Chapter Thirty-Six: Smoke Locks Pond Willow

  Brother Zhu said sleep and immediately fell asleep, Yan Yilie smiled, with a heart full of emotions. Brother Zhu seemed to be indifferent to anything, laughing all day long, but in reality, when he really wanted to do something well, no one could stop him, showing that his character was both brave and wise, yet seemingly foolish!

  At first, Yan Yulie's intention was just to make an interesting friend and have more fun in daily life. He didn't expect that Zhu Ziming would turn out to be completely different from what he had thought. The deeper they interacted, the more he felt that this person valued relationships and loyalty. Yan Yulie really appreciated his initial decision; otherwise, he would have missed out on such a good brother.

  "I'm also sleepy......" Yan Yuliang let out a yawn, having stayed up all night to play chess, his eyes were very tired, and he too found an empty table to lie down on and fell asleep.

  The next morning dawned with a faint light, and the sky turned a pale white...

  Zhū Zǐ Míng, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly felt something moving in front of his eyes. He slowly opened them to find a pair of willow-leaf eyebrows, vermilion phoenix eyes, and a delicate face with rosy cheeks staring back at him. Her long eyelashes fluttered rapidly, giving off an adorable and captivating appearance.

  The little girl stared at him with big eyes, and he didn't know what she wanted to do. Zhu Ziming sat up straight, stretched his waist: "Little sister, don't you think I'm handsome and elegant?"

  "Pfft!" Kong Xiaodie's pretty face turned red as she playfully spat out a mouthful: "Thick-skinned... I was just curious, at your age, how can your chess skills be so advanced?"

  Thanks to the good teaching of Qi She, I haven't played chess for many years and can still remember it. Zhu Zi Ming smiled: "I just blindly bumped into a dead mouse, but I didn't lose to your grandfather."

  "Wow, amazing! Grandpa Ming has already admitted defeat. Zhu Ziming is unwilling to reveal the secrets of his superior skills. Xiao Yatou couldn't help but ask in a soft voice: "Big brother, are you from Lingyun City?"

  Now as a son-in-law of the Shen family, he can be considered half a person from Lingyun City. Zhu Ziming nodded and said, "I should be."

  What's going on here? You're calling me brother, but still being so evasive. Kong Xiaodie frowned and continued to ask: "So, big brother, what's your name, which family in Lingyun City are you the young master of?"

  Looking at Xiao Nizi's puffed up appearance, Zhu Ziming couldn't help but smile inwardly, and the corners of his mouth curled up into an arc: "My surname is Bo, my name is Bohao."

  "Uncle is good?" Kong Xiaodie muttered a sentence, curious about the strange name, but as soon as she spoke it out loud, she immediately felt that something was off, Uncle is good...

  Kong Xiaodie's little face turned redder and redder, she was really angry, suddenly stood up straight with her small waist, put her hands on her hips: "You rascal, I'm going to tell Grandpa."

  "Little butterfly, what are you going to tell Grandpa?" At this moment, Kong Liyou, who was sleeping opposite Zhu Ziming, woke up lazily, actually being woken up by the noise of his little granddaughter.

  As soon as Grandpa woke up, Kong Xiaodie immediately ran to his side, tugging at his sleeve, her little mouth pouting high, looking very wronged: "Grandpa, he bullied me."

  "Who bullied my dear granddaughter?" The lovely appearance of his dear granddaughter made Kong Li wipe out the tired look, and he laughed heartily.

  Kong Xiaodie pointed at Zhu Ziming and said, "It's him... I asked him what his name was, he said his surname is Bo, and his first name is Bohao."

  "Uncle, how are you?" Kong Li said subconsciously.

  The little girl's cunning thoughts...... Zhu Ziming awkwardly said: "Mr. Kong shouted this sentence, I really can't bear it."

  "Grandfather, he even dares to take advantage of you cheaply. This third hurdle, he doesn't need to pass it," Kong Xiaodie said with shame and anger, can't you bear it just because I'm the one who shouted?

  This kid... Kong Li's old face turned red, really slippery, but how could he not know Little Sun's little thoughts, wanting to make himself angry for her, even grandfather was calculated.

  He coughed lightly twice and Mr. Kong said: "This young man, you still haven't passed the third test, yet you have the nerve to tease my granddaughter."

  Mr. Kong's words had a warning tone, even my granddaughter dares to tease me, do you still want to continue? Zhu Ziming cupped his hands and said: "Please let Mr. Kong give the next question."

