Chapter 52: Residual Game, New Chess

In the light mist and shadows, the snow-white repair clothes fluttered with the light golden warm light, and someone folded through the path and came behind him. A soft outer robe fell lightly on his shoulders, and Zi Rao circled in front of him, leaning close, her soft hair dancing in the wind, brushing his cheeks, narrowing her eyes finely: "Mm... teaching a little girl to play chess for a whole day, I haven't seen you so patient when teaching me before."

Zi Hao turned his head and smiled: "Your chess strength is not much worse than mine, where do you need me to point out in such detail?" He raised his hand to pull his collar slightly, and asked casually: "Did he leave too?"

Zi Rao didn't answer, her eyebrows picked lightly, and she swept into his quiet gaze: "But I have never won you once, you never let me."

Seeing her say it as if it were true, Zi Hao couldn't help but have a faint interest in his eyes: "How do I remember that I seemed to have let you before, and later you found out, and didn't talk to me for several days."

"Is there such a thing?" Zi Rao frowned and recalled.

"Yes." Zi Hao smiled lightly: "At that time, there was no one else in the Changming Palace who could play chess with me. I thought if even you didn't come, it would inevitably be a bit boring, so I didn't let you later. Who knew that you lost several times in a row, and never played chess with me again." He shook his head and sighed: "Letting is not, not letting is not. For all these years, no matter what, I have a way to solve it, only this thing has always been a bit of a headache."

Zi Rao couldn't help laughing, and scolded him: "Who said I don't play chess with you?"

"Dare to play again?" Zi Hao looked at her with a smile.

Zi Rao turned her sleeves and sat opposite him, taking the black chess piece: "Let you take the white first."

"What a big tone." Zi Hao raised his eyebrows: "Don't lose your temper if you lose."

The two sat separately on the star position, fighting step by step, and soon entered the middle game from the opening. Zi Rao suddenly said: "It's interesting to win some color in chess. If you lose..." She thought for a while and asked: "I heard that a few days ago you ordered someone to break that piece of Feng Blood Cold Jade in the Yuntai Hall of the Chonghua Palace, and personally carved a hairpin?"

"Mm." Zi Hao responded faintly.

"If you lose, give me that hairpin, how about it?" Zi Rao dropped the piece into the game.

"A step late, gave it to someone." Zi Hao continued faintly.

"Gave it to someone?" Zi Rao was a bit surprised, but her hand didn't slow down, the black piece dismantled two and flew to attack, wanting to lead the white piece approaching her abdomen to return to the division to rescue.

"Mm." Zi Hao looked at the chessboard and answered casually, unexpectedly grabbing the position first, indirectly patching the corner, and attacking a thin piece of hers below.

Zi Rao pursed her lips without saying a word, her gaze swept, ignoring his offensive, decisively abandoning several pieces, still straight into the middle palace, unwillingly asking again: "Gave it to whom?"

Zi Hao ate several of her pieces, and at the same time, an ambush rose on the side, cutting off her retreat on both sides: "Look at the chess properly, that hairpin just used the clear water ice seed on the outside of the Feng Blood Cold Jade. If you can win this game, there will be better ones for you."

"Is this true? I want you to carve it yourself." Zi Rao set a double ring robbery secretly, taking the opportunity to break the side exit.

"When did what I said not count?" Zi Hao said: "But what if you lose?" He forced her another piece casually.

Zi Rao watched his chess strategy, leaning lazily on her arm, and without a second thought, picked up a piece to counter. "As you wish, anything is fine."

When the two were talking, their hands didn't stop, as if they knew each other's chess path well. The thinking time was extremely short. With the continuous sound of dropping pieces, the soldiers on the chessboard were vertical and horizontal, and the attack was positive and strange, which was no longer the appearance of playing with Han Xi earlier.

Black and white pieces were brilliant, and they entered the state. Zi Hao broke the black chess middle abdomen with white pieces, Zi Rao immediately sealed his offensive, calmly eliminated the robbery, Zi Hao seemed to have expected it, side hand a piece, caught her off guard, forced the pass and controlled the side, the black piece in Zi Rao's finger flashed, raised it above the chessboard, but suddenly stiffened, and didn't fall for a long time, a trace of strange emotion flashed in her eyes.

