The master and the disciple reached a consensus, and Xiao Shen immediately set out the chessboard.
The master holds the white pieces and the disciple holds the black pieces, and they sit opposite each other and play chess under the candle light.
Shen Qingzhuo dabbled in piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting. He only had a superficial knowledge of piano and painting, and although he couldn’t say he was an expert in chess, but he did have some accomplishments.
The rules of Go1Go is an abstract strategy board game for two players in which the aim is to fence off more territory than the opponent. may seem simple, but there is a vast space for placing pieces, making a small game of Go unpredictable and complicated.
Therefore, playing chess not only tests memory, judgment, and concentration but also requires the player to have a panoramic view of the overall situation and give full play to flexible strategic and tactical thinking.
“The three-foot square is the battlefield; soldiers are deployed, and the two enemies are evenly matched. The clumsy ones will be ineffective, and the weak ones will perish first.”
A chess game is like a battlefield. Shen Qingzhuo treats playing Go as a battle of military tactics. He incorporates the tactics of advance and retreat, attack and defense into the game, and teaches his little disciple how to fight on the chessboard.
Xiao Shen also showed amazing talent in Go. He was able to draw inferences from one example and apply what he had learned to other situations. With time, it would not be difficult for him to beat his master.
However, at the moment, he is obviously not yet mature enough.
“Xiao Qi, you should admit defeat.” Shen Qingzhuo supported his chin with one hand and smiled lazily, “It seems that you are destined to not be able to warm Master’s bed tonight.”
Xiao Shen’s black piece was hanging above the chessboard, unable to fall down. He frowned when he heard this and pursed his thin, pale lips, apparently unwilling to admit defeat easily.
“Victory and defeat are common in the military. Don’t be obsessed with a temporary win or loss.” Shen Qingzhuo tapped the table with his knuckles and said in a serious tone, “You must learn to stop losses in time.”
Xiao Shen raised his eyes and said stubbornly, “Then let’s play another round.”
Shen Qingzhuo raised his eyebrows slightly: “Can you beat me in another round?”
Xiao Shen overturned the chess game, lowered his eyes, and replied, “If you don’t try, how can you know the result?”
“Fine.” Shen Qingzhuo also became interested. He admired his little disciple’s courage to fight again and again after repeated failures and to become more courageous with each setback. He also didn’t mind training him a little more.
The black piece moves first and lands on the chessboard with a “click”, marking the beginning of a new round of fierce fighting.
A person can usually disguise himself in various ways, but when he is on the chessboard, it is difficult not to reveal a corner of his true nature.
Xiao Shen was in charge of the offensive, his moves were quick, fierce, and accurate, at the beginning of the game, he would move his pieces across the boundary quickly and join in the fight without hesitation.
He is good at using unconventional moves in chess and swordplay. Once in close combat, he will attack directly with an unstoppable offensive.
Shen Qingzhuo, on the other hand, was skilled in defense, taking every step carefully, and killing people with a soft sword without drawing any blood.
No matter how risky the enemy’s tactics were, he always firmly controlled the rhythm of the game and trapped the enemy without making a sound.
“Xiao Qi, you are too impatient today.” Shen Qingzhuo placed a move with ease: “Do you admit defeat?”
After a moment, Xiao Shen raised his face and skillfully launched a dog-eye attack, pleading pitifully, “Master, can we play another round?”
Shen Qingzhuo glanced at the hourglass on the desk and asked, “Do you want Master to stay up until dawn?”
If they play a few more games, neither of them will be able to sleep tonight.
Xiao Shen grabbed a handful of hair in frustration and suddenly reached out to shuffle all the chess pieces, saying willfully, “I don’t care, I don’t care. If Master doesn’t want to play, I win this game!”
Shen Qingzhuo: “En?”
Do you still play like this?
“Master.” The youth stood up from his seat, walked around to the back of his master, hugged his thin shoulders like a spoiled child, and rested his chin on the deep crook of his neck. “It’s the middle of the night, it’s so dangerous for me to go back to the cold palace alone. Master, I am afraid of the dark.”
The youth’s arms were long and slender, and he could easily wrap his arms around the skinny master. From behind, it looked like an intimate hug.
“You afraid of the dark?” Shen Qingzhuo couldn’t help but insult his little disciple, “It’s the dark who is afraid of you.”
Xiao Shen continued to rub against him: “Master…”
Shen Qingzhuo was so annoyed that he had no choice but to give in: “Alright, alright, go wash up first.”
After all, he had raised the youth himself, so even though he knew that his disciple was just pretending to be pitiful, he couldn’t harden his heart and refuse.
The youth cheered immediately and clenched his arms excitedly, “I like Master the most, most, most!”
“Your favorite master is about to be strangled to death by you.” Shen Qingzhuo patted the strong forearm that was holding him. “Let go first.”
“En.” Xiao Shen responded and couldn’t help lowering his head to sniff the black hair that was scattered behind his shoulders. “Master, you smell so good, even your hair smells good.”
“Master didn’t even wear any rouge or powder, so where does the fragrance come from?” Shen Qingzhuo couldn’t help but laugh, “Maybe you got some incense on your body. If you like the smell, ask Xiao Dezi to bring you a few boxes.”
Xiao Shen shook his head. “No need.”
This rich and cool fragrance of winter plums is unique to him. No matter how much incense others use, they cannot create this scent that fascinates him.
Shen Qingzhuo: “Go wash up, it’s getting late.”
After quickly washing up, Xiao Shen lay flat on the inside of the bed, waiting for his master to get on the bed with an obedient look on his face.
“I’ll read for a while.” Shen Qingzhuo tucked in the corners of the quilt for his little disciple and coaxed him softly, “You go to sleep first. You have to get up early for morning exercises tomorrow.”
