The Rebellious Son Becomes a God

"The fog shrouds the green water with a thousand layers of waves."

Jiang Li blurted it out almost immediately. His response was so neat and quick that Wei Wanrou's expression began to turn a bit solemn.

At this moment, Wei Wanrou was already feeling a bit anxious in her heart. She gritted her teeth and decided to come up with a more challenging first line of the couplet, trying to suppress Jiang Li's momentum.

"Butterflies play among the flower clusters, filling the path with fragrance." This first line of the couplet depicted a wonderful picture of butterflies playing among the flower clusters and the fragrance of the flowers filling the path. It was not easy to come up with a response that was both neatly antithetical and could show an equally beautiful artistic conception.

Jiang Li smiled slightly and replied,"Orioles sing on the willow bank, filling the dyke with melody." Once again, he responded perfectly. He looked so relaxed as if these couplets were no pressure for him at all. The people in the audience couldn't help but let out a soft exclamation of admiration.

Wei Wanrou became even more anxious. Fine beads of sweat gradually appeared on her forehead. This man in front of her was really quite capable. The jealousy and unwillingness in her heart grew stronger, so she decided to use a couplet with a bit of a provocative meaning.

"The brush moves like dragons and snakes, writing a splendid piece." This first line of the couplet not only praised her own calligraphy skills but also had a certain level of difficulty. She wanted to see how Jiang Li would respond.

A glint of amusement flashed in Jiang Li's eyes, and then he said in a clear voice,"The zither plays like phoenixes, performing a magnificent chapter."

Not only was the antithesis neat, but by responding with the zither playing a magnificent chapter, it implied that his own talent was equally outstanding and he didn't fall behind at all. The audience burst into another round of applause.

At this time, Wei Wanrou was already a bit flustered. The hatred in her heart grew stronger, and she felt that she must come up with more powerful means to deal with Jiang Li.

"A dog barks at the wicker gate, its noise disturbing the ears." On the surface, it depicted the common scene of a dog barking at the wicker gate in the countryside, but the word "dog barks" vaguely implied that the other person was as vulgar and noisy as a dog.

Jiang Li frowned slightly. Naturally, he heard the hidden meaning in Wei Wanrou's words and sneered inwardly, but he still replied quickly,"A rooster crows at dawn, its melody spreading across the sky."

He fought back with the positive image of "a rooster crows at dawn", and with the melody spreading across the sky, it surpassed the first line of the couplet in both momentum and artistic conception, making Wei Wanrou's expression even uglier.

Seeing that this move didn't work, Wei Wanrou was even more furious and decided to come up with an even more humiliating first line of the couplet, trying to completely embarrass Jiang Li.

"An ugly woman imitates others' frowns, her appearance laughable." This first line of the couplet directly compared the other person to the ugly woman who imitated Xi Shi's frowns, blatantly humiliating the other. She didn't believe that Jiang Li could still respond calmly.

A glint of coldness flashed in Jiang Li's eyes. He hadn't expected Wei Wanrou to be so despicable. However, he quickly came up with the second line. With a mocking smile on his lips, he replied,"A talented person displays wisdom, his charm extraordinary."

By emphasizing that he was a talented person displaying wisdom, it formed a sharp contrast with the first line given by Wei Wanrou. It not only cleverly avoided the humiliation but also outshone her in terms of demonstrating talent. The people in the audience also understood the implication, and many of them began to show disdain for Wei Wanrou's behavior.

Even the people on her own side felt a bit ashamed and covered their faces to some extent.

Wei Wanrou's face was now flushed red, and her eyes were full of disbelief and intense hatred.

She had never expected that this person, who was originally just the unfavored and sickly Fifth Young Master of the General's Mansion in her eyes, would possess such astonishing talent and completely overpower her in matching couplets, leaving her with no chance to fight back.

Jiang Li, however, still had a smile on his face. Looking at the embarrassed Wei Wanrou, a glint of mockery flashed in his eyes, and he slowly said,"Miss Wei, after matching couplets until now, it's just so-so."

I still have a few couplets here and would like to invite Miss Wei to show her skills. If you can come up with the second lines within the time limit of one stick of incense, then it will be counted as Miss Wei's win. How about that?"

[These people who care so much about their reputations will surely be thoroughly offended this time. But since I've already decided to make a splash, there's no need to hold back.]

After saying that, without waiting for Wei Wanrou's response, Jiang Li directly gave the first line of the couplet:"Miss Wei leans against the door, showing off her learning, truly in the state of imitating Xi Shi's frowns." As soon as this first line was announced, everyone in the audience was stunned for a moment, and then some couldn't help but chuckle secretly.

