TFWYH – Chapter 504 A Strong Desire to Kill

“It’s nothing!” Grand Tutor Yi seemed to quite like her. “It’s almost noon—why don’t you stay and have a meal with this old man?”

Tang Wan glanced at Ling Yu. Seeing him give a slight nod, she agreed, “Then we’ll trouble you.”

“No trouble at all—this old man is bored out of his mind every day!” As he said this, Yi Taishi turned to look at Ling Yu again.

At first glance, he hadn’t noticed anything unusual, but upon closer inspection, he froze.

Why did this young man look so much like the Second Prince?

No… compared to the Second Prince, he looked even more like the heir of Rongsheng!

Ling Yu noticed his expression, lowered his gaze, and cupped his hands. “This student greets Grand Tutor.”

Yi Taishi snapped back to his senses. A faint glint flashed in his eyes, and he said cheerfully, “Truly a fine young man. Tell me, do you know how to play chess?”

“A little,” Ling Yu replied.

“Come, come—play a round with this old man!”

Yi Taishi had no airs about him and quickly had a chessboard brought out.

He took the white pieces, while Ling Yu took black. The two began their match.

After a short while, Tang Wan looked at the board, where the white pieces had been completely crushed, and the corner of her eye twitched.

Yi Taishi’s brow also jumped as he stared at the hopeless position. After a long pause, he looked up at Ling Yu. “This is what you call ‘a little’?”

“You let me win, Grand Tutor,” Ling Yu said with a slight smile as he placed the final piece. There was no way for the white side to recover.

Yi Taishi sighed helplessly and tossed the piece back into the box. “Young man, your killing intent is quite heavy.”

Ling Yu’s style was sharp and aggressive, filled with killing intent—he treated offense as defense, willing to sacrifice greatly without retreat.

They say one’s chess reflects one’s character. If so, Ling Yu was likely much the same.

“Young man,” Yi Taishi probed, “you know martial arts, don’t you?”

Ling Yu nodded. “I know a bit of basic combat.”

“No wonder,” Yi Taishi stroked his chin, then asked, “then why not compete for the title of Martial Champion?”

Ling Yu smiled. “That honor is reserved for my younger brother. Compared to me, his temperament is more suited to the martial path.”

Yi Taishi was taken aback again, then burst into laughter.

Pointing at Ling Yu and then at Tang Wan, he said, “You two are quite interesting. It’s been a long time since I’ve been this amused.”

Ling Yu replied calmly, “If I can bring a smile to the Grand Tutor, then I’ve gained something.”

Yi Taishi chuckled. “Alright, enough small talk. You came to see me because of that boy from the Gu family, didn’t you?”

As the chief official in charge of this provincial examination, nothing that happened in the examination compound escaped his notice.

Gu Chengwen had used the Gu family’s hidden connections to deliberately make things difficult for Ling Yu, moving his seat next to the latrine in hopes of affecting his performance and causing him to fail.

After learning of this, Yi Taishi had immediately rushed to the compound to review Ling Yu’s paper, worried that such a talent might have been affected.

But to his surprise, Ling Yu had not been affected at all—his paper was nearly perfect.

The top rank this time would undoubtedly be his.

Gu Chengwen had played the villain for nothing—and even exposed the Gu family’s hidden resources in the process.

However, what surprised Yi Taishi even more was that Prime Minister Gu had also rushed over immediately after hearing about the matter, and for once did not oppose him.

After reviewing Ling Yu’s paper, Gu Cheng had even praised him highly.

Having been rivals with Prime Minister Gu for many years, Yi Taishi knew him extremely well—he could practically predict his every move.

Thinking of this, Yi Taishi turned to Tang Wan and said, “County Mistress, could I trouble you to put away this chess set and have it stored by the steward?”

“Of course!” Tang Wan glanced at Ling Yu, then quickly looked away and went forward to gather the pieces and board.

She knew Yi Taishi wanted to speak privately with her husband. Besides, her handsome husband would tell her everything later anyway—she wasn’t curious!

After tidying up the chess set, Tang Wan left.

Once she was gone, Yi Taishi looked at Ling Yu and said meaningfully:

“Prime Minister Gu has an unmarried legitimate granddaughter, just two years older than you. Ling Yu, if he were to choose a son-in-law from among this year’s candidates… who do you think he would pick?”