When the spring breeze was strong in March, Ji Wenzhao entered the south gate of the capital in a carriage. He looked out from the window of the carriage, the streets in the capital were wide and full of people, much busier than the cities in the south of the Yangtze River where he had lived. But there was a slight smile on his face, and he didn't take this prosperity seriously: he is a lucky man who arrives at the right time, and he will start a game of chess here, a big game of life, which will cover thousands of people in this world. He is a chess player who holds the universe in his hands, and he never loses.
Half a month later, after a good rest in the capital, Ji Wenzhao stepped into the gate of Guanyi Pavilion with his head held high.
Just like what Shen Wen did, he inquired about several teahouses and their proprietors, and found that Baoguan in Guanyi Pavilion was the most generous and enthusiastic. Claiming to be a chess player, no matter what background or life experience, with only a small amount of silver, he can set up a chess board in a teahouse to invite people to play, or even run his own arena. Ji Wenzhao knew that the title of "National Player" would bring him a lot of convenience, so he planned to meet Bao Guanren and set up a "Wen Zhao Terrace". In the next month, the name was to compete, but in reality it was to challenge chess players from the capital and even nearby cities.
He wore a lead gray gown woven with light gray moiré patterns, which looked poised and luxurious, and deserved immediate admiration. He was in his twenties, with good looks, just at the time when he was in high spirits, with a chic and open-minded temperament. When he entered the door, he expected people to look up at him.
But no one looked up.
As soon as you enter the door, there is a cubicle, which is supposed to be a spacious place for the guys to come and talk to customers, but now there are tea tables all over the place, and chess boards are placed on each tea table. It seems that there are many people playing chess and everyone is busy. with.
Well, Ji Wenzhao said to himself, this kind of atmosphere is also very good, when Fang wanted to ask the guy who came to him who is the proprietor Baoguan, someone said loudly: "Ji Wenzhao is really deceiving people too much. !"
Ji Wenzhao was taken aback for a moment, then turned around to see that a middle-aged man stood up and said, "Because of such a difficult situation of life and death, I just want to belittle others and elevate myself!"
The people at the other table said: "You can't say that too, you see, I have benefited a lot from everyone's various speculations about this game for more than a month. It can be said that Ji Wenzhao has set a precedent for this game and attracted people's attention. Starting with difficulties can make people progress more than ordinary games."
Another person said: "That's right. You and I usually play chess, but we just compete for a moment to win or lose. How can we ever really survive? Ji Wenzhao plays chess to seek danger rather than stability. If you play chess like this, you can tell He is very fierce, if he can be solved, he will be prepared for the future when he plays against him.”…
Ji Wenzhao couldn't understand what he heard, and quickly asked the guy in front of him: "What are they talking about 'Ji Wenzhao's Bureau'?"
The guy sized him up and said with a smile: "The guest must have just arrived in Beijing. Ji Guoqi's life and death game has been hanging with us for more than a month. All the chess players in the capital have come to see it..."
Ji Wenzhao was even more puzzled: "What?! Ji Wenzhao's chess game is hung in your teahouse?! Why didn't I know?!" I'm still Ji Wenzhao!
The buddy had a proud look on his face: "Of course it's in this teahouse! This is the outer teahouse. It turned out to be an aisle. Ji Guo's chess game was hung on the front wall of the main teahouse inside. It was already full of people. There are tables outside...”
After hearing this, Ji Wenzhao passed the clerk and walked inside. The clerk shouted behind him: "Guest officer, there are no seats inside!"
Ji Wenzhao ignored it and went into the inner room. This is a hall. On the front wall at the end, there was indeed a chessboard hanging. The hall was full of people, but it was not noisy. Most of the people were playing chess quietly, even talking quietly. A clerk smiled cautiously and said in a low voice: "I'm sorry, sir, this place is full, why don't you go to the side hall or outside?..."
Ji Wenzhao shook his head, pointed inside and said, "I don't drink tea, I just want to watch that game of chess."
The guy immediately nodded and said: "Of course, I will lead you there. You are not the only one who does this. We have people here every day. They come to see the chess game, but they can't leave after watching it. They stand for a long time, and finally have to table, drink tea and play chess here, and meet many chess friends... "
Ji Wenzhao didn't bother to pay attention to this long-winded guy, his eyes were fixed on the chess game in the distance, and when he walked up to take a look, he got angry and blurted out: "What kind of bad words are these?!"
