But no one knew that Old Master Meng actually had another chess game—the Life-Death Six Matches!
These were the truly unsolvable forbidden games.
The reason they were forbidden was that the Life-Death Six Matches were filled with a murderous aura so intense that often the players would go mad before the puzzles were solved.
He had the fortune to witness the first of the Life-Death Six Matches, and before it drove him to madness, he chose to give up. Years later, to his surprise, he had the opportunity to see it again.
How come this girl is perfectly fine?
Looking at her, she seems very relaxed. Was she not affected by the murderous aura of the game?
"You," the man shifted his gaze from the chess game.
Gu Jiao pointed to the broken bowl in front of her.
The man was momentarily stunned but seemed to understand, and took out two gold ingots from his bosom and placed them in the bowl.
Now that she was properly acknowledged, Gu Jiao spoke up, "Is there something you need?"
Truly, money has the power to grind a ghost, and silver can make people talk.
The man silently patted his folding fan and asked, "This game of chess... how do you feel about it?"
"Well, it’s quite interesting," Gu Jiao answered.
Interesting? Just this?
"Don’t you find it very difficult..."
To endure?
"Hmm, it is a bit difficult," Gu Jiao admitted. freewebnσvel.cѳm
The man was confused. I was asking if it’s difficult for you? There was more to my question, don’t you think?
What kind of oddity is this girl to speak so lightly of a chess game imbued with such a heavy murderous aura?
No, he should be curious about where this girl learned her game—not just any game, but the Life-Death Six Matches.
The Life-Death Six Matches were not as widely circulated within the Six Nations as the Great Eight Matches, having been forbidden by the royal family of Yan Country. Ordinary people had never even caught a glimpse of them.
First, it was the Black Fire Bead of Yan Country’s royal family, and now it was Old Master Meng’s Life-Death Six Matches. What exactly is this girl’s relationship with Yan Country?
"Baby girl!"
The old beggar came out of the alley holding silver.
Not wanting to make more contact and risk leaving behind undesired information, the man turned and went back to the Tea House.
The old beggar approached Gu Jiao, crouched down, and pushed a handful of shiny silver in front of her, grinning ear to ear, "Look, baby girl, I won!"
Then he looked down and saw the broken bowl at his feet, which unexpectedly contained two gleaming gold ingots!
Besides the pair of gold ingots, there were also quite a few Copper Plates and pieces of silver.
The old beggar was dumbfounded: "Where, where, where... where did these come from?"
Gu Jiao thought for a moment and said lightly, "Hmm, given by a passerby, I suppose."
The old beggar looked at the bowl full of gold, silver, and Copper Plates, and then at the sparse Silver Ingots in his hand, suddenly feeling that the Silver Ingots were less appealing!
He had worked himself to death playing chess with a bunch of fools, and yet it seemed that the girl had earned more just by squatting here for a while!
The female official’s face showed a trace of impatience, "Please give it some thought, Your Excellency."
The old beggar waved his hand, "I said I’m not going, so I’m not going. Are you annoying? You are interrupting my game of chess with the child! Go away, go away, go away!"
The female official was sent away. She frowned coldly, glancing at Gu Jiao, who was studying the chessboard on the ground. Her eyes flickered with realization.
Is it her?
The female official went to a private room in Qingfeng Building to report, "Reporting to the Crown Princess, he refused to come."
"Why won’t he come?" The Crown Princess was puzzled.
The old beggar had made the Crown Princess hesitate for a long time before she decided to invite him. At first, she hadn’t paid much attention to him, but his repeated victories over Master Maoshan made it impossible for the Crown Princess to ignore him.
The female official respectfully said, "He wants to play chess with someone."
"Who?" The Crown Princess asked, putting down her teacup.
The female official answered, "The Miss from the Ding’an Marquis Residence who grew up in the countryside."
The Crown Princess had once seen Gu Jiao playing chess with the old beggar. At the time, she didn’t pay attention, but now she couldn’t help being curious. How had she come to know the old beggar?
The female official pondered and said, "Apparently, the old beggar used to set up chess games on Liuxu Street, but everyone treated him like a madman, and no one played with him. Perhaps Miss Gu happened upon him by chance, and after a few encounters, they got acquainted. Only a crude girl from the countryside would do something as demeaning as squatting by the road, playing chess with a beggar, without caring about her family’s reputation. It’s quite the loss of face for her, being the daughter of the Ding’an Marquis Residence and the wife of the newly appointed top scholar."
The Crown Princess, who cared a great deal about face, would never lower her status to associate with a beggar in the street.
"Forget it, it doesn’t matter if he doesn’t come." The Crown Princess didn’t think highly of him, "Has there been any news from Master Meng’s side yet?"
The female official said, "There’s been no news from Yan Country yet; from Liang Country, Chen Country, Zhao Country..."
The Crown Princess cut her off, speaking loftily, "I am waiting for news from Yan Country, what I need is Master Meng’s approval."
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