Chapter Ninety-Eight: Carrying the Coffin

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Jilai exchanged a glance with Liang Yan and smiled, saying, “Since Miss Xuewei has extended the invitation, it is truly an honor for us. Please, lead the way, young lady!” As he spoke, he extended his right hand forward and bowed slightly in a courteous gesture of invitation.

At this moment, Jilai’s expression and demeanor resembled that of a well-read and talented scholar, a stark contrast to the rogue appearance he had previously exhibited while idling and scamming. Liang Yan rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking, “In terms of pretentiousness, if he ranks second, no one dares claim the first.”

The maid, seeing Jilai’s handsome and elegant appearance and his refined, amiable temperament, could not help but feel a growing fondness. She lowered her voice and said to him, “You are extraordinarily charming, rare in the world. But to see my lady, merely having grace and good looks won’t suffice; one must also possess literary talent. If you cannot pass the three challenges before this screen, even if you were a noble or a prince, you would not have the chance to meet my lady.”

Jilai smiled faintly. “Rest assured, young lady. Lead the way ahead, and watch as I overcome these challenges and win the beauty’s favor!”

The maid chuckled at his teasing and gave him a playful glance before gracefully stepping forward to lead the way.

Jilai and Liang Yan followed behind, ascending the vermilion staircase repeatedly until they reached the third floor, stopping in front of an elegantly appointed room.

“This is the place. Gentlemen, please enter. The sisters inside will receive you,” the maid said with a slight smile at the door, then stood aside, clearly inviting them to enter on their own.

Jilai did not hesitate and was the first to push open the door and step inside, with Liang Yan following.

A scent of feminine fragrance and powder filled the room, causing a flush to rise on Liang Yan’s face, while Jilai remained composed.

Though the boudoir was spacious, a huge screen blocked the view of the interior.

In front of the screen stood a table, beside which stood a maid dressed in purple. On the table lay two long strips of white paper. The one on the right bore the inscription:

“By the solitary creek bridge, shadows do not follow the flowing water.”

The paper on the left was blank, clearly inviting the guests to compose the matching couplet.

Seeing this, Liang Yan stood aside, hands clasped—couplet composition was not his forte, so he naturally deferred to Jilai. Jilai stepped forward, took up the brush, and after a moment’s thought, wrote:

“Alone I sleep in a wild inn; my dreams often return to my hometown.”

Upon finishing the last stroke, the purple-clad maid took the paper silently and walked behind the screen. After a short while, a clear voice was heard from beyond:

“The first challenge is passed. Gentlemen, please proceed to the second challenge!”

Two maids then stepped out and folded away the first screen, revealing a second screen behind it. Before this second screen stood another wooden table, but this time there was no couplet—only a lantern.

Below the lantern hung a small slip of paper inscribed with three characters: “Do not act impulsively.”

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“Isn’t this the same lantern riddle we encountered at the night market?” Liang Yan suddenly recalled. He had even spent ten copper coins to ask the shopkeeper for the answer, but the incident with this scholar throwing him into a pig cage had interrupted everything, and he never heard the answer afterward.

He cleared his throat and reminded, “Ahem, as I suspected, this riddle refers to the name of an emperor from the previous dynasty.”

“Oh?” Jilai gave Liang Yan a sidelong glance. “I didn’t expect Brother Liang to be so knowledgeable!”

His flattery was subtle and untraceable, but Liang Yan was distracted and did not respond.

“Since we know it’s an emperor from the former dynasty, it should be easy to guess.” Jilai smiled confidently and strode to the table, picked up a brush, and wrote on the back of the paper:

“Emperor Xian of Tang, Li Zhi.”

The maid in purple smiled faintly, made no announcement this time, and directly drew back the second screen.

“Congratulations to you both for passing two challenges. If you can pass this final one, you will have the honor of glimpsing the lady’s beauty.”

Jilai laughed heartily. “With Brother Liang and me working together, passing these challenges is a mere formality.”

He joked as he took Liang Yan’s hand and briskly walked to the last screen.

On this screen were a few lines of small characters. The title was: “Two Mice Passing Through the Wall.”

Beneath the title was the problem:

“There is a wall five feet thick; two mice pass through it facing each other. The big mouse moves one foot daily, the small mouse also moves one foot daily. The big mouse doubles its daily pace every day, the small mouse halves its pace every day. Question: On which day do they meet?”

“Ha ha ha!”

Jilai suddenly burst into loud laughter upon seeing the question.

Liang Yan frowned slightly and asked in puzzlement, “Brother, why do you laugh?”

After a moment, Jilai replied, “Brother Liang, you don’t know—this is like showing off one’s skill before an expert, inviting ridicule!”

Seeing Liang Yan’s continued confusion, he smiled and explained, “For those in the art of physiognomy, the ten classical mathematical books are basic foundational studies, and the ‘Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art’ is a key text among them. This problem comes from the seventh chapter, ‘Deficiency of Gains.’ As a practitioner of the physiognomy school, how could I not solve this problem?”

With a confident smile, he approached the screen and wrote a single character: “Three.”

“Congratulations, gentlemen, please enter.”

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The maid in purple smiled warmly and drew aside the final screen.

Liang Yan looked up to see behind the screen a round rosewood table laden with countless delicacies. The utensils, plates, and chopsticks were all crafted from jade—truly an extraordinary display of luxury.

“Please, gentlemen, enjoy some fine wine here. The lady is bathing and changing in the next room and will join shortly,” the maid said with a graceful smile.

“Excellent! Excellent!” Jilai nodded and smiled, pulling Liang Yan to the seat. Already, several maids approached and filled their wine cups.

“To Brother Liang, I toast you! You are truly the benefactor of my fate. I have been in Mingyi City for several days, repeatedly hoping to see Miss Xuewei, but all attempts were in vain until I met you today!”

Jilai was excited, but Liang Yan was distracted. Since entering the room, he had quietly activated his streetwise skills to secretly investigate the room’s situation.

Unexpectedly, all the servants and maids were ordinary mortals; there was not a single cultivator among them, let alone a powerful figure capable of curing his poison.

“Could it be that this is all a ruse to swindle me?” Liang Yan thought bitterly.

He casually clinked his cup with Jilai’s, then drained the fine wine while still scanning the surroundings with sharp eyes.

Suddenly, his brow furrowed and a glint of sharp insight flashed through his eyes.

Then came two distinct thuds—both Liang Yan and Jilai collapsed one after the other, and the room fell into complete silence.

After a moment, the purple-clad maid slowly approached, bent over to inspect them, and upon confirming they had fainted, rose and clapped her hands twice in the air.

The room then filled with the sound of machinery. The floor beneath Liang Yan and Jilai suddenly opened, and their bodies dropped into the depths below.

With a series of creaking sounds, two coffins slowly rose from beneath the floorboards, each containing one of the two men.

Outside the window, four masked figures dressed in black suddenly appeared. Two of them carried enormous coffin lids on their backs.

With a sharp snap, the four expertly placed the coffin lids onto Liang Yan and Jilai’s coffins, bound them tightly with hemp ropes, and inserted thick wooden rods to secure them.

Then, in pairs, they hoisted the coffins onto their backs and swiftly leapt out through the window.

…