Chapter 130 The Heavenly Decree: Choice
Shao Yanzhe looked down at the invitation Wen Yanqing handed him, took it, opened it, and confirmed that the owner of the invitation was indeed Gu Huiming.
Why did he invite me?
He looked at the others: "Did he invite you?"
Wen Yanqing and the others shook their heads.
Zhou Jiming asked worriedly, "What does he want from me by inviting you over?"
Liu Mingyuan, standing to the side, shook his head: "For a high-ranking official like Gu to condescend to invite a mere top scholar, if people who don't know the situation knew, they would definitely be moved by Gu's act of humbly inviting a scholar, and would be extremely grateful to him."
"The problem lies here: we know about this Prime Minister Gu's dirty deeds in private, and he also knows that we know about them. So, what is his purpose in doing this?"
"I don't know what his purpose is, but it's definitely not good."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Wen Yanqing looked at Shao Yanzhe and asked, "What are you going to do? Go or not?"
Everyone looked at him.
Shao Yanzhe stared at the invitation in his hand, pondered for a moment, then looked up at them and said, "Of course I'll go."
Zhou Jiming immediately looked at him disapprovingly: "Brother Shao, since you know the other party has ill intentions, why did you still go?"
“Since he sent me the message, it means he’s already got his eye on me. Even if I don’t go, he’ll definitely do something behind my back. Rather than constantly worrying about any hidden attacks, I might as well go now.”
After hearing this, Zhou Jiming scratched his chin and said, "What you said makes sense. Then be careful."
"Don't worry. I'm sure I won't be in any danger this time. After all, everyone can see me enter the Prime Minister Gu's residence. If I don't come out of his residence, then it's the Prime Minister Gu's responsibility. He won't do that," Shao Yanzhe said confidently.
"That's true."
The next day, Shao Yanzhe arrived at the Gu residence with an invitation. Led by the Gu family's steward, he was led all the way to the study.
He was somewhat surprised. Logically speaking, the first visit should usually take place in the reception room, and only after they have become more familiar would they be able to go to the study.
"Young Master Shao, my master is waiting for you inside," the butler said respectfully, standing to the side of the study doorway.
"Okay, thank you."
Shao Yanzhe stepped into the study and glanced around. He noticed that the room was elegantly decorated, with four common yet elegant paintings of plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums hanging on the wall.
"Scholar Shao, I have been waiting for you for a long time." Gu Huiming's somewhat aged voice came from a room in the study.
Shao Yanzhe slowly walked over and saw the person sitting on one side of the chess table.
This was not the first time he had met Gu Huiming.
During the last imperial examination, he had glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. At that time, he was wearing a dark red official robe, looked solemn, and had the aura of a superior.
Now, he had taken off his dark red official robe and was only wearing a brown cloth robe. His gray hair, tied up on his head, looked somewhat messy. At first glance, he looked like an old man you could see anywhere.
Shao Yanzhe bowed and greeted him, saying, "Greetings, Your Excellency."
"No need for formalities, come, sit here." Gu Huiming pointed to the seat opposite him.
"yes."
Shao Yanzhe sat opposite him and glanced at the chessboard in front of him. At first glance, the situation on the board seemed to be a stalemate between black and white, but in reality, black had the upper hand.
"Do you know how to play chess?" Gu Huiming asked.
Shao Yanzhe honestly replied, "I don't know how to play Go, I only know how to play Gomoku."
Gu Huiming paused, holding the black chess piece, and looked up at him: "What is Gomoku?"
Shao Yanzhe briefly explained the rules of Gomoku to him.
"Interesting, let's play another round."
The black and white pieces on the chessboard were quickly cleared away.
"You go first," Gu Huiming said.
Shao Yanzhe didn't stand on ceremony and directly picked up the white piece and placed it on the very center point of the chessboard.
Gu Huiming then placed a black piece.
The two sides went back and forth, and soon the chessboard was covered with intertwined black and white pieces.
With a snap, Shao Yanzhe placed a piece, then smiled gently at Gu Huiming: "Sorry, I have won."
Gu Huiming paused, his hand holding the black piece pausing. His eyes were fixed on the five white pieces lined up in a row. He released his fingers, and the black piece fell to the ground with a snap, mingling with the other black pieces.
"good."
He looked up at Shao Yanzhe and praised him.
"Thank you for your praise, sir." Shao Yanzhe thanked him politely. Fortunately, he was very familiar with Gomoku, otherwise he would have really lost.
He didn't know what the consequences would be if he lost, but his intuition told him that the consequences wouldn't be good.
Gu Huiming reached for the teacup beside him, opened the lid, blew on it gently, and took a sip of tea, his posture quite languid.
"Shao Zhuangyuan is indeed a genius, to have invented such a simple yet mysterious way of playing Go."
As he spoke, he put down his teacup.
"How about we play another round?" he said calmly.
