Chapter 351: Chapter 218 Zheng Rang’s Request_3
"It is my brother’s honor."
In the afternoon, Zhao Yao had to go learn painting and didn’t chat with Zheng Rang and the others for long before leaving Lanyuan Pavilion. Before leaving, he bid farewell to the Fourth Prince.
After Zhao Yao left, Zheng Rang suddenly felt that his abrupt invitation to the Tenth Prince to come to his home might be inappropriate and might cause trouble for the Tenth Prince.
"Prime Minister He, by inviting the Tenth Prince to my home to play chess with my younger brother, will it bring trouble to the Tenth Prince?"
Prime Minister He understood Zheng Rang’s concern and smiled kindly at him: "No, the Tenth Prince is still young." There are no ministers in the court supporting the Tenth Prince, so there will be nothing if he goes to the Zheng Family.
"That’s good..." Zheng Rang was about to relax when he suddenly remembered that the Tenth Prince was close to the Fourth Prince. He suddenly wondered if inviting the Tenth Prince to his home might lead people to mistakenly think he was allying with the Fourth Prince. "Will it cause trouble for the Fourth Prince, considering the Tenth Prince and Fourth Prince have a good relationship?"
Prime Minister He hadn’t thought of this, and after a slight pause, he smiled and said, "It’s okay."
"Really okay?" Zheng Rang had never interacted with the Fourth Prince and always found the Fourth Prince’s cold demeanor intimidating. Besides, it seemed the Fourth Prince was also avoiding him.
"The Fourth Prince never interacts with the ministers, and the ministers understand his temperament, so they won’t read too much into the Tenth Prince visiting your home."
Hearing this, Zheng Rang finally felt at ease: "That’s good."
Grandmaster Liu saw Zheng Rang’s tense demeanor and said with amusement, "The ministers in the court are not interested in the matters of the Tenth Prince, so you need not worry about any issues arising from your association with the Tenth Prince."
Upon hearing Grandmaster Liu’s words, Zheng Rang felt a pang of sympathy for Zhao Yao.
"I hope the Tenth Prince can beat my younger brother."
Grandmaster Liu asked, "Is Brother Qian good at military strategy?"
"My younger brother has read military books, but whether he is good at it, I don’t know." After all, my younger brother hasn’t led troops into war.
"The Tenth Prince has a great talent for military strategy, and there’s a significant chance he might win against Brother Qian," Prime Minister He said, stroking his beard.
"That would be wonderful." Zheng Rang wished Zhao Yao would beat his younger brother.
When Zhao Yao returned to Kunde Hall, he told Liang Zhaoyi about Zheng Rang’s invitation to his home and the request to play chess with Zheng Qian.
Liang Zhaoyi advised Zhao Yao not to overthink it. Even if he went to the Zheng Family, the ministers in the court would not pay any attention.
"If this Zheng Qian really is a genius, then play chess with him earnestly; you could learn a lot from it."
"I’ve never seen a genius before; I must take a good look at Zheng Zhengshi’s younger brother the evening after tomorrow."
Liang Zhaoyi playfully poked her son’s brow and laughed, "Aren’t your Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother geniuses?"
"Oh right, Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother are geniuses too," Zhao Yao scratched his head, "Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother conceal it so well that it doesn’t feel like they’re geniuses."
"Yet they are, aren’t they?" laughed Liang Zhaoyi, "Your Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother might not lose to Zheng Zhengshi’s younger brother, so don’t be too surprised."
"That’s true."
"However, if you truly manage to beat Zheng Zhengshi’s brother, it would be good to temper his arrogance a bit," said Liang Zhaoyi. "Those who are too smart tend to be overly proud and arrogant, which is not a good thing. Zheng Zhengshi’s brother is young, so hopefully, he’ll steer his intelligence towards the right path instead of constantly challenging others." Liang Zhaoyi had heard about Zheng Qian from Zhao Yao.
"Why worry about this, Mother?" Zhao Yao shrugged, "If I can beat Zheng Zhengshi’s younger brother, that’s great. If I can’t, that’s normal too."
"Mother does think you can win."
Zhao Yao chuckled and said, "Then I’ll try hard." He didn’t take Liang Zhaoyi’s words to heart, thinking she was merely trying to encourage him.
"It’s getting late; you should go learn painting now."
"Mother, I’m off then."
In the evening, returning home from work, Zheng Rang told Zheng Qian about Zhao Yao’s upcoming visit to their home.
"Oh, I also invited the Tenth Prince to play chess with you."
Hearing this, Zheng Qian looked surprised, "Play chess with me?"
"The Tenth Prince is very skilled at chess. I invited him to play with you, and he might even defeat you."
Zheng Qian snorted, "Impossible."
"Nothing is impossible," said Zheng Rang. "The Tenth Prince’s chess skill is extraordinary; even Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu are no match for him."
"Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu are also no match for me," thought Zheng Qian, understanding his elder brother’s intentions. "Elder Brother, you think just because the Tenth Prince won against Prime Minister He and Grandmaster Liu, he can definitely beat me?"
"It’s very likely he could win against you."
"Elder Brother, you’re underestimating me." Zheng Qian slightly raised his chin with a proud expression, "No one can beat me at chess."
"Brother, don’t forget the Tenth Prince is the one who developed the movable type printing technology." Zheng Cheng had a strong admiration for Zhao Yao, "In my view, the Tenth Prince is not any less smart than you."
Hearing his second brother’s words, Zheng Qian fell into rare silence.
"We’ll find out if the Tenth Prince can beat you after the day after tomorrow when he plays with you," said Zheng Rang, gently patting Zheng Qian on the shoulder, "Since you’ve never played chess with the Tenth Prince, don’t underestimate him yet. As your second brother said, the Tenth Prince is not a fool."
"Alright, I’ll wait for the Tenth Prince." In truth, Zheng Qian was quite curious about the Tenth Prince his two older brothers spoke of, though he had no intention of telling them that.