Chapter 68 Is there anything special about the opponent’s game?
"The peach blossoms are blooming."
Liu An glanced up and down and said suddenly.
"Huh?" Song Baoyuan came back to her senses, confused, "How can there be peach blossoms in this season?"
Liu An crossed his arms, his eyes scrutinizing him. "This is a Peach Blossom Poem dedicated to our Lady Song."
She tilted her head. "Who's that downstairs?"
Song Baoyuan finally reacted, "Don't talk nonsense, that's just my neighbor."
"Neighbor?"
Liu An stretched out the last syllable, his tone meaningful.
"Yeah." Song Baoyuan said seriously, "Neighbor."
Seeing her appear, Lu'an, who came out of the kitchen holding Jiang Suisui, ran over in a hurry, keeping an eye on Qiao Yue.
Unexpectedly, Qiao Yue was standing behind Song Baoyuan, and he was caught red-handed.
Qiao Yue waved her fist silently, with a forced smile on her face, which made Liu An terrified.
Song Baoyuan didn't notice their little tricks. She just looked at her dusty daughter, feeling both amused and helpless. She immediately took out a handkerchief and wiped her face.
"Why are you so dirty? What are you playing with?"
"I was roasting sweet potatoes for Mom!" Jiang Suisui puffed up her cheeks, "but they were burnt."
Song Baoyuan pinched her daughter's little face lovingly, thinking that it was a good thing that she didn't burn herself.
"Miss." Liu'an said with a stiff upper lip, "My dear, since you are free today, please let me pick you up."
Song Baoyuan nodded, "Then Sui Sui should go play with Daddy."
Although she had agreed, Liu'an did not move and was hesitant to speak.
Under the threat of Qiao Yue's gaze, he hesitated again and again, but finally asked, "Miss, you, you don't need to see your husband, and don't you have anything to say that I need to pass on for you?"
Song Baoyuan didn't understand why he asked that. After a pause, she said simply, "No."
Liu'an's eyelids twitched instantly, "Then I'll take my leave first."
"I'll take you there!" Qiao Yue said loudly.
After hearing this, Liu'an ran away.
…
Back in the carriage, Liu'an lifted the curtain and hurriedly helped the young lady in.
Jiang Keyu therefore saw his messy hair and red face.
"What’s wrong with you?"
"Uncle Liu'an was beaten by Sister Qiaoyue!" Jiang Suisui said excitedly.
Liu'an wiped his eyes, wiping away the nonexistent tears, and said angrily, "That little girl Qiaoyue pinched me so hard it hurt!"
Jiang Keyu pulled her lively daughter into her arms and scoffed, "Why did you mess with her?"
"Why did I offend her? Isn't it because of you, my lord? If you hadn't wronged the young lady, how could she have such a strong grudge! She doesn't dare to do anything to you, her master, so she can only vent her anger on me, right?"
"Me?" Jiang Keyu was puzzled. "What injustice did I cause her?"
"How should I know? Just reflect on yourself!" Liu'an lost his mind a little. "Anyway, I won't do this kind of work again!"
Jiang Keyu covered her daughter's ears, her brow furrowed. "Alright, where's the person I asked you to see? What's he doing?"
"He's really showing off!" Liu'an snorted coldly. "He's rehearsing that poem. All the customers in the teahouse are praising his talent. Even the ladies are looking at him."
"Also, Qiao Yue was particularly enthusiastic about him because the soldiers went to search the old house last night and saw that there was no man in charge of the house, so they had evil intentions. It was this Mr. Xie who showed up in time to save the young lady."
Liu'an glanced sideways. "My dear, do you know how he got out of this situation? He claimed to be the young lady's husband and even held her hand as proof, fooling those ignorant soldiers."
Calling himself husband? Holding hands as proof?
Jiang Keyu's eyes froze for a moment, and then he suddenly became furious. "Does he really need to rescue us? Where's Ah Qi? And are those people guarding the old house just there to eat and do nothing?"
Liu'an pouted and remained silent.
Jiang Keyu looked towards the teahouse, his thoughts in confusion.
"Daddy, what's wrong with you?" Jiang Suisui asked, popping her head out of his arms.
"Daddy, nothing happened." Jiang Keyu looked down at his daughter absentmindedly.
After a long while, he touched his daughter's head and asked softly, "Sui Sui, can you do Daddy a favor?"
