Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 410 Chess Friends
Under a tree near the river, there was an old man setting up a chessboard. Occasionally, a few old scholars would watch there, and some scholars would come over from time to time.An old man is fixed, and the opponent changes frequently, but after watching for a long time, they are probably acquaintances, and their chess skills are generally not low.

There is a tea stand next to it, Ye Chen seems to be tired of walking and resting here, and then he was attracted, so he watched from the side while drinking tea,

At this time, the two old men playing chess were both very skilled in chess, and he easily recognized that the fixed old man among them was one of his goals for coming to Jinling.

Naturally, Ye Chen couldn't play chess and start making friends as soon as he appeared, that would be too abrupt.

In the next few days, Ye Chen went out from the side door every morning for a walk. First, he stood behind the door of the Baquan Martial Arts Hall, which was invisible to others, and watched the old man practice boxing for a while.

It was not until the third day when I passed by here for a walk, the weather was cloudy, but it seemed that it was still early to rain. Ye Chen came to the tea stand, and there were two old men. After about a while, a man who looked like a servant came over here , said a few words to an old man, the old man nodded: "Old Zheng, there is something urgent at home, this game of chess"

"There is no winner or loser now, how about a draw?"

“so good”

The two said a few words in a polite manner, and then an old man left. The old man who set up the chess stand seemed a little unsatisfied. He looked around and found that Ye Chen was the only one. They all come to watch chess, I think they have a lot of experience in this way, would you like to talk about a game with the old man?"

Obviously, the old man has no opponents, just grab anyone.

"Uh..." Ye Chen was stunned for a moment, looked at the sky, and said, "It's better to be respectful, junior."

Ye Chen sat down opposite the old man, and when he was helping to collect the chess pieces, there were naturally casual conversations such as "Where is the young master from?" Ye Chen answered a few words casually, after collecting the chess pieces, guessing, Ye Chen took the white and went first, he You're welcome, and put the chess piece on it with a snap.

After a few moves, the old man's eyes became brighter and he looked up at Ye Chen with increasing interest.But as time passed, the old man gradually frowned, and the waiting time for each order became longer and longer.

In this way, after you and I played dozens of moves, the old man frowned, sighed and said: "Unexpectedly, Mr. Chen has reached such a level of chess at such a young age."

Ye Chen smiled and said a few words modestly.

After these words, the old man didn't say any more, and the two played chess silently under the tree by the river, but in the end, the old man thought for a long time every time he made a move, and the wrinkles on his head became deeper. He looked up at Ye Chen from time to time, There is dissatisfaction and appreciation.At this time, the white pieces on the chessboard are very powerful, and the black pieces are gradually being killed to pieces.

After about an hour or so, the old man surrendered and raised his head to look at Ye Chen carefully for a moment. Ye Chen still looked a little honest. The old man hesitated and said: "Mr. Chen's chess skills are superb, old man admire."

Ye Chen said: "Senior, you are being polite. It is the younger generation who has watched the senior play chess with other people these days. I have watched a lot, and I can more or less see some of the senior's chess moves. The senior is unfamiliar with the younger generation's chess moves, so the younger generation It's just a chance to beat the senior. If the senior is familiar with the junior's chess style, the junior will probably not be the senior's opponent."

When Ye Chen said this, the old man was genuinely happy when he heard it. He shook his head and smiled, and while reaching out to clean up the chess pieces, he said, "We won't know until we play a few times."

After tidying up the chessboard, the old man was obviously still worried about the chess game just now, and wanted to play again, but seeing the sky was cloudy, he had no choice but to give up.

As soon as Ye Chen returned to Chen Garden, there was a thunderstorm.

The heavy rain in autumn in the south of the Yangtze River is very violent. Amidst the sound of the sky, the sky is so dark that it seems to be evening. However, in this weather, the window is opened and the garden mansion soaked in the heavy rain outside is quite relaxing. It means that from this side, you can occasionally see the maid named Chu Chu who Yu Qingyan and the Chen family separated from, and a cook downstairs cooking.Originally, Yu Qingyan didn't need to do these things by herself, but Ye Chen's identity is not small after all. Be a part of it yourself.

It rained continuously for several days, and Ye Chen also stayed at home for a few days, occasionally standing in front of the window of the small building, seeing some people in the Chen Garden hurriedly walking around with oil-paper umbrellas, corridors, attics, and garden pavilions. On the platform, the drizzle washed the white stone and blue tiles very clear. Some family members and maidservants, or the lake green or white or light red dresses floating in the rain, looked at them at this time, and felt like an ink painting, which made Ye Chen unexpectedly The idea that it would be nice to live a life like this, throwing away all personal ideals and aspirations.But then he became vigilant in his heart and screamed fiercely. This prosperous and beautiful place in the south of the Yangtze River is indeed a supreme 'weapon' that drains people's blood and fighting spirit and makes people easily addicted to it.No wonder since ancient times, there have been many literati and talents in the south of the Yangtze River, but most of the armies are weak.

