Chapter 417

The hall was deathly quiet.

Princess Qin's face was pale.

Consort De and several high-ranking palace ladies remained silent.

Ji Yaoyue and her brother also struggled to keep straight faces.

Heng Xian appeared to be deep in thought.

"What about this time?"

After a good while, Princess Qin asked.

Heng Xian looked up: "A lucky guess, I don't really understand it!"

"Another lucky guess? Are you trying to fool me?" Princess Qin's willow-leaf eyebrows stood upright.

"An unintentional mistake, I really don't know how to play well!" Heng Xian said earnestly.

Really don't know how to play well? And you beat me, a self-proclaimed national master? Princess Qin's chest heaved, and she nearly bit through her silver teeth.

Seeing that Princess Qin was about to lose control, Consort De patted her gently: "Sister, let me play a round with him!"

Princess Qin nodded: "Very well!"

She stepped aside.

Consort De waved her large sleeves, sat down gracefully, and looked at Heng Xian, her beautiful eyes sparkling with charm: "You don't need to rely on lucky guesses anymore, show your true ability!"

Heng Xian opened his mouth: "Oh!"

Consort De did not stand on ceremony and played the first black stone!

Heng Xian followed with a white stone.

Consort De's style was different from Princess Qin's; she emphasized stability and layout. It was basically very difficult to surround and kill her, or even cut her off!

However, Heng Xian was playing completely "randomly," neither surrounding nor cutting.

The two played their own games, but overall, Consort De was in the lead.

Princess Qin clenched her fists: "The situation is looking great, sister!"

Consort De nodded: "Don't be impatient!"

She said she wasn't impatient, and she truly wasn't; playing steadily, no one who saw it would think she would lose!

However, when the game reached the middle stage, a strange thing happened again—

No matter where Consort De placed her stones, she would fall into a passive state.

This was no longer a simple loss; it was a miserable defeat.

Whether to be slaughtered in an ugly way or to concede defeat—this was a multiple-choice question.

Only then did everyone in the hall realize that the "Shī Shèng" fellow's chess skills were too high and his calculations too deep. Before him, the so-called national master Consort and Princess Qin were like naive novices.

Consort De suddenly raised her head to look at Heng Xian: "You..."

Heng Xian also raised his head, revealing a "simple and innocent" smile: "Consort, what's wrong?"

Consort De's breathing quickened, her snow-white neck seemed to thicken, and she put down her stone: "I have lost!"

She turned and walked to the side.

The group of palace ladies who had just been secretly smug and mocking were now full of resentment.

Ji Yaoyue quietly pinched Heng Xian.

Ji Yaofan also slapped the armrest: "Well played, Shī Shèng, you are playing the pig to eat the tiger, bullying my aunt and mother; you are a truly bad person!"

"...... I really didn't!"

Heng Xian was also embarrassed. It wasn't that he didn't understand social nuances; he knew his own situation. In these few games, he was half-watching and half-learning, mainly secretly consulting the "Yellow Heaven Hexagram," but the drawback was that the "Yellow Heaven Hexagram" didn't have the word "lose" in its vocabulary, and it was impossible to lose!

"One more round! I don't believe it!"

Princess Qin waved her hand, "How could I lose to a rookie from a small place like you!"

These words were a bit harsh.

Ji Yaoyue's expression was not very good.

However, Consort De and Ji Yaofan's group didn't notice at all.

Heng Xian glanced at Princess Qin and nodded.

The game began.

One black, one white.

By the middle of the game, Princess Qin lost. This time, the loss was arduous and extremely miserable.

Consort De and the group of palace ladies no longer wanted to watch.

Princess Qin, who treated chess as her life and loved the art of chess, stared fixedly at the board with no hope of winning. A mist slowly rose in her eyes as she looked at Heng Xian: "You are truly lacking in character, and you don't know how to yield to your elders. How could my niece have chosen you!"

After speaking, she got up and walked out: "I'm returning to the Prince's Mansion. It's the New Year, I'm not staying!"

Consort De and Ji Yaoyue hurriedly chased after her for a few steps: "Won't you stay for the noon banquet?"

