Everyone was about to leave, only to hear Weng Junding continue: "The reason why there is no way to verify is that the predecessor of this couplet was originally a four-character couplet, which came from an unknown painting, and the 'light breeze supporting the fine willow' that the old gentleman chanted just now is a variation of the four-character couplet. ”

Everyone looked at the old pedant and nodded frequently, only to understand that it was not the boy in front of him who was not a shallow learner, but that this was the case. In this way, everyone's interest in seeing the excitement came again, thinking that this person may really be a well-educated person, and it is possible to pass the three levels, so that you can't miss this opportunity, let's just watch more excitement.

I only heard Weng Junding continue: "Speaking of which, the unverifiable change of the original couplet to 'light wind supporting the fine willow' is an anecdote of the couplet. However, it is said that Su Shi, a great writer in the Song Dynasty, and Huang Tingjian, the founder of the Jiangxi Poetry School in the same period, were also teachers and friends, and they were very deed, and they were called 'Su Huang' by the people of the time. One day, Dongpo monks and Xiaomei and Huang Tingjian enjoyed the painting together, and the inscription on the painting was particularly interesting: 'Light breeze and fine willows, light moon plum blossoms', it looks like a four-character couplet, but there is a word in the middle. Xiaomei is a talented girl who is unparalleled for a while, and it suddenly occurred to suggest adding a word in the blank space in the middle to become a five-word couplet. Dongpo monks and Huang Tingjian were famous in the literary world at that time, how could they show weakness at this time? So Huang Tingjian took the lead and said: 'The breeze dances the willows, and the light moon hides the plum blossoms'. The little sister shook her head lightly when she heard this, thinking that she could barely get by, but it was not the best. Su Shi thought about it for a while, and then he thought about it as 'the light wind shakes the fine willows, and the light moon reflects the plum blossoms'. The little sister shook her hands after hearing this, but she still refused to admit that it was the best situation. The Dongpo monk couldn't bear it anymore and asked his sister: 'It seems that I have to learn from the virtuous sister's generosity'. The little sister smiled when she heard this, and slowly chanted: 'The light wind supports the fine willows, and the light moon loses the plum blossoms'. After hearing this, the Dongpo monks and the people of the valley couldn't help but applaud: the word 'fu' not only writes the softness of the wind and the delicacy of the willow, but also writes the intimacy of the wind and the willow, so it is more vivid; the word 'loss' is also more appropriate than 'hidden' and 'reflective', which not only emphasizes the brightness of the moonlight, but also takes into account the cleanliness of the plum blossoms, highlighting the scene of the two merging into one color, and the artistic conception is more consistent and appropriate. Therefore, Miss Yun's "light breeze supporting fine willows" should deal with "the light moon and the plum blossoms". May I ask you, old man, if you are qualified to pass the first hurdle in this way?"

"Of course, of course, Childe please. The old pedant hurriedly handed over the pale blue letterhead.

The housekeeper heard it clearly, and also greeted Weng Junding and said, "The old man is here to lead the way for the son, and the son please follow the old man into the door." ”

Weng Junding bowed to the old scholar, waved his hand to Chen Wenqi, and followed the butler up the steps at the gate of the Cloud Mansion.

Chen Wenqi chased Weng Junding's back and shouted, "Brother Weng Nian, please remember what you just said. ”

Weng Junding turned around and nodded heavily at Chen Wenqi, then turned around and disappeared behind the gate with the butler.

Regardless of the conjectures of Chen Wenqi and the onlookers outside the door, it is only said that after Weng Junding entered the Yunfu with the housekeeper, the housekeeper turned around and closed the door, and said to Weng Junding: "Please take out the note in the letterhead and take a look." ”

Weng Junding took out a note as he said, which read: "Drinking." ”

Weng Junding looked at it and sighed suspiciously, what kind of "guan" is this? Could it be that this old man Yun is a "gentleman in wine" and wants to pick a son-in-law who drinks a lot of alcohol to accompany him to talk about it every day? If this is the case, this rich man's style is not enough. But I just came to see the excitement, and once today's day passes, whether he is a wine fairy or a drunkard, what does it have to do with me?

While he was thinking wildly, the butler took the note from his hand and said, "Please wait here for a while, and the old man will arrange it." After saying that, he left in a hurry.

