Those lantern riddles stumped Ning Lang, but not Ning Nuan.
Ning Yanting often said that if she was a man, if she participated in the imperial examination, she might be able to return as a champion. Qingzhou is a remote place, the whole people are martial, and there are not many people who read. This lantern riddle specially invited a teacher from Qingzhou City Lito Academy. The teacher is a great person and knows the bottom of Qingzhou people. Don't make the question too difficult.
Ning Nuan guessed all the way, and many people next to her left with their heads down in frustration, but she was the only one standing in front of the twelve-sided lantern with logarithmic questions.
There was another person standing in front of the lantern with her. Most of the people who came out to play at night wore masks, Ning Nuan was, and so was that person. The masks sold at the stalls are also in the same style as Qingzhou, and most of them are animal masks. The man put on a silver wolf mask, covering most of his face, revealing only his graceful chin.
Ning Nuan glanced over there, feeling a little familiar, but quickly withdrew her gaze. She handed the note to the person in charge of the lantern riddle, who did the same.
The person in charge frowned in embarrassment after finishing the note.
"The two young masters have the same number of questions answered correctly. According to the rules, only the person who answers the most can get the lantern. This..."
"The same number?" Another said, "There is only one lantern?"
"Exactly."
"That's too bad. I'm bound to get this lantern. If this young master is willing, I can give him some money," the man said.
Ning Nuan heard it.
This voice clearly belonged to King An.
She couldn't see King An's face through a mask, but she had heard his voice many times on weekdays, and now when King An opened her mouth, she immediately recognized it.
It turned out that King An wanted to snatch this lantern from himself
Ning Nuan thought about it and looked up at the twelve-sided lantern. The lantern was hanging high, and the candle inside was shaking, reflecting the paintings outside. She liked it when she saw it, and was really reluctant to give up.
Ning Nuan opened her mouth and lowered her voice to a low voice, not at all similar to normal, "Unfortunately, I really like this lantern. If your son doesn't mind, it's better for me to pay for it, and ask your son to stop."
Chu Fei raised his eyebrows.
The two looked at the person in charge together.
The person in charge thought about it and said, "Master Zhang is here tonight, why don't you invite Master Zhang over and ask Master Zhang to give you two questions. Tonight's lanterns will only see who can answer the most questions and who can answer the questions. In the end, whose lantern belongs."
The two of them did not agree.
Master Zhang was getting older, he used to sit in the back to watch the fun, but when he heard that two of them had guessed the riddles he had come up with, he came out with great interest. When he came out to meet the two of them, he saw that they were both young sons, but one was taller and the other was shorter. He smiled and narrowed his eyes. After listening to the person in charge, he did not refuse. After he sat down, he thought for a moment. , and soon the first question appeared.
…
Seeing that Yang Zhen was willing to accept his lantern, Ning Lang was overjoyed and could not wait to jump up on the spot.
He pinched himself hard, so that he could barely calm down, but he couldn't help but show a cheerful smile on his face.
He pointed to the stage above and said, "Look, the play above is over, do you still want to watch it?"
"Why don't you go somewhere else?"
Ning Lang nodded, turned his head to look around, but saw that people gathered around the lantern at some point. He couldn't help but wonder: "What happened then?"
Yang Zhen held the lantern in his hand and stared at the candlelight with his eyelids down. Hearing what he said, he replied, "Go and see."
The two squeezed into the crowd.
I squeezed out from the crowd, and when I reached the front, I realized that two people had guessed all the lantern riddles, so I was asking the master to give out the questions on the spot and let the two compete. Whoever can answer the last one will get the ten General lights on both sides.
Ning Lang was stunned.
Darling, don't mention the general lamp, he tried it, but two tricks made him come back, but now it's good, even two people guessed it right
This person is really helpless.
Ning Lang sighed, but was poked by Yang Zhen. He turned his head, but saw Yang Zhen lift the lantern in his hand, and said solemnly, "Don't look at them, you are also amazing."
Although this general lamp is not that general lamp, it is almost the same.
Ning Lang scratched his head, and smiled a little embarrassedly.
