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

"I am from Jiangnan."

Gongsun Yuliu said calmly, "Since you are from Jiangnan, you should fight Brother Nalan. Why fight me to the death?"

Nalan Ruo gave a strange smile: "Oh... that's because, in this Nineteen Paths of the Universe technique, his other half-master... is none other than myself."

Gongsun Yuliu narrowed her eyes: "Oh? Both the Northern and Southern chess styles are taught by renowned masters?"

Just as Gongsun Yuliu was wondering who this person was, a collective gasp suddenly filled the room.

"They won?" someone asked in surprise.

Nalan Ruo and Gongsun Yuliu turned their heads to look at the same time.

In the courtyard, there are two vertical chessboards. On the left are their black and white pieces, and on the right is the Chu River and Han Border where red and black pieces are locked in battle.

At this moment, the red general had been pushed into a corner by the black pawn, and the red general had nowhere to escape.

Black wins.

"We won!"

"Shangguan Zhao actually won?"

"This is only the first game; there are still nine more to go."

"No one had ever been able to beat that prodigy in the first game before! Not even Wu Qisheng..."

"Don't call Wu Siwei the Chess Saint anymore...aren't you ashamed...?"

Instantly, gasps of surprise erupted from the crowd because Shangguan Zhaobo of the Zhenguo Marquis's Mansion had given a lucky start.

The Northern Dynasty delegation members looked at each other in bewilderment.

Da Chun glanced at Nilong almost imperceptibly.

Nilon frowned and slowly shook his head; he didn't know what was going on either.

According to their plan.

Tong Jia knew how to play his hand differently depending on the opponent. He won all ten games against younger opponents, but would let them win one or two against middle-aged ones.

However, one thing to note is that you must win the first and last games.

In this way, once the results of tonight's chess games are announced and the outcomes of each game are analyzed, the people of the Southern Dynasty will be slow to realize the truth.

Tong Jia won every match by the first and last two rounds, which is enough to prove that he was deliberately letting them off the hook. Tong Jia's reputation will rise even higher, and the face of the Southern Dynasty will be trampled into the mud.

Apart from Wu Yanchou's lucky three-game victory over Tong Jia, everything else was going according to plan.

Logically speaking, since this fourth son of the Marquis of Zhenguo is relatively young, Tong Jia should have beaten him ten times, just like he did with the third-ranked scholar.

I never expected that.

Even Tong Jia can make a careless mistake and lose a crucial point. Could it be that she played too many games tonight and is just tired?

But back in the north, this little kid never complained of being tired once he started playing chess.

After a while.

With a series of clattering movements on the chessboard, Tong Jia defeated Shangguan Zhao in the second game.

The atmosphere among the Northern Dynasty delegation suddenly relaxed.

"Sure enough..." Da Chun smiled, "This little kid gets all excited as soon as he loses a game."

Nilon also laughed and said, "Tong Jia will probably have to finish this quickly and win nine games in a row to erase the shame of the first game." The other members of the delegation immediately laughed and echoed him.

But to their surprise...

In the third game, Tong Jia didn't finish quickly; the game was even slower than before. What made them even more worried was that Tong Jia lost again. This was strange; why was she giving him a handicap?

After Shangguan Zhao won two out of three games, the atmosphere on the Southern Dynasty side immediately changed. Their eyes were slightly excited, and they couldn't help but whisper and exclaim in surprise.

Madam Jia's eyes were also somewhat dazed.

Her husband loved playing chess, and Shangguan Zhao was quiet and sensible. From a young age, she patiently served as her husband's chess apprentice, collecting and arranging chess pieces for him and guests, doing it even more diligently than a servant.

But over the years, I've never heard of Zhao'er being particularly good at chess!

Doesn't he always lose? He either loses to his father or to the guests who come to play chess with him; he rarely wins.

Madam Jia glanced at her own son, Shangguan Xiu, who shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand either.

In the fourth round, Tong Jia won again.

The atmosphere in the Northern Dynasty relaxed once again.

The people of the Southern Dynasty sighed.

As before, out of ten games, only Wu Qisheng won three, while the others won at most two.