After a while, the housekeeper led Weng Junding to a room. In the middle of the room was a table of eight immortals, and there were already three people sitting around the table. In the middle of the table were two wine bottles, one high and one low, and a small wine jug, and a large bowl was placed on each side, and the two wine bottles were already filled with wine. The housekeeper invited Weng Junding to sit on the empty side of the door, pointed to the three of them and introduced him: "The first one to sit is the second master of Yunfu, that is, the second uncle of my young lady; Right and you can call it like Miss, and it can be regarded as a lottery. The level set up by the young lady is also very simple, that is, ask the son to be a wine commander, and pour this pound of wine for everyone to drink. ”

"It's that simple?" Weng Junding asked in surprise. I thought to myself, could it be that seeing that the deadline was approaching, Old Man Yun was in a hurry, so he "picked up the vegetables in the basket"?

The official nodded and repeated: "It's as simple as that." ”

Weng Junding thought to himself, no matter what you plan, I can't decide the third level. Then he hugged the fist group and said: "I have seen the second uncle, the third brother, and the fourth brother in Xia Weng Junding. It's an honor to share a table with the three of you. With that, he lifted the flask and prepared to pour the wine.

"Slow. "Second Uncle" stretched out his hand to hold down the wine jug, looked at Weng Junding and smiled, and said: "I have a habit of drinking four or two whole wines, drinking less for a penny is not happy, and drinking more for a penny will get drunk." ”

"The same goes for both of us. The "third brother" pointed to himself and the "fourth brother", and continued.

Weng Junding said in his heart, why is this family so "accurate" in terms of alcohol consumption, and it is not possible to drink more or less money?

Before he could figure it out, the "second uncle" put two wine bottles and a small wine bottle in one place, and said to him: "Don't look at the height of these two wine bottles, they are both the same size, and they are half a catty full of wine." This small flask is full of three taels. Now there are four people on the table, including you, Childe, and we will drink four taels each, and the remaining four taels will be drunk by Childe. Now ask Childe to use this small wine jug to divide this catty of wine equally among the four people. ”

Weng Junding finally understood, it turned out that he was using this to test his intelligence.

Weng Junding thought for a while, then poured out a small pot of wine from the high bottle, poured it for the second uncle at the top, gave a salute to the second uncle, and said: "Among the four people, the second uncle is the elder, please drink three taels first." ”

The second uncle bowed slightly, held the big bowl in front of him with both hands, and said to everyone: "Since this is the case, I will take the lead." With that, he took a big sip of the wine in the bowl.

Weng Junding filled the small wine jug with the wine in the high bottle, and then poured the remaining wine in the high bottle into the bowl in front of the third brother, and said to the third brother: "This bottle of wine has poured out two pots, and there are still two taels left in it." According to the order of the eldest and youngest, the second glass of wine should be drunk by the third brother. Please ask the third brother to drink two taels first. ”

The third brother stood up with the bowl in both hands, drank it in one gulp, lit the mouth of the bowl outward, and said, "There is an arrogance." ”

Weng Junding poured the wine from the small flask into the tall bottle, and then poured the wine from the short bottle into the high bottle and poured it into the tall bottle. Then he said to the fourth brother: "Among the three of you, the fourth brother is the youngest, so I can only ask you to be in third place, and this time please drink one or two first." Fourth brother Haihan, please. ”

The fourth brother smiled and said: "Since you invite the son to pour wine, of course you will do it according to the child's wishes, and I will listen to the respect." ”

"Thank you Fourth Brother for your understanding. Weng Junding said, poured out another pot of wine from the low bottle, and said to the fourth brother: "I have poured two pots of wine into the high bottle, and it needs two taels to fill it." After speaking, he lifted the wine jug and filled the high bottle, and then poured the remaining wine in the wine jug into the bowl in front of the fourth brother, and said, "This is one or two wines, please drink it to the fourth brother." ”

The fourth brother didn't say much, picked up the big bowl and drank it all.

"The second uncle and the two elder brothers have already drunk, and it seems a bit rude if they don't drink with them a little bit. In the next also, like the fourth brother, drink one or two first. Weng Junding said, poured out a pot of wine from the tall bottle, and said: "Now, there are five taels of wine in the tall bottle, two taels of wine in the short bottle, and three taels of wine in the pot, yes or no?"

All three nodded.

Weng Junding picked up the short bottle and poured the remaining two taels of wine into the high bottle, which was already seven taels of wine in the high bottle at this time, and the short bottle was completely emptied. Weng Junding poured the wine from the pot into the low bottle, and poured two more pots from the high bottle into the low bottle, so that the low bottle was already full of wine, and the high bottle and the small wine bottle each had one or two wine.

Weng Junding poured the remaining one or two wines in the tall bottle into the bowl in front of him, poured the remaining wine in the small wine pot into the second uncle's bowl, and said, "Second uncle, your old four taels of wine are all in the bowl, how about I accompany you to drink the wine in the bowl?"

"Good. ”

The two of them touched the cup lightly and took a sip to the bottom.