Jiang Li was really applying what he had learned in a flexible way and also borrowed the allusion of Xi Shi.

This first line clearly meant that Wei Wanrou was relying on showing off her learning and was actually as ridiculous as imitating Xi Shi's frowns. It was quite aggressive and directly hit Wei Wanrou's sore spot.

Hearing this, Wei Wanrou's face immediately turned ashen with anger. She pointed at Jiang Li, and her voice trembled with rage:"You... How dare you humiliate me like this!"

Jiang Li just shrugged his shoulders and said innocently,"I'm just giving a first line of the couplet. If Miss Wei can't come up with the second line, there's no need to get so angry. At worst, just admit that your skills are inferior to others."

Wei Wanrou glared at Jiang Li, feeling both angry and anxious in her heart, yet she couldn't come up with a proper second line to respond for a while.

She had always been proud of her talent in the past. When had she ever suffered such humiliation? But now, in front of everyone, she was being ridiculed by Jiang Li like this. She really wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Seeing that she didn't answer, Jiang Li smiled and said,"Can't think of a response? It doesn't matter. I have more."

Then he slowly gave the second couplet:"The delicate girl puts on an act, pretending to be gentle and demure, just like a fox dressing up as Guanyin."

This couplet was even more straightforward, vividly depicting Wei Wanrou's usual appearance of pretending to be dignified and gentle while actually being deeply scheming. Hearing this, many people in the audience couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Wei Wanrou was now both ashamed and angry, and her eyes seemed to be spitting fire. However, faced with Jiang Li's highly aggressive couplets, she had no way to fight back. She could only stand on the stage, like a buffoon, enduring everyone's ridicule.

Jiang Li, however, had no intention of letting her off and continued,"The legitimate daughter of the Xiangguo, having an undeserved reputation, leaving nothing but a laughingstock in the capital."

This last couplet not only ridiculed Wei Wanrou herself but also belittled her identity as the legitimate daughter of the Xiangguo, really taking the humiliation to the extreme.

There was no response from Wei Wanrou for a long time.

"Dang~"

As the bronze gong was struck, the master of ceremonies stepped forward to announce the result of the competition.

"Time's up. In this round, Master Jiang Li from Princess Le'an's team wins."

"Jiang Li? That person is Jiang Li!! That young Xiucai Jiang Li!"

As soon as the master of ceremonies finished speaking, someone in the audience reacted.

"What? He's Jiang Li, the Xiucai Jiang? No wonder!"

"I was wondering. How could someone with such quick wits and who could easily outshine the number one talented woman in the capital be unknown? If he's that Xiucai Jiang, then it's not strange at all!"

The people in the audience all looked as if they had suddenly realized something.

"Princess, why didn't you tell us earlier that Jiang Li is Xiucai Jiang? You almost worried us to death!"

"I told you all the day before yesterday! I found an extremely powerful helper. What could I do if you didn't believe me?" Princess Le'an replied with a smile.

"Who told you not to make it clear!"

"Hehehe, it was meant to be a surprise for you!"

One side was happy while the other was sad. They were delighted on this side.

On the other side, Wei Wanrou and her group were not willing to accept it.

"How shameless you are! You actually hid Jiang Li's identity!"

"Yes, you cheated. This round doesn't count!"

"How can you even say such things? Have you no shame? Master Jiang Li announced his name before he went on stage. It was you who looked down on others and now you're trying to shift the blame!" Princess Le'an immediately became unhappy.

"Exactly! If you're not convinced, then you should come up with responses to Master Jiang's couplets! What are you yelling about for no reason?"

"I... We can't come up with them, but that doesn't mean he can either! Maybe he copied those difficult couplets from somewhere and deliberately claimed that he thought of them himself!"

"You're talking nonsense! Do you think everyone is as useless as you? Jiang Li, come and show them!" As soon as Le'an said this, she regretted it.

She wasn't Jiang Li. Although she had confidence in Jiang Li, if he really couldn't come up with the responses, wouldn't it be like asking for a slap in the face.

"Look at you! You don't think before you speak!" Saying that, she gently slapped herself on the mouth.

Then she looked at Jiang Li with a face full of apology and said,"Jiang Li, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

Princess Le'an's reaction made everyone think that they had guessed right, and they became even more presumptuous.

At this time, Wei Wanrou was already sobbing uncontrollably. She covered her face and rushed off the stage in a flustered manner. She no longer cared that the competition was still going on and just wanted to escape from this place where she had lost all her face as quickly as possible.