Making you a son-in-law is not about making you conquer the world.

It was noon when the group got off the bus, and the entrance to Qingfeng Tower was bustling with noise.

The first thing Lin Ping noticed was the three large, gilded characters "Qingfeng Tower," below which were two striking whiteboards. On one of the boards, a line of small characters in vermilion lacquer read, "Unperturbed by favor or disgrace, watch the flowers bloom and fade in the courtyard."

The other wooden board was empty, and five or six scholars dressed as Confucianists stood by, pondering in bewilderment.

"The owner of Qingfeng Tower, Mr. Liu, is truly skilled at making money, and he has swindled these literati and scholars quite a bit."

Zhu Xiaoji glanced at the group of scholars and said with considerable disdain.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Lin Ping asked, puzzled. Although he had been a spendthrift before, he had never actually been to Qingfeng Tower. Zhu Xiaoji, on the other hand, had come a few times with his father.

“As you can see, Brother Ping, the first line of a couplet is written on the wooden board on the left, but the second line is missing on the right. The owner of Qingfenglou once said that whoever can provide the second line will be able to eat for free for life,” Zhu Xiaoji said.

"With so many scholars and poets, is there not a single one who can come up with a matching second line?"

Lin Ping didn't quite believe it.

Although the Wu Kingdom did not place much emphasis on culture and education, it still had hundreds of thousands of scholars, so it was not impossible for them not to come up with a second line of the couplet.

"That's the infuriating part. The couplet is not difficult to rhyme and meter, but its artistic conception is quite high. There is no standard for judging it. So no matter what kind of second line these talented people put forward, it will be rejected by the owner of Qingfeng Tower. With this gimmick, Qingfeng Tower is always full of customers."

Zhu Xiaoji replied angrily.

Hearing this, Lin Ping glanced at Zhu Xiaoji secretly and exclaimed: I didn't expect this spendthrift to be able to see through the clues.

From a purely business perspective, these eager literati and scholars are miles ahead of Zhu Xiaoji.

As the saying goes, like father, like son. Even though Zhu Xiaoji is a playboy, he has inherited his father's clever and shrewd business acumen.

"These scholars aren't fools; there's no need for them to lose their integrity over a few meals..."

Lin Ping still felt that this matter was strange.

These literati valued integrity above all else, and they would never compromise their principles for a meager living, let alone stay here all day for a few meals.

"This first line was personally written by the Prefect, and these hypocritical scholars are only doing this to curry favor with him."

Zhu Xiaoji's words revealed the secret, once again impressing Lin Ping.

In matters of principle, these literati are more mercenary than ordinary people; they are simply adept at disguising it.

If Zhu Xiaoji could understand it, Lin Ping would naturally understand it even more deeply. He even concluded that this restaurant had a great deal of interest with the prefect.

Lin Ping suddenly had a brilliant idea and smiled mysteriously: "Your Excellency, you can only blame your precious son. Who told him to offend me?"

"How about we dine and dash?" Lin Ping said seriously.

Zhu Xiaoji and his friends were overjoyed, even showing longing in their eyes. This was not because they were unwilling to spend money on the meal, but simply because eating without paying was more exciting and challenging.

These rich young men just love excitement!

"Dazhuang, Erzhuang, hurry back to the manor and call for more people, the more the better!"

Tang Wunao got excited and gave orders to the two servants beside him.

In the eyes of these spoiled brats, there was only one way to dine and dash: to subdue the boss with their fists. They didn't believe Lin Ping could provide a standard second line.

Xu Jianren was also eager to try, but felt that leaving home was a bit rushed, so he only brought four servants with him.

Does the word "robber" have "robber" written all over Pingye's face?

Lin Ping shook his head helplessly, walked straight to the white wooden board, snatched the brush from a scholar, and wrote several large characters in a flowing, elegant style.

"Stop, stop!"

A fat, greasy-faced middle-aged man strode out, clearly intending to stop Lin Ping.

This white wooden board is made of top-quality material and is quite valuable.

It's reserved for the actual second line of the couplet, so you can't just scribble or draw on it randomly.

After Lin Ping's actions, it's highly likely that a new one will be needed.

Little Li and his men reacted quickly, immediately blocking the middle-aged greasy man's way with an extremely tough attitude, meaning: You dare to stop the son-in-law of the city lord's mansion? You have a lot of nerve.

Ping Xiujie and the others stared wide-eyed, truly admiring Lin Ping's courage.

They had known Lin Ping for a long time and naturally knew how much knowledge Lin Ping possessed. This charade was mostly to damage Qingfeng Tower's reputation, since without this gimmick, Qingfeng Tower's business would suffer.

The group all took two steps back, feeling a chill for Lin Ping.

This behavior is more terrifying than dining and dashing. Dinner-and-dash won't cut off Qingfenglou's source of income. Anyway, these people's fathers have some dealings with the owner of Qingfenglou, so it won't cause too much trouble.

However, destroying the prestigious reputation left by the prefect would truly cut off Qingfeng Tower's source of income, and would not only invite retaliation from Qingfeng Tower but also repercussions from the prefect.

The prefect's attack? The prefect is nothing! His father-in-law is the city lord, the true master of Huai'an City. A mere prefect is nothing more than a hired hand.

Thinking of this, Ping Xiujie and the others became a little more resolute.

Amidst the intense anticipation of everyone, several large, dark, and shiny characters appeared on the whiteboard.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the wooden board, as if they had been electrocuted.

This is really exciting!

Lin Ping's words completely overturned everyone's worldview. It wasn't the content of the words; in other words, with such bizarre handwriting, who would care about the content of the words?

