16 - Crazy! Criticizing the Prime Minister for Being a Servant

The person who was meticulously practicing their movements sneezed. Their wrist paused briefly, and a sensation of burning spread quickly. She wailed, "Master, this is an act of God, an act of God!" Moments later, a woman’s voice, laced with a slight smile, floated over, “Apologies. Continue.” "In high spirits?" Cen Ran remarked, observing the person in blue robes, with silver hair partially down and still holding a white piece. The sect leader glanced at the chess game that had just begun, and with a faint smile, said, "You don't know how to play, but you insist on playing every time and always want to play with the white pieces." "… Am I going to lose again?" "Not this time. I joked too soon." Ran Fan'ying gave her a sidelong look, placed a piece on the board, and said softly, “My disciple, she’s rather unusual; it seems she doesn’t belong to this world.” Cen Ran placed a black piece and inquired, “What makes you say that?” The black and white pieces crisscrossed on the board. Ran Fan'ying’s gentle voice recounted the events of the past few days, naturally not omitting the part where she could hear the young girl’s thoughts. As she placed another piece, determining the game’s outcome, the narrative was complete. Of course, she omitted the casual mentions of Cen Ran and Mianmian by the young girl, as well as the possibility of her disciple having a fondness for mirror polishing. She would still keep some privacy for her little disciple. Elder Ran calmly retrieved a stack of general-use silver notes from the storage ring, handing them to the person opposite her, her red lips parting slightly, “You heard nothing. We’re in this together, don’t let it slip.” After all, if too many knew about this, the weight of peculiar glances would be enough to overwhelm a young girl whose will was not yet firm. Not to mention if the word got out of the sect, the wolves and tigers of the jianghu would undoubtedly fixate on her little disciple, trying all means to capture and probe her. She didn’t want even the slightest rumor to spread because, ultimately, the words of many can melt gold and accumulate slander can erode bones. Cen Ran gave her a sidelong glance, brushing away her hand, “Look at the board. You won, a rare feat indeed.” “Do you really need to remind me? But, tsk tsk, making up such stories from a book really takes some guts. The complete destruction of the Shangyun Sect, hard to imagine.” Nowadays, though it’s not the most powerful, Shangyun Sect is no weak nor small sect either, with many talented disciples. Why would the Demon Lord go through the effort of exhausting so many soldiers to annihilate it all? Just because Lin Yuxue suffered some grievance? Compared to this reason, it’s more likely the Demon Lord woke up on the wrong side of the bed that day and whimsically decided to annihilate Shangyun Sect. Quite amusing actually. Cen Ran placed a black piece, tapping gently, “In that case, the assessment next year definitely shouldn’t let Lin Yuxue and Ning Songwu participate together.” “Hm? But we’ve already arranged their teams.” Ran Fan'ying said with a smile, “Ning Songwu, Luo Sheng, Liu Ruoying." “Sword, skills, and medicine—what a combination.” “When did this happen?” “Yesterday, the three of us got together and chatted it up.” “…” The sect leader placed a hand over her heart dramatically, “You didn’t call me.” Elder Ran gave her a inexplicable glance, suddenly remembering something. With a hint of probing, she said, “I might visit Qingye Peak later, care to join?” "No need, there are many sect affairs to handle. Let’s wait till there’s more free time.” The sect leader responded solemnly. Only after the blue-robed woman, fanning herself as she did all year, left did Cen Ran place a black piece, quietly repositioning one. A deadlocked game instantly revived with just one piece shifted. Lin Yuxue. The female protagonist. To be written as the main character in a book and even spread to another world, she must be extraordinary. Yet, compared to this seemingly shallow and guarded young girl, Ning Songwu, who is particularly reserved and keeps everything bottled up, needs more attention. No matter how true or false the book she saw was, she still doesn’t believe Shangyun Sect would fall for such an absurd reason by her hands. Moreover… Songwu, Frost on Fog, one wonders what the name-giver was thinking, choosing such a beautiful but fleeting name, formed in the deep night, only to gradually dissolve under the warm sun. Not a good name at all. She pushed back the black piece to its original position, gazing at the entire board of deadlocked pieces, and sighed deeply. Such a bad player, to win by half a point only after leading to this extent, and still playing with white, she truly had to rack her brain and put in effort to barely win by half a point. So stupid. But this very person, now having such opportunities, who knows if it’s good or bad. Anyway, to her, things couldn’t get worse. Cen Ran sighed faintly, lifted her sleeve, stood up, picked up the black piece just now, and threw it into the chess container. Let it be for now. * The blue-robed woman descended from the clouds, and upon reaching the courtyard gate, she heard the child’s inner voice. [... 499, 500! Done! Humph, I’m not that weak!] One of the outstanding traits of modern university students, despite cursing the teachers for assigning too much homework, they still diligently complete it and submit it. Emphasizing that, while they may complain, they expect every single point they deserve. She pushed open the door and entered. The girl was staring at her wrist, exhausted by practicing four moves, five hundred times each. Her arms and wrists throbbed with pain, and even the legs that had been exerting force were trembling. Though this body retained past experiences, actually moving it was still quite tiring. Exhaustion to the bone. "Come here, sit down." The woman called gently. She looked up to see the woman sitting at a stone table with several jars in front of her. She walked over and sat down. Her hand was immediately taken by the woman, her sleeve rolled up to reveal a slightly swollen wrist. A cooling ointment was applied, gradually melting under the warmth of spiritual energy, seeping into her skin and bones. “Today, I’ll help you. Starting tomorrow, you’ll do it yourself. The most important thing in learning the sword is this pair of hands, understand?” The woman said softly, her fingers kneading gently at the wrist, enhancing the medicinal effect.