CH 44.2

The young master suddenly realized something, and his tone became friendly. “Oh, are these the tables that I have reserved? Then, it’s fine. Young master, you can sit anywhere you like. Since it is the Lantern Festival, we can have a good time and make friends.”

Hearing the words “make friends,” Meng Huan directly had PTSD.

Thinking this was a power and conspiracy text, Meng Huan simply gave up his brain and turned to Lin Bozhou. “Sit or not?”

He approached Lin Bozhou’s ear, his voice was low, and his breath drilled into his ear and tickled it.

He was really like a child who wanted him to decide everything.

Lin Bozhou curved his lips and said, “Let’s sit.”

Meng Huan was as loud as a megaphone, “Okay, thank you.”

Meng Huan led Lin Bozhou toward the empty seat under the canopy at the boat’s bow. The young man was stunned. “Young Master, do you like this seat?”

Meng Huan: “What’s wrong?”

The young man was a bit exasperated. “The boat’s bow is the most open-up position. You can see the panoramic view when the fireworks start. I also want to sit here.”

Meng Huan was torn. “Then……”

The young man’s voice suddenly cheered up, smiling with some slyness. “Do you two know how to play chess? How about making a bet? The winner will sit on the bow of the boat.”

The scholar of the Great Zong cared for nothing more than zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting, meeting friends through literature and chess. Emperor Xuan He was a teenager addicted to the game of Go. Now it was not suitable to talk about zither and painting in the decorated boat, and this young master should not like to write poems either, so it was not difficult to understand if he proposed to play chess.

Meng Huan shook his head. “I don’t know how to play.”

The young man turned to Lin Bozhou, starlight shining in his eyes. “Does this young master know how to play Go?”

“……”

Meng Huan looked at him with a little surprise.

Young man: “What’s wrong?”

Meng Huan: “Can’t you see that he can’t see anything for the time being with his eyes? And you still ask him to play chess?”

Feeling offended on behalf of Lin Bozhou.

He frowned and muttered for a while. Lin Bozhou laughed lightly, pressed his hand, and spoke calmly. “The winner can sit on the boat’s bow?”

The young man’s voice was bright. “The winner can sit on the boat’s bow. It’s not empty words!”

Lin Bozhou’s voice was very calm and relaxed, without any ups and downs, “Then let’s play a game.”

All around, there was an uproar.

A passerby reminded, “Sir, think about it. Your eyes can’t see, so you can only play blind chess*.”

*Blind chess: refers to chess played without looking at the board. The players tell each move they play in words.

“The game of Go or blind chess is a game that only the gods can finish! You can’t see the board with your eyes. There are nineteen vertical and horizontal courses, with countless changes in them, requiring an extremely strong memory and calculation.”

“Hey, this gentleman, if you don’t want to give up your seat at the bow, just say so. How can you bully a blind person?”

“……”

The onlookers were surprised. Even if Meng Huan didn’t know how to play Go, he knew the complexity of Go. He would get dizzy just by looking at the board.

Moreover, it was a blind chess. Wouldn’t he have to use his memory to remember the complicated board and make every move?

“……”

–Consider how big the golden finger the original author gave Lin Bozhou.

“Huan Huan, wait for a while. After playing chess, we can sit outside and watch the fireworks.” Lin Bozhou’s voice was gentle.

The slightly hot night breeze brushed the bow of the boat.

Meng Huan nodded.

Lin Bozhou was winning a seat for him.

He sat beside Lin Bozhou and watched quietly.

The young master across from him also covered himself with a black scarf and said with a smile, “Since this young master is playing blind chess, I will naturally accompany you.”

“!!!”

There was already a commotion around, and the atmosphere was lively now.

Was he playing blind chess too?

The tone was also so relaxed and arrogant. It seemed there was a divine fight tonight.

Noticing the lively atmosphere around, Meng Huan vaguely realized something.

Sure enough. There are few ordinary people in power and conspiracy texts, qwq.

He squatted by the table impatiently. Although no chess pieces were placed on the board, the two people sat facing each other, speaking of where the chess pieces fell. It was as if a chessboard appeared in the void, and only they could see it, playing back and forth.

Bored with waiting, Meng Huan listened to the discussion in his ears of that young master’s servant.

“Little Young Master, this blind gentleman is unlucky to meet our young master. Not to mention other things, in terms of chess alone, he will definitely lose.”

Meng Huan looked sideways. “Is that so?”

“Our young master’s chess power hardly has opponents in the capital. Master Kong Jie of Chengdong’s Zen Monastery is known as one of the most skilled chess players in the country. No one can match him in Go, but our young master happened to beat him by half a piece a few days ago. Hehehehe.”

Meng Huan was vaguely nervous. “Really?”

“Of course. Master Kong Jie’s Go is a benchmark in our Great Zong. He has been dedicated to studying Go for decades and racked his brains for three months on a difficult game of Go. Anyone obsessed with the path of Go has a lifelong dream of beating him.” The man smiled and twirled his beard, “But in the past ten years, only two people have beaten him.”

Meng Huan could not understand the chess game. Lin Bozhou’s face was half hidden in the shadow, and his thin lips were gently pursed.

Meanwhile, the talented chess player opposite frowned as if he was pondering.

Meng Huan turned to this man. “Which two have beaten him?”

The Qingke smiled. “Hehe. One is our young master, of course. As for the other one–”

Meng Huan looked at him wide-eyed. “The other one is?”

The Qingke’s voice was extremely soft. “The prince regent of the current dynasty who was just transferred from Kuzhou to the capital six years ago when he was twenty years old!”

“!”

Meng Huan’s eyes widened. “Is that so?”

The Qingke said, “Exactly! This blind gentleman can’t be said to play badly. It can only be said that he has bad luck–”

His words just fell.

Behind Meng Huan sounded the movement of clothes brushing the back of the chair. Then, a faint sandalwood fragrance was blown by the wind.

Lin Bozhou’s voice sounded gentle and calm.

“Huan Huan, you can sit on the bow.”