Chapter 89: Rematch
After Lu Yun had finished lunch, Eunuch Chen from yesterday came, saying with a smile, “Quickly, Your Majesty requests the Young Master to come for a game of chess!”
Lu Yun hurried to follow Eunuch Chen into the Inner Palace, arriving at the Waterside Pavilion where they had played yesterday. As expected, the chessboard was already set up, and the Initial Emperor was already seated beside the chessboard, looking at Lu Yun with piercing eyes and saying, “Come, come, let’s battle again today. I will make you concede defeat wholeheartedly!”
Du Hui beside him gave a helpless bitter smile. He knew that last night, His Majesty had stayed up almost all night pondering today’s match, completely forgetting the original intention of summoning Lu Yun. As a result, he was yawning repeatedly when meeting with ministers this morning, but now he was full of energy.
“Your humble servant has devised a battle tactic last night, and I request Your Majesty’s guidance,” Lu Yun replied with sharp energy.
“Talking big is useless, let’s see who’s better on the board!” The Initial Emperor impatiently asked Lu Yun to sit down and placed a white piece with a “snap.”
Lu Yun, not to be outdone, placed a black piece. After placing four starting pieces, the game officially began. With yesterday’s game as a precedent, this time both sides did not need to probe each other and went all out from the start with compact moves. Both players unleashed powerful moves and strategic sequences, and the battle immediately entered a white-hot stage!
Just a few moves into the game, the chessboard was filled with tension, and the battle was exceptionally fierce! However, the intense fighting was just an appearance; the real contest between the two sides was in the overall strategy and formation. From this aspect alone, the two were already far ahead of the chess players of this era.
Every move they made, which seemed brilliant and fierce, was actually filled with hidden complexities. Du Hui, who was serving by the side, was often baffled, only to realize several moves, or even ten to twenty moves later, what that initial move had laid the groundwork for the entire battle.
For example, Lu Yun, taking advantage of the Initial Emperor’s meticulousness and focus on practical gains, planned to use discarded pieces to gain an advantage in the game. He set up many traps on the board, deliberately exposing weaknesses several times and presenting black pieces to the white pieces. As long as the Initial Emperor dared to capture them, Lu Yun was willing to give large sections of his black stones to the opponent. By the time the Initial Emperor had gorged himself, he would find that his white pieces were in a precarious situation!
The Initial Emperor seemed unable to resist the temptation and indeed began to capture the black pieces. However, just as Lu Yun was preparing to quietly close the net, the Initial Emperor’s white pieces, with what appeared to be a casual nudge, thwarted Lu Yun’s plan. It turned out that the Initial Emperor had long seen through Lu Yun’s scheme and was planning to use it to his advantage, making Lu Yun lose both troops and territory.
At this point, even Du Hui could see that His Majesty was already in a winning position—the black pieces’ strategic gamble had been thwarted, and a large number of soldiers had been lost, making the subsequent game have no suspense.
However, even the Initial Emperor did not expect that after a long contemplation, Lu Yun would unleash a series of brilliant moves, a few divine strokes, to revive the black pieces that were about to be captured, bringing the situation back to a balance!
Taking advantage of the Initial Emperor’s lack of reaction, Lu Yun detonated the hidden troops he had previously acquired, capturing the white pieces the Initial Emperor had embedded in his territory, and turning the left side of the board into a solid stronghold of black pieces.
The situation changed rapidly, and now it was Du Hui’s turn to worry about His Majesty. However, after a long period of thought, the Initial Emperor still deeply penetrated the left flank and, with extremely precise calculation, survived safely, successfully averting the crisis.
In this way, the two constantly disrupted each other’s formations, saw through each other’s traps, and set new traps, re-establishing their formations. Every move required painstaking effort, and naturally, the time taken grew longer and longer. The result of these long thoughts was that the game inevitably led to a stalemate, where neither side could defeat the other.
This game consumed far more energy from both sides than yesterday’s. After all, yesterday’s was a surprise encounter, and at least in the first half, neither side had thought too deeply. Today, from the very beginning, they had racked their brains!
The game continued until midnight, and this incredibly arduous and complex battle finally ended in a draw…
The Initial Emperor found this result somewhat difficult to accept. He carefully counted the points twice more before reluctantly admitting that it was indeed a draw.
Looking at the chessboard, and then at Lu Yun, the Initial Emperor’s expression was not good. Although the starting piece rule could significantly limit the advantage of White moving first, an advantage still existed, and for the side playing White, a draw meant being inferior to the opponent…
But chess playing is about chess demeanor. The Initial Emperor could not erupt, so he could only maintain a stern face and say to Lu Yun in a muffled voice, “We’ll play again tomorrow!”
.