It seemed sad, and it seemed painful. The white and clean fingers were thin like ice jade, a little ink color was tightened slightly, and finally sank into her palm.

For some reason, Zi Hao lowered his eyes to watch the chess game, and the faint smile at his lips also gradually faded.

The evening wind arrived slowly, and a forest of green colors rose and fell silently, sinking into the boundless vastness at the end of the sky. The sudden silence made the sound of flowing water outside the forest even clearer. Layers of sounds drifted away, as if the mixed footsteps were in a mess, a piece of jade broken and gold folded, a piece of heaven and earth cracked.

"I often think these years, if this piece falls, this game might be me winning." After a long time, Zi Rao opened her mouth with a light laugh.

"Mm, maybe." Zi Hao said.

"Then you still layout like before, not afraid of losing to me?" Zi Rao lowered her eyes, her gaze sweeping across the chessboard inch by inch.

Zi Hao was quiet on the surface, and his voice was as light as flowing water: "Used to it, can't change it."

There is no same game in the world for thousands of years. Even the same two people, at different times and different places, cannot play a completely same game, unless, it is tracing memories and following the past.

It is not that it cannot be changed, but that it cannot be forgotten. This game is deeply imprinted in the mind, even today seven years later, it is still clear step by step. This is the last game of chess he and she played under the bamboo forest in the Changming Palace.

The reappearing chess game, she had carefully pondered in the silent years in the depths of the Xuan Tower, and he had silently thought about it under the Changming lamp in the deep palace. If it could go on, what kind of situation would it be?

The black piece in Zi Rao's hand ultimately failed to fall. That day the father king collapsed, and the bad news broke the perfect layout. The distinct black and white on the chessboard were submerged in the depths of a tragic color in the sky, or perhaps in this world, such pure colors never existed.

Seeing her again, it was already in the raging fire that illuminated the sky like blood on the Yao Guang Terrace, and he was about to ascend to the Jiu Hua Hall the next day to accept the worship of all the people and become the young emperor of the Yong Dynasty.

A cold, pulling pain suddenly felt in his heart. Zi Hao frowned slightly and closed his eyes, but the corners of his lips habitually lifted upward until they turned into a faint smile that everyone was familiar with. Under the smile, there was no shadow of pain, and no trace of joy or sorrow could be found.

Zi Rao, never again.

Once unable to change the father king's cowardice and humiliation, once watched the mother sink into the Chichi and leave with hatred, once personally sent the younger brother on a road of no return, once abandoned you in that bottomless dark prison for seven full years. As a son, I am truly unfilial, and as an older brother, I am afraid I am the worst brother in the world. I swore to myself to wash away the blood hatred of my parents, and I will also spare no effort to maintain the dignity of the Di Du, the symbol of the pride of the royal family for eight hundred years, and you, the only relative I still have a chance to protect.

So, never again from now on, a prosperous world, a piece of peaceful world, no longer let your flying smile fall into the darkness and die young, no longer let your clear eyes be covered with the shadow of sadness, this is the best thing a brother can give you.

The sunset sank, and the twilight covered the mountains.

The half-finished game of chess gradually blurred. Zi Rao watched Zi Hao in silence. In her clear, water-like eyes, a lonely figure was reflected, gazing silently. A sense of desolation flashed across his thin profile, inadvertently betraying the self-reproach hidden deep behind his strength and calm.

All living beings are obsessed, only in one obsession.

The East Emperor who overturned the rivers and mountains, the brother she could do anything, turned out to be a stubborn person.

Zi Rao's eyes slowly bloomed with quiet smiles. The self-blame he didn't say in his heart was just because he couldn't block a little flying ash that fell on her shoulders when the dynasty was about to fall. Didn't he know that without him, she would have been a remnant soul in this chaotic world's smoke and dust, where would there be a noble long princess in the world, where would there be this red-faced charm and beautiful bones?

