The Southern Administration Mansion was not something he could afford to offend. Since they had come knocking at his door there was no need to question anything. He simply nodded and agreed then followed them inside.
Along the way the situation in the Zhong mansion also seemed somewhat unusual. He noticed that today it appeared particularly quiet.
After walking for a while he realised they were actually heading to his own eastern courtyard. He could not help asking “Which honoured guest is waiting for me?”
Tang Bulan replied “You will know when you see them.”
Very well. Yu Qing had no choice but to drop it.
Upon arriving at the eastern courtyard he saw grey clothed men guarding the entrance while at the hall doorway another old acquaintance was waiting. It was none other than Xu Juening.
When the person arrived Xu Juening merely nodded slightly in greeting and showed no intention of following inside.
Tang Bulan had simply escorted the person to the door. She herself did not enter either. She and Xu Juening stood on either side guarding the hall entrance.
Yu Qing also saw a man sitting on the mat platform inside the hall. He was wearing the typical grey clothing of the Southern Administration Mansion.
On the surface he looked like an ordinary man in his fifties. His long hair was draped behind him his forehead was shiny his hairline had receded severely his beard was cleanly shaved and the whole person looked very neat. His appearance was actually quite honest and straightforward.
The man was playing with the chessboard in the hall holding black and white pieces and playing chess against himself to pass the time.
Yu Qing who had stepped over the threshold subconsciously glanced at the sand platform in the corner. Then he cautiously walked up to the visitor cupped his hands and said “May I ask the gentleman’s honoured surname and great name?”
Only then did the man raise his eyes to look at him. He smiled slightly and gestured with his hand for him to sit opposite.
Yu Qing did not sit. He asked again “I wonder what matter the gentleman is seeking me for?”
Only then did the man let out a warm and slow laugh. “Do not be nervous. There is no ill intent. Do you know how to play chess?”
Yu Qing glanced at the chessboard and said hesitantly “A little bit.”
The man pointed to the opposite side again and gestured for him to sit. “I have been waiting for you here for quite some time. You cannot possibly make me leave the chess game halfway can you? Sit down. Whatever you want to say we can talk after we finish this game of chess.”
What is this about? Yu Qing muttered in his heart. But seeing the other party’s manner and how even Tang Bulan did not dare mention the person’s name and was obediently guarding the door outside he knew that the visitor was no ordinary person from the Southern Administration Mansion. He did not dare disobey anything and had no choice but to sit opposite honestly.
The man made the first move by placing a piece then gestured with his hand to Yu Qing opposite him.
Yu Qing merely glanced briefly at the situation on the chessboard. He picked up a piece and almost without thinking placed it with a clap.
It was placed cleanly and neatly very satisfying.
The man was stunned. He looked up and said “If you cannot win against me do not blame me for forcing you to play another game.”
The implication was that placing a piece without even thinking about it was rather too perfunctory towards him.
Yu Qing slightly raised his eyebrow and said calmly on the surface “Fine.”
He reached out again to pick up a chess piece and played with it in his hand.
Not even a single superfluous word.
It was equivalent to agreeing to the other party that if he did not win he would play another game with him.
There was no way around it. Chess was really too boring for him.
He had basically stopped playing this thing after he was nine years old.
Because it was uninteresting because apart from his master he could not find any opponents.
The reason he possessed the talent to cultivate the Observation Word Technique was simply because certain functions of his brain were indeed a bit stronger than those of normal people.
The most important part of the Observation Word Technique was actually the deductive ability in certain aspects of the brain. Moreover he had cultivated the Observation Word Technique itself.
Human nature is fickle worldly affairs are unpredictable. It was fine if those were hard to reason about but as for the changes of these inanimate objects between the squares do not speak of endless variations in front of him. In his eyes it was just something children played with and not worth his serious effort at all.
“…” The man was rendered speechless by his single word of “fine”.
Very well. His gaze returned to the chessboard. After some deliberation he placed another piece.
However before his hand had even fully lifted clap! Yu Qing had already casually slapped down a piece. Then he reached into the jar grabbed a handful of pieces and played with them in his hand making crunching sounds as he pinched them.
“…” The man was speechless again.
Staring at the chessboard and pondering for a moment he placed another piece.
Clap! Yu Qing’s move was casual as always still so clean and decisive.
Again.
Another clap sound.
The Top Scholar was not boasting. It was just that satisfying even the sounds were so crisp.
After several consecutive moves the man realised something was wrong. He discovered that the young man opposite was truly not perfunctory towards him. The pieces placed carried heavy killing intent and the formed offensive was extremely fierce.
What made him even more speechless was discovering that Yu Qing would occasionally pick at the corner of his mouth occasionally look at the roof and occasionally even turn his head to look outside the door and space out for a while. He was almost propping up his head and dozing off looking very bored while waiting for him to place a piece as if playing chess with him was extremely uninteresting.
Perfunctory it was indeed perfunctory but it was another kind of perfunctory.
The man felt he had suffered some kind of humiliation in certain aspects. He tugged at his sleeves on both sides as if his tiger body shook. He gathered twelve tenths of his spirit to respond to the battle and no longer had the previous calmness and composure of having the guest act as host.
The atmosphere in the hall seemed somewhat abnormal. Xu Juening and Tang Bulan who occasionally turned back to glance inside looked at each other. They did not know if it was an illusion but they felt that Mister Housi today seemed a bit out of character. He had actually rolled up his sleeves to play chess and from time to time was silently baring his teeth and grimacing there as if he was going all out to fight someone to the death…
In the main hall of the inner residence the Zhong family members had not rested.
How could they rest? A big shot had suddenly come to the house. Who would dare to rest?