The long-winded guy immediately retorted: "How can you care about these trivial details? Ji Guoshou is a great talent, a genius! His brain is spent on playing chess, so how can he have time to practice calligraphy? I was most annoyed by practicing calligraphy when I was young. Sitting there all afternoon, I can't write much, I really understand him... "
Ji Wenzhao said viciously, "You don't understand him!"
The guy immediately raised his hand and said, "Of course, I'm a national player, who am I? I'm a guy from a teahouse! Look at the chess game he played, it's just that the handwriting is not good, and it also shocked everyone. Stunned?"
Ji Wenzhao had already started to watch the chess game, but he was still distracted and retorted: "Who said his handwriting is not good?!" His handwriting is very good, okay
The guy seems to be used to Ji Wenzhao who changes his mind immediately, and he echoed, "Look at you, just say his words again. To be honest, you can't really say this word well..."
Ji Wenzhao could no longer hear what the buddy was saying. Looking at the sinister layout, he began to think that if black goes first, how could white survive. Step by step, he calculated in his mind... no, no, if this... I need to find a chess board...
He raised his head suddenly, the hall was still full, the nagging guy saw him scanning the surroundings from a distance, and trotted over: "Guest officer, are you tired? You said 'look', but you have been standing here for an hour Yes. Several people talked to you and you ignored them, including our boss, but our boss said that you are the one who really loves chess, and he asked if you can play chess with him when you are free?" He carefully Ask, in case the other party leaves angrily.
Ji Wenzhao came back to his senses and asked, "Where is your boss?"
The guy's eyes lit up: "You agreed to play chess with him?! Great, you come with me! Our boss is in the small side hall over there..."
He led Ji Wenzhao out of the hall, to a side hall, and said happily in front of the half-hidden door: "Boss, I found you someone who wants to play chess with you!"
"Really?!" As soon as the door opened, a chubby man greeted Ji Wenzhao with a smile.
Ji Wenzhao didn't speak, and entered the room with a cold face, Bao Guan didn't care, took out a few copper coins from his sleeve and gave them to the man, who said "thank you" loudly and ran away.
Ji Wenzhao saw a table in the middle of the side hall with a half-played chess game on the table, a few chairs beside it, and tea and snacks on the table by the wall, and immediately felt hungry. There is a need for others in my heart, and the expression on my face slows down.
Baoguan smiled and asked Ji Wenzhao to sit down, hurriedly cleared the flags on the chessboard, and said, "Thank you for playing chess with me. Chess masters don't know the surname of officials..."
Ji Wenzhao said: "My surname is Ji, my first name is Wenzhao, and my style name is Xiuming."
Bao Guanren nodded: "Oh, Ji Guanren..." He stopped, and the chess piece in his hand "slapped" onto the board, his eyes widened: "Ji Wenzhao, Ji Xiuming?! Ji Guoshou?!"
Ji Wenzhao nodded heavily, and Bao Guan almost burst into tears, clasped his hands together and said, "Hey, you've come! Otherwise, what should I do?!"
Ji Wenzhao was puzzled again, and looked at Baoguan with a frown. Baoguan took out a small bag from his arms and continued, "Since someone gave me your chessboard, my business here has exploded. But if I can't do the things entrusted by others, isn't it a big advantage? I I'm so panicked! This is going to shorten my life..."
Ji Wenzhao understood, and his heart moved: "Someone gave you that chessboard?" Why did it belong to his own name
Baoguan nodded repeatedly, and was about to hand over the small bag when he stopped suddenly and asked cautiously, "Are you Ji Xiuming?"
Ji Wenzhao said arrogantly: "Of course!"
Bao Guanren asked again: "Which national player is Ji Wenzhao?"
Ji Wenzhao frowned: "That's right!" After saying that, he took out a seal from his pocket, with "Hengshan Wenzhao" on it, which he always used. But Baoguan was still a little hesitant, blinking his small eyes hard: "Well, I haven't read the real seal... How about you play with me?"
Ji Wenzhao became impatient: "I'll play a game with you, and I'll let you score fifty! It's only half an hour less."
Bao Guanren's face lit up, and he nodded again and again: "Thank you, thank you, isn't fifty too much? Thirty is enough..."
Ji Wenzhao waved his hand: "Hurry up! You don't have to guess, you play black first." He wanted to see what was in that package.
