An eight-year-old kid emptied his scumbag father's warehouse and followed his grandparents into

Chapter 717 Sheltering from the Rain

"Hahaha!" Prince Jing laughed out loud, "I thought you had some real ability, and this is called a couplet." But as soon as he finished his joking words, Princess Jing glared at him fiercely.

"Liu Lu" Jing Chunxi ignored him completely, continued without blushing or getting nervous.

"Green willows and red peaches." This time, the old princess responded more smoothly, her fingers tapping lightly on the table in time with the rhythm. It was too simple, but she enjoyed it.

Spring Planting

"Spring planting and autumn harvest." Before the old princess finished her words, she laughed, and the jade hairpins in her silvery hair swayed gently. Prince Jin was mesmerized by the sight; he hadn't seen such a casual princess in over twenty years.

"How can it be so simple? I can do this too. Let me do it." Ling'er's originally tense shoulders gradually relaxed, and her eyes sparkled as if she had discovered a new world.

She had originally thought that couplets were a profound art, but she hadn't expected her sister to come up with such simple two-word pairs. Seeing her grandmother answering so fluently, she was eager to try her hand at it too.

After a few rounds, Ling'er had completely let go. She imitated her sister and slapped the table with her little hand: "The sky is high!"

"The sea is vast," Princess Jing continued with a smile, and pushed a piece of osmanthus cake in front of Ling'er.

"Light Clouds"

"The wind is light," the old princess answered fluently, her voice so soft that it seemed like she was singing a nursery rhyme.

"Wind and"

"Ri~~Li" This time the old princess deliberately dragged out the tone, making Ling'er giggle.

The three generations of grandparents and grandchildren chatted with each other, laughing constantly. Before they knew it, the two pots of fine Longjing tea were empty, and the three large stacks of cakes that had once formed a mountain on the gilded porcelain plate were now reduced to just two.

"Block the wind!" Jing Chunxi suddenly interrupted Ling'er while she lowered her head to drink her tea. Her voice was slightly higher than before, and her fingertips unconsciously pinched into her palm.

Princess Jing replied reflexively, "Bi Yue." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, the old princess was stunned for a moment, frowning slightly, as if she felt something was wrong, but she couldn't stop talking.

"Grandma, you're wrong!" Ling'er suddenly set down the teacup, the porcelain cup clattering against the tray. "The wind should be against the rain, it should be 'shielding the rain'!" The little girl's cheeks flushed with excitement, as if she had grasped some powerful handle.

"Yes, yes, it was Grandma who spoke too hastily this time. It's too late to regret!" Princess Jing smiled and patted her cheek, pretending to be annoyed. "Grandma, you are old! Ling'er's 'shield from the rain' is still the right one."

Prince Jing, who had been watching with a smile on his face and drinking cup after cup of tea, suddenly stroked his beard and said, "Grandfather, I think 'shelter from the rain' is better and more appropriate." The old prince's voice was low and gentle, but it carried an unquestionable sense of authority.

"How is 'sheltered from the rain' better? It's clearly the same thing!" Ling'er pouted unconvinced, her earlier elation extinguished by her grandfather's words. She had finally caught her grandmother's fault and was secretly delighted when her grandfather came back to find fault.

"Grandfather didn't say Ling'er was wrong." Prince Jing looked lovingly at his granddaughter's cheeks, which were puffed up with anger. He turned to look at Jing Chunxi, who seemed lost in thought. "Let's let Xi-san be the judge. Which one do you think is better?"

Jing Chunxi was lost in thought, her long eyelashes casting a shadow under her eyes. She was pondering over and over in her mind which of the three words was the ideal answer for the emperor.

Being suddenly called by her grandfather brought her back to her senses. She subconsciously bit her lower lip, a habitual little action that revealed her inner nervousness.

After a moment's silence, Jing Chunxi slowly spoke, "Xi'er feels that 'sheltering from the wind' is better than 'shielding from the rain.'" She paused, as if trying to organize her words, "for two reasons..."

The room suddenly became quiet, and even the birdsong outside the window could be heard clearly. Ling'er opened her eyes wide and glared at Jing Chunxi with a bit of displeasure, thinking that her sister should stand on his side no matter what.

Princess Jing nodded thoughtfully, while Prince Jing stared intently at his granddaughter who had suddenly become extremely serious.

"First," Jing Chunxi's voice gradually became firm, "'罩' and '避' are both movements, but '避' is more graceful and agile than '阻'." She gestured unconsciously with her hands as she spoke. "Just like '避雨' (sheltered from the rain) seems to be actively dodging, with a certain dexterity; while '阻雨' (shielded from the rain) seems too stiff, like you're forcing yourself to withstand it. This is more compatible with the softer feeling of '搁风' (sheltered from the wind)."

At this point, she paused, furtively observing her grandfather's reaction. Seeing the old man nod slightly, she continued, "Secondly..." She pondered for a moment, this time speaking with more certainty, "The characters '避' and '遮' have the same radical, both starting with '辶' (meaning to walk). This is known in poetry as 'neat parallelism.'"

Jing Chunxi's words were well-reasoned and well-founded. Ling'er opened her mouth but ultimately didn't dare to refute him. Her sister's first point, about the excessive number of words and the flowery language, had left her bewildered. But her second point, about radicals, was very practical and clear to her, and she felt she had overlooked it.

Prince Jing, perhaps having sat for too long, stood up and stretched his waist, the brocade rustling against his waist. "If I were to add a touch of poetry..." the old prince strolled to the window, his hands behind his back, gazing at the verdant bamboo in the courtyard. "'Sheltering from the rain' evokes the carefree sentiment of 'a bamboo stick and straw sandals are lighter than a horse,' which is even more intriguing than 'shielding from the rain.'"

He turned around, his eyes shifting between his two granddaughters, his tone becoming serious. "'Block the rain' is mostly used in folk slang. Literati and those with some status would mostly use 'sheltered from the rain' when writing. If it were written as 'block the rain'..." The old prince shook his head, a helpless smile on his face, "I'm afraid people would laugh at me."

"Then if it is written as a couplet, framed and hung on the wall, the word 'keep the rain' will not be used?" Jing Chunxi blurted out this, with a bit of deliberate innocence in his voice and a very sincere attitude towards learning.

Upon hearing this, Prince Jing's worldly-wise eyes narrowed slightly, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes smoothed out. Then, a hint of a smile crept into his lips, and a hint of amusement lingered in his gaze. To Jing Chunxi, he looked at her like a fool.

Jing Chunxi's ears felt hot under this gaze, and he quickly lowered his head, staring at the pearl pendant that was swaying slightly on his embroidered shoes.

"You are not scholars, so it's not surprising that you don't know." Prince Jing's last words finally saved Jing Chunxi's face a little.

She secretly felt lucky that she had swallowed the words that had just come to her lips, and hadn't directly said something as blunt as "If it were hung on the wall of the emperor's house." Otherwise, with her grandfather's keen sense, he would definitely have noticed something.

But at this moment, the heart that had been hanging in her chest finally settled back down. She took a deep breath, the scent of sandalwood filling her lungs and her tense shoulders relaxing.

It was as if she had carefully lifted a corner of a thick fog with the gentlest force. Sunlight shone through the gap, illuminating the confusion that had puzzled her for days.

Today's seemingly casual game of matching pairs had been meticulously planned from the moment she proposed it. Every two-word pair, every innocent question, was designed to quietly lead to this answer.

This was also the most important reason why she agreed to help her adopted father enter the city - the secret left by the late emperor, hidden deep in the palace, might be slowly revealed as the other half of the couplet was identified.

In short, Jing Chunxi felt that the couplet should give them some clues.