Nothing eventful happened overnight. The next morning, as Lu Yun was eating breakfast, that Eunuch Chen arrived. “Young Master Lu, stop eating. His Majesty summons you for a game of chess.”
“So early?” Lu Yun appeared somewhat surprised. “Isn’t His Majesty busy with important matters in the morning?”
“Don’t mention it!” Eunuch Chen said with a bitter smile. “To tell you the truth, His Majesty stayed up all night yesterday, just thinking about how to beat you!”
“I understand.” Lu Yun put down his bowls and chopsticks, went in to change his clothes, and came out to say to Eunuch Chen, “Lead the way.”
At the Yingfeng Pavilion Waterside Pavilion, the Initial Emperor was already waiting for Lu Yun. As soon as he saw him arrive, he said with a dark expression, “Let’s begin!”
This third game was still a hard-fought match, just like yesterday, neither falling for the other’s tricks. Moreover, Lu Yun had originally thought that the Initial Emperor might be affected by emotions today and play slightly below his usual standard. To his surprise, not only did the Initial Emperor not falter, but he became more courageous as the game progressed, unleashing many brilliant moves, and Lu Yun almost fell for his tricks several times.
Du Hui, watching from the side, secretly broke into a cold sweat. He was very worried that if His Majesty lost again today, he might become obsessed. However, he dared not privately suggest to Lu Yun that he should concede. Given the Emperor’s superb chess skill and sharp eyesight, he would immediately know if Lu Yun was holding back!
Lu Yun, however, felt more at ease. He intended to concede today. If the Initial Emperor was in poor form and he still lost to him, it would be indefensible. But seeing that the Initial Emperor’s performance was not affected and was even better than the previous two days, he had nothing to worry about.
However, conceding also required great skill. Losing too much would not make the Initial Emperor particularly happy; instead, it would reduce his interest in playing chess with him. Therefore, it was best to have the outcome decided by a single piece, and not only must the Emperor win narrowly, but he must also feel that he had displayed all his skills and had a thoroughly satisfying game!
So, although Lu Yun came into this game of chess aiming to lose, he still had to carefully calculate every move himself, not daring to make the slightest error. It was truly more exhausting than winning ten games! Without the Imperial Extreme Profound Cave Skill as a foundation, he wouldn’t have been able to do it even if he racked his brains!
Under Lu Yun’s deliberate efforts, today’s match was a far cry from yesterday’s prolonged struggle. It was a thrilling and passionate game, with both sides engaging in fierce combat from the opening until the very end…
When the game concluded, Du Hui still couldn’t tell if His Majesty the Initial Emperor had won, lost, or drawn.
The Initial Emperor’s lips curved upward slightly, appearing extremely pleased.
Du Hui quickly tallied the scores and, to his great surprise, discovered that the Initial Emperor had won by one piece against Lu Yun!
“Alas, how could this be…” Lu Yun dejectedly rubbed his forehead, his face a mask of exhaustion and disappointment. The disappointment was feigned, but the exhaustion was real. Trying to deliberately lose to the Initial Emperor by half a piece without being discovered had truly drained Lu Yun’s energy completely…
“Hahahaha!” The Initial Emperor burst into unrestrained laughter, feeling that his night of arduous effort had truly not been in vain!
The victory in this game was clearly a hundred times sweeter than the one in the first round!
At this moment, the Initial Emperor was overjoyed. He felt not a trace of fatigue and looked at Lu Yun with a triumphant expression, saying, “What, did you think you could still defeat me?”
“I didn’t expect to win, but I thought we could play another round,” Lu Yun said sullenly, seemingly still immersed in dejection.
“Alas, young man, one should not be arrogant in victory nor discouraged in defeat.” The Initial Emperor said smugly, completely forgetting his own demeanor from yesterday. “If you’re still unconvinced, how about another match?”
Lu Yun shook his head and said seriously, “I heard from the eunuchs that mornings are when Your Majesty handles state affairs. This humble servant dares not delay Your Majesty’s time any longer.” He paused and then added in a low voice, “And the lords accompanying Your Majesty by decree have been waiting for Your Majesty’s summons.”
“Heh heh…” The Initial Emperor was in a good mood now, finding everything pleasant to his ears. Hearing this, he chuckled to Du Hui, “This boy is trying to advise me in a roundabout way.”
“Your Majesty, Young Master Lu means well,” Du Hui whispered. “Eunuch Zuo has been waiting outside for quite some time.”
“Oh?” Upon hearing that Zuo Yanqing had arrived, the Initial Emperor finally focused his attention and nodded, saying, “Then let’s see them all!” He then looked at Lu Yun and added, “Tomorrow afternoon, rain or shine!”
“This humble servant couldn’t ask for more!” Lu Yun knew when to quit.