Weng Junding poured out two pots of wine from the short bottle, poured them for the fourth brother and himself, and poured the rest into the third brother's wine glass, and said to them: "The second uncle has finished drinking, and our juniors should also drink it all, come, dry this cup." ”

The butler who was standing on the side gently stroked his palm, stepped forward and said: "The son is really gifted and intelligent, not only is the wine not bad at all, which is reasonable, but also the young and the old are orderly, polite, and humane. I really admire the old decay. ”

Weng Junding put down the empty cup in his hand and said humbly: "Praise more." It's really Miss Yun's compassion and compassion, and she can't bear to be too embarrassed, so it's easier for her to come up with the question, so she can get through the test by luck. ”

"Haha, Childe is not only smart and clever, but also unreserved, which is really rare. I hope that the son will pass the test smoothly, and the old man will have one more drinking friend in the future. The second uncle smiled, obviously looking at Weng Junding quite pleasing to the eye.

Weng Junding saluted the three people at the table one by one, and left the table to follow the butler into another room. In that room, like the colorful shed outside the house, there were several letterheads piled on a large bookcase, but the color was light yellow. There was also a person sitting in the back of the bookcase, in his early forties, burly, who seemed to be more like a martial arts practitioner. Weng Junding said in his heart, the first level is to test intelligence, it seems that this level is going to test martial arts. All big families have family traditions, and their children must learn some martial arts, one for physical fitness and the other for self-defense. In Yueyang, the Weng family is barely considered a wang clan, and Weng Junding has also practiced a little kung fu since he was a child, but he is not a master, but his body is relatively strong, and his arm strength is second to none among the children of the clan.

Weng Junding originally came out of curiosity, and he didn't care if he could pass the test, so he didn't care, according to the housekeeper's instructions, he picked up a letterhead and handed it to the person behind the case.

The man, like the old man in the previous color shed, stared at Weng Junding with surprised eyes. Before that, those who were lucky enough to pass the first hurdle always suffered from gains and losses after that, constantly rummaging through them, picking them up for fear of picking up difficult problems, and putting them down for fear of losing opportunities, which one was not hesitating again and again? Weng Junding took it so casually, which naturally surprised him.

After hesitating for a moment, the man stretched out his hand to take the pale yellow letterhead, quickly glanced at the cover of the letterhead, and chanted: "Every inch of land is the temple, and the poem next to the temple says: The bright moon sends the monk back to the ancient temple."

When Weng Junding heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed in his heart. This Miss Yun chose this couplet, probably like the heroine in the story, not only yearning for meeting Ruyi Langjun, but also implying that she would rather never marry than lower her standards. Thinking that if no one can pass the three levels in seven days, does she really have to accompany her father and mother for the rest of her life?

The person behind the table saw that Weng Junding didn't speak for a long time, thinking that he didn't know the origin of this couplet, so he said with relief: "Childe don't have to be embarrassed, in the past three days, there are very few people like Childe who can pass the first level, even if the second level is not passed, it is not a shame to go out." What's more, Childe was handy just now, and naturally there will be accidents, and if Childe picks carefully, he won't be ......"

Weng Junding shook his hand and said with a smile: "Thank you, sir, for your tolerance, I was distracted at the next moment, and I was delayed for a long time." The history of this couplet is unknown, but it comes from a legend. It is said that in ancient times, there was a Miss Xiangguo, not only very beautiful, but also quite literate, so when it came to the jasper years, the central media went to propose relatives continuously, but Miss Xiangguo did not agree, she said to the proposer, one does not want a bride price, and the other does not matter whether it is rich or poor, as long as it can be linked down. Her upper link is: 'Inch of land is the temple, the temple is next to the poem, and the poem says: The bright moon sends the monk back to the ancient temple'. The rhetorical technique of this couplet is very peculiar: 'inch of land is a temple' and 'temple side words and poems' are both word splitting; 'temple' and 'temple', 'poem' and 'poem' are both true techniques; 'month' is a part of 'Ming', which is also a method of splitting words; and the last word is 'temple', which is reproduced with the 'temple' at the end of the first sentence, which is in contrast and echo. It is precisely because of the peculiar rhetoric that no one can match this couplet after a long time. Xiangguo and his wife love their daughter deeply and persuade her not to be stubborn. But she was not discouraged and waited patiently. Sure enough, the emperor lived up to his painstaking efforts, and in the third year, a scholar surnamed Lin went to Beijing to take the exam, and when he saw the upper link, he thought it was interesting, so he said the next link: 'Double trees into a forest, the forest is forbidden, and the clouds are forbidden: the axe is in time to enter the mountains and forests'. This couplet is flawless, perfect, and absolute. After three years of persistent waiting, Miss Xiangguo finally met her bosom friend, so the two married Qin and Jin forever. ”

The man behind the table bowed his head frequently and said, "Childe has seen and heard about it, and I admire it." But Gongzi Shicai called that Lin Gongzi's next link 'absolutely', is there nothing else right?"

