Miss Truth
Chapter 269 - 170: Your Majesty, Don’t Be Capricious

Chapter 269: Chapter 170: Your Majesty, Don’t Be Capricious

Gradually, Xiao Song began to reveal some clues - from the onset of the chess game, he had silently laid down a complex trap. His sudden ferocity and sly, despicable enticements left everyone dumbfounded.

Yet Sang Chen held his own, both in offense and defense; the chessboard was a battleground of relentless action, vibrantly intense.

The game lasted a long time, from morning well into the afternoon. During this, Ran Yan ate porridge twice, yet the outcome of the battle wavered, never settling on a result.

"You might not know," Xiao Song suddenly turned and spoke to Ran Yan, a faint smile leaking from his eyes, "Sang Suiyuan and I both once served as imperial chess attendants."

Being an imperial chess attendant essentially meant being a player who would accompany the emperor in his leisurely chess games. It was said that Emperor Taizong loved chess and that, far from being upset by losing, he would only grow more determined after each defeat, thus dragging the game on until he won.

"Sang Suiyuan was the only person whom His Majesty dared not ask to play chess." Xiao Song glanced at Sang Chen, who seemed oblivious to the world around him and spoke with a tone mixed with admiration and disdain.

Emperor Taizong dared not challenge Sang Chen to chess not because of his superior skill, but because once Sang Chen was immersed in the world of chess, he would never be distracted. Not only did he dare to beat the emperor, but he would also win every time and never seemed tired, no matter how long the game went on.

This not only greatly wounded the emperor’s pride but also tested his patience. Taizong, busy with the affairs of state, played chess merely for entertainment. Playing chess with Sang Chen felt like holding one’s breath, uncomfortable whether he let go or kept it in.

Thus, after their third overnight game, Emperor Taizong could no longer contain himself and threw down the chess pieces, raging, "Can’t you just lose once to appease me!?"

At the time, Sang Chen was still deep in the game and hadn’t snapped out of it. He hurriedly rearranged the pieces as they were from memory and replied absently, "Your Majesty, don’t be stubborn, let’s finish this game."

As you can imagine, Emperor Taizong roared back, "Do you still know I am your emperor?!" Then he stormed off, venting his frustration to Fang Xuanling, "Stubborn? I’m stubborn? It’s been decades since anyone called me that!"

Xiao Song’s vivid storytelling made it all come alive, and Ran Yan laughed breathlessly. Sang Chen had been only about fifteen or sixteen years old at the time, imagining a youth telling a man in his forties, "Don’t be stubborn," especially when the latter was an emperor who ruled over all.

Indeed, had Fang Xuanling not been there to mediate, Sang Chen might have ended up beheaded.

In a fit of frustration, Emperor Taizong had even burst out, "Xuanling, go and drag him out and behead him!

With calm, Fang Xuanling asked, "What crime shall Your Majesty decree? Spreading the word that he defeated you at chess will tarnish your reputation, and his comment about ’stubbornness’ must be kept under wraps, as it angered the imperial countenance... Sang Suiyuan, a prodigious young talent, would be widely plea-bargained for by scholars like Yu Shixian once word got out, and then it would not be easy for you to justify killing him. Why not fabricate a crime of treason?"

Though Emperor Taizong occasionally acted out of anger, he was not a senseless ruler. Hearing this, he cooled down somewhat, "Enough, I am not a sore loser!"

Fang Xuanling quickly flattered, "Your Majesty’s magnanimity is beyond compare..."

With that flurry of compliments, a crisis was averted, but from then on, Emperor Taizong never played chess with Sang Chen again.

"How about you?" Ran Yan had almost forgotten Xiao Song was still playing.

Xiao Song casually made a move and continued, "It was easy for Sang Suiyuan to win, but I found it hard to lose. His Majesty is a skilled player, and losing without making it obvious took a lot of effort. Government officials, either for fame or under the weight of their responsibilities, couldn’t dare act as naïvely as Sang Chen. I was no exception among them."

Ran Yan indeed believed this; the Great Tang had many renowned ministers, and though Xiao Song was outstanding, he was not the most brilliant among them.

Ran Yan could tell that as Xiao Song talked about Sang Chen, he sometimes revealed a longing look.

"Why?" Ran Yan wanted to know why, despite his admiration for a carefree and unrestrained demeanor, he chose to confine himself.

Xiao Song watched the chessboard as he waited for Sang Chen to make his move, then said, "If Sang Suiyuan’s family had not undergone changes, and he had remained the legitimate heir of the Chu family, he would now be just like me."

The glory of a family was built on countless endeavors; everyone knew that the Xiao family had produced thirty Prime Ministers during the Southern Dynasty period, but who exactly they were could probably only be clearly remembered in the family records.