After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is here, have you written any poems?" She raised her eyebrows slightly and looked at the young doctor.

"I wrote it."

"Huh??? You wrote it?"

"Um."

"Who was it written to?"

"Aunt Beizhi," Ning Nan said matter-of-factly, holding the white chess piece, "was in a bad mood the other day, so I wrote a poem for her."

"Oh..." Zhu Cuiwei nodded, a small blush appearing on her oval face.

Bei Zhi will be attending the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet tomorrow. With Bei Zhi's poem, she might be able to outshine Nalan Wenzong.

"That poem," she said, holding a black chess piece in her hand, frowning slightly, "how does it compare to Emperor Wenzong of the Northern Dynasty's Mid-Autumn Festival poem from last year...?"

Ning Nan had no idea what his wife was up to. Was the game over? He thought for a moment, then said honestly, "More or less. They're about evenly matched."

Zhu Cuiwei gave a faint "oh" with a nonchalant expression, but she was truly relieved.

Snapped.

She placed a piece on the chessboard. She didn't mention the prize again.

Snapped.

Ning Nan's expression immediately lit up with excitement, and he then placed a piece.

Zhu Cuiwei looked at her husband's son, and a look of satisfaction immediately appeared in her eyes.

When we were cooking together in the afternoon, I asked him a few questions and learned that the young doctor had only started learning Go from those guests last night, meaning he had only been learning for one day.

Zhu Jiamu's skill level is actually quite good; he studied under Huang Jiushi, a master of the Guangfu region known for his unparalleled first-strike ability. However, the young doctor instantly discerned which dragon Zhu Jiamu intended to become, which is quite impressive. Even if Zhu Jiamu's cousin were to play, she probably couldn't produce a better move. To learn this much in just one day, the young doctor is truly gifted.

Her chess skills were taught by the Grand Tutor. Although the Grand Tutor's chess skills were inferior to those of Master Gongsun of Bailu Academy, they were still far superior to those of ordinary people, and he was one of Master Gongsun's few chess friends.

The Grand Tutor said last year that her chess skills ranked third in the Imperial Academy, after the Director of Studies and the Chancellor. In the White Deer Academy, she would be among the top five.

Zhu Cuiwei pursed her lips. Even by her own standards, the young doctor's technique was ingenious, especially considering he had only been learning for a day; he was quite talented. If he practiced diligently, he might be able to keep up with her in a year, or even eight months.

"I thought you were just a chess prodigy," Zhu Cuiwei said casually, raising her eyelids slightly.

Ning Nan, holding a white chess piece, snorted at Cuicui's wife and said, "Didn't you just say you'd add a prize? Are you going to add it or not?"

Zhu Cuiwei thought for a moment, then slightly raised her eyes and said, "You just said that the poem you wrote for Bei Zhi was comparable to the one written by Emperor Wenzong of the Northern Dynasties. Then..." She paused, a hint of expectation in her eyes, but it quickly faded, "...is there a poem that can definitely surpass it?"

She placed a piece, her delicate hand slowly leaving the chessboard, calmly laying out her strategy, waiting for about thirty moves before slaughtering the young doctor's large group of stones.

"Of course," Ning Nan said.

"Huh?" Hearing the other person's matter-of-fact words, Zhu Cuiwei's eyes suddenly lit up: "Really?"

"Of course."

Ning Nan placed a piece with a snap.

"Hmm, alright then." Zhu Cuiwei glanced at the chessboard, picked up a chess piece, and calmly nodded her chin, saying, "Then, let's use this poem as the prize." She didn't know if there was any Mid-Autumn Festival poem in the world that could truly surpass the Northern Dynasty's literary masterpiece, but one more was always better. Snap, she placed a piece.

"Okay." Ning Nan nodded, then smiled and asked, "What if you lose?"

His Highness Prince Xin, whose chess skills ranked among the top ten in Nanjing, seemed somewhat speechless and chuckled: "What do you intend to do?"

"I'll be sleeping in the study tonight," Master Ning said calmly.

