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Marriage of the Di Daughter

Chapter 209 Part 4: Meeting

“You keep calling me ‘Your Highness, Your Highness,’ which is too formal. We once met on the street and played chess together, so we can be considered friends.” Yin Zhili said gently, “From now on, please don’t call me Your Highness.”

Jiang Li was taken aback for a moment, hesitated for a while, and then said, “Young Master Yin.”

Although it was better than Your Highness, they weren’t that close. Fortunately, Yin Zhili wasn’t one to push his luck. On the contrary, he seemed quite pleased with Jiang Li’s form of address and didn’t bring up their earlier conversation again.

The two played chess seriously.

While they played chess, no one disturbed them; not even a maidservant came to pour tea, making it exceptionally quiet. Initially, Yin Zhili’s white pieces had the upper hand, seemingly pushing Jiang Li’s black pieces to the brink of defeat each time, yet Jiang Li’s black pieces always managed to escape. In the middle of the game, Jiang Li’s black pieces slowly caught up, capturing some of the white pieces, and the two were evenly matched, neither gaining the upper hand. As a result, Yin Zhili’s initially extremely fast movements slowed down, and he would even stop to think for a while.

Until the very end.

Black and white pieces each occupied half of the board. Jiang Li placed her last piece, looked up, and smiled, “I won.”

Her smile had always been faint, gentle and polite, but there always seemed to be something veiled behind it. This smile, however, was genuine and heartfelt. The girl’s smile was radiant, her eyes bright, and the sunlight filtering through the branches made her exceptionally beautiful.

Yin Zhili stared blankly.

Then, he looked at the chessboard, suddenly shook his head and laughed, saying as he laughed, “I used to think I was a person with firm goals, but now it seems that Miss Jiang Second is the one.”

Her seemingly haphazard and disjointed moves were, in fact, aimed at one goal from beginning to end. She moved cautiously and meticulously, not as thoroughly as Yin Zhili, but like someone who spent a long time weaving a net. While weaving the net, naturally nothing was gained, but she was not in a hurry. She waited patiently, unhurriedly until the net was laid out, and then, as the prey walked in, she slaughtered it all, leaving no survivors.

Truly a gentle knife.

“I can’t tell whether the Second Miss’s chess style is gentle or sharp,” Yin Zhili said with a wry smile. “However, the Second Miss is very skilled, I admit defeat.”

Gentle or sharp? A figure floated into Jiang Li’s mind, just as she always wanted to ask, is he affectionate or fickle?

Jiang Li smiled and said, “Young Master Yin is also impressive.”

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A person’s character could be seen through their chess style, and one could more or less see Yin Zhili’s personality in his playing style. Although gentle, he was by no means cowardly, and it was unlikely that anyone would be able to gain an advantage over him or deceive him.

She spoke sincerely, and Yin Zhili smiled in response. Just as the two were about to get up, Yin Zhiqing’s voice came over. She said, “I’ve been looking for you two for a long time. So you were hiding here playing chess.” She glanced at Jiang Li, then said to Yin Zhili, “Aren’t you usually so proud and didn’t want to play chess with me?”

“Your chess skills are terrible,” Yin Zhili said, looking exasperated. “And you always take back your moves. You should just play against yourself.”

Yin Zhiqing snorted, but didn’t mind his words.

Jiang Jingrui and Jiang Jingyou followed behind and, upon seeing them, said, “It’s getting late, the banquet is probably about to start, let’s go outside first.”

Jiang Li nodded.

She naturally followed along with everyone, but as she walked, she felt her sleeve being tugged. When she turned around, she saw Yin Zhiqing.

Jiang Li looked at her doubtfully.

Yin Zhiqing did not move. After Yin Zhili and the Jiang brothers walked forward and put some distance between them, Yin Zhiqing looked at Jiang Li. She seemed hesitant, but finally asked in a low voice, “Miss Jiang, there is something I want to ask you.”

Jiang Li vaguely guessed what the question might be, and a strange feeling rose in her heart. However her expression remained normal, and she simply said, “Please speak, Princess.”

“That day, my brother and I met you on the streets of Yanjing. Beside you was a young master in red. May I ask who that young master was?”

Jiang Li stared at her.

Yin Zhiqing seemed a little embarrassed, her cheeks flushed slightly, making her look as beautiful as a peach blossom. Seeing that Jiang Li did not answer, she frowned slightly and asked again, “Miss Jiang Second?”

“That was the current Duke Su,” Jiang Li replied.

“Duke Su?” Yin Zhiqing was stunned. She was probably not very familiar with the officials in Yanjing and it seemed like she was hearing about this person for the first time. But soon, she said, “I don’t mean anything by it. What is the relationship between Duke Su and Miss Jiang?”

This question was rather presumptuous. Jiang Li didn’t know if it was because the custom in Yunzhong was open-minded and this county princess was also straightforward, or if she was saying it on purpose. Jiang Li pondered for a moment before replying, “We’re just acquaintances, and have only a few interactions.”

“Are you two close?”

Jiang Li shook her head, “Not too good.”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li swore she saw Yin Zhiqing’s eyes light up. Yin Zhiqing immediately smiled, her smile exceptionally beautiful, outshining the surrounding scenery, and Jiang Li inexplicably found it somewhat dazzling.

“We’ll be staying in Yanjing from now on.” Yin Zhiqing smiled and said meaningfully to Jiang Li, “My older brother doesn’t often play chess with others, nor does he often get along so well with women. It seems he admires you very much.”

One by one, they were all hinting at something. Jiang Li couldn’t help but laugh inwardly, but on the surface she still smiled and said, “His Highness is very good. It is Jiang Li’s honor to be appreciated by His Highness.”