This seemed to be the closest she had ever been to him, so close he could almost smell the faint fragrance wafting from her.
Lu Shuo couldn't identify the scent—it was like some kind of flower or herb, or maybe a pastry, with a touch of sweetness. But when he tried to get a better sniff, it was gone.
He inhaled a few times, then suddenly realized what he was doing, and his ears flushed bright red.
"What's wrong?" Zisu looked up, concerned. "Young Master Lu, have you caught a cold?"
"N-no..." Lu Shuo rubbed his nose guiltily. "Just a little itchy."
"Maybe the wind is strong outside," Zisu said, getting up to close half of the window.
Lu Shuo: "...Thank you."
"Well then, let's begin," Zisu said cheerfully, rattling the game pieces in the box. "Even with the Miss helping, I won't give up easily."
Lu Shuo clenched his palms and nodded. "I... I'll try my best."
He couldn't help sneaking a glance at Helan Pei beside him. She was leaning slightly over the table, twirling a charcoal pencil between her fingers. Her goose-yellow skirt spilled over the cushion, covering a corner of his own robe.
Lu Shuo took a light breath, forcing himself not to get distracted, and stared at the patterns on the board, ready for battle.
The new game officially began.
Zisu had played with Helan Pei so many times that she had internalized many tricks. She couldn't beat Helan Pei, but she was more than a match for Lu Shuo. So even though she rolled a bad color at the start, she wasn't flustered and continued playing calmly. It wasn't until Lu Shuo began rolling a string of poor colors and their luck swapped that she seized the opportunity to turn the tide.
Lu Shuo frowned slightly, holding a piece in his hand, uncertain of his next move.
A rapid scratching sound came from beside him.
Lu Shuo turned his head and saw Helan Pei bent over, writing furiously.
When he saw what she had written, his eyebrows twitched violently.
Helan Pei was indeed giving him advice on the next move, but...
Afraid he wouldn't understand, she had written in extremely simple characters, deliberately using homophones or even misspellings so that as long as he could recognize the character, he would know how to read it, and thus understand the correct meaning.
Lu Shuo: "..."
Uh, Fourth Miss, are you being a little too considerate? And a little too underestimating of me?
And wasn't this cheating Zisu? Hadn't she said earlier that whether he could read it was up to chance?
But he silently followed her advice and moved his piece.
Gradually, Lu Shuo noticed that Helan Pei didn't offer advice on every move. Sometimes, when there was only one obvious move, she wouldn't write anything. Other times, when he thought there was only one move and made it quickly, she would look at him, shake her head, sigh with a faint smile, but not let him take it back—instead, she would jot down the current board state with simple strokes on paper. The only times she wrote were when he hesitated.
Halfway through the game, the board was deadlocked, with neither side having a clear advantage.
Zisu eyed Lu Shuo suspiciously.
She was struggling so much—the Miss must be helping. But had Lu Shuo improved so quickly that he could understand everything she wrote?
Lu Shuo cleared his throat. "Your turn."
Zisu suppressed her doubts, picked up the dice, and rolled an excellent color. Her expression relaxed as she quickly moved.
It was Lu Shuo's turn to roll, and he got an average color. He instinctively looked toward Helan Pei, who had already started writing.
But this time, she no longer deliberately wrote simplified misspellings to make it easier for him to read.
"The adaptation period is over; I can't help you cheat anymore." She looked up and winked at him, then continued writing. "Move left three, stack on your own piece. If she takes the bait and comes to eat you next turn, you move the piece on the right."
Lu Shuo strained to read.
Her handwriting was still beautiful, her fingers holding the charcoal pencil as slender as scallion roots, her nails turning slightly white at the tips from pressure.
Lu Shuo averted his gaze and wiped his cheek, unsure if it was itchy or hot.
Although there were still some characters he didn't know, based on his accumulated game experience, he guessed the gist. He followed Helan Pei's method, and his trapped pieces suddenly found an escape.
The situation tipped instantly. Zisu let out an "Ah!" and slapped her thigh in frustration. "Fell for it!"
The game ended, and Lu Shuo actually won.
He was stunned for a moment, staring at the board before it sank in. Then he couldn't stop the smile from spreading across his face. He scratched his head and grinned at Helan Pei.
Helan Pei's eyes sparkled, a smile lingering at the corners of her mouth.
Only Zisu pouted. "Honestly, Miss, you don't go easy on your servants!"
Helan Pei pursed her lips, smiled, and wrote a few more lines, handing them to Zisu.
Zisu read them and immediately cried out, "Oh, you cheated! Miss, you deliberately wrote homophones he could recognize! That's not fair!"
Helan Pei, still smiling, wrote another few lines.
Lu Shuo glanced over, half-understanding and half-guessing that she was saying she would teach Lu Shuo a bit more, review the mistakes, then let Lu Shuo and Zisu play a fair game without any interference.
Zisu rolled her eyes. "So that means Young Master Lu is the Miss's student, and I'm playing against her student?"
Helan Pei nodded.
Zisu looked at Lu Shuo. "What do you think, Young Master Lu?"
Lu Shuo said sheepishly, "I did break the rules just now. I should start a new game with Miss Zisu."
Zisu: "Alright, you're straightforward. Then Miss, please teach Young Master Lu first. I'll take this time to get some snacks from the kitchen. We can eat when we're done."