Forced to Ascend the Throne after Transmigrating
Chapter 81: Playing Chess

When Zhang Yuan received the notice that he could start proposing marriage after arriving at the palace, even though he thought he was numb after so many years and all the hardships he had endured, he still felt a surge of genuine joy in his heart when he heard the news.

Even if Zhang Yuan tried his best to keep a straight and honest face, he couldn’t hide the joy spreading in his eyes.

Whether it is sincere or false, you can tell it at a glance.

Although the commander-in-chief said that they would have to wait until October and return from the palace to officially get married, Zhang Yuan had already quietly begun to look forward to it. Where was the dull look at the beginning?

Especially on a certain day on the road, Suqiu got off the carriage and came out to fetch water. Zhang Yuan was even more delighted when he saw her from afar.

As soon as their eyes met, they both couldn’t help but blush before they even spoke.

Suqiu was a shy girl, and after hurriedly fetching some water, she got back into the carriage with a red face, leaving Zhang Yuan feeling lost. It took him a long time to remember what he should do next.

Su Xin and Li Yuheng also saw each other. Unlike Su Qiu and Zhang Yuan, Su Xin and Li Yuheng smiled at each other first. Then Li Yuheng was the first to react and bowed to Su Xin. Su Xin was stunned for a moment, but quickly returned the greeting.

Although the atmosphere between the two was not as strong as that between Su Qiu and Zhang Yuan, it was also filled with a faint friendship.

However, Zhang Wen, the only one who failed to be selected, felt a little uncomfortable.

He thought he had shown enough respect to the Ninth Prince, but he still couldn’t get what he wanted. Zhang Wen was angry and jealous, but he could do nothing about it.

In fact, Zhang Wen is not a wicked person, he is just an ordinary man. It is just because he is ordinary that he naturally has the shortcomings of ordinary men.

He is not as smart and capable as Li Yuheng, nor as sincere and loyal as Zhang Yuan, so it is natural that he is not chosen.

Ye Shuo leaned on the window, squinting his eyes, feeling the flowers, plants and trees around him constantly receding, and lazily basking in the sun.

Emperor Jingwen and Prime Minister He stopped moving their hands almost at the same time.

The two people couldn’t understand how their son/the Ninth Prince could remain so leisurely in the imperial carriage under such circumstances. Didn’t he feel nervous?

If it were any other prince, he would be on high alert when facing the emperor and the prime minister, for fear of making a mistake or saying something wrong.

Looking at the Ninth Prince, he seemed much more comfortable than him and the Emperor.

A diligent person hates others being lazy the most. As luck would have it, there is not a single lazy person who can sit in this position, so almost everyone dislikes Ye Shuo when they see him.

Holding back, Emperor Jingwen and Prime Minister He each took a few steps, and seeing that their son/the Ninth Prince was living up to everyone’s expectations and was about to close his eyes, as if he was about to fall asleep in the next second, the two could not hold it back any longer and felt that they could not continue playing this game of chess.

As if that wasn’t enough, Ye Shuo was still fanning the flames and adding fuel to the fire: “Father, Prime Minister He, you two don’t have enough self-control.” He just got to the point, but he couldn’t hold back and was ready to teach someone a lesson.

Before the two of them opened their mouths, Ye Shuo spoke first. What do you call this? This is called the wicked complaining first.

Emperor Jingwen couldn’t help but took a deep breath.

He Xiang’s Qi cultivation skills are pretty good. After all, he is an old fox, so it’s not easy for him to lose his skills.

“Your Highness, since you have nothing to do, why don’t you play a game of chess with me?”

The Ninth Prince was a prince after all, so he certainly couldn’t be scolded, but he could get back on his feet in other ways. He Xiang was cunning and well versed in circuitous tactics.

But is Ye Shuo so easy to deal with?

“We can play chess, but we don’t play Go. How about Gobang?” Ye Shuo had never played Go before. If he played it rashly, he would definitely be beaten badly. He didn’t want to be fooled.

Want to mess with him? No way!

At this time, He Xiang was the one who had the need, so Ye Shuo should take the opportunity to put forward his own request. How could he just accept whatever the other party said?

Sure enough, He Xiang’s expression froze slightly.

Emperor Jingwen couldn’t help but give his beloved minister a look. See, I told you that this little bastard is not so easy to deal with.

Perhaps knowing why His Majesty had been silent just now, He Xiang could not help but clear his throat and said, “Your Highness’s Gobang is something I have never heard of before, so how can I use it to play against Your Highness?”

Come on, last time Master Cen confiscated so many of his little gadgets, Ye Shuo had already heard that Master Cen had already introduced them one by one to his stepfather and the others. Besides, the rules of Gobang are so simple, how could Prime Minister He not understand?

“Since Prime Minister He is not sincere, forget it. Let’s talk about it another day.” Ye Shuo gave up decisively.

He Xiang was caught off guard: “…”

I forgot that the Ninth Prince is not a very particular person.

Seeing that the Ninth Prince really didn’t want to do it, He Xiang thought about it and felt that although they were both black and white chess, he had decades more experience than the Ninth Prince. Moreover, the Gobang he mentioned was indeed not a very difficult game and almost everyone could play it. He felt that he should not lose, so he quickly took a step back.

“Just do as the Ninth Prince says.”

“Okay then.” Ye Shuo quickly got up.

