ebookland Chapter 226 is part of their play.
Chapter 226 is part of their play.
Shen Sangwan didn't want to pay attention to the other party. She looked down and carefully examined the dark brown marks on the ground. She bent down and smelled them, and there was a faint smell of blood.
"Master, why don't we go back? It's too cold here!"
After following Shen Sangwan around the villa for half an hour, Xiao Tong's ears turned bright red from the cold, and she stomped her feet and pleaded pitifully.
Having found nothing, Shen Sangwan gave up, nodded, and hurriedly went to find the leader she had met earlier. After exchanging a few words with him, she went down the mountain.
Perhaps it had been a long time, but she was getting too cold.
By the time the two returned to the city, it was already late afternoon.
Wen Yuening and Cen Yan sat facing each other on the soft couch in the room, playing chess, while Ruoying waited by their side, occasionally feeding them two slices of roasted orange.
After entering the room, Shen Sangwan took off her outer cloak and rubbed her hands together as she moved closer to the stove.
Noticing Cen Yan's furrowed brows and pale complexion, she asked with some concern, "Little Yan Yan, why do you look a little unwell? Could it be that your illness has changed again?"
It was fine if Shen Sangwan didn't say anything, but after she inexplicably mentioned it, Cen Yan angrily threw the black pieces in her hand back into the chess basket.
"Stop playing!"
She was so angry that she refused even the oranges Ruoying offered her.
As her body gradually warmed up, Shen Sangwan noticed that the atmosphere was a bit off, so she quickly walked over to the two of them.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that Cen Yan's face was covered with all sorts of bizarre patterns, such as little turtles, mynah birds, and snakes.
"Pfft—Ahahaha, you... Ouch!"
Before she could even burst into laughter for two seconds, Shen Sangwan started jumping on one foot, yelling so loudly that she almost sent everyone in the room away.
"Little Yan Yan, when did you become such a sore loser? If you lose, you lose. I'll just help you win it back."
Cen Yan, who had stepped on the other person's foot, heard this and pulled Shen Sangwan to sit down in her previous seat. "Come on, I want to see how someone who I couldn't even beat before can help me win today."
"It's just Go, right? I even taught the little emperor... Wait, Yan Yan, what's wrong with you? It's one thing that you can't beat Ruoying at Gomoku, but how come you can't even beat A Ning..."
After settling down, upon closer inspection, it became clear that the game on the board was not Go, but Gomoku (Five in a Row).
Shen Sangwan, who had been so confident, now glanced nervously at Wen Yuening across from her, blinking frantically, her face practically screaming "I'm letting you off easy."
Upon hearing Shen Sangwan's words, Cen Yan, who was sitting behind her, angrily pinched Shen Sangwan's arm and said, "If you don't draw a few lines on my face today, we'll break off our friendship for two days."
At this moment, Shen Sangwan paused in her hand holding the black piece, and muttered softly, "Two days doesn't seem like much..."
"We're severing ties for two lifetimes!"
"I'll help! I'll make up for it for you."
Shen Sangwan had a feeling that she was surrounded by danger, and even the hand holding the chess piece trembled slightly.
I should have just gagged myself with a cloth.
The two were evenly matched, chasing each other relentlessly and giving each other no chance to set a trap.
Five consecutive games ended in a draw.
Seeing that the situation was deadlocked, Cen Yan was even thinking of asking Shen Sangwan to give up. But after the sixth game, Wen Yuening seemed to have been possessed, and she fell into Shen Sangwan's traps for several games in a row.
"No... I'm a grown man right here, you two should at least put on a convincing act. Do you think I'm easy to fool?"
Finally, Shen Sangwan got her wish and drew the same number of patterns on Wen Yuening's face as on Cen Yan's face.
"His Highness has now avenged you, why aren't you happy, Ayan?"
"Exactly, exactly. Once we've gotten our revenge, that's all that matters. Why worry so much about the process?"
"Your Highness, it's getting late, we should head back."
With a bitter smile, Shen Sangwan slowly got off the soft couch and reluctantly followed Wen Yuening back to her room.
"Ruoying, don't you think there's something strange about those two?"
Even the slowest person should have noticed something amiss by now. Two people who were evenly matched suddenly found one of them losing repeatedly, and the reason behind this must be more than just a simple matter.
Ruoying, who had been watching the game, made two hand gestures. "His Highness made these two gestures during the game, and Miss Wen started to let him win after seeing them."
Cen Yan didn't quite understand. She repeated Ruoying's gesture, but still didn't quite understand. However, considering the way Shen Sangwan left, she felt that Shen Sangwan wasn't a good person.
"Oh no, I hope nothing bad has happened to Sang Wan."
She was about to give chase when Ruoying suddenly stopped her. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she said somewhat awkwardly, "Princess, it would be best if you didn't disturb His Highness at this time."
Looking at the somewhat shy person in front of her, Cen Yan instantly understood. She froze on the spot for a moment, then suddenly became angrier the more she thought about it. "Good heavens, these two are really getting more and more outrageous these days. Am I now part of their play too?"
Ruoying didn't quite understand what Cen Yan meant, but she just innocently raised her hand to prevent anyone from leaving.
"That's all!"
Finally, Cen Yan could only wave her hand helplessly, but then turned her gaze to Ruoying, getting closer step by step, "Eh—? Tell me honestly, how did you know the meaning behind it?"
Unexpectedly getting herself into trouble, Ruoying retreated repeatedly, her face filled with panic. "I...I..."
"Um--?"
Seeing that the other person was about to get close to her, she reached out and grabbed Cen Yan's arm. "I... I was just guessing based on His Highness and Miss Wen's expressions, and I didn't know what they meant."
"Oh—? Is that so?"
Cen Yan's face seemed to say, "Do you think I believe you?" Her eyes were fixed on the other person, trying to find a flaw.
But after a long standoff, he realized that the other party didn't seem to be lying, and he couldn't help but feel a little resentful.
After confirming that there was no intention to continue exploring, Ruoying let out a heavy sigh.
"Would the princess like some roasted oranges?"
To ensure her safety, she chose to change the subject.
"I told you to call me by my name or Ayan, why are you calling me Princess again? If you keep doing this, I'm really going to get angry!"
Ruoying sighed, realizing that while this had changed the subject, it hadn't quite worked; she was still on the verge of danger.
Forcing himself to speak, he lowered his voice and after a long pause finally managed to call out, "Ah...Ah Yan..."
"Ok?"
"Would you like some more roasted oranges?"
"I might consider it if you feed it!"
Seeing that the person in front of her was about to approach again, Ruoying turned around and quickly went to the table to get a few oranges and put them on the stove rack. "Oranges... the oranges will be ready in a little while."
Cen Yan stood there, looked up, and saw that Ruoying's ears were already bright red, and even the exposed skin on her neck was slightly red.
He couldn't resist slowly moving closer, his hands quickly slipping around her waist to hug her tightly, pressing his entire body against her back. "Why are you so easily teased?"