TTTQF Chapter 45

Can I Still Marry Someone?

Although today’s meal isn’t entirely satisfying, Jiang Miao manages to finish everything on the table. After dinner, Jiang Miao calls the waiter over to pay the bill, but the waiter says that a person dressed as a guard has already taken care of it for them. Jiang Miao is displeased upon hearing this. After the waiter leaves, he takes out some silver and tries to hand it to Pei Che.

The small piece of silver, still warm from Jiang Miao’s palm, makes Pei Che feel a bit awkward. Instinctively, he tightens his grip on what is in his hand.

“This is more like it. A man’s word is his bond. If you say you’ll treat someone, you must,” Jiang Miao says, satisfied that he can still treat someone to a meal.

Seeing this, Pei Che tucks the silver into the pouch hanging from his waist. Since the incident where he couldn’t pay for the lantern, Pei Che has instructed Wen Jing to always keep some money on him to avoid such situations again.

“Next time, it’s my treat.”

“Alright, next time it’s on you,” Jiang Miao likes his straightforwardness. He hates beating around the bush.

After eating, it’s still early. Jiang Miao, who has been busy during this period, feels a bit at a loss when he suddenly finds himself with some free time. The morning business can still be handled, but after what he went through yesterday, he’s reluctant to move for the time being.

“How about going out for a stroll?” Pei Che suggests. There isn’t much else to do today anyway.

“Where to? Are there any interesting places nearby?” Jiang Miao is intrigued. Having been here for so long, he has been confined to these few streets due to his livelihood and hasn’t explored much.

Pei Che is caught off guard by his question; he isn’t very familiar with the outer city himself. Suddenly, he remembers a place the princess mentioned wanting to visit a few days ago and says, “I do know a nice place, but it’s in the inner city. Do you want to go with me?”

Jiang Miao thinks it’s still early enough to play around before returning to pick up Xiao Shitou. “Sure, why not? To be honest, aside from going to sell lanterns that one time, I haven’t been to any other places in the inner city!”

They get on the carriage and chat all the way, and time passes quickly. Pei Che once again notices the difference between Jiang Miao and others. They discuss many topics along the way, and Jiang Miao can engage in all of them. In fact, when talking about certain topics, he gives the impression of being very insightful.

The carriage stops outside a garden with a large gate, offering a clear view inside. Above the gate hangs a plaque with the words “Plum Garden”.

As soon as Jiang Miao steps into the garden, he attracts many curious glances. These people do not mean to offend him but are just a little curious. After all, ordinary folks generally don’t dare to enter such gardens, even though no one would drive them away. Jiang Miao doesn’t feel uncomfortable, seeing this place as nothing more than a public park in his eyes. It is indeed rare to see such beautiful scenery in the outer city. Various plum blossoms line the paths, occasionally petals fluttering down from the branches with a breeze, creating a flower carpet on the ground.

Not far away stands a tall building, only six or seven stories high, a rarity in ancient times. The building overlooks an artificial lake below, where several painted pleasure boats drift. Occasionally, one can see visitors standing leisurely at the bow of the boats, either admiring the scenery or contemplating life.

“Would you like to take a boat ride?” After walking for a while, Pei Che asks.

“No, I can’t swim. What if I fall in?” Jiang Miao is a ‘land duck.’ Actually, he had the chance to learn swimming when he was young, but his grandmother was especially afraid he might drown. Every time Jiang Miao wanted to go to the river outside with his friends to bathe, she always stood on the bank and watched. After a couple of times, those friends didn’t like calling Jiang Miao anymore. Who would enjoy having an adult constantly watching them?

Pei Che had forgotten his earlier comment about cold winter waters and says, “I can swim, and these boats have rails. Generally speaking, you won’t fall in.”

Jiang Miao carefully observes the pleasure boat docked on the shore and finds that it is indeed as Pei Che said, so he agrees.

One of Pei Che’s guards approaches an elderly man on the shore, and after a brief conversation, he returns, saying everything is ready. Jiang Miao and Pei Che walk over and find that the boat is already prepared with tea and even rare winter fruits. Additionally, there is a table adorned with a guqin, a chessboard, and writing materials.

“How thoughtful. This must be something scholars enjoy,” Jiang Miao remarks.

