Chapter 38

"Stop!"

Before Feng Jueyu and the other two could leave, Xu Zixiong suddenly stepped forward. He looked at Ma Yuanru, who was almost petrified, and felt a deep disdain in his heart.

However, when he came, the elders of the Xu family had explicitly told him to try to win over these talented individuals. How could he ignore the matter of the bet?

Xu Zixiong shouted, "Brother Feng, are you going to be so unreasonable?"

"Hmm?" Feng Jueyu stopped, turned around, and sneered, "What are you talking about, Brother Xu? When have I ever been unreasonable? The bet was just a joke. I never demanded that Brother Ma do anything if he lost. It was he who said he would eat the painting if I pointed out its flaws. What does that have to do with me?"

Xu Zixiong was about to argue, but Feng Jueyu continued, "Moreover, when I left, I never said that Brother Ma had to eat the painting. How can you blame me for that?"

Everyone present thought, "That's true. He only said to drink water while eating the painting, not that he had to eat it. He's not being unreasonable." They all breathed a sigh of relief.

This conflict of pride wasn't just about Ma Yuanru. Everyone had been praising him, and if he really ate the painting in public, their faces would also be damaged.

Hearing that Feng Jueyu didn't insist that Ma Yuanru eat the painting, the other talented individuals finally felt relieved.

However, before they could calm down, Feng Jueyu spoke again, this time to Ma Yuanru, "Brother Ma, if you feel embarrassed, you don't have to eat it. There's a saying, 'stinky... something doesn't make a sound.' I can pretend I didn't hear it. Sister Ruomeng, didn't you hear it either?"

Shangguan Ruomeng didn't expect Feng Jueyu to say this. She lowered her head, and her face turned red: "Stinky fart doesn't make a sound?" How could he insult someone without using foul language? Clearly, he was saying that Ma Yuanru's words were worse than... Sigh, what a bad person.

Shangguan Ruomeng was very smart and quickly understood Feng Jueyu's intentions. This guy was clearly the type who would eat you without leaving a bone, insult you without using foul language, and play with you to death without any consequences.

Seeing that Shangguan Ruomeng didn't respond, Feng Jueyu said, "Xing'er, you didn't hear it either, right? Yes, that's right. Give Brother Ma some face. Otherwise, he'll be embarrassed."

Xing'er's face turned red, and she nodded silently, unable to speak.

Feng Jueyu laughed and said, "Brother Ma, don't take it to heart. Actually, no one heard it. Goodbye, goodbye."

Feng Jueyu then walked away.

Xu Zixiong, Ma Yuanru, Chen Hongjie, Shang Gongjin, and the other talented individuals were left with their faces pale and their tempers flaring. The bastard might as well have not said anything; now things were worse.

Ma Yuanru, with a dark face, silently watched Feng Jueyu's back. In a fit of anger, he spat out a mouthful of blood, then tore the painting to shreds and said with hatred, "A man can be killed but not humiliated. I'll eat it, Feng Jueyu, watch closely."

In a fit of rage, Ma Yuanru, in front of everyone, stuffed the entire painting of Xilin's beautiful scenery into his mouth, almost choking to death. His wish to show Feng Jueyu that he was a man of his word was not fulfilled.

Feng Jueyu turned his head and never looked back.

...

On the lakeside path, Shangguan Ruomeng and Xing'er, the master and servant, were laughing uncontrollably. Feng Jueyu walked in front, his eyes darting around.

"Alright, stop laughing. Did he eat it?"

Xing'er, holding her stomach and bending over, said while laughing, "He ate it, almost choked to death."

"Yay!" Feng Jueyu snapped his fingers and said with a grin, "I knew it. That guy would definitely eat it. What an idiot. Is face really that important? If it were me, I would have run away long ago."

Shangguan Ruomeng laughed, feeling particularly good today. Reflecting on the past ten years of business competition, she hadn't been this happy in a long time.

"Brother Feng, you're so shameless. If everyone were like you, what would be left of integrity?" She gave Feng Jueyu a playful glare and couldn't help but laugh again.

Feng Jueyu said, "You can't say that. The one who pretends to be strong is the fool. I'd rather be shameless than a fool." As he spoke, a cruel smile appeared on his lips.

As they walked along the lakeside, enjoying the scenery and flowers, the relationship between the three of them subtly improved, and they talked more to each other.

Despite Feng Jueyu's actions that had impressed Shangguan Ruomeng, she was still worried about the cargo at the freight dock. After walking for a while, she finally stopped and said, "Brother Feng, I originally planned to accompany you on a boat tour and moonlight viewing today, but Huairen Hall has some pressing matters that I need to handle. Let's end it here for today."

Feng Jueyu, who had noticed her distraction, nodded and said, "Oh, if Sister Ruomeng has something to do, go ahead."