He looked into the field and saw that two tables had been moved over at some point. The two of them were standing behind a table, with a servant beside them. Master Zhang sat in front, pondered for a while, and said a topic. Just as his voice fell, the two of them didn't need to think, they immediately picked up the pen to write the answer, and put the pen down almost at the same time, without even wiping the ink off the paper, they were hurriedly picked up by the servant next to him and sent. Show Master Zhang a look, and then let the people around Master Zhang read out the answers of the two.
Ning Lang's eyes were dizzy as he listened, and only after hearing some applause from the scholars beside him from time to time, did he know that the two were on equal footing.
He turned his head, but saw that Yang Zhen was also watching with relish.
"You can understand?"
"what?"
Ning Lang pointed to the other side, and said at a loss, "Don't you understand?"
Yang Zhen nodded: "I have learned some things before."
"..."
Yang Zhen explained to him: "Now this topic is related to the art of war. I have read a lot of military books, but I understand this aspect. If you tell me about the Four Books and Five Classics, I don't understand."
Ning Lang: "..."
Sure enough, when Master Zhang came up with a new topic, Yang Zhen fell into a sluggishness with him.
"You are the leader of the mountain bandits, what do you do when you read the military book?" Ning Lang said with a tangled face: "Could it be that you still have to take your brothers to fight?"
Yang Zhen said: "It will always be used."
"The world is peaceful now, and there is no war or chaos except for the border crossing." Ning Lang scratched his head: "Even if you want to enter the military camp, I'm afraid it will be difficult."
If nothing else, Yang is really a woman. If a woman disguised herself as a man and went to join the army, even if she knew that she was very skilled and could defeat a hundred with one attack, Ning Lang would have to worry.
"When I was young, my family forced me to learn this." Yang Zhen said, "I can't use it now, but I can't forget it. If there is such a day, if the people in the cottage are unwilling, then let them continue. Be a mountain bandit, but what's the point of being a mountain bandit?"
"What's the point of drinking and eating meat?"
Yang Zhen glanced at him with a half-smile, "Do you dare to kill?"
Ning Lang choked.
"Everyone in the cottage now goes hunting. The skins and meat are sold down the mountain. The money is fast and there is a lot. Although it is hard work, it is safe. The officers and soldiers in Qingzhou will not come to arrest us."
"Is this bad?"
Before Ning Lang came, he had heard about the Qingzhou mountain bandits, saying that they raped and looted, and even the government could not cure them. When I got here, I found out that although the mountain bandits are called mountain bandits, they are no different from the hunters.
"I think the brothers on the mountain also like it very much. How can anyone want to tie their head to the belt of their trousers every day? What's wrong with living a stable life?"
"You think so too?"
Ning Lang nodded, thinking that she hadn't seen it, and replied.
Yang Zhen raised his head and looked at the twelve-sided palace lantern hanging in the distance. The painter has exquisite skills to draw the scene of Qingzhou people working together to defend the city. This story is heard by Qingzhou people since childhood, and almost everyone can tell it from beginning to end.
But she heard more.
She listened to this story since she was a child. When she was a baby, someone told her that her ancestors had a mighty general who guarded the people of Qingzhou from generation to generation. Those words were told to her by the descendants of the generals. It is the blood of the great general flowing in his body. In the future, he will also be a great general who will shake the Quartet, inherit the legacy of the great general, and protect the people of Qingzhou.
She should be standing on the battlefield, and her martial arts should be used on the enemy, and she should not be the head of a beast. She can't live a life in the countryside and mountains.
Yang Zhen said softly, "But I don't want this."
Ning Lang was stunned.
After a long time, he came back to his senses and said worriedly: "Then I may become your hind leg."
Yang Zhen: "..."
Yang Zhen didn't react for a while: "What?"
Ning Lang took it to himself: "I'm not good at it. If you go to war with you, I'm afraid you won't be able to protect yourself, and you will be implicated in the future."
Yang Zhen: "..."
"I knew this earlier. When my father and I hired a master, I should have studied hard. If I didn't think about truancy before, I might be able to fight tigers like you now." Ning Lang sighed: "I I've said it countless times, but it's too late to regret it now."
"...Wait." Yang Zhen interrupted him: "Why did you follow me to the battlefield?"
Ning Lang reacted, and was immediately embarrassed. He scratched his head, a little embarrassed, and was embarrassed to meet Yang Zhen's eyes.
