"Fine, I'll handle it accordingly!" Xiaoyao didn't know if he couldn't hear the implication or was pretending, responding according to the Young Miss's literal meaning.
"..." The Young Miss gritted her teeth. Just as she was about to say something, she found there was no time because they had already arrived before the Nangong sisters.
"Hmph! Can't win yourself, so you brought help?" Nangong Suxin said directly.
"Who says I can't win? Just now I was just hungry. This kid came to bring me food." The Young Miss certainly wouldn't admit it. In front of someone she was pursuing, even with a swollen face she'd claim to be fat.
"Right, I just brought food, not important!" Xiaoyao nodded in agreement.
If things were just like this, others would naturally regard Xiaoyao as an unimportant figure, just a small servant.
However, someone seemed unwilling to let Xiaoyao hide. She couldn't possibly not know Xiaoyao's extraordinary aspects.
"Little servant, did you use that stone last time?" Nangong Suxin looked at Xiaoyao and asked with a light smile.
"?!"
Almost everyone was confused by Nangong Suxin's question. None of them could imagine why she would speak to Xiaoyao like this with such an attitude. This clearly told people that the two of them didn't seem to have just met and weren't without previous interactions.
Several girls were all surprised by this, including the Young Miss. She also didn't know Xiaoyao and Nangong Suxin had interacted before.
Also, what stone were they talking about?
"That one, I already used it," Xiaoyao didn't mind and replied directly.
"Used it? What did you use it for?" Nangong Suxin asked with a smile, seemingly just casual conversation.
"Used for... wait, you're trying to get information from me. I'm not that stupid," Xiaoyao almost let it slip. He didn't want Nangong Suxin to figure anything out.
"Hmph. We'll see,” Nangong Suxin snorted. She swore to figure this out. Definitely!
However, what she didn't expect was—
"Stone, I know! Xiaoyao, is what you smelted this time was that thing?" the Young Miss asked. Though she didn't know the specific situation, from the conversation she cleverly connected it to Xiaoyao's sword forging.
"...Young Miss..." Xiaoyao was somewhat speechless.
"What's the matter? Isn't it? Then why did you suddenly forge swords?" The Young Miss thought she'd guessed wrong and continued asking.
"If you don't speak, I won't consider you mute," Xiaoyao shook his head very helplessly.
"Damn, what do you mean, kid."
"Nothing much..." Xiaoyao shook his head. Can I scold you?
At this moment, Nangong Suxin suddenly burst into laughter: "Haha... very interesting, too interesting!!"
From the Young Miss's words, Nangong Suxin already understood what stone Xiaoyao bought. Though she didn't know specifics, at least she knew it was sword forging material.
At the same time, Nangong Suxin also discovered the relationship between Xiaoyao and the Young Miss was very interesting.
Not like a master-servant, more like friends, even the kind of troublemaking friends...
"Alright, enough nonsense. Let's compete in lantern riddles again. If I win, I'll go on a date with Nangong Su!" The Young Miss got straight to the point.
"I..." Miss Nangong Third wanted to say she hadn't agreed yet.
"That's settled, begin!" The Young Miss didn't give Miss Nangong Third a chance to explain and started herself. It seemed the other party didn't even have a say yet.
"Young Miss, this 'cutting through tangled hemp' approach works and gives people no choice! But your tone is too crude!" Xiaoyao quietly reminded.
"Isn't this showing more manliness? Didn't you say when pursuing girls you should display masculine spirit?" the Young Miss also replied quietly.
"Manliness doesn't equal crude language. Also, using crude language when pursuing girls gives them bad impressions, especially when you're addressing her family. Look, Miss Nangong Third is already angry." Xiaoyao said quietly.
"No, then what should I do?" The Young Miss's tone seemed somewhat anxious, but she remained calm and wasn't really worried.
"Nothing much. Anyway, all of Qingyun City knows you're the local female tyrant..." Xiaoyao said indifferently.
"Mm mm!" The Young Miss nodded, readily accepting the title of female tyrant.
"What are you two whispering about? Are you planning some conspiracy?" Nangong Suxin looked at Xiaoyao. At this moment, she felt the Young Miss was less important. This small servant Xiaoyao needed serious attention.
"No conspiracy, but we have an open stratagem," Xiaoyao replied.
"Open stratagem?" For a moment several girls didn't understand this term's meaning, but they quickly got it since put together it was quite obvious and easy to understand.
"Which is to defeat you all, then invite Third Miss for a late-night snack," Xiaoyao said.
"Fine," Nangong Suxin agreed with a smile.
??