*
In the room on the second floor, Song Baoyuan was quietly pouring tea.
Liu An sat beside her, looking at Xie Yuchao opposite him without any hesitation.
"Let me do it."
Xie Yuchao tried to take the tea set from Song Baoyuan.
But Song Baoyuan didn't let go, "How can that be possible? You are a guest."
"No need to be so polite to me." Xie Yuchao lowered his eyes and said in a low voice.
Upon hearing this, Liu An raised the corners of his mouth subtly.
She asked curiously, "Sir, what is your name?"
"Xie Yuchao."
Liu An raised an eyebrow. He felt like he had heard it somewhere before, but he couldn't remember where.
"Master Xie looks very young."
"Nineteen this year."
"What a great age." Liu An nodded, glanced at Song Baoyuan beside him, and exclaimed exaggeratedly: "What a great age!"
Song Baoyuan: “?”
Why are you looking at her like that?
"What does your family do, sir?" Liu An continued to ask.
Xie Yuchao answered fluently, "My parents have passed away, so I sold my property and went to Beijing in advance to prepare for the imperial examination next spring."
"Is that so?" Liu An chuckled. "Young Master is very talented, so I'm sure passing the imperial examination is a sure thing."
"I appreciate your kind words, Princess."
Xie Yuchao said this and served the poured tea.
Liu An took it and was very satisfied.
She looked around and asked, "Am I disturbing you?"
Song Baoyuan was shocked, "Don't talk nonsense!"
"It's time for me to go now." Liu An stood up decisively, patted Song Baoyuan's shoulder, and winked at her, "See you tomorrow!"
Song Baoyuan: "..."
This expression doesn't seem like he's looking forward to seeing her tomorrow, but rather expecting something interesting to happen.
When only she and Xie Yuchao were left in the room, it became unusually quiet.
"cough."
"mother!"
The two people in the room were about to say something when they heard a loud shout.
Jiang Suisui ran in dragging Jiang Keyu.
Seeing her daughter who had returned, Song Baoyuan was stunned at first, then surprised, "Why is Sui Sui back?"
Jiang Suisui looked up at his father.
"She insisted on coming back to roast sweet potatoes." Jiang Keyu explained.
Jiang Suisui nodded repeatedly, "I want to roast sweet potatoes, roast fragrant and sweet sweet potatoes for Mom to eat!"
After saying that, she let go of her father's hand and ran towards her mother.
"Mom, can you come with me?"
Song Baoyuan hugged her daughter and said in embarrassment: "But mother has something to do. Can you go play by yourself first, or ask daddy to accompany you?"
"No no no, I just want my mother!"
"It's okay." Xie Yuchao said calmly, "Just accompany the child first, don't worry about me. After all, we still have a lot of time."
The latter part of the sentence was thought-provoking, but Song Baoyuan had no time to think about it because her daughter was making a fuss.
She said helplessly, "Then please do as you please, Master Xie. I'll be leaving now."
The only person left pondering this sentence was Jiang Keyu.
Xie Yuchao poured a cup of tea, pushed it across, turned around and looked at Jiang Keyu who was standing at the door, and made an invitation gesture.
It seems like he is the master here.
This is undoubtedly a provocation.
In the tacit confrontation, Jiang Keyu calmly walked into the house and sat down opposite.
"I heard there was trouble at the house yesterday. It was thanks to Master Xie that we were saved." Jiang Keyu picked up the teacup and said politely, "I would like to express my gratitude. If there is anything I can help you with, Master Xie, please feel free to ask."
Xie Yuchao smiled faintly, "I dare not accept Jiang Shaoqing's favor. After all, I am only helping my neighbor."
"Mr. Xie's neighbors are all Jiang's family, so it's only right that I should come forward to express my gratitude."
"Children are always children, but others may not be. It's better not to fool yourself."
"It's a family matter anyway, no need for outsiders to worry about it."
Xie Yuchao unconsciously tightened his grip, "If we talk about closeness, a title alone probably doesn't count."
"It's not the turn of someone without a name to make comments."
"It's really hard to get that reputation. After all, not everyone can be so unfaithful and unfaithful as to force his wife to divorce him and then continue to pester her."
Jiang Keyu raised the corners of her mouth, but there was no smile in her eyes. "Nonsense."
"I beg to differ."
…
In the kitchen, Song Baoyuan squatted beside the stove with her daughter.
