After transmigrating, I became a stepmother.

Soon, the palace servants prepared writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. To ensure fairness, the two sides would take turns posing and answering riddles.

Su Zixiu spoke first: "Three people went out on the same day. What is the name of the ci (a type of Chinese musical instrument)?"

Yang Bo was overjoyed; this was too easy. He immediately blurted out, "Spring is gone."

After saying that, he looked triumphantly at the person opposite him, and sure enough, the other person nodded, subtly straightening his back even more.

Then, his gaze involuntarily drifted toward the Emperor and the Crown Prince. He only glanced at them briefly and didn't dare to look any further, so he couldn't discern anything from their faces, which left him with a sense of regret.

He was so caught up in his joy at being the first to answer that he forgot that the Sheng Kingdom was going to ask a question after answering correctly. Just as he lowered his head to comfort himself, the hall fell silent, which seemed rather abrupt.

Seeing him smugly gloating over himself, Li Xuan's lips curled into a mocking smile. Fool!

Then he said, "East, west, north, and south connect the fields, three sparse stars are connected by a line. Guess the Chinese character."

Upon hearing Li Xuan's voice, Yang Bo looked at him in surprise, his eyes full of accusation: Why did you steal his opportunity!

Li Xuan ignored this fool, and dared not do anything in the main hall!

Su Ziqi pondered for a moment and then said, "Think about it."

Seeing Li Xuan nod, he replied without hesitation: "The entire realm is under the king's control. Guess the Chinese character."

Yang Bo, who was eager to show off his skills, froze for a moment, his expression becoming conflicted.

Li Xuan was also silently pondering various possibilities.

Just as a smile was about to bloom on Prince Su's face, a clear male voice rang out: "The reasoning is sound."

Prince Su looked toward the source of the voice and saw the thinnest and most handsome of the three people opposite him. He had thought this person was just a pretty face, but it seemed that he had some ability!

"Please give me a question."

Su Ziqi's words meant that he had answered correctly.

At this point, some members of the Anguo delegation truly began to focus their attention on Wen Tingzhu. Of course, this doesn't mean that no one had noticed him before, but like Prince Su, everyone had previously regarded him as a figurehead who was merely basking in credit. Now, they were truly recognizing his talent.

"Flying snow fills the hills, hastening the passing of guests; a riot of flowers fills the eye like a pair of flowers. Let's pick two medicinal herbs."

Previously, the questions tested were all about texts or poetic forms, which were familiar to scholars. Now, Wen Tingzhu has suddenly disrupted this pattern, which has made everyone ponder.

The first line, without a doubt, should refer to an old man with white hair; as for the second line…

As time passed, Prince Su's expression grew increasingly grim, while Emperor Sheng's expression became more and more relaxed.

Suddenly, Su Zizhi's eyes lit up, and he blurted out, "It's white-headed old man and cocklebur."

Wen Tingzhu nodded, showing no disappointment at the other party's solution to the riddle.

Because of Wen Tingzhu's rather difficult riddle, Su Ziqi thought for a while before coming up with a riddle: "The setting sun is like blood, guess a flower."

This was a flower he had seen by chance; most people wouldn't even know it.

Yang Bo glanced at Su Ziqi and thought the other man was simply crazy. Why did he have to take a flower arrangement exam? But then he thought that Wen Tingzhu was the one who started disrupting the rules, so he glared at him fiercely.

Li Xuan, on the other hand, came from a scholarly family and was not fond of extravagance. He was interested in elegant things such as flowers and landscapes. After thinking for a while, he said, "Late-blooming red."