HRPM – Chapter 221 The Vixen Comes to Challenge (6)

This time, if Jin Luoluo still did not fall into her hands, then all the smugness she had shown earlier would soon be crushed completely beneath Yang Ruoyao’s feet.

Hmph, a third-rate merchant’s daughter actually dared boast about defeating her? She would make Jin Luoluo lose all face.

“Speechless? You think far too highly of yourself. A simple couplet like yours could never stump me. I was only deciding which matching line to use against you!”

Jin Luoluo replied with a cheerful smile:

“Skyheart Pavilion — the pavilion shelters pigeons;
The pigeons fly, the pavilion does not.

How’s that for a matching line? And here’s another one:

Northern Sun Bridge — beneath the bridge grows buckwheat;
The buckwheat sways, the bridge does not move.

Your couplet really lacks skill. I can casually come up with several matching lines. Boring, boring!!!”

Yang Ruoyao nearly choked with anger. She had never imagined Jin Luoluo could truly answer it — and not only that, she had come up with two matching couplets.

Yang Ruoyao immediately challenged again:

“Cattail leaves, peach leaves, grapevine leaves —
Some are grasses, some are wood.”

Jin Luoluo calmly answered:

“Plum blossoms, osmanthus blossoms, rose blossoms —
Some bloom in spring, some bloom in autumn.”

Yang Ruoyao’s expression changed. She realized that if this continued, she absolutely would not win. She needed to produce an unparalleled masterpiece of a couplet.

She suddenly recalled a couplet her teacher had once taught her. Back then, it had taken her an entire month to solve it. She refused to believe Jin Luoluo could破解 it within such a short time.

Yang Ruoyao confidently lifted her brows, smiling radiantly.

“Miss Jin, if you can answer the following couplet, then I, Yang Ruoyao, will willingly admit defeat.”

“Mmm, now this finally has a bit of quality. I hope you won’t disappoint me too much.”

Yang Ruoyao secretly gritted her teeth, yet recited gracefully with a smile:

“The sky joins emerald trees as spring nourishes the rain.”

At first glance, the line seemed plain and unremarkable, but the lower line actually concealed a marvelous secret. If one read the entire verse backward, it became the perfect matching line.

However, Jin Luoluo likely would not possess such quick-witted brilliance.

This time, Yang Ruoyao was certain she would win.

The moment Yang Ruoyao finished reciting the upper line, the entire hall began pondering the matching line. Some shook their heads and sighed, others frowned in troubled thought, but not a single person showed any sign of having found a solution.

Even the Empress became interested. After thinking for a while, she shook her head.

“I also came up with a matching line, but the more I think about it, the less fitting it seems. Ruoyao, this is indeed an excellent couplet. May I see the lower line?”

“This subject will write it down for Your Majesty the Empress.”