Chapter 7 Chapter 7 Game

The Yafeng Chess Hall in the west of the city has always been quiet and quiet. It is not only a place for literati to cook tea, but also a famous tea house, especially the thousand-year-old well in the center of his patio. Therefore, many literati and scholars also like to drink tea here, have a rest or meet friends with chess. On the contrary, some high-ranking businessmen or rich businessmen who come here for fame will probably not come for a second time. If others ask about their impressions, these Most vulgar people give four-character evaluations—fade out the bird. It is also because of this that when eight strong men in fresh clothes and angry horses came here guarding a small sedan chair, they naturally attracted everyone's attention. They saw eight men with weapons on their waists, and everyone was restrained. When they dismounted from their horses, they landed lightly and silently, and even ordinary people could see that these men were by no means simple.On the contrary, the old man who came out of the small sedan looked a little ordinary, but not so eye-catching.

"Master Liu, please wait, let the villain call the boss out to greet you." A man waiting outside the door rushed forward to flatter Liu Gongquan.Unexpectedly, Liu Gongquan waved his hand: "No need, where is that Second Young Master Ye? Take me to see him first." Ying Mu hurriedly said: "Second Young Master Ye is on the second floor, Master Liu, please come with me." Under the leadership of Ying Mu, a group of people slowly went up to the second floor, only to see that on the huge second floor, there were only a few tea drinkers quietly watching the game between the two.One of them was a rich-looking old man in brocade clothes, who was holding a chess piece in the air, staring at the chessboard with all his attention, unable to drop it for a long time.His opponent was a down-and-out young scholar. In stark contrast to his nervousness, the scholar was reclining on the seat, half drunk and half awake, drinking alone with a gourd.Liu Gongquan was not too surprised by his wild behavior, but stared at his opponent in surprise, and exclaimed, "Master Fei!"

The brocade-clothed old man who was meditating on chess suddenly woke up from his contemplation. When he looked up and saw Liu Gongquan, he was also surprised. He hurriedly stood up to greet him, but Liu Gongquan pressed his shoulder and asked, "Why is shopkeeper Fei here?" The old man smiled embarrassingly: "It's ashamed to say that this old man likes to talk with hands, and he is quite conceited about his chess skills. He heard that there was a young man with excellent chess skills in Jinling City, so he wanted to ask for advice. Unexpectedly, for more than half a month, the old man would lose every game, until he let the fourth son, the old man, have a slight chance of winning.

Liu Gongquan looked at the drunken scholar with a look of surprise. He was not surprised by the scholar's chess skills, but was surprised by the acquaintance between the shopkeeper Fei of Tongbao Bank and the scholar. Suddenly, an ominous feeling arose in his heart. This is probably not a coincidence. "Second Young Master Ye?" Liu Gongquan asked with a sharp glint in his eyes, staring closely at the scholar.The scholar took a sip of wine leisurely, squinted at Liu Gongquan with his drunken eyes, and said with a drunken smile: "I heard that Master Liu is good at chess, Xiaosheng is thinking about when he can have a hand with Master Liu!"

Liu Gongquan saw that the scholar's black chess had taken the upper hand, and Fei's white chess was just fighting a trapped beast. When he saw the layout of the black chess, Liu Gongquan's expression became more surprised. An idle piece wastes chess, this level of chess strength is really the only one I have ever seen in my life.Liu Gongquan's face became serious, and he nodded to the scholar, "It's better to hit the sun than to choose the day, the old man will play a game with the young master today." Shopkeeper Fei hurriedly stood up with the balance, and said with an apologetic smile, "I've already lost this game. I've heard that Master Liu is superb at chess. Today is just an eye-opener."

Liu Gongquan was also polite, Da Ma sat down on the seat of shopkeeper Fei, and immediately a doctor of tea cleaned the chessboard. At the same time, he made a new cup of tea for the newcomer Liu Gongquan, and signaled the two to compete for the first guess.Liu Gongquan was not in a hurry to guess the chess, but said to Dr. Cha: "The old man is playing chess with others, and he never likes people to watch." Dr. Cha was stunned, and he couldn't help showing a look of embarrassment on his face. He wanted to drive other guests downstairs to clear the field, which had never been done before in Yafeng Chess Hall.But before he refused, Liu Gongquan's eight attendants had already started to drive away the tea guests. In front of these warriors wearing weapons, everyone did not dare to disobey, so they had to go downstairs obediently.Dr. Cha just wanted to protest, but Liu Gongquan gave him a cold look and closed his mouth involuntarily. Liu Gongquan waved to him: "You go down too, you are not allowed to come up without my greeting."

