Zhu Wen was eating dim sum, the plate in front of him had already been eaten and was about to bring another plate to himself when he saw the two men enter and hastily swallowed the dim sum in his mouth, “Father, mother.”
“Didn’t you send someone to say that you were going to the Xu family for dinner with Xu Cotoneaster? Why are you so hungry?”
Madam Zhu asked.
“Don’t mention it. ……”
Zhu Wen mentally picked up his tea and drained it in one go, “I didn’t even dare to eat at Xu’s house.”
Didn’t dare?
Zhu Zhong’s first thought was that this kid had gotten into trouble, and the trouble he had gotten into was not small, his heart thumped, and his voice lost its usual composure, “What did you do?”
Hearing his voice rise, Zhu Wen knew that his father had misunderstood, so he hurriedly said, “I didn’t do anything, I just asked the old man for some advice.”
Zhu Zhihong was somewhat unconvinced, if he had only asked for advice, how could he not even dare to eat in the Xu household? “You’d better tell the truth, if I know you’re lying, you’ll be in for a treat.”
Zhu Wen just about swore to heaven, “I really didn’t do anything, if you don’t believe me father can send someone to ask.”
Seeing that he didn’t look like he was lying, Zhu Zhihong relaxed slightly and sat down on the chair opposite him, “Then why don’t you dare to eat at Xu’s house?”
“I actually wanted to go to discuss chess with Xu Cotoneaster’s cousin, but who would have thought that the young lady was not there at all, and I could not tell the truth, so I could only say that I went to discuss my studies with the old gentleman, who also let me do my essay and explained it to me, I was afraid that he would still ask me after dinner, so I came back.”
“The!”
Hearing that he had gone to discuss chess with a young girl, Zhu Zhihong was furious.
Zhu Wen was fourteen after the year, he should know about the great defense of men and women, this was the old man did not know his intention of going, if he knew, he would have had him beaten out.
Madam Zhu also felt that her son had been ill-considered, “Wen’er, don’t be so reckless in future, a girl’s reputation is very important.”
“Where is mother thinking of, cousin Xu Cotoneaster is only ten …… years old, oh yes, that Song Wan Yue.”
“Song Wan Yue?”
Zhu Zhihong asked.
Zhu Wen nodded, “She played a game of chess with Xu Cotoneaster yesterday, and today Xu Cotoneaster replayed it out, it was so wonderful that I couldn’t resist for a moment, so I found a reason to dabble in the Xu residence.”
“She is so good at chess?”
Zhu Zhihong was surprised, Xu Qingwan had been taught by an old gentleman back then, so naturally her qin, chess, calligraphy and painting were not bad, while her daughter, Song Wangyue, was not surprisingly good at chess, but if she could beat Xu Cotoneaster, her chess skill was quite good.
“More than that, she also won and lost 50/50 in chess with the old gentleman.”
Zhu Zhihong didn’t believe it.
The old gentleman had been immersed in chess for decades, and his skill was unmatched in the entire capital, so Song Wan Yue, a young girl, could win or lose with the old gentleman?
“Who did you hear that from?”
“Of course it was Xu Cotoneaster, he replayed the chess game between Song Wangyue and the old gentleman, you didn’t see it, it was even better than wonderful, I’ve never seen such a shocking game.”
Seeing him talking about that game, his eyes glowing and his blood boiling, Zhu Zhihong couldn’t help but ask, “You might have replicated it?”
“I can, I watched the whole chess lesson today and it’s all engraved in my head.”
Zhu Zhihong had the board set up, Zhu Wen was holding the black pieces in his left hand and the white pieces in his right hand, and as each piece fell, the more Zhu Zhihong watched, the more excited he became, and the more excited he became, and at the end he couldn’t help himself and clapped his hands together, “Excellent chess!”
Madam Zhu also knew the art of chess and could usually play a few games with her husband, but when she saw the game in front of her, she realised that women could also play chess in such an atmospheric manner.
“Is this, is this really a game played by that little girl and the old man?”
“Amazing, isn’t it?”
Zhu Wen put down the last chess piece, wiped his hands, took another piece of dim sum in his mouth and quickly chewed and swallowed, “It was when I saw this game that I couldn’t resist going to the Xu house, wanting to play some games with that little girl, but unfortunately, ah, he wasn’t at the Xu residence.”
Zhu Zhihong did not say anything, his eyes could not move away from the chess board.
The butler came in to say that the food was ready and Zhu Wen asked them to bring it in and put it on the table. The maid brought it in and was just about to put it down when Zhu Zhihong shouted sternly, “Take it away!”
The maid’s hand shook and the bowl in her hand was almost thrown out. She looked cautiously at her wife, who instructed another maid to bring in a small table and put it on the bed, so that Zhu Wen could go over there to eat.
Zhu Wen was really hungry and ate quickly. When he had finished eating, he saw that his father had not taken his eyes off the chessboard and came over to him, “Father, why don’t you go to the Xu family some day when you have time, maybe you can run into that little girl, you can …… talk to her then.”
The first time I went to the chessboard, I had to visit my teacher, Madam, prepare the gifts, I will go tomorrow.”
“I’ll go along too!”
“You can’t go, even if she’s only ten years old, that’s still a girl.”
When he finished, he called the butler over and told him to carry the chessboard carefully to his house. He followed it back and sat directly at the table, watching it for most of the night, and when he went to court the next day he still had the chess game in his head and was distracted throughout the morning session.
The emperor sat on the dragon chair and saw it clearly, giving a wink to Eunuch Huang.
After the morning court broke up, Zhu Zhihong had just walked out a short distance when he was called by Eunuch Huang, “Please stay, Lord Zhu.”
Zhu Zhihong followed him to the imperial study, saluted and stood at attention.
The emperor had finished grading a copy of the imperial folding book and put it aside, and looked at him, “Zhu Aiqing, is there something going on in the cabinet?”
“In reply to Your Majesty’s words, no.”
No?
The emperor looked at him, Zhu Zhihong did not know what the emperor meant and asked tentatively, “Has the emperor heard something?”
“I see that Ai Qing is a little distracted at the morning court today.”
Zhu Zhihong hurriedly knelt down, “Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
The emperor leaned back in his chair, “Tell me, what is it that makes you so?”
Zhu Zhihong dared not hide and told him about the chess game.
“You mean that Song Wangyue is a good chess player?”
“I haven’t played against her personally yet, so I don’t know if it’s true or not.”
“Huang De, go and call Xu Yan here.”
Eunuch Huang answered and quickly called Xu Yan over.
“Greetings, Your Majesty.”
Xu Yan saluted.
“I have heard that your niece is a good chess player?”
Although Xu Yan was surprised that the emperor would suddenly ask about Yue’er’s chess skills, he did not hide it, “Yes, I am not even a match for her.”
“Oh?”
His Majesty sat up straighter, “She is surprisingly good at such a young age.”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t see that, I thought she was just bold.”
Xu Yan did not reply.
The emperor did not say anything else either, waving his hand for the two of them to retire, and then left the imperial study and went to Kunli Palace in a sedan chair.
Since the loss of her child, Consort Xiao has not recovered and is depressed all day long.
“Your Majesty.”
Consort Xiao Xian saluted.
The Emperor helped her to sit down, “I heard today that Song Wan Yue has excellent chess skills, I would like to invite her into the palace to play a few games with you, what do you think?”