Chapter 64 Playing Chess

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  The morning dew carries a hint of chill, crystal clear. On the clean roof, several small birds are leisurely flapping their wings, chirping and tweeting, colorful ribbons fluttering lightly, and from under the eaves comes an occasional "slap" sound.

  At the entrance, Yuanner sat on a small stool with a white robe, supporting her cheek and staring at the chessboard in front of her. Her face was fair and her movements were elegant. Xiangxiang, who was opposite to her, wore a purple flower skirt, imitated Yuanner's gesture of supporting her cheek, and responded to the game listlessly.

  The two of them had already played two rounds and were in the middle of their third, neither of them knew how many times they had glanced towards the inner room, but there was no reaction whatsoever. If anything, it was just a faint snoring sound.

  This is the third day after the debate, and there have been some changes inside and outside the Wei family. Outside, people directly crowned Wei Zhao with the nickname of Wei San Bu, regardless of whether he won or lost in the debate, and forcibly pressed the title of Jinling's number one talented scholar on him. Recently, all over Jinling, there are all kinds of interpretations about Wei Zhao, about the thrilling scene on the high platform of the debate, and various versions are emerging endlessly.

  Many idle people in Jinling, after tea and dinner, can't help but chat, and at this time, poetry and lyrics, they may not be so elegant, but the owners of poetry and lyrics are their delightful topics. These topics inevitably spread to the Wei Mansion, recently Li Xianyun has not returned for several days, and the servants have lost their restraint, which has further fueled their enthusiasm for spreading rumors.

  The two little girls naturally also knew about their rumors, although on the surface they scolded them to shut up and not spread them around, but in their hearts they were secretly discussing them nonstop.

  "Slap"

  Xianglian put down a chess piece with one hand and covered her mouth with the other, yawning widely. She had stayed up all night chatting with Wanyu in the next room, gossiping about everything under the sun. This morning she got up early, and it was no wonder she felt sleepy. But the little girl was originally delicate and lovely, and with Weizao's intentional indulgence, she became even more charming and lively, every move exuding the unique youthful vitality of a young girl.

  Wan'er was hardly affected by Wei Zhao's bad influence, and she remained proper and demure. Looking at Xiangxiang's extremely unrefined behavior, she pursed her lips and didn't bother to say anything else. She turned her head to glance inside the room, and although she didn't dare to blame Young Master in her heart, she still felt that Xiangxiang had been spoiled by him.

  Xianglian suddenly opened her lazy big eyes, as if she had thought of something, and her pretty face turned slightly red as she leaned in close and whispered: "Wan'er sister, do you think the young master will spank our butts?"

  Wan'er was taken aback, then suddenly came to herself. She lifted her head, and with a slightly red face, pursed her small mouth, before saying in a low voice: "It shouldn't be, Young Master isn't a petty person, besides, we're doing it for his own good."

  The two of them were naturally talking about how Xiangxiang had secretly asked Fu Yang to write down Wei Zhao's poem and sent it to the high platform. Although the two little maids knew that their young master was not petty and definitely knew it was for their own good, they had still made a mistake. But, but the young master had personally taken action, that, that was too embarrassing.

  Two little girls looked at each other shyly, quickly lowered their heads, and Xiangqiang even pouted her small mouth, making the chessboard clickety-clack.

  Wei Xiao wasn't really a sleepyhead, but rather he would spend every night racking his brains to write down all the poems and lyrics he could remember, which was quite mentally exhausting. Additionally, he had to organize that book on flower dyeing, so he wouldn't sleep until dawn broke. As a result, he would wake up before lunch every day, leaving the two little maids with nothing to do, feeling quite bored.

  As for what happened that day in the imperial palace, Wei Zhao had already thrown it all to the back of his mind. Looking at the cause and effect, he could guess that the emperor's time to use him hadn't arrived yet. Moreover, from what Cui Gonggong said, it seemed that the emperor didn't want him to be his son-in-law after all.