As soon as the person arrived at the door Zhong Su went to welcome them. Upon seeing who it was he was scared witless. He had not expected that a high level member of the Southern Administration Mansion only second to the Earth Mother level would actually come to his own home.
The person naturally did not know him but he had seen the person from afar before. That was none other than Mister Housi who was in charge of the entire internal affairs of the Southern Administration Mansion!
It turned out the person had come to find his prospective son in law. After asking where his prospective son in law lived the person went there to wait.
Zhong Su felt the person had no ill intent. Otherwise with the person’s status and position there was no need to personally come to the door. To deal with them would be just a matter of one sentence.
At this moment the two guards who had followed Yu Qing were also making reports in the inner residence.
Since they had not returned on time they definitely needed to report their itinerary.
Especially since they had gone to the place called Xiyue Fang. That place was to some extent a den of debauchery. The future son in law of the Zhong mansion had gone there for pleasure. How could this side bear it? They definitely needed to explain the matter clearly.
Upon hearing that it was merely a normal banquet among colleagues and that they had gone to a very normal establishment the four members of the Zhong family secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
They also reported the matter of the inscription.
Speaking of this the two were slightly excited. They said that they had finally witnessed with their own eyes the unparalleled talent of the Top Scholar.
They said that the Top Scholar had simply and casually written the three characters “Human World Good” yet it had elevated that “Little Fresh Tower” to the skies.
The two of them had not read many books and were not proper scholars either. They could not speak of anything fancy. What they said was merely relaying the analysis and appreciation from Ye Diandian and Lin Chengdao. It was just that their tone was full of emotion and admiration.
“Human World Good…” Wen Ruowei listened to the account. After savouring it a little she could not help excitedly whispering in her elder sister’s ear “Sister these three characters praising that tavern are really brilliant. They have such flavour.”
Zhong Ruochen who had been silently savouring it in her heart nodded slightly to show agreement and was also quite filled with longing.
She really wanted to be there in person to witness the scene where her future husband casually put pen to paper and amazed the entire venue.
However due to the constraints of worldly etiquette she could currently only see the words as if seeing the person. She could only place it in her heart to yearn and imagine.
Wen Jianhui however turned back and glared at her youngest daughter. She even fiercely whispered a reprimand “What is so good about it? Our own family member was taken advantage of and you do not even know.”
Zhong Su did not pay attention to the several women behind him. After slightly savouring the artistic conception of the three characters mentioned by the two guards he could not help but smile bitterly and shake his head.
He was both happy and worried.
There was no need to mention his prospective son in law’s overflowing talent. The whole world knew it. It was just that this kind of hand that amazed people at every turn still made him feel somewhat overwhelmed.
The Zhong family was merely a merchant household. Suddenly such a stunningly talented figure had appeared and he emitted dazzling light from time to time. Even he himself felt that this son in law was somewhat out of place with the Zhong family.
The Zhong family’s business was fairly large. At this stage they really did not want to be too high profile.
Previously they had worried that their son in law would not be able to achieve a name on the golden list. Now however they discovered that it seemed a bit too much in the other direction.
He was really a bit worried. He deeply knew that such overly dazzling light and fortune were truly not something that people without sufficient virtue and prestige could bear. It was easy for it to backfire.
In short it was good that he had got away from Xiyue Fang in time and had not been implicated by the subsequent matters.
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Zhong Su waved his hand to dismiss the two guards. This matter could not be blamed on the two guards. It was indeed hard to stop them. He also knew that “A Shi Heng” was no ordinary person in a pond and could not be forcibly restrained by his shallow pool of the Zhong family.
He turned back and saw the mother and three daughters still there. He told them to go rest first.
Wen Jianhui however snorted and said “This ‘Human World Good’ is suitable no matter where it is placed. It would be best used on our daughter. Look how fitting it would be for Shi Heng to sigh ‘Human World Good’ after marrying Ruochen. Would it not praise Ruochen to the skies? Now it has been picked up for free by that Little Fresh Tower. It is really annoying.
Shi Heng as well. I asked him to write something for our own family and there was no response for so long. Yet he was casually fooled by someone with one meal and wrote it. Does he not know that what he writes could be sold for tens of thousands of taels if taken out? You should find an opportunity later to talk to him about it and tell him not to casually inscribe things for others in the future. He would not even know if he suffered a loss.”
The tone was full of unwillingness as if feeling that someone had taken a huge advantage.
The key point was that the thing Yu Qing had promised to write for her had still not been fulfilled.
Zhong Su sighed and said “Shi Heng is not stupid. Some of his socialising and social obligations do not need you a woman of the household to worry about. All right you all go back and rest.”
In the end the mother and three daughters had no intention of resting peacefully. They had merely avoided him. With such a distinguished guest in the house without confirming that everything was fine they indeed could not feel at ease.
The whole family was waiting for news from the eastern courtyard side. Yet they did not dare to go over to inquire. There were people from the Southern Administration Mansion guarding the entrance to the eastern courtyard…
Whoosh a handful of pieces fell!
Yu Qing who was so bored that his body was almost slumping down finally sat up straight again. He threw the chess pieces he had been playing with back into the jar.
One game of chess had ended. The winner and loser were decided and the situation was clear.
The man who was still holding a chess piece tightly in his hand had a frozen expression. His eyes were dazed and on his forehead with the receded hairline some fine cold sweat had even appeared.
He had lost and it was a very miserable loss.
In his entire life he had never lost so miserably. It was simply too horrible to look at.
The young man opposite had too heavy a killing nature. It was utterly ruthless. He had slaughtered him until he was utterly routed and thrown away his helmet and armour.
He had thought his mental cultivation was already quite sufficient. Who would have known that playing a game of chess could make him break out in a sweat all over his head.
This game of chess was simply terrifying!