Dr. Cha didn't dare to disobey, so he obediently went downstairs.After a while, only the half-drunk and half-awake scholar and Liu Gongquan were left in the huge teahouse.With those eight attendants guarding downstairs, the new tea customers couldn't go upstairs, and the huge teahouse suddenly seemed very quiet.In the silence, only Liu Gongquan said indifferently: "The old man always gives way to others when playing chess, so there is no need to guess the chess, you go first." The drunken scholar chuckled: "Xiaosheng always makes moves when playing chess with others, how many moves do you want me to let you?"

"If it's a gamble, the more the better!" Liu Gongquan said with a cold smile.The drunken scholar threw the gourd violently, and the drunkenness disappeared from his face. He met Liu Gongquan's cold and stern gaze with his clear eyes and smiled: "Little life is cheap, and I don't deserve to gamble with Master Liu. If it's for money, Xiaosheng can do it." Accompany." "How to bet?" "One son is ten thousand taels. Since the bet is determined by Xiaosheng, it is only fair that the first move should be given to Master Liu." "Okay!" Liu Gongquan was not polite, picked up a white chess piece and smashed it on the "Tianyuan" in the center of the chessboard with a "slap", and said with emotion, "It's not easy for me to meet an opponent in my life, I hope you don't lose too quickly!"

At the same time, outside the Immortal Temple on the outskirts of the city, Shen Beixiong also arrived quietly with more than a dozen subordinates. Immediately, two subordinates who had been watching here first came up to him. Shen Beixiong didn't care to wipe off the sweat on his face, but asked: "how?" A subordinate hurriedly reported: "In addition to a few poor Taoist priests, there is also a white-clothed young man living in seclusion here with an entourage. Looking at him from a distance, he is exactly the young master Xiang he saw at the Wangjiang Pavilion last time!"

"Great! You stay around this Taoist temple, and I will meet him in person!" Shen Beixiong couldn't hide the excitement in his heart, and immediately assigned people to surround the Taoist temple, and he went to the temple with two accompanying masters .Ever since he was blocked by the Soul Seizing Qin in the Shadow Killing Hall in Wangjiang Pavilion last time, Shen Beixiong has not dared to push him any further. This time, the people who came with him are all the top masters in the Gongmen. I believe that even with the protection of the Soul Seizing Qin , Young Master Xiang, don't even think about getting away safely!

