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More than a dozen pairs of people participated in the competition, and most of them were well-educated sons and daughters of rich families. Lin Yuan and Xia Zheng blended into the crowd, looking just like a young couple out on a date from a wealthy family, so they weren’t very conspicuous.

With so many contestants, of course, not everyone had the chance to pick a riddle from beneath the big tree. There had to be a preliminary round to narrow down the field.

Put simply, Embroiderer Ru would read out the riddles, and the participants rushed to answer; each correct answer allowed them to step forward, and a boundary was drawn on the stage.

The first to answer five questions correctly and cross the boundary would win, thus selecting the ten pairs of men and women, who would first reach the endpoint to participate in the riddle-guessing competition.

"Who made up these rules? Isn’t this just asking everyone to fight?" Xia Zheng sneered, touching his nose.

Lin Yuan, however, chuckled: "Fight? Do you think everyone is like you? But it will definitely become lively when it’s time to rush to answer."

Indeed, if the riddles were more challenging, not many people would likely answer at the same time. But if they were all simple, who could tell who raised their hand first? There would surely be complaints of unfairness.

Meanwhile, Cheng Haoxuan upstairs continued to happily munch on grapes: "The questions posed by your young master are certainly not simple. A fight? Impossible!"

At the sound of a gong, Embroiderer Ru giggled, holding a notebook ready to start reading the questions.

The twenty-odd participants stopped their chatter and pricked up their ears to listen to her riddles. Even the onlookers fell silent, craning their necks to watch the stage.

Embroiderer Ru flipped open her notebook and loudly read: "A single ox."

Since it had already been clarified that all would be riddles, as soon as Embroiderer Ru’s voice fell, many of the quick-witted raised their hands.

But there wasn’t just one or two people raising their hands simultaneously. In their haste, some blurted out the answer as well: "Life!"

The first man who shouted the answer instantly incurred the dissatisfaction of everyone else; the rule was to raise hands first and have Embroiderer Qiao, who was watching quietly, decide who raised their hand first, and then they would give the answer.

Yet this person broke the rules completely, disrupting the competition for everyone.

Faced with the critique of the crowd, the first man to shout the answer remained defiant, stiffening his neck and refusing to admit wrongdoing, insisting that his answer was correct and that he had indeed been the first to shout it out. He even moved a step forward to demonstrate his capability.

His one step forward made matters worse, as not only were the people on stage unhappy, but even the spectators started to criticize him.

The woman beside the man, both embarrassed and ashamed, tugged at the man’s sleeve to leave.

However, the man irritably flung her hand away, appearing very impatient.

Lin Yuan shook her head inwardly, thinking to herself that the man’s character was poor; if she were the woman, she would definitely have ended the relationship early on.

Sure enough, after being pushed away, the woman’s face showed a moment of stunned silence, but she quickly recovered, leaving the stage without any reluctance and walked straight through the crowd.

As the man continued to confront the crowd, by the time he realized, the woman was already long gone.

While everyone argued, Embroiderer Ru glanced upstairs, then nodded her head and signaled to a young man beside her to strike the gong and loudly said, "Sir, you indeed violated our game rules just now. As the saying goes, without rules there can be no circle and square. I am very sorry, but please refrain from participating in this year’s competition. "

The man was dissatisfied, shouting "unfair" at the top of his lungs and moving a few steps forward as if he was ready to throw punches if Embroiderer Ru didn’t change her mind.

Just as the tension peaked, Embroiderer Ru shook her head with a pitiful smile, and then several men in black leaped onto the stage from all sides, lifting the man up and unceremoniously dumping him off the stage.

Seeing the man with his face covered in dust, the crowd just couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.

Without the mood to mock the man, Lin Yuan raised an eyebrow at Xia Zheng.

Catching Lin Yuan’s questioning look, Xia Zheng curled his lip and said, "You see? Hmm, don’t think that because Madam Cheng at Red Smoke Pavilion is unmarried and has no relatives, she doesn’t hold status here in the Capital city.

Normally, anyone who recognizes her wouldn’t dare to cause trouble.

That man must be a foreigner visiting the Capital city, unaware of the local norms."

The norms in the Capital city meant that people with powerful backing had the final say. Lin Yuan furrowed her brows, finally understanding why Xia Zheng had been so supportive of Zhao Hongde taking her as his sworn sister.