Chapter 93 It's You
Following Yihu's shout, there was a brief silence all around.
Cui Jing noticed that countless eyes were gathering around him, and the most exciting and surprising one came from the arena—
The young man with red lips and white teeth on the horse was so shocked that his body trembled, and his expression was so excited that Qiao Yubai was worried that he would fall off the horse.
“…Brother!”
My eldest brother actually came! A sincere invitation and knowing that I was daydreaming and fanciful are not contradictory.
But now the eldest brother is really here!
"Look, that's my eldest brother!" It was just the beginning, so the game wasn't too tense yet. Cui Langshangke was distracted while swinging his club and showing off his eldest brother to his other three teammates: "My eldest brother is here to watch me play football, too!"
Qiao Yubai smiled and nodded: "I see."
The tall and strong young man who also had a blue ribbon tied around his waist and had just blocked the opponent's ball looked over and said, "Cui Liulangjun's elder brother? That must be General Cui, the general of Xuan Ce Mansion!"
Another student from the same team who had fair skin and a pair of narrow, almond-shaped eyes also looked at the young man in the shed with curiosity.
"I must win this match today, and I hope you will help me!" Cui Lang felt that he had "no way out", and he shouted excitedly: "After I win this match, I will invite you to hold a celebration banquet at Dengtai Tower for three days and three nights!"
Today he will definitely make his elder brother look at him with new eyes!
Qiao Yubai and the other two all responded with a smile.
The tall and strong young man at the end of the team swallowed his saliva and said with longing eyes: "Then it's settled!"
The rival students who wore black belts on their waists had complicated expressions when they heard this - the celebration banquet was set, and they were considered dead, right? Both sides were motivated to fight, and the game gradually became fierce.
"My elder brother actually came to watch the monkey show..." Cui Tang was somewhat surprised.
Mrs. Lu looked at her son who was as high-spirited as a fighting cock in the arena and nodded, saying, "This monkey is really showing off."
Under the awning on the women's side, the maidservant beside Qiao Yunmian had been talking to her about the situation on the field. Her tone often fluctuated with the game situation. Qiao Yunmian listened attentively and nervously.
Hearing the ladies around her and behind her praising Qiao Yubai, Wang, who had always been very relaxed, just smiled and said, "It's just young people playing around."
Wang was of an indifferent temperament. The most striking features of her were only two things: one was that she regarded her husband's fishing as her lifelong enemy, and the other was that she had engraved her love for burning incense and worshiping Buddha into her bones.
The young men riding horses and swinging clubs on the court with high spirits made people unable to take their eyes off them. The women occasionally whispered to each other during the breaks in watching the game.
The current sage attaches great importance to the imperial examination, and has repeatedly revised the academic system of the Imperial College and its various schools, making them more closely connected with the officialdom.
There were many students in the Imperial Academy. Due to their different backgrounds, some of them passed the annual examinations and were appointed as officials through imperial recommendation, while others took the formal imperial examination route. However, the outstanding students among them would undoubtedly enter officialdom in the future.
In the past two years, some families who wanted to find a suitable husband for their daughters wanted to pick a son-in-law from the list, but found that there were not many good candidates...
After careful inquiries, I found out that many of the young scholars on the list had been secretly kidnapped when they were studying in the Imperial College!
In this case, in order to avoid being left behind, everyone was forced to take action earlier to snatch the best son-in-law -
As a female member of the family, I usually don’t have the opportunity to interact with students in the Imperial College. Today’s polo match is undoubtedly a rare and good opportunity.
Watching the game of cub is the main thing, but also secondary. The real thing is to use the game of cub to find good men.
The students who did not participate in the game were out of everyone's sight for a while. At this point, all 24 students from the six teams had come on the field and were seen by all the female relatives.
Among the eight people on the field at this time, apart from the two who already had the aura of married men, the most eye-catching among the other six were all in Qiao Yubai's team.
Looking at a tall, strong and honest young man, a woman whispered to the people around her, "...That's the young man from the Hu family. I heard he's a concubine's son."
A concubine's child cannot inherit the family business and his future is uncertain unless he is extremely outstanding.
"That's from the Cui family... He's a playboy."
A woman curled her lips and said, "It has nothing to do with us if he is not a playboy. How can the children of the Cui family be the same as ordinary children?"
When the son of the Cui family marries a wife, he won’t even look at an ordinary nobleman.
"That guy is quite nice, with a handsome appearance...but he looks unfamiliar. I wonder where he is from?" A woman looked at the young student who was in the center position behind Qiao Yubai.
Many women shook their heads to indicate that they did not recognize him.
Qiao Yumian overheard this and asked Chang Suining curiously, "Ningning, who are those ladies talking about?"
