Chapter 25: The Second Lantern Riddle
After Gu Yu was the first to solve the lantern riddle, those who had been watching from the sidelines making sarcastic remarks found themselves unable to speak. They looked at Gu Yu in amazement, finding it truly remarkable! The incredibly difficult riddle posed by Director Qingshan had actually been solved by this child who appeared to be only eleven or twelve years old!
Although Lian Town was just a small town, due to its convenient waterways connecting to the capital, some literati and scholars who had grown tired of life in the capital chose to settle in Lian Town. Ruan Qingshan, the director of Qingshan Academy, was one of them.
Ruan Qingshan had previously served as a Grand Scholar of the Imperial Academy in the capital. His official career was smooth sailing, but due to unforeseen family circumstances, Ruan Qingshan lost all interest in officialdom and eventually retired directly, coming to Lian Town to establish an academy.
The school where Gu Qingheng had previously studied in town was incomparable to Qingshan Academy; it was like comparing heaven and earth. However, the students admitted to Qingshan Academy were at the very least scholars who had passed the Tong Sheng examination, and there were also age restrictions. Despite the numerous rules, many people still hoped to send their children there. The reason was none other than Director Ruan Qingshan’s profound knowledge. Since mentoring numerous successful candidates for the provincial examination, he had gained great fame in Lian Town!
The imperial examination was divided into four levels: the departmental examination, the provincial examination, the metropolitan examination, and the final court examination, with corresponding titles of Scholar candidate, provincial scholar, metropolitan scholar, and Jinshi. As for Tong Sheng, it was the title given before passing the departmental examination. In other words, the Tong Sheng examination was merely a small test before the imperial examination, just the beginning of a long journey. Qingshan Academy, with its ability to nurture several provincial scholars, was already very capable, and even students from the capital sought Ruan Qingshan’s guidance to further their advancement.
As for the current Gu Qingheng, it was impossible for him to enter Qingshan Academy; he would only be qualified to enter after passing the Tong Sheng examination. Furthermore, he would still need to go through a series of selections, meaning the review process was extremely strict. Therefore, it was inevitable that the people around were amazed that the riddle posed by Director Ruan Qingshan of Qingshan Academy had been solved by the twelve-year-old Gu Yu.
However, Gu Yu was unaware of all this. Even if he were, he wouldn’t have taken it to heart. After reading for so many years, he finally had a chance to relax. Who would actively seek trouble for themselves… Cough cough, of course, Gu Qingheng’s situation was different from his. He still needed to study diligently, strive to become a high-ranking official, and then let his brother-in-law enjoy the good life. This was the best outcome.
Without feeling the least bit shameless about this thought, as Gu Yu reached out to take the plump, round fox lantern from the stall owner, he handed the lantern to Gu Qingheng beside him. This drew envious glances from the surrounding children, who couldn’t help but look towards Gu Qingheng, making his smug face almost bloom with a smile. His brother-in-law was amazing!
“Young man, can you tell me why ‘drinking and eating with friends’ is the character ‘Jiao’ (饺)?”
As Gu Yu took the lantern, the stall owner couldn’t help but ask. He was merely setting up stall to sell lanterns and use riddles to attract passersby. Director Qingshan, when posing these riddles, had not provided detailed explanations, only revealing the answers directly. Therefore, even the stall owner couldn’t figure out why the riddle and the answer were not connected at all, yet the answer was precisely that.
“Friends who drink and eat together, making connections through food. The radical for the character ‘Jiao’ (饺) is ‘Shi’ (饣), which sounds like ‘Jiao’ (交, meaning to connect). Combining them forms ‘Jiao’.”
Subsequently, after Gu Yu provided a detailed explanation, not only the stall owner but also the passersby all exclaimed “Oh!” and understood! This kind of riddle truly required some knowledge and a clever mind; ordinary people couldn’t solve it!
“Young man, what is your name and where do you live? Don’t be afraid. When Director Qingshan gave me the riddles, he also said that if a person who solves the riddle is young enough, they can be admitted to Qingshan Academy as a special exception.”
As everyone was savoring Gu Yu’s solution to the riddle, the stall owner suddenly spoke, delivering shocking news! Anyone who solved the riddle could enter Qingshan Academy! Was this a dream? At Qingshan Academy, one at least had to be a Tong Sheng to be qualified! Once admitted, unless one was an incorrigible fool, their future would be bright!
The people who had initially made sarcastic remarks were merely surprised when Gu Yu solved the riddle. However, as they looked at Gu Yu now, their faces were filled with envy. They wished their own children could be as remarkable, directly entering Qingshan Academy as an exception and embarking on an official career to become high-ranking officials.
“Oh? I’m sorry, I have no intention of studying. We’ll see if fate allows it in the future! By the way, I also want that cat lantern. Tell me the riddle!”
