Unparalleled Duo
Chapter 53 - 53 36 A Word

53: Chapter 36 “A Word 53: Chapter 36 “A Word After Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai had passed two rounds, Xue Tui’s attitude towards them was completely different from when they first arrived.

Now, Xue Tui no longer thought of them as country bumpkins who had stumbled in by mistake, but rather began to see them as wily newcomers in the Martial Arts world, who pretended to be pigs in order to eat tigers.

In the presence of such characters, Xue Tui couldn’t possibly make the questions too “ordinary,” otherwise he would seem to be lowering his standards.

Yes, generally speaking, the content of the third round was for him, Xue Tui, to personally pose questions and engage in “literary battles” with his opponent; and “literary battles” typically meant composing a poem, matching couplets, guessing riddles, and the like.

It was precisely because Xue Tui was exceptionally adept at this that he had earned the nickname “Little Dezu”; meaning…

he had quite a bit of the style of the famous scholar Yang Dezu.

But in truth, from this it was not hard to see why Xue Tui had always failed the imperial examinations over the years, and it wasn’t really unjustified.

The “cleverness” he possessed was never any true great wisdom or scholarly achievement…

but a typical display of the literati’s knack for showing off technical skills.

To sum it up with one phrase, he had the ability to embellish his writing with ornate phrases, yet lacked any strategy for ensuring peace and order in the nation.

So, serving as an advisor here at the Bogui Building wasn’t really a demotion for him…

because it was indeed more suited for him than officialdom.

At this moment, after Xue Tui had invited Sun Yixie and Mr.

Huang to take their seats, he himself began pacing back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back inside the study.

He had originally planned to catch them off guard with the second challenge.

Unexpectedly, Huang Donglai instantly came up with the right answer, turning the tables and catching him by surprise instead.

Under these circumstances, Xue Tui could only summon his wits in haste and quickly contemplate what to test for the third challenge…

“What to do?

Should I resort to my best skill of matching couplets?

“No…

it’s too difficult to come up with a couplet that could stump them in such a short time.

Ordinary couplets certainly wouldn’t be a challenge for them.

“Maybe…

I should pick a theme and have them compose a poem?

“No…

that also won’t do, composing a poem is too simple; even if they casually compose a doggerel, as long as it touches upon the theme and the rhyme and meter aren’t too flawed, I wouldn’t be in a position to criticise much…

because the two of them passed the first two challenges too easily.

If I nitpick on something subjective in this third challenge, it would appear as though I’m deliberately making things difficult for them.

“Hmm…

how can I make them lose convincingly?”

Xue Tui thought hard about it, but his mind was quick, so it didn’t take long.

A moment later, his eyes suddenly lit up and a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth…

Sun Yixie and Huang Donglai, seeing his expression, knew — uh-oh, that Xue character must have thought up some nasty trick.

“Hehe…

Gentlemen,” Xue Tui came over with a smile plastered on his face, and with a bow, he asked, “I wonder which of you would like to answer the ‘one word’ of the third round?”

After exchanging glances, naturally it was Huang Donglai who spoke up: “I’ll do it.”

There was no other way; of two evils, one must choose the lesser.

Huang Donglai, as inadequate as he was, was still stronger than the illiterate Sun Yixie.

“Good,” Xue Tui nodded, sat down himself, and began to drone, “I wonder if Mr.

Huang has ever heard a certain story…” He paused for a moment, then began to recite, “There was a man from Zheng who planned to buy shoes.

He measured his feet at home, then left the measurements on his seat.

When he went to the market, he forgot to bring them with him.

Having found the shoes, he exclaimed, ‘I forgot my measurements!’ and went back to retrieve them.

By the time he returned, the market had closed, and he couldn’t get the shoes.

People asked him, ‘Why didn’t you try them on with your feet?’ He answered, ‘I’d rather trust the measurements than myself.’

And so, Xue Tui recited the original text of the story “The Man from Zheng Buys Shoes” without missing a single word.

Huang Donglai…

didn’t entirely understand, but he guessed the story Xue Tui was telling from the few words and phrases he could comprehend, and somewhat pretentiously nodded and replied, “Ah…

I’ve heard of it.”

With a smile, Xue Tui continued, “Then, what about this one…” He then recited the original texts of the anecdotes “Mending the Pen after Sheep Are Lost” and “Carving a Mark on the Boat to Search for a Sword.”

Huang Donglai said he knew those as well.

At this point, Xue Tui felt the groundwork was adequately laid, and he began to speak in a taunting tone: “Hehe…

Mr.

Huang truly has an extensive knowledge and remarkable memory, and comprehensive talent and wisdom.

So, I believe…

with Mr.

Huang’s insight, he must be able to recount a moral fable that even Xue himself has never heard of, right?”

“Ah?” Huang Donglai was taken aback by the question, instinctively showing a troubled expression, and mumbled, “This…”

Seeing the look on his face, Xue Tui immediately showed a triumphant smile, pressing on, “If Mr.

Huang can come up with such a story, then this third challenge will be considered passed.

But if he cannot…”

This question he posed was extremely malicious.

From his perspective, as a learned scholar in the Ming Dynasty, composing poems, matching couplets, writing essays…

these weren’t difficult; they were formulaic affairs to them, akin to contemporary manga artists churning out series, where once you’ve mastered those few routines and your drawing technique is up to par, then creation becomes effortless.

After all, readers don’t particularly care about the plot or any profound underlying message, they mainly look at the drawings.

But to ask a man who spent his days poring over eight-legged essays in order to become an official to write a story, let alone a fable with some profound thought and philosophical depth, that’s not a matter of difficulty…

it’s practically impossible.

That was one thing.

And there was another: Xue Tui was confident that with his learning, there couldn’t possibly be a fable in this world that he hadn’t read; whether it’s “Strategies of the Warring States,” Mencius, or Han Feizi…

Whatever you could find, just start and he would immediately follow up and recite the rest for you.

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