"He is from Brother Yubai's team." Chang Suining took a closer look and described: "He doesn't look like a Sheng person, he should be from Dongluo——"
Qiao Yumian understood: "That's a student from Dongluo... His surname is Xi, his name is Zhiyuan, and he has been in the Imperial Academy for five or six years."
The Imperial Academy not only had students from Dasheng, but also accepted a small number of students from neighboring countries to study there for friendly exchanges.
This student named Xi Zhiyuan came from Dongluo, an ally of Dasheng.
Chang Suining nodded slightly.
The Xi surname was also a noble surname in Dongluo.
"So he's from Dongluo..." Xi'er was surprised, then confused: "How did you tell that? Why does it seem to me that this Dongluo guy looks similar to the men in Dasheng?"
Chang Suining picked up the drink to relieve the heat and said casually, "If you look closely, you can still see the difference."
Wei Miaoqing on the side looked at Xi Zhiyuan carefully after hearing what he said, but frowned - how could she not see any difference? What did Chang Suining think?
Thinking of this, he quietly looked into Chang Suining's eyes, and saw that the girl's eyes were as calm as mountain springs. At one glance, it seemed that people felt their whole body cooler.
Wei Miaoqing frowned.
What's wrong with these eyes? How can there be such unreasonable people in the world!
She felt frustrated again. She had tried and failed time and time again, so she could only look away and drink her tea in silence.
The fact that Xi Zhiyuan was a Dongluo person spread quickly among the women. The Dongluo people did not need to think too much about it, as the Dasheng law clearly stated that foreign students of the Imperial Academy could not marry Dasheng women unless they settled in Dasheng and became Dasheng citizens.
If other people still need to inquire and weigh carefully, the most eye-catching guy on the field does not need any further analysis.
Qiao Yubai's excellence cannot be hidden.
The son of the Imperial Academy's chief priest, he has a good appearance, a gentle and easygoing temperament, and outstanding talent.
Such conditions are clearly the kind of person who can be selected as a son-in-law in the list! Even without mentioning his family background, talent and knowledge, his heroic appearance on the football field alone is enough to impress countless people.
There were obviously more and more women talking around Wang, and it was even getting crowded.
Seeing that everyone was enjoying the fight, Lady Duan, the wife of Duke Zheng, turned around and asked her daughter in a low voice, "Qing'er, what do you think of this young man from the Qiao family? If you feel like it, why don't you go and grab some too?"
The four members of Duke Zheng's family have never been known to be tactful.
Wei Miaoqing clutched her handkerchief with a sullen look and shook her head: "It's fine."
Manager Fang at the side: “?”
Why are the girl's head and mouth still playing with each other? But there is no doubt that the girl is not looking at the young master of the Qiao family at all... The girl's mind is all on the lady of the Chang family.
"Then I'll tell mother when I see her close her eyes..." Duan patted her daughter's hand, then turned back and talked to Chang Suining with a smile.
Wei Miaoqing felt even more upset when he saw this. He drank a large glass of ice drink, and his teeth shivered from the cold.
On the court, with the sound of a gong, the fourth quarter of the game came to an end.
"The blue team has obtained five flags in this section. The blue team wins again—"
Cui Lang on the horse raised the ball stick in his hand, his sweaty face full of joy: "We won! We won!"
Although each game has five quarters, Qiao Yubai's team has won three out of four quarters, and the outcome has been decided. His victory is real.
"Do we still have to compete in the remaining section?" The young man surnamed Hu wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve and asked Qiao Yubai.
In the previous game, the Yellow Team led by Chang Miao won three of the first four quarters. According to the rules, they did not need to play the fifth quarter, but Chang Miao made provocative remarks, forcing the opponent to play one more quarter, thus winning four quarters.
With this precedent in mind, the young man surnamed Hu asked another question.
Hearing this question, the four students on the other side, who had already shown a dejected look, exchanged glances and waited for Qiao Yubai's reaction.
"Of course we won't play." Qiao Yubai got off his horse and said with a smile, "It's already noon. If someone gets heat stroke after playing another quarter, will we still play the final match in the afternoon?"
He spoke frankly and made his own thoughts clear.
He doesn't show off his magnanimity, but he makes people feel comfortable.
The four people on the other side all breathed a sigh of relief.
The outcome was already decided, their morale had collapsed, and their chances of winning even if they played another quarter were slim.
Chang Miao's team played so fiercely just now that the losing team not only lost the game, but also suffered a loss of dignity. They looked embarrassed when they left the court.
Cui Lang had already walked towards them, raised his hand and saluted with a smile: "Thank you, thank you!"
