Upon arriving at Chensong Courtyard, Uncle Fu had already prepared the meal. "Where is Father?" she asked anxiously.
Uncle Fu hurriedly bowed and replied, "His Highness is inside, waiting for the Princess to have her meal." He was extremely gratified. The Princess was no longer as indifferent to His Highness as before, and His Highness had not been going out to fool around with those frivolous friends recently.
If the princess could see this from heaven, she would surely be at peace.
Zhao Shu was unaware of the complex emotions in Fu Bo's heart. She quickened her pace and, upon entering Bao Xia, saw Emperor Mingde there. She was startled, but quickly bowed and said, "A-Jun greets Your Majesty, may Your Majesty enjoy boundless blessings and peace."
Emperor Mingde laughed heartily, “Ah Jun, get up, no need for formalities. Come, come, play a game with me.” He beckoned to Zhao Shu.
Zhao Shu, with her sharp eyes, immediately noticed the white jade chessboard and ivory chess pieces placed in front of Emperor Mingde. No wonder people say that the royal family are nouveau riche; look at the materials...
Human wisdom should not be underestimated. Zhao Shu was truly shocked that a chess set drawn on just a few sheets of paper could be made that was almost indistinguishable from modern chess sets. She couldn't help but wonder if someone had traveled back in time to Dayong.
She reached out to touch the ivory chess piece, but Emperor Mingde stopped her, saying, "If you beat me, I'll let you play with it for two days."
Zhao Shu: ...To borrow a phrase from Ajiu, holy crap, so stingy.
However, it would be good to be able to play for two days. His eyes lit up and he sat down opposite Emperor Mingde. "Uncle Emperor, will you be the commander or the general?"
"Of course he's handsome." Emperor Mingde smiled slyly.
Zhao Shu quickly set up the chess pieces, and didn't forget to help Emperor Mingde, "Uncle, then Ajun won't hold back, don't be angry if you lose."
Emperor Mingde learned from Prince Yong that Zhao Shu had never lost and knew her skill level. However, Prince Yong was no longer his match, otherwise he would not have come to Prince Yong's residence to find Zhao Shu.
"How arrogant." Emperor Mingde was not angry at Zhao Shu's lack of manners; on the contrary, he doted on her. None of the princes and princesses dared to speak to him like that, but Zhao Shu, favored by the Empress Dowager, had been fearless since childhood. She used to be afraid of her reputation, but now she seemed to be unafraid of anything.
It's truly bizarre and strange.
The two went back and forth, with Zhao Shu moving the cannon and Emperor Mingde hurriedly moving the carriage, completely dominating Zhao Shu. She was not on the same level as Prince Yong. The meal was set out and the dishes were almost cold, but the two were still not finished.
Emperor Mingde frowned, pondering his next move, trying to find a balance between offense and defense so that he wouldn't be devoured by Zhao Shu.
Zhao Shu didn't urge them on. It was rare to find someone with such strength in Dayong, and she cherished that opportunity.
After a while, Emperor Mingde rode away. Zhao Shu smiled and thought to herself that her daughter was quite cunning.
Sure enough, as soon as Zhao Shu made her move, Emperor Mingde slapped his thigh and said regretfully, "I have lost."
"Haha, I've borrowed the chess set." Zhao Shu proudly touched the chess pieces and board. She loved playing chess and couldn't resist collecting good chess sets and pieces.
Emperor Mingde was not angry, and suddenly said, "If you win the next game, I'll lend you the game for four days."
Zhao Shu's mouth gaped open, forming an "O". Was playing for two days really two days?
"Hahahaha." Emperor Mingde laughed at her appearance. In fact, it was just a chess set. No matter how precious it was, he didn't care. His goal was to defeat Zhao Shu and then make chess popular in Dayong.
Hmph, those aristocratic families always flaunt their chess skills. This time, he's going to slap them in the face. He'll train himself first, and then crush them.
Zhao Shu could easily see through Emperor Mingde's thoughts and felt that the idea was very dangerous. When people first come into contact with new things, few people are good at them, but over time, some people will figure them out thoroughly.
Chess is ultimately not as profound as Go. Go has nineteen lines and is unpredictable, with no two games being the same throughout the ages. Emperor Mingde was not very skilled in Go, perhaps because of the lineage he inherited, which is very similar to Zhao Shu.
She thought for a moment and said, "Uncle, let's make a deal."
"Go on," Emperor Mingde said, in a very good mood.
"I'll play a few more games with you, and then I'll give you two chess manuals as a gift. How about you give this chess set to me?" She smiled, like a child asking for candy.
Life is like a play, and it all depends on acting skills. Besides, Emperor Mingde was already very good to her, so she felt no pressure at all to act spoiled and coquettish.
Upon hearing that Zhao Shu possessed a chess manual, Emperor Mingde immediately lost interest in playing against her and was eager to see the manual. "Show me the manual first, and see if it can rival the value of my chess pieces."
In modern times, Zhao Shu practiced chess for many years to hone her skills, memorized many chess scores, and even played many ancient chess endgames. She had mastered two chess scores without a doubt, but she couldn't produce them now.
"Which one..." she said hesitantly.
Emperor Mingde frowned and glared, saying, "What? Is it just an ordinary chess manual? You think you can fool your imperial uncle with a chess set worth ten thousand gold pieces? That won't do."
Zhao Shu: ...It seems that without real skills, this chess set is unlikely to fall into my hands.
"No... Your Majesty, you may not know this, but this chess set was found in a book among my mother's dowry. This book is a manuscript by the calligrapher Fei Chang from the previous dynasty. In the manuscript, he recorded that when he was young, he went out to travel and accidentally entered a secluded paradise. He met an old man who was very learned. Fei Chang suspected that the old man was a great Confucian scholar who did not care about worldly affairs. The great Confucian scholar taught him how to play chess, and he recorded the chess skills taught by the old man in the manuscript."
As she told the lie, Zhao Shu blushed slightly, quickly took a sip of tea to hide her guilt, and continued, "Uncle, have you ever heard of anyone who can play chess?"
Emperor Mingde shook his head, indeed he had never heard of it. One-third of his purpose in coming today was to find out the origin of this chess set, but as an emperor, he would not ask about it. He always adhered to the principle of remaining still while controlling the enemy, not moving when the enemy moves, and defeating the enemy when they move. He was waiting for Zhao Shu to bring it up herself.
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