Shao Yanzhe put down the chess piece in his hand, shook his head and said, "Forget it, my little trick can only beat you once, sir. If I try again, I'm afraid I'll lose. You invited me here this time, sir. Is there anything else you need me to do?"
He smiled and said, "If I can do it, I will definitely do my best!"
A fleeting look of regret crossed Gu Huiming's eyes, but he didn't press the matter further and put down his chess piece as well.
He straightened his back and looked steadily at Shao Yanzhe, his eyes full of sincerity: "The reason I invited you to the manor for a chat is because I saw your essay in the palace examination. It was insightful and the arguments were very meticulous. With such talent, you will surely be able to contribute to the Dayong Dynasty in the future. You are truly a pillar of the nation."
Shao Yanzhe smiled shyly, cupped his hands to Gu Huiming and waved them repeatedly: "You flatter me, sir. The insights in my article are really unworthy of your praise as a pillar of the nation."
Gu Huiming shook his head and smiled: "You don't need to be too modest. I have read countless articles over the years, and your article is of the highest quality."
As he spoke, he suddenly reached out and grabbed Shao Yanzhe's wrist.
Shao Yanzhe was caught off guard and grabbed. He tried to break free, but found that the other person was very strong and he could not break free for a moment.
"Don't worry, I just want to know the amount of literary energy in your body."
As Gu Huiming spoke, he looked at Shao Yanzhe with a smile, as if he were looking at a kitten with its fur standing on end.
However, as he sensed the literary energy within Shao Yanzhe's body, the smile on his face slowly faded, and he looked at him with a solemn expression, as if he were no longer looking at a person, but some kind of monster.
When Shao Yanzhe saw Gu Huiming's look, his heart skipped a beat. He wondered what was wrong with him that made Gu Huiming look at him like that.
Gu Huiming noticed his heartbeat quickening, looked away, and then smiled to reassure him, "Don't be nervous, you're fine. It's just that this is the first time I've ever seen such a talented genius as you."
He finished speaking and sighed, "Back in the day, when I was your age, I was nowhere near as capable as you are now."
Shao Yanzhe's expression shifted, and he said with a slight hesitation, "When you say 'at my age,' do you mean when you were Yang Wenyuan, or in this body of Gu Huiming?"
Gu Huiming's eyes instantly turned sharp as he looked at him. His fingers, which had been loosely gripping his wrist, suddenly tightened, gripping his wrist firmly.
"Young man, you need to know what you can say and what you can't say. You and I know that, and that's enough."
Shao Yanzhe suddenly realized that Gu Huiming indeed knew that the fox-eyed man had approached them.
“Of course I know, so it seems he wasn’t lying to me. Since you knew of his existence, why did you allow him to remain in Kyoto?”
At this point, Shao Yanzhe looked up at Gu Huiming and asked, "Isn't Your Excellency afraid that he will make this matter known to everyone?"
Gu Huiming chuckled softly, then released Shao Yanzhe's wrist.
"He's just a good-for-nothing; it takes someone believing him to even hear him. And," he smiled, "even if someone did believe him, what could they do?"
Upon hearing this, Shao Yanzhe realized it was true. Given Gu Huiming's current status, even if this matter were exposed, it would only be seen as someone being jealous of the Prime Minister Gu and using this to damage his reputation and undermine the foundation of the country. In the end, it would all come to nothing.
After all, this matter sounds somewhat unbelievable to the people of Dayong Dynasty, and they would most likely consider it a rumor.
In the end, it was just a bizarre and colorful stroke in the life of Chief Minister Gu.
Shao Yanzhe looked at Gu Huiming curiously: "Then why is the master so frank with a junior like me? I don't think I have anything that the master values. I'm just a top scholar in the imperial examination."
It wasn't that he was being self-deprecating; the Dayong Dynasty produced a top scholar every three years, and since Emperor Xirui ascended the throne, at least a dozen top scholars had emerged, and he was just one of them.
Gu Huiming shook his head: "You don't need to belittle yourself."
As he spoke, he looked at him with a smile: "Look, since you started taking the imperial examination, you've ruined several of my plans. Luckily, I had someone fix them in time, otherwise, it would have really caused me some trouble!"
After he finished speaking, a troubled look appeared on his face.
"So, I'm very curious about you and want to know what kind of person you are who has been able to thwart my plans time and time again."
Shao Yanzhe asked, "When you saw me, what kind of person did you think I was?"
Gu Huiming said, "You are like a piece of uncut jade, ignorant of the game of chess and the ways of the world, and you act entirely on your nature. Once you are polished, your brilliance will be unparalleled. Given time, I'm afraid I will have to be wary of you."
Shao Yanzhe asked, "Then how does Your Excellency intend to treat me? Do you wish to be the one who polishes the rough jade, or the one who... shatters the rough jade?"
Gu Huiming: "Then it depends on what you want to choose."
He looked at the frail scholar opposite him with sharp eyes: "Do you want me to polish the rough jade, or do you want me to shatter the rough jade?"
As soon as the words were spoken, the room fell into a deathly silence, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.
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