The Emperor listened to Qing'er's words and found them to be quite reasonable, so he nodded and said nothing more.
Just then, accompanied by the sound of drums, a group of palace maids dressed in red rushed out from behind them, each holding a colorful handkerchief.
First, they arrived at the safe area of the venue, which was in front of the stands that the Emperor and the Empress Dowager had set up.
First, bow to the Emperor and the Empress Dowager.
Then they shouted the slogans they had practiced for two or three days, perfectly synchronized: "Gege Women's Team, Heroine Team, victory is in sight, we've driven the enemy back! Gege Team, Victory Team! Gege Team, keep striving! Gege Team, victory! Gege Women's Team, Heroine Team, victory is in sight, we've driven the enemy back! Gege Team, Victory Team! Gege Team, keep striving! Gege Team, victory! Gege Team, take first place!"
Everyone else found it novel and fascinating, but the Emperor frowned slightly upon seeing it.
Indeed, if Anke hadn't explained the situation of the guard team to him, the morale of the princes' team would have been severely damaged.
Just then, the Emperor glanced disapprovingly in Consort Ling's direction. Consort Ling, whether by telepathy or something else, met the Emperor's gaze and, thinking he was praising her, blushed slightly.
Anke, an observer, remarked: "The world is drunk, but I am the only one sober!"
Seeing such a strong support, the princes' team didn't react with the same fury as in the original drama. The princesses' team, completely unaware, were still smugly watching from the sidelines! And Benjamin, the referee, was also oblivious.
According to Yongqi, even though he is a "traitor," it's best for him to know less about their background so as not to reveal everything to Gege's team.
Just as the princess team was feeling smug, a group of well-trained and imposing guards entered the arena.
They originally planned to follow the spirit of the Gege team and write a similar cheering style.
Anke: They're all girls, they're comfortable doing these things, and they look good doing it. Even if you write it down, I won't let my guards be so embarrassed. Otherwise, I don't know how cringeworthy it will be that day.
Encore: Protecting my eyes is the top priority!!!
In the end, Anke had no choice but to come up with a solution: have them perform a set of military boxing moves on the spot, shouting, "Brother Team, mighty!" Words don't matter, as long as they're effective.
The shock wasn't limited to the princes' party; it also extended to the Empress Dowager, the ministers, and the princesses, princes, and concubines of the harem. Although Qing'er knew about it, she didn't know how it had happened. Therefore, she was also stunned at this moment.
"This is the move you came up with, isn't it?" Anke understands Qing'er so well, how could Qing'er not understand Anke? Simple, straightforward, and always hitting the mark is Anke's personality.
“That’s right, you have no idea what Fifth Brother thought of back then, a whole bunch of things like the Princess Team.” As she spoke, An Ke shuddered, as if she were imagining some kind of scene. “You have no idea, I can’t even imagine a group of men imitating women and shouting those slogans, it would be such an eyesore.”
Qing'er seemed to have imagined something as well, and quickly shook her head and closed her eyes. "Indeed, that would be very uncomfortable for my eyes."
Qing'er often spends time with An Ke and has become more humorous and witty.
The princesses didn't know, but the Empress Dowager recognized them immediately as An Ke's guard. She looked directly at An Ke on her right and nodded to her.
That's right. In the Empress Dowager's heart, how could the Emperor's adopted daughter compare to her own grandson? Consort Ling's flattery failed to win over either the Emperor or the Empress Dowager.
The moment Consort Ling saw An Ke's guards, her eyes immediately fell on the Emperor. Seeing that he showed no surprise, she knew An Ke had already spoken to the Emperor about it. A sudden wave of panic washed over her!
Consort Yu, standing to the side, was rather delighted. She was a doting mother to her son, and seeing him fall short in morale, she wasn't particularly happy. However, upon seeing An Ke's guards, a smile immediately spread across her face. She nodded at An Ke with great satisfaction.
An Ke was really confused, but she still nodded to Consort Yu.
Only Xiao Yanzi from the Gege team felt it was a bit unfair. How could such a powerful team be cheering for the Princes' team instead of for themselves?
