FID – Chapter 863

Chapter 863: All Bunch of Clumsy Players 

Looking around the inner hall, the nearby windows were all decorated with intricately cut red paper flowers. Inside the hall, strings of small red lanterns were also hung up, adding a festive and New Year’s atmosphere to the originally cold and quiet hall.

What Liu Yusheng liked the most were the two New Year baby dolls and the Spring Festival couplets by the door. “Now it finally feels like the New Year. Before dinner, let’s set off a couple of firecrackers—it’ll be just like celebrating back home.”

“This is the palace. How can you play with firecrackers? That’s something only commoners use,” the Empress Dowager immediately reprimanded.

“But it’s the New Year! It only comes once a year. What harm is there in bending the rules a little?”

“Nonsense.”

The woman shamelessly grinned and laughed, completely unfazed by the Empress Dowager’s scolding.

Other than her persistently chatting with the Empress Dowager, the other three men remained unusually silent.

Feng Qingbai wasn’t one to talk much to begin with.

Xue Qinglian lazily collapsed into a round-backed chair and immediately started snoring, completely disregarding the fact that this was the Empress Dowager’s Yangxin Hall. He had come here to take a nap.

There was also General Qin Xiao, who spoke even less than Feng Qingbai.

While this side of the hall buzzed with warmth, the other side grew eerily quiet.

After an old maid brought in hot tea, Qin Xiao looked at Feng Qingbai and said, “I’ve long heard of Your Highness’s exceptional skill in Go. Since we’re idle at the moment, why don’t we play a few rounds?”

“Alright,” Feng Qingbai nodded.

He had also wanted to see Qin Xiao’s skill firsthand.

When he was at the border, Xiao Feng’er had once played Go with Qin Xiao and lost by a single stone. He knew Qin Xiao had definitely held back at the time.

The Go board was set up on a low table, conveniently close to the couch, allowing the two seated nearby to clearly see the game.

Qin Xiao and Feng Qingbai sat facing each other, black and white stones slowly spreading across the board. The battle wasn’t fierce on the surface, but traps were hidden at every turn.

Liu Yusheng stretched her neck and watched for a long time, but couldn’t make heads or tails of it.

If her grandfather and father were terrible Go players, she was worse than terrible.

Eventually, she gave up and pulled her neck back, shaking her head with a sigh. “Whoever invented this game really wanted to test people’s intelligence.”

“That’s because you’re dumb,” the Empress Dowager replied coolly.

Seeing Liu Yusheng’s puzzled expression, she continued to explain, “Go doesn’t just test intelligence. It also emphasizes strategy and formation. It’s like commanding troops in battle: one wrong move, and the whole game is lost.”

With that, she leaned forward, picked up a black stone, and placed it on an empty spot on the board. “Placing a piece here will weaken Feng Qingbai’s momentum. After that, with the right follow-up moves, even if you don’t win, you won’t lose either.”

Before anyone could even blink after those words fell, the black piece was immediately captured by Feng Qingbai, and the situation on the board shifted dramatically.

What had been a balanced game now truly became a complete loss.

Liu Yusheng didn’t understand the game, but she could clearly see the helplessness on General Qin Xiao’s face—and the awkwardness on the Empress Dowager’s.

The move the Empress Dowager had eagerly played caused General Qin Xiao to lose miserably.

“…Why are you looking at me? There was nothing wrong with the move I made. It’s because you didn’t set things up properly beforehand!” The Empress Dowager frowned and glared at Qin Xiao, who was tilting his head and sighing.

“Yes, I didn’t lay the groundwork well. Otherwise, with that move you made, and two follow-up steps, victory would’ve been within reach,” Qin Xiao agreed.

Only then was the Empress Dowager satisfied. She gave a light cough and straightened up in her seat, instructing the maid to refill the tea. Yet, she didn’t look at the board again.

No one knew she had a Go addiction. Whenever someone played, she just couldn’t resist chiming in. A true gentleman observes silently while others play. Unfortunately, she had the bad habit of being no gentleman.

And unfortunately, she was a terrible player too.

