Chapter 373 Lucky Koi Girl (Second Update)
That voice, Hong'er, is terrifying!
The emperor felt a tremor run through his very soul! If he weren't so old and unable to throw himself around, he probably would have been thrown out with him!
Empress Dowager Zhuang rushed into the emperor's study.
Thanks to the care she received from Gu Jiao for over a year, her health has improved significantly, and she has even grown a lot of black hair.
She plopped down in the chair opposite the desk, crossed her legs, and stared intently at the emperor.
The emperor frowned at her unruly demeanor: "Mother, is something the matter?"
"It's nothing, I just came to see you!" Empress Dowager Zhuang said casually. Realizing her perfunctory attitude, she paused, then grinned, "I've come to see Hong'er."
The emperor got goosebumps all over!
In order to showcase her superb acting skills, Empress Dowager Zhuang had Eunuch Qin guard the door, leaving only the mother and son in the study at this moment.
Empress Dowager Zhuang shook her leg and looked at the emperor with a meaningful gaze, as if she were looking at five walking candied fruits.
Thinking about it this way, Empress Dowager Zhuang found the emperor much more pleasing to the eye.
Emperor: Why do I feel that the way the Empress Dowager looks at me is strange?
Empress Dowager Zhuang decided to inquire about her son... uh, no, her son. She smiled gently and said, "Have you eaten? Are you thirsty? Are you hungry? Are you warm enough? How are you doing? Tell your mother if you have any difficulties."
emperor:"……"
Empress Dowager Zhuang showed great concern for the emperor. Not only that, she also accompanied (forced) the emperor to have lunch and invited (forced) him to stroll in the Imperial Garden, ensuring that everyone in the palace knew that she was once again a loving empress dowager.
She then leisurely returned to Renshou Palace.
"Where is Jiaojiao?" she asked Eunuch Qin.
Eunuch Qin smiled and said, "Miss Gu has left the palace."
Empress Dowager Zhuang's face darkened: "Then what about my candied fruit?"
Eunuch Qin shrank back, "Take...take them away..."
Empress Dowager Zhuang's face darkened instantly!
After leaving the palace, Gu Jiao did not immediately return to the clinic. Recently, the clinic had a new doctor, so she no longer needed to see patients every day as before, which made it much easier for her to do her own thing.
She ran out of saltpeter and planned to go find some saltpeter clay, but unfortunately, it was extremely difficult to buy such a thing on the market.
Gu Jiao walked down the street, stroking her chin thoughtfully.
"baby!"
Suddenly a voice called out to her.
Gu Jiao stopped in her tracks and turned around strangely, only to see the old beggar she had played chess with a few times jogging towards her.
"It really is you!" The old beggar came up to Gu Jiao and said with a smile, "I thought the back view looked like you, so I called out."
Gu Jiao grunted and said, "This isn't Willow Catkins Street, how did you get here?"
If she remembered correctly, the old man usually frequented the Liuxu Street area, and they were almost at Xuanwu Street.
"Oh, I'm just taking a stroll!" the old man said.
He held a broken begging bowl in his hand, and like Gu Jiao, he carried a basket on his back, except that his basket was also tattered and broken.
Gu Jiao: "Oh."
The old beggar's face darkened. "Kid, why haven't you come to play chess for several days?"
"I'm just saving you money, aren't I?" Gu Jiao said shamelessly.
The old beggar's lips twitched. It was as if you weren't the one who only agreed to do it once for ten taels of silver!
Gu Jiao said, "Then you can wander around as you like, I'm leaving now."
The old beggar grabbed her arm: "Hey—aren't you going to play chess?"
Is it easy for him to catch this little kid?
Gu Jiao raised an eyebrow indifferently: "Do you have any money?"
The old beggar, hands on his hips, looked heartbroken and said, "How can you bear to exploit an old man like me!"
Gu Jiao nodded: "Mmm!"
The old beggar: "..."