Zhu Cuiwei's face flushed slightly, and then her lips rounded out, but at the same time she said with some disdain, "Fine..." After seeing the young doctor's excited expression, she laughed and said, "After thirty moves, I'll slaughter your dragon."

After thirty moves, the sound of pieces falling is like pearls falling onto a jade plate.

The white dragon has taken shape.

Zhu Cuiwei picked up a black chess piece, her long, clear eyes narrowing slightly, and said calmly, "Interesting."

After fifty moves.

Zhu Cuiwei now spends twice as much time thinking before each move.

One hundred and twenty moves later.

Her large group of stones spread out on the chessboard, and she calmly raised her eyes, saying, "Grandmaster Wang is indeed formidable." Ning Nan replied, "Grandmaster Zhu is the truly formidable one, hmm... your large group..."

After three more moves.

Zhu Cuiwei's large dragon, which was almost formed on the chessboard, was captured.

Ning Nan said, "Master Zhu, don't move. I'll take over." A vein throbbed on Zhu Cuiwei's forehead.

After another hundred moves.

Ning Nan rubbed his eyes, looked at his stubborn wife Cui Cui, and said helplessly, "Master, you still won't admit defeat? You're almost out of moves."

Three more moves.

When Zhu Cuiwei got up, she accidentally moved the table, and after a series of clattering sounds, the chessboard was in complete disarray.

"Let's call it a draw," she said, throwing the ball.

Ning Nan's eyes widened instantly, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "Hey! Zhu Cuicui..."

……

……

Inside the Ning family's study, Ning Nan coldly handed his completed poem "Shuidiao Getou" to his shameless wife.

"When will the moon be bright...?"

Zhu Cuiwei stared blankly at the note in her hand, written in cursive script, her lips moving slightly.

"Raising a cup to the heavens, I ask..."

Her porcelain-white, oval face gradually turned red.

Ning Nan waved his hand impatiently and said, "Stop reading, stop reading, you can just read it at home." Zhu Cuiwei's eyes were bright, her breathing was slightly rapid, and after a moment of stunned silence, she carefully put it away.

He took his wife's hand and was about to blow out the study light.

Zhu Cuiwei frowned, thought for a moment, and then asked, "Who were those two elderly people who came last night?"

Chunyu told me that three guests came last night: two elderly people and a middle-aged man. Judging by his chess skills, he must have been one of the elderly people.

She was originally unwilling to get involved in the young doctor's affairs.

But today truly surprised her. She wondered who the person who came was, and how they could teach chess so well? In just one night, they had taught the young doctor to such a level.

She even suspected that this bastard was lying to her, and that he had actually studied Go since he was a child.

Ning Nan said, "Old Crane. There's another one surnamed Xie, named Xie Lin, but I'm not very familiar with him."

Crane Elder?

Zhu Cuiwei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized that He Weng was a genuine master of chess. He would be playing against a master of chess from the Northern Dynasty tomorrow during the Mid-Autumn Festival. In recent years, he had also become obsessed with poetry. It was not surprising that he would show off a few moves when he came to visit the young doctor. It was only natural that the young doctor, seeing an opportunity, decided to learn chess from He Weng.

She looked at the young doctor with a complicated expression: "No wonder... You should cherish this opportunity and learn a few tricks from Old Man He."

Ning Nan held her hand and asked curiously, "I didn't learn chess from Old Man He last night. How could he, at his age, have endured it?"

Zhu Cuiwei was stunned. Wasn't that Old Man Crane?

"So who did you learn from?"

"Nalan, Nalan Ruo."

Zhu Cuiwei narrowed her eyes slightly, seemingly not having heard clearly, and asked again, "Who?"

"Emperor Wenzong of the Northern Dynasties!"

Ning Nan muttered a dissatisfied remark, then suddenly exhaled, blew out the study light, and hurriedly pulled the dazed-looking Cui Cui's wife towards the soft couch.

Just past midnight, the Mid-Autumn Festival arrived on earth, and the moon filled in the last gap, pouring out silvery light, as round and full as a jade plate that has been around for thousands of years.