Just what about himself? Zi Rao's gaze fell on his left hand that had been tucked in his sleeve, and the smile that had just risen in her eyes couldn't help but converge. She remembered very clearly that when he was a child, he was always left-handed. But after he came out of the Xuan Tower, she realized that now, whether writing or doing things, he had completely changed to his right hand, no different from ordinary people. Recently, if it was not absolutely necessary, his left hand was used very rarely.

Seven years ago, the bowl of medicine that splashed and shattered in the Changming Palace extinguished the raging fire that rushed to the sky in front of the Yao Guang Terrace, but it brought great anger to the Phoenix Queen. In the situation of near house arrest, the throne was like a puppet, and everything was like a puppet. The antidote that had to be taken every three days was reduced in weight compared to before, and the bone-eating pain every moment was learned to endure from that time.

The young East Emperor was no better than the Nine Princesses in the depths of the Xuan Tower in the first year of his accession, until the rebellion of Gongzi Yan in the second year.

Blood stained the royal robe, which changed the Phoenix Queen's attitude again. However, the sword wound on his left arm was recuperated for more than a full year before it was considered healed. In that year, he exceptionally did not drink the so-called "tonic medicine". When the injury was better, he could go out of the palace to walk around like before, go to the Bamboo Garden Langxuan to read books at will, and later, he was allowed to be summoned by the Empress Dowager along with important ministers such as Bocheng Shang to discuss state affairs.

Even the hardest heart has a soft place. The young man's respect and smile gradually outlined the harmony of mother's kindness and son's filial piety in the deep shadows of the two palaces with brilliant eaves. Not long after the injury, the former Su Ling, the son of the Xi Kingdom who had a reputation for talent, was chosen as the Imperial Tutor to accompany the King in the palace. However, Su Ling, who had been with the East Emperor day and night and was demoted from the Di Du two years later for "disrespect to the King", still doesn't know that the East Emperor before the age of sixteen had always been left-handed.

Wei Yuan's sword directly injured the meridians. After the injury healed, whether writing or holding a sword, the arm would feel weak and powerless, so he simply changed to his right hand. Although it was a natural habit, since it could no longer be used, then don't use it. After many years, the old injury has improved a lot, but the shoulder was severely injured again some time ago. Now, even with a divine doctor on the side, the whole left arm is difficult to recover as before.

Clack! With a crisp sound, it knocked on the chessboard. The black piece in Zi Rao's hand pointed directly at the center of the white piece formation, and the phoenix eyes flowed with light: "I dropped this piece here, what do you do?"

As if not returning to his senses, Zi Hao was slightly stunned and looked at the chessboard. I saw that her move not only attacked the white piece that must be saved, but also provoked the double ring robbery buried just now, hitting the white piece in the corner. In this way, even if the white piece finds a robbery to lift the piece, the two sides circulate and it is difficult to win the robbery, and the originally evenly matched situation was suddenly broken. His eyebrows gathered, and he subconsciously picked up a white piece with his left hand, wanting to break her sharp offensive, but his arm suddenly felt sharp pain, the chess piece in his finger loosened, and it fell into the chessboard on its own.

Clack—clack! The cold white piece rolled to the side of a piece of black pieces, and settled down alone, a useless piece without any meaning.

Zi Hao couldn't help being stunned, Zi Rao was also stunned, and quickly raised her eyes to look at his shoulder, just about to speak, but saw that the surprised look on his brow had long since converged, and he smiled as if nothing had happened: "Miscalculation, this game is ultimately you winning."

The variables of the chess game are still there, even in this situation, it is not entirely impossible to recover with his chess strength. Zi Rao seemed to want to speak but stopped, but finally lowered her head and collected the chess pieces: "The King has no jokes, don't forget my color."

The hot spring water is warm, Zi Rao soaked her feet in the water and leaned on the white stone by the pool, looking at the new moon like a hook in the sky. A few bamboo leaves brushed past her hair, spinning and falling into the misty night, all around the clouds and moon were quiet, almost like a deep dream.

"Ye Xuanshang took Helian Qi's life, how long do you think Huang Fei will wait?" After a while, she threw a few herbs by her hand into the hot spring and said faintly.

