In the Xie family’s villa.

  It was the agreed time, but Xie Yun couldn’t wait for Qiao Ruoyi.

  Lan Xin walked to Xie Yun’s side and said, “Master, do you think something happened to the fifth Miss Qiao? It’s almost time for the curfew. She Won’t Be Coming, right?”


  Xie Yun held the chess piece in his hand and played chess with himself. “She’s surrounded by the Qiao family’s guards. How could anything happen to her? You’ve really worried for nothing.”


  A voice came from the door. Lan Xin went up to welcome her. She saw that Qiao Ruoyi was the only one who came today. She was also carrying a medicine bag in her hand. Qiao Ruoyi handed the medicine bag to Lan Xin.

  “Please help me decoct the medicine.”


  Lan Xin sniffed the medicine and frowned. “Is this the pill for avoiding children?”


  Qiao ruoyi nodded and said, “Yes.”


  Qiao ruoyi carried the lantern into the room. Seeing the candlelight that was as bright as day inside, her lantern was taken for nothing.

  Xie Yun glanced at Qiao ruoyi and said, “I heard that you beat His Majesty in Chess a few days ago? Why Don’t we have a match? You take the white and go first.”


  Qiao ruoyi took the chess piece and placed a piece on the star position. She said, “It was just a fluke. Moreover, elder sister helped me to Get His Majesty to let me have three pieces.”


  Xie Yun immediately placed a piece on the star position. “Then it’s already very impressive that you can beat his majesty. His Majesty studied under the chess master of the current dynasty. Back then, he had already beaten the chess master. In terms of chess skills, no one can beat him now.”


  Qiao ruoyi said, “But sister said that she can beat His Majesty by Seven Eyes.”


  Xie Yun chuckled. “You haven’t played chess with your sister, have you?”


  Qiao ruoyi shook her head and placed another stone. “No.”


  “When will you be able to understand how she can beat His Majesty by so much after the next round?”Xie Yun said. “It’s all thanks to His Majesty’s willingness to play chess with her.”


  After fifteen minutes, Xie Yun put down the black piece and looked at Qiao ruoyi and asked, “Who taught you your chess skills?”


  Qiao ruoyi said, “It’s the sage hand, Mr. Cao Wei.”


  Xie Yun looked at Qiao ruoyi and said, “Didn’t Mr. Cao Wei never accept disciples? Not to mention a female disciple?”


  Qiao Ruoyi put down a piece and picked up Xie Yun’s three black pieces, “Mr. Cao Wei’s chess book is very simple and clear, but his chess book is very expensive. One book costs five taels of silver. In order to buy his chess book, I pawned my new year’s clothes and was scolded by my mother.”


  Xie Yun asked, “The Marquis Mansion is not willing to buy you a go book?”


  Qiao ruoyi nodded and said, “My father doesn’t allow me to play go.”


  Xie Yun said, “Why?”


  “I probably won against him and his colleagues when I was eight years old.”Qiao ruoyi followed Xie Yun’s move and played a white go. “Thank you for letting me win.”


  Xie Yun looked at the go game and kept frowning. When he knew that Qiao Ruoyi won a game against Lu Chen, he thought that Qiao Jinniang was cheating. But now, he saw that Qiao Ruoyi’s arrangement was exquisite, her go skills could be said to be on par with Lu Chen’s!

  It must be known that Lu Chen was forced by the Hui Lin Emperor to acknowledge the go sage as his master since he was young. He had to practice go for two hours every day. During the three years that he went missing, there was only a slight neglect.

  But Qiao ruoyi could have such ability just by looking at the Go Manual of the current SAGE. Xie Yun was really surprised.

  “One more game.”


  Qiao Ruoyi agreed. “Okay.”


  When Xie Yun lost three rounds in a row, he looked at the chessboard in disbelief.

  Qiao ruoyi sighed and said, “The Xie family has so many excellent chess maps, but you still haven’t learned one-tenth of the essence. Sigh! The so-called aristocratic families are just so-so.”


