After Jiang Yan sent Ganyu to Yuehai Pavilion and returned, he saw the little girls enthusiastically playing chess.
"Big brother, do you want to play chess with us?"
Seeing Jiang Yan come back, Kamisato Ayaka happily invited him.
"I made this—it's a chessboard unique to Inazuma. Let me explain how to play…"
Usually, little Ayaka had to deal with all kinds of boring and complicated etiquette lessons every day.
Only when she played chess did she feel a little happier.
For Ayaka, playing chess was a form of entertainment that allowed her to temporarily forget her troubles and steal a moment of leisure from her busy life.
So she loved chess very much and was especially happy to share this game she liked with her big brother.
Jiang Yan rarely played chess.
Because his chess skills were terrible—to be honest, he barely knew how to play at all.
But he believed—
She was just a kid. No matter how bad he was, there was no way he would lose to a child… right?
Jiang Yan felt extremely confident.
Walking over, he teased Ayaka:
"Little girl, your big brother here is very strong."
"If you lose later, you can't cry about it."
"Hmph! Big brother, don't underestimate people."
Little Ayaka snorted proudly.
"I'm really good at chess!"
"Hahaha, then I'll have to properly experience our little Ayaka's chess skills."
Jiang Yan laughed.
Under the watchful eyes of the three little ones—Ningguang, Beidou, and Shenhe, he began the match with Ayaka.
…
"Check~"
Before long, Ayaka looked up, her voice filled with delight.
"Ahem, ahem… that move doesn't count. I was actually going to place it somewhere else just now."
Jiang Yan coughed awkwardly, about to shamelessly take back his move—
But Ayaka grabbed his hand.
"Big brother can't cheat!"
Ayaka puffed her cheeks and protested.
Seeing the cute and indignant expression on the little girl's face, Jiang Yan burst out laughing.
If cute little kids weren't meant to be teased, then life would lose half its fun.
He rubbed Ayaka's head and asked gently:
"Little Ayaka, who taught you how to play chess? You're so good at it!"
Without thinking, the little girl immediately answered:
"My mom taught me!"
"My mom is really amazing. I can never beat her."
When she mentioned her mother, Ayaka's eyes lit up.
Because in her heart, compared to her father's strictness, her mother's gentleness was what she loved more.
Her mother always patiently taught her that no matter what dangers she encountered, she should remain calm and composed.
To the outside world, the Lady of the Kamisato Clan was known for her gentleness and virtue.
Whether appearing in public or meeting distinguished guests, she always gave people the impression of being graceful and elegant.
And in truth, it was exactly like that.
Her mother gave Ayaka many precious memories and bestowed all her tenderness upon her.
When Jiang Yan heard Ayaka talk about her mother—
Especially when he saw the happiness on her face—
He couldn't help but feel mixed emotions.
Because in the game storyline from his previous life, Ayaka's background story clearly mentioned something:
When Ayaka was still very young, both her father and mother passed away one after another from exhaustion.
Her brother Kamisato Ayato, who had once been a carefree noble young master, suddenly became a "naive boy" mocked by political enemies overnight.
And Ayaka herself transformed overnight—
From a mischievous child into the graceful and noble Shirasagi Himegimi (White Heron Princess).
To outsiders, she appeared elegant and dignified.
But no one knew that she had never originally wanted to be that way.
If she could choose, Ayaka would much rather be an ordinary carefree girl.
But life forced her to wear a mask and do things she didn't truly like.
The deaths of her parents took away the peace of the Kamisato Clan—
And also took away Ayaka's happy childhood.
However…
Because Jiang Yan had previously saved Raiden Makoto and Kitsune Saiguu, things had already changed.
That meant Raiden Ei never considered creating the puppet meant to pursue eternity.
And because of that, the later event where Scaramouche destroyed the Raiden Gokaden (Five Great Raiden Schools) never happened.
After all—
If Scaramouche was never created, how could he destroy the Raiden Gokaden?
So in the current timeline, Ayaka's parents probably wouldn't suddenly die like they did in the original story.
Thinking this, Jiang Yan gently rubbed Ayaka's little head and said with a smile:
"In that case, little Ayaka, you can't run away from home so casually anymore."
"If you disappear like that, your parents will definitely worry."
Ayaka nodded vigorously.
This incident had definitely taught her a lesson.
If she hadn't happened to meet a good person like big brother Jiang Yan, who knew what situation she might have ended up in.
But thinking about her mother also made her miss her family after running so far from home.
Of course—
When she said she missed her family, she only meant her parents.
There was absolutely no intention of including her brother.
Because her brother loved teasing her all the time.
In the little girl's mind, there was already no place for her brother in the family.
(Everyone, feel the classic sibling treatment!)
After that, Jiang Yan gave the chessboard to Ningguang, since she seemed very interested in this kind of board game.
Meanwhile, Beidou and Shenhe studied together using the books Jiang Yan had given them.
Jiang Yan had already chosen different cultivation directions for his three little disciples.
Beidou focused on martial techniques.
Shenhe leaned toward talisman arts.
Ningguang focused more on spells and magical arts.
Since Ningguang possessed the Vision gifted by Morax, she had a natural advantage when it came to learning magic.
But Beidou and Shenhe didn't.
They needed to study many more foundational concepts first.
However, Ningguang's main area of study wasn't actually magic.
What she truly needed to learn was how to govern a nation and handle administrative affairs.
In short, each of Jiang Yan's three little disciples had their own path to work hard toward.
Jiang Yan wouldn't interfere with their choices.
After all, the road felt more solid when one walked it by oneself.
What Jiang Yan needed to do was guide them onto the path—
And when they strayed, point them back in the right direction.
Because it was raining heavily outside, Jiang Yan decided to stay home longer than usual.
After making lunch for the little ones, Jiang Yan opened a portal—
And arrived at the third floor of Yuehai Pavilion. 🌧️♟️
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