There is a white tea tray, four black amber cups and a purple wine gourd on the coffee table.
"Before meeting Master Huiran, I heard Commander Zhao tell them that the Master's swordsmanship is extraordinary. Two years ago, on the top of Shishi Volcano, he defeated Lin Yu, Shen Lian, and Wu Xiao with one against three, and he was completely injured. Retreat. Last time on the outlying island of Nagasaki, even two hundred soldiers failed to capture you."
"Hahahaha, people are exaggerating. Magistrate Yuan is well-read and should be able to distinguish authenticity. However, over the years, more than 700 people have indeed asked me to serve as fault-finders (see note 1). And I have completed them all smoothly. these responsibilities.”
Yuan Chonghuan has been stationed in the Japanese country for two years. He has witnessed samurai caesarean with his own eyes, so he naturally knows what Jie Cuo is.
It is not surprising that a 400-year-old monster killed more than 70 people.
However, if this round fails, will the demon monk also become my fault-finder? If I die and the Japanese pirates counterattack, will Emperor Wu Ding's rule in the Japanese country also fall apart?
"I heard that your Emperor Wu Ding is now surrounded by rebels. The troops from Liaodong have been mobilized into the pass. The emperor has too much to take care of. So no matter whether you win or lose this game, without the aid of Qi, you and your men are destined to be unsafe. Leave Japan."
After Hui Ran finished speaking, he looked up at the kneeling acolyte in the distance. Next to the acolyte, the long sword used by Jie Cuo was wrapped in black cloth and placed on a piece of red velvet.
"If you want to know whether your heart is the same as life or death, there is no need to ask whether you are going to stay or stay. When you are alive, you have to do something." Yuan Chonghuan covered his knees with the hem of his official robe and focused on the chess game.
The price of failure in the game is the complete withdrawal of the Kaiyuan Army from Kyushu. This is the condition proposed by Yao Monk when he invited the war, and it is also the aspirations of the Japanese rebels.
"If you want to win," his father once taught him, "you must give up the desire to win."
Yuan Chonghuan made a safe move, not only connecting with Heizi's South Route Army, but also setting up a bridgehead in front of the enemy's formation.
The cautious sound of falling stones sounded like Blind Ke tapping the city bricks with his stick at Zuo'anmen, telling Yuan Chonghuan's fortune: "This Lingnan nobleman, you are afraid of a bloody disaster."
Hui Ran made a move on the South Road (see Note 2) and consolidated the South Road Army's position.
Blind Ke's cane tapped faster, and for a while, the sounds of falling were heard from both sides.
After a few moves, Yuan Chonghuan's white pieces captured eight black pieces in one fell swoop.
"These Heizi are destined to die," Master Huiran said without changing his expression. "It turned out that they were just lingering." After saying that, he placed a spy behind the eastern border of Baizi.
Yuan Chonghuan remained indifferent and opened a path between the East Route Army and the Central Route Army.
Hui Ran quietly dropped a strange sunspot on the insignificant southeast side.
After two moves, Yuan Chonghuan only needs to send three more strikers to connect the bridge. Of course, Magistrate Yuan thought, the demon monk will not let me successfully complete my goal.
Hui Ran dropped a child next to the spy in the east, forming several inns with obvious functions.
In Yuan Chonghuan's view, those stations were connected to form an unbreakable military front, which was drawn from the northeast to the southwest and was unstoppable.
At the last moment, Heizi prevented Yuan Chonghuan's army from gathering and cut his dominant army into four isolated territories.
Only the last two chess pieces were left to connect, and Yuan Chonghuan dropped one.
Hui Ran remained calm and formed his troops at the other end of the battlefield.
The tide of the battle then reversed.
Yuan Chonghuan replayed the entire chess game in his mind. I moved this way and that way. I moved this way and he moved that way. I moved him this way again...
Yuan Chonghuan suddenly had a picture in front of him of the fall of the capital, the bandits breaking through the city, and the death of Emperor Wu Ding. He suddenly couldn't remember the first step.
