Xu, the governor, had one wife and four concubines, and they had three sons and five daughters. The three sons were all idiots, but the five daughters were all intelligent and beautiful. The eldest daughter and second daughter married the son of the governor of Poyang and the son of the governor of Shucheng respectively. Xu Danyuan was the third daughter, who was of the same age as Qin Zhuo. She had played chess with him before, but later her skills improved so much that Qin Zhuo couldn't keep up with her, so they stopped meeting often.

  Miss Xu Danyuan and Feng Yuan's match was held in a small, elegant room at the west end of the hall. The number of spectators was limited, with only Magistrate Xu, Gu Liuquan, Zhou Xuan, and two other distinguished guests from the Xu mansion allowed to watch.

  Dr. Qin won't play chess, and is accompanied by Ji Guan Shi to drink tea in the teahouse instead.

  Wen Fang sat opposite, Feng Yuan asked: "Miss Xu and Mr. Gu's game is what chess piece?" Is it asking if Gu Liuquan will let her son go?

  Xu Danyuan glanced at Master Gu Liuquan and said, "Let's let Mr. Feng go first." Actually, Master Gu usually lets her two sons go first, but before he came, he had instructed her to let him go first.

  Feng Yuan nodded and asked Miss Xü to start.

  Black and white pieces intertwined, more than ten chess pieces were quickly laid out on the chessboard.

  For this ancient layout, Zhou Xuan felt it was really too outdated, like a land grab, you take one piece and I take one piece, focusing on the overall situation rather than the critical point. However, ancient Go has never been known for its opening moves, but rather for its powerful mid-game killing potential. The game records of Huang Longshi, a national Go champion during the Qing dynasty, were later transmitted to Japan, where they were studied by top players from the "Fangyuan Society", the largest Go organization in Japan at the time. Their conclusion was that Huang's opening moves were only around 3-dan level, but his mid-game attacking and killing potential was at a staggering 13-dan level. Even today, the highest professional Go ranking is only 9-dan, so evaluating Huang as a 13-dan player means that his mid-game killing potential had reached an awe-inspiring level that left people trembling with fear.

  Zhou Xuan was also a fan of violent Go, and didn't care much about the layout, so he didn't look down on Feng Yu's sloppy performance in the layout. He leaned against the window, watching the game with ease.

  The game entered the middle stage, and the gap between the two sides began to emerge. Fengyuan's chess power was obviously higher than Xudanyuan's. At the time of deployment, it didn't feel like it, but as soon as it entered the middle stage, the white chess became powerless.

  Feng Yuan coldly glanced at Gu Liuquan, thinking: "This old fox actually instructed his female disciple to come and test me first. If this old fox can only let this female disciple go first, then he is definitely not my opponent. He must be letting two of them go, intentionally saying it's just one."

  Feng Yuan became ruthless and wanted to defeat Xu Danyuan in the middle game, so as not to let Gu Liuquan see his official strength in the second half of the game.

  The white chess piece was hard to play, with a big dragon connected but no eyes found, Xu Danyuan's pale face had fine sweat beads, and she hesitated to make her move.

  Zhou Xuan, an onlooker, noticed that the daughter of Xu, the governor, had a habit of blinking her eyes, especially when she encountered a difficult situation in chess, and her eyelashes would flutter rapidly like butterfly wings. It was quite amusing.

  Feng Yuan's move targeted the weak point of Bai Qi's dragon, forcing Xu Danyuan to flee desperately. However, ahead was a thick wall of black chess pieces, with no way forward and pursuers behind, leaving the white dragon with only one path to death.

  Zhou Xuan looked at the young lady of Xu's mansion, who was frowning and thinking deeply, with sweat dripping from her brow, and felt deep sympathy for her. He hated Feng Yuan's cruelty, but forgot that he himself had once made a beautiful chess player cry bitterly.

  A white dragon with over 40 sons died, Xu Danyuan was both ashamed and annoyed, losing so badly in front of so many people, it's too embarrassing. She turned her head to Gu Liuquan and said: "Master, you come and play against this person, defeat him, and avenge your disciple."

  Gu Liuquan had already seen that Feng Yuan's chess skills were very strong, and if he rushed into the game now, he would not have a sure win. If Feng Yuan lost, it wouldn't matter to him, but Gu Liuquan was one of the eighteen chess masters, and once he lost, his reputation would be greatly affected.

  Gu Liuquan shook his head and said: "I've already said it, today I accidentally caught a cold, my body is not feeling well, let's reschedule with Mr. Feng for another day."