The old beggar took off his basket and handed it to Gu Jiao, along with the broken bowl that had never been used: "My stall is over there. Watch the stall for me. I'll be back in a bit."
Uh... you even have a stall to beg for food?
I've learned something new.
After giving his instructions, the old beggar hurried off. Gu Jiao saw him enter an alley where there was a chess club. Gu Jiao had once visited that place for medical consultations.
Gu Jiao didn't say anything. She took the old beggar's things and went to the so-called stall, squatting down expressionlessly.
The little body squatted there, with a broken bowl in front of it, looking rather pitiful.
She wasn't dressed like a beggar, but the more noble a person is, the more pitiful they become when they're down on their luck. After all, who doesn't care about their dignity these days? If her family hadn't fallen on hard times and she couldn't make ends meet, why would a perfectly respectable young woman be begging on the streets?
Everyone cast sympathetic glances at Gu Jiao.
Gu Jiao herself didn't realize that she was attracted by the chess game left on the ground by the old beggar. This chess game was different from the chess games she had solved before. It was particularly strange, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why it was strange.
She began to calculate the movement of each chess piece in her mind.
Clang!
A copper coin was tossed into the broken bowl in front of her.
Gu Jiao didn't look up and continued playing chess.
Clang!
Someone else passed by and threw in a copper coin.
Gu Jiao still didn't look up, focusing on breaking the deadlock.
She finally realized what was strange about this chess game: it was filled with a murderous aura.
How much malice must the person who created this game have harbored? Although a game of chess is supposed to be a battle between two pieces, it's rare to see it escalate to this extent.
Gu Jiao was so engrossed in the game of chess that she didn't notice that many copper coins had appeared in the broken bowl.
If the old beggar knew that he couldn't even beg for a few copper coins all day, while Gu Jiao got a full bowl without doing anything, he would probably be furious.
"Young master, look!"
On the second floor of a teahouse diagonally behind Gu Jiao, a gray-clad guard opened a window, leaned half his body out, and pointed at Gu Jiao in front of him.
The man leaned out a bit, looked in the direction the gray-clad guard was pointing, snapped his folding fan shut, and said, "What's so interesting about a little beggar?"
The gray-clad guard hurriedly said, "No, young master, it's her!"
The man asked, "Which 'her'?"
The gray-clad guard said anxiously, "The little girl who was with that little monk!"
The man paused in his hand, which was toying with a folding fan: "The one who blew you up with the black fire bead?"
"Yes, young master, it's her!" The gray-clad guard scratched his head. "That's strange, why would she be begging?"
The man gave a meaningful smile: "Let's go take a look."
The gray-clad guard closed the window and followed the man.
"What are you doing here?" the man asked irritably.
The gray-clad guard said, "Didn't the young master say he was going to take a look?"
The man scoffed, "It was me who went to see, not you. Wasn't it obvious enough last time?"
The gray-clad guard pouted, reluctantly remaining in the side room.
The man wore a moon-white robe with a dark blue gauze robe over it, and a jade belt around his waist. He was exceptionally handsome, elegant, and noble.
While Gu Jiao was tending the old beggar's stall, people would come and go from time to time, but none of them would stop there.
The light above Gu Jiao's head dimmed. At first, she didn't pay attention, but after a while, the shadow didn't leave, and she looked up with a little annoyance.
The first thing that catches the eye is a handsome face with refined elegance, deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, light-colored lips, and a beautiful curve at the corners of the lips.
Does this person have non-Han Chinese ancestry?
She's not bad looking.
The man smiled and said, "Miss..."
Gu Jiao: "You're blocking the light."
man:"……"
After Gu Jiao finished speaking, she ignored him and continued to ponder the chess game.
The man touched his nose curiously. He was so handsome, how could any girl be so oblivious to him?
Is his hair messy?
Or is his face dirty?
"girl?"
He called out again.
Unfortunately, Gu Jiao completely ignored him.
The man stepped aside, trying not to block Gu Jiao's view, and also took the opportunity to see what Gu Jiao was doing.
They were playing chess.
