The Nine Provinces Are My Board, and I Make My Moves Across the World

A game of Go descends from the heavens, and the Grand Princess I serve loses her life right from the start.

As her only court Go player, I inherit her three remaining desolate cities and the right to compete as a “player.”

Every noblewoman at court is waiting to laugh at me, betting I won’t make it past the first round.

They say, “A lowly court Go player thinks she can play against us?”

But they don’t know.

While they’re still congratulating themselves over winning or losing a city or two, my first stone has already landed in the hearts of people beyond the board.

They’re betting the world on this game.

And I’m betting their lives.

On the first day the Nine Provinces Go game begins, I do something that leaves everyone speechless.

I hand over the only valuable military city I have, Yanmen.

The Third Princess, my opponent, nearly falls off her phoenix throne laughing, then sends troops to take the strategic pass that very night.

Everyone says I’m insane. A court Go player is just a court Go player, after all, someone who doesn’t even understand the most basic principles of Go.

They wait for the Third Princess’s army to grind me into the dirt.

But they don’t understand.

In Go, there are four words: “Sacrifice a stone to seize the initiative.”

They covet dead positions, fighting over a city here and a city there. I sacrifice one useless stone to bring the entire Nine Provinces to life.