My husband, please respect yourself. The princess is here to grab the bride.

Jiuye bowed and his eyes shone:

"Senior Sister, it was Bai Shaoqiu who beat Song Zigui in the couplet competition... I heard he won a full two thousand taels of silver!"

Dongfang Changying was stunned.

She stared at Jiuye with eyes wide open in disbelief and asked:

"Bai Shaoqiu? Is there any other talented person named Bai Shaoqiu in Xiling City?"

"No, it's, it's Senior Sister's husband!"

The elder scholar Si also looked up in astonishment. Dongfang Changying had already stood there in shock. After three full breaths, he asked again:

"You said Bai Shaoqiu is in the academy? What is he doing there?"

"I heard that one has to read for three days before entering the library!"

"..."

A useless person who can't even read a single word went to the library to read... for three days...

Dongfang Changying felt as if he was dreaming and asked again:

"You said he beat Song Zigui in writing couplets?"

"Absolutely true!"

Jiuye said with great joy:

"Junior brother, I didn't believe it at first!"

"Then I went to Shangling Academy and asked Dean Zhang in person when I handed him the letter from the master."

"Zhang Yuanzheng said that this is indeed the case!"

"He also said that the first line of the couplet was written by the great scholar Fang, and that it was written by the Ninth Princess and posted on the academy's wall of knowledge."

"As for Mr. Bai... he went to Shangling Academy the day after your wedding."

"That night he happened to go to the Wall of Knowledge and happened to see the students of the academy writing the couplet under the Wall of Knowledge."

"Song Zigui is here too!"

"They bet two thousand taels of silver on who could come up with the second line of the couplet within the time it takes to burn an incense stick..."

"As a result, Mr. Bai came up with the second line in just two inches of incense, and won two thousand taels of silver."

Dongfang Changying's head was buzzing.

Probably no one knows what kind of person Bai Shaoqiu is better than her!

When the emperor's edict arrived at the palace, the first thing she did was to check Bai Shaoqiu's life.

It wouldn't matter if she didn't check it, but once she did, she would become even more desperate!

Although she was indifferent and lazy by nature, the girl still fantasized about what her future husband would be like.

Of course he is the best because he is both civil and military.

But if he has great literary talent or strong martial arts skills, this is also acceptable.

At the very least, you should have some knowledge of poetry and literature, and at least have the status of a scholar.

This is the bottom line that Dongfang Changying can think of!

But she never expected that the son-in-law given to her by the emperor was actually an illiterate prodigal son!

He is definitely the most useless person known to everyone in Xiling City!

What can she do?

She had no choice but to escape from the marriage, hoping to find a solution to this nightmare.

She came here and spent four days watching the waterfall and the orchids, but she didn't know how to get out of this predicament.

Hearing Jiuye say this at this moment... she thought Jiuye wanted to use this method to comfort herself, but Jiuye's expression was very serious and he didn't seem to be lying.

Jiuye would not lie.

His face turns red whenever he tells a lie!

So... is this true?

If Bai Shaoqiu could win the couplet-writing competition against Song Zigui, Xiling's most talented scholar... wouldn't that mean that at least in the aspect of couplet-writing, Bai Shaoqiu's attainments were higher than Song Zigui's!

The girl's heart was suddenly filled with emotion, but after a moment it was suppressed by her reason.

This is absolutely impossible!

There must be something wrong with the information Jiuye received.

At this time, Mr. Si frowned slightly and asked:

"What does the couplet look like?"

Jiuye bowed:

"The first line is 'The clouds disperse morning after morning, ...

Si Lao Daru's eyes lit up: "What a good combination!"

"The first couplet is superb, and the second couplet is flawless!"

After applauding, the elder scholar Si asked in confusion:

"Is this second couplet really Bai Shaoqiu's?"

Jiuye patted his chest:

"Sir, I will never tell a lie!"

"This matter has spread throughout the city, but..."

"Just what?"

"But the people in the city didn't believe it. They all scoffed at it, thinking it was just Mr. Bai's lucky break!"

After a pause, he added:

"Zhang Yuanzheng thinks so too!"

Dongfang Changying calmed down from the excitement he had when he first heard it, and sat lazily at the table again, his expression gradually dimming.

"He has never left Xiling City. Where did he go to see the sea?"

This hits the nail on the head!

Xiling City is located in the western part of Xingguo. There is no sea here, only continuous high mountains and endless grasslands outside the mountains!

No one in Xiling City has the chance to see the sea in their lifetime. It is thousands of miles away and no one has the time to see it.

The great scholar Si Lao once traveled to many countries and saw the sea.

He knew the spectacular sight of high and low tide.

Therefore, he knew that this couplet was perfect!

But someone who has never seen the sea, and may not even know the rise and fall of the tide, came up with this second line...

The elder scholar Si pondered for three breaths:

"I'm afraid this isn't just some piece of shit luck!"

Dongfang Changying was stunned: "Mr. Do you think this is his ability?"

The old scholar stroked his long beard and said:

"He doesn't necessarily have to have seen the sea. There are quite a few descriptions of the sea in the book."

"From a literary perspective, we almost always use scenery and allusions when writing poetry and songs."

"Those scenes are not necessarily what the authors have seen with their own eyes, and those allusions are almost impossible to be what the authors have personally experienced."

"But this does not prevent the author from borrowing from it and adding his own associations to write beautiful poems."

“The same goes for couplets!”

Dongfang Changying heard this and asked again:

"But you also know his situation, sir!"

Mr. Si didn't know how to explain this.

A person who originally couldn't even understand the Enlightenment, suddenly came up with such a good second line of a couplet... This went against the common sense of reading and also overturned the imagination of the old scholar Si.

He looked at Jiuye and asked:

"What was the other news you just mentioned?"

Jiuye bowed and said, "It's about the Zhuxi Literary Festival."

"Jubao Bank has set a bet for this literary gathering..."

Jiuye handed a piece of paper respectfully to Mr. Si:

"The detailed odds and instructions are all written on it. The people in the city have gone crazy!"

"The main thing is that the odds on Mr. Bai winning the championship in this gambling table... I think it's really weird!"

Si Lao Daru took the gambling instructions issued by Jubao Money House. Dongfang Changying, who was standing beside him, raised his head in shock and looked at Jiuye:

"You said that the odds offered by Jubao Bank also include Bai Shaoqiu?"

"Senior Sister, that's right!"

"Jubao Bank says if Mr. Bai wins the first prize, he'll get ten times the money he bets on. If he doesn't win, he'll get one time the money he bets on!"

Dongfang Changying was stunned again:

"Won't everyone in the city bet on him to lose?!"

"Yeah, even I went to buy Mr. Bai who paid ten taels of silver to lose... hehe,"

Jiuye scratched his head and smiled awkwardly: "This can also win a tael of silver, right?"

"I heard that Mr. Ge from the City Guard House bet 10,000 taels of silver on Mr. Bai to lose, and the second son of Chang's Bookstore actually bet 50,000 taels of silver on Mr. Bai to lose. Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Jiu Ye shook his head: "I'm afraid Jubao Bank will lose everything this time!"

Dongfang Changying took a deep breath, and his lazy look disappeared.

She stood up suddenly: "Ridiculous!"

"I have to go to Jubao Money House and ask Manager Qian to cancel this ridiculous gambling game!"

The old scholar Si suddenly smiled:

"Don't rush,"

"Qian Sheng is an old fox... Jubao Bank is the princess's money bag. Even if Qian Sheng had a hundred guts, he wouldn't dare to make such a losing gamble!"

Dongfang Changying was stunned for a moment. "Sir, are you saying... that this was done by the Ninth Princess?"