Situ Chen didn't take it seriously at first, because his chess skills have always been good and he had never lost when playing against the princes.
But now, facing the maze set by Bai Su, he was completely powerless and had no idea how to crack it. He was distracted for only a moment before he was killed without a trace.
"This... I lost again!"
Situ Chen put away the chess piece in his hand in a somewhat dejected manner. When he raised his head and looked at Bai Su again, he felt two points more fighting spirit and eight points more admiration.
"How come I've never heard that the prince has such good chess skills!" the fifth prince asked excitedly.
Chen Tian chuckled upon hearing this and continued, "Leading troops in battle is more than just bravery. A general must have a comprehensive view of the situation and the ability to strategize. Zi Su has achieved fame at a young age, but he's no ordinary chess player."
Bai Su heard the pride in his tone, and a smile appeared in his eyes, like twinkling stars, which made Chen Tian a little dazzled.
It’s a pity that there is a little kid watching opposite, otherwise he would definitely kiss those charming eyes.
Chen Tian sighed softly, suppressing the urge in his heart. He saw that the Fifth Prince's brows had become more serious. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I wonder if the Crown Prince could tell me about the border situation?"
When Bai Su saw Chen Tian nodding slightly at him, he immediately understood his intention.
It now seemed that the Fifth Prince was the most likely to seize the throne. Although it was still a little early to take sides, there was nothing wrong with taking the opportunity to show himself. He trusted Chen Tian and knew that the other party had done this on purpose. He couldn't help but feel warm in his heart, so he slowly began to speak.
Bai Su's tone was calm, simply recounting his past as he and his grandfather guarded the frontier. He not only described the hardships of the battlefield, but also the scenery of the border.
Although the people there live a hard life, they grow tenaciously like thorns and strive to defend their homes.
But sometimes, no matter how elaborate the story is, it is not as fascinating as real events.
When Bai Su talked about how they used risky tactics to defeat the larger force with a smaller one, Situ Chen applauded.
Speaking of how they were ambushed and although they managed to break out, they suffered heavy casualties and countless heroes died on the battlefield, Situ Chen felt angry and melancholy.
Talking about how they had been fighting the enemy for days, with insufficient food and supplies, and they had to eat tree bark and grass roots, and even use fresh soil to fill their stomachs, they were still willing to fight the enemy to the death, just to protect their wives and children at home and to protect this piece of land.
Situ Chen clenched his fists, his eyes red...
There were no passionate speeches, no flowery rhetoric, only facts laid out before him one after another.
For the first time, Situ Chen asked himself whether his father had done anything wrong over the years!
But he is the emperor, who dares to say a word against him?
Situ Chen didn't dare to do so, but he knew in his heart that his almighty father was really wrong!
The soldiers were starving but still had to go into battle to kill the enemy. They went through great pains to defeat the enemy but received no rewards.
How could this not make the generals feel disheartened? Who would be willing to defend the country in the future?
At this moment, a sense of mission arose in Situ Chen's heart.
By the time the two finished chatting, it was already late at night.
Chen Tian had anticipated this and had his men dispatch the guards who were searching for the Fifth Prince. Otherwise, if Situ Chen hadn't been found for so long, it would surely have caused unrest.
Although the Fifth Prince did not have as much fun as he had imagined, he felt that it was of great significance that he was introduced to Bai Su by Prince Ning.
After being escorted to the palace gate, the Fifth Prince felt an indescribable sense of harmony as he looked at the two figures standing side by side before him. He casually remarked, "The relationship between the Imperial Uncle and the Crown Prince is truly good."
Bai Su nodded when he heard this, but Chen Tian leaned over, patted the boy on the head, and whispered, "From now on, call me Aunt Huang in private."
Situ Chen's eyes widened suddenly. Seeing Bai Su's face flushed red, but he didn't refute, his eyes darted back and forth between the two of them in surprise. But before he could react or say anything, Chen Tian pushed him into the palace gate.
Chen Tian didn't care about letting the little brat Fifth Prince know, since the old emperor already knew anyway.
Since the male protagonist of this world had witnessed Bai Su's abilities today, he naturally wouldn't look down on him, so it didn't matter if he knew about it. On the contrary, the fact that he, the emperor's uncle, was gay would make the other party less suspicious.
Bai Su, whose face was red as he was pulled away by Chen Tian, couldn't help but steal a glance at the man next to him. He never thought that the other party would tell the Fifth Prince about their relationship.
Although I was worried about the trouble that would arise if others found out, I was more secretly happy.
Bai Su suddenly felt a little selfish and despicable. Perhaps he really wasn't as indifferent to material things as he thought. Facing the person he loved deeply, he was just as eager to declare his sovereignty, to let everyone know that Situ Chenye belonged to him!
After being sent back to the Mansion of the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery by Chen Tian, no one came forward to cause trouble.
