Chapter 211: Chapter 211: Hidden Too Deep
Qu Fulan introduced the game "Who’s the Undercover" and explained the rules to everyone.
"The game involves undercover agents and civilians. Depending on the number of players present, most of the players receive the same word, while the remaining players receive a related word. Each person must describe their word in one sentence per round, giving hints to their teammates without alerting the undercover. After each round, everyone votes on who they suspect is the undercover. The person with the most votes is out. If all undercovers are out, the game ends. If any undercover remains, the game continues. This process repeats. If the undercover lasts until the last round with only three people left, the undercover wins; otherwise, the civilians win."
Fang Yuan was immediately excited and said, "This game sounds interesting, let’s start quickly."
Third Miss also smiled and said, "Fulan is indeed clever, always coming up with such fun games."
Cheng Ru said, "Fulan’s games are always fresh and fun, just curious where you learn them from."
Qu Fulan responded smoothly, "There are countless fun games in the folk, I just happened to know a few."
As they spoke, the game began to prepare.
They needed someone who could write to prepare the topics, but not many of the maids were literate. As they were about to find someone, Pei Yuan arrived.
It turned out the maid hadn’t been gone long before she ran into Mr. Pei. Mr. Pei was about to look for his brother and, upon hearing that his brother was in Furong Courtyard and needed someone who could write, he decided to join them.
After setting his wedding date, it was natural that Mr. Pei couldn’t meet his bride-to-be before the marriage, but it didn’t stop him from enjoying himself, and when he heard family members were playing games, he naturally wanted to join.
After learning the rules, Pei Yuan became the judge and gave out the topics.
When Qu Fulan saw her word, she opened it and saw: Beard.
According to the rule that topics must have some connection, others might also have beard, or eyes, nose, etc. If the link is too weak, the game wouldn’t work.
Since Qu Fulan proposed the game, she was the first to speak. But she didn’t know if she was the undercover and needed to probe carefully, so she said—
"Grows above the neck."
This answer was flawless and quite inclusive, as it covered many things above the neck: eyes, nose, mouth, hair, and so on.
But Qu Fulan’s answer could easily mislead the others, and with a slight slip, she might expose herself.
Indeed, the second person to speak was Fang Yuan, who quickly said, "Everyone has it."
Qu Fulan didn’t know what the others thought, but she realized hers was different from Fang Yuan’s. Now, she just had to wait for the other three to speak to determine whether she was the undercover or Fang Yuan was.
Because not everyone has a beard.
The third person was Third Miss, who pondered for a while before saying, "Some people have more, some have less."
This answer made Qu Fulan uncertain as it was too vague. Because indeed, some have more beard, and some have less.
This was pending; it could be an ally, or not.
The fourth was Cheng Ru, who said, "Some people’s look good, others’ don’t."
This also made some sense. Beards can add a rugged look to some, making them look better, while others with a full beard look unkempt.
Indeed, besides Fang Yuan, everyone else was tricky to deal with.
The last one was the Princely Heir, who said offhandedly, "Not everyone necessarily has it."
This was equivalent to negating Fang Yuan’s statement, meaning it was similar to Qu Fulan’s?
So Qu Fulan wasn’t the undercover, nor was the Princely Heir, and Fang Yuan was the undercover?
The answers from Third Miss and Cheng Ru were ambiguous, making them hard to determine.
But in the voting round, Fang Yuan and Third Miss voted the Princely Heir out, Qu Fulan and the Princely Heir voted for Fang Yuan, and Cheng Ru voted for Qu Fulan.
Qu Fulan didn’t expect Third Miss and Fang Yuan to vote to eliminate the Princely Heir. So in Third Miss’s eyes, Fang Yuan was like her, a thing everyone has? Therefore, when the Princely Heir said not everyone necessarily has it, she rejected him.
This got interesting; Third Miss and Fang Yuan were the same, but there can’t be two undercovers, so Qu Fulan thought she was the undercover.
But the Princely Heir’s answer was similar to hers, making her puzzled.
Ultimately, the Princely Heir and Fang Yuan had equal votes, needing a reevaluation.
Fang Yuan didn’t know what to say, was anxious, and blurted out, "Women’s are prettier than men’s!"
Pei Ji’an raised an eyebrow, "Can express pleasure or concern."
Finally, in voting, Qu Fulan and Third Miss still voted for Fang Yuan, and Cheng Ru also joined in voting for Fang Yuan, and Fang Yuan was out.
Everyone looked at Pei Yuan to see if the game was over because if Fang Yuan was the undercover, her being out meant civilian victory.
But Pei Yuan shook his head.
Third Miss was surprised, Cheng Ru was thoughtful.
Qu Fulan was quite sure she was the undercover now. Her beard wasn’t something everyone has, and the others’ must be things everyone has, hence it couldn’t be hair, which could be shaved and doesn’t necessarily exist on everyone.
Recalling the things they said: some have more, some have less; Fang Yuan said women’s are prettier than men’s; the Princely Heir said it could express pleasure or worry...
Eyes? No, doesn’t fit the description of more or less.
Nose, mouth, and ears don’t make sense either.
After much thought, Qu Fulan had a general answer in mind.
So when she spoke again, she deliberately guided, "Can be drawn."
This was too obvious, also easily misleading others to think she was an ally.
Third Miss said, "Without it one would feel embarrassed."
Cheng Ru, "Can be hidden so others won’t see it."
The Princely Heir, "Someone here has the most beautiful one."
In another vote, it was troublesome; everyone seemed similar, and if no undercover was found this round, the undercover would win.
After much thought, Cheng Ru still pointed at Qu Fulan.
But the others found Cheng Ru’s statement suspicious and pointed at her.
Cheng Ru was out.
With only three left and the undercover still not eliminated, it meant the undercover won.
Everyone revealed the truth.
Qu Fulan was ’beard’, and the others were ’eyebrow’.
"Oh my, you were the undercover?!" Fang Yuan exclaimed in disbelief.
Third Miss also looked astonished, "You hid it too well."
Cheng Ru didn’t say anything, just smiled slightly.
Actually, the Princely Heir probably guessed it long ago and intentionally mingled the words to confuse, or Qu Fulan wouldn’t have made it to the end.
In the first round, Qu Fulan won. All other losers drank a glass of wine as punishment.
In later rounds, everyone got the chance to be the undercover, but except for Qu Fulan’s successful undercover win, others were quickly exposed when they were the undercover.
But that wasn’t the most intriguing part. The interesting part was that Qu Fulan discovered something: No matter if she was a civilian or an undercover, Cheng Ru always voted her out.
This is regardless of right or wrong, it’s targeted!