Finest Servant

Chapter 279 The Lantern Riddles (Part 2)

"In order to make this more fun, anyone who can't solve the riddle has to drink a cup as a penalty. And if someone can solve Miss Zhiqing's riddle, when she comes later, let's invite Miss Zhiqing to share a drink with him. What do you all think?"

The crowd responded enthusiastically, their eyes filled with eager anticipation. It seemed that Miss Zhiqing held quite the charm. The Eldest Miss was surrounded by people, and it was too late for her to intervene.

Tian Wenjing was the first to pick a red-tasseled lantern and handed it to a servant. The servant took out the riddle and read, "A man cannot stand without trust. Guess one character."

Tian Wenjing laughed, "It seems I picked the easiest one. It's the character for 'word'." The crowd applauded, showering him with praises. The flattery was endless.

Lin Wanrong chuckled to himself. Even a ten-year-old child could solve such a simple riddle.

Next, it was Yu Hang's turn. He climbed up a ladder himself, took down a red-tasseled lantern, and unveiled the riddle - "Biting off a cow's tail in one go."

This riddle was a bit challenging. As Yu Hang racked his brains, the Second Miss lightly laughed, "So dumb, isn't it the character for 'announce' from 'announcement'?"

Although the Second Miss's voice was soft, it reached everyone's ears. Yu Hang blushed, and all the young gentlemen and ladies who saw the Second Miss's radiant eyes and bright smile were absolutely smitten. They broke into applause.

Lin Wanrong gave her a thumbs up. ‘Indeed, worthy of being my wife, a true reflection of my teachings.’ Yu Shuang's beautiful face turned red, and she hid in her sister's arms, not daring to lift her head.

Then it was Xiao Yuruo's turn to guess. She hesitated between the orange, red, and blue lantern tassels. She softly asked Lin Wanrong, "Lin San, which one should we choose?"

Seeing the Eldest Miss hesitate, Tian Wenjing said with a laugh, "Miss Xiao, why not choose a red-tasseled lantern? Given your exceptional learning, this red tassel will not trouble you. If worst comes to worst, I will join you in guessing this riddle."

At his words, the Eldest Miss' face changed. To guess together? This son of Minister Tian had been polite before, but this statement was almost frivolous. She couldn't take it and gave a cold huff without saying a word.

Tian Wenjing, who had been proud of himself, realized he had made a big mistake as soon as the words left his mouth. He hastily said, "Miss Xiao, don't misunderstand. I didn't mean it that way."

Lin Wanrong, who couldn't tolerate any offense towards him, was a man feared by many. Seeing the Eldest Miss teased before him, if he could endure this, he might as well jump from the building.

Lin Wanrong stood up swiftly. ‘Dammit, if I don't teach you a lesson, you won't understand that you can't mess with me, Brother San.’

The Eldest Miss, seeing his expression, knew that he was about to blow up. She hurriedly pulled him, giving him a sincere look, indicating not to be reckless. Lin Wanrong snorted coldly, "When he insults you, he insults me. Sit tight and don't talk."

Seeing his domineering attitude, Xiao Yuruo felt a little wronged, but also a bit sweet. She dared not speak, pulling her sister to sit next to her, watching how he would handle this.

"Miss Xiao, please don't misunderstand, I meant no disrespect earlier—just expressing my concern—" Tian Wenjing regretted his words deeply and was about to explain to Miss Xiao when he saw a servant of the Xiao family rise, grinning and with mocking eyes, and said, "This must be Mr. Tian Eyeglasses, right?"

[TL: Tian Yanjing (Eyeglasses)]

Tian Wenjing would not be demeaned in front of a servant and with a stern face, replied, "My name is Tian Wenjing, not Tian Eyeglasses."

"Oh, I apologize for the mistake. Lately, I've been so busy traveling and lack of sleep has weakened my memory. Mr. Tian Eyeglasses—oh, Mr. Tian Wenjing, you must not blame me." Lin Wanrong spread his hands in a show of apology, all the while grinning and blocking Tian Wenjing's path.

"What are you trying to do?" Tian Wenjing had to hold his anger in check because the man was a member of Xiao's household, and he needed to maintain a good impression.

"I'm doing nothing much. Didn't you want to solve a riddle with our Miss? I'm here on her behalf to evaluate you, Mr. Tian, and see if you're worthy." Lin Wanrong spoke with a jocular expression, but his words caused a stir amongst the crowd.

It was a shock that a mere servant was sent to evaluate Tian Wenjing, even if he had misspoken earlier. What capabilities could a mere servant have?