It seemed that ever since Prince Ning appeared by his side, his life had become much calmer, and today he felt even happier and sweeter.
Back in the room, he couldn't help but touch his lips, and sure enough, he felt a slight sting. That was on the way back, when Prince Ning held him in his arms and kissed him. The other party kissed him deeply and hard, and now his mouth must be swollen.
A surge of joy surged in his heart, and looking at the shoes on his feet, Bai Su was reluctant to take them off for a long time.
Although Prince Ning had said that today's pair was mainly for him to try on, and that if there were no problems, he would soon send a lot of new shoes, this pair of shoes still held special meaning to him.
However, in addition to joy, Bai Su had other emotions, especially after meeting the Fifth Prince today.
Although he and Prince Ning were deeply in love, he knew that there were many obstacles between them. Therefore, he had to work hard to gain a high position. Only with absolute power and status could he withstand the ups and downs in the future and truly be with the one he loved forever.
At this moment, Bai Su made up his mind!
In the days that followed, Chen Tian met with Bai Su almost every day as usual. After all, on the surface, he was just an idle prince, with not much to do.
However, a few days later, Bai Feizhang made a big joke.
The so-called ancient books that Chen Tian had asked 009 to sort out and put in the bookstore were all discovered by the literati. Now, they know that the poems Bai Feizhang had written before were all plagiarized from these ancient books.
The greater their admiration in the past, the greater their hatred and anger now. Those who admired him hated his deception and despised his behavior even more. They criticized Bai Feizhang verbally and pen-to-paper and disdained to be his friend.
Because of this incident, Bai Heguang was ridiculed by his colleagues after leaving the court, which made him very embarrassed. After returning home, he scolded Bai Feizhang, but he didn't know that Bai Feizhang was shocked and angry.
Before he published those poems, he had already searched carefully in bookstores and asked his subordinates to inquire about the information.
This was clearly a dynasty that had nothing to do with the ancient world he had lived in before, and there were no great scholars there. How could such an ancient book suddenly appear?
Bai Feizhang suspected that there might be other travelers like him in this world, but if there were other travelers, would he still be the protagonist he imagined? Why would the other party target him?
He tried his best, even spent a lot of his savings, to find the source of this ancient book that suddenly appeared, but he found nothing. Instead, as the situation developed, his reputation became worse and worse.
If it weren't for the fact that he had the Marquis of Loyalty and Bravery behind him, and the people still remembered the kindness of Marquis Bai in protecting Xiling during his lifetime, I'm afraid the gate would be filled with rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs.
His biological mother, Liu, was just a woman in the harem, well-versed in the insidious methods of domestic fighting. She had no way to deal with such things and could only shed tears every day. Bai Heguang no longer treated him with the same kindness as before, and now Bai Feizhang dared not even leave his own yard.
The incident involving Bai Feizhang caused a big stir, but Chen Tian and Bai Su didn't take it to heart. Instead, the servants in Bai Su's yard felt particularly relieved, and they worked with much more energy than usual.
Chen Tian knew that Bai Su was concerned about the soldiers at the border. Fortunately, his original body had a lot of businesses. He checked the shops under his name and offered some suggestions for improvement, which were indeed very effective.
I thought that when I made more money, I would take it out to show my lover how much I had earned. Maybe Xiaobai would get excited and give me a kiss and hug.
Then, he could take advantage of Xiaobai's good mood and do this and that, and then that and that...
Seeing his boss's expression becoming more and more wretched, 009 shrank into the depths of his consciousness, feeling deeply sad that he would not be able to see his wife in the short term.
One night, Bai Su had just returned to the yard when he saw Xuan Er following him.
When they got to the room, Xuan Er said to Bai Su with a disappointed look on his face, "Master, that connection that Old Eighteen had said about getting in touch with the Imperial Merchants has fallen through..."
"What's going on?"
Bai Su's tone was calm. Xuan Er pondered for a moment before speaking anxiously, "Originally, the man who led the way was a close friend of Old Eighteen, and he had really put his heart into it. But then he suddenly said it couldn't be done, saying there were people above him who were putting pressure on them and they simply couldn't afford to offend them. Old Eighteen meant that they had no choice but to give up!"
"Yeah." Bai Su nodded after hearing this. He probably guessed who was behind this. It was none other than Prime Minister Yan's followers.
Although the emperor has indeed been suppressing military generals in recent years, the Yan family has inevitably been instrumental in this.
Thinking of this, Bai Su's eyes darkened. He summoned Xuan Wu directly, wrote a letter, handed it to him, and asked him to take it to the border and personally deliver it to General Shang.
In the past, he might not have been willing to scheme against the imperial court in this way. But if the people in the imperial court wouldn't give them a way out, they couldn't just sit there and wait for death.
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