My family has been wielding knives for generations, but now it's my turn to wield a pen!

"Oh? It came from another source?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingheng couldn't help but smile faintly: "Could it be the work of that...talented woman from the Li family?"

"It's not impossible!"

Xiao Qingxiu said, "Li Zhiwei is known as the most talented woman in the capital. It would be reasonable to say that this couplet was written by her."

"But if it's said to be from Jiang Xiaobai..."

With that, Xiao Qingxiu snorted coldly: "That's giving him far too much credit."

"The First Talented Woman!"

Upon hearing the name, Xiao Qingheng nodded slightly, then slowly said, "Speaking of her, I heard that because of the rules on her mother's side, Li Zhiwei has worn a veil since childhood?!"

"Yes, it's said that it can only be picked on the wedding day!"

Xiao Qingxiu nodded slightly.

"interesting!"

At this point, Xiao Qingheng shook his head again, with a look of regret: "Such a beautiful woman, yet Father Emperor betrothed her to Jiang Xiaobai."

"What a pity!"

Xiao Qingxiu responded to these words, but his gaze turned slightly colder.

Just as Xiao Qingxiu was about to continue speaking, a puzzled voice sounded from the side: "Cousin and Imperial Brother, what are you talking about?"

"What's a pity?"

As they were talking, a figure sat down, looking at the two of them with big, curious eyes.

She was a young girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a light yellow palace dress, with lively eyes and a very faint cinnabar mole at the corner of her eye.

It looks extremely bright and beautiful.

"Oh, Your Highness!"

Upon seeing the person who had arrived, Xiao Qingxiu immediately stood up.

"Cousin, you're too kind!"

Xiao Zijing waved her hand, her big eyes crinkling into a smile.

"Zijin?"

Xiao Qingheng frowned, "Why did you come here, you little rascal?"

"It's so boring in the palace!"

Xiao Zijing smiled and said, "I heard this place is fun, so I came to check it out!"

"Um?"

Xiao Qingheng frowned: "You came out by yourself? That's ridiculous!"

"I came out with the Imperial Aunt!"

Xiao Zijin snorted.

"The eldest princess has come too?"

Xiao Qingxiu, who was standing nearby, looked visibly surprised upon hearing this.

Xiao Zijing nodded and pointed upstairs: "Yes, the Imperial Aunt went upstairs. I saw you all here, so I came over!"

Then, Xiao Zijing paused and said, "You haven't said anything yet, what's a pity!"

"Oh, it's a pity no one can come up with a matching pair!"

Xiao Qingheng offered a casual explanation.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zijin's eyes also fell on the two couplets in the hall.

"I heard... this couplet was created by that纨绔子弟 (spoiled brat) of the Zhenbei Marquis's mansion?"

Xiao Zijing's voice carried a hint of surprise: "I must say, this pair... is truly extraordinary!"

"I never imagined this person possessed such talent; no wonder my father personally selected him as the top scholar!"

At this point, Xiao Zijing asked with curiosity, "I wonder what kind of person he is? Is he interesting?"

"This person is simply incompetent and ignorant!"

Xiao Qingxiu said coldly from the side.

"Ignorant and incompetent?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zijing looked at Xiao Qingxiu and said, "Then what my cousin means is that my father is blind?"

His father, the emperor, acknowledged Jiang Xiaobai's status as the top scholar, but now Xiao Qingxiu is saying that Jiang Xiaobai is ignorant and incompetent.

Doesn't that mean his father has poor judgment?

"this……"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Qingxiu immediately stood up: "Princess, you jest! I... I didn't mean that!"

"If my cousin didn't mean it that way, why did he say that?"

Xiao Zijin continued to ask curiously.

"Zijin!"

Xiao Qingheng frowned, glared at Xiao Zijing, and then looked at Xiao Qingxiu, saying, "Qingxiu, sit down and let's talk!"

"That's just how this girl talks!"

"Hmph, that's just the truth!"

Xiao Zijing muttered something to herself, then looked downstairs again, observing the scene with a hint of doubt, and asked, "I wonder if Jiang Xiaobai will come?"

She had also heard about Jiang Xiaobai's affairs in the imperial court.

He offered four strategies, and the two of them, one for civil officials and one for military officials, created a small gadget, which was quite interesting.

Therefore, she did hope to meet this nobleman's son.