No one noticed that as she sat upright, trying hard not to look at the board, the seemingly focused General Qin Xiao’s eyes were filled with laughter.

Feng Qingbai silently scoffed. Just to please the Empress Dowager, even he, the dignified King of Nanling, had been used as a stepping stone.

Shameless beyond belief.

Meanwhile, Liu Yusheng blinked as she sneakily glanced at the Empress Dowager over and over, until the latter’s ears turned red and she shot her a glare. Only then did Liu Yusheng hurriedly look away.

“Your Majesty’s instruction truly opened my eyes. One wrong move really can ruin the whole game.”

The Empress Dowager: “…”

Beside her, General Qin’s eyes brimmed with even more laughter.

It had been decades—decades since he’d last seen Aman  show such vivid expressions. Her playful scolds and flashes of temper were just like when she was young.

Aman, though wrapped in layers of formality and defenses in the harem, hadn’t truly changed deep down.

By the time Feng Mohan arrived, the restarted game was already halfway through.

Seeing the two players furrowed in concentration, he didn’t dare interrupt. He slipped in quietly and sat beside Liu Yusheng, staring nervously at her bulging belly.

“Aunt, with such a huge belly, can you even walk?”

Just then, the little one inside started fussing again—kicking and punching. 

Liu Yusheng leaned back on her arms and reclined slightly, while the Empress Dowager instinctively reached out to gently pat her belly.

After settling the little troublemaker inside, Liu Yusheng looked at Feng Mohan, who was wide-eyed with surprise. “This is something you can only understand, not explain. Someday, if you become a woman, you’ll understand.”

“…” Feng Mohan was pretty sure his royal aunt was roasting him.

Him, become a woman? Maybe in his next life!

With everyone finally present, the imperial kitchen began bustling to prepare the New Year’s Eve banquet.

This year’s family feast was held in a side hall of Yangxin Hall.

Among those seated, aside from the young emperor, were the King of Nanling and Grand General Qin—men whose very names could make others tense up. The palace servants, knowing who they were serving, were even more alert and careful than usual.

In the harem, all the concubines—beautiful and elegant—had dressed meticulously and made their way to Yangxin Hall to pay their respects to the Empress Dowager, offering all kinds of auspicious greetings.

From late afternoon onward, the palace had known no peace.

Feng Mohan’s harem had already grown quite large, so large, in fact, that the endless stream of women coming to pay respects left Liu Yusheng dizzy. She couldn’t tell who was who.

Fortunately, the Empress Dowager quickly dismissed the majority of them, allowing only those with official concubine titles to stay and join the family banquet at the main table.

Even so, there were still six of them.

This was only because no Empress had yet been officially appointed. Once there was an Empress, only one Empress and four concubines would be permitted to attend such banquets.

These six women also paid their respects to Liu Yusheng in turn, each announcing her title and name.

Liu Yusheng nodded and smiled politely to them all. Whether they gave their names or not made little difference to her. She might remember them now, but once she left Yangxin Hall, she probably wouldn’t be able to tell who was who if they met again.

From the imperial kitchen, exquisite dishes were delivered one after another, soon filling the table. Everyone moved to their seats.

Before sitting down, Liu Yusheng had Feng Mohan set off a string of firecrackers at the entrance of the palace. The smell of gunpowder filled the entire hall, turning the Empress Dowager’s face dark with irritation.

During the banquet, when Xue Qinglian once again raised his glass to toast the Empress Dowager, she turned to look directly at him. Her gaze lingered on his face for a moment longer than usual.

“Ghost Doctor Xue Qinglian? Are you from Baicao Valley?”

“That’s right,” Xue Qinglian nodded, continuing to eat.

“And what is your relation to Xue Wanrong?” 

Xue Qinglian choked, nearly getting a piece of meat stuck in his throat.

Feng Qingbai, Liu Yusheng, and the others all turned to look at him, then shifted their gazes toward the Empress Dowager.

“What do you mean?” Feng Qingbai asked quietly, his fingers tightening around his jade chopsticks.