Green Mountain
Chapter 116 - 87, Sage_2

Chapter 116: 87, Sage_2

Chen Liqin looked at Chen Ji, "Chen Ji, follow me back to the mansion. Today, I shall uncover the truth for you."

But Chen Ji remained silent.

He didn’t want to return to Chen Mansion.

Although he was related by blood to Chen Liqin, he recognized only one man as his father and had no intention of acknowledging another.

The rights and wrongs of Chen Mansion had ceased to concern him from the moment he had left 300 cents at the gate.

In the quiet atmosphere, Chen Ji stood behind the mahogany counter and bowed slightly to Chen Liqin, "Mr. Chen, please return. I still have studies to review, and until I have completed my academic pursuits, I will not return to Chen Mansion."

"Mr. Chen?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Li and the Princely Heir both widened their eyes in shock.

In this era, everyone was taught to respect the social order – king as king, minister as minister, father as father, son as son. No one dared to defy and dishonor their own father. Once branded unfilial, neither society nor the officialdom would tolerate you.

But Chen Ji ultimately did not belong to this era.

Chen Liqin’s expression darkened, "If you feel aggrieved over the tuition fee matter, I shall clarify it today. If you resent me for sending you to the Medical Hall, consider what you have done in the past. Must I, as a father, apologize to you instead?"

Chen Ji pondered for a moment but ultimately did not produce the document from Chen Wenxiao.

He merely smiled and said, "Mr. Chen, you misunderstand. I have suffered no grievances. Currently, I am well cared for in the Medical Hall; my master and brothers are harmonious, and my life is fulfilling. Please leave. There are patients lined up outside; let’s not delay their treatment."

Chen Liqin opened his mouth several times, wanting but failing to speak.

Bound by Prince Jing’s presence, he could only leave with a swish of his sleeve, "Take care of yourself!"

...

...

Dozens of official sedans slowly departed, and Taiping Medical Hall became quiet once again.

Prince Jing, playing with a chess piece, looked at Chen Ji, "The Chen family is esteemed beyond reach for many. You are young, and thus unaware of what you are relinquishing."

"Plain tea and simple meals suit me fine." Chen Ji looked at Old Yao, "Master, thank you."

Old Yao chuckled, "No need to thank me. You still have to pay your tuition fee."

Chen Ji, "...Alright."

While they spoke, Prince Jing turned his attention back to the Princely Heir, "I was interrupted earlier and didn’t discuss your matter. How do you think you should be punished?"

The Princely Heir ventured cautiously, "Not allowed to eat for a day?"

Prince Jing’s expression darkened immediately, "From today, your monthly salary and Bai Li’s are cut off. Go to the Mingzheng Building and kneel for three days without food; you are confined within the Prince Mansion for half a year!"

The Princely Heir’s face paled, "Dad, isn’t half a year too long?"

Bai Li also became anxious, "Dad, you can confine my brother, but can you spare me?"

Prince Jing laughed angrily, "You lot do have a sense of loyalty among yourselves."

Chen Ji noted that Prince Jing was patient in other matters but seemed like any ordinary father before his children, always on the verge of an angry outburst.

At that moment, Bai Li and the Princely Heir signaled Chen Ji with their eyes, hinting for him to come up with a solution.

If truly confined for half a year, they would miss the Lantern Festival and the spring outings, rotting away inside the Prince Mansion.

Chen Ji spoke up, "Prince..."

Prince Jing raised his hand and sternly said, "You keep silent, you’re also complicit. If it weren’t for Doctor Yao’s sake, you’d be punished too."

Doctor Yao, having just prepared medicine for Prince Jing, watched as he slowly wrapped the yellow paper with twine, leisurely stating, "Do not consider my feelings."

However, Chen Ji suddenly said, "Prince, let’s play another game of chess. If I win, please hear what I have to say and give the Princely Heir and the Commandery Princess a chance to redeem themselves through good deeds."

"Oh?" Prince Jing turned and looked at Chen Ji, "Your Healing Solitude technique no longer works on me. Are you still confident you can win?"

Chen Ji gently rolled up his sleeves and said earnestly, "Let’s try."

Prince Jing became interested, "It seems you still have some ace skills unshown, guess first!"

