Checkers was child's play, and military chess was simpler than Go and Chinese chess. Zhou Shu and Chai Jun found it novel, but they learned it after just a few tries. However, chess, once popular, completely captivated them.
Xu Lanyin and Ding Xiaoran made a few moves. Ding Xiaoran explained the rules again and started playing with Zhou Shu first. Chai Jun watched carefully from the side.
Xu Lanyin watched the game for a while before retreating.
When he turned around to close the door, he looked at Chai Jun again.
Judging from his appearance alone, Chai Jun did have the arrogance of a royal family member, as Min Hu had said, but he still had the proper manners. At least on the surface, he was much more easygoing than Wang Jin, the grandson of the Princess Beiyang. Judging from his understanding of chess, he was very intelligent and a chess lover.
Moreover, Xu Lanyin saw from Chai Jun's eyes the momentary surprise when he first saw her, but then his eyes became clear and there was no dirty thoughts in his mind.
Several powerful figures from Ningzhou Prefecture stood behind Xinyue Teahouse, so no thugs or even officials dared to cause trouble. However, Chai Jun was a royal relative. If he were to cause trouble, the Fujian residents would have to work hard to deal with him.
It can be said that Xu Lanyin has a very good impression of Chai Jun.
As soon as she went downstairs, she met another "acquaintance" - Tang Jide, the second son of the Tang family. He brought a few young men to play.
The second son of the Tang family said to the shopkeeper Wu with a sullen face, "I only want the flower house on the third floor. No matter who it is, clean up one and leave it to me."
Shopkeeper Wu was in a very difficult situation. Now there was no room left in the flower house on the third floor, the thatched house on the second floor, or even the lobby on the first floor.
Xu Lan didn't want to provoke this playboy, so she lowered her head and walked away to the backyard.
She called Wang Sanni over and said, "Go tell Master Qin and Master Min to invite Miss Min, Miss Qin, and Miss Zhu to come play in the backyard. Let Master Min and Master Qin play together in Tang She, leaving Dan She free for Master Tang."
Qin Hongyu, Min Nan, Miss Zhu San and Miss Zhu Si came to the backyard with smiles on their faces.
Qin Hongyu looked up at the small wooden lattice and fake leaves and flowers above and said with a smile, "If it were summer, we would drink tea and play chess in the yard. It would be more interesting."
Min Nan pouted and said, "Sister Xu, why do you have to stipulate that participants in the checkers competition must be under ten years old? I want to participate too."
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Checkers is a game for children. If you want to join, join the chess and military chess groups."
Qin Hongyu chuckled and said, "Sister Nan still has a chance of making the top three at jumping checkers, but forget about it at military chess. Many young masters like it. My brother even said that when the soldiers in the army see it, they will definitely like it more. As for Western chess, haha, it's even more boring than chess. Sister Nan will definitely dislike it even more."
Min Nan wrinkled his nose and nodded, agreeing very much with Qin Hongyu's words.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Then I'll ask you two to be the referees for the checkers game. Wouldn't that be more impressive?"
Qin Hongyu and Min Nan had not expected such a good thing to happen. They said happily, "Can we do it? The referees invited by other teahouses are either officials or scholars, at least they have the title of scholar, but we... hehe..."
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Of course, checkers is simple, and you play it well. However, when competing, you must uphold the principles of fairness and justice."
The two girls nodded in agreement, overjoyed. Min Nan smiled and said, "It's easier to get things done when you have acquaintances. We can also be referees like Madam Li San in the capital."
Madam Li San was a talented woman famous in the Daming Dynasty. She often served as a talent judge or referee at various banquets held by large families.
The two Miss Zhus were playing checkers in the living room, so Min Nan pulled Xu Lanyin and Qin Hongyu into the inner room to talk in private.
Min Nan said, "Sister Qin, I just saw Mr. Tang the Second secretly looking at you. Although his father is a high-ranking official, he is said to be a worthless person."
Qin Hongyu blushed and said, "My dad told his dad that I'm engaged, but his family still always comes to my house..." Although she didn't say that she was annoyed, her brows were furrowed, and it was obvious that she was annoyed.
Xu Lanyin also said, "Sister Qin, you should be more careful about their family. If they run into a wall here, don't go somewhere else and say bad things about you, ruining your reputation and causing misunderstandings."
Qin Hongyu understood what Xu Lanyin meant and nodded with a red face.
It was already noon, and most of the guests were reluctant to leave, ordering desserts, noodles, and other foods. Xu Lanyin had previously wanted to ask Xu's Bakery to provide refreshments, but they were too busy, so they had to wait until Xu Dashi and his group arrived.
After dinner, the two girls from the Zhu family went to the department store to play, while Xu Lanyin, Qin Hongyu and Min Nan continued to drink tea and chat, listening to Min Nan talk about gossip in the capital.
She stayed in the Mansion of the Minister of Min for twelve days, in the Mansion of Prince Ping for three days, went to the Mansion of Old Grand Tutor Zhou to attend a plum blossom viewing banquet, followed the old Princess Ping to the Mansion of Princess Nanyang to attend the birthday banquet of the Prince Consort, and also saw Su Qing, who had lived in Nanping County for more than a year, and so on.
Qin Hongyu asked, "Have you seen Princess Beiyang? They say she's very...dignified and majestic, isn't she?"
Min Nan said, "I took a look from a distance, but I couldn't see it clearly."
Qin Hongyu's eyes darted around, her thoughts swirling. Xu Lanyin, who sat next to her, overheard her. She was thinking, "Princess Beiyang must be a wicked old woman. Otherwise, she wouldn't have raised her son, Wang Ji, like that, scaring his aunt to the point of jumping into the river rather than marrying him..."
At the end of the afternoon, Mama Liu and the others brought Min Jia and Xu Lanting to the backyard of the teahouse. They also wanted to see the grand opening of the teahouse. Seeing that Zhao Xingchen hadn't come, Xu Lanyin was relieved. She had already sent someone home to send a letter to Qin Shi, telling her that Zhao Xingchen couldn't come in the afternoon.
Although Xu Lanyin was looking forward to the exciting moment when Chai Jun and Zhao Xingchen met, Minhu had already said that at this critical juncture, it was best not to cause trouble.
Xu Lanting and Min Jia looked like people who had done something bad, and when they saw Xu Lanyin, they had a wicked smile on their face.
Xu Lanting whispered, "Mother said that Little Star was too young and she was afraid he would be kidnapped by a beggar, so she didn't let him come. She said that Jiajia and I would go to the street corner to buy him some sugar-coated fruit..."
Min Jia narrowed his eyes and smiled mysteriously, "Little Star, you're so silly, you believed it. Hahahaha..."
Although his voice was still not pleasant, his speech was much more fluent than before.
Min Nan and Qin Hongyu were extremely surprised. They looked at her with wide eyes and said, "Jia Jie'er can talk so much!"
Min Jia was unhappy and turned her head towards them.
Xu Lanyin smiled and said, "Aunt Nan and Aunt Qin care about you and are happy for your progress. Be polite." She then said to Qin Hongyu and Min Nan, "Jiaer has made great progress. Not only can she speak more, she can also knit."
"Oh, that's great. Congratulations, Sister Jia." Qin Hongyu said with a smile.
Min Nan also smiled and said, "I know that Jia Jie'er has been smarter than many children since she was young."
After hearing this, Min Jia turned around and called out, "Aunt Nan, Aunt Qin."
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