Suddenly remembering something, she raised her head and called out to the person who happened to be in front of her.
"Qiaoyin, go upstairs and see what Langjun and Master Xie are doing?"
After hearing this, Qiaoyin immediately ran upstairs and came back soon.
"Miss, they are playing chess."
"Play chess?"
Song Baoyuan was puzzled, as there was indeed a chessboard in her room.
These two people seem to be quite peaceful and have a leisurely time.
"Who's winning?"
"It's not finished yet." Qiao Yin replied, "Besides, I don't understand it either."
"It's okay." Song Baoyuan said she understood, "Let them do whatever they want."
Unexpectedly, this game of chess lasted for three hours, and the guests in the teahouse gradually left. It was getting dark, and it was time to close.
Jiang Keyu and Xie Yuchao said nothing to the two men, and showed no sign of stopping even when it got dark.
Because the identities of both of them were different from the shopkeeper, Xu Pingsheng was reluctant to urge them and instead pulled the ruthless Cen Zhou.
Gao Luoshu walked into the house fearlessly and shouted, "It's closed! Go home!"
No one paid any attention.
Both of them were concentrating on the chess game and didn't even look at him.
"Are you deaf?" Gao Luoshu asked repeatedly without any politeness, raising his voice, "Are you all deaf?"
But even though he shouted until his voice was hoarse, the two of them just frowned.
"Are you really that serious?" Gao Luoshu's face was filled with suspicion. "Will you die if you can't finish this game? Or will the loser be doomed?"
Still no one paid any attention to him.
"What the hell?" Gao Luoshu rolled up his sleeves and prepared to take action. After destroying the chess piece, he would see if they could still pretend to be deaf and dumb!
But before his hand touched the chessboard, Jiang Keyu gave him a cold glance.
He froze suddenly.
He didn't know if the game would be endless, or who would lose and die, but he had a feeling that if he dared to move the chessboard, he would surely die.
Gao Luoshu hesitated for a moment, gave up in disappointment, and turned to go to Song Baoyuan to complain.
Song Baoyuan, who had finished roasting sweet potatoes with her daughter and then washed her, was sitting by the window, braiding the hair of her daughter who was sitting on her lap.
Seeing Gao Luoshu coming over, she asked casually, "Who won?"
"It's not over yet!" Gao Luoshu said aggrievedly, "They're going too far. They can't see me, and they can't hear me!"
Song Baoyuan raised her eyebrows. It was not surprising at all that Jiang Keyu treated him like this. Was Mr. Xie like this too?
After finishing braiding her hair, she patted her daughter's head and said, "Now it's our turn to go out."
Jiang Suisui immediately jumped off her mother's legs and ran upstairs, calling out loudly, "Daddy! Daddy!"
Hearing the childish and urgent voice, Jiang Keyu had to distract himself.
He turned his head and saw his daughter running towards him like a little bee and snuggling into his arms.
"Daddy, come home!" Jiang Suisui said with her little face raised.
"Sui Sui, be good and wait a moment." Jiang Keyu held her daughter tightly in her arms and tried hard to concentrate on making her move.
Jiang Suisui blinked his big eyes, stretched out his "claws" and tried to destroy the chess game.
But daddy grabbed his little hand.
"Woo!" Jiang Suisui immediately pouted.
As soon as I cried out, my mouth was covered again.
Jiang Keyu's eyes remained on the chessboard, and he coaxed her softly, "Sui Sui, be good. Let Daddy finish the game, and Daddy will agree to anything you want, okay?"
Jiang Suisui frowned and felt a little moved.
She glanced across and said, "Uh-huh!"
Jiang Keyu let go.
"I want Fubao!"
Xie Yuchao, holding the chess piece in his hand, coaxed softly upon seeing this, "Then just be good, and uncle will let Fubao accompany you tonight, okay?"
"good!"
Gao Luoshu, who was peeking out from the doorway, held his forehead with his hand and turned around to say, "Sui Sui has been captured and even rebelled."
Song Baoyuan stood behind him with her arms folded, and asked uncertainly, "Is there anything special about this game of chess?"
"Maybe..." Gao Luoshu touched his chin, "Is it a match?"
He muttered, "This is indeed the first time I've seen someone last so long in Jiang Keyu's hands."
This was her first time seeing him too, Song Baoyuan thought.
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