The three of them broke into the Taoist temple. Seeing Shen Beixiong and his party's unfriendly expressions, the two Taoist boys were so frightened that they dared not stop them. Shen Beixiong and the three had already entered the second gate of the Taoist temple before they had time to inform the temple master. A group of people came to the backyard of the Taoist temple, and saw a young man in white standing under a tree with his hands behind his back, looking up at the sunset in the sky.Just looking at Xiao Ran's outstanding demeanor, who is it but Young Master Xiang?When they met for the second time, Shen Beixiong no longer felt the panic he felt a few months ago, but instead felt an inexplicable excitement in his heart.Looking around, there was no one around, so Shen Beixiong cupped his hands at his back and said with a smile, "Young Master Xiang, we finally meet again!" "You're finally here, and you didn't make me wait too long." Shen Beixiong didn't seem too surprised by his sudden arrival, and he still had the same depressed look.Looking away from the sky, he raised his hand to signal Shen Beixiong: "Sit!" After Shen Beixiong entered the backyard, he realized that there were no extra people in the garden, so there was no need to be too vigilant.Seeing that the other party wasn't in the slightest panic because of his sudden arrival, Shen Beixiong was a little unsure what his plan was, and sat down on the stone bench under the tree suspiciously.Just as he was about to ask a question, he saw a young man who looked like a book boy hurried over with a tea set and said, "My lord, the tea is ready. It is Tieguanyin sent from Fujian." "Bring tea to Boss Shen!" The young man in white raised his hand to signal to the boy, and the boy immediately poured boiling hot tea into four small teacups the size of longan, and held it in front of Shen Beixiong on a tray.Shen Beixiong knew that his son Xiang was a man, so he was not afraid of him cheating on the tea, so he took a cup and drank it down, and with the mellow heat rolling down his stomach, he felt an indescribable feeling of comfort slowly. Slowly spread from the belly, Shen Beixiong couldn't help but exclaimed: "Good tea!" The young man in white smiled lightly and said: "This kind of good tea is originally a rare thing that can't be found. Boss Shen is lucky." Shen Beixiong chuckled: "Shen's luck has come, and Mr. Xiang's good luck may come to an end." "Why did Boss Shen say that?" Shen Beixiong's eyes flashed a look of cat and mouse, and he smiled slightly: "I have been paying attention since I entered this Taoist temple, but I didn't find that you have any bodyguards. I wonder if this is your negligence or arrogance?" "What difference does it make if there are bodyguards or not?" "There is no difference now!" Shen Beixiong said as he slowly put down the teacup in his hand, followed by curling his fingers into claws, and grabbed Young Master Xiang's wrist with lightning speed.A triumphant smile appeared on his face, and he joked complacently: "Even if you have helpers, it's too late. Master Liu has long wanted to see you, but he has never been able to do so. Today, the old man can finally see the demeanor of Young Master Xiang." "Yes, Mr. Liu is probably witnessing Mr. Xiang's demeanor at this time." The young man in white said with a sudden flip of his wrist.Shen Beixiong only felt a gentle force from the opponent's wrist, he gently released his fingers, followed by the opponent's wrist, and slipped out of his grasp like a loach. Shen Beixiong's eyes suddenly widened, and the expression on his face was more surprised than seeing ghosts in the daytime. He stared blankly at the desolate young man in white for a long while, and then murmured in an incredible tone: "You ...you are not Young Master Xiang!" The chess game in Yafeng Building is in full swing, and dozens of chess pieces have fallen into the chessboard.Liu Gongquan fixed his eyes on the chessboard, shook his head and sighed as the pieces flew like flying: "I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect it! Although I guessed from the very beginning that Mr. Ye was probably cheating, I never believed in such a coincidence. But I never thought that Young Master Xiang would be alone in danger and throw himself into danger, which can be described as crazy." The scholar on the opposite side raised his eyebrows, and said with a smile: "Master Liu, you have such bright eyes that no one can hide from you." I'm not sure about your identity, I always thought you were just a pawn that Young Master Xiang threw at our side, after you dropped these dozens of chess pieces, I finally realized that you are the real Young Master Xiang!" "How did you see that?" "The people of Qianmen are good at calculation, and the way of chess is a science of calculation. Only these dozens of chess pieces can tell the strategy in the young master's chest. I am afraid that only young master Xiang has such a magnificent layout in the world. His calculations, out-of-the-ordinary strategies and unexpected means!" Speaking of this, Liu Gongquan raised his head, and for the first time carefully looked at the opponent in front of him who had been chasing him for seven or eight years, and saw that his face was actually a bit ordinary, Just like any poor scholar with straight eyebrows, only a pair of clear and bright eyes shone with a confident and aloof light, which made his ordinary face look admirable. magic.Liu Gongquan looked at Young Master Xiang's face for a long time, and finally sighed softly: "I have seen countless people, and I am confident that I can tell the general experience of a person's life with just one glance, but I dare not say that I can see through you. For example, your skin is not delicate, or even slightly rough, which