Chapter 64: 54 chapters Directly tell them
Zhao Rong smiled and turned his head to look at the two men who were staring at him in surprise.
Zhao Rong shrugged his shoulders, winked at Lin Wenruo, and his mouth curved into a smile, “Wenruo, the position of the lower horse is very important; I don’t trust you guys with it, I’ll take care of it myself.”
Lin Wenruo opened his mouth to say something, but seeing the young scholar before him smiling and shaking his head, he could only give up and nod helplessly with a smile.
In fact, in Lin Wenruo’s plan, the opponent’s lower horse was Qing Yuanzi. Whether it was Zhao Rong or Chen Muzhi as the middle horse, both could almost certainly defeat him. He chose Zhao Rong because he felt closer and more reliable to him; however, since Zhao Rong did not want to be it, he had no way to insist.
Lin Wenruo pondered for a moment, then turned to Chen Muzhi, who was staring at him, “Then I must trouble Brother Muzhi to be the middle horse, please forgive me.”
Chen Muzhi quickly nodded, his hand shaking the feather fan a bit faster, “Not at all, not at all.”
Chen Muzhi glanced sideways at Zhao Rong, his expression awkward and a bit embarrassed.
On noticing his glance, Zhao Rong tilted his head and smiled at him; Chen Muzhi hurriedly returned the smile.
Zhao Rong turned back, his expression serious, and his gaze fixed on Lin Wenruo, “Wenruo, we have sorted out our positions, but how do we ensure that these three debates go according to our plan? After all, we only have the selection right for the first round; the second round’s selection right is in the hands of Chongxu Temple.”
This too was something Zhao Rong was curious about. Although they had employed the strategy of Tian Ji’s horse racing on their side, the opponent was not foolish; they definitely would not choose from their perspective but in line with their own interests.
Lin Wenruo, with the plan clear in his mind, crisply said, “For the first debate, we use our middle horse against their lower horse, which means Brother Muzhi against Qing Yuanzi; for the second debate, we let them use their middle horse against our upper horse, which is Qing Yuanzi against me; the third debate will be you, Ziyu, against that mysterious old man. Ziyu, don’t feel too pressured, the outcome of the third round isn’t very crucial, our goal is to win the first two rounds.”
Zhao Rong furrowed his brows, “How do you make them actively choose their middle horse against you instead of their middle horse against me, and their upper horse against you?”
Lin Wenruo nodded, “It’s quite simple, as long as they mistakenly believe that you are our upper horse and I am just a middle horse. If they lose the first round, they won’t dare take risks; they can only use their upper horse against what they mistakenly believe is our upper horse, and their middle horse against what they believe is our middle horse.”
Zhao Rong lightly tapped the railing, his brows locked in thought, not immediately asking Lin Wenruo how he planned to make Chongxu Temple misjudge their lineup but rather contemplating another issue.
At this moment, Zhao Rong wanted to help Lin Wenruo thoroughly review the plan to check for any oversights. Zhao Rong had voluntarily chosen to be the lower horse because he planned to go after the Thunder and Rainbow Purple Gold Furnace for a while and would not have time to prepare for the Confucian debates.
After all, if he had not refused to be the middle horse, his opponent would have been Qing Yuanzi, and he would have had to spend energy studying Qing Yuanzi’s debate manuscripts, looking for weaknesses, and ensuring a foolproof plan. This would be extremely time-consuming.
Now that he was a lower horse, his opponent was an old man of unknown origins, with not much material for him to study or analyze. The hopes for the Confucian debates were all pinned on the first two rounds, which allowed him to relax a bit; hence, it was a good time to help Lin Wenruo carefully check the plan, just in case.
Zhao Rong pondered for a moment, then looked up at Lin Wenruo, “Why don’t we use an upper horse against their middle horse in the first round, that is, you choose Qing Yuanzi in the first round? If we win that, then regardless, Qing Yuanzi will have to face either me or Brother Muzhi, and with our preparations, he is bound to lose. Wouldn’t this spare us the trouble muddle through and misdirect their choices? Isn’t this the optimal solution?”
Lin Wenruo nodded in agreement, “Good question. As mentioned before about the rules of the three debates, we choose the participants for the first round and the remaining two pair up for the last round; in both these rounds, Chongxu Temple is the principal. Only in the second round do they choose, and we are the principal. The reason I didn’t use your ‘optimal solution’ was because of the right to set the question as the principal.”
“If I directly choose Qing Yuanzi in the first round, then Qing Yuanzi sets the question. Although I am confident of beating him after thoroughly researching him, his strength cannot be underestimated. If he prepared something meticulous and beyond the normal standards, I would be at a disadvantage. Therefore, in the second round, letting him actively choose me would make me the principal, giving me the control to set the question, ensuring his defeat!”
Lin Wenruo chuckled, “As for the first round, Qing Yuanzi getting the right to set the question is not a big concern; the threat is minimal, and I believe Brother Muzhi can handle it.”
Having said that, Lin Wenruo looked at Chen Muzhi.
The latter nodded leisurely and smiled nonchalantly, “I am confident that even against the mightiest scholars of the Southern Country, I could at least manage a draw; let alone him, a Daoist whose reputation doesn’t even qualify in the middle ranks. So why worry about him setting the question? It’s merely trivial. Ziyu, Wenruo, please don’t be overly concerned.”
Zhao Rong nodded slightly, thought for a while, and exhaled softly, “Wenruo, your plan is feasible. Now the only remaining issue is, how do we mislead them into thinking I’m an upper horse?”
Lin Wenruo’s smile brightened, “Very simple, we’ll just tell them.”
“So, is that scholar named Zhao Ziyu really a student of the Mountain Master of Linlu Academy?”