“This is a garden belonging to a friend of mine. His father is open-minded and welcomes anyone who wishes to visit, making this garden a renowned spot in Liangjing,” Pei Che explains. However, there is a fee for the boat ride and for the refreshments in the tall building. If it were anyone else, it would cost a hefty sum, but Han Qin has instructed that his friends can enjoy everything here free of charge.

Jiang Miao nods approvingly. A private garden turned into a public park by its owner’s generosity—truly magnanimous.

As the boatman unties the rope mooring the boat to the shore and pushes off with a pole, the pleasure boat begins to move slowly, drifting to another part of the area.

Jiang Miao sits at the bow of the boat, enjoying the scenery with interest for a while. Before long, he starts feeling a bit queasy from watching the water below and quickly moves into the cabin. He hasn’t been on a boat before and didn’t realize watching the water flow beneath could make him dizzy.

In the cabin, Pei Che studies a Go manual, setting up a position from the endgame on the board, trying to find a breakthrough. When Jiang Miao enters, he leans over to watch for a while but finds it incomprehensible. He knows how to play xiangqi, Gomoku, and flying chess, but Go is beyond him.

“Would you like to play a game?” Pei Che looks up and sees Jiang Miao looking at the chessboard, so he invites him.

Is he asking me to play chess? Jiang Miao shakes his head. “I don’t know how to play Go.”

Pei Che senses something different in his response. Most people would simply say they don’t play chess, but he specifically said Go.

“What games do you know then?” Pei Che becomes interested.

“Let’s play Gomoku. I’ll teach you. We’ve got black and white pieces right here,” Jiang Miao happily sits across from him, picking up a jar of black pieces. There were too few entertainment options for ordinary people in ancient times.

Pei Che gathers all the white pieces from the board, mimicking Jiang Miao’s actions by placing the jar of white pieces in front of him.

“Later we’ll play rock-paper-scissors to decide who goes first. The winner is the one who first connects five pieces in a row, horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.”

In Go, deciding who plays first is determined by guessing. Pei Che has never used the rock-paper-scissors method to decide the outcome before, and he awkwardly puts out his hand, showing ‘paper’.

“Haha, I’ll go first.” Jiang Miao puts away the ‘scissors’ and happily picks up a black piece, placing it with a snap in the center of the board.

In Go, placing the first stone at the “Tianyuan” (central star point) is actually considered impolite. However, Pei Che knows Jiang Miao doesn’t know how to play Go and doesn’t mean any offense. He picks up a white piece and places it next to the black one..

The two of them go back and forth. Seeing Pei Che’s third stone not connecting at the head or tail of the black stones, Jiang Miao grins triumphantly. “You’ve lost.”

Pei Che has never lost a game of Go so quickly before. Frowning, he asks, “But I haven’t formed a line of five stones yet. How did I lose?”

“Do we still need five stones? You didn’t block me, so with just one more move, I’ll have four in a row. Then no matter where you block, I can still connect five,” Jiang Miao explains.

Pei Che realizes he has unintentionally followed the rules of Go. It seems that in Gomoku, the most important thing is to block the opponent’s path first, then plan ahead.

“I concede,” he admits defeat cheerfully, then picks up the pieces. “Shall we play another round?”

Jiang Miao effortlessly wins another game, feeling pleased, oblivious to the fact that he has just defeated a beginner.

“No more rock-paper-scissors this time. I’ll let you go first.”

Is this… being underestimated? Pei Che is momentarily stunned, then his lips curl slightly in a half-smile as he replies, “As you wish,” and places a stone next to the Tianyuan point. Jiang Miao, as usual, places his stone directly on the Tianyuan point.

As time passes, the board gradually fills up with stones. Jiang Miao, who started off playing freely, became indecisive. His face grows serious with each move, taking a long time to contemplate before placing a stone.

During this period, Pei Che has already figured out Jiang Miao’s style. He no longer holds back and decisively places his stones, bringing the game to an end.

Jiang Miao feels somewhat aggrieved. “Let’s play another round!”

…

“Another round, huh? I don’t believe it!”

…

“Another one!”

“…”

Several consecutive games end swiftly. Apart from the initial victory, Jiang Miao never manages to win again.

“Is this your first time playing?” Jiang Miao looks at Pei Che with a disgruntled expression, beginning to doubt his integrity.

