"Scram."
Zhao Xifu laughed and cursed as he swatted Zhao Rong’s hand away and put the wine cup back on the table, then seated himself again.
Zhao Rong asked with a smile, "Uncle, what should I do with this cup of wine?"
Zhao Xifu crossed his arms and gave him a sidelong glance, not in a good mood, "Don’t ask me, do as you please."
Zhao Rong smiled, picked up the wine cup, and glanced around at the table where Qing Jun, Xiaoxiao, and the others were seated...
By now, everyone had gradually figured out what had happened:
Zhao Rong had played a novel word game, throwing out an interesting paradox.
Even the dumbest little fox demon, under Zhu Yourong’s smiling explanation, opened her eyes wide, shining as she looked at Mr. Zhao, unable to resist applauding.
The first to react, Yu Huaijin, meticulously picked up her bowl and chopsticks again, continuing to earnestly finish the remaining food in her bowl.
Although Zhu Yourong was slightly slower to respond than her disciple, it didn’t mean she was less clever than Yu Huaijin; it was more like those involved are often confused, while the latter had been quietly eating, silently eavesdropping, more like an observer.
In fact, this was also part of the reason why Zhu Yourong felt that the young Confucian scholar had always been exuding a kind of mysterious allure that attracted her to come closer.
Even though she was already very familiar with him and they had an understanding of each other as confidants, Zhao Rong’s actions and words still managed to surprise and amaze her from time to time, always throwing out some wonderful and interesting things, not just his excellent calligraphy... Thus, she was attracted time and time again to get closer and explore.
At this moment, Zhu Yourong was whispering explanations to Xiaoxiao and Jingzi while trying not to lift her eyelids too obviously to glance at Zhao Rong across from her.
Additionally, the clever and astute Qian’er was the person in the room who had realized what was happening almost as quickly as Zhu and Yu, well, much quicker than her mistress.
And while Zhao Lingfei had always maintained a serene and dignified demeanor with graceful poise, even after Yu Huaijin had spoken, and Zhu Yourong and Qian’er revealed expressions that seemed to indicate understanding, her gaze wandered as her hand clenched a fist under her sleeve, yet she still maintained a modest appearance.
However, the heart of this autumn-eyed lady couldn’t help but become anxious and curious... What exactly did her husband say, that Miss Yu mentioned... he had already answered? And then there was Senior Zhao’s reaction...
If Zhu Yourong and the other ladies were not present, Zhao Lingfei would certainly have become an inquisitive baby right away, unhesitatingly asking Zhao Rong, since Rong’er would never disdain her... Well, at most he would curl his finger under her nose and scrape it, calling her a "study slacker," a term that Zhao Lingfei didn’t quite understand.
But for now... Fortunately, Qian’er understood her mistress and, seeing Zhao Lingfei secretly frowning and biting her lip in anxiety and slight guilt, Qian’er quietly whispered a few words in her ear...
A moment later, Zhao Lingfei blinked, looked at Qian’er who was snorting through her nose, picked up her chopsticks to give the young girl some vegetables, and let out a subtle smile as she turned to proudly look at her husband.
Qian’er had told her that she was a big dunce who only knew about cultivation and asking about the sword, and Zhao Lingfei was not annoyed.
Having Rong’er was enough for her; anything she didn’t understand she could ask him, listen to his words, and besides, their future children would also inherit the husband’s intelligence, they certainly wouldn’t be dumb, so what is there to worry about...
Zhao Lingfei’s gaze was gentle as she watched Zhao Rong, who was turning his head back toward her, while beside her, Zhao Qian’er, taken aback, looked at the dish in her bowl prepared by her mistress and suddenly grimaced...
At this moment, Zhao Rong had not seen much of this.
He turned his head to survey the people in front of the table, thought for a bit, and suddenly placed that freely available cup of Ice Lady Wine in front of a certain inconspicuous little girl among them.
The shy maid who often hid behind others was taken aback.
Zhao Lingfei, Zhu Yourong, and several other women were somewhat surprised as well.
They couldn’t help but scrutinize Li Xueyou.
She had a panicked expression on her little face, looking left and right, pushing the wine back with both hands.
"Why are you giving this to me, Brother Ziyu... This wine, this wine should go to Sister Zhao or Xiaoxiao and the others... It’s not my turn, an outsider, to drink..."
Zhao Rong laughed, unconcerned and gesturing with his hand:
"No worries, they’ll probably have some later, I’ll try again."
Inside the hall, everyone was taken aback, looking at him with curiosity.
Zhao Rong smiled, turned to Zhao Xifu and said, "Shopkeeper, I’ve heard about the rules of the Summer Insect Pavilion, it’s about chatting for a bit, right? So about this Ice Lady Wine..."
As he was saying this, his gaze drifted downward, glancing at the black wine pot on the table, and he proposed playfully:
"How about... we compose a couple more lines?"
Zhao Xifu: "..."
The grey-clothed man with a stubbly beard looked at the smiling Zhao Rong, narrowing his eyes slightly with a hint of caution.
He pondered for a moment, crossed his arms, and nodded, "Then let’s chat. Over the years, I’ve seen many people come to the pavilion, from all over the Nine Provinces, and I’ve heard quite a few stories. Today, I’d like to see what this young fellow can come up with that I don’t already know."
Zhao Rong thought about the rules of the Summer Insect Pavilion that Fan Yushu had mentioned before, shook his head:
"To show the ’shopkeeper’ something new I dare not claim, it’s just some casual musings after reading a few leisurely books on a normal day, something to chat about at this family banquet."
He smiled, picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks, and casually said:
"Shopkeeper, did you know, there are some people in this world who see colors differently from others, for example, seeing blue as green and green as blue, which is quite peculiar."
Zhao Xifu snorted and waved his hand to interrupt, "Isn’t that just blurry vision? Kang Cangzi’s Complete Dao states: ’Those with blurry vision see tawny as red and dark green as black, which today we call distinguishing black from white.’... isn’t that what you are talking about?"
He raised his eyebrows, recited a long stretch of ancient text, paused, and asked Zhao Rong with some pride.