Chapter 15 Five Steps to Kill

Yingtian Mansion, outside Zhengyang Gate.

The annual ‘One Thread’ is underway.

The poem goes: On the third day of March, spring is in full swing, and incense is being burned in the Yuelao Temple. The wind is picking up along the river, and the earth is filled with dust.

The so-called "One Thread" is actually a temple fair held outside Yuelao Temple, which is held around the spring equinox every year.

There is an endless stream of men and women coming and going, and matchmakers can be seen everywhere.

"Miss, it's so lively!"

A master and a servant walked around the temple fair, various vendors, juggling, guessing, lantern riddles, etc...

The woman is wearing a green and blue glazed gauze skirt, with a face like white snow and eyebrows like distant mountains. She is worthy of the saying, "A fish is sinking and a goose is falling, and a flower is shy when the moon is closed." She is very eye-catching when walking in the crowd. Men will be suspected of sexual orientation if they don't take a few glances.

question.

At this time, she was standing in front of a lantern riddle-solving shop.

"The white snake crosses the river, and a red sun appears above its head."

Xu Miaojin looked at the note on the lantern and her beautiful eyebrows were slightly raised. She was talented and intelligent and had learned hundreds of books since she was a child, but the lantern riddle in front of her really stumped her.

Not only she, but also many literati and poets surrounding her looked at this lamp and thought about it for a long time without understanding.

10% of these people are crowded here because of the lantern riddles, and 90% are here to get closer to Xu Miaojin.

"My shopkeeper has said that whoever can solve this riddle and solve the riddle of the second couplet will be willing to give a pair of fine mandarin duck jade as a gift."

The shop clerk said with a smile.

Just finished speaking.

"Oolong climbs up the wall, covered with thousands of gold stars."

A voice sounded in response.

I saw a man in white walking out of the crowd, with sharp eyebrows and starry eyes, as graceful as a billion girl's dreams, and a cold and sharp face with big words "handsome" written all over it. His appearance directly attracted the eyebrows of the women around him.

Xu Miaojin naturally noticed the man in white, with a hint of amazement in his eyes.

But it wasn't because of their looks, she admired the couple.

'That's right.'

'The white snake crosses the river, with a red sun above its head; the black dragon climbs the wall, covered with thousands of gold stars.'

I recited it silently in my mind.

Under the eyes of everyone, the man walked to the shop, dipped his pen in ink, and wrote the word "oil lamp" on the rice paper in elegant cursive script. This was the answer to the riddle of "White Snake Crossing the River".

When the waiter saw it, he immediately laughed and bowed to the man in white.

"Young Master is a great talent. Congratulations to the Young Master on getting the mandarin duck jade."

The man in white smiled knowingly, took the jade, and then turned around and walked lively to another place, without even looking at Xu Miaojin the whole time.

Looking at the back of the man in white, Xu Miaojin paused for a moment and then chased after him. She wanted to know how this man solved the lantern riddles.

"Hey, miss..."

Lian'er was just about to chase after her, but was blocked by Xu Miaojin's look.

At this moment, the man in white walking in front has already climbed onto an arch bridge.

“1,2,3…”

Zhu Xiongying is very confident. This is a method he has learned from countless failures and successes in his previous life.

The first step is to cater to the other person, create a personality, and make the other person interested in you.

Xu Miaojin likes literary pairs, and the pair just now created a persona of herself as a talented person.

The second step is to leave questions and arouse the other person's urge to know the answer.

Just now, Zhu Xiongying deliberately did not explain the process of splitting characters to solve lantern riddles. This trick has been tried and tested repeatedly.

"7."

The moment you count to seven silently.

"This young master."

Xu Miaojin chased after him.

"Um?"

Zhu Xiongying turned around and looked at Xu Miaojin doubtfully.

"What's wrong, girl?"

"I would like to ask, Sir, how did you solve the mystery just now?"

Xu Miaojin looked puzzled and asked questions humbly.

Zhu Xiongying smiled gracefully and replied.

"The white cotton thread is used as the wick, which is called the 'white snake', the oil is called the 'river', and the flame after lighting is the 'red sun', so the answer to the riddle is the oil lamp."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Xiongying said again.

"The girl is as clever as jade and as smart as ice and snow. I didn't realize that it was just a temporary difference. I just met her at the lantern riddle. I wanted to chat with her, but unfortunately I am not very talented and knowledgeable. I am afraid that I will miss the girl's elegance."

The third step is to use compliments + humility to resolve the embarrassment and make the other party feel happy. Coupled with appropriate modesty, the impression will be overwhelming in an instant.

Sure enough, Xu Miaojin, who was still a little embarrassed at first, burst into laughter.

"Young Master is too modest."

Xu Miaojin suddenly thought of something, took half a step back, bowed neatly and saluted.

"Xu Miaojin, you are polite."

Zhu Xiongying also took half a step back and bowed with his hands.

"I'm Lu Ziqiao."

It’s official: I’m hooked.

If I had done this in my previous life, I would have just changed to WeChat, and it would have progressed quickly enough to start booking hotels.

"Miss Miaojin came here to find a good match?"

The two of them walked side by side on this arched bridge, a talented man and a beautiful woman, and the evening sun shone in the sky.

Xu Miaojin smiled and shook her head.

"Where is Mr. Lu?"

Very good, I asked back, I have been waiting for this moment.

The fourth step is to gain the initiative in dialogue through communication, deepen the image, and let the other party have admiration in their heart.

"I originally went to Beijing to take the exam, but unfortunately on the day of the exam, Zhang Wei, the book boy who accompanied me, fell seriously ill and passed out. In order to send him to the hospital, he missed the time to take the exam. I came to this temple fair today to relax."

After hearing this, Xu Miaojin's eyes suddenly changed.

"To give up the three-year scientific examination for a little scholar, this person has such a good heart. It is really the behavior of a gentleman."

Zhu Xiongying's eyes caught every microexpression.

Then take the next step.

The fifth step is to tell stories to eliminate the sense of distance between each other.

"Miss Miaojin, I have a story. I wonder if I would like to hear it."

Xu Miaojin was now very impressed. She obviously felt that the man in front of her was a rare gentleman, so she nodded with a smile.

"Sir, please speak."

Zhu Xiongying smiled slightly, and then spoke with a hint of melancholy.

"In the past, when the Jin Dynasty moved south, there was a man named Liang Shanbo and a woman named Zhu Yingtai..."

"…………"

Walk and talk at the same time.

In this era, there were rumors about Butterfly Lovers among the people, but most of them were fragments and did not form a complete story. However, what Zhu Xiongying told was the ultimate touching version with plot and ups and downs. It sounded like a brand new story to Xu Miaojin.

When the story progresses to "turning into a butterfly and flying", the tears in Xu Miaojin's eyes are clearly visible.

Five steps to kill.

If this had happened in my previous life, the next step would have been eating, watching movies, opening a room, applauding for love, and everything would have fallen into place.

Before they knew it, the two of them came to a relatively remote riverside.

While Zhu Xiongying was telling the story that followed, he glanced to the left and right from the corner of his eyes, when he found that there were indeed figures moving in the dark on the left and right.

The last step in the plan is about to begin.
To be continued...