How did she suddenly agree so easily? The Young Miss was somewhat confused.
Like the Young Miss, the Nangong sisters also didn't understand why their eldest sister agreed, though it was impossible for the other side to win. Still, why agree to such conditions?
Also, weren't you very opposed just now?
Xiaoyao didn't care about all this and just said: "Then let's begin. What are the rules?"
"The rules are simple. We each pick lantern riddles and have the other side guess. Whoever guesses more correctly wins." Nangong Suxin said with a smile.
"That's it? No other condition?" Xiaoyao asked. He wanted to clarify if there were additional clauses, sometimes the key to victory often lay in unimportant small rules.
"No!" Nangong Suxin shook her head.
"Really none?" Xiaoyao asked again.
"Really none!!" Nangong Suxin frowned and answered again.
"You're sure?" Xiaoyao asked once more. At this point everyone was getting impatient.
"Damn, are you deaf? They already said no!"
The one saying this wasn't any of the Nangong family members but the Young Miss beside Xiaoyao. She impatiently pushed Xiaoyao.
"I'm just confirming to prevent them from going back on their word later!" Xiaoyao replied. "Young Miss, where are the hardest lantern riddles? Let's go get them..."
"You don't need to tell me, follow me!" The Young Miss dragged Xiaoyao away, leaving the somewhat bewildered Nangong sisters. They were curious about what relationship this Young Miss and small servant really had.
"They're going for difficult ones. We should also find the hardest ones!" Nangong Suxin said.
"Why? That Young Miss is stupid. With any slightly difficult riddle, she might not be able to guess it!" one Nangong miss said.
"She is stupid, but she has a small servant beside her. I've been played by him several times..." When Nangong Suxin reached this point, she suddenly stopped because she realized she'd let something slip.
"What?! Big sister, what did you say?" The Nangong sisters exclaimed simultaneously. They didn't know about this and found it hard to believe their eldest sister had been played by a small servant.
Nangong Suxin wasn't just a martial arts genius, she was accomplished in other areas too. Playing her was definitely not easy. In Qingyun City, only a few people had this ability. Now she said she'd been played by a small servant several times, how could people believe this?
"Is he that servant who competed in... that?" Miss Nangong Third suddenly asked, and after asking, a faint blush appeared on her face.
"..."
Several sisters remembered something, something they'd almost forgotten. So it was him...
"Right, it's this despicable small servant!" Nangong Suxin nodded. Since this was already known by everyone, there was nothing embarrassing about it.
"That was one time, what about the others?" the Nangong sisters asked.
"What others? Quickly go find lantern riddles, difficult ones, preferably ones even Third Sister can't answer." Nangong Suxin changed the subject, not wanting to continue discussing the above issue.
Here, Nangong Suxin was also quite good at literary accomplishments, she could be called a talented woman. But compared to Miss Nangong Third, she was far inferior.
Miss Nangong Third was known as Qingyun City's foremost talented woman. Though born into a martial arts family, she was famous for literature. Well-versed in various classics and accomplished in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, almost no one could match her.
Because of this, the Nangong sisters completely didn't take the Young Miss's challenge seriously. Even regarding Xiaoyao, Nangong Suxin felt it was impossible for him to beat her third sister. However, she couldn't be as casual as before, just taking a few difficult riddles.
Was it necessary?
Though the others couldn't understand this, feeling it was just dealing with a small servant without needing such serious treatment, since Nangong Suxin said so, they couldn't have other opinions. They went to find the most difficult riddles, ones even Miss Nangong Third didn't know.
Of course, the person who created these riddles wasn't necessarily superior to Miss Nangong Third in literary accomplishment and learning.
Riddle creators weren't necessarily the most knowledgeable or smartest, they might just be ordinary people. But the questions they created could still stump renowned talents.
Lantern riddles sometimes didn't test difficulty. Often they tested the breadth of knowledge. If you knew that type of knowledge, it was actually easy to answer. But if you didn't know, you could never solve it in a lifetime.
This was why the Young Miss sought Xiaoyao. In her impression, Xiaoyao knew a little about everything, so his knowledge breadth was very wide. Naturally, his probability of guessing answers was higher.
Being able to solve riddles won half the battle. The other half required stumping opponents. Like Nangong Suxin's thinking, the Young Miss dragged Xiaoyao directly toward the most difficult level.
The lantern riddles hanging in the air had several levels. Some were for entertainment, suitable for ordinary people. Others were more professional, requiring certain literary skills. The higher up, the more difficult. At the very top, besides the question creators, almost no one knew the answers.
(End of Chapter)