Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2631 Still Vigorous in Old Age 12.0
"These kinds of things are a matter of chance; what's yours is yours, and what's not yours, you can't force."

“That’s true, I was just saying it offhand.” Jin Miaomiao chuckled. “Besides, I don’t really care whether I can find someone myself, because I’d rather watch other people’s relationships, I find it really exciting.”

When Merlin passed by her, he heard what she said and reached out to give her a high five.

"A fellow traveler!"

Seeing the two of them like this, Master Jiang smiled helplessly and turned his gaze back to the game of chess in front of him, shaking his head as he looked at it.

"Fourth Grandfather, I know my chess skills aren't great, but you don't have to make it so obvious!" Seeing his expression, Shen Cha was both amused and exasperated. "When I play chess with him, I feel very tired. On the one hand, he sets up too many traps, and I can easily fall into them. On the other hand, I have to be careful not to bring my old chess habits into the game."

“Your chess-playing habit is to treat the chessboard like a sand table, using it to arrange your pieces. If you try to play against that old guy the way you always do, he'll easily figure you out, and it will affect your own strategy. So, what you're doing is correct.” Master Jiang chuckled and tapped the chessboard with his hand. “There are quite a few generals in Linhuang Prefecture who like to play chess with him because, like Xiao Cha, they treat the chessboard like a sand table. So, he's very used to your style, and it'll be easier for him to break through your defenses.”

“It seems my choice was right after all.” Shen Cha sighed softly. “But even though he’s such a good chess player, no one has asked him to be their strategist? When Miao Miao and I met him at Uncle’s mansion, that lazy, relaxed, wealthy idler’s demeanor couldn’t be faked. It’s not something you can just fake. You can’t have that kind of state unless you’ve been enjoying life and ignoring worldly affairs for years. You couldn’t see any aggression in him at all.”

"The Harnu family is one of the wealthiest and most leisurely noble families. Their first family rule is to not participate in any court or imperial struggles. Anyone who violates this rule, whether a member of the Harnu family or someone who has married into the family, will be expelled." Master Jiang took the tea that Mei Lin handed him and took a sip. "I heard that there were a few fools who tried to collude with outsiders to overthrow the Harnu family, but unfortunately they were discovered and met a very tragic end. The Harnu never show mercy to those who betray their family."

"So that's how it is." Xia Chen thought for a moment, then moved closer to Fourth Grandfather Jiang, and casually hooked his arm around his shoulder, saying, "But, Fourth Grandfather, how did you know?"

"Hey, I became acquainted with that old guy through chess, and we also share a lot of similar interests, so we have a lot to talk about and get along very well. You should know that one of the charges they used to frame me for was that I had a private relationship with a Liao nobleman, namely the Harnu couple."

“I think I have a vague recollection of it.” Xia Chen thought for a moment and said, “However, I vaguely remember that the nobleman even wrote a letter to my grandfather, scolding the person who fabricated this crime. Although I didn’t hear it with my own ears, my father said it was particularly satisfying.”

"Very satisfying, really exhilarating." Master Jiang chuckled. "That letter was written by the couple together. Their cursing styles were completely different, clearly two different people. The old man's cursing was full of allusions and literary jargon, but his wife was different. She was very straightforward, saying whatever came to mind without any pretense. Her attitude was, 'I want to curse you today, and I'll curse you to my heart's content.' Although it wasn't quite vulgar in its word choice, it was just more direct."

"Hmm!" Xue Ruitian nodded. "My mother and Aunt Shen mentioned it, and the master also said that although the person Fourth Master befriended was from Liaodong, he was very righteous and his actions were reasonable. Therefore, this charge has been dropped."

"Actually, if the Empress Dowager wanted to kill me, it wouldn't matter whether there was one more crime or one less. The reason she instructed her court officials to cancel it was simply because other crimes would still be enough to crush me." Master Jiang smiled. "She always makes many preparations and will never leave herself with no way out."

"No matter how much I planned, I never imagined I would end up under house arrest." Shen Cha sneered, glancing at Qin Zheng and Yan Bo, who had woken up sometime earlier and were sitting on the couch in a daze. "Master? Yan Bo?"

The two people heard the sound, looked in their direction, and nodded at them.

Seeing that the two were awake, Merlin quickly brought them two hot towels. After watching them apply the towels to their faces and become much more awake, Merlin handed them the prepared warm ginger soup. "When did you two wake up?" Shen Cha pulled Shen Haolin over to look at them. "Why didn't you call us?"

"I just woke up, I'm still not fully awake, I can only hear you guys chattering over there, but I can't understand what you're saying at all."

After drinking the ginger soup, Yan Bo finally recovered. Seeing that Qin Zheng was still dazed, he couldn't help but laugh.

"Little Cha, look at your master!"

"My master needs some time."

What were you just saying?

Shen Haolin briefly repeated it, and Yan Bo chuckled after hearing it.

"Harnu, that's a very interesting family."

"You knew about this too?"

"I met them once or twice with your fourth grandfather. That couple perfectly embodies my understanding of the phrase 'deeply devoted couple.'" Uncle Yan turned around, staring at Qin Zheng for a while. Seeing that his eyes finally focused and he seemed to have returned to normal, he breathed a slight sigh of relief. "Awake?"

"Hmm!" Qin Zheng looked at Shen Cha, who was sitting in front of him with a worried expression, and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm just a little dazed from waking up suddenly. I'll be fine after a while. How's the situation outside?"

"It's still snowing, and the snow is still heavy." Shen Cha stood up and said, "Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?"

"Wait a little longer, let's stand up and take a walk."

Qin Zheng and Yan Bo got up at the same time, but instead of moving around immediately, they stretched their arms and legs to make sure they were warmed up before slowly strolling over to Master Jiang.

"Awake?" Fourth Master Jiang looked at the two people standing behind him and gently tapped the chessboard. "You two are quite skilled at chess, come and take a look at this game."

"Hei Zi is a master." Qin Zheng glanced at him and chuckled. "Bai Zi is just average, this style..." He looked at Shen Cha, who looked helpless. "Shouldn't it be you? Why do you seem to have regressed?"