“Before you, I had never encountered such an interesting game,” Pei Che replies with a cultured smile, though a hint of teasing glints in his eyes.

Winning consistently is certainly amusing! Jiang Miao huffs and puts the jar of black pieces back in place.

“Not playing anymore?” Pei Che notices Jiang Miao’s displeased expression and realizes he has gone too far. He thinks that next time, he must create a more challenging game to see more interesting expressions on Jiang Miao’s face.

“Not playing anymore! To tell you the truth, actually, I am actually best at xiangqi. If we were playing xiangqi today, you would’ve been crying in defeat long ago,” Jiang Miao boasts, taking advantage of the absence of xiangqi here. Losing at this game is no big deal; he can still hold his ground verbally.

“Xiangqi?” Pei Che ponders for a moment. “Is that like elephant chess?”

Jiang Miao, being fond of xiangqi, naturally knows it by this name in ancient times. He explains, “It’s somewhat similar, but different. The board layout and rules are quite different.”

“Oh? How is it different?”

Seeing Pei Che’s interest, Jiang Miao sits down at the writing desk, dips a brush in ink, and begins to draw on the paper while explaining. Despite his crude drawing, accompanied by his words, Pei Che understands most of it.

“Indeed, it’s different. This way of playing seems more interesting than elephant chess,” Pei Che muses, having never heard of this type of game before.

“Of course,” Jiang Miao recalls how those old men in the park could sit for half a day without moving. Sometimes he would watch them play, and a single game could last for a long time.

As they drift on the lake for a while, Pei Che begins practicing drawing, while Jiang Miao idly snacks beside him. When he bites into an apple, he asks Pei Che, “Can you draw an apple?”

Pei Che doesn’t speak but swiftly draws an apple on the paper.

“It’s quite similar. But I can draw one even more lifelike than yours, do you believe it?” When Jiang Miao was in elementary school, he learned sketching for two months. The teacher made him draw apples all day. He got so tired of it that whenever he saw an apple, he felt nauseous. He hasn’t drawn since then, but apples are still something he can draw well.

Pei Che remembers the peach he had molded and thinks an apple would also be quite convincing. He says, “I wonder if I’ll be fortunate enough to admire Ah Miao’s masterpiece?”

“Unfortunately, there’s no charcoal here, or you would see it,” Jiang Miao looks around regretfully, indicating that Pei Che won’t get to see it today.

Pei Che is about to suggest waiting until they land to have someone fetch some, when Jiang Miao suddenly stands up as if remembering something and calls out to the boatman outside, “Brother, please dock the boat!”

“What’s the matter?”

“I still need to pick up Xiao Shitou. His private school is quite far from here, and I need to get back early,” Jiang Miao explains.

Pei Che feels a bit disappointed but instructs the boatman to dock and arranges for his carriage to first take him back, then return to take Jiang Miao to pick up his younger brother. They aren’t far from the Duke’s mansion.

As soon as the two get off the boat and walk away, three people descend from the tall building.

“Did you see them just now? Isn’t that Pei Che?” asks a richly dressed young man, staring at their retreating figures.

“It’s him. Who doesn’t recognize that face?” The speaker’s tone drips with disdain, clearly envious of Pei Che’s appearance.

“I do know him, but who’s the man next to him? Wearing such clothes, could he be Pei Che’s servant?” remarks a slightly chubby man.

“Are the servants of the Duke of Zhongguo’s Mansion only allowed to wear such clothes? Could it be that their household is so strapped for cash?” The young nobleman finds it hard to believe but can’t explain why Pei Che spent so long with him on the boat.

Returning home with doubts, the young nobleman finds his father and uncle deep in conversation. Thinking to slip quietly past them, he overhears the name Pei Che from their conversation.

Listening intently, he discovers that today, the Duke of Zhongguo’s Mansion has received two imperial edicts: one appointing Pei Che as heir, and the other decreeing a marriage, but to another man, reportedly a peddler. These conflicting edicts throw everyone’s thoughts into confusion—was the emperor favoring Pei Che or not?

The two figures he had seen at Plum Garden today flash through his mind. The young master struggles to swallow, could it be… Pei Che’s fiancé?

Has the marital fate of aristocratic young men become this difficult? If even someone like Pei Che could only marry a man, would he ever find a wife?

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