shows that you are not from a wealthy family as the rumors say. For example, your hair is soft and thin, a little haggard, and the hair on the top of your head is even a little sparse. A person's hair records his health, by It can be seen that your health is not ideal. Combined with the rough skin and countless scars on your hands, it can be seen that you have suffered great hardships, so that your body cannot recover. However, your finger bones are not strong, and your body The frame is also thin, which means that you have not been tortured since childhood. There is a thick callus on the first joint of your right middle finger, which is caused by holding a brush for a long time. It means that you have practiced calligraphy hard. I think you are probably born in a poor family. A scholar. I wonder if the old man is right?" Following Liu Gongquan's eloquent talk, Young Master Xiang's expression became more and more surprised: "It is said that Mr. Liu has a vicious vision, and seeing him today really deserves his reputation, Yun Xiang admires it!" Liu Gongquan ignored the other party's compliments, and only asked coldly: "Since you have read the books of sages, why do you want to join Qianmen and do such despicable activities that violate the teachings of sages?" Young Master Xiang said contemptuously: "The sage is already dead in Yun Xiang's heart, not to mention what Master Liu did in Jinling this time, I'm afraid it may not be noble." Liu Gongquan was slightly embarrassed, and quickly changed the topic and asked: "I really can't figure it out, why did you approach us alone and take risks? This alone shows how crazy and unwise you are." "Zhuge is only cautious in his life, and there is still an empty city!" Young Master Xiang smiled lightly, "I happened to know that someone set up a trap in Jinling to deal with me, but I had no clue what kind of situation it would be. I couldn't bear it, so I pretended to follow that fake Young Master Xiang. As long as someone is interested in Young Master Xiang, most of them will come to me on their own initiative, then I can see what kind of trap it is, and taking the risk to get close to Shen Beixiong is also a last resort. " "Just because you lived in Tianwaitian Restaurant for a few days, you can know our inside story?" Liu Gongquan obviously didn't believe it. "Don't forget that I'm a master at setting up tricks. What kind of tricks can fool me? I don't need to know the inside story. I just need to pay attention to what kind of people you associate with and what kind of behavior you do, and I can make a good guess." Nine is not far from ten." Young Master Xiang explained with a smile, "Shen Beixiong used various means to purchase shops in Jinling, using hundreds of thousands of taels of silver, trying his best to win over the power of the government, underworld and money houses, and even borrowed you to go and catch them. The reason is to force the Jinling merchants to submit. Jin Yutang and Rong Baozhai were caught by you because they had traded stolen goods, so they had to cooperate with Shen Beixiong to play a double reed, so that others had to sell the shop to you in the face of unpredictable threats. Then came the news that the Hangzhou Boat Parking Department would move to Jinling, attracting a swarm of wealth from the south of the Yangtze River, frantically chasing after the skyrocketing shops. At first I thought that Master Liu would use such huge human and financial resources to deal with me, but now I see Come on, I think too highly of myself, Master Liu has high ambitions, and I, Yunxiang, are just a bait among your many prey." "Why do you see that?" Liu Gongquan's expression returned to calmness, he slowly picked up a chess piece, and tapped it lightly on the chessboard. "It's obviously absurd to move the boat department from Hangzhou to the inland Jinling. From a common sense point of view, this is not conducive to business exchanges." Young Master Xiang also picked up a chess piece and tapped it on the chessboard, "But this news is from the court. The news came out from the highest level, and the imperial court often did some stupid things, so few people would doubt the authenticity of the news. Even if they had doubts, in the face of the rising store prices every day, this doubt would be dispelled sooner or later. " Liu Gongquan stared at the chessboard, and said indifferently: "Since the imperial court does not always do things wisely, it is not impossible for the shipping department to move to Jinling." "That's the way it is," Young Master Xiang looked up at Liu Gongquan, "but if the news is true, it can't explain why Master Liu wanted to lure me to Jinling with the help of a wealthy Jinling businessman. Do you want me to follow this shareholder's style to make a fortune? It is even more impossible to explain the warning that a person from a thousand families gave me with his life. Only if the news is fundamentally fake, and you want me to take over the store in your hands at a high price, and even use my financial resources to push the price of the store to the sky, can you understand the truth? Dabai put me to death, and Master Liu was able to make a lot of money. You lured me to Jinling, most likely because you were worried that your financial resources were not enough to leverage the huge Jinling retail market, and you used my financial resources to help you build momentum , put me to death at the last moment, this is probably the result you most hope to see." Liu Gongquan snorted lightly in his nostrils, and said calmly: "The rich merchants in Jinling have good hands and eyes, and they have contacts with all the high officials in the court. How can false news deceive them?" "This is exactly the brilliance of your trap!" Young Master Xiang sighed, "You used the