Tian Wenjing glanced at Miss Xiao and seeing her silently smiling without denying Lin Wanrong's words, he knew she had approved it. Tian Wenjing, an instructor at Jinghua Academy and the son of the Minister of Public Works, Minister Tian, was a man of reputation. He was being looked down upon, right in front of the woman he admired— it was enough to make his blood boil.

Seeing the furious expression on Tian Wenjing, Lin Wanrong laughed coldly. To dare to flirt with Miss Xiao in front of him, the guy was asking for trouble. "What, are you scared?" Lin Wanrong chuckled.

Tian Wenjing retorted coldly, "What qualification do you, a mere servant, have to solve riddles with me? And I won't even bother guessing the blue tasseled lantern with you, you can just exchange riddles with my servants."

The people of Jinghua Academy burst into laughter at Lin Wanrong's audacity in challenging Tian Wenjing.

Lin Wanrong shrugged nonchalantly, "Initially, I didn't deign to engage in riddles with you. But since you want to play riddles with our Miss, and our Miss is peerless in talent, it's not just anyone who can approach her. Reluctantly, I have to be the pioneer. If you can defeat me, then you're qualified to speak with our Miss. This is what we call fairness. As for the choice of lanterns, you're right, Mr. Tian, the blue one is inauspicious, we cannot choose that. We should choose something more pleasing, let's make do with the orange one."

"Insolent!" Yu Hang was the first to protest, "The orange lantern was chosen by Miss Zhiqing, and who in this world could solve it? You're a disgrace."

Lin Wanrong's expression changed, and he laughed coldly, "Excellent, very excellent. Even Xu Wei, the great Mr. Xu, never dared to call me ignorant. You, a simpering monkey, dare to be so bold."

Upon mention of Xu Wei, everyone was taken aback. How could a mere servant recognize the top scholar of the realm? Surely, he was a fraud.

Upon noticing the man's unique complexion, the confidence in his posture despite his simple green garb, Tian Wenjing began to feel some doubt. This servant showed none of the humility expected from someone of his station.

This name-drop of Old Xu seems quite effective, Lin Wanrong mused with secret delight. He was not overly confident in guessing the riddle of the orange lantern, but seeing as no one else dared to attempt it, he knew their confidence was equally lacking. If they were to attempt a red lantern of moderate difficulty, Tian Wenjing could probably guess a few correctly. Therefore, he concluded, it was better to guess the hardest - the orange lantern. At worst, everyone failed, and he would lose nothing.

After hesitating for a long while, Tian Wenjing finally said, "Very well, you do have some courage. Let's play this guessing game then. To prevent others from saying I am taking advantage of you, I give you another chance to choose between the orange and red lantern."

"I have already chosen orange. I like challenges," Lin Wanrong replied with a smile.

Tian Wenjing glanced at Miss Xiao, then gritted his teeth. "Orange it is. We'll both guess, and whoever gets it right first wins."

Seeing his tense expression, Lin Wanrong chuckled heartily and declared, "As it should be."

The lantern riddles set by Miss Zhiqing always consisted of four parts, representing auspicious beginnings. Although they were only four questions, they were notoriously difficult to decipher, with few ever succeeding. Over the years, everyone had grown apprehensive of Miss Zhiqing's lanterns. They were a challenge no one dared to undertake.

But now, spurred on by Miss Xiao from Jinling, Young Master Tian dared to take on the challenge. The crowd was both nervous and excited.

The servant selected to administer the game carefully took down an orange lantern and read out loud, "The first three riddles are to guess a single character. The first riddle is - the person in the mirror!"

As soon as the words fell, Tian Wenjing's brows furrowed in deep thought.

Upon hearing this, Lin Wanrong paused before breaking into a smile. ‘Damn, isn't this just a brain teaser? Who can outplay me in this?’

Eldest Miss Xiao noticed his alternating bewilderment and smiles. Her palms were sweaty with anxiety, not knowing what he was up to.

Lin Wanrong took out a pen and paper, wrote down four characters, and turned to Tian Wenjing with a smile. "Young Master Tian, have you figured it out? I will yield the opportunity of the first round to you. If you know the answer, go ahead and say it. Please, don't stand on ceremony."

Tian Wenjing was sweating bullets from the tension but dared not respond, fearing that speaking would disrupt his concentration.

Handing the paper to the servant, Lin Wanrong instructed, "Read these four characters!"

Confused, the servant unfolded the paper and read aloud, "Peace in going out and coming in. What does this mean? Could this be your answer?"

Lin Wanrong chuckled and said, "Don't rush, don't rush. Read the second character in this phrase."

Reluctantly, the servant said, "The second character is 'in,' from 'Peace in going out and coming in.'"