Baoguan didn't give up and started to play. Ji Wenzhao hardly looked at the chessboard, and moved quickly, but he was thinking about this matter: someone released this chess game under his name, which attracted a lot of attention, and it seemed to be expected. I'll ask myself when I see it. It must be that a person who doesn't know himself wants to see himself, but he doesn't want others to know, so it's so tortuous. If you want to do it so covertly, it's probably not a good thing. But this person can play such a game of life and death, it can be seen that he is very thoughtful, maybe it is a superb chess player that he has never met, and he wants to use this to invite himself to a game...
While thinking, he reached out to take a snack from the table and put it in his mouth. Seeing that Bao Guan was only looking at the chessboard without looking up, he shouted: "Bring a cup of tea."
Baoguan still didn't look up, but he followed Ji Wenzhao and yelled loudly: "Hurry up, hurry up! Have a cup of tea!"
The long-winded man ran in, served Ji Wenzhao a new teacup, poured tea, and said in a low voice, "Our boss is doing well, take your time, it doesn't matter if you eat all the dim sum, he will send someone to deliver it to you." .” She winked at him and left.
Ji Wenzhao was depressed: Did you treat me as someone who came to cheat for food and drink? !
Not long after, the chess game was over, the chessboard was all white, and Baoguan’s black was only left with two chain eyes, but Baoguan still looked at the chessboard with nostalgia and asked, “Can I ask Jiguan to be more generous?” Give each other a game? Can you let me have seventy sons?"
Ji Wenzhao said decisively: "No!"
Bao Guanren sighed, opened the package a little unwillingly, took out a fan and a letter from inside, and when he was about to give it to Ji Wenzhao, he suddenly said: "If I say that there is a hexagram on this fan, Ji Guanren will Guess what hexagram is?"
Ji Wenzhao felt a chill running down his back, and he said hesitantly, "Could it be... Ge Gua?"
Baoguan clapped his hands and said, "It's Ge Gua! It seems that the official is really Ji Wenzhao! I have the same heart with your friend!" After finishing speaking, he handed over the fan and the letter innocently, and smiled flatteringly. Said: "I read the fan, but not the letter."
Ji Wenzhao opened the fan, looking at the simple hexagrams on the fan, the coldness spread from his back to his chest. He put the fan and the letter in his arms, stood up and saluted, "Thank you, Mr. Bao, for delivering the letter for me."
Bao Guanren breathed a sigh of relief: "You are welcome, I have completed the task entrusted to me. Oh, there is one more thing," he lowered his voice mysteriously: "When will Ji Guanren give the answer to the chess game? Just hanging on like this? Of course, it’s okay if the officials don’t want to say it, but if you can tell me privately, I’m really curious... "
Ji Wenzhao pretended to cough deeply, and said, "It's better... let's not talk about it for now..." I don't know, how can I tell you
Bao Guanren showed disappointment, but suddenly remembered something again, and said with a smile: "The steward of the eldest prince left me a letter, saying that if Ji Guanren came to collect this chessboard one day, he would tell Ji Guanren, Said that the official Ji can go to the eldest prince's residence at any time, and the eldest prince admires the talent of the official very much. The steward also said that if the official is busy, he can visit on behalf of the eldest prince, just send him a message. "
If there is no such chess game, this is what Ji Wenzhao selfishly wanted to achieve by playing in the ring. Now he hasn't played against the chess players in the capital, but with this chess game alone, he has made a name for himself and got an invitation from the First Prince. But now he doesn't want to go to see him. First of all, if the eldest prince asks how to solve this famous chess game in the capital, what will he say? Could it be that he didn't make it himself? At least you have to figure out the answer yourself first, and then promise. Furthermore, if someone knew his thoughts so closely, this person must not be the eldest prince, and he had to see who this person was before making plans.
Thinking of this, Ji Wenzhao said to Bao Guanren: "I have only just arrived in the capital, and I don't know whether I will stay here for a long time."
Bao Guanren nodded quickly and said, "Understood, then I won't talk too much." Ji Wenzhao turned around and was about to leave, but Bao Guanren's fat face was full of flattering smiles: "Ji Guanren can come to Guanyi Pavilion at any time. You can give Ji officials free refreshments, set up a special hall, and never let people disturb the officials' quiet thinking, just... "
When Ji Wenzhao saw that he mentioned these discounts, he was afraid that he would drag him to play chess again—his chess was so bad that he really humiliated his own chess skills, so he hurried towards the door, and Baoguan hurriedly said: "In the future, if Jiguan If you are playing chess with others, can you choose Guanyi Pavilion? If it is a private game, especially with this master who sent the chessboard, can you let me watch from the sidelines? I don’t ask the officials to play with me—just once Enough, I can tell everyone in the future that Ji Guanren played a game of chess with me, and see who dares to refuse to play chess with me! - I just want to watch Ji Guanren play chess. Is that okay?"
