849 Showdown (2)
Unlike Luo Xueyan, although Prince Rui kindly asked everyone in the Shen family to call him “Jingxing” and Luo Xueyan did so, Shen Xin could not do it. Men were different from women. Women could rely on their intuition to judge if someone was friendly or malicious, but men could not rely on their intuition alone, especially Shen Xin. He was more willing to rely on evidence.
Prince Rui looked up and casually placed the book on the table. Shen Xin saw that it was a military book, and it was a very obscure one. Only old generals would read it. Prince Rui was only 22 years old now. Him reading such a book, either he was putting on an act, or he was hiding his true color.
Before Prince Rui paid a visit, in Shen Xin’s eyes, Prince Rui was just an idle prince who was arrogant because he had Emperor Yong Le backing him. However, after Prince Rui competed with Shen Qiu that day, looking at Prince Rui again, Shen Xin felt that he was not that simple.
Perhaps this was a man’s intuition.
“General Shen, play chess with me, would you?”
Shen Xin said, “I don’t know how to play.”
“A game of war chess.” Prince Rui raised his hand and took the chessboard from the other side. He placed it on the table and gave Shen Xin a jar of white pieces, leaving a jar of black pieces for himself. He said, “General Shen and I will use the chessboard as our country and the chess pieces as our soldiers. How about that?”
When Shen Xin heard it was about war, he was excited. He didn’t want to be looked down upon by a young man, so he said, “I’ll be obliged to keep you company then.”
The two of them set up the chess pieces and started to play.
Unlike Prince Rui’s appearance, Prince Rui’s chess style shocked Shen Xin. He had a ruthlessness that did not match his age. It was extremely tiring to play war chess. Every step he took had to be thought carefully. However, Prince Rui did not seem to need time to think. Instead, he placed his chess pieces where he wanted to place them. It was very casual, but when one looked carefully, one could tell that every move he made was delicate.
Shen Xin was good at playing war chess, but compared to Prince Rui, he was at a disadvantage. Shen Xin even had the illusion that he had played chess with Prince Rui before. Otherwise, why did Prince Rui seem to know where his next chess piece was going to be placed?
After the round ended, as expected, Shen Xin lost.
Prince Rui said, “You lost.”
Shen Xin waved his hand and said, “Again!”
“It’ll be the same,” Prince Rui said.
“What do you mean?” Shen Xin frowned.
“You’ll lose,” he said.
For many years, other than Luo Xueyan and Emperor Wen Hui, no one dared to talk to Shen Xin like this. He immediately looked angry. Just as he was about to flare up, he saw Prince Rui say casually, “General Shen, I’m afraid you didn’t come to my place to play chess.” He curled his lips and asked, “What is it about?”
Shen Xin’s angry words were stuck in his throat.
Prince Rui always seemed to have an ability to make people angry. After making people angry, he would change the topic smoothly, as if he wasn’t the one who said those infuriating words just now. This ability was really like a person, Xie Ding, the Marquis of Lin’an when he was young. Every time Xie Ding and Shen Xin argued, Xie Ding would act like this. Shen Xin was an honest person and took every word seriously, so he was often fooled by Xie Ding.
At the thought of Xie Ding, Shen Xin suddenly remembered why he came today. He was no longer in the mood to flare up. He looked straight into Prince Rui’s eyes and did not let go of the change in Prince Rui’s expression. He slowly asked, “When you were competing with Shen Qiu the other day, you used your dagger to lock his throat. Where did you learn that move?”