excuse of dealing with me, Yunxiang, to persuade Lord Fu to lie for you, and even the important officials in the court were deceived by you. Now the emperor is young In fact, Prince Fu is in power in the court. In the eyes of Prince Fu, he just released a fake news. The court didn't spend a copper coin, so I don't think there is anything wrong. But you cleverly used this news to set up a plan in Jinling. A trap that devours everything. First use all kinds of despicable means to quietly buy a large number of shops at low prices, and then sell them at a price that is several times higher or even more than ten times higher after the news spreads. Well, even if I am not fooled, the rich and wealthy merchants in Jinling and even the entire Jiangnan will be fooled, and now the wealth of the entire Jiangnan is pouring into Jinling, and they are rushing to this trap set by you one after another," said the young master Xiang's face. He also showed admiration, "The biggest robbery in this dynasty, the gangster Bo Yundao lost dozens of brothers, but he robbed more than one hundred thousand taels of silver. Your trap has now attracted tens of millions of taels from Jiangnan. If your plan succeeds, all the wealth in Jiangnan will be wiped out. At least millions of wealth will be swept away by you. How many people will have their family fortunes accumulated for generations will be swallowed up by your trap, and how many people will be in the next I lost everything in the sharp drop in shop prices." Liu Gongquan cast a piece on the chessboard with an indifferent expression, and said, "Didn't Master Qianmen want to prey on the rich and powerful? I didn't expect to be so sympathetic. That's right, when I brought you to Jinling, I actually wanted to borrow you Your financial resources have pushed the price of the store to a height that no one dared to imagine. I have known for a long time that this trap can deceive others but it must not deceive you. I thought you would take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a fortune. Your financial resources and My power join forces, we can achieve a win-win situation." Young Master Xiang laughed, "It was a good idea at first, but I didn't want to be a scapegoat. You used me as an excuse to persuade Prince Fu, and you brought me to Jinling. Put it all on me, everyone who was deceived will believe that the notorious young master Xiang deceived them, who would believe that Liu Gongquan, who has always been fair and honest and known as the number one arrester in the world, would set up such a terrible scam? Even I don't understand, you have been clean all your life, why are you so greedy this time?" Liu Gongquan sighed softly, rubbed his legs and said lightly: "I am old and have worked for the court all my life. Apart from the false name of being a famous arrester, all I have is this disability. I may not care about it, but I have to." Considering my children and grandchildren and those old brothers who followed me through life and death, especially the orphans and widows left behind by the brothers who died in the line of duty, most of them are still struggling to survive. All my life, until now I understand, what is the use of honesty? You can’t feed your hunger when you’re hungry, and you can’t use medicine to save your life when you’re sick. People don’t understand until they are in the most difficult times, and money is the only thing that can be relied on!” Liu Gongquan slapped a chess piece on the chessboard, squinted at Young Master Xiang with a smile, and said, "So what if you see through my move? You can't stop me from getting this decisive piece of land. " "Really?" Young Master Xiang slapped the chess piece on the scale tit for tat, "You think I can't destroy your big space? Survive in the danger of your sphere of influence?" "I don't believe it!" Liu Gongquan immediately threw a chess piece to fight back. "I know you were making preparations half a year ago," Young Master Xiang said with a smile, "You were already quietly buying shops a few months before Shen Beixiong came to Jinling. You even concealed this from Shen Beixiong. After more than half a year Get ready, you have a lot of low-cost shops, that's why you're so confident, right?" Liu Gongquan finally showed a hint of surprise on his face: "You also know this?" "This is thanks to a strong and strange woman," Young Master Xiang sighed. "More than half a year ago, someone wanted to buy the small inn opened by her father, but failed. Later, the inn became haunted and the business plummeted. The surnamed Yin My little boss didn't believe in this evil, and kept vigil every night to catch the ghost, but was frightened by the ghost, slipped and fell from the second floor, and died unfortunately. The government hastily closed the case, and the inn finally fell into the hands of an unknown stranger The woman named Yin Gufang went through many hardships and finally passed the post asking for help to me. During my investigation of this strange incident, I found that many nearby shops had encountered such or other strange incidents. The last In the end, the shop was sold and fell into the hands of an unknown buyer, and after contacting Shen Beixiong's move to buy the shop at a high price with great fanfare, I began to discover your situation." Liu Gongquan suddenly realized, "So you let someone pretend to be Young Master Xiang to entertain guests, and you pretended to be Young Master Xiang Qiu's family to take the opportunity to get close to Shen Beixiong. But I am still a little surprised, who is the fake Young Master Xiang who can fool the shrewd Shen Beixiong?" Young Master Xiang smiled and said: "It doesn't really matter who he is, but he must be more like the lonely and peerless Young Master Xiang in Jianghu legends than me."