"I haven’t read any military texts and have been reading the ’Spring and Autumn Annals’ to infer military strategy. What do you think of my strategy?"
Zheng Qian was startled, his eyes widened, displaying an expression of disbelief.
"You haven’t read military texts?"
Zhao Yao replied, "No, I haven’t read a single proper military text."
"How is that possible?" Zheng Qian was skeptical, "Your military strategy is so advanced, how could you have not read any military texts?"
Zhao Yao shrugged, "Really, I haven’t read a single military text."
Zheng Qian stared at Zhao Yao in shock and saw his frank expression, realizing Zhao Yao wasn’t lying.
"Then where did you learn such advanced military strategy?"
"My mentor taught me. He teaches me military strategy through playing chess."
"Who is your mentor?"
"That I cannot tell you." Zhao Yao didn’t even know who his second uncle was himself, so he quickly changed the subject, "Zheng Qian, don’t think that just because you’ve read a few military texts you understand military strategy. It’s not as simple as you imagine. What you know is just armchair strategy. If you went to the battlefield with such paper-based strategy, you and your soldiers would have perished long ago."
Zheng Qian had always been conceited. He believed that as easily as he could learn from books, military texts would be the same. He thought reading the strategy texts meant he knew strategy. Now, it became clear he was indeed just talking strategy on paper.
Zhao Yao picked up a white piece, seemingly placing it casually, yet this piece turned the situation around, granting the white pieces, which had been surrounded by black with no escape, a glimmer of hope.
Witnessing this scene, Zheng Qian was dumbfounded.
"Texts are static, but military strategy is dynamic." Zhao Yao placed another white piece, this time directly winning over the black pieces. "Military strategy is adaptable and not something that can be fully described with a few lines in a book. You underestimate it." If his second uncle knew of Zheng Qian’s thoughts, he’d likely be furious with him.
Zheng Qian stared blankly at the piece Zhao Yao just placed. He couldn’t believe a move could turn defeat into victory.
This move was truly brilliant, but... he couldn’t have thought of it, would never have thought of it.
Zheng Rang and Zheng Cheng were equally shocked.
"In the battlefield, situations change in an instant. If you can’t flexibly apply strategy, reading all the military texts in the world won’t help." Zhao Yao smiled and said, "Zheng Qian, haven’t you heard of the saying, ’It is better to have no book than to trust it entirely’?"
Zheng Qian found himself unable to retort.
Zhao Yao continued, "Zheng Qian, never underestimate military strategy again."
Zheng Qian then solemnly saluted Zhao Yao and said earnestly, "My lord, I have been enlightened."
As Zhao Yao was about to take a sip from his teacup, he froze upon hearing Zheng Qian address him as "My lord," then quickly looked up at Zheng Qian, "What did you just call me?"
Zheng Rang and Zheng Cheng also heard Zheng Qian call Zhao Yao "My lord," their faces showing disbelief.
Wait, did little brother just call the tenth prince "my lord"!
They couldn’t have heard wrong.
"My lord!" Zheng Qian suddenly performed a very formal salute towards Zhao Yao, "Subordinate Zheng Qian meets my lord!"
"My lord?" Zhao Yao was so shocked the teacup nearly fell from his hands, "Me? I’m your lord?"
"Yes, you are the lord I’ve been searching for!" Zheng Qian’s expression was solemn, his tone sincere, "From today on, you are my lord! I, Zheng Qian, will henceforth follow my lord!"
With a clatter, Zhao Yao’s teacup finally fell to the ground.
The sound snapped Zheng Rang and Zheng Cheng out of their immense shock. They exclaimed, "Little brother, what are you saying, is his highness your lord?"
"Yes, his highness is the lord I came to the capital to find!" Through these two games of chess, Zheng Qian confirmed Zhao Yao was indeed the lord he sought! Although the lord’s age and identity were beyond his expectations, through these two games, he could see Zhao Yao was wiser than he was.
Although it was just two games of chess, they revealed much. The tenth prince’s intelligence wasn’t just evident in the games.
"How is that possible?" Zhao Yao and Zheng Rang exclaimed in unison.
"Little brother, did you make a mistake?" Zheng Rang asked.
Zheng Qian glared at Zheng Rang, expressionless, "How could I be mistaken, his highness is the lord I’m looking for..."
Zhao Yao interrupted Zheng Qian, "Wait, Zheng Qian, you don’t mean because I won two games against you, you think I’m your lord?"
"Right, little brother, didn’t you say the lord you were looking for was smarter than you?" Zheng Rang added, "Didn’t you say your lord was the smartest person in the land?"