Zi Hao's voice was slightly tired, coming from the depths of the water mist: "Not too long."

Zi Rao heard the hidden meaning in his words: "You seem to be worried about something?"

Zi Hao didn't speak for a long time, and only said faintly after a while: "Huang Fei, the sharpness is too prosperous."

Zi Rao suddenly remembered the chess he taught Han Xi in the afternoon, and tasted some meaning at this time, and couldn't help laughing: "No wonder, it's thanks to Han Xi's cleverness that she can remember it. That game of yours 'Canghai Yusheng' was transformed from the Tongyou Chess Manual. I dismantled it for five full days and nights, but I don't know about Huang Fei?"

"Zither, chess, sword, soldier, no one can match. Thinking about it, it shouldn't be worse than you." Zi Hao seemed to smile. Zi Rao stepped into the hot spring, walking deeper and deeper along the clear stone shore, laughing like the flowing water: "The amazing Shao Yuan Jun, the world-famous Chu Huang Fei. To tell the truth, I really want to see, if there is such a person who can suppress you, at least evenly matched, that must be interesting. I hope Huang Fei will not be disappointing."

A curved light moon, mist filling the shore, Zi Hao took off his hairpin and scattered his hair, sinking his whole body into the emerald-like hot spring, closing his eyes to rest. Zi Rao's light silk clothes spread like floating clouds, dragging across the warm waves, floating in the water. She approached his side, pulling his slightly wet hair for him, leaning on the stone and sitting. Zi Hao opened his eyes, touched the eyes hidden in the depths of the water, and felt her soft gaze, and suddenly smiled slightly.

A faint smile suddenly flowed on the edge of clouds and water, mist and moon, rippling across the bottom of his dark and boundless eyes, clear and light like a touch of broken ice and thin snow, but it was warm and moving.

As if he discovered her naughty peeping figure under the magnolia flower many years ago, as if he had once accompanied her to put down a bright heart lamp by the moon of the Phoenix Pool, seven years of separation, thousands of forbearance, Zi Rao hadn't seen him smile so truly for a long, long time. For a time, it seemed to fall into the night sky where the stars floated, and there was only boundless quiet and boundless joy in the bottom of her heart. She was quiet there and forgot the language. After a while, she asked softly: "What's wrong?"

Zi Hao shook his head. Zi Rao didn't follow, leaned over and asked: "Tell me quickly, what are you laughing at?"

Zi Hao looked at her, the tired and light eyes floating with clear brilliance, like the confusing light left by the dark night in the world: "In a blink of an eye, it's almost your birthday again. Zi Rao has grown up, no longer the eccentric and naughty little girl who hid my memorials and snatched my chess scores."

Zi Hao shook his head. Zi Rao, however, would not let it go; she leaned forward and pressed him, "Tell me quickly, what are you laughing at?"

Zi Hao smiled faintly: "When you grow up, you will leave home and marry, be a wife, be a mother."

Zi Rao's fingertips were passing through his hair, stopping slightly: "Who said I want to marry, I don't marry, just accompany you like this, okay?"

Zi Hao smiled faintly: "Naturally it is good, but a beauty like Zi Rao, how many men are heartbroken for her, can't accompany me coldly for a lifetime."

Zi Rao's fingertips were brushing past his temples, stopping slightly. "Who said I wanted to marry? I won't marry; I'll just stay with you like this, alright?"

"Who do you want to marry Zi Rao to?" She asked lowly, flowers falling in the water.

Zi Hao lay quietly, neither moving nor looking at her: "Marry someone Zi Rao likes."

"Is it only if you like it that you marry?" She asked again. In this pure darkness, she could feel his cold and silent heartbeat, like a little extinguished warmth in the chaotic world.

"Mm." He responded faintly, neither waves nor ripples.

Getting his affirmative answer, she raised her head lightly and smiled under the bright moonlight. At that moment, the breeze flew, and the long night bloomed with dazzling prosperity.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 53 =====

Having received his affirmative answer, she lifted her head gently and smiled, her brows unfurling under the bright moonlight of the night. In that instant, the breeze flew, and the long night bloomed with dazzling splendor.

(End of Chapter)