TFRLTOP Chapter 65 Part 1

Chapter 65 – The Tyrant’s Beloved 

◎ Ming Ming: I really am a genius! ◎

“What? All seven strongholds were burned down?” Jiang Ruotian slammed the table and jumped to her feet, eyes wide in shock.

The messenger before her looked grim. “Yes, my lady. A massive fire broke out on the outskirts last night. The mansions, shops, and workshops were all destroyed—none survived. Our strongholds were completely wiped out as well.”

Jiang Ruotian let out a cold laugh. “Completely wiped out, huh? More like they were targeting us specifically.”

“It’s clear the tyrant has discovered that there’s someone else behind all this—someone besides Jiang Wenyuan and the remnants of the old dynasty. He’s testing us.”

“What should we do, my lady?”

“For now,” Jiang Ruotian said evenly, “we stay calm and prepare to leave if necessary.”

“Yes, my lady.”

When Ming Ming woke up that morning, her arms ached, her legs were weak, and she immediately suspected that damn Emperor Wanqian had done something indecent to her while she was asleep.

“System, were you locked up in a dark room again last night?”

The system sounded utterly speechless, suddenly feeling a strange sympathy for the male lead. “Can you not always assume the worst about him? I mean, sure… he’s a bit of a slave to his hormones, but he’s not that bad.”

“He chops people up for fun—that’s not bad to you?” Ming Ming shuddered. “I swear, one of these days he’ll get annoyed and just chop me too. Terrifying.”

The system snorted. “Something big actually happened last night. You’re the only one who managed to sleep through it.”

Ming Ming gasped. “I knew it! He must’ve waited until I fell asleep, then ‘beeped’ me, then ‘beeped’ me again, and then ‘beep-beep-beeped’ me!”

“No wonder my back hurts and my legs are cramping! That damned dog of an emperor!” she said, clutching her waist in grief. “And here I was wondering why he was suddenly being so agreeable last night when I told him ‘no’…”

The system fell silent.

(Seriously, with all those ‘beeps,’ are you hoping something happened?)

“Snap out of it,” it finally said dryly. “Your soreness is from horseback riding and archery yesterday.”

Ming Ming still looked doubtful. “Really? Nothing happened at all?”

“Why would I lie to you?”

She blinked. “Then what could’ve possibly happened that’s more serious than a threat to my virtue?”

“You don’t even have any virtue to threaten!” the system groaned to the heavens. “Anyway, Emperor Wanqian burned down all of Jiang Ruotian’s long-established strongholds.”

Ming Ming froze. “Huh?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“I’m just… shocked,” she said after a beat. “Jiang Ruotian is seriously out there doing business. She’s really the career-woman type—classic heroine material, right? Right? I bet she’s the real female lead! But aren’t heroines supposed to be all about independent glory?”

Ming Ming frowned thoughtfully. “Still, the story’s heroine has to be one of the two sisters. Jiang Fuling doesn’t seem like one… so if Jiang Ruotian is, then doesn’t that make her and Emperor Wanqian the ‘love-hate rivals’ type? And he just burned down her entire empire—wait a second…”

Her eyes widened. “Crap, this is totally a ‘chasing-his-wife-to-the-crematorium’ plotline!”

She covered her mouth. “Oh no… this is gonna be juicy. But I also have this terrible feeling I’m going to die horribly…”

The system: “…” As long as you’re happy, I guess.

After breakfast and washing up, Ming Ming was told that Jiang Fuling had come to visit her at the Snowfall Pavilion.

“Well, now, that’s rare. She actually came to me?” Ming Ming said, surprised.

Jiang Fuling entered cheerfully, gesturing to the maid behind her. “Bring it in.” The maid respectfully carried a box in both hands. Ming Ming’s eyes lit up—Finally, she thought, she’s realized I’m someone worth clinging to. Took her long enough. Fine, I’ll generously let her bask in my glory… unless she’s here to make me play matchmaker for that dog of an emperor. I am not doing that.

