“Don’t mention it, play chess with me.” The Crown Prince brought out a chess set.
Chen Ji shook his head. “Why are you angry with the Crown Princess again? When a woman is pregnant, their temper will worsen. You should give in to her more.”
The Crown Prince rolled his eyes. “I can give in to her in other things, but there are some things that she does that I really cannot stand. A married woman’s opinion will ruin big plans. If I don’t teach her a lesson, I don’t know what kind of trouble she will cause in the future. If only she could be like you, simple and dumb.”
“How am I dumb? Look.” Chen Ji placed a black bead on the chess board and looked at the Crown Prince sympathetically. “Your big dragon is dead.”
“Your big dragon is the one that is dead.” The Crown Prince placed down a white bead, determining the winner.
Chen Ji was stunned. “Can I replay my move?”
“What do you think?” Looking at Chen Ji’s frustrated face, the Crown Prince laughed. “How about this? Whoever loses in chess will drink as a punishment.”
Chen Ji smiled. “Okay, you have a lot of good wine here, I can get addicted.”
Alas, Chen Ji lost game after game. Seeing how happy he looked while he was drinking, the Crown Prince decided to join him. They drank until they were drunk as they lay down on the couch, promptly falling asleep.
The both of them fell asleep without a care in the world. However, their actions startled two others. The first was Official Situ, who recently has been patrolling daily. The other was Shuangxi, who was sent by Sun Lingshu to find out where the Crown Prince had gone to rest.
Light shone as daybreak. Birds started to look for food as they chirped noisily.
The Crown Prince turned around on the bed. He opened his eyes only to stare straight into Chen Ji’s face. He sat up in shock. Chen Ji was awoken by his huge movement as he rubbed his eyes and sat up.
“What…” The Crown Prince looked around and realised that they were in the study room. He recalled their drinking session the previous night. “From now on, we cannot drink when we play chess. Otherwise, who knows what we’d do.”
“Huh? We wouldn’t do anything if we’re drunk. We would be lying down.” Chen Ji felt that he was not accurate.
“Thankfully no one saw us. Make sure you don't go out and spread this.” Regardless, the Crown Prince knew he did not behave according to etiquette.
“It is also my reputation, okay? You are also not allowed to spread rumours.” Chen Ji jumped off the couch and straightened his clothes.
At this moment, the internal attendants reported that Official Situ requested an audience. The Crown Prince pointed out that they did not complete their game the previous day and told Chen Ji to think about how to turn the situation around before he returns. However, given his lousy chess skills, Chen Ji did not know what there was to think about. Nonetheless, he still gazed at the chess pieces and thought about it seriously.
Chapter 25.2: Chen Xin
Not long after, Fu Rou passed by the Crown Prince’s study room and saw Shuangxi behaving suspiciously and trying to look through the window gaps. She then snuck away. When she saw Shuangxi behave in this manner the previous time, Official Situ had lost three pearls. Fu Rou could not help but feel concerned as she purposely walked to the front door of the study, only to see Chen Ji sitting in there.
“Chen Ji, why have you entered the palace again?” She had a bad feeling about this.
Chen Ji spoke frankly, “I helped His Highness and in order to thank me, His Highness gave me a small house in Chang’an. However, the furniture is not ready and my leg is still injured. Hence, His Highness asked me to stay in the Eastern Palace for a few days to accompany him to play chess. When the furniture is ready, I will leave. Oh, my small house is along Luoye Alley. Come pay me a visit when you have time. That will be my home in the future. I don’t have many friends, but you are one of them.”
Fu Rou fell silent for a moment. “Since we are friends, can I say something honestly?”
Chen Ji replied, “Just say it.”
“You should not get too close to His Highness.” She could convince Prince Zhou but she could not stop the masses from talking.
“I am simply friends with His Highness, I never thought of gaining anything from him. He was the one who brought me to the house, that’s how I found out about it.” Chen Ji’s thoughts were simple.
Fu Rou sighed, “The Crown Prince is not like everyone else. He is the heir to the throne. If people were to know that you are friends with him, it will not be good for you or the Crown Prince.”
“So this is because I am an actor.”
Fu Rou replied, “I am just direct, don’t get angry.”
Chen Ji shook his head. “I am not angry, I also feel that this is not very appropriate. But we get alongvery well. Forget it, when I see the Crown Prince later on, I will bid him farewell and leave the Eastern Palace.”
“It is good that you can think this way.” Fu Rou smiled and left.
Soon, the Crown Prince returned to the study room. It was obvious that he was distracted as he played. Official Situ specially came to warn him after catching him drunk with Chen Ji the previous night. The Crown Prince believed that they were not behaving inappropriately but understood what Official Situ was trying to say. The worst that could happen was someone intentionally creating rumours out of it.
Thereafter, the Crown Prince found out that he was not the only one that was distracted. Chen Ji placed a black bead and made a fundamental mistake.
The Crown Prince pointed to the other corner. “You should put it here.”
“Here? Then my pieces here are doomed.” Chen Ji could not understand.
“Although you have to sacrifice these pieces, you protected your big dragon. At critical moments, you have to sacrifice small in order to protect the bigger picture. In chess, this is called abandoning pieces.”
“So this is what abandoning means. Your Highness, you said that life is like a chess game. Will there be a lot of abandoned pieces in your life?”
“They appear at any time.” The Crown Prince asked a question after he answered. “Do you think I am very heartless?”
Chen Ji smiled. “No, you are doing the right thing. I understand abandoning. It is like Zhao Zilong’s Seven Charges into Changbanpo. When he met with Madam Gan and Ah Dou, Zhao Zilong could not save the both of them. In order to help Zhao Zilong escape with Ah Dou, Madam Gan jumped into the well. Madam Gan was an abandoned piece. If she didn’t die, Zhao Zilong and Ah Dou would have died with her.”
The Crown Prince realised what he was getting at and stared at Chen Ji. “Luckily you are Zhao Zilong and not Madam Gan.”
“Your Highness, I know that you treat me as a close friend. If you ever need to use me as an abandoned piece, I am fine with it.”
“Shut up. For no rhyme or reason, you can’t say such unlucky words. You are really not sensible.” The Crown Prince stared at the chessboard as he rubbed a chess piece between his fingers for a long time. “Chen Ji, even if something happens in the future, I will not treat you as an abandoned piece. This is my promise to you.”
Chen Ji looked at the focused Crown Prince. “I am leaving.”
The Crown Prince suddenly lifted his head. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
Chen Ji suddenly understood. Fu Rou was right. The Eastern Palace was not a place where he should be.
Prince Han rushed back home and showed Consort Han the rouge liquid that he bought for her. However, Consort Han did not behave like she usually did and did not even spare a glance. She stared at the paper in her hand and could not stop shaking her head and sighing.
Prince Han did not like it when she frowned and asked out of concern, “What happened?”