Calling it a game is a bit of a stretch; it was just a chessboard drawn crookedly on an old wooden board, with pebbles as pieces, each one irregular, and the black piece was simply a drop of ink on a pebble.
The man's lips twitched.
Are they that poor?
Didn't you say you live in Bishui Hutong? That's near the Imperial College, and the property prices there are very high.
Besides, he had seen the little monk's things before, and any one of them could sell for an astronomical price. If he really couldn't make ends meet, he could just take the little monk's things and sell them!
Why beg on the streets?
That said, given how poor she is, does this girl even know how to play chess?
The man glanced at the chessboard with the mindset that if the other person didn't know how to play, he could at least offer some pointers.
At first glance, I didn't feel much, just a vague sense of unease.
He glanced at it again, then a third time, then a fourth time.
His expression froze.
No way? Could he have seen it wrong? How could he have seen this chessboard here, on the streets of Zhao Kingdom... or more precisely, in the hands of a little beggar or a little girl?
Everyone knows that the chess master Meng, who is also the chess saint of the six kingdoms, created countless chess games in his lifetime. Among them, the eight major games are the most famous. Very few people can solve them, especially the Qian and Kun games. It is said that recently the crown princess of Zhao Kingdom solved the Kun game, making her the person who has solved the most eight major games among the six kingdoms.
But no one knew that Mr. Meng actually had another game in mind—the Six Life-or-Death Game!
This is truly an unbreakable impasse.
The reason it's considered a forbidden game is because the six-game series of life-or-death situations is too intense; often, the players go crazy before the game is even solved.
He had been fortunate enough to witness the first game of the six-game series, but he chose to give up before it drove him mad. Unexpectedly, several years later, he was able to see it again.
How come this girl is completely unharmed?
She looks so relaxed. Hasn't she been affected by the intense atmosphere of the game?
“You…” The man looked away from the chessboard.
Gu Jiao pointed to the broken bowl in front of her.
The man paused for a moment, then seemed to understand, and took out two gold ingots from his pocket and put them in.
Gu Jiao finally responded: "What is it?"
Money really can make the devil turn the millstone, and silver can make people talk.
The man silently tapped his folding fan and said, "How do you feel about this game of chess?"
"Hmm, it's quite interesting," Gu Jiao said.
Is that... meaningful? That's all?
"Don't you find it difficult...?"
by?
"Hmm, it is a bit difficult." Gu Jiao admitted this.
Even the men are captivated. I'm asking you, is it difficult? There's a bottom in the back too!
What kind of freak is this girl? How can she talk about such a fierce game of chess so casually?
No, shouldn't he be curious about where this girl learned her chess skills?
Unlike the Eight Great Formations, which were widely circulated within the Six Kingdoms, the Six Formations of Life and Death were forbidden by the Yan Kingdom's royal family, and ordinary people had never even seen them.
One minute it's the Black Fire Pearl of the Yan Kingdom's royal family, the next it's Old Master Meng's Six Life-and-Death Situations. What exactly is this girl's relationship with the Yan Kingdom?
"baby!"
The old beggar emerged from the alley, holding a handful of silver coins.
The man didn't want to have much contact with people for the time being, so as not to leave any information that he shouldn't have. He turned around and went back to the teahouse.
The old beggar approached Gu Jiao, squatted down, and handed her a handful of gleaming silver coins, saying with a smile, "Look, little girl, I won!"
Then he looked down and saw the broken bowl at his feet, and inside the bowl lay two glittering gold ingots!
Besides the pair of gold ingots, there were also many copper coins and pieces of silver.
The old beggar stared in disbelief: "Where did all these come from?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said casually, "Hmm, a passerby probably gave it to me."
The old beggar looked at the bowl of gold, silver, and copper coins, then at the few scattered silver ingots in his hand, and suddenly felt that the silver ingots were no longer appealing!
He worked himself to the bone playing chess with a bunch of idiots, but he didn't earn as much as a kid squatting here for a while!