She hurried forward to greet her, reaching for the box. “Oh my, my dear sister! You shouldn’t have brought anything! How thoughtful of you—too kind, really—”

Jiang Fuling gave her a puzzled look. “Brought what?” She motioned for the maid to place the box on the table, then took out a chessboard. Another maid set two small jars of black and white stones beside it.

Ming Ming blinked. Was this… not a gift? Why was she still being so coy?

She smiled faintly, trying to be polite as she eyed the chessboard—was it an antique? Handcrafted by a famous artisan, maybe?

Fine, fine, I’ll give her two more minutes to make her move, she thought, glancing at the maids still present.

Once everything was set up, the maids quietly withdrew. Jiang Fuling raised her chin proudly. “Play Go with me.”

“…What?” Ming Ming stared. “You came all the way here… to play Go?”

Not to give me a present???

“Of course, go! What else would we play?” Jiang Fuling thought irritably, If Jiang Ruotian had agreed to play with me, I wouldn’t even be here.

Wow. Not a gift. She really just wanted a board game buddy.

“You know how to play Go?” Ming Ming asked suspiciously. I thought she’d be more of a tic-tac-toe type.

“As the legitimate daughter of my house, I’m naturally expected to master the four arts—zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Why? Is that so surprising? …Oh right, I forgot—you’re the illegitimate one.”

Ming Ming clenched her fists. God, I want to bash her smug little head in.

“Never mind,” Jiang Fuling said magnanimously. “I’ll teach you.”

Ming Ming had always thought of Go as an overly pretentious game—mostly because she didn’t know how to play. She could handle checkers or gobang, sure, but Go? Not a chance.

Back in the orphanage, the director had tried to teach her chess, but she thought it smelled like “old man energy.” It wasn’t cool at all. Go, on the other hand, seemed mysterious and classy—she’d always wanted to learn, but never had anyone to teach her.

So, when Jiang Fuling offered, Ming Ming instantly forgot her earlier irritation and leaned forward eagerly. “Yes, yes! Teach me!”

The two sat across from each other as Jiang Fuling explained the rules—how to place the stones, how to surround the opponent’s pieces. Ming Ming listened with wide-eyed confusion, interrupting every few minutes to ask questions.

At first, Jiang Fuling was patient—she enjoyed the superiority of being the “teacher.” Ha! Look at her admiring me—so satisfying!

But that feeling didn’t last long. She wasn’t exactly born to be a tutor, and before long, she grew frustrated. “Are you stupid or what?”

Ming Ming immediately snapped back, “You’re stupid! You’re just bad at teaching! You probably don’t even know how to play yourself! Stop pretending you’re some kind of master—‘central bloom, thirty points,’ ‘seven along the edge and still lose’—you’re just making stuff up! I bet those so-called proverbs don’t even exist!”

“Of course they do!” Jiang Fuling shot back. “They’re the fundamentals of Go! You’re just too ignorant to know them!”

“But you can’t even explain what they mean,” Ming Ming said, narrowing her eyes. “So you don’t know how to play!”

“I do too! I—I just understand it instinctively, alright? I can’t put it into words! You’re the one lacking comprehension! Ever heard of ‘The master leads you to the door, but cultivation depends on yourself’?”

Ming Ming huffed. “You dare call yourself a master? You didn’t lead me anywhere—you just dragged me to the doorway to peek inside! Also, I might not know Go, but even I’ve heard of ‘no take-backs after placing a stone.’ Count how many times you’ve gone back on your moves! What kind of teacher cheats?!”

“I did not cheat!”

“You totally did!”

“I didn’t!”

“Yes, you did!”

The two glared at each other, neither willing to back down, both increasingly annoyed by the other’s face.

After a long standoff, Ming Ming finally asked with a blank expression, “Wanna play Gomoku?”

“…” Jiang Fuling hesitated for a second, then said decisively, “Yeah!”

And so, they started playing Gomoku.