However, under the envious gazes of everyone, Gu Yu’s expression remained unchanged. After hearing the stall owner’s words, he replied rather coolly. Honestly, this stall owner was so annoying! Mentioning the recruitment of students for Qingshan Academy at this moment made Gu Yu very unhappy. After all, he had just been thinking about how to avoid studying and let his younger brother-in-law take his place, and now the stall owner’s words were giving them hope… Just looking at his little wife’s eyes shining brightly beside him made Gu Yu feel a headache. He might as well quickly get the lantern and leave immediately!
The stall owner also did not expect Gu Yu to refuse such a good opportunity! Immediately, his face wore an expression of disbelief, and he looked at Gu Yu with bewilderment, wondering if the child was foolish! Why would he give away such a good opportunity? However, the stall owner could never have imagined that Gu Yu was refusing because he was too lazy to study…
“The riddle for this cat lantern is: ‘A waning moon, the Big Dipper, one star sinks’ – guess one character.”
Since Gu Yu had already refused, the stall owner couldn’t say anything more. As Gu Yu had already started guessing the second riddle, the stall owner directly stated the riddle. He wanted to see if this young man could solve the second riddle as well. This riddle was even more difficult than the previous one, and it took Gu Yu a long time to finally figure it out.
“Three dots of water plus a heart forms the character ‘Mi’ (泌)… The Big Dipper has seven stars, which become seven dots, but ‘Mi’ only has six dots, missing one. Therefore, it is called ‘one star sinks’.”
“Amazing, amazing, you’re right again.”
Due to the previous instance of guessing the riddle correctly, as Gu Yu pondered the riddle, the surrounding crowd no longer made comments, but stood quietly in place, their gazes filled with anticipation as they looked at Gu Yu, wondering if this young genius could solve the second riddle! As it turned out, Gu Yu had indeed solved it!
When the stall owner heard Gu Yu guessing the riddle correctly for the second time, his eyes were filled with even greater astonishment, thinking that if Director Qingshan were here, he would definitely recruit Gu Yu as his personal disciple. Such intelligence was simply genius! As for the onlookers, seeing Gu Yu guess the riddle correctly for the second time, their faces had already turned from envy to admiration. Guessing once could be attributed to luck, but guessing twice in a row was a testament to true ability!
Regardless of what others thought, as Gu Yu reached out to take the cat lantern, he smiled and handed it to his wife. Seeing Mengyao’s flushed little face and eyes full of adoration, he felt incredibly satisfied. What started as a simple game of guessing riddles had unexpectedly turned into this… Fortunately, he had guessed them all, otherwise, he would have been embarrassed in front of so many people. Before transmigrating to ancient times, Gu Yu had a wide range of knowledge and had tried many fun activities like guessing riddles, which was why he could quickly find the answers now.
Now that his wife and brother-in-law both had lanterns, Gu Yu could finally leave this place quickly… If it were any later, Gu Yu truly feared that the stall owner would hold him back and insist that he study at the academy.
“Alright, now that we have the lanterns, let’s go look elsewhere!”
“No! Brother-in-law, you don’t have a lantern yet! I’ll guess one for you too… Stall owner, what is the riddle for this lantern?”
As Gu Yu spoke of leaving, Gu Qingheng repeatedly shook his head. Before Gu Yu could say anything else, he took a lantern in his hand and walked forward, pointing to a small dog-shaped lantern and asking the stall owner to reveal the riddle. Gu Qingheng was unsure in his heart, but to win a lantern for his brother-in-law, he had to solve the riddle!
Given Gu Yu’s experience from being underestimated at his initial appearance to the subsequent reversal and silencing of critics, even though Gu Qingheng was younger, no one dared to make any wild remarks. Moreover, according to what was just said, had the young boy who consecutively solved two riddles already gotten married? And was he this child’s brother-in-law? For a moment, the amount of information was overwhelming, making the surrounding onlookers unable to accept it, wondering about the origin of this family!
“Four sides are mountains, all mountains are connected, guess one character.”
Although the stall owner didn’t think that a child like Gu Qingheng could guess the riddle, he didn’t refuse, especially out of respect for Gu Yu, and stated the riddle. For this child to solve the riddle, he probably had to start reading from his mother’s womb. Not only did the stall owner think this, but even the onlookers thought the same… After all, with a riddle-solving genius like Gu Yu, it was already astonishing. Now, for a seven or eight-year-old child to solve a riddle, what was left for the rest of them to do!
“This is simple, it’s ‘Tian’ (田). Four sides are mountains, meaning there are four ‘mountain’ characters. All mountains are connected, which means arranging the four ‘mountain’ characters in different directions and connecting them. According to the top, bottom, left, and right directions, when superimposed, they form the character ‘Tian’.”
However, the crowd was destined to be proven wrong again. Because Gu Qingheng not only solved the riddle but also explained the process in detail with his childish voice. Before the stall owner could say anything, everyone knew he had guessed correctly! What kind of monsters were this family! How could they all be so capable? Could it be that they were all reincarnations of celestial children, which was why they were so formidable?