Gu Jiao opened her mouth, wanting to ask him if he wanted to play chess.
The old beggar raised his hand in anguish: "Don't talk to me yet, I need to calm down!"
That's so heartbreaking!
Okay.
Gu Jiao continued to squat by the roadside, drawing circles with the chess pieces.
Suddenly, a very ornate carriage stopped in front of them.
The carriage curtain was lifted, and a fragrant breeze wafted in. Gu Jiao's nose itched, and she sneezed!
A female official dressed in a light pink palace dress stepped down from the carriage. She covered her nose with a handkerchief, stopped three steps away from the old beggar, and then did not go any further.
She didn't look at Gu Jiao squatting on the ground, but looked down at the old beggar sitting by the roadside and said, "Sir, my master invites you to come with me to Qingfeng Tower."
"I'm not going," the old beggar refused without hesitation.
The lady-in-waiting said, "I heard that you were kicked out of the Qinghuan Chess Club and have not been able to play chess there since. My master was very sorry to hear this news."
Gu Jiao then glanced at the old beggar. Had the old man been kicked out of the chess club? No wonder he switched to another chess club.
The old beggar, hands on his hips, said, "It wasn't that they kicked me out! It's that this old man has decided never to go to that lousy chess club again! Asking me to fake a loss? Is that how you make things difficult for someone?!"
This isn't bragging, it's the truth. He really doesn't know how he could lose to a bunch of noobs!
The lady-in-waiting struggled to keep her composure: "My master sincerely invites you to play chess. Please come with me to change your clothes and then come to Qingfeng Tower to meet my master."
The old beggar chuckled and said, "You have to change your clothes to see your master? Who is your master? The emperor or the empress?"
The female official said solemnly, "I cannot reveal my master's identity, but it is an extremely noble one that you would never expect. With my master's protection, no one in the capital's chess clubs will dare to kick you out again."
"No!" the old beggar refused without hesitation.
The female official's face showed a hint of impatience: "Your Excellency may wish to consider it."
The old beggar waved his hand: "I said I'm not going, and I'm not going! Aren't you annoying? You're disturbing my chess game with the child! Come on, come on!"
The female official was driven away. She frowned coldly, glanced at Gu Jiao who was squatting on the ground studying the chessboard, and her eyes flickered.
Is it her?
The female official went to a side room in Qingfeng Tower to report: "Reporting to the Crown Princess, he refuses to come."
"Why won't you come?" the Crown Princess asked, puzzled.
The Crown Princess hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to extend an invitation to the old beggar. At first, she didn't pay much attention to him, but he won against the hermit of Maoshan time and time again, making it impossible for the Crown Princess to ignore him.
The lady-in-waiting said respectfully, "He wants to play chess with someone."
"Who?" The Crown Princess put down her teacup and asked.
The female official replied, "The daughter of the Marquis of Ding'an, the one who grew up in the countryside."
The Crown Princess had once witnessed Gu Jiao playing chess with the old beggar. At the time, she hadn't paid much attention, but now she couldn't help but wonder how Gu Jiao knew the old beggar.
The official thought for a moment and said, "I heard that the old beggar used to set up a chess game on Willow Catkin Street, but everyone thought he was crazy and no one went to play chess with him. Maybe Miss Gu happened to go there, and they got to know each other over time. Only a vulgar country girl would do something so disgraceful as to squat by the roadside and play chess with a beggar. It's a shame that she is the daughter of the Marquis of Ding'an and the wife of the newly appointed top scholar. She doesn't care about her family's reputation at all."
The Crown Princess values her reputation; she would never lower herself to associate with a beggar on the street.
"Never mind, it's fine if he doesn't come." The Crown Princess didn't think much of him. "Is there any news from Old Master Meng?"
The female official said, "There's been no news from Yan yet, but from Liang, Chen, and Zhao..."
The Crown Princess interrupted her, saying haughtily, "What I want is news from the Yan Kingdom, and what I need is Mr. Meng's high regard."
(End of this chapter)
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