Meng Yiran caught the implication in her words and tilted her head. “Who did you lose to?”
Tong Yuwu looked up at her, her lips pursing in the faintest pout, but she said nothing.
The noble miss was clearly feeling wronged, yet she put on an air of nonchalance that only made her more alluring than usual. It completely melted away her typical aloof demeanor, stirring an urge in anyone who saw her to reach out and ruffle her hair.
Unfortunately, Meng Yiran didn’t have the courage for that.
She cleared her throat and adopted a serious tone. “It’s fine. You’re so smart—practice a few more times, and you’ll definitely win it back.” Brimming with enthusiasm, she sat down across from Tong Yuwu. “What’s the rules like? Tell me, and I’ll play a few games with you.”
Tong Yuwu spoke up. “No hands. Control the pieces with spiritual power.”
She turned her head and focused intently on the chessboard. Under her spiritual power’s control, all the pieces slowly returned to their starting positions.
Meng Yiran nearly gaped in awe. “That’s amazing!”
Tong Yuwu’s movements paused for a moment. “It’s not hard.” She pointed at the board. “You give it a try.”
The noble miss was remarkably patient, her explanations clear and concise. Before long, Meng Yiran had grasped the rules with her guidance and even managed to move a piece using spiritual power. Her first few attempts went smoothly.
Eager now, Meng Yiran said, “Let’s play a game!”
Tong Yuwu nodded. “Mm.”
The game progressed in fits and starts. As could be expected of a complete novice, Meng Yiran was utterly crushed, not even a scrap of her forces left. She understood the rules, but she often failed to react in time, missing chance after chance. In the end, she could only watch helplessly as her pieces were captured one by one and her territory slowly devoured by her opponent.
After three crushing defeats, she lost all interest, unable to stay seated any longer.
But when she glanced up, she saw Tong Yuwu still utterly focused, those purple eyes hidden beneath long lashes, fixed unblinkingly on the board as the game unfolded.
Meng Yiran opened her mouth, but she couldn’t bring herself to call it quits. With a silent sigh, she steeled herself and played along.
As the fourth game neared its end, everything unfolded just as before. Meng Yiran watched in dismay as her once-full sixteen pieces dwindled down to just two—
A lonely king and a lone pawn standing dumbly in the middle of the board.
Thoroughly checked out, she used her spiritual power to shove the pawn forward one square, then flopped exhausted onto the table, unable to bear watching her king get taken yet again.
Tong Yuwu’s movements halted. She turned to look at her. “What’s wrong?”
“So tired…” Meng Yiran mumbled lazily.
Facing her utterly merciless roommate, she felt a twinge of grievance. After a pause, she muttered, “Losing is exhausting.”
Tong Yuwu blinked, falling silent for a long moment, as if she couldn’t quite grasp what Meng Yiran meant.
One of the pieces on the board shifted slightly, signaling the end of Tong Yuwu’s turn. Seeing that her roommate still hadn’t declared the game over, Meng Yiran rallied her spirits and slacked off some more, nudging the pawn forward another square.
All she wanted was to wrap this up, take a nice shower, and get to bed.
Lost in her thoughts, she heard Tong Yuwu prompt her. “Your turn.”
“Huh?” Meng Yiran lifted her head. “It’s not over yet?”
She peered back at the board. Her side still had only the quivering king, surrounded on all sides, and that single pawn deep in enemy territory.
Meng Yiran blinked and gingerly pushed the pawn forward another square.
In chess, pawns could only advance one square at a time after their first move—or capture diagonally forward if an enemy piece was there. She’d assumed this little pawn wouldn’t last long, but somehow it had reached the second-to-last rank.
Recalling a certain rule Tong Yuwu had explained earlier, she exclaimed excitedly, “Didn’t you say that if a pawn reaches the last rank, it can promote to any piece except a pawn or king?”
Tong Yuwu confirmed, “Yes.”
Meng Yiran rubbed her hands together. “So if I move it one more square, it’ll promote?”
It was her first time being this close to triggering the rule, and a spark of anticipation flickered inside her. She hid it well on the surface, though, clearing her throat with a warning. “You’d better watch out—don’t let me pull it off.”
Tong Yuwu looked up at her. A few seconds later, she actually nodded. “Okay.”
Meng Yiran puffed out her cheeks in frustration.
She stared at the board, waiting anxiously for Tong Yuwu’s move.
The noble miss’s side was still packed with pieces. Over the course of the entire game, she’d only lost two lowly pawns and a knight. Meng Yiran eyed the queen and rook advancing toward her king, her heart pounding harder with every glance. She felt more and more certain that even if she managed to promote, she had no chance of winning.
Suddenly, one of the chess pieces on the board shifted with a soft clack.
Meng Yiran felt a flicker of puzzlement.
The opponent’s major pieces that she had been watching closely showed no movement at all. For a moment, she couldn’t even register which piece Tong Yuwu had touched.
Only when she shifted her gaze to the opposite side of the board did she realize that Tong Yuwu had moved her own king.
And that king had stepped precisely one square to the left, landing right in the diagonal path ahead of Meng Yiran’s soldier.
A pawn was the least useful piece, able only to advance one square or capture diagonally forward.
Meng Yiran was so stunned that she forgot to use her spiritual power and simply snatched up her last remaining pawn with her hand.
But as she poised to place it down, she froze and blurted out to Tong Yuwu, “Hey, does this mean I can move diagonally and take your king?”
The noble young lady propped her chin on one hand, her exquisitely beautiful face hazy and ethereal in the lamplight.
