By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Shun'an fourteenth year

As December arrived, the capital city grew increasingly cold, especially after a snowfall a few days ago. The snow began to melt, making the weather even colder.

Pei Rujing nestled on the tatami mat; the room was warm with burning charcoal.

Pei Rujing, however, looked dejected. She rolled around on the tatami mat and groaned, "How boring!"

It was so cold outside that Pei Rujing didn't want to go out and freeze, but since she had already finished reading the new storybook, she had nothing to do to relieve her boredom.

Other women either handled domestic affairs or did needlework.

When it came to Pei Rujing, she was not the mistress of the Marquis's mansion and did not need to handle internal affairs.

As for needlework? The county princess has never touched a needle and thread in her entire life.

When Wen Zongji walked in, he saw Pei Rujing looking bored with a scrunched-up face.

"I have something to cheer up the county magistrate."

Upon hearing this, Pei Rujing's eyes lit up instantly: "What is it?"

Wen Zongji opened the box in his hand, inside were rows of small jade cubes, each engraved with characters.

"This is called Mahjong! It's a game that requires four people to play, and the rules are like this..."

Mahjong was something Wen Zongji made to amuse his young wife, and also a way of repaying him for living off her these past few days.

Pei Rujing's eyes lit up more and more as she listened: "I want to play!"

Wen Zongji laughed and said, "Let Qinghe and the others play with you."

Pei Rujing grabbed his sleeve: "We don't know how to play yet. You have to teach us before we can leave."

Granny Feng's expression changed slightly: "Princess, the young master's studies are of utmost importance; he must not let playthings distract him from his studies."

Pei Rujing, however, stared stubbornly at Wen Zongji.

In Pei Rujing's heart, she always puts herself first and her happiness is the most important thing; no amount of grand principles matters.

Wen Zongji had anticipated this when he personally came to deliver the mahjong set: "It's alright. I always feel dizzy and lightheaded after reading for a long time, so it's good to relax for a while."

Even when he's in his study, he can't read nonstop. Occasionally, he'll clear his mind and quietly drink a cup of tea.

Pei Rujing was delighted and pulled Wen Zongji to sit down. She then called to Qinghe and Dongxiu, "Come and play with me!"

Qinghe and the other girl knew they couldn't refuse, so they sat down cautiously, looking at the mahjong tiles in front of them with a headache.

Although Wen Zongji explained the rules of the game, neither of them really listened and never thought they would play it.

As Granny Feng watched Pei Rujing make the arrangements and Wen Zongji cooperate, a smile appeared on her lips.

After everyone was seated, Wen Zongji first taught them how to determine the dealer, holding dice in his hand: "The first step is to determine the dealer, to decide who will be the dealer. There are many ways to determine the dealer, you can do whatever you want. Today we will determine the dealer by rolling dice. Whoever rolls the highest number will be the dealer."

Wen Zongji was the first to throw out two dice as an example, getting a five and a three, for a total of eight.

Pei Rujing immediately chimed in, "I'll do it! I'll do it!"

She held the dice in her palm, shook them, and then threw them, her eyes fixed on them.

The dice rolled a few times on the table and finally settled on a six and a five, for a total of eleven.

Wen Zongji laughed and said, "Unless someone rolls twelve, the banker today will undoubtedly be the county magistrate."

Pei Rujing smiled smugly.

But her smile didn't last long, because Dong-soo, the last one to roll the dice, actually rolled twelve.

Pei Rujing immediately pouted; her bettor was gone.

Dongxiu steeled herself and looked at Wen Zongji.

Wen Zongji's expression remained unchanged: "Dongxiu rolled twelve, becoming the dealer according to the rules. Next is shuffling, which is very simple. Just turn all the mahjong tiles face down and then rub them together with both hands to shuffle the tiles as much as possible."

As he spoke, Wen Zongji rubbed the mahjong tiles with both hands, demonstrating how to shuffle them.

Pei Rujing and the other two followed suit.

Feeling that the mahjong tiles were almost shuffled, Wen Zongji continued, "Next, arrange the tiles. Stack two mahjong tiles together, and each person should make seventeen such stacks in front of them. That will add up to exactly one hundred and thirty-six tiles."

Wen Zongji knew that mahjong had been played in many different ways in later generations, and that there were more than 136 tiles in a set. However, he was not an expert in mahjong and only knew some basic rules.

He believed that human wisdom is boundless, and that as long as mahjong spread, people would naturally come up with all sorts of ways to play, enriching the game.

For beginners like Pei Rujing, the simple gameplay is enough.

After arranging the cards, Wen Zongji taught them how to roll the dice to determine the order in which they would draw cards, and how many cards each person should draw.

Since it was their first time playing, the first game was mainly a teaching game. Wen Zongji directly asked them to show their cards and told everyone how to play and how to win with their cards.

Pei Rujing disliked reading and needlework, but had a great interest in playing.

She does indeed have a talent for having fun, and she quickly mastered the rules of mahjong, and was even able to apply what she learned to other situations.

Just as Pei Rujing was eagerly anticipating winning the first round to impress them, Dongxiu, sitting to her left, looked at the cards she had just drawn, then at the cards themselves, and asked uncertainly, "Young Master, did I win?"

Wen Zongji was taken aback, straightened up, looked at it, and laughed: "You have four straights and a pair, so of course you won, and it was a self-draw. Dongxiu is still the dealer, right? This is a consecutive dealer game, Dongxiu will be the dealer again next round."

Although Dongxiu won somewhat haphazardly, she was still very happy, her little face beaming with excitement.

Pei Rujing snorted and shoved the wall of cards in front of her: "Again! I'll definitely win next time!"

Wen Zongji smiled but didn't say anything, and then shuffled the cards together.

The next round was another teaching session, with Pei Rujing and Dongxiu each winning and losing, while Qinghe never won.

Qinghe is Pei Rujing's head maid. She usually assists Granny Feng with many things and is very calm and capable.

Who knew I'd lose at mahjong? It's understandable that I felt a bit disappointed.

Wen Zongji said gently, "It's normal to lose at first because you're not familiar with the rules. You'll get used to it after playing a few more times."

Upon hearing this, Qinghe realized that Wen Zongji had noticed her earlier disappointment, and she lowered her head somewhat awkwardly. She and Dongxiu were just playing along, so winning or losing wasn't important.

Qinghe had been feeling down after seeing Dongxiu win, but Wen Zongji's words brought her back to her senses.

As long as the county magistrate is happy!

Dongxiu won the last round, and Pei Rujing was very frustrated. She wanted to win the next round to save face. When she looked up, she saw Wen Zongji looking at Qinghe with a smile on his lips. Qinghe had her head down and seemed to be shy.

At that moment, Pei Rujing couldn't describe her feelings; she only felt uncomfortable, extremely uncomfortable. An indescribable anger surged within her, and she swept the mahjong tiles to the ground: "This is boring! I'm not playing anymore!"

The mahjong tiles fell to the ground and rolled everywhere.

Qinghe and Dongxiu were startled and quickly stood up, bowing respectfully to the side.