Upon hearing this, Qin Siyuan and Master Gu couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Qin Yuan glanced at her younger brother with amusement and said encouragingly, "Why don't you read it out for everyone to hear? If it's interesting, it will be a great achievement."

The guards nearby immediately echoed loudly, "Yes, please have the young master read it aloud!"

Qin Heng cleared his throat, put his hands behind his back, and shook his head, saying, "Everyone, please listen to what I have to say: Yelü, the hostage, sat in a well and went mad, laughing at my Daxing for having no elegant chapters. Folk songs from the mountains and fields filled the air with refined charm, while monkeys dressed in official robes were busy catching lice."

"Okay," everyone applauded.

Qin Heng smiled and cupped his hands in greeting: "Cousin, elder sister, I've done my part to avenge you."

Qin Yuan nodded: "Not bad, it rhymes and it's interesting."

Qin Siyuan said, "I didn't expect Heng-ge'er to have such quick wit. Uncle will be very happy if he knows."

Qin Heng pleaded, "Cousin, please don't tell Father. If he finds out, he'll definitely scold me for being a disgrace and make me study more."

After hearing Qin Heng's poems, many others followed suit and wrote their own.

Such as: "Yelü, a barbarian, speaks arrogantly, belittling our poetry and praising our vulgar songs. He has no knowledge to discuss right and wrong, how can he not be insulted to his ancestors?"

This is already an insult.

But there are even harsher ones, such as: "Barbarian lands are arrogant and speak absurdly, belittling elegant poems and praising folk songs. All because they do not know the long traditions, and their ancestors are ashamed to face the afterlife."

Elementary school students can already compose couplets, so naturally, they can also come up with swear words without hesitation.

At this moment, half of the people outside the venue could compose a poem on the spot, doing their best to mock others. Some, just to have fun, didn't care about rhyme or not.

After a long period of ridicule, the crowd then criticized Yelü for his low character.

"The people from Shuhai Pavilion who came to challenge us were all renowned poets invited to compete in poetry. But when the Yelü clan came to challenge us, they just hurl insults at us and even forced the young lady to play polo with them. How insidious they were in their polo match just now! They were clearly trying to frighten Miss Gu's horse. If it weren't for Lord Gu being there, she would probably be in grave danger. They really have no humanity."

"Yelü was a big, burly man, but he was extremely petty. No wonder he was beaten so badly by the Marquis of Dingbei."

The Yelü clan members were so humiliated by the insults that they had no choice but to resort to threatening him with fists the size of sandbags.

But this is the Imperial Academy, and there are guards of the Marquis of Dingbei here. How can we allow them to run wild?

The situation outside the venue quickly escalated into chaos, seemingly beyond control.

Yelü Guzha saw and heard everything, and knew that he had to continue the competition with Gu Jinghui.

If we win, we win after all.

Most of today's shame can be washed away.

Suppressing his embarrassment and anger, he gritted his teeth and said, "Now that I have said everything that needs to be said, does the Marquis of Dingbei have anything else to say?"

Lord Gu laughed and said, "I said before that these rules need to be revised to be fair."

"Then it's settled!"

Yelü Guzha readily agreed.

Upon receiving the signal, the leader of the Yelü clan's team stepped forward to discuss the treaty with Gu Baozhu and others, ultimately arriving at three articles.

1. Horses must not be deliberately driven into other vehicles or cause collisions.

2. You must not use your cue stick to strike the opponent's horse;

Third, players must not use their clubs to hit opposing players.

Furthermore, the daughter of the Vice Minister of Rites was required to refrain from using foul language, and to avoid being rude or provocative. Her horse's tail was to be tightly bound with a rope, not loose, to prevent interfering with others' judgment.

If a violation is committed, penalties will be imposed depending on the severity of the offense, such as immediate defeat, player removal from the field, or public apology.

The Yelü clan members have always played ball without any restraint, and although they were unwilling, they dared not say anything more.

People from Daxing standing outside the stadium said, "That's more like it. Polo is a game, meant to showcase skills in both ball and horsemanship, not to display barbarity. When the late emperor was alive, Tibet sent envoys to Chang'an to marry Princess Tai'an. The polo team the envoys brought played against the imperial polo team. The Tibetan team won every game, and we still happily entertained them. It's not that the people of the Central Plains can't stand losing, it's that we don't condone such barbaric behavior."

The Yelü clan remained silent.

Yelü Guzha suppressed his anger and asked again, "Does Marquis Gu have anything else to say?"

Lord Gu replied, "Of course there are."

"Please speak," Yelü Guzha said through gritted teeth, squeezing out two words.

Lord Gu looked at Gu Baozhu and the others and said, "The reason for this life-or-death contract was to compare the quality of poems and folk songs. Those who signed the life-or-death contract were hostages and noble ladies, but the ones who went on stage were women from the Yelü clan and Daxing. I think this is inappropriate. The competition is already halfway through, and it's too late to talk about this now, but there's still a chance to catch up."

"What does the Marquis of Dingbei mean? Why not just say it directly?"

"The second half should be a men's match; that would be fair. What do you think?"

Yelü, the hostage prince, fixed his hawk-like gaze directly on Gu Jinghui's cold and stern face, as if he wanted to stare two holes through it.

Lord Gu was also looking back at him, showing no sign of weakness.

The crowd outside erupted in cheers: "Yes!"

"We are willing to fight!"

"war!"

Both the people of Daxing and the Yelü clan agreed with this proposal.

While the women's competitions are certainly exciting, the men are unwilling to place all the glory of both sides on the women.

Gu Baozhu said angrily, "Is Third Brother trying to kick us out?"

Gu Jinghui laughed and said, "Most of the poems in this poetry contest are written by men. We can't let them hide behind women, what would that look like? If you want to play, you can, but we'll change the participants after three incense sticks' worth of time, okay?"

Gu Baozhu was about to speak again.

The other young ladies had already eagerly agreed.

They didn't have Gu Baozhu's stamina and were already exhausted. They were only holding on because they were worried about losing face for Daxing. Now that Lord Gu was in charge of the arrangements, they were naturally happy to go down and watch the men's competition.

"We want to watch Lord Gu play ball."

Gu Jinghui smiled and asked Yelü Guzha, "Would you like to have a contest with me?"

Yelü Guzha laughed and said, "Why not? I have long wanted to fight you, but my father was unwilling."

"That's good." Gu Jinghui said, "The women's competition will continue for three incense sticks' time, with the count accumulating. The men's competition will last half an hour. If there is no winner, there will be an extra round."

"OK!"

Yelü Guzhaba could not save face on the field.

After reaching an agreement, both parties swore an oath with a high five.

At this moment, both those on and off the field were filled with jubilation.

Yelü Guzha returned to his original position and, gritting his teeth, ordered the attendant beside him, "Quickly remove the acupuncture needles for me."

When the attendant saw Yelü Guzha's swollen and blackened wrist, he gasped.

"Young Master, how could you be so careless?"

Yelü Guzha squeezed out the three words "Gu Jinghui" through gritted teeth: "It was all his doing. Give me the antidote now."

The servant quickly brought the antidote and fed it to him.

This poison is extracted from a poisonous herb found in the desolate northern wilderness. If it is applied to the affected area, it will cause numbness in the limbs and unbearable itching.

"Young Master is truly patient."

Yelü Guzha said, "What can we do if we can't bear it? This is a return gift from the Marquis of Dingbei."

Gu Jinghui had already returned to his own team.

Upon seeing him, Qin Yuan smiled sweetly and praised, "My husband is truly amazing."

Lord Gu's face was full of pride, and he pressed on, asking, "What do you think is so impressive?"