She nodded and let out a soft “Mm.” Her dreamlike purple eyes turned to Meng Yiran. “Yes. You can.”
Meng Yiran finally caught on, gritting her teeth. “Tong Yuwu! You’re doing this on purpose to let me win!”
The noble young lady’s brows furrowed slightly. “Hm?”
Meng Yiran hesitated, still not setting down the piece in her hand. She puffed out her cheeks and pressed on. “Hmph, didn’t you say you didn’t want to lose?
“You were about to win again, so why let me have it?”
Tong Yuwu’s gaze fell on Meng Yiran’s hand hovering over the board, her fingers clutching a black pawn chess piece that matched the color of Tong Yuwu’s hair perfectly.
Suddenly, she reached out, seized Meng Yiran’s wrist, and tugged it gently toward herself.
The white king toppled with a clack onto the black-and-white checkered squares.
Meng Yiran jumped in alarm and shot to her feet, staring at the board in bewilderment.
Most of white’s pieces were still in play—the queen and both rooks deep in enemy territory, the bishops and knights guarding her own side.
But now, none of it mattered. The white king, the most crucial piece of all, lay forlornly on its side. Its fall declared the end of this lopsided game—
Black had won.
Meng Yiran could only manage a faint “Ah,” curling her fingers tight around the pawn that had slain the king.
Tong Yuwu looked up at her and explained, “I can lose to you.”
Meng Yiran’s breath hitched. The hand Tong Yuwu had grasped felt numb, and the black soldier clutched in her palm had warmed from her body heat.
“Ahem.” She licked her dry lips and glanced at Tong Yuwu. “Why?
“Because I’m cuter?”
The truly adorable noble young lady’s lashes trembled faintly. Faced with Meng Yiran’s deliberate teasing, she gave her reason with utmost seriousness.
“You’re a cat. You tire easily.”
Meng Yiran’s expression froze on her face. In the next instant, her cheeks ballooned out.
She yanked her wrist free from Tong Yuwu’s grasp, slammed the black pawn onto the board, and stormed off. “Fine, I tire easily. I’m going to take a bath and sleep right now!”
Tong Yuwu’s voice followed her from behind. “Okay.”
Meng Yiran wrinkled her nose and quickened her steps, silently leaving the living room.
Before bed, the two sat on the mattress.
After agonizing over it for a long while, Meng Yiran relayed the information she’d gotten from Ling Ze to Tong Yuwu. “…I’m just a commoner. Going to him again would probably backfire.
“Do you think we should wait a bit and look for other leads on white conch ash, or keep pushing from Taji’s side?”
Tong Yuwu furrowed her brow as if deep in thought. After a long pause, she replied, “I’ll handle it.”
Meng Yiran eyed her. “You’re really going to approach those two from the Ming Family?”
She let out a long sigh. “It’s not impossible, but owing them favors feels pretty awful. Maybe you could ask Ming Yi and Ming Ke if they want anything—we could trade for it instead, so we wouldn’t owe them.”
Tong Yuwu said nothing, merely twirling a lock of Meng Yiran’s silver hair around her fingertip.
What Meng Yiran didn’t know was that the next day, Tong Yuwu slipped away without telling anyone. She found a free moment and headed alone to the Third-Year Classroom Building to seek out Taji.
It wasn’t their first meeting. Back when Ming Yi and Ming Ke had brought Tong Yuwu to Clarity Magic Academy to handle enrollment, he’d been part of Ming Yi’s little group. But his presence had been so unremarkable back then that Tong Yuwu hadn’t committed him to memory.
Taji had deep, striking features and skin in a healthy wheat tone.
Upon hearing Tong Yuwu’s purpose for coming, Taji’s face lit up with sudden realization. “Oh? So you’re the one who needs White Conch Ash?” He let out a scoffing laugh. “If you wanted it, you could’ve just come straight to me. Why bother going through those commoner channels?
“What’s the matter? Couldn’t squeeze your way into our Lishen, so now you’re planning to throw in your lot with Qiuzhi and become one of them?”
Tong Yuwu ignored his words dripping with sarcasm and cut straight to the point. “How much money?”
Taji tapped his cheek lightly with a finger. “Do you still remember that girl Dilin—the one you drove off in a huff the first time we met?
“Sigh, that young lady has one hell of a temper. It took me ages to sweet-talk her around. And just recently, the new monthly test results came out. She sulked for half the day because you dragged down the First-Years’ average score.”
With that, he leaned forward a bit. “Tell you what—how about we play a little game?
“If you win, I’ll hand over every bit of White Conch Ash I have. If you lose, you go to the Academic Affairs Office and apply to withdraw yourself.”
The students who hadn’t yet left the classroom started whooping and jeering, shouting all sorts of things. Most were just itching for some entertainment and urged Tong Yuwu to accept.
But the noble young lady stood rooted to the spot, her head slightly bowed, her expression hidden from view.
Taji had no patience for this. Seeing her go silent, he said bluntly, “If you’re not up for it, fine, whatever.”
A smirk tugged at his lips. “I’m not selling the White Conch Ash anyway. If you want it that badly, figure something out on your own.” He added pointedly, “Don’t say I didn’t warn you—in all of Clarity Town, or even the surrounding cities, you won’t find White Conch Ash anywhere but right here.”
He swept the books from the desk into the folds of his voluminous mage robe and rose to leave the classroom.
He hadn’t taken two steps before Tong Yuwu turned her head from behind him.
“Fine.” Her voice was soft.
Taji halted and turned back. “What was that?”
Tong Yuwu rubbed the knuckle of her left index finger and said evenly, “I’ll play with you.”