Little Swallow wasn't given much time to think, because the competition had officially begun.
Benjamin stood in the middle of the line and blew the horn. Liu Hong and Yong Qi placed their feet on either side of the ball, their eyes filled with murderous intent, neither willing to yield to the other. The other members also took their corresponding positions. The goalkeeper, naturally, was Ziwei, who would later use her beauty to her advantage.
As the game began, they started vying for the ball, the two of them swaying and struggling for it on the field.
Liu Hong was the first to get the ball. She passed it to her teammates. The members of the Brothers team naturally tried to stop her, and a group of boys in white surrounded the girl kicking the ball.
Although the Emperor was dissatisfied with Consort Ling, he was still very much looking forward to the balloon-launching competition. He gripped the handle of his chair tightly, watching the tense situation on the field with anxious eyes. The Empress Dowager was also observing from the sidelines. Qing'er, on the other hand, was quite interested in the balloon-launching competition. An Ke, although she had seen it before, was still amazed to experience it firsthand.
The Empress has been very obedient lately, seemingly reverting to her former serene and elegant self. Therefore, during this competition, the Empress and Rong Momo chatted amiably, as if discussing which team would win.
Surrounded, Little Swallow shouted at the small table and mosquitoes in front of her, "You bunch of brats, don't you recognize me? Get out of my way!"
Little Table and Little Mosquito also knew the importance of the matter, so they said without backing down, "Princess, we apologize, but this is a war. I, Little Table, can neither retreat nor advance."
Just as the two sides were locked in a tense standoff, a member of the Brothers team made a sliding tackle, kicking the ball away from Xiao Yanzi's feet. The ball was then passed to Ertai, who passed it to Xiao Wenzi, and then to Erkang.
While watching Erkang play football, Xiao Yanzi shouted at Ziwei, "Ziwei!"
Ziwei immediately received the signal, closed her eyes, lay down, and pretended to faint.
Er Kang on the field was completely bewildered. He didn't care about the ball anymore and went straight for Ziwei. After he left, Xiao Yanzi instantly kicked the ball in front of Ziwei, who caught it easily.
The princesses' team erupted in cheers, while the princes' team felt as if they'd been struck by lightning. Meanwhile, the princesses' cheerleaders were also cheering enthusiastically. The guards, of course, kept their eyes fixed straight ahead, completely unaffected by the outside world.
The emperor, seated above, laughed heartily, "I knew it! Ziwei is so delicate, why send her to guard the gate? It turns out it was a honey trap!"
With just that one word, "honey trap," the Empress Dowager's gaze instantly shifted to the Emperor. How sharp was the Empress Dowager's intuition? After all, she was the previous champion of palace intrigue. Besides, how could she not know her own son? "Using honey traps even in ball games? Do honey traps even work?"
Whether the Emperor didn't understand or not, he replied nonchalantly, "Of course it worked! Look how pitiful Ziwei is. Who would be so cruel as to hurt her with a ball? Hahaha!"
Although the Empress had decided to let go, decades of marriage were not something that could be easily relinquished. Her brows furrowed deeply again, and she exchanged a glance with Rong Mama. The Empress Dowager's sharp gaze instantly returned to the scene.
At that moment, Xiao Yanzi served first, kicking the ball into Liu Hong's bowl-shaped hat. The members of the Brothers team were stunned, completely unsure of what to do. They couldn't just use their hands, that would be a foul.
The goalkeeper for the Brothers' team was naturally Liu Hong's older brother, Liu Qing. Liu Qing quickly stepped forward to stop Liu Hong, backing away as he did so, saying, "Hey, Liu Hong, what are you doing? Is this how you play Cuju?"
Liu Hong, not one to be easily swayed by others, placed the ball she was carrying over her head directly into the goal behind her brother's team. Then, she smugly said to her brother, "Ha, that's called using any means necessary. You'd better learn from this."
The Emperor and Empress Dowager, seated at the head of the table, also burst into laughter. The Emperor, in particular, exclaimed, "Haha, how amusing! This princess team has actually come up with such a surprising tactic!"
Just like that, the Gege team scored a point, and the Gege team on the field immediately cheered and jumped for joy, while the Age team hurriedly went to the referee.
