At the third quarter of the Mao hour, the air inside Dreamweaving House was crisp with the scent of post-snowfall. Pei Hongxiu sat straight before the Populus euphratica Go board. Her ivory comb parted her long hair with meticulous precision, yet tucked among the strands was an abacus bead hairpin carved by Huwa—an item she had pilfered from Zhang Yifan's desk after sobering up the previous night.
"Yifan," her ivory comb tapped lightly against the "Merchant" piece on the board, her gold-inlaid hair-tassel gleaming coldly in the morning light. "Today we speak only of chess, not romance. If you lose, hand over the decision-making power of the Silk Road Trade Alliance to me for three days."
Zhang Yifan sat down, jingling his Gilded Abacus Beads, which bounced across the board to spell the word "Gambling." "If I win, Boss Pei must agree to a single condition."
Chapter 112