Lin Wanrong clapped his hands and announced, "Correct! 'In' from 'Peace in going out and coming in' is the answer to the riddle."

The crowd in the hall paused, but before long, someone reacted, "Isn't the answer just the character '入'?" [TL: In or Enter]

"Lin San, you are truly impressive!" Xiao Yushuang cheered, full of smiles. She rose to her feet, clapping vigorously. The young lady also offered him a smile, nodding slightly in acknowledgment.

Lin Wanrong was in tears, silently thanking his physics and mathematics teachers for teaching him about virtual images and projection theory.

[TL: The riddle Person in the mirror → 镜中人, the character for person here is 人 and if put in the mirror is similar to the character 入]

Tian Wenjing hadn't expected this minor servant to guess the first riddle right off the bat. He was anxious and quickly ordered, "The second question, read the second question quickly!"

The steward was also flustered and hurriedly pulled down the second riddle, which read, "Beside flowers and willows."

Sweat rolled down Tian Wenjing's forehead while Lin Wanrong sneered coldly. Just by the virtue of mental fortitude, you've already lost, he thought.

"Bring me a paper!" Lin Wanrong called out lightly with a smile. Tian Wenjing stared at him in horror. Could it be possible that he'd guessed the second one as well?

"Don't be nervous, just wiping off some sweat." Lin Wanrong chuckled and accepted two sheets of white paper from the steward. He wiped his hands with one, and then wrote down four characters on the other.

Everyone glanced and saw the four characters were—"Lantern Festival!" [元宵佳节]

"What does this mean?" the steward asked.

"Look at the fourth character!" Lin Wanrong chuckled.

"Festival!" [节] The steward turned pale, and the crowd understood. The Xiao family's servant had won again.

Tian Wenjing didn't dare to ask for the next riddle. He now realized why the servant from the Xiao family was so audacious. When it came to solving riddles, this man indeed had a knack for it. The riddles from Miss Zhiqing, which nobody dared to attempt, he solved as if he was picking things out of his pocket. He had guessed two in a row, which was indeed shocking. If a mere servant possessed such skill, what about Miss Xiao herself? Could she be on par with Miss Zhiqing?

"Young Master Tian, do you want to continue?" the steward whispered to Tian Wenjing.

Before Tian Wenjing could respond, someone in the hall called out, "Miss Xiao, let your servant guess all four questions. Every year Miss Zhiqing gives four riddles, but no one has ever solved them all. Today, let your servant test his luck."

The Eldest Miss glanced at Lin Wanrong, uncertain of what to do. Because of his penchant for showing off, he'd guessed two correctly and was now in an awkward position, neither able to advance nor retreat. She wondered how he'd extricate himself. Despite this, her smile was impossible to conceal.

‘Do they think I'm some street performer? Who would do this demanding yet thankless task without any reward?’ Lin Wanrong was about to step down when Xiao Yushuang suddenly rushed to his side. Her cheeks flushed, she whispered, "You naughty man, just guess two more. At most, I'll let you kiss me later."

‘This girl, trying to seduce me? Well, I fall for this kind of thing,’ Lin Wanrong teased her, whispering into her ear, "And where should I kiss? I won't settle for just any place, hehe."

"Stop it!" Yushuang's face turned a deep red, and she ran to hide behind her sister, daring not to come out.

Lin Wanrong laughed, "Alright, for a great and glorious mission, I'll guess again. But please, no one laugh."

"Good!" This time, it was the crowd from Jinghua Academy who cheered him on. It was rare to see someone daring enough to challenge Miss Zhiqing in those days.

The steward hurriedly took down another lantern with an orange tassel, respectfully announcing, "The third question, also a word riddle."

He unfurled the paper, and everyone gasped in surprise. The white paper was clean and empty, without a single word written.

Everyone glanced at each other, wondering what this meant. Could Miss Zhiqing have made a mistake?

The steward didn't dare say anything else and could only look at Lin Wanrong, hoping he would speak.

A blank sheet of paper? Lin Wanrong was taken aback. What kind of game was this? He paced anxiously, slowly moving around the hall. Seeing him silent, everyone else fell quiet, afraid of disrupting his train of thought.

Lin Wanrong didn't believe that this was a mistake. There were plenty of people who loved to be mysterious these days. Perhaps this Miss Zhiqing liked to give riddles without any words.

A riddle without words? An idea flashed across his mind, and he almost jumped with joy. ‘Oh, isn't this a wordless riddle?’ He grabbed a brush and, with flourishing strokes, wrote down four big characters.

...

Note: The second character riddle, "节", has significant differences between the traditional and simplified forms. The answer to the riddle is based on its simplified form, hence the clarification.

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