It seems that the prodigy will win the next six games.

However, for some reason, in the fifth game, it seemed to take longer for the two to determine a winner.

But something even more unexpected happened... Shangguan Zhao... actually won again!

This immediately changed the atmosphere on the Southern Dynasty's side. Everyone's faces lit up with excitement, their eyes shone, and they even couldn't help but drink a few more cups of wine.

Many people cast envious and admiring glances at Madam Jia. Someone whispered, "If Young Master Zhao wins another game, making it four wins and six losses, the Southern Dynasty won't be too disgraced." The crowd's eyes were excited, and they kept nodding to each other.

Unfortunately, in the sixth game... Shangguan Zhao lost.

After six games, the score was three wins and three losses.

While a chorus of sighs arose from the Southern Dynasty, it was mostly regret, no longer the somber, suppressed resentment of before. To win three games, the Fourth Prince Zhao's chess skills were truly astonishing.

In the seventh inning.

Shangguan Zhao won another game.

They won all four games.

The atmosphere in the Northern Dynasty quickly turned somber.

On the Southern Dynasty side, however, some people were already laughing. Many chuckled and couldn't help but applaud, with a few even standing up to toast: "Madam Jia, your Fourth Young Master is truly a hidden talent!" "Indeed, indeed!" "A toast to Madam!"

The others chimed in, some even feigning discontent, saying, "If the Fourth Young Master had taken the stage earlier, we wouldn't have needed to show off our skills in front of Guan Yu!"

Although Madam Jia didn't know what was going on, she was naturally pleased with these words and returned the favor with a few drinks.

But suddenly, someone frowned and said, "Why do we always win one game and lose one?"

That was said very softly.

But the room suddenly fell into an eerie silence, as if it had fallen into a strange state.

After a while, someone chuckled dryly and said, "This shows that the two are evenly matched." The others also chuckled dryly and said, "Yes, yes, yes, evenly matched." But the Northern Dynasty people's expressions had clearly turned ugly.

The next three games.

Strange things happened again.

It's still a cycle of winning one game and losing one game.

In the end, the two players had a record of five wins and five losses.

It ended in a draw.

The Northern Dynasty fell into a period of calm.

Da Chun held his wine glass, remaining silent.

The Southern Dynasty man's expression shifted from excitement to a complex mix of embarrassment, strangeness, and even a hint of mockery and smugness... Were those two really evenly matched?

At this moment, the servant returned to report that the Northern Dynasty prodigy did not intend to change his opponent, but instead wanted to play ten more rounds with Young Master Shangguan to determine the winner.

……

……

Second courtyard.

"you--"

"You're the Jia Wudi they're talking about? You really want to play chess with me?" A twelve-year-old boy wearing a melon-shaped hat stood on the stage, pointing coldly at the drunken Ning Nan.

Ning Nan gave a wry smile and said, "I don't play with kids."

Upon hearing this, the group of people who had followed behind immediately objected.

Everyone had bruises or swelling on their foreheads, some even still in tears from the pain. Upon hearing Ning Nan say he wouldn't fight the child, they immediately jumped up and started cursing!

"You have to get off!"

"What did that little girl just say to us?"

"If you don't bring this prodigy down, wouldn't that mean all of us are inferior to him?"

"Not bad, not bad!"

"Chess is the way of the gentleman."

"Didn't your aunt just say something like: 'It's all your fault, you overconfident little soldiers and crab generals, for bothering my nephew, which made the Southern Dynasty lose face in front of the Northern Dynasty'?"

Are we just shrimp soldiers and crab generals?

"Yes, yes, she told us to release you, Jia Wudi, and you came, but you didn't even fight this prodigy?"...

Ning Nan's eyes struggled, and his head felt as big as a bucket.

Her eyes darted around, but she didn't look at her aunt, who was supporting her and whose face was flushed red with fear of making a big mistake.

Instead, he looked resentfully at Steward Zeng, the first-class steward of the Prince's mansion, standing to the side... Steward Zeng, Steward Zeng, why did you put me and these lowly officials into the second courtyard?!

Manager Zeng's eyes were filled with resentment and grievance.