World of Chessboard

"The bamboo garden is just ahead." Ran Hao stopped in his tracks, raised his hand and pointed at a tree, "The entrance opposite of the back gate is two places that can be entered directly, in addition, you can only enter from the lake by rowing the boat. There were many traps laid out at both entrances, and they were mainly hidden between the tall trees. A little further in, at the center is where the young master is resting, there are less mechanisms. "

"Can I have a look at the mechanism?"

Ran Hao was startled, but did not reject: "If it's only a part of it, then alright. There are some mechanisms that have poison within them, and some that have large ranges that are difficult to deal with. "

Xia Fan could not help but take half a step back. His expression changed slightly. "This …" He believed that his eyesight was not bad and that the dark sky would definitely have an effect, but at such a close distance, he did not see anything. The power of the mechanism could be imagined.

Ran Hao explained, "Where the first stone passed, the branches of the pine trees on both sides of the road had already pierced into the mechanism, and the wind brought by the stone would have triggered the mechanism. The trees there completely blocked out the wind, even in winter. Because I had a lot of strength to throw rocks, the wind I brought up was a bit stronger, so I could only touch the mechanism. Normal walking didn't matter, it was mainly for people who passed by quickly. What came out was a very small hollow bamboo needle. There was gunpowder in it, and once it touched something at high speed, it would explode. That stone had the effect of four or five stones. There are a total of seventy-two of them. Each of them can be used four times and one of them can be shot out at a time. "

"May I ask if there are any traps here?" Xia Fan asked.

"Here? "You mean around here?" Ran Hao looked around, "There aren't many nearby, and Young Master set up some traps in order to prevent rats. There were a lot of people inside, especially when Leader Xia said to come in through the back door. Over there is the place with the most mechanisms, and it's more densely packed, so it's extremely powerful. "

"Can I go in and take a look?"

Ran Hao asked: "What exactly does Master want to see? It's dark now, so it's not safe. "

Xia Fan said, "I just want to have a casual look. If it's really inconvenient, then forget it."

Ran Hao said: "If sire wants to see, I can accompany sire to have a look. Although most of the mechanisms cannot be displayed, if sire is interested, I can give you a simple explanation. "

Xia Fan nodded. "Then I'll have to trouble you."

"Thank you, milord." Ran Hao politely replied, and turned around to look at Pei'er, "Then you should go back first, it's about time for young master to come back." Tell the young master that I'll be back a bit later. "

Pyle nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"Mo'er." The Qi King looked at his son, who had just finished eating the horse's head, and suddenly called out to him.

Zhao Qingyan brought the spoon to his lips and put it down again. "Father called me?"

The Qi King pointed at the plate of watermelon and sighed. "Why do you have so much trouble eating something?"

Zhao Qingyan looked at the watermelon statue in front of him, and then looked at the mountain-like skin in front of him, "Father, please forgive me … It's not that it's difficult for me to eat, but that you ate too much? "

The Qi King ignored his joke, "Today, you had only drunk half a bowl of rice porridge at breakfast... No, that kind of thing should be called rice soup. He only ate a few mouthfuls of food and half a bowl of porridge for dinner. I don't think you ate any of the pastries we took out of the study. "You've only gotten a little better these few days, aren't you afraid of getting sick after eating a little more?"

Zhao Qingyan lowered his head and saw that he had only eaten a few mouthfuls of the watermelon. He murmured, "It will be very uncomfortable to eat so much." His voice was soft, but it was loud enough for the Qi King to hear.

Prince Qi and Princess Qi exchanged a glance, their eyes were filled with worry, "Your body will collapse if you continue to stay like this."

Zhao Qingyan raised his head and smiled, "Don't worry, royal father. I know what I'm doing. I'll drink whatever medicine I need, and there won't be any problem. "

The Qi King looked at his smiling face, and said simply, "Pay more attention. Don't take your body seriously."

Zhao Qingyan averted his gaze and lowered his gaze. His eyelashes covered the emotions in his eyes as he said, "I got it."

Seeing his reaction, the Qi King frowned and was about to speak, but Qi Wangfei grabbed his sleeve. Qi Wangfei turned around and shook her head. Prince Qi sighed and patted the back of her hand, nodding to show that he understood.

"Father, Mother, I'm a bit tired. I'll go back and rest first." Zhao Qingyan's fingers, which had been hidden in her sleeves, tightened and loosened. She stood up and bowed slightly.

Hearing that, King Qi looked at him and nodded, "That's fine too, go back and rest early."

Qi Wangfei added: "If you're all right, come over and have a meal with me tomorrow. I'll tell the kitchen to stew the meat porridge for a while longer."