……

"Young Master Jiang."

On the other side, on the way to Qinglou, Li Zhiwei's gaze suddenly fell on Jiang Xiaobai.

"Um?"

Jiang Xiaobai turned his head to the side.

"When you were talking to my father yesterday, you deliberately avoided me."

Li Zhiwei said softly, "May I ask if it's alright to talk about it now?"

Yes.

Li Zhiwei is still somewhat curious about this matter.

What is it that she can't hear?

"this……"

Jiang Xiaobai's expression stiffened slightly: "We'll talk about it later!"

"afterwards?"

Li Zhiwei's eyes flickered slightly.

Lin Qinrou glanced at Jiang Xiaobai.

She could clearly sense Jiang Xiaobai's guilty conscience.

What did this guy do? Something shameful!

"Cough cough..."

Seeing that the two of them were staring at him, Jiang Xiaobai coughed and said, "Some things are meaningless if you say them when the time is not right."

Oh?

Hearing this, Li Zhiwei became even more curious.

Soon, the four of them arrived outside the Qinglou.

But as soon as he got near the Qinglou, Jiang Xiaobai paused slightly.

wrong.

Yes, yesterday, even before they got close to the building, they could already hear the chaotic noise inside.

But today, the place was unusually quiet, both inside and out.

Surprised, Jiang Xiaobai stepped inside.

However, as soon as Jiang Xiaobai entered the brothel, his eyes widened in surprise.

Good guy!

Yes, the main hall of the Qinglou building was already filled with students.

The first floor is full, and the second-floor railing area is full.

Even on the third and fourth floors, many figures could be vaguely seen.

Strangely, despite the large number of people gathered in the Qinglou, it was not as noisy as it had been yesterday.

Everyone sat quietly.

Someone was staring at the two couplets on the wall, deep in thought.

Someone was looking down at a piece of paper, writing and drawing.

Some people frowned, their fingertips hovering over the paper for a long time, unable to make a single stroke.

For a time, the entire Qinglou building actually resembled a place for reading and discussing scholarship.

Jiang Xiaobai's expression turned strange as he watched this scene.

No, yesterday they were all so angry they wanted to throw eggs at him.

Why are they all acting like adorable little darlings today?

This change was rather sudden!

To his surprise, Li Zhixing walked up.

He first greeted Lin Qinrou and Li Zhiwei, then his gaze finally settled on Jiang Xiaobai: "Future brother-in-law, you've finally arrived!"

Jiang Xiaobai had just nodded when he noticed the students around him exclaiming, "Jiang Xiaobai's here!"

Upon hearing this, everyone who had been looking down raised their eyes.

Yes, almost all eyes in the entire Qinglou building were fixed on Jiang Xiaobai.

If it were yesterday, most of those gazes would have been filled with anger and disdain.

But today, things are clearly much more complicated.

There was doubt, resentment, and of course, curiosity.

These two couplets from Jiang Xiaobai are too difficult.

Many people didn't sleep well after going home last night.

However, despite their criticisms, they knew perfectly well whether the couplets were difficult or not, and whether they were good or not.

"Is he Jiang Xiaobai?"

From the second floor, Xiao Zijing looked in Jiang Xiaobai's direction, her face full of surprise: "He's not bad looking!"

"All show and no substance!"

Xiao Qingxiu spoke calmly.

"Cousin, you must be jealous of him!"

Xiao Zijing looked at Xiao Qingxiu and spoke.

"Why does the princess say that!"

"Because you're uglier than him!"

Xiao Zijin looked very serious.

"..."

Xiao Qingxiu's lips twitched, but he couldn't utter a word.

Xiao Qingheng shook his head helplessly beside him, then looked down with curiosity.

However, he completely ignored Jiang Xiaobai, focusing his attention more on Lin Qinrou and Li Zhiwei.

He knew Lin Qinrou, and... he admired her very much.

Lin Lao's granddaughter won the top scholar title last year and is now an assistant teacher at the Imperial Academy.

As for Li Zhiwei, he didn't care about the title of the most talented woman.

He was more curious about what kind of face lay beneath that veil...

But just then, a smiling voice rang out: "Hehe, I never expected that the two couplets I casually wrote would attract so many people!"

"I'm ashamed, I don't know..."

"Has anyone come up with a matching couplet for my little couplet?"