Ji Wenzhao looked at the child-like sincere expression in Bao Guanren's eyes, nodded and said, "If I am playing chess with others, I will definitely choose you to watch the chess pavilion. If I play chess here, no matter whether it is public or private, Bao Guan can watch it." It was exactly what he wanted, and besides, you are the proprietor, who can drive you out
Officer Bao smiled happily, and Ji Wenzhao said in a low voice, "I also ask Officer Bao not to tell others that I got this package."
Bao Guan nodded as if smashing garlic: "I know, when the master sent the chessboard, he also said to keep it secret, so I definitely won't say it. You see, after such a long time, no one knows that you didn't give me the chessboard." of."
Ji Wenzhao thanked him again, and left the door of the side hall. Walking slowly through the hall, I glanced at the chess boards placed by people around me to see if someone had solved the problem. As soon as he walked out of the hall, a long-winded man called from behind: "Guest officer, our boss sent you tea and snacks, thank you for playing chess with him!" What about? Ji Wenzhao was really afraid of him, he waved his hands again and again, his feet flew like flying, he passed between the tables, and went out the gate before the nagging guy caught him.
Back at the residence, Ji Wenzhao opened the letter. After reading it, he knew that it was an invitation to meet him at the Moon Watching Pavilion outside the Fragrant Leaf Temple on April 4th at noon. Thinking that the other party had expended so much thought, it shouldn't be for the purpose of murdering his own life, so he decided to meet this expert in his heart.
After making up his mind, he ordered his servants to prepare meals, took out the chessboard by himself, set up the life-and-death situation, and sat down to think about it. It's too embarrassing that he can't go to see that person when the situation is still unsolved. So in the past month, Ji Wenzhao spent most of his time sitting in the house, studying hard, not paying too much attention to the major events in the city: the eldest prince Shili Hongzhuang married the Grand Tutor's granddaughter Lu Shi.
Wherever the dowry passed, there were crowds of onlookers standing on both sides of the road. Watching the fun is on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is also for joy. The loads of dowry included many rare books and various stationery items. Although we couldn't say how much they were worth, they showed the bride's extraordinary scholarly background, and even raised the eldest prince's style a lot.
Because of the filthiness of Shen Wen, Shen Xiang, the eldest prince and the fourth princess on the Lantern Festival night, no one in the Hou Mansion went to watch the wedding, but on the wedding night, Shen Wen told Su Wanniang that she was going to see the first prince's wedding night.
Su Wanniang was shocked in her heart that Shen Wen did not have the shame of her daughter's family, but also worried about Shen Wen, because this time, after all, she went to the Grand Prince's Mansion, which was different from the Wanhualou Guanyi Pavilion that Shen Wen went to before. And language. Before Shen Wen left, Su Wanniang told her to be careful. After Shen Wen left, she seriously considered asking a bodhisattva to offer her sacrifice, so that she could have a place where she could kneel down and pray when she was too frightened.
Shen Wen didn't come to see the eldest prince's wedding night, what she thought was that it was the wedding night, the mansion of the eldest prince was very chaotic, she could try to find the location of the eldest prince's study, It's better to listen to the wall in the future.
Shen Wen is not nervous at all. The child has a low center of gravity and moves quickly. Although she has poor endurance, she is confident that she can run faster than anyone else in a short period of time. With Su Wanniang here, she no longer needs to find out the way herself, she had already asked Su Wanniang to find out the direction of the First Prince's Mansion. She ran all the way in that direction, and after nightfall, she could see the brightly lit and noisy people from a long distance away, which was naturally the First Prince's mansion.
After running nearby, Shen Wen rested on the roof of a private house for a while before he touched the shadow of the First Prince's courtyard wall, and quietly climbed up the wall. She sat on the top of the wall for a while, closed her eyes and explored the surroundings with her consciousness, and found that there was no one in the hidden place, so she remembered the characteristics of the surroundings, slid down from the wall, and entered the courtyard.