"Not really. Chinese culture is broad and profound, but ordinary people have limited knowledge and cannot use it skillfully. ”

Of course, this is all up to Childe's decision, and it will not affect Childe's continued progress. The man said tentatively.

"On weekdays, I just listened to this legend, and I didn't think about continuing the question. Since the gentleman proposed, I will give it a try. Weng Junding lowered his head and pondered for a while, and then said to the man behind the table: "In the next offering is ugly, the next link is: 'The fire is in autumn, autumn is sad, and I ask: Why is the autumn sad everywhere with fruit trees'?"

The man high-fived and praised: "What a 'fruit trees everywhere'." Childe is really talented, the legendary three years have not been obtained, Childe can be matched in a moment, and the neatness of the battle is not lost to the legendary Lin Gongzi. After speaking, he took out the note in the pale yellow letterhead, and handed it to Weng Junding with a smile: "Then please ask the son to break through." ”

Weng Junding took the note and looked at it, and there were two words written on it: hanging plaque. Weng Junding couldn't help but smile dumbly, thinking that this Miss Lin was indeed choosing a husband for a living, and the first and second passes were all tests of the future husband's ability to do housework.

When he saw the plaque to be hung, Weng Junding couldn't laugh anymore. The plaque is made of small-leaved rosewood, with a hard texture and fine texture, and is known as the "emperor's wood", which is not comparable to ordinary wood. It is one zhang and two feet long, four feet five inches high, six inches thick, weighs more than 300 catties, and has four strong characters of "loyal heirloom" in the book. The plaque should be hung on the eaves of the corridor of the second door, the jade masonry of Yunfu is carved and magnificent, and the eaves are about two zhang high. With the strength of one person, this plaque of more than 300 catties was hung on the eaves of two zhang high, which was really difficult.

Weng Junding was stunned for a moment at the two large copper rings used to hang above the plaque, then stood up and asked the butler standing aside, "Has your young lady ever set the limit on how to hang this plaque?"

The butler shook his head and said, "As long as you hang it up with the power of one person, there is no limit to what method you can use." ”

"In that case, it's time to make a fool of yourself. ”

"Listen to me. ”

Weng Junding held one end of the plaque with both hands, tried to lift it up, and felt that it was not very difficult, so he moved his hand to the middle of the plaque, exhaled and opened his voice, "Hey", and picked up the plaque, one step, two steps, three steps...... Go to the bottom of the plaque and ask the butler to bring two thick brown ropes, and tie one end of one of the brown ropes firmly to the large brass ring on the left, and hold the other end in his hand.

Weng Junding stood up, raised his eyes and looked at the thick tenon left as a plaque on the eaves of the corridor, and shouted again: "Get up", jumped up more than a zhang high on the ground, reached out and fished it, grabbed the thick tenon on the top with his right hand, and quickly passed the brown rope through the huge beam above the tenon with his left hand, pulled it out from the other side, pulled it down to the ground, and tied it to the pillar of the top. Then he picked up another brown rope and did the same.

After the preparations were completed, Weng Junding began to pull the plaque. Despite the heavy weight of the plaque, Weng Junding's arm strength is amazing, but the two brown ropes are eight feet apart and cannot be pulled at the same time. Weng Junding still started from the top, pulled the left end of the plaque about three feet from the ground, and tied the brown rope on the top column to make a "rope knot", this knot is tighter and tighter when stressed, and it is easy to loosen when losing the tension, which is very suitable for today's occasion. Then he pulled the brown rope of the lower head and pulled the right end of the plaque about six feet off the ground. After alternating left and right several times, the plaque has been raised to the eaves of the corridor.

The butler and the burly man standing on the side saw Weng Junding effortlessly pulling the plaque to the eaves of the porch, and their tongues couldn't be lowered for a while.

Weng Junding knotted the brown rope on both sides, and then jumped on the eaves of the corridor to adjust the position of the plaque, remember the height error, after the landing will pull the brown rope or retract or put, so that the copper ring and the tenon up and down left and right alignment, the copper ring and the tenon between the distance of less than three inches, then only need to push hard, you can put the copper ring into the tenon.

