Chapter 13: Couple's Chess Game

Cheng Zhao's fingers tightened slightly.

Her face showed no expression, but her tone was cheerful: "Duke, dinner is still being prepared. Would you like to play chess?"

"Alright."

Cheng Zhao called Su Yue to take out the chessboard. She played the white pieces and played against Zhou Yuanshen.

She was good at chess, and Zhou Yuanshen was not bad either. Until Nanny Li said dinner was ready, they still hadn't decided the winner.

"How about we eat first?" Cheng Zhao suggested.

Zhou Yuanshen stood up.

He looked back at the chessboard, as if he had a sudden inspiration, or as if he had deliberately controlled the situation to this point, and casually placed a piece.

He won.

Cheng Zhao: "..."

He looked at Cheng Zhao: "Your layout is very steady."

Cheng Zhao smiled: "It's the Duke who is modest."

After dinner, the snow outside fell heavier, and the underfloor heating in the bedroom was burning very warmly.

Cheng Zhao went to wash up first.

She let down her hair, put on a brand-new silver-red small jacket, wore a plain white inner shirt and trousers, and sat on the kang near the window.

The chessboard was moved over from the east room.

Cheng Zhao was repeatedly studying the endgame just now, trying to figure out which step she started to lose from.

She was quite confident in her chess skills. Where exactly did he deliberately stalemate and not win against her, only waiting to give her the fatal blow at the end?

She had a good memory and still remembered the last few moves of Zhou Yuanshen, so she retreated five steps.

When it was the third to last step, Zhou Yuanshen came in.

He had washed up and changed into inner clothes and trousers, which were very thin. He leaned forward slightly, and heat radiated from his collar.

He helped make a move.

"...So that's how it is." Cheng Zhao was enlightened, "This chess game is very interesting. I will study it slowly later."

Zhou Yuanshen didn't say anything.

Inside the bed curtain, he told Cheng Zhao to rest inside, because he was going to put a long sword on the footstool.

"Don't be afraid, it's just in case." His tone was distant.

Cheng Zhao: "I'm not afraid. When I was a girl, I often hung a sword at the head of my bed to ward off evil."

She also had a sword.

Zhou Yuanshen covered the horn lantern, leaving only a corner that emitted a faint light.

Cheng Zhao lay on the inside.

When a pair of large hands reached over and picked her up by the waist, her body instantly tensed.

Her breathing was tight, and sweat seemed to slide down from her temples but didn't fall. The underfloor heating was burning too warmly tonight, and it was too hot inside the bed curtain.

The man's broad palm reached over from under her armpit. His arm was very long and touched her face. His fingers were like swimming snakes, gently stroking her lips.

Cheng Zhao was extremely restless. When a drop of sweat finally fell from her forehead, she forcefully bit the finger he placed on her lips.

She lay softly on the pillow, and the man behind her didn't say a word, nor did he make a sound.

He massaged her left leg for her.

Just now, her leg had been curled up for too long and it was too strenuous. When she couldn't help but put it down, her knee was lifted by him, and then she got a cramp.

The moment she got the cramp, she gasped in pain and tightly contracted her waist and abdomen.

Fortunately, he also stopped at that moment.

Cheng Zhao lay on the pillow and fell asleep just like that. Hazy, a warm towel wiped her, and someone dressed her.

She woke up but didn't dare to open her eyes. She continued to pretend to sleep, but soon fell asleep for real.

When she woke up the next day, there was no one in the bed as usual.

The thigh that had cramped in the night still hurt in the morning. Cheng Zhao frowned frequently, and wrinkles were about to form between her eyebrows.

She asked Qiu Bai to loosen her muscles.

"You have to pick up the horse stance again. If your legs are not strong enough, it's easy to get cramps," Qiu Bai said.

Cheng Zhao: "..."

Who would have thought that effort had to be put in this area?

When she got married, Nanny Li showed her picture books and explained them to her in detail.

According to the words of Nanny Li and her mother, when the couple had been together for a long time in the future, they would have other ways to keep it fresh and interesting.

Zhou Yuanshen, however...

Cheng Zhao thought of him and frowned again.

After Zhou Yuanshen left that day, he didn't return to Nonghua Courtyard again.