During the rainy days, Yu Qingyan continued to play Go with Ye Chen at first, but as time passed, Ye Chen gradually became bored, so he taught Yu Qing another simple game invented by later generations using the chess pieces on the Go board. Yan.That is backgammon.

Backgammon is easy to learn, but not difficult to master. Yu Qingyan seems to be very talented in any way of playing chess. She quickly learned it and became a master. It's a situation where more loses and less wins, and this kind of entertainment was spread from Ye Chen's courtyard by the servant girl Chu Chu at an extremely fast speed, so that all the servants in Chen Yuan learned it.Of course, ordinary servants don’t have chess pieces on the chessboard, they simply draw them and replace them with two different types of pebbles, but in this era of extreme lack of entertainment, and in the crowd of servants who are extremely lacking in entertainment, such games are still very popular. Welcome, had a blast.

The heavy rain lasted for three or four days before it stopped.Ye Chen went out for a walk early in the morning as usual, and also peeked at the gate of the Baquan Martial Arts Hall for a while, and then went for a walk by the Qinhuai River.

Sure enough, the old man surnamed Zheng who played chess in the past noticed him and said hello.

Not long after, this Zheng surnamed and his friend finished a game, and smiled and waved to Ye Chen who was watching the battle. First, he introduced him to the friend who was fighting, and then Ye Chen and that person greeted each other naturally. After the ceremony arrived, an invitation was sent to him.

"Mr. Chen is interested, let's play another game?"

Ye Chen smiled and nodded in agreement, while collecting the chess pieces, the old man smiled and talked.

Just like this, they played a game while chatting, but the old man lost again. Ye Chen made a little deduction with him, played another game, and went home when it was getting late.

In this way, after three or five times, Ye Chen finally got acquainted with the old man. During this period, the old man gradually realized from Ye Chen's words and deeds that Ye Chen is a very talented and thoughtful young scholar.Of course, he also knew the origin of Chen Qing that Ye Chen pretended to be, and his previous status as a scholar of Wuyue Kingdom.

Ye Chen believed that in a few days, he would be able to successfully meet another real target person through this old man.

Ye Chen's wandering around all day finally made Mrs. Chen a little dissatisfied, and forced him to arrange a poetry meeting for him to attend.The time is set for tomorrow night. It is said that the level of this poetry meeting is not low in Jinling City. Ye Chen heard that there may be officials from the Southern Tang court participating.

In the early morning of autumn, the eastern weather just showed a slight light, and the milky mist floated in the ancient city. The painting boats on the Qinhuai River slowly traveled, hidden in the thick fog, like the Yuyu Qiong Palace floating in the sky.

In the thick fog of late autumn, Ye Chen walked along the road along the Qinhuai River. There were many brick and wood buildings on both sides of the road, and there were various trees. Painting boats drifted on the Qinhuai River, and occasionally saw boatmen or tired fireworks. The woman appeared at the bow.

This period of time is the most interesting period for the metabolism of Jinling City. The turmoil and prosperity of the night have dissipated, and the new vitality has just begun. The gates outside the city have already opened, and the vegetable farmers or hawkers who came in to catch the early market come in one after another. , Going to each market, you can meet not many people, but they all give people a feeling of greenness and vitality.Occasionally, you can see people with tired faces, hurriedly walking along the sidewalk, or even disheveled. Most of them spent the night in a brothel and left early because they had something to do during the day.The shops on both sides of the street were only half open, and the beggars hadn't gotten up yet.

Happiness often comes from unhappiness, and prosperity always comes from comparison. For Ye Chen, who really understands the real situation of Southern Tang Dynasty, the prosperity of Jinling is just an appearance, or it is limited to a small number of people.In fact, beggars in Jinling City are walking around in groups, and it is not uncommon to sell their children and daughters. Of course, there are also many wealthy families here. If you can sell your children to a good mansion and become a servant girl, you will have enough food and clothing in the future. It can be regarded as the virtue accumulated by the ancestors.Fireworks are prevalent along the Tuolai Qinhuai River, so beautiful poor girls have another place to go. In the future, if they can learn poetry and singing, the old bustard will be able to run a good business, or become a famous prostitute without selling herself. Good luck Even better, it is possible to marry into a wealthy family in a big house and become a concubine.But the vast majority of those who are unlucky can only sell themselves for a lifetime, and die miserably and lonely when they get old and frail.

There are also people who raise skinny horses. Ye Chen remembers that Yangzhou skinny horses were famous all over the world in Chinese history. It seems to have started in the Ming Dynasty, but in fact, there was already a similar business in this era. An accompanying investment, girls who are raised as skinny horses are better off than girls who are generally sold into prostitutes. They have hope in the future, because they will at least have the opportunity to learn piano, chess, calligraphy, painting, poetry and singing, and they are more likely to become famous prostitutes in the future. flow.

(End of this chapter)