Seeing the two people sitting opposite each other in front of the chessboard, Emperor Jingwen drank tea while silently paying attention to the situation.

He Xiang himself just said that Gobang is a simple game, so experience or not is not very important. If everyone is starting at the same starting line, what difference does it make even if He Xiang has eaten for decades longer than him?

Just like that, Ye Shuo relied on his own abilities and a little bit of skills to kill He Xiang in the first round.

The black and white chess pieces had occupied less than one-third of the middle of the chessboard when the five black pieces in Ye Shuo’s hand formed a line.

Emperor Jingwen couldn’t help but choke.

He Xiang was speechless for a long time.

“Thank you, thank you.” Ye Shuo bowed and retreated after one attack.

Seeing that he was about to leave after only betting one hand, He Xiang was dumbfounded: “Your Highness, wait a moment!”

Ye Shuo turned around, somewhat puzzled: “What’s wrong? Didn’t I already play a game with you?” What else did he want?

It did happen, but the ending was very different from what He Xiang had imagined.

In He Xiang’s imagination, he should torture the Ninth Prince severely, and only after he had tortured the Ninth Prince enough, the subsequent events could be unfolded.

This, this, this…what is this? !

“Your Highness, it’s still early. Please play another round with me.”

This was a request that could not be any smaller, and Prime Minister He fully believed that the Ninth Prince would agree to it without hesitation. However… who knew that the other party would reject it outright.

“Prime Minister He, this won’t do. Think about it, what is your status? You are a well-known prime minister of a country. I finally won a game against you. How nice it would be to tell others about it?”

“If I play another round with you and lose, I will be the one to suffer the consequences.”

Think about it, if you play chess with the prime minister and win in the end, it might even be recorded in the book by the historian. Only a fool would play a second game with him.

“Mr. He, do you think this is the truth?”

No matter how eloquent He Xiang was, he couldn’t replace any words to refute it now, because if he thought about it carefully, it seemed to be true.

“Unless……”

Just when He Xiang was thinking about a solution, he suddenly heard these two words. Subconsciously, he said, “Unless what?”

Ye Shuo rolled his eyes and said with a smile: “Unless Prime Minister He gives me some silver.”

It’s just money, something outside of one’s body, and you thought it was something important. He Xiang couldn’t help but feel relieved when he heard this.

Just like that, Emperor Jingwen watched helplessly as his most trusted minister took off the purse from around his waist.

When Emperor Jingwen saw this scene, he knew it was all over.

The first time it was money, the second time it was something else, the third time, the fourth time… Haha, it would be strange if the little bastard didn’t take out all the money from He Xiang.

As the saying goes, a true gentleman watches a game of chess without saying a word. Emperor Jingwen couldn’t bring himself to do this, so he kept silent.

Ye Shuo was very measured and only took the smallest silver ingot and put it on his side. Ye Shuo nodded and said, “This time we have agreed in advance that it is best of three games. If He Xiang loses again, it won’t be so easy if he wants to add more.”

He Xiang heard it and thought it made sense, and there was no trap or anything, so he gave a positive answer: “Of course.”

Then… as expected, Ye Shuo defeated him again.

He added and lost again, lost and added again. Ye Shuo was well aware of the principle of boiling a frog in warm water. He increased the bet slowly, bit by bit. Finally, when He Xiang reacted, he had nothing left except his clothes. Even one of his shoes was stripped off by the Ninth Prince.

Emperor Jingwen watched coldly and discovered carefully that this little bastard was particularly good at laying hooks. He didn’t even try to win ruthlessly. Instead, he defeated He Xiang every time when He Xiang felt he was about to win. He kept He Xiang hanging and made it impossible for He Xiang to control himself and not increase the bet.

“Thank you, Father, and thank you, Lord He, for your compassion. I will take my leave now.”

Ye Shuo felt that it was enough, so he stopped contentedly and ran away with a lot of spoils.

Originally, it was unlikely that the historian would record such a small matter, but now, the original probability of less than 10% has been raised to 80%.

Emperor Jingwen looked at Prime Minister He quietly for a long time, as he was unable to react.

He Xiang suddenly came back to his senses and said quickly: “…Your Majesty, I am guilty!”

He said he was here to help the emperor take care of his son, but now he has gotten himself into trouble.

“…There’s no need to do this.” Emperor Jingwen’s eyes were calm: “It’s good like this now, isn’t it?”

Although he failed to control his son, at least he taught his minister a lesson, so it was worth it.

He Xiang froze for a moment, then lowered his head deeply.

On the other side, Ye Shuo came out with something in his arms, and then he saw the palace not far away. The Sixth Prince and his entourage were ready to go, as if they were discussing something. They were eager to try, and their eyes were full of provocation when they looked at each other.

Of course, it was the Fifth Prince who made the unilateral provocation. After all, given the Sixth Prince’s personality, he would not easily reveal what he was thinking.

The prince was originally having a headache because of the quarrel among his brothers, but the moment he saw Ye Shuo, his eyes suddenly brightened.

“Xiaojiu, you’ve come just in time. Your fifth and sixth brothers are preparing to compete to see who can reach the palace first. Do you want to come too… Hmm? What are you holding in your hand?”

As the prince was talking, he didn’t know why he felt that the thing in his brother’s arms looked familiar.

Especially that pair of boots, it seems like he has seen it somewhere.