"Protest! Yes, protest! How can they do this? Their hats are like bowls, completely covering their heads. Isn't that a foul?" Yongqi immediately expressed his dissatisfaction. "We can't use our light-footed skills. Their hat-wearing is completely hindering our performance!"
Little Swallow, hearing this, also voiced her dissatisfaction. "So what? The rules don't say you can't wear bowl-shaped hats, and you're all wearing hats too, aren't you?"
The Empress Dowager and the Emperor watched them arguing, not knowing what they were arguing about. The Emperor helplessly shrugged at the Empress Dowager.
"An'an, what do you think they're fighting over over there?" Qing'er asked An Ke curiously.
"They're definitely talking about the hat. Didn't you see Fifth Brother's eyes practically pop out of their sockets? He must have been utterly shocked. Now, of course, he's going to express his dissatisfaction." An Ke naturally knew how things would develop and might as well reveal a little to Qing'er. Anyway, it was just their speculation.
"You make a good point. So, which side do you think Benjamin will side with?"
"It's definitely biased towards Gege's team!" Isn't that beyond doubt? Of course, this is only in Anke's opinion, who has the script in hand; Qing'er is unaware of this.
“Benjamin and Yongqi are best buddies, don’t you think he’ll side with Yongqi?” Qing’er felt that An Ke might be wrong this time. After all, in the palace, Yongqi and Benjamin were practically inseparable, like twins.
"It's precisely because they're good brothers that Benjamin needs to avoid suspicion. Besides, there's no rule against wearing hats, and as for what shape the hat should be, there's probably no regulation either. Since there's such a loophole in the rules, then it should be allowed for someone to exploit it." Anke felt a pang of sadness knowing what happened next but unable to complain to anyone.
"Hmm, but it's quite impressive that they came up with this hat." Qing'er was instantly convinced by An Ke's sophistry.
Anke secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Qing'er would press for an answer.
By this time, the matter on the field had been resolved. Gege's team scored a point. Meanwhile, the members of Age's team gathered together, seemingly discussing tactics.
As the horn sounded, the second match began.
At this moment, Yongqi and Xiaoyanzi had their feet on either side of the ball. Then they started swaying together again. This time, the Prince's team got the ball first. The members of the Prince's team quickly cut into the Princess's team, passing the ball back and forth.
However, there were always one or two players on the princes' team who weren't good at football. For example, Little Bug kicked the ball right into Princess Huanzhu's hat. When Little Bug saw the ball go into Princess Huanzhu's hat again, he immediately became annoyed.
Seeing this, the Brothers team naturally pressed forward to block the hats, not wanting the Princesses team to score another point because of the hats. That would be too embarrassing!
No sooner said than done, Yongqi, standing on the shoulders of a small stool, kicked the ball off Xiaoyanzi's hat.
When Little Swallow saw that the ball on her head was gone, she instantly became furious and shouted, "Fifth Prince, Little Stool, you two remember this!"
Xiao Dengzi was, after all, a member of Shufangzhai. Halfway there, he turned back to Xiao Yanzi and said, "Princess, I won't forget you either. I'll apologize to you after the competition."
The ball was being kicked by Er Kang when Xiao Xiao from Gege's team came in handy, sliding in and diving between Er Kang's legs. Er Kang was stunned.
"I was wondering what the point of being so short is? Turns out you don't even care about the humiliation of crawling between someone's legs," Er Kang muttered to himself.
Ertai, standing to the side, said anxiously, "Brother, if you continue to be so chivalrous, we'll be completely defeated."
Er Kang frowned and said, "They're so amazing. Even if I wanted to show them some chivalry, I didn't even have the chance."
Seeing what just happened, Anke almost spat out the tea she had just drunk, but luckily she managed to hold it in. It was absolutely hilarious; I found it funny when I first saw it, and seeing it live made it even funnier.
Anke: No, no, I have to maintain my persona. But it's so funny! d(?д??)
An Ke tightly pursed her lips, trying to suppress the urge to curl upwards. She even pinched her thigh, manually trying to stifle her laughter!
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