Chapter 32: The Queen Invites, Beast Chess
By mid-June, the days were getting hotter.
I can’t live without ice cubes, round fans, and iced tea.
Wen Wanyu, a beauty, was given very little ice. Fortunately, she was still favored, and with Cheng Shuyi's support, she lived a relatively comfortable life.
Wen Wanyu leaned back leisurely on the couch. On the small table beside her were iced watermelon and tea.
Cheng Shuyi quietly entered the room, covered Wen Wanyu's eyes with his hands, and deliberately muffled his voice: "Guess who I am?"
No need to guess who it is. Wen Wanyu smiled helplessly and said, "Cheng Shuyi, you are so boring."
From childhood to adulthood, Cheng Shuyi is the only one who enjoys playing "Guess Who I Am".
Cheng Shuyi ate watermelon and drank tea without any hesitation, as if he was back home. "You are so happy!"
Wen Wanyu looked at her: "Why are you here?"
"Tomorrow at 3 p.m., the Queen is hosting a small banquet in Fengyi Palace and has invited you and me. I'm here to let you know."
Wen Wanyu woke up instantly and sat up.
"Empress? Inviting me?" Wen Wanyu asked in surprise. She and the Empress had never spoken to each other, so why would the Empress invite her for no reason?
Cheng Shuyi nodded: "It's really you, don't forget it tomorrow at 5 p.m."
Wen Wanyu suddenly became timid: "Shuyi, tell me the truth. Did I offend the Queen in some way? Is the Queen going to drag me into murder to silence me?"
If this is true, then he would die before achieving his goal.
Although the queen is pitiful and usually looks gentle, but as my mistress said, gentle women are the most dangerous. Who knows if she is hiding a knife behind her smile?
Cheng Shuyi was amused by her: "Are you lying in the corner again?"
“No!”
"That's right. You didn't eavesdrop on anything. It's not murder at all."
Seeing that she was so nervous that she was almost losing her soul, Cheng Shuyi did not hide it from her: "Look at you, tomorrow is the Queen's birthday."
Since ancient times, a grand banquet would be held on the Queen's birthday to celebrate her centenary.
Wen Wanyu was even more puzzled. "The Queen's birthday? That's the Qianqiu Festival, a top priority event. Is the Queen sure she only invited you and me?"
"Today is the Queen's real birthday. The Queen's birthday has two dates. One was fabricated when she ascended to the throne. Only tomorrow's is the real one." Cheng Shuyi explained.
It turns out that the Shen family had put a lot of effort into promoting the empress to the throne. To this end, they specifically changed the empress's birth date. The date was changed to April 21st. The imperial advisor had calculated that women born in mid-to-late April were most likely to ascend the throne, leading to prosperity and peace for the people.
Wen Wanyu sighed, saying that being a queen really wasn't that easy. Even her birth date and birthday had to be changed.
Cheng Shuyi lowered his voice: "That's why I said that the queen is really pitiful."
Cheng Shuyi was three years older than she, and had experienced more. In their past interactions, Wen Wanyu had discovered that Cheng Shuyi was a person with strong empathy. But at the same time, he wasn't a "good-hearted bodhisattva." Cheng Shuyi could tell the good from the bad.
So Wen Wanyu was not worried at all that Cheng Shuyi would be deceived or cheated.
But she still didn't understand why the queen invited her.
Question: "Why did the Queen invite me?"
Cheng Shuyi took a bite of watermelon and said, "Of course, one reason is because of me."
“…”
"The Queen admires you very much."
Wen Wanyu smiled, "Appreciate me? Appreciate that I only know how to eat all day long?"
Cheng Shuyi: "...You'll know when the time comes."
…
"Greetings to Her Majesty the Queen."
The Queen smiled gently. "No need to be so polite. Please take a seat."
There were only two tables. It seemed they were alone. The Queen's table was across from them, not directly above them.
The Queen looked at Wen Wanyu and said, "Shuyi has already told you the reason."
"Cheng Zhaorong has already told me." Wen Wanyu picked up a cup of wine and said respectfully and sincerely, "I respectfully wish you a happy birthday and may all your wishes come true."
The queen smiled and raised her glass.
"Since I was little, my parents have always said that I have a cold personality. That's why I haven't had many friends. Shuyi is the only true friend I've made since I entered the palace. Although I haven't spoken to you much, I like you very much."
Wen Wanyu opened his mouth.
The Queen felt awkward again and added, "You are just like Shuyi. You don't like to flatter and you won't persist in evil. What you said last time—"
“Whoever provides evidence will be questioned.”
Wen Wanyu suddenly became enlightened.
The queen was a noble lady from the family. From childhood to adulthood, she was exposed to or baptized with feudal traditional ideas.
"If..." There was melancholy between the queen's eyebrows, a regret that was difficult to let go.
Wen Wanyu and Cheng Shuyi looked at her, waiting for her next words.
The queen smiled bitterly: "Nothing."
"Let's not talk about this anymore."
Cheng Shuyi sighed, "Wanwan, didn't you prepare a birthday gift?"
It was obvious that he was trying to change the subject. Wen Wanyu said "Oh".
"This is some food I made myself. It's called apple chips. It might cause a sore throat, so I prepared some cold tea for you. Also, this is a piece of calligraphy I wrote. My handwriting is definitely not as good as yours, so please don't laugh at me."
The Queen's eyes lit up slightly, and with anticipation, she said with a smile, "How did you know that I like to eat this kind of snack to relieve boredom?"
Cheng Shuyi's notification was too urgent, so Wen Wanyu didn't have enough time to think about and prepare the gift. She could only prepare some things she was good at, so she made fruit chips and wrote a piece of calligraphy.
As for the Queen's expression of love, I wonder how much of it is genuine.
Wen Wanyu smiled slowly and said, "Your Majesty is the Queen, and you have everything. The things I prepared are not presentable, but I hope Your Majesty likes them."
The Queen opened the calligraphy:
Celebrate together,
Looking forward to having fun together every day.
Happy and youthful,
Music is connected with the branches.
He read it from beginning to end, his eyebrows slightly raised: "An acrostic poem?"
Wen Wanyu smiled, "Your Majesty has good eyesight!"
"I have also prepared a gift."
The Queen looked at her expectantly.
Wen Wanyu opened the box and poured out a number of round and flat chess pieces. Unlike ordinary chess pieces, the names of animals were engraved on the front.
"This is Beast Fighting Chess. It wasn't invented by me. I have a good memory so I'll remember it."
The Queen was intrigued. "I've never seen this before. How do you play this?"
"There are eight pieces in total. The elephant is the largest, followed by the lion, tiger, leopard, wolf, dog, cat, and rat in descending order. There's one exception: the elephant can be destroyed by the rat. When two pieces of the same kind meet, they can capture each other. When moving pieces, each piece can only move one square at a time, forward, backward, left, or right."
"As long as all the beasts on either side are eaten, they win."
The rules are simple.
The Queen couldn't wait any longer: "Then Lady Wen, would you like to play a round with me first?"
——
P.S. The gameplay of Beast Battle Chess is different in every place. Some seem to be complicated, with rivers and traps. This book chooses the most basic gameplay.
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