoyed and immediately said to Yingchun, "Second Sister, Lan is still young and probably hasn't learned many poems or allusions. Please go easy on him and give him a simple one first so that everyone can understand the rules."

Tan Chun was separated from Jia Lan only by Li Wan, so she turned over and tickled Jia Lan, comforting him, "Lan'er, don't be afraid. Your Aunt Lin is here. She is the daughter of a top scholar, well-read and knowledgeable. She will definitely help you."

Daiyu, displeased that Tanchun had flattered her, slapped Tanchun hard. Seeing Tanchun's embarrassed laugh, she suddenly turned to Jia Lan and said with a smile, "What are you afraid of? Losing is just a matter of drinking a cup of wine. Normally, your sister-in-law would never allow you to drink, but today is a good opportunity for you to drink openly. Isn't that a good thing?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Lan thought to himself, "That makes sense." He glanced at Li Wan and, seeing her helpless smile, felt relieved.

Yingchun was already pondering what kind of question to come up with. Hearing Jia Baoyu's words, she didn't waste any more time thinking and said, "I've only heard of this game before, and this is my first time playing it. I don't know if I'm doing it correctly, but let me explain..."

After saying that, he looked at Jia Lan and slowly uttered the word "rain".

Rain is her cover; as for the answer, that's for Jia Lan to guess.

Although Jia Lan is young, she is extremely competitive.

Not willing to immediately admit defeat or ask for help, he began to think, his eyes darting around the table in an attempt to find the answer.

After thinking for a while, I tentatively said, "Willow?"

Yingchun thought about it for a long time and hesitated a bit.

The difficulty of guessing lies not only in the archer, the one guessing, but also in the person revealing the answer. If the archer's knowledge and skills are insufficient, it is also difficult, because it is impossible to determine whether the other party has hit the target!

After thinking it over carefully, he realized he probably wouldn't be able to hit the willow branch, so he shook his head.

Jia Lan's expression immediately fell.

It was expected that Jia Lan would miss.

But Daiyu seemed to have something to say.

"Lan'er, can you tell me why you shot at 'Willow Branch'?"

Jia Lan said, "I heard my second aunt mention 'rain,' but after looking at everything on the table, I couldn't recall any poems or allusions related to rain. Suddenly, I remembered a poem by Li Qingzhao that my mother taught me the other day, which contains the lines 'A desolate courtyard, with slanting wind and fine rain.' I then thought that although I can't see the wind, it's all around us. Therefore, I guessed that my second aunt's answer was 'wind.'"

So I pondered for a while before coming up with the line, "The apricot blossom rain threatens to wet my clothes, the willow breeze is gentle on my face," and based on this line, I chose the word "willow."

Jia Lan said with some distress, after all, he lost the first game and felt a little disappointed.

But he didn't look at everyone's reactions.

Daiyu laughed and said to Li Wan, "Sister-in-law, you've truly done a good job of teaching him! Lan is so clever!"

There's no need for Daiyu to praise him; everyone was already impressed by Jia Lan's series of logical and well-reasoned analyses.

Although Wang Xifeng had been completely bewildered from beginning to end, she couldn't help but ask, "Wasn't it said that only things served at the banquet could be used as the winning combination? How come 'wind' counts too?"

It is commendable that an illiterate person dares to ask questions even if they don't understand. Therefore, Baochai explained: "It is not only about what is on the table. Anything that can be seen at a glance while sitting at the table can be used as a clue."

Although the wind is invisible, it certainly exists around us and can be felt with our senses, so it counts as wind.

谷嬻

As she spoke, Baochai glanced at Jia Lan, then looked at Li Wan, and praised, "Lan'er is indeed intelligent."

Everyone agreed with Baochai's explanation, which was not bound by narrow rules, and that was part of the game's charm.

Wang Xifeng pursed her lips, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Over here, Daiyu was still laughing at Jia Lan: "Why are you making such a face? You haven't lost yet. Didn't you hear your Uncle Lian say that only those who fail three times count?"

Jia Lan shook her head and said, "But I really can't think of anything else. How about you help me, Aunt Lin?"

Jia Lan finally started to make a clever move.

Daiyu gave a soft hum, and seeing that everyone was waiting for her to show off her skills, she turned to Yingchun and said:

"Actually, Lan'er has indeed mastered the game of guessing the answer key. The reason she couldn't guess it was because she was unlucky and didn't guess the answer key correctly."

At the same time, it also shows that the word "rain" that the second sister wrote was too broad.

In my opinion, flowers, trees, wind, and clouds can all be used as the target, so even if you manage to hit the target, it's just luck.

In my opinion, Second Sister should do one more round; two rounds and one shot will suffice."

Yingchun also realized that her cover was not good enough, because she also felt that Jialan's thinking was correct.

So after thinking for a moment, he said, "Then I'll make another one, um... a cherry. How about that?"

"cherry?"

On Daiyu's side, Jia Baoyu, Tanchun, and others quickly started racking their brains.

After all, it was a game of guessing riddles in separate teams, and they were in the same team as Jia Lan. If they just watched Jia Lan get punished, they would lose face.

Perhaps it was because Yingchun's second cover was too obvious, they both looked behind them one after the other.

Daiyu then asked Jia Lan, "Lan'er, did you manage to hit the target?"

Jia Lan was not stupid. He noticed that Jia Baoyu, Tan Chun, and the others were all looking at the banana tree in the corner of the back courtyard wall, and naturally knew that the answer was banana tree!

But how should I shoot...?

Ultimately, because I had learned too few poems, I couldn't think of a suitable one for the time being.

Li Wan, feeling greatly honored by Jia Lan's performance and the praise he had received from Baochai, Daiyu, and others, didn't want to put him in a difficult position. Instead, she prompted him, "Lan'er, the evening air upstairs is filled with longing, the jade steps are cut off, and the moon hangs like a hook..."

"Upstairs at dusk, desires cease; the jade steps are cut off, the moon hangs like a hook; the banana leaves remain unfurled, the clove buds bud; both face the spring breeze, each with its own sorrow!"

After silently reciting Li Shangyin's quatrain in her mind, Jia Lan immediately blurted out, "Lilac!"

After he finished speaking, seeing that all the elders nodded to him, Jia Lan smiled happily.

At the same time, I realized that I really need to study hard, because I am still far behind my mother and the others.

Jia Baoyu asked with a smile, "Second Sister, did Lan'er hit the target?"

Yingchun smiled and nodded, then picked up her wine glass and gestured to Jia Lan.

Jia Lan quickly stood up, returned the greeting, and then they drank a cup together to mark the occasion.

Jia Baoyu then pressed Yingchun for more information, "Second Sister's second veiled face naturally comes from the poem 'The cherries are red, the plantains are green,' but what about the first veiled face?"

Yingchun smiled and replied, "The word 'rain' comes from Ouyang Xiu's poem 'Sheng Chazi,' which reads, 'Deep courtyard locked in the twilight, showers of rain falling on banana leaves.'"

"Hahaha, brilliant! The 'Shooting the Hidden' game truly lives up to its reputation as the most difficult game; it's certainly quite fun!!"

Jia Baoyu loved using elegant language, and although Baochai's riddle-guessing was not quite the same as his, it was indeed more interesting.

He can't wait to be the next one to draw him.