Zhao Qingyan was stunned for a moment before he pursed his lips. After a while, he lowered his head and said, "Alright. I will be with mother tomorrow for sure." He slightly bowed and left.

Watching him leave, the Qi King laughed, "As long as you agree."

Qi Wangfei did not reveal much emotion as she smiled, "That's right, it's good enough that you've agreed."

Jin'er grabbed her cape and lantern and chased after Zhao Qingyan. She helped him before he got into the wheelchair and bent down to pick up the lantern. Seeing that the young master was still standing there and looking at the house that he had just left, she could not help but call out softly, "Young Master?"

Zhao Qingyan stared at the dim light shining in the room and then turned around to look at the empty courtyard. He murmured, "It's so quiet."

Jin'er stood on her tiptoes and draped the cloak over his shoulders. "Don't you like such a quiet place, young master?"

Zhao Qingyan tidied up the collar of his coat and pulled the cloak tighter. She shook her head and said, "I just like peace and quiet. I don't like the solitude here."

Jin'er was slightly startled, but didn't say anything.

Jin'er nodded slightly, "Okay." He walked up behind him and slowly pushed him back.

"Young Master." Pei'er was about to enter the study to prepare some tea when she saw Zhao Qing coming back. Smiling, she greeted her, "I feel that Young Master will be back soon, so I didn't go over, is that alright?"

Zhao Qingyan smiled and patted her head, "Isn't it just because you want to play around and don't want to go over? Would I scold you for this? There's no need to find excuses. "

Pei'er pursed her lips, "It's not like I'm looking for a reason. Big brother Ran said he's a bit tired, so he went back to rest first. He asked me to come over and pour some tea for Young Master's snacks. That's why I came back to wait."

Zhao Qingyan smiled and replied, "Alright, I was wrong about you."

Pei'er scrunched up her face and could not help but laugh. "I dare not let Young Master say that. Just treat it as me slacking off. What kind of dessert does Young Master want? I'll get it. "

Zhao Qingyan looked at the hourglass and thought for a moment. "Forget it. There's no need to take it. I'm going back to my room."

Pyle followed his gaze and blinked. "So early?"

Zhao Qingyan smiled, "I promised my mother that I would have breakfast tomorrow. I still need to get up early, so let's rest early today."

Pei'er tilted her head and said, "Then I'll go pour some hot water. Jin'er, can you help the young master change his clothes first?"

Jin'er nodded. "You should go quickly."

"Master, have you found anything?" When the guards saw Xia Fan coming out, they immediately surrounded him.

Xia Chen shook his head, "Nothing of value could be found, but it's enough to rule out the suspicion between the young prince and the imperial guards."

"The little prince's hand does indeed look like his left hand, because I saw him carve out a horse with his left hand, a fine horse. And he had no time to steal. And there's also Ran Hao, either it's not him, or he can endure it. "

"He can endure?" The guards looked at each other in confusion.

Xia Fan patted his right shoulder. "The Cyan Robed Pirates were indeed injured, but when I bumped into Ran Hao's shoulder, his expression remained the same. He also didn't show any signs of dodging due to the pain. So, I'm guessing he's not hurt. "

The little guard at the side could not help but laugh. "Sir, in order to prove that he was not a Cyan Robed Thief, you bumped into him?"

"Is it that funny?"

The guards held in their laughter and did not speak. Only one of them said helplessly, "It's not funny, but my lord has always revealed his suspicion of you." So what? The actions of an adult are definitely correct, but they will always make people feel uncomfortable. "

Chai Pao pursed his lips and said nothing.

The guard noticed that the conversation was not going well, and quickly changed the topic, "Is it possible that the young prince and the Ran guards have already been eliminated?"

Chai hesitated and nodded.

The guard couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief, while the rest of the guards cheered.

Xia Fan looked at them in surprise, but could only helplessly smile. "Let's go back and see if the Cyan Robed Pirates left any traces behind."

He stretched out his hand and ripped off the leaf that had scraped his cheek. He tore it into pieces and used his fingertip to crush it into a ball. He looked at the dark green thing on his fingertip and mumbled with some confusion, "I don't have much time remaining, should I join in the fun?" It will be fun. "

The summer night's wind rustled the leaves and made a rustling sound. The hair that was blown to the side rose up and fell back down. The palace's weird sigh also disappeared along with the wind into the already starting silence of the night: "As expected, you still can't go, right?"

The gray corner of his clothes appeared for a moment in the gaps between the leaves, then disappeared without a trace.

The short conversation and hubbub in the back gate of the Qi King Manor had completely disappeared. The liveliness that had characterized the night in Bianliang City had not reached this place at all, and it was so cold that there was no sign of life.