  In two days, he also heard some news, although it was not very clear, but he could analyze a little bit. The current King of Jin is the emperor's biological brother, currently serving as the Minister of Rites, and there is a subtle existence of the King of Jin party in the court. However, the Emperor seems to have taken into account the attitude of the current Prime Minister and the three army commanders, and has been enduring without speaking out until now.

  Wei Zhao can only infer that it is so, and without going into details, it is impossible to understand. Although rumors and gossip in the streets can be discerned, listening to them for a long time is also a troublesome thing.

  "Ah, let's play chess."

  Two little girls who were lost in thought suddenly let out a startled cry, and when they looked up, they saw Wei Zhao with a wet face and water on his hands. They couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Little Xiang immediately jumped up to curry favor, looking at Wei Zhao with a big, radiant smile.

  Wan'er sidled in through the doorway, picked up a towel and first wiped Wei Zhao's face, then his hands, and afterwards helped him tidy up his somewhat disheveled clothes.

  Wei Zhuo reached out and pinched Xiang Qiang's smooth little face, laughing: "What have you done wrong again?"

  The little girl shook her small head wildly, dodging Wei Xiao's hand, then quickly grabbed it back, pouting with a straight face and staring at him with big, round eyes.

  Wei Zhuo chuckled and rubbed her little head, then sat down on the small stool with a plop. While tidying up the remaining mess, he boasted: "Today, I, the young master, took on two of you at once."

  Wan'er put down the towel, and with a glance at Xiangxiang, who was still panting from being pinched on the face and having her head rubbed by Master, pulled her to sit down.

  Xianglian was glared at by Wanyu, and immediately sat down obediently. When Wanyu and Weizao finished cleaning up the chessboard, her small hand quickly grabbed a white chess piece and 'slapped' it down.

  Wei Zhuang had just taken out the black piece, when suddenly a chestnut hit Xiang Qiang's head. He hummed: "No rules, no bounds." After speaking, he threw the white chess piece back and switched to playing with the black pieces.

  Xiangliang hugged Xiaotou's little head, her small mouth pouting high up.

  Wan'er smiled slightly and pursed her lips, and the white chess piece fell accordingly.

  Wei Zhao seemed to have not seen Xiangqian's wronged expression, and the black chess piece fell down accordingly.

  Wan'er turned her head to glance at Xiangqiang, who sneaked a peek at Wei Zhao, who remained unmoved, and hummed softly before turning her small head towards the outside.

  Wan'er smiled and looked at the young master, her white small hand pinched the chess piece and dropped it down.

  Wei Zhao pinched the black chess piece, glanced at Xiaoshou's hand quietly reaching for the white porcelain vase Xianglian, and smiled: "Wan'er, has your sister-in-law not come back in the past few days?"

  Wan'er looked up at Wei Zao and smiled lightly, "Madam was discussing Buddhism in the house earlier, but later in the evening, she hastily rushed out, seemingly because our sealed shop has been unsealed."

  Wei Zuo pinched the chess piece and murmured "oh" as he nodded thoughtfully. As soon as the chess piece fell, he saw Xiang Qiang's small hand sneakily reaching towards the chessboard.

  Wei Zhao's smile flashed, and he said irritably, "Can you see the chessboard with your back turned?"

  Xianglian immediately turned her head, rushed towards Weizao with a smile, the white chess piece fell down with a 'pa' sound, then made a ghostly face at Wanyi, hugged the white pot in her arms, lowered her small head and focused on playing chess.

  Wei Zhuang glared at her and quickly dropped a black chess piece.

  Xiang Liang's small white hands grasped the chess pieces, moving them back and forth on the board, pursing her lips, her eyes flashing with hesitation.

  Wan'er also pinched a chess piece and just hovered over an empty grid, saying "Here?"

  "No, no" Xiangqiang immediately pushed away Yu'er's hand, and her small hands began to gesture one by one again.

  "Here?" asked Wan'er again.

  "Not right, not right"

  "Where is this?"

  "Nor is it"

  Weizao watched the two small white hands chasing each other on the chessboard, laughing and leaning against the door frame, looking up at the doorway, thinking about how to deal with her sister's inquiry when she returned.