The young man was good-looking, and at this moment he was smiling and looked very likable: "Today my elder brothers came to watch the game, and I really couldn't explain if I lost, but fortunately you all gave in, so I won this game!"
The four of them all knew his identity and felt flattered at this moment.
The various schools in the Imperial College divided their students into different groups. Most of the students in their schools were those who had worked hard to pass the exams in various prefectures. Because they were far away from the capital, there were more students with mediocre backgrounds.
For example, among the four of them, only one had a family member who was an official, and he was a minor official who was not worth mentioning.
To put it bluntly, horses were a rare commodity for them. Before they entered the Imperial Academy to receive education, even if they had played Ju, it was mostly just "foot fighting" or "small fighting".
Nowadays, there are three types of Ju. Playing Ju on horseback is called big play, playing Ju on a donkey is called small play, and playing Ju on foot is called step play.
Therefore, they could not compare with Cui Lang and other children from the capital who had been playing Juju on horseback since childhood.
The chances of winning were not great to begin with, not to mention that they had been drawn to the blue team where Qiao Yubai was.
Although he was initially motivated, he was still aware of his own abilities and losing was not surprising. Besides, Qiao Yubai was not as aggressive as Chang Miao, and Cui Lang's attitude was also very decent.
Therefore, the four of them relaxed at this time and returned the greeting to Cui Lang.
He also thought to himself that although the sixth son of the Cui family was a playboy, he was actually a very kind person.
There are more friendly things to come——
"In two days, Cui will hold a celebration banquet at Dengtai Tower. You all can come too!"
"?"
"This..." The four people racked their brains for a long time, but they didn't know how to respond accurately. They could only say: "No merit, no reward..."
"How can I not accept the reward without any merit? Thanks to all of you for giving way to me!"
After hearing that the referee had announced that the blue team had won this match, Cui Lang hurried to find Qiao Yubai and the others, and hurriedly patted one of them on the shoulder: "It's settled, everyone, don't break your promise!"
When he left, the four people were left looking at each other in confusion.
As they left the stage, the four of them chatted in low voices.
"We lost the football match, but we were invited to the other side's celebration banquet. How could this be so strange..."
"If that's the case, why does the other party still seem to be humiliating me?"
"But... do you feel humiliated?" The person asking the question had already expressed his feelings on his face - at least he didn't feel any.
Several other people also expressed their opinions in silence.
"So are we going?"
"That's Cui's son. If I don't go, will I offend the Cui family?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere suddenly became scary, and it suddenly felt like one's future would be ruined if one was not careful.
In the midst of the tension, someone suddenly said, "Wait, have you overlooked a problem—"
The other three looked at him.
"They haven't won yet." The student said, "They will have another match in the afternoon."
Before each team takes the field, they draw lots to decide the order of the game. After the first half of the day, six teams will play and three teams will remain. In the second half of the afternoon, the two winning teams will play one game first. After the winner is decided, the winner will play one final game with the remaining team, which is the blue team where Qiao Yubai is located, to decide the final winner.
It was almost noon and the first half of the day's competition was over. Everyone needed to have a meal and rest in preparation for the most crucial final in the afternoon.
During this period, predicting wins and losses is also a fun thing.
The people around then temporarily dispersed and talked in groups of three or four.
Most of the students went to the cafeteria of the Imperial College, and the Imperial College had specially prepared meals for the officials who came today. They were now led there by the guidance of the book boys.
Some more important officials or officials with whom the emperor had some personal relationship were accompanied by Qiao Jijiu himself, including Cui Jing, Wei Shuyi and Yao Tingwei.
"Today, let's taste the fish feast in our Imperial College..." Qiao Jijiu introduced as he walked: "Every fish here is prepared by me personally for you."
“…”
Qiao Yumian, who was walking behind, couldn't see with her eyes, but it did not prevent her from exchanging a tacit look with Chang Suining beside her.
My father’s fish will not let go of anyone who comes to the Imperial College to eat.
Qiao Yubai and Cui Lang, who had discussed the afternoon finale plan with their teammates, caught up at this time.
Cui Lang came running over: "Brother!"
Cui Lang, who had rarely done anything glorious, ran very fast. As he passed by like the wind, he accidentally touched half of Qiao Yumian's shoulder.
Qiao Yumian let out a low cry of surprise and quickly moved to the inside.
Chang Suining put his arm around her shoulders and said, "Don't be afraid, sister. It's okay."
Cui Lang paused at the scream. He said "eh" thoughtfully, then stepped back and looked at Qiao Yumian. He suddenly realized, "It's you."
Are you guys ready to go back? I'm going back tomorrow_(:з」∠)_ (End of this chapter)
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