This word... is like... the footprint left by a dung beetle rolling a dung ball, and it's a drunken dung beetle.

Lin Ping threw the brush on the ground, dusted off his hands, and asked arrogantly, "How about this second line?"

It doesn't matter how it is or not, the key is that they can't understand it either.

Lin Ping was met with countless eye-rolls. We are too ignorant to reply, so please translate this for us, Master Ping.

The middle-aged, greasy man looked almost frantic. If it weren't for Xiao Li and the others stopping him, he would have torn Lin Ping's pants apart to see how audacious he was...

"It's an insult to elegance, it's an insult to elegance!"

Several scholars shook their heads, finding the sight utterly repulsive. One of them knelt on the ground, picking up his poor writing brush, tears streaming down his face. "My poor brush! That brat did such a shameful thing to you..."

Brush, ink, paper, and inkstone are the Four Treasures of the Study, which these literati valued more than their own lives. They even believed that the Four Treasures of the Study possessed a spirit, and that writing such ugly characters was an insult.

Perhaps sensing the expressions on everyone's faces, Lin Ping awkwardly scratched his head. Having practiced calligraphy with a pen for over twenty years, he simply couldn't write with a brush.

All he could do was shout and read aloud, "Listen up, everyone! What I wrote is 'I have no intention of leaving, I gaze at the clouds drifting across the sky.'"

The stunned expressions on everyone's faces didn't fade; instead, they became even more exaggerated. However, the stunned expressions that were previously offensive were now those caused by excitement.

The first line, "Unperturbed by favor or disgrace, watch the flowers bloom and fade in the courtyard," means that only by viewing honor and disgrace as ordinary as the blooming and fading of flowers can one remain calm. Using elegant words and tranquil imagery, it reveals a rare and precious attitude towards life, making it a timeless classic.

Lin Ping's second line, "Leaving without lingering, gazing at the clouds drifting in the sky," means that one should view the coming and going of one's position as changing as the drifting clouds, so that one can remain calm and composed.

Whether it's the neatness and beauty of the sentences or the profound meaning, it can be described as absolutely superb!

The middle-aged, greasy man was stunned. Even with his limited education, he could still understand the meaning of the sentence.

The previous couplets given by scholars all had some flaws, but this one was flawless, and even the middle-aged greasy man couldn't refute it.

"What kind of mess is this?"

The middle-aged, greasy man forcefully broke free from Xiao Li's grasp and pointed at Lin Ping, launching into a tirade of insults.

No matter how perfect Lin Ping's second line was, the shop owner wouldn't admit it and could only resort to this kind of sophistry.

He made three plans: first, to drive Lin Ping away using this method; second, to resort to force, since Qingfeng Tower never lacked servants; and third, to bribe Lin Ping with money, since he couldn't resist the temptation of money.

"Tsk tsk..."

Lin Ping shook his head helplessly and whispered in the middle-aged greasy man's ear, "If you think these talented people are all good-for-nothings, then keep arguing and don't blame me for not warning you."

The middle-aged, greasy man's eyes darted around; he naturally understood the meaning behind Lin Ping's words.

The brilliance of gold cannot be buried by mud, so even if he throws excrement at Lin Ping's lower couplet, it will have no effect.

The talented men around me are not complete idiots; at the very least, they can tell the difference between good and bad.

If the middle-aged, greasy man readily accepts Lin Ping's second line, it will be fine; at most, he'll lose a bit of a gimmick. But if he vehemently refutes it, it will surely anger these talented men. If they spread the word, it will definitely ruin Qingfeng Tower's reputation. At that point, those self-righteous scholars will certainly not come here for a single meal.

The middle-aged, greasy man's face looked as if he had swallowed a live fly; he wanted to vomit but couldn't, wanted to swallow but couldn't, and let the fly swarm around in his mouth, multiplying...

"You don't think there's anything wrong with the second line of the couplet, do you?"

The talented men all had gloomy faces.

If the middle-aged, greasy man were to refute the matter again, they would immediately spread the word and let all the scholars in Huai'an City judge it.

Don't underestimate these scholars just because they may lack other skills; their ability to spread rumors is first-rate.

There's a saying in Jiangzhou: "Better to mess with a playboy than a scholar."

Offending a scholar is far more dangerous than offending a spoiled brat; at most, a spoiled brat can just gather more servants for a head-on confrontation.

But scholars are different. Based on the principle of enjoying a good show, they are often very united. If one person is insulted, all the scholars in the city will come forward. Moreover, regardless of why the person was insulted, they will stand on the moral high ground and say that the other party looks down on scholars, and then escalate it to the level of wanting to destroy the pillars of the Yue Kingdom.

Some high-ranking officials dared not offend these intellectuals, for they could not win arguments with them, nor could they afford to fight them.

If you were to strike a scholar, what would become of you? You would likely face condemnation and criticism from all the scholars in the entire Wu Kingdom.

The middle-aged, greasy man chickened out; he had to pick up the mess he'd spilled himself, and not even have to do it with his mouth...

"Gentlemen, you must have misheard. This young man's matching couplet is absolutely perfect. This meal is on the house!"

The middle-aged, greasy man's smile was somewhat stiff; he was naturally distressed about the hard-earned money.

Furthermore, he secretly wondered whether he should pay these people hush money, lest Lin Ping's second line ruin the gimmick.

“I, Lin Ping, am not deaf. You didn’t say that just now. If you are sincere, then waive the meal fee for everyone in the restaurant.”

Lin Ping smiled innocently.

Upon hearing the name Lin Ping, the middle-aged greasy man went limp. The thought of losing even more money made him feel like he couldn't breathe, but he still endured the excruciating pain and said, "Lunch for everyone today is free!"