Shangguan Ruomeng smiled, feeling very appreciative, and said, "Brother Feng, you won't blame me, right?"

Feng Jueyu laughed, "Important matters come first. You go ahead, and I'll wander around a bit more before returning."

Shangguan Ruomeng, in a hurry, didn't insist and said, "Then Brother Feng, do as you please. Here, I have some silver for you." She pulled out a stack of silver notes from her sleeve and handed them to him, about a hundred taels.

Feng Jueyu smiled inwardly, thinking that this girl still doubted his literary talent. He didn't refuse and took the silver.

After saying goodbye to Feng Jueyu, the master and servant got into the carriage and returned to the Shangguan residence to arrange the evening's events.

Left alone, Feng Jueyu headed straight for the lakeside.

At the boat rental area, he saw a particularly dense crowd. Not far away, a group of fangirls were holding purple orchids and gazing affectionately at the square by Xilin Lake, then screaming.

"Wow, it's Lord Xiruiyun's boat. Quick, remember the number, 1, it's actually boat number 1."

"Xiruiyun is the top scholar of this year's imperial examination. He's so handsome. Lord Xi will definitely become the top imperial scholar."

"Look over there, it's Miss Sima's boat..."

...

Amid the screams of the fangirls and the sighs of the heartbroken, Feng Jueyu strolled along the lakeside. The Tian Nan Empire was indeed a land of talented people. In just a short time, Feng Jueyu heard the names of nearly a dozen talented individuals, all of whom were highly accomplished.

Especially the few luxurious boats on the lake, which attracted the attention of countless admirers.

Feng Jueyu learned that the more luxurious the boat, the earlier its number. Of course, to board such a boat, one needed to have considerable talent.

In addition, there were many large boats set up by brothels before the talent gathering. These boats housed the most famous courtesans in the entire Tian Nan capital.

If a visitor wanted to get close to a courtesan, they had to pass several tests to win her favor and be invited into her quarters.

The scale of this talent gathering in Tian Nan was indeed significant, almost gathering all the famous courtesans in the empire.

To make the event more lively, the boats also had young women steering them, which was why Feng Jueyu had heard the clear calls from the lake earlier.

Whenever there was an outstanding article or poem, the boats would announce it to each other, writing it down and reading it aloud for everyone to hear.

This method added a lot of color to the event, and even Feng Jueyu was impressed by the organizers' creativity. How did they come up with these ideas? They should be in sales.

However, none of this mattered to Feng Jueyu. His wish was simple: to find a small boat, sit in it, enjoy the lake and mountains, and visit some famous sites. If he ran out of ink, he would just ask the boat girl to row back.

So, Feng Jueyu walked to the back, looking for boats with higher numbers.

However, truly talented people were few, which led to a large number of half-talented individuals. Finding a boat with a high number was not easy.

Finally, at the very end, Feng Jueyu saw a boat, number 138!

The boat was small but could accommodate four people for a pleasant outing. Moreover, the boat was steered by two clever young girls, and Feng Jueyu happily ran over.

Before he reached the boat, a gust of yellow wind came from his left, and in the blink of an eye, a figure appeared on the boat.

"Hey, give me a boat. This gentleman wants to go boating on the lake." The speaker was tall and handsome, with an ordinary face but a sharp aura.

He wore a coarse, earth-colored robe, not particularly valuable or neat, but Feng Jueyu's eyes were immediately drawn to his waist belt, which had a rare blood jade.

Just by the value of the jade, it was far more precious than the finest emerald, indicating that this person's identity was worth further investigation.

This person was not at all polite, and he didn't seem like a talented individual. The two boat girls frowned, and one of them said impatiently, "Sir, to board the boat, you need to compose a poem about the lake. Please recite it."

The girl was polite, but the man didn't hesitate. Before she finished speaking, he began reciting...

"Boating on the lake, the spring scenery fills my eyes, my delicate feet play in the water, admiring the mandarin ducks..."

This was the first line of a poem, with a pleasant and serene atmosphere. Feng Jueyu, who had just arrived, heard this and shook his head in helplessness. It seemed this boat would belong to someone else.

Feng Jueyu glanced at the man in the yellow robe, noting his sword-like eyebrows, tiger-like eyes, and a full forehead, a typical face of a martial artist. Yet, he could recite such a poetic and serene verse, which was quite surprising...

However, before Feng Jueyu could leave to find another boat, the girl suddenly interrupted the man.

"Stop, this poem has already been recited at least fifty times. Please recite another one."

What the...!

Feng Jueyu almost fell into Xilin Lake when he heard this...

Note to readers:

ps: After a night of hard work, I finally finished it. I'll post five chapters at once, and then it might be until tomorrow morning.

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