Chapter 1 The Miss Orders Things

At Miss Zhuo's command, Lu Dan, the waiter, and two other guards who loved army chess squeezed into the Yizhan Tower to listen to the grandmaster's explanation. As soon as the waiter saw the person explaining, he said to Lu Dan, "You guys are really lucky. Today it's Jiao Kang explaining. Although this guy isn't good at playing, his explanations are the best…" His voice was immediately drowned out by the low hum of voices.

Miss Zhuo, accompanied by her maid Sisi and Chief Steward Liu, stepped into the Yizhan Shop next door to the Yizhan Tower. Although called a shop, this store specializing in army chess and related products also had two floors, with a very wide counter. In addition to army chess sets of various prices and portable army chess boxes, there were also various small tools for maintaining chess pieces made of various materials, special chess piece boxes for classifying and arranging chess pieces carved into human figures, and even hourglasses and alarm clocks for timing the game, and even cushions embroidered with patterns of various arms of the military... everything a chess player might need was readily available.

Seeing Miss Zhuo enter the store with her maid and a middle-aged servant, a very cute girl immediately greeted them. The girl's skin was like snow, her eyes were green-grey, and although her hair was black, it was a little curly, making her look like a mixed-race child. The girl warmly greeted them and asked, "Welcome, miss. Would you like me to introduce you to our products?"

Miss Zhuo nodded slightly and said, "There are so many things here. What's special about them?"

The girl immediately began to explain the various products in the store in a torrent of words, interpreting the ubiquitous business opportunities as meticulous care for chess players in all aspects. The girl's glib tongue even made Chief Steward Liu, who was always calm and easy-going, feel strongly that he was being hustled. After the girl introduced everything, she saw that although Miss Zhuo was very curious, she didn't seem to have much desire to buy anything, but just casually picked out an hourglass and a portable army chess box with celadon chess pieces. The girl immediately had an idea and introduced, "Although many people in Yicheng like army chess, some people still think army chess isn't clever enough, and it's also a bit too aggressive. Miss, would you like to move to the second floor? The second floor mainly sells terrain components for the Grand Melee (Da Bo Sha) gameplay of army chess and the most complex and exquisite Phantom Spirit Chess (Huan Ling Qi)."

Miss Zhuo's interest was piqued again, and she followed the girl to the second floor. Most of the space on the second floor was filled with stepped shelves, on which were placed components that imitated various terrains, which immediately attracted Miss Zhuo's attention.

"Miss, the Grand Melee gameplay is very popular now. However, at least six sets of chess pieces have to be laid out on each side, which won't fit on the table. There are large enough chess boards in the Yizhan Tower, but many people's homes are in their studies or bedrooms. They move the tables and chairs, and use books and even various objects to pile up the terrain to play. This is very inconvenient and easy to damage items, especially books and paintings, which are a pity to damage. These terrain components are different. They can be pieced together and used anywhere, and they are also very convenient to clean up. Many teenagers who buy chess pieces and chessboards can instigate their families to buy them these terrain components." The girl's explanation brought a wry smile to Miss Zhuo's face.

"If I had known there was such a thing, the scores in my study wouldn't have been ruined by those two stinky little brothers. Uncle Liu, tell Lu Dan to come later and buy a set of everything here. After returning to the capital, we'll clear out a room for those guys to mess around in, and never let them into my study again." Miss Zhuo said fiercely, her expression of exasperation and helplessness was really moving.

Chief Steward Liu responded with a smile.

The girl knew that there would definitely be a big deal, and she was happy in her heart, but she turned her thoughts to a deeper aspect: "Miss, are you from the capital? Do people in the capital also play army chess? These Grand Melee gameplay rules haven't been out for long."

"Oh?" Miss Zhuo asked curiously, "Is there something special about this gameplay?"

The girl took out a stack of booklets from a counter on the side and handed them to Miss Zhuo respectfully. "This is the rule explanation for the regular gameplay... this is the rule for the Three Kingdoms War gameplay... this is the rule for the Grand Melee gameplay, which was revised and printed by our young master last month. And this one is the gameplay and explanation for Phantom Spirit Chess. The rules of Phantom Spirit Chess are complicated, and even the guys in our store are still learning it, so it's not easy for me to explain it to you, miss. Please accept this booklet. If you have any suggestions for improving the rules of chess, please feel free to give us your advice."

Looking at the thick book, which was probably 400 pages of rules and introductions, Chief Steward Liu also gasped. No matter what, anyone who could conceive of such complicated rules was no ordinary person. It was really not easy to understand them before starting to play.

"There are quite a few people in the capital who play army chess. The chess pieces and boards are not expensive, but the gameplay is much cruder than here in Yicheng," Miss Zhuo said very honestly.

The girl said, "Our young master once thought about opening an Yizhan Tower and an Yizhan Shop in the capital. But the young master was busy with affairs, so it was delayed. In Yicheng, we are the only store opened by the Ye family. However, many merchants purchase chessboards, chess pieces, and other items from us and sell them in their own stores. I think the same is true in the capital. If it weren't for this, the number of chessboards sold by our store in the past few months would probably mean that every family in Yicheng has one."

"So many!?" Miss Zhuo said with a smile, "Your store's young master is very shrewd in business. I've only been in Yicheng for a few hours, but I've heard your store's young master's name many times."

The girl said proudly, "The young master is very capable. If you have time, miss, just turn around the intersection ahead and you'll find the Ye family's furniture store. That's where the young master's ability is most evident."

Miss Zhuo was a little moved by what she said, looked at Chief Steward Liu, and said, "Let's go and take a look."

The girl didn't mind Miss Zhuo leaving at this moment. Anyway, she had already said that she would have her servants come to buy terrain components. Just this one deal would make the Yizhan Shop very profitable today. The girl respectfully saw Miss Zhuo off as she left the Yizhan Shop.

It was only a distance of more than 200 steps from the Yizhan Shop to the corner of the road ahead. It would be pretentious to get in and out of the carriage for such a short distance. Miss Zhuo refused the guard's request to get into the carriage and walked in front. Chief Steward Liu had no choice but to walk beside Miss Zhuo, a little behind, and occasionally reached out to divert the flow of people for Miss Zhuo, never willing to lose the etiquette of master and servant even in this detail. Several guards were scattered around, watching the movements of the surrounding pedestrians as if nothing was happening, paying attention to the actions of the surrounding pedestrians, obviously with extremely strict defenses against assassinations and other events. The lagging guards pulled the carriage and followed closely, maintaining a very particular distance.

Turning the corner, they immediately saw the huge sign of the Ye family's furniture store. The sign was not a plaque hanging on the building, but a huge cube standing on the side of the road. The outside of the cube, which was made of unknown materials, was painted with bright royal blue, and the characters carved on it were filled with bright yellow objects, extremely strong contrasting colors highlighting the four bright characters - "Yi Jia Ju Jia" (Ikea).