Tang Dynasty: Taking the Empress Dowager to a brothel, Father Emperor, what a coincidence!

Along the Qujiang Pool, the sounds of silk and bamboo instruments filled the air, and those coming and going were all well-dressed scions of prominent families.

Changsun Chong walked at the front, looking back every few steps; he felt like dying.

But he wanted to escape, yet he couldn't.

Li Chengqian, dressed in a faded blue robe, followed behind him, continuing to act as his rural cousin.

Grand Tutor Li Gang, holding a tattered palm-leaf fan, played the role of an elderly steward.

Li Tai was dressed in a servant's uniform, which Li Chengqian had forced him to wear.

Before arriving, Li Chengqian had given Li Gang a whole speech of deception.

"Grand Tutor, we must go on an incognito visit today."

Just think, if they raised the banner of the King of Yue or the banner of the Lonely One, those scions of noble families would definitely put on airs.

By dressing like this and eating like this, we can let Qingque see their most hypocritical and ugly side.

Isn't this more effective at helping him remember than you teaching him in the study every day?

Upon hearing this, Li Gang felt it made a lot of sense.

He immediately stated that he would investigate secretly and that his identity must not be revealed.

At this moment, inside the elegant room on the second floor.

Zheng Qiuying leaned against the carved wooden railing, her gaze sweeping across the crowd.

Her personal maid suddenly pointed downstairs and said:

"Miss, look. Isn't that the eldest grandson of the Duke of Qi's mansion?"

Zheng Qiuying followed the maid's finger and immediately saw Li Chengqian following behind Changsun Chong.

"Don't make a sound."

A playful smile curled at the corner of Zheng Qiuying's lips.

"His Highness the Crown Prince is extremely shrewd; this play today is sure to be very entertaining."

Let's see what he's up to this time.

Downstairs, Changsun Chong reluctantly found the most secluded corner to sit down.

Before he could even settle into his seat, Li Tai's eyes were already gleaming with greed.

The table was set with roasted whole lamb, roasted chicken, chilled watermelon, and various pastries.

Li Tai, who hadn't eaten meat for over half a month, let out a howl and pounced on the table.

He grabbed a roasted chicken with his left hand and tore off a large piece of roasted lamb chop with his right, stuffing it into his mouth like crazy.

Li Gang sat beside him, watching with veins bulging on his forehead.

"This is an insult to scholarship! It is utterly an insult to scholarship!"

Li Gang habitually reached for his ruler from his sleeve.

Li Chengqian quickly grabbed Li Gang's wrist and whispered, "..."

"Grand Tutor, please calm down, please calm down."

You've fed him enough so he'll have the strength to use his talent to slap those aristocratic families in the face later. That's called first suppressing then elevating.

Li Gang took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes, and began to silently recite the Analects, thus suppressing his intention to take action.

Just then, a cold laugh rang out.

"Oh, isn't this the eldest son of the Changsun family? You brought this country bumpkin out again?"

Cui Hao, carrying a wine cup, walked over with several young men from prominent families.

After crawling between someone's legs at Wangyue Tower, Cui Hao didn't dare to leave the house for several days.

After seeing Li Chengqian at Qujiang Pool today, his eyes practically blazed with fury. Coupled with the presence of aristocratic families everywhere, he felt much more confident.

When Changsun Chong saw Cui Hao, he was about to stand up when Li Chengqian stepped on his instep.

The pain made him forcefully sit down again.

Cui Hao walked to the table, looked at Li Chengqian with disdain, and said:

"Fine, you choose the path to hell when there's no way to go to heaven."

"Last time at Wangyue Tower, you only relied on your powerful followers to fight, didn't you? Today, Qujiang Pool is full of our people. Let's see where you run to today."

Li Chengqian stood up, feigning grievance.

"How could you do this? We're here for a poetry gathering, and you're trying to hit us?"

Cui Hao said with a smug look on his face:

"Hit you? That would only dirty my hands. Today is a poetry gathering, let's compete in literature."

I refuse to believe you can produce poetry of that caliber.

After Cui Hao finished speaking, his attention was drawn to the sound of Li Tai eating.

Seeing Li Tai's unseemly eating habits, Cui Hao said with a look of disgust:

Is the Duke of Qi's mansion going bankrupt?

Even a pageboy is starving? This is worse than a pig! Changsun Chong, call me grandpa, and I'll give you some money.

Upon hearing this, the scions of prominent families around burst into laughter.

"Yeah, look at the way he eats, like he hasn't eaten in eight lifetimes."

"This isn't a pageboy; it's clearly a pig raised by the Duke of Qi's household!"

Li Tai was eating heartily when he heard someone call him a pig. He looked up and glared at Cui Hao and the others with a sinister look.

However, he remembered Li Chengqian's warning before he came.

"If you dare to reveal your identity, you'd better prepare to eat coarse food every day from now on."

Li Tai's face turned red with anger, and he could only take a big bite of the chicken leg in his hand, venting his anger on the chicken bone.

Seeing this, Li Chengqian hurriedly stepped forward to stir up trouble, knowing full well how petty Li Tai was.

"How dare you slander someone's innocence out of thin air?"

Li Chengqian pointed at Cui Hao and shouted indignantly,

"Although my page eats a lot, he is very learned and full of knowledge."

"I'm much better than you bunch of good-for-nothings who only know how to indulge in romantic poetry and bully others."

Cui Hao and the others were stunned when they heard Li Chengqian's words.

Then burst into wild laughter.

"Profoundly learned? This pig?"

Cui Hao pointed at Li Tai and laughed loudly.

"If he knew poetry, I would drink all the water in Qujiang Pool dry today."

Li Chengqian hurriedly said:

"Alright. Since you don't believe me, let's have a contest."

Cui Hao said with a sinister look in his eyes:

"Let's have a contest. If this pig loses, you guys will crawl all the way out of Qujiang Pool today, barking like dogs as you go."

Changsun Chong rolled his eyes as he listened from the side.

Having witnessed Li Chengqian's poetic talent before, he no longer believed that this fool could defeat Li Chengqian.

As for whether Li Tai could write poetry?

That's not something he'd consider.

Will Li Chengqian let Li Tai lose?

He would never believe it, not even if you beat him to death.

Li Chengqian readily agreed.

"It's a deal. But if I, this pageboy, win, all of you scions of noble families present will have to stand in a line and shout three times that I am a piece of trash."

Cui Hao nodded without hesitation:

"No problem, I'll make you admit defeat today."

The moment the betting was set.

Changsun Chong had already silently mourned for Cui Hao and the others in his heart.

How brainless must someone be to repeatedly jump into a pit?