Outside the room, in the hallway.
Li Ye's expression was solemn, his brows furrowed. He looked at Xiao Rui, the maidservant twisting her fingers in front of him, and asked in a deep voice, "Is what they said true?"
Xiao Rui lowered her head, not daring to look her young master in the eye. She bit her lip and hesitated for a moment, but ultimately dared not lie. She replied in a voice barely above a whisper, "It's...it's true..."
"Hmph! This is outrageous!"
Li Ye snorted coldly, "This young master will go and meet this guy surnamed Mu! I want to see what he's capable of, daring to bully people like this!"
"Young master, please wait!"
Xiao Rui hurriedly whispered, mustering her courage to tug at Li Ye's sleeve, "This servant feels... the matter is over, and after all, the other party was brought by His Highness Bai. What if... what if things get ugly and a conflict breaks out? What about His Highness Bai's side..."
"So what if it's the Demon Emperor's Palace? As long as I'm in the right, why would I, Li Ye, be afraid of them?"
"Hey! Young master!"
Xiao Rui tried to stop him again, but Li Ye simply shook off her hand, stepped forward, and pushed open the door...
Perhaps because he was too emotional, he completely forgot even the basic courtesy of knocking on the door!
"Young Master Mu! I've heard you devised a novel chess game that utterly defeated the demons of my Li Continent! Today, I must properly learn from you... learn from you..."
His aggressive words came to an abrupt halt, like a rooster being choked...
Seeing that she couldn't stop them, Xiao Rui behind them could only shake her head and sigh helplessly.
"Young Master Mu's chess skills are unparalleled. Even someone like Miss Tang was manipulated by him. My young master is so competitive. If he rashly challenges him and fails to win, wouldn't he... wouldn't he also be tricked into revealing his true form by Young Master Mu..."
Sigh! Never mind! If you truly lose the game, then I'll take the punishment for you... Even if... even if Young Master Mu makes some... some excessive demands, it's only right that we do so..."
As she spoke, something seemed to come to mind, and two blushes quietly rose on the little girl's cheeks, her eyes darting away.
It turns out that the news of Shen Yunhao's amazing victory with chess had somehow reached Li Ye's ears.
Although Li Ye was a demon, he had always been enthusiastic about "refined" things like playing the zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He considered himself to be unmatched among demons. When he heard that a new chess piece had appeared and had defeated many demons, he immediately became interested. Xiao Rui couldn't stop him.
Just when Xiao Rui foresaw that her young master would be brutally beaten after entering the room, following in Tang Xi's footsteps, she was shocked to find that Li Ye's foot, which had just stepped into the room, froze on the spot as if it had been frozen in place.
Li Ye froze for two or three seconds before expressionlessly pulling his foot back and gently closing the door.
Seeing this, Xiao Rui's big eyes were full of doubt. "Young Master? Aren't you... going in to learn from me?"
Li Ye didn't answer. He first touched his own forehead, then reached out and touched Xiao Rui's forehead, his brows furrowed, muttering to himself, "Strange... she didn't catch a cold or have a fever. Could it be that she drank too much at the banquet and is hallucinating?"
Xiao Rui: "???"
Just then, Lei Yucheng's carefree voice came from behind: "Hey? Brother Ye, you're here too! I'm looking for Sister Bai, is she inside?"
As he spoke, Lei Yucheng stepped forward and reached out to push open the door to the side hall.
Li Ye's expression changed in surprise, and he hurriedly whispered, "Yucheng, wait! Inside..."
However, it was too late!
Li Ye hadn't closed the door completely, and Lei Yucheng, seeing that the door was ajar, didn't think much of it and simply pushed it open.
Li Ye quickly pulled Xiao Rui a few steps away, firstly to prevent Xiao Rui from seeing any inappropriate scenes for children, and secondly... in case the person in the scene got angry and beat up Lei Yucheng, this hothead, they could avoid being affected and protect themselves.
To everyone's surprise, when Lei Yucheng pushed open the door and looked inside, his face showed no surprise or embarrassment. Instead, he smiled and said, "Oh! Sister Bai! So you're here! I've been looking for you!"
As he spoke, he walked in so naturally, as if everything in the room was perfectly normal.
Li Ye: "???"
He was shocked. He couldn't help but lean forward again, peek through the door frame, and take a closer look inside.
Inside the room, Shen Yunhao and Bai Xiaoruo had separated at some point and were sitting upright in their chairs, separated by a broken small table. Their expressions were calm and their postures were proper, as if they had been chatting and discussing matters.
The scene I saw when I walked in... was it really just a mirage, a hallucination caused by drinking too much?
While Li Ye was still standing at the door questioning his life, Lei Yucheng had already gone inside. He first smiled and nodded to Shen Yunhao next to him, and then said to Bai Xiaoruo, "Sister Bai, our banquet is almost over. Aren't you going to the front hall to say goodbye to everyone? Quite a few people want to toast you."
"I'm not going!"
Bai Xiaoruo's decisive and unwavering answer surprised everyone present.
"Ahem..." Seemingly realizing she had overreacted, Bai Xiaoruo awkwardly raised her hand to pull up her collar, covering the faint blush on her neck, and said in a softer tone, "Um... Yucheng, just tell everyone for me that I... I'm feeling a little tired, so I won't be going to the front hall..."
"Ah...this..."
Lei Yucheng scratched his white hair, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Given Bai Xiaoruo's status, if she doesn't show up, people might think she's putting on airs...
Shen Yunhao seemed to have thought of this as well, and said with a smile, breaking the slightly awkward atmosphere: "Brother Lei, why don't you go to the front hall and wait? She's angry with me right now, but she'll naturally leave once she calms down."
"Oh! So that's how it is!"
Lei Yucheng suddenly realized that Bai Xiaoruo's sullen appearance did indeed seem like she was throwing a tantrum.
There were still some things he wanted to ask privately, but seeing the situation, he had no choice but to hold back. "Then Brother Mu, you'd better try to appease Sister Bai! We'll go to the front hall and wait for you!"
She greeted Li Ye, who was standing at the door in a daze, before leaving the room.
Facing Li Ye's gaze, Shen Yunhao remained calm and composed, simply smiling slightly and asking in a gentle tone, "Brother Li, are you here to see Xiao Ruo for something?"
Seeing the other party so calm, Li Ye became even more convinced that the fleeting glimpse he had just seen was a hallucination caused by alcohol. He tried to dispel those chaotic images from his mind, straightened his posture, and subconsciously adopted the aloof demeanor of a scholar, raising his head slightly as he spoke.
"I have heard that Brother Mu has devised a rather interesting and ingenious chess game that utterly annihilated our servants and even defeated Xixi. I am not very talented, but I have some knowledge of chess. I wonder if I would have the honor of learning a thing or two from you today?"
"No luck!"
Shen Yunhao and Bai Xiaoruo spoke almost in unison, their voices filled with the same barely suppressed anger...
Li Ye: "???"
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