Not long after he left, Shen Wen heard footsteps ahead, and hurriedly hid behind a rock.
"Is there enough wine for the banquet ahead? There are a lot of guests today."
"I'll go to the wine cellar to get it."...
The sound of footsteps went away, Shen Wen hesitated whether to go to the wine cellar to have a look, and then heard someone say: "The girl Yushu in the east courtyard wants to have supper."
Someone replied: "If you want this or that, I don't know that everyone is busy."...
If I can't find the study room, maybe I should go to the kitchen. Today's guests in the compound must have something to eat... Shen Wen thought.
After walking some distance into the courtyard, I heard two people talking in the distance: "...Are you going to His Highness's study?"
"Yes, wait for a while, His Highness may still pass by."
"Your Highness is really working hard. On the wedding night, you still don't go to accompany the bride."
"Heaven wants to send a big appointment, besides, it's only about half an hour, the bride must have time to wait..."
After they bid farewell, they went their separate ways. Shen Wen was happy and naturally followed the one who was going to the study.
There were several guards standing outside a courtyard, and the man greeted them and entered the courtyard. Shen Wen couldn't go forward, so he hid in the corner. It was found that not only the few people standing, but also guards walking back and forth.
There was a sound of people in the distance, and five or six people surrounded the eldest prince, chatting and laughing all the way over.
The eldest prince was dressed in red, and under the light of the lantern, his face was full of joy. Everyone entered the courtyard, and then entered the house again after hearing the voice, and the surroundings became quiet.
Shen Wen circled slowly along the perimeter of the courtyard, and finally waited for a gap between the walking people, and touched under the dark courtyard wall. She was just about to jump up to the wall when she suddenly became alert and squatted down again. Sure enough, there was a shadow on the wall, and it seemed that there were not only bright whistles, but also dark whistles.
Shen Wen also knew that she could do some tricks to distract these people away, but it's not the critical moment yet, so there's no need to scare the snake away. She has found a place anyway, so she decided to call it a night and go home to sleep. She held her breath, waiting for the opening of the patrol to appear again, so that she could leave the courtyard wall where she was hiding.
At this moment, a black shadow also flashed by, hiding in the shadow of the courtyard wall not far from Shen Wen. Although this black shadow can be regarded as flexible, its movements are much slower than Shen Wen's, but Shen Wen is still vigilant, not sure if it is a secret whistle or someone who is also stepping on something like himself.
The black shadow paused for a while, then stood up suddenly, and was about to go up. Shen Wen had already heard the faint rustling sound of the dark sentry. In line with the principle that the enemy of the enemy is his friend, and in case this stupid person alarmed the checkpoint, Worried about his own bad luck, he closed his eyes and used his consciousness to pick up a dead leaf, and lightly hit the shadow on the shoulder.
There are many texts in ancient China that record stories about people flying arrows, beating cows from the air, or hurting people with flowers. For example, when a woman slapped the back of the head, the hairpin flew out from the back of her head, killing her. Chou Jia put his hand outside the coffin and shattered the stone inside. In fact, these are the use of energy by consciousness. Some people call this kind of spiritual power internal force, which is not entirely accurate. People in later generations emphasized the practice of strength, but gradually ignored the concentration of the mind, and gradually lost those magical skills.
Shen Wen's current consciousness is far less strong than when she was a soul. If there is something to rely on, it is easier to use the mind to strengthen the existing frequency, or just exert force instantaneously, such as smashing the decayed lock cylinder, than to move the object permanently out of thin air. Even though she has cultivated her consciousness through meditation for so many years, she can only move a leaf, not even a pebble. It's not as good as moving heavy books off the shelves when she was a ghost in the past.
But this leaf was enough, and the black shadow immediately bent down. The secret whistle on the wall just came, stood on the wall for a while, and then slowly left.
Shen Wen didn't stay any longer, seeing the reappearance of the neutral position, he hurried out. She remembered the way very accurately, and after a few twists and turns, she reached the courtyard wall where she came in, turned over to the top of the wall, and heard a low voice from a distance in the darkness of the courtyard: "Thank you..."
Shen Wen didn't dare to delve into it, and without looking back, he jumped off the fence and rushed into the alleys of residential houses in the middle of the night. She came out this time in order to avoid people seeing her figure, not only covering her head and face, wearing dark clothes, but also bulging. In the eyes of others, she looked like a small black ball, hidden in the shadows.