Having said that, he held a few Go pieces in his hand, and Chen Ji guessed, "An odd number."

Prince Jing opened his palm, revealing two Go pieces as they fell, "Wrong guess. I play black first."

Bai Li watched this scene in astonishment. His father, whenever playing with friends who were weaker in chess skills, would always actively let the opponent play black first. But now, the opponent was acting like a competitive general, contesting every inch, refusing to give way.

Prince Jing started the game from the peace play, aiming to bully the white pieces with a robust formation and completely discarded Chen Ji’s idea of Healing Solitary Swallowing Dragon.

But this time, Chen Ji’s white pieces clung on without hesitation.

The weakness of a solitary piece is like a candle in the wind, ready to extinguish at any moment. Yet, few realized that a robust formation also has its weaknesses—it fears adding density to density, becoming more and more cumbersome.

Chen Ji dropped the white piece like an antelope hanging its horns without a trace; his style of play was strange and ethereal, cold and rational.

Prince Jing could not understand. The unbeatable peace play now seemed to have been forcibly breached by just four moves of the white piece.

These few moves by Chen Ji had completely overturned his cognition, and in the cognition of all chess players of the Ning Dynasty, being "pressed" when flanked was a disadvantage, yet in Chen Ji’s case, being pressed became an advantage.

Incomprehensible!

Prince Jing questioned, "How can you turn pressure into an advantage? Whose method from ancient wise men is this?"

Chen Ji didn’t answer and continued to play.

The more Prince Jing played, the more baffled he became. In a mere seventy-two moves, he seemed to see the shadow of all the wise men in chess history throughout these moves, yet completely different!

Could Go be played like this?

Prince Jing conceded defeat, "Again, I play black first."

Bai Li silently watched, his father even skipped guessing first, implying by default that he needed to play black first.

In the second game, Prince Jing initiated with a small forest formation, hoping to establish a position with three central points, but in Chen Ji’s relentless attacks, the brilliant moves meant to connect the whole situation in the center, ended up foolishly isolated, totally useless.

In the third game, Prince Jing started with the three knights at star points, yet still found himself thoroughly defeated.

He looked at the chessboard, then at Chen Ji, and eventually threw the black stones onto the table. He suddenly remembered his earlier words, "You are not suited to be a chess player, only a chess piece."

And Chen Ji’s retort, "Must one live inside the chessboard?"

In a moment, Prince Jing faintly believed that sitting across from him was not just a mere apprentice from the Medical Hall, but perhaps a Chess Saint sitting through the river of time, playing against him.

The wheel of time, nonchalantly rolled over the chessboard, turning the old era into history.

Prince Jing seriously asked, "Boy, who is your chess teacher?"

Chen Ji couldn’t answer because he couldn’t tell Prince Jing that it was AI’s gameplay.

Chen Ji had also experienced Prince Jing’s confusion. At thirteen, he won a second-class award in Go and wanted to continue studying, but then came the era of AI.

Humans used to attribute philosophical and heavenly ideals to the way of Go, but from the moment AI was born, Go turned back into a game of memory and calculation. Since then, Chen Ji rarely touched Go.

He didn’t want to use those new AI-defined moves to win against Prince Jing, but now he had more important things to do.

Prince Jing breathed a long sigh, "Speak, since you’ve beaten me, tell me, how do you plan to redeem Yunxi and Bai Li by accomplishing a great deed?"

Chen Ji pondered for a moment, "Your biggest trouble right now is how to allocate enough glutinous rice to the frontier to build fortifications, but glutinous rice conflicts with people’s livelihood. If you ruthlessly allocate the rice, many people will starve."

Prince Jing slowly gathered the pieces from the board into his palm and said leisurely, "This is a difficult issue to resolve. There are not many perfect solutions in the world; I can only make a choice."

Chen Ji firmly said, "I have a perfect solution."

Prince Jing paused, "Mobilizing glutinous rice is a military strategy, do you understand, there’s no joking in the military?"

Chen Ji forcefully said, "Lend me the Princely Heir and the Commandery Princess. Give me half a month. If I succeed, I will sell you a perfect solution. If I fail, the Princely Heir and the Commandery Princess will be confined for a year, and I will be sent to Lingnan."

Prince Jing, intrigued, scrutinized Chen Ji for a moment, "Deal."