Yang Zhen: "..."
Ning Lang wanted to hide the truth and said: "Aren't we friends? If you go to the battlefield, I can't worry about it. Naturally, I will follow you."
"..."
"Don't worry, from today onwards, I will start to study hard and practice hard. You see, have I grown a little bit better than when you first saw me? At the beginning, you could defeat me with one move. Now But I have been able to support three moves under your hands." Ning Lang said solemnly: "I will practice again, and when you become a general, I will follow you as a military division." It seems that in the entire military camp, the most The only one who doesn't need to be able to fight is the strategist.
Yang Zhen smiled: "You don't even know the art of war, so you still want to be a military advisor?"
"..." Ning Lang added, "Then I can be a gang leader."
Yang Zhen smiled again and said nothing.
They looked towards the field again.
Ning Lang was watching intently, but he didn't know how long it took when he suddenly heard Yang Zhen say softly next to him, "That General Yang on the painting is my grandfather."
Ning Lang was stunned.
After a long time, he regained consciousness and said worriedly: "You are the descendant of the general, so am I not worthy of you?"
"..."
"My father is an official in the DPRK and China, and maybe he can be promoted again in the future." Ning Lang thought about it and said, "Seriously speaking, we are considered to be in the right place."
"..."
Ning Lang quickly reacted again, and continued to try to hide the truth: "Being friends doesn't pay attention to family background. You don't think I'm from a low background, right?"
"..."
He couldn't help turning his head to look at Yang Zhen, but he just turned his head, and before he could see Yang Zhen's expression clearly, Yang Zhen had already stretched out his hand, covered his face, and broke his head again. Go back and don't let him look at you.
Ning Lang hesitated for a long time, and then whispered again: "My ancestors also had second-rank officials, so it's not too low."
"… Shut up!"
Ning Lang said "Oh" and didn't dare to speak any more.
…
On the other side, the matchup in which Master Zhang proposed the topic gradually became a winner and loser.
Master Zhang's questions were more difficult one by one, and when they got to the back, even the surrounding scholars couldn't understand it, but the two of them were still writing.
"This last question was read by the old man in a book recently." Master Zhang said, "The answer to this question, even the old man has only just figured out. If the two young masters have answered it, the old man will have nothing to do. "
Chu Fei said, "Sir, please."
Master Zhang pondered for a while, and said the topic in his memory.
This question is really rare, it not only stumped Master Zhang before, but also stumped all the scholars who were onlookers. Even Ning Nuan and Chu Fei were like this.
Ning Nuan also felt that this topic was familiar, as if she had heard of it somewhere, but now she thought about it carefully, but she couldn't remember anything.
The scene was quiet for a moment, before Chu Fei took a step forward, cupped his hands towards Ning Nuan, and opened his mouth to say the answer. He was lucky. He had carefully studied this topic with Ah Nuan in his previous life. After pondering for several days, he finally figured out the answer. He never thought that he had heard it here first in his life.
He answered it, and the game was settled.
Ning Nuan was ashamed of herself, and looked at the twelve-sided lantern as it was handed to King An. She looked at the lantern up close, but the more she looked, the more she liked it.
Chu Fei came over.
"This lantern is to be brought to my sweetheart. Forgive me, I can't give the lantern to your son."
Ning Nuan stared at him without saying a word.
Chu Fei took off the mask with one hand, and added, "Today, I will compete with your son, and you will gain a lot. If your son doesn't mind, you might as well be your friend. If your son agrees, you might as well take off your mask and let your son see you. one side."
Ning Nuan: "…"
Chu Fei's brows were smiling, and the lanterns around him seemed to be a bit warm.
Ning Nuan has never seen him like this, she just tried her best to compete with An Wang. After a competition, she was also hearty, and she felt very happy in her heart.
Ning Nuan thought for a while, and then took off the mask.
When her face was exposed, Chu Fei, who was still smiling, was also stunned.
Chu Fei stared at her blankly for a while, then lowered his head to look at the lantern in his hand, and then remembered that he took the trouble to win a lantern to give to her, but he snatched it from her hand instead... Chu Fei's head was blank. Everyone was stunned.