A joke?

"Well..."

Jiang Jingcheng heard Lin Fengshuo's words and asked awkwardly, "May I ask what you mean by that, Elder Lin?"

Indeed, he could not tell whether Lin Fengshuo was praising him or mocking him!

"Naturally, I mean the essay your son wrote!"

Lin Fengshuo spoke.

"An essay?"

Hearing that, Jiang Jingcheng actually breathed a sigh of relief.

He had initially thought Lin Fengshuo had come to dissolve their master-disciple relationship, but apparently that was not the case.

With that thought, Jiang Jingcheng first steadied himself, then looked at Lin Fengshuo and cupped his hands. "Which essay are you referring to, Elder Lin?"

"Oh..."

At that, Lin Fengshuo's gaze fell on Jiang Xiaobai again, and he said slowly, "The essay Xiaobai sent someone to deliver to me last night!"

"What, you didn't know?"

At those words,

Jiang Jingcheng froze for a moment. He truly had not known.

Then, unable to help himself, he laughed aloud, though he forced down the corners of his mouth and gave a dry cough. "Elder Lin, you know my son's reputation precedes him."

"Who in all of Capital City doesn't know what he's like?"

"As for this essay..."

At this point, Jiang Jingcheng shook his head. "Forgive my bluntness, but how could he possibly write an essay? Could there be some misunderstanding here?"

As Jiang Jingcheng finished speaking,

Li Zhiwei, who stood nearby, was equally curious about what Jiang Xiaobai had written last night. But seeing that Lin Fengshuo's expression was off, she naturally could not add fuel to the fire.

Li Zhiwei spoke gently. "Teacher, my junior fellow disciple only joined you yesterday. It's perfectly normal for him to be eager to prove himself."

"If he has done anything improper, you... needn't be too hard on him."

"Exactly!"

Seeing this, Li Bingzhang chimed in. "Young people lack composure and tend to be a little rash. That's hardly a serious fault."

"Besides, he only became your disciple yesterday. As for this essay... why not give him another chance?"

Sooner or later, Jiang Xiaobai would be bound to the Li Family.

Since that was the case, he naturally had to put in a few good words for his future son-in-law.

Yet in the face of their persuasion, Lin Fengshuo merely shook his head. "You've all got the wrong idea."

"I haven't come today because this brat wrote poorly."

"It's because..."

At this point, Lin Fengshuo's already stern face grew noticeably more earnest. Looking at Jiang Xiaobai, he said, "This little rascal wrote far too well!"

"What?"

As Lin Fengshuo's words fell,

Almost everyone in the hall froze.

Jiang Jingcheng froze.

Shen Yun froze.

Li Bingzhang froze.

Even Li Zhiwei's clear eyes instantly filled with disbelief.

He had written... far too well?

For a moment, the expressions on everyone's faces became quite a spectacle.

Especially Li Bingzhang's.

He had only taken a master yesterday, and he had already written an essay that very night?

Even more absurdly, the essay was so good that Lin Fengshuo had come in person today?

Wasn't that a little too outrageous?

At that thought, Li Bingzhang finally could not hold back and asked, "If that's the case... why did you look so angry just now, sir?"

"Why?"

Hearing that, Lin Fengshuo glared at Jiang Xiaobai again. "Hmph! Because this little rascal only gave me half of it! Tell me, isn't that infuriating?"

"So I've come today to demand the second half!"

At those words,

The hall instantly fell silent again.

Then, a moment later,

"Pfft..."

A sudden laugh rang out.

Everyone turned toward the sound and saw Jiang Xiaobai standing there, his shoulders shaking slightly. Clearly, he had failed to hold it in.

Jiang Jingcheng looked at Jiang Xiaobai, who was stifling his laughter, then at Lin Fengshuo. His expression grew increasingly odd.

After a moment, Jiang Jingcheng finally could not help asking, "Elder Lin, you... aren't playing a joke on us, are you?"

"A joke?"

Lin Fengshuo's gaze gradually deepened. Looking at Jiang Jingcheng, he said slowly, "It seems you don't know very much... about this son of yours!"

"It's not that I don't know him."

Without even thinking, Jiang Jingcheng said, "Precisely because I know him so well, I'm all the more certain there must be some misunderstanding!"

"How could I not know what this little rascal has been like since childhood?"

"If you say he's infuriating, I believe it."

"If you say he causes trouble, I believe that too."

"But if you say he wrote an essay last night that prompted you to come here in person to ask for it..."

At this point, the corner of Jiang Jingcheng's mouth twitched. "How am I supposed to believe that?"

At his words, even Shen Yun could not help nodding lightly.

As his mother, she ought to have taken her son's side.

The problem was that this was simply too far-fetched.

After all, it was not as though she had never hired private tutors for Jiang Xiaobai.

And what had happened?

Almost every one of those tutors had been driven away by Jiang Xiaobai in a fury!

Someone who had refused to study since childhood was now suddenly telling her that he could not only write essays, but write them so well that even Lin Fengshuo could no longer sit still...

Who would believe that?

While everyone in the hall wore a different expression,

Jiang Xiaobai finally sighed softly, then spoke.

"Father, I really did finish that essay last night, and then... sent someone to deliver it to the Lin Estate."

"Heh..."

As soon as Jiang Xiaobai said that, Jiang Jingcheng glanced at him almost instinctively. "You?"

"Ah."

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaobai was not annoyed. He merely spread his hands helplessly. "Our Jiang Family has practiced martial arts for generations, and we've always been deeply resistant to literary pursuits."

"And you... have always disliked scholars most of all."

"In that sort of environment, if I'd shown too much eagerness to learn or stood out too much from childhood, would you... have been happy?"

At this point, Jiang Xiaobai paused briefly, then continued with a serious expression. "So all these years, I could only keep a low profile. I didn't dare reveal too much."

"But now that we've reached this critical juncture, I don't want to keep pretending!"

Having said that, Jiang Xiaobai lifted his head slightly, the corner of his mouth curling upward. "I'm laying my cards on the table. The truth is... I'm very capable!"

As those words left his mouth,

The hall fell silent once more.

Jiang Jingcheng was utterly stunned.

Because he suddenly realized that, if he considered things according to Jiang Xiaobai's explanation, it seemed... quite a few things really did make sense.

After all, he did value martial prowess, firmly believing that a true man could not stand tall without it!

Moreover, scholars were the people he looked down on most!

If Jiang Xiaobai had truly shown an interest in literary pursuits throughout his childhood, how would he himself have reacted?

He would definitely have beaten him hard with a stick!

At that thought, Jiang Jingcheng's expression stiffened. Finally, he furrowed his brow and let out a deep sigh.

Shen Yun also stood frozen, her expression shifting uncertainly.

Could it be...

Had Jiang Xiaobai truly been hiding his talents all these years?

Just as the atmosphere grew utterly still,

Li Bingzhang's gaze flickered slightly. Then he looked at Lin Fengshuo and asked slowly, "Sir, what exactly did this essay say..."

"Could you... let me read it too?"