White's army is divided, and the outcome is determined, unless Black makes a serious mistake.
Could a four-hundred-year-old monster make a mistake?
Go is a competition between prophets. Whoever can see the furthest will win.
The chess game can still survive, but White's victory has turned from victory to defeat.
"Master, have you ever thought about it," Yuan Chonghuan said, "It is not we who dictate the chess game, but the chess game that dictates us."
"My lord, the prefect, is full of witty words. I wanted to fight you for three days and three nights, but I didn't expect that it would end in half an hour..."
Yuan Chonghuan smiled awkwardly and said politely: "The Qi army in the east of Han Dynasty has no support and lacks soldiers. Just like Bai Zi in this game, it is already in a dilemma. It is only a matter of time to evacuate. As long as I am still alive, I will obey you." The agreement between me."
After saying that, he pointed to the green wine gourd placed beside the chessboard. “Don’t you know about the drinks on the volcano?”
Hui Ran stroked his beard and smiled: "An old monster like me can survive to this day not only by magic power, but also by caution. I assassinated officials of Qi State a few days ago. I had no choice but to facilitate today's game." , I hope the prefect Haihan will do it."
Yuan Chonghuan agreed: "If the shogunate could be as kind-hearted as you, there would be no war between us."
The acolyte picked up the purple gourd and poured wine into four amber cups.
The hall was silent like a beast's lair. The breeze outside the corridor gently blew through the screen windows, and the curtains flew like spiritual flags.
I didn’t expect that I would die in Japan in the end. How is my old friend in Lingnan? Yuan Chonghuan looked at the cautious Shiranui Monk and felt uneasy.
The acolyte gave the first glass of wine to the prefect, and one glass to the master. He took the other two glasses back to his seat and distributed them to himself and his senior brother.
Yuan Chonghuan raised his glass and drank it all in one gulp. The Sanhe mud glaze from Jingdezhen gave his lips a rough and cold touch.
The wine brought by the Ignorant Volcano Demonic Monk was just like the old monk himself, sour and astringent, with a strong aftertaste, just like the cat urine he drank when he was playing in the countryside of Dongguan as a child.
Fortunately, this will mask the taste of the things added to the wine.
Whether it was due to the effect of the poison or his own hallucination, those girls who died tragically appeared in front of Yuan Chonghuan's eyes.
How many hundreds have there been in these four hundred years? Thousands? Or tens of thousands?
The fresh and moving faces are like the cherry blossoms planted in the courtyard of Lord Advocate's residence, blooming and withering.
Yuan Chonghuan had mixed feelings. In order to cover up his nervousness, he immediately composed a poem:
A lifetime's career always comes to nothing,
Half a lifetime of fame lies in dreams.
Don’t worry about having no brave generals after death,
The loyal soul still guards Liaodong.
Master Huiran put down his wine glass and praised: "What a poem! What a poem! Magistrate Yuan has finally come to his senses. Go back and guard Liaodong!"
Yuan Chonghuan waited, but Huiran and his apprentice didn't drink.
Despair enveloped Yuan Chonghuan's whole body. Does the demon monk know about the poisoning?
After making such a huge sacrifice, did the demon monk see through it? Was it Zhao Shujiao who betrayed Da Qi?
Should I pull out my blunderbuss and blow the monster's head off? Can I kill people who Lin Yu can't kill?
Yuan Chonghuan suppressed a smile, slowly opened his eyes, and estimated his chances of success. At this time, Hui Ran and his disciples drank up the wine in the amber cup.
Note:
1. Introduction: Refers to beheading the person who commits seppuku in the Japanese ritual of seppuku so that they can die faster and avoid pain. This is a very honorable thing for those who are entrusted with the task of making corrections.
2. Eye, a Go term. In Go, if there are several connected chess pieces of your own side surrounding one or two empty intersections, the point is called an "eye", also called a real eye.