  Kong Xiaodie glared at him, and with Grandpa's scolding, she finally felt a bit relieved.

  At this moment, Yan Yining had already woken up and saw everything that happened earlier. This Zhu brother really loves to stir up trouble, if he really provokes Mr. Kong, he won't even let you leave with a slap on the butt.

  Kong Lidi is going to set questions again, it should be more difficult than the second pass, but what kind of question will he ask? Yan Yuli thought secretly, believing that Brother Zhu would definitely break through.

  After a moment of silence, Kong Li thought for a while, then his old face turned red, and he couldn't say a word for half a day. Zhu Dachang was stunned, what's wrong with this old man? You're the one who set the question!

  Kong Lixian looked embarrassed, and Yan Yining couldn't help but think that even Mr. Kong himself didn't know what the third question was? He hadn't thought it through beforehand.

  However, the tragedy is that Kong Li really didn't think of what question to ask for the third level, because he was confident that his chess skills were unbeatable, and no one had ever passed the second level, so Kong Li still didn't have a question for the third level.

  Kong Li smiled slightly awkwardly and said: "As for this third question, you come up with the question, and I'll respond."

  Is there such a question? Zhu Ziming was stunned, and then he smiled and rubbed his palms together, watching me turn my brain around in circles, deceiving you into a mess.

  Kong Li saw the sly smile at the corner of his lips and immediately felt a chill. He said, "This question is only allowed to be answered from the Four Books and Five Classics."

  The sinister old man was well-read in poetry and books, but this topic is limited to the Four Books and Five Classics. How could it be difficult for him? Zhu Dachang smiled and said, "Can't you just come up with a couplet?"

  Kong didn't know that if he casually came up with a question related to the Four Books and Five Classics, Zhu Ziming would be completely stumped. However, Kong thought that Zhu was a talented scholar with a wealth of knowledge, so ordinary questions wouldn't be challenging enough for him. After thinking for half a day, Kong couldn't come up with anything more difficult than Go, so he let Zhu ask the question instead and answered it himself.

  "Good!" Kong Li gave a hearty laugh, thinking to himself, this little guy is really asking for trouble.

  Kong Xiaodie was covering her mouth and smiling secretly, while Yan Yuli thought she would cry. How could this pair possibly be worthy of the great talent of the Sage Kong?

  "Smoke locks pond willow!"

  Smoke locks pool pond willow...... Kong Li muttered a sentence in his heart, and suddenly his eyes were dull. The couplet is absolutely wonderful, with five characters in the upper line, each character embedded with five strokes as radicals, and the meaning is very clever. It seems simple to match, but it's actually very difficult.

  Jin, mu, shui, huo, tu, these five characters secretly contain the Five Elements... Such a wonderful and extraordinary couplet, Kong Li's eyes widened in surprise, it was his first time hearing such an absolute couplet, truly worthy of being called an eternal absolute couplet!

  What a difficult couplet! Yan Yunli saw the ingenuity of this couplet, and the lower line must also be five elements, it's really hard to come by.

  Kong pondered left and right, but still couldn't come up with a solution. He felt that the couplet was indeed unparalleled throughout the ages. As an ordinary person, how could he possibly match it? He clasped his fists: "What a wonderful couplet! You are truly talented, sir. I concede defeat."

  Kong Li hesitated for a moment before saying wistfully: "Young man, do you have the next line? If so, please tell me."

  Zhū Zǐ Míng didn't say the next line, instead he recited a short poem: "Smoke locks the pond's willows, lanterns adorn the brocade dam. Returning waves first try to dance, broken willows immediately hear songs."

  This little poem is fresh and elegant, and very rhythmic, sounds good, but Kong Li has already heard the true meaning of this poem, lanterns embroidered with brocade waves... This is exactly the second couplet.

  Smoke locks the pool and pond willow, lamp dike brocade damask waves..... Not only is the antithesis neat, but also contains the five elements. What's even more astonishing is that Zhu Ziming has actually connected the upper and lower lines to form a fluent and easy-to-recite little poem. This kind of talent is probably enough to make anyone sincerely convinced.

  Kong Li looked at him deeply and said with admiration: "Your talent, I have rarely seen in my life. I admire you, may I ask your honorable surname and name, who is your teacher?"

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  PS: Now every day I see someone rewarding, my mood is better, my appetite is also better, eating is more delicious, typing is also smoother, thank you to the brothers who rewarded, this is a recognition of the book...