However, Weng Junding found that the brown rope between the copper ring and the beam was less than one foot, and the plaque was very heavy, so it was not easy to push three inches horizontally. And after pushing three inches, the height of the copper ring must have risen slightly, and it did not hang the tenon, and it was pulled by the gravity of the plaque, and it would soon rebound back. Unless at the moment when the copper ring is inserted into the tenon, someone below quickly loosens the brown rope and hangs on the tenon with the help of the falling momentum of the plaque. But the problem is that the plaque can only be hung by one person, so how can others help?

Is there a way to make the copper ring not rebound after being put into the tenon? Yes! Tie the brown rope on the two large copper rings, find another beam behind the beam where the tenon is located, cross it, pull it back diagonally, and tie the rope in a knot to fix it, and then untie the previous two brown ropes. But Weng Junding jumped up to the eaves of the porch and looked at it, and was immediately disappointed. It turned out that there was no other beam behind this beam.

Weng Junding thought about it for a long time and decided to cut the brown rope with a knife while pushing the copper ring into the tenon. Weng Junding quickly thought about some details and possible situations, and after being sure that he was ninety percent sure, he asked the housekeeper for a sharp short knife, took a deep breath, jumped on the plaque where the copper ring was, and struck violently with his left hand on the plaque, and the copper ring responded to the tenon, at the moment when the brown rope was close to the beam, the steel knife in his right hand had been cut down, the brown rope was blocked by the beam, and it was inelastic, and it was cut off by the steel knife, and the plaque lost the pull of the brown rope and immediately hung on the tenon. The crowd was about to applaud, but the other end of the plaque was shaken and swayed, driving the copper ring that had fallen to the tenon to slide outward. Weng Junding had already thought of this detail beforehand, so he didn't panic, the qi of the dantian stopped, stopped the falling trend of his body, and struck again with his left palm, pushing back the copper ring that was about to slide out of the tenon.

It's too late to say that it's too fast, and these rabbits have fallen in a few clicks, just within a snap of a finger.

One end of the plaque is already hanging, and the other end is much easier. Weng Junding's old trick was repeated, this time because there was no shaking at the other end, so it was done overnight.

As the saying goes, the layman looks at the lively insider. The burly man who was sitting behind the bookcase admired Weng Junding's push of the plaque and cut the rope. It is not difficult to jump up and push the plaque or jump up to cut the rope, the difficult thing is that the two have to get the score is not bad: the plaque is pushed late or the brown rope is cut early, and the copper ring is not set into the tenon; the plaque is pushed early or the brown rope is cut late, the plaque will inevitably rebound by the traction of the brown rope, and the copper ring that is inserted into the tenon will slide out again.

The burly man walked up to Weng Junding, who was packing up the brown rope, took the brown rope in his hand, and said: "Hanging a plaque on the eaves, if it is not for the combination of intelligence, strength, and light skills, it is really difficult to do. What the right man did, he seemed to be at ease, and he sincerely admired it. The second level has been passed, so please go through the last level. ”

Weng Junding nodded, followed the housekeeper into the second door, and came to the outside of a quiet attic in the backyard, the housekeeper pointed to the attic and said to Weng Junding: "This is my young lady's boudoir, it is inconvenient to send you off, son, please go up by yourself." After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.

At this time, a girl in yellow came out of the attic, holding a tray covered with red cloth in both hands, and called out to the housekeeper in a light tone: "Uncle Chai, please stay." ”

Dare to love this housekeeper's surname Chai.

Steward Chai turned around, looked at the girl in yellow and said, "Yan'er, what's the matter?"

The girl in yellow hurriedly walked down the attic, walked quickly to Steward Chai, and said a few words to him gently, and the corner of her eyes looked at Weng Junding from time to time.

After listening to the words of the girl in yellow, Steward Chai looked surprised, but quickly returned to normal, took the tray in the hand of the girl in yellow, came to Weng Junding, and said with some embarrassment: "My young lady has spread the word, I don't want my son to pass this third level." Today, I have delayed the son for a lot of time, and the ten taels of gold should be an apology, please accept it. With that, he lifted the red cloth on the tray and handed it to Weng Junding.

When Weng Junding heard this, he couldn't help but be a little annoyed. Originally, she neither wanted her family's wealth, nor did she scarce her beautiful flowers, but this rich lady's style of turning her hands into clouds and turning her hands into rain is disgusting.

Weng Junding pushed away the gold in front of him and said angrily: "In this trip, I am not selling money for my art, but I am coming for the three levels set up by Miss Guifu. If Miss Yun doesn't believe in her words, won't she laugh at the world?"

"This ...... It's really ......" Steward Chai snorted for a long time, and didn't say why, and in desperation, he threw a look at the girl in yellow called "Yan'er". The wild goose understood and hurriedly ran to the attic.