  The woman was better at Go than the man, and Xu Danyuan saw that her teacher refused to play again, so she said angrily: "Mr. Feng, I want to play another game with you."

  Xu Steward smiled and said: "Yuan'er, don't be reckless. You're not a match for Mr. Feng. Another day, watch the old master play against Mr. Feng."

  Feng Yuan saw Gu Liuquan avoiding battle, his momentum became even stronger, and he decided to use the "激将法" (a tactic to provoke the opponent) to force Gu Liuquan to respond, making him anxious and flustered, thus increasing his chances of winning. Playing chess is not just about competing on the board, but also about the strategies outside of it, especially when facing an opponent of similar level, where psychological warfare often becomes the key to victory.

  Feng Yuan smiled and said, "Miss Xu is indeed a worthy disciple of the old master. At such a young age, she already has such impressive chess skills. Her future development is boundless. Who knows, maybe one day we'll have another female chess master among us..."

  Xu Dan's heart skipped a beat, and she didn't expect Feng Yuan to say: "—Miss Xu wants to play another game with Feng Mou, which is not impossible. How about this, let Erzi make the next move."

  Xu Danyuan just said that Master Gu Liuquan and she both yielded to him, but Feng Yuan said that yielding to the two of them wasn't it a sign that his chess skills were above Gu Liuquan's? For a chess player, this is almost unbearable.

  But Gu Liuquan could endure, he was the kind of chess player who would first endure and then make a move. He let Mr. Feng be rampant for a while, and after studying Mr. Feng's chess moves at night, he would defeat him in one go the next day. This was what it meant to be deeply strategic. With a slight smile: "Third Miss, since Mr. Feng wants to give you pointers, why don't you play another game? It's a rare opportunity."

  Feng Yuan secretly admired this old fox, who was really calm and composed. He wanted to continue watching his chess moves, but it wouldn't do to let him succeed in his cunning plan. So he smiled and said: "Since the elderly gentleman is not feeling well, why don't you let that doctor from earlier examine you? If you're sick, treat the illness; if you're not sick, prevent one." He turned around and found Zhou Xuan, saying loudly: "Hey, go call your father-in-law over."

  Zhou Xuan was furious, his face expressionless, and ignored him.

  Feng Yuan's meaning was too obvious, Gu Liuquan finally changed his face, and Xu Danyuan had already indignantly said: "You're deceiving people too much, could it be that my master is feigning illness to avoid battle, afraid of not being able to beat you."

  Feng Yuandao said: "I didn't say that."

  Gu Liuquan took a deep breath and prepared to go on stage.

  Leaning against the long window on the west side, Zhou Xuan folded his fan and knew it was time for him to shine. He started with three loud laughs, followed by a famous quote from Guan Yu: "Kill a chicken with a bull knife!" Instantly, he drew everyone's attention in the room.

  Zhou Xuan lightly shook his folding fan and said with a smile: "I'm not talented, but I think I can easily defeat Mr. Feng."

  Xu Steward's father and daughter, Gu Liuquan, and the two chess players from Xu Fu, all stared at Zhou Xuan with an incredulous expression.

  Feng Yuanji was about to get his way, but he didn't expect this little brat surnamed Zhou to suddenly appear out of nowhere and say "Why use a cow knife to kill a chicken?" He was furious, his lungs almost bursting with rage, and he sternly asked: "Do you want to play against me?"

  Zhou Xuan "brushed" open his folding fan and shouted: "What, you don't dare?"

  Zhou Xuan's provocative method is more direct, without playing those twists and turns, directly humiliating Feng Yuan.

  Feng Yuan was so angry that he almost fell to the ground, his face red and his neck thick. He pointed at Zhou Xuan and said: "You dare to play against me, you nameless junior? Tell me, what will happen if you lose? Otherwise, I don't have time to accompany this good-for-nothing young master to play chess."

  Feng Yuan was afraid that Zhou Xuan was just messing around and would lose the game, slap his butt and leave without a scratch. This wouldn't do, he had to be punished.

  Zhou Xuan sneered and asked: "What do you want to do after losing?"

  "Feng Yuan loudly said: 'I bet three hundred taels of silver.' Three hundred taels of silver was the most money Feng Yuan could take out."

  "Three hundred taels?" Zhou Xuan hadn't even looked at the money, and laughed: "I don't think you look like a rich man either. How can I win your silver? Alright, if I lose, I'll give you three hundred taels of silver. If you lose, you go back wherever you came from."

  Feng Yuan was furious: "Good, it's like this, Lord Xu will be a witness."

  ——————————

  Please leave a message in the book review area, there are many highlights this week, and those who leave messages will be rewarded.