Although he had been exposed to ancient culture since he was a child, but after coming into this world, he found that learning had no end and there were too many things he did not understand.
In the past few years, while teaching his little disciple, he himself has been constantly studying and researching, striving not to mislead his disciple.
“Alright.” Xiao Shen put his arm behind his ear and turned to lie on his side facing his master.
It was really hard to ignore the gaze staring at him from the side. Shen Qingzhuo pinched his tender face and said helplessly, “How can you sleep if you don’t close your eyes?”
“Master is reading, and I am watching you.” The youth’s eyes slightly curved, and he said confidently, “We are not disturb each other.”
Shen Qingzhuo said helplessly, “What’s so good about looking at me?”
Xiao Shen said seriously, “Good.”
“Where did that taciturn little disciple a few years ago go?” Shen Qingzhuo teased him deliberately, “No matter how sweet you are, Master will not let you play a chess move here.”
Xiao Shen looked at him and smiled, then suddenly got up and came over to him, hugged him around the waist, and put his face against his waist with a loving look.
His master was only wearing a white undergarment, and his waist was so thin that it seemed like it could be held in one hand.
However, he did not dare to be so presumptuous for the time being.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Qingzhuo moved uncomfortably, “Xiao Qi, it’s a little itchy.”
“Sometimes I get scared that when I wake up, I will realize that everything was just a dream.” The youth’s muffled voice slowly reached his ears: “I am still lying on the bed in the cold palace, spending day after day in a daze.”
Shen Qingzhuo’s hand holding the book frozen for a moment, then he put it down, gently stroked the youth’s hairy head, and replied softly, “Go to sleep. When you wake up tomorrow, I promise that the first person you see is Master.”
“En.” The youth responded with a nasal tone, “Can I also sleep with Master tomorrow night?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “……”
“Behave yourself and sleep.” His master said with a wry smile, “Otherwise, Master will kick you off the bed.”
Xiao Shen let go of his hand at lightning speed, returned to his own position, closed his eyes, and pretended to sleep.
It was a mistake. He thought that if he played the pitiful role, his master would be soft-hearted, but he accidentally exposed his purpose too quickly.
The Empress Dowager’s words were golden, and a few days later, Emperor Guangxi issued an edict, allowing the Seventh Prince to move out of the cold palace and temporarily granting him Changle Palace as his residence.
As soon as the imperial edict came out, it was like throwing a stone into the lake, and the seemingly calm water surface suddenly began to ripple endlessly.
The first person who couldn’t sit still was the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace.
When someone from the Eastern Palace came to deliver the message, Shen Qingzhuo was sitting in the courtyard, leisurely feeding the goldfish in the pond.
Not far away, Xiao Shen was doing horse stance with a weight on his body, his arms stretched straight out, and each hand holding a heavy stone brick.
“Report to His Highness the Crown Prince and tell him that I have to go to pay respects to Her Majesty the Empress Dowager today and cannot go to the Eastern Palace.” Shen Qingzhuo replied calmly, “When I have time, I will go and apologize to His Highness.”
“This…” The young eunuch who delivered the message said with an embarrassed look on his face, “Young Master, the servant has no way to report to His Highness the Crown Prince when returned.”
Shen Qingzhuo paused, raised his feather-long eyelashes, and glanced at him coldly.
The young eunuch felt a chill on his back and lowered his head hastily: “The servant will report the truth to His Highness the Crown Prince.”
The young eunuch took his leave, and the courtyard returned to silence.
Shen Qingzhuo put down the fish food, walked up to the sweaty youth, took the bricks in his left and right hands, and threw them on the ground.
Xiao Shen’s tense muscles suddenly relaxed, and he gasped and said, “It’s not the limit yet.”
“Haste makes waste.” Shen Qingzhuo pulled out a handkerchief from his sleeve and habitually wiped the sweat off the youth’s forehead. “Take your time.”
Xiao Shen slowly calmed his breathing, but because he was too close, the rich plum scent on his master’s body was all he could smell. For a moment, he even felt that the fragrance seemed to penetrate into his meridians through his open pores and then quickly spread to his limbs and bones, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.
“Are you feeling a bit cold?” Shen Qingzhuo noticed his abnormality and took a step back. “Go in and put on some clothes first.”
“Master!” Xiao Shen stared at the jade-white finger and blurted out, “Can I have the handkerchief?”
Shen Qingzhuo: “En?”
“I still want to wipe the sweat off my face.” Xiao Shen glanced away and explained quickly.
“Oh.” Shen Qingzhuo did not doubt him and handed the handkerchief to his little disciple. “You should also carry a handkerchief with you.”
Xiao Shen tightly grasped the handkerchief in his palm, responded softly, and followed his master inside. “Master, why did the Empress Dowager summon you again?”
“The Empress Dowager didn’t summon me.” Shen Qingzhuo replied calmly.
Xiao Shen hesitated and said, “Then just now…”
“I am the one who is going to pay my respects to the Empress Dowager.” Shen Qingzhuo stepped into the inner hall. “The Empress Dowager has brought you out of the cold palace. Master has to thank the Empress Dowager for her grace on your behalf ah.”
Xiao Shen frowned slightly: “Did Master say that on purpose just now for the Crown Prince to hear?”
Shen Qingzhuo turned around, his eyes smiling, like a bewitching little fox: “Xiao Qi, do you remember the idiom that Master taught you?”
“Master, please enlighten me.” Xiao Shen humbly asked for advice.
Shen Qingzhuo: “The fox exploits the tiger’s might2lit. the fox exploits the tiger’s might (idiom); fig. to use powerful connections to intimidate people..”
How can a small stone disturb a pool of water?
The author has something to say:
The Little Wolf Cub: Today’s harvest—Master’s handkerchief.
