Zhou Yu’s first couplet mocked Huang Yueying’s ugly appearance, what about Zhuge Liang’s second couplet?

The sentence "How can you be bright when you are born with Yu" portrays Zhou Yu as a jealous and narrow-minded person. But in fact, this statement did not come from Zhou Gongjin, but was made up by Luo Guanzhong in "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". Zhou Yu in real history was not only heroic, but also extremely talented. He was truly a romantic figure through the ages.

Because the main idea of ??"The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" is "praising Shu, suppressing Wei, and demoting Wu", that's why Luo Guanzhong beautified Zhuge Liang and vilified Zhou Yu. This is certainly contrary to history, but it also has an advantage. That is to create conflicts between characters and make the story more interesting. Below I will share with you a wonderful duel between Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang. Although it is suspected of being fabricated, it can be said to be eternal.

Regardless of whether Zhou Yu or Zhuge Liang is better in talent, learning or character, there is one aspect in which Zhou Yu is definitely far superior to Zhuge Liang, and that is the appearance of his wife. As we all know, Zhou Yu's wife Xiao Qiao is a beautiful woman who has been famous throughout history, while Zhuge Liang's wife Huang Yueying is an ugly girl known to both women and children in history. Therefore, Zhou Yu wanted to laugh at Zhuge Liang's ugly wife while the two were discussing their literary talent on the couplet. Zhou Yu said in the first couplet:

“Having eyes is also a look, being without eyes is also ugly. If you remove the eyes, add a girl and you will be a girl. If a girl from Longzhong is born ugly, it is difficult to pick a girl from a hundred miles.”

Some readers may have questions about this first couplet and think it doesn't make sense, because the word "Gu" without the word "mu" is the word "autumn", and adding the word "女" is not the word "niu"! It needs to be explained here that in ancient Chinese, the word "Gu" was written with an "eye" on the left and an "ug" on the right. That makes it clear.

Zhou Yu's first couplet is obviously making fun of the appearance of Zhuge Liang's wife Huang Yueying. It is impossible for Zhuge Liang, who is extremely smart, not to hear this, but he is so talented that he did not suffer the disadvantage of being dumb. Instead, he used the second line to give a powerful counterattack:

"With wood, it is also a bridge, and without wood, it is also a tree; remove the wood on the side of the bridge, and add a girl, and it will become a beauty; there are two beautiful girls in Jiangdong, and it is difficult to keep the bronze sparrow unlocked. "Jiao."

Zhuge Liang's second line first recognized the beauty of Jiangdong Erqiao, but he also borrowed from Cao Cao's "Tongquetai Fu" "Take Erqiao to the southeast, and enjoy spending time with her day and night." etc., insinuating that although Zhou Yu's beloved wife Xiao Qiao was beautiful, she fled and became Cao Cao's plaything. You mocked my wife for looking ugly, and I mocked your wife for losing her virginity. In this round, Zhuge Liang won!