Cheng Zhao received an invitation.

Grand Princess Fukang's birthday banquet invited the three titled madams of the Chen Duke's Mansion.

This was her first time attending a banquet as a daughter-in-law and a titled madam of the imperial court. Cheng Zhao took it very seriously and asked Nanny Li to comb her hair.

"Wear gold jewelry," Cheng Zhao said. "Grand Princess Fukang likes gold jewelry the most and doesn't like gems and pearls."

Nanny Li pondered: "Will it be too old-fashioned?"

"Take out the set of gold jewelry that my eldest sister sent back when I got married. It was made by Master Wan. Grand Princess Fukang also likes Master Wan very much," Cheng Zhao said.

Nanny Li: "Then the princess should also have many such jewelry. What if it clashes with the princess's, will it make her unhappy?"

"Then we'll have to take a gamble on luck," Cheng Zhao said.

If the status is high and solid, naturally everything should be mainly safe; but it's Cheng Zhao's first time attending a banquet. If she doesn't stand out, she will always be suppressed.

Attending a banquet is socializing.

Nanny Li didn't continue to persuade.

Her fifth miss had always dared to take risks and never feared wind and waves. In the past, when she followed the master in office, she dared to take her maid to play on a sea ship and only came back a month later, scaring the adults and madam half to death.

Nanny Li dressed Cheng Zhao according to her request.

Because she was going to celebrate a birthday, Cheng Zhao wore a crimson kesi long jacket with auspicious cloud patterns embroidered on the sleeves, the patterns complex and exquisite; outside, she wore a silver satin cloak with a white fox fur collar, the color elegant.

She wore a gold buyao on her head, and the gold earrings in her ears had a small lotus flower pendant.

The golden light was brilliant and very moving.

The confidants were used to seeing her, but they were still dazzled and praised her beauty.

"It's this gold jewelry that's beautiful," Cheng Zhao said.

It was cold, so Cheng Zhao took a small oil carriage to the front gate of the Duke's Mansion and went out together with the Old Madam and Eldest Madam Song.

She got down from the small oil carriage, and just then Zhou Yuanshen also walked to the covered corridor.

The maid Su Yue accompanied Cheng Zhao out and supported Cheng Zhao's hand.

The weather after the snow was clear, the blue sky clear and cloudless; there was still residual snow in the corners of the walls, and the wind carried the coldness of winter. And the sunlight was excellent.

The golden sunlight fell on Cheng Zhao's gold jewelry. She turned her face slightly, the golden light overflowing, dyeing her eyes brightly.

Perhaps more dazzling than her gold jewelry was that bright face.

Su Yue felt that her madam was extremely beautiful today, but the Duke clearly saw her, didn't look twice, turned around, stepped over the high threshold, and went out.

Then the Old Madam and Eldest Madam also came out.

Eldest Madam Song looked at Cheng Zhao and smiled gently: "This dress is really grand."

The Old Madam smiled: "It is indeed beautiful."

They were praising Cheng Zhao.

Cheng Zhao was born into a prominent family. Her aunts, sisters-in-law, etc., never argued or fought. When they were angry, they would make sarcastic remarks and trip people up.

She was used to hearing it, familiar with it, and habitually turned a deaf ear, pretending not to hear.

"Thank you, Grandmother, Eldest Aunt." Cheng Zhao smiled sweetly, holding the well-behaved expression of a junior dealing with an elder.

The three people each got into the carriage.

Zhou Yuanshen rode a horse and walked at the very front.

The group soon arrived at the Grand Princess Fukang's mansion.

Hearing that the Old Madam of the Zhou family was coming, the princess braved the cold after the snow, held a small hand warmer in her hand, and personally waited at the gate.

"Is this the new Duke's Madam of your mansion?" The Grand Princess smiled and looked at Cheng Zhao. "She really is a beauty."

When Grand Princess Fukang went to the Cheng family as a guest, Cheng Zhao was still a child, hadn't grown up, and didn't have the chance to perform in front of the distinguished guest. She didn't remember much.

They exchanged a few polite words with each other before entering the door.

Meanwhile, Eldest Madam Song's gaze fell upon the princess's dangling hairpin, and she stared at it for a long while.