"No!" Princess Qin said, sulking, and led a group of palace maids and eunuchs away in a flurry.

Consort De, Ji Yaoyue, and the others returned, and the atmosphere in the main hall suddenly became very awkward.

Ji Yaofan patted Heng Xian: "Ah, brother-in-law, I bought a new bird for my backyard, it's big and beautiful, why don't you come and take a look with me!"

Heng Xian was very cooperative: "Ah? I love playing with birds in my spare time!"

The two went one after the other straight to the backyard.

The backyard was filled with layers of pavilions and gardens. It was almost noon, and the palace maids and eunuchs were weeding and putting up festive couplets.

Ji Yaofan pulled Heng Xian hurriedly to a remote, desolate courtyard before unzipping his pants to start peeing.

Heng Xian also boredly followed suit and asked casually: "You bought this bird?"

Ji Yaofan shivered and hurriedly pulled up his pants: "Ah, no, brother-in-law! Did you think I really brought you here to see a bird?"

After speaking, he felt incredibly awkward and added: "I was afraid you would feel awkward staying there. You should have yielded to my mother and aunt, shouldn't you?"

Heng Xian said: "A national master should yield? Wouldn't that be a sign of disrespect to them?"

Ji Yaofan opened his mouth: "That's true too!"

Just then, a eunuch following them whispered: "Your Highness, Brother-in-law, the Consort invites you to the Yaoyun Hall for a meal!"

"Let's go, brother-in-law!" Ji Yaofan walked out, "It's the New Year, let's have the secondary meal first!"

"Secondary meal?" Heng Xian asked.

Ji Yaofan said while walking: "On New Year's Day, lunch is the secondary meal, and dinner is the main meal. If nothing goes wrong, the Emperor will show his face this year, and he should invite you over!"

Heng Xian nodded. Will the Emperor show his face? He wondered how many doses of medicine he had taken.

Arriving at the elegant and exquisite "Yaoyun Hall," palace maids and eunuchs were already moving in and out with dishes.

When Heng Xian and the other entered, they saw at least two hundred dishes on a huge white jade coral table in the hall; words like "dazzling" and "delicacies from land and sea" were not enough to describe it.

And sitting at the table were only the stern-faced Consort De and the smiling Ji Yaoyue.

After Heng Xian and the other sat down, there were only four people eating two or three hundred dishes.

Yet there were seventy-two people serving them.

Heng Xian looked around and secretly sighed: The imperial family is the most extravagant.

Soon the banquet began. Consort De and Ji Yaoyue drank some unknown fruit wine, while Heng Xian and Ji Yaofan drank palace fine wine.

No one spoke.

Heng Xian didn't know the rules of royal dining, and he was too lazy to say a word.

Until halfway through the meal, Consort De suddenly spoke: "Heng Xian! Do you know why others, besides the Ye family boy, assassinated you yesterday?"

These words were too sudden; Ji Yaoyue and her brother couldn't help but put down their chopsticks.

Heng Xian thought for a moment and said: "I don't know, please enlighten me, Consort."

He actually had his guesses; it was nothing more than a struggle for power and profit, feeling that he was in the way.

Consort De said lightly: "His Majesty is in poor health and has been doting on Prince Wu in recent years!"

This one sentence was enough!

Which prince the Emperor dotes on, naturally, is the one he wants to be Emperor!

Others who covet the throne dare not target the Emperor or Prince Wu, so naturally, they target those around them.

And Heng Xian, as Prince Wu's brother-in-law, has the name of "Shī Shèng," has done favors for the Jixia Academy, and seems to lack neither intelligence nor ability. Seeing his fame spreading far and wide, if he makes any contribution in the future, he will definitely be a big shot with real power!

For Prince Wu, this is simply an immense help!

Strangling him in the cradle seems to be an unquestionable choice. So, taking advantage of Ye Xingruo's jealousy to use him was almost a natural progression.

At this time, Consort De looked at Heng Xian and said again: "What you experienced was just the simplest assassination. The Imperial Capital is far more complex than you imagine. If you insist on marrying Yaoyue, there will be a danger of losing your life. You choose for yourself!"

(End of chapter)