  “One more round!”Xie Yun said, “I definitely won’t lose to you with this sentence.”


  Qiao ruoyi yawned and said, “We still have to go to court early tomorrow. Why Don’t you practice more? Come and play with me again.”


  Xie Yun frowned. “If you can beat me again in this round, you can pick any treasure in the Xie family’s storehouse.”


  Qiao ruoyi said, “Alright then.”


  Xie Yun played the go seriously. After four rounds, he had figured out Qiao Ruoyi’s move. The pieces changed endlessly, but she was stuck in the moves recorded in the book. Xie Yun had underestimated his opponent, but his mentality had been disrupted, now, his state of mind gradually returned.

  It was not difficult to break through Qiao Ruoyi’s chess moves.

  Qiao ruoyi used the Chess Pieces to knock on the wooden table. She let out a deep sigh. “I lost. It’s really because my skills are inferior to others.”


  “My master is Cao Wei. You’ve been able to beat me for so long, yet you managed to last until the end of this round. It’s extremely rare,”Xie Yun said, “The main reason is that you don’t have a good teacher to teach you. Your chess moves are all recorded in the book, but the chess board has endless variations.”


  Qiao ruoyi said, “Not many people are willing to play chess with me. In the ten thousand scrolls building, they are not willing to play with me every time we play a game.”


  “Luo Wei has never played chess with you?”


  Qiao Ruoyi glared at Xie Yun and said, “It’s late at night, I’ll leave first.”


  Xie Yun held Qiao Ruoyi’s hand. “There’s still no antidote.”


  Qiao ruoyi frowned and walked to the side of the desk. Without the ink, she grinded the ink herself. However, before the ink could be grinded out, she heard Xie Yun’s voice. “This inkstone is broken, it can’t be grinded out.”


  Qiao ruoyi said, “Then forget about the antidote today.”


  Xie Yun walked towards Qiao ruoyi and said, “Qiao ruoyi, I’ve tolerated you for the past few times. But now, do you still want to treat me as Luo Wei? You Don’t allow me to talk about Luo Wei, so why do you treat me as Luo Wei?”


  “Today and in the future, I won’t allow you to do anything to my face.”


  Xie Yun carried Qiao ruoyi horizontally and placed her on the wooden couch. “Qiao ruoyi, the person with You is me, not Luo Wei. You treat me as Luo Wei and humiliate me again and again.”


  Qiao ruoyi looked at Xie Yun calmly and said, “Yes, you are Xie Yun, you are not Luo Wei.”


  It was time for her to step out. This was Xie Yun, not Luo Wei. When she was playing chess with Xie Yun just now, she had thought of Luo Wei.

  Luo Wei did not know how to play chess at all. In order not to spoil her mood, he even went to learn chess.

  During those few days, he had been running to the Chess Hall, but after learning for a long time, he did not even understand what anger was.

  Later, Qiao Ruoyi stopped watching chess in front of Luo Wei and asked him to tell her interesting stories about the military.

  However, Luo Wei still secretly learned to play chess day and night. His chess was terrible, but he still found his colleagues to play chess every day. By the time Lin ‘an arrived, his chess skills had improved a lot.

  Xie Yun called out for water.

  Qiao ruoyi walked out from her memories and looked at Xie Yun curiously. In the past, the antidote would take almost an hour.

  Today, it was less than fifteen minutes. Why did he call for water?

  Lan Xin brought the medicine over. Xie Yun looked at the medicine in displeasure.

  Qiao Ruoyi Drank the medicine in one gulp and let the servant girl serve her.

  Xie Yun returned to the Xie residence in a huff. He, Xie Yun, had never suffered such humiliation. Qiao ruoyi, who was below him, was able to do such a thing without moving. Her mind was clearly filled with thoughts of outsiders.

  She was truly treating this matter as an antidote.

  It would be better to treat herself as Luo Wei. At least she would still cooperate. It would not make him feel like he was hugging a piece of wood!

  Xie Yun was extremely frustrated. He did not know why he had such a feeling. It was just an antidote to begin with. Why did he care so much?