Chapter 11 I Became the Goddess's Son-in-Law?! (Part 11)
After eating the Spirit Fang Fruit, Jiang Yiqing found that the system was right; her spiritual power had been greatly enhanced.
After eating the Spirit Fang Fruit, Jiang Yiqing found that the system was right; her spiritual power had been greatly enhanced.
She could see the spiritual energy around Jin Xianrui Luchan from a great distance, and sometimes she could even discover fragments hidden beneath the surface.
While most of the fragments of Emerald Rainbow Stone, Water Mirror Stone, and Red Cloud Stone are low- to mid-grade stones with very few high-grade ones, their vibrant colors still make them quite attractive.
After her spiritual power was enhanced, Jiang Yiqing no longer needed to dig up the stones from the ground. She could simply use her palms to apply force to the stone surface, and her spiritual power would penetrate through the layers of soil and continue to the ground below. The stones would then be directly absorbed to the surface by her spiritual power.
Jiang Yiqing never expected that she had such abilities, no, she should say that she had such abilities after eating the Spirit Tooth Fruit. She could easily obtain rare and precious materials, and she was a little embarrassed.
Jiang Yiqing did not sell the collected stones. Instead, she carefully polished them into various shapes and strung them together with silkworm silk bought from the mall to make bracelets. She gave them to Madam Si, Zhi Gui, Zhi Li and others. According to the system, the bracelets made from these stones also had the effect of warding off evil spirits.
Jiang Yiqing originally wanted to give Si Xuansu a gift, but Si Xuansu had never been seen wearing any jewelry, and the high-quality stones were not yet collected, so she did not give it to her.
Everyone was very happy to receive her gift. They thought the stones were very beautiful, and each person had a different one. Wearing them on their wrists and seeing them while doing things would improve their mood.
And so the news spread throughout the mansion. Everyone knew that the son-in-law could make exquisite bracelets and distributed them to the servants for free. As a result, some people came to Jiang Yiqing to ask for bracelets.
However, those who came to ask were mostly senior maids, like Si Bai who served by the lady's side. They asked in a joking tone, but Jiang Yiqing always granted their requests.
She spent some time searching for stones, and luckily there were quite a few of these stones in the basement of the general's mansion. She then gave each of them a string of them, and in this way, she won over the hearts of all the head maids in the mansion, or rather, strengthened her friendship with them.
Before she knew it, a month had passed since she married into the general's mansion, and it was time to return to her hometown.
Jiang Yiqing had almost forgotten about this. It was the day before the family visit that Si Xuansu said to her, "Yiqing, tomorrow is the day of the family visit. My parents and I have discussed it and we want to take you back to visit your parents."
Jiang Yiqing still remembered what Jiang Yifan had said: the original owner's parents' son had eloped with someone and their daughter had married in place of him. They must be feeling terrible, and she should go back and see them.
"Okay," Jiang Yiqing said after thinking it over.
"We might have to get up early tomorrow, so you should get some rest today," Si Xuansu said.
Jiang Yiqing nodded, but it was still afternoon. Seeing that Si Xuansu had finally gotten a break, she suggested that everyone play Cuju (ancient Chinese football) together.
"Xuan Su, today the sky is clear and the breeze is cool, perfect for playing Cuju (ancient Chinese football). How about you join in?" Jiang Yiqing's ultimate goal was to get Si Xuan Su involved as well.
That would be so much fun! She admitted that although she was no longer a child, she still had a lot of playful tendencies.
However, Si Xuansu didn't laugh at her; instead, she looked completely indulgent: "If you really want to play Cuju, then go ahead and play. But as for me..."
"Aren't you going to participate?" Jiang Yiqing saw her hesitate, her head drooping, looking listless.
Si Xuansu looked at her and said, "I'll be the referee."
Referee? Although Jiang Yiqing wanted her to play herself, being a referee wouldn't be bad either, at least she didn't refuse.
"OK!"
Cuju is a recreational sport that is very popular in this world, especially among nobles. However, the General's Mansion only has one young mistress, Si Xuansu, who has to go to the army every day, so she has hardly ever played cuju. Hearing that Jiang Yiqing wanted to play cuju, the servants in the mansion were very excited.
The goal in Cuju (蹴鞠) differed from that in modern football. At the top of the grid, there was a basket-like goal at the center of the grid. The ball scored only after passing through this basket, called the "Fengliu Eye" (风流眼).
Jiang Yiqing had never played Cuju before, so she was very interested. She had good athletic ability and had played football before. She was curious to know if modern techniques were also applicable to Cuju in ancient times.
Moreover, Si Xuansu was also there this time!
With Si Bai's help, Jiang Yiqing divided the participants into two teams and explained the rules. She also learned about the rules of this world herself.
Sibo didn't want to play herself, but she took the initiative to help her manage the order. Jiang Yiqing thought Sibo was good as a referee, so she walked up to Si Xuansu, still unwilling to give up and wanting her to leave the field.
"Xuan Su, look how good Si Bai is as a referee, why don't you come and play too? Our team is really weak, the guys on the other side are all very strong, I don't have much confidence without you." She was a newbie and indeed didn't have much confidence.
Sensing the plea for help in her eyes, Si Xuansu hesitated for a moment.
At this moment, Sibo said with a smile, "Young master, you don't know, if the young master participates in this competition, then the outcome will be a foregone conclusion."
Does this mean that Si Xuansu is very good at Cuju (ancient Chinese football)?
Jiang Yiqing became even more eager and said, "But I heard that Xuan Su hasn't played Cuju much."
“Young Master has no time to play. She was very skilled when she was very young. She even participated in a competition in front of the Emperor and received a reward from the Emperor as the captain of the winning team.”
Jiang Yiqing thought to herself, "Now that you've said that, I'm getting more and more excited." She put her hands together and said to Xuan Su, "Xuan Su, I'm very weak. Please let me cling to your coattails. Otherwise, if I suffer a crushing defeat later, I'll lose face big time. It's okay if I lose face myself, but I can't let you lose face too."
Hearing how serious she described it, Si Xuansu's expression turned serious, and she asked, "Do you really want me to participate?"
Jiang Yiqing nodded vigorously. It's true! It's more real than real gold.
Si Xuansu held out one hand and said, "What about my beaded necklace?"
Jiang Yiqing didn't expect Si Xuansu to care about this matter. Fortunately, she had finally finished collecting all her good stones. She took out a string of beads with a bright and unique luster from her space and handed it to Si Xuansu, saying, "How could I forget you?"
"The son-in-law is cunning! Even the beaded necklace he gave the young master is prettier than everyone else's." The crowd jeered.
Si Xuansu put the beaded bracelet on her wrist and then said with satisfaction, "Then I'll participate."
Si Xuansu took the Cuju (ancient Chinese football) uniform from Si Bai and went to change.
The general's mansion's Cuju (ancient Chinese football) uniform consisted of a red and black blouse and skirt with maple leaf patterns on the back.
The two teams tied red and black strips of cloth around their shoulders respectively. Jiang Yiqing and Si Xuansu were on the red team, and they served the ball after winning the rock-paper-scissors game.
The ball reached Zhi Li's feet first, but before she could kick it, a member of the Black Team approached her. In a panic, she passed the ball to Jiang Yiqing and Si Xuansu. Jiang Yiqing received the ball but did not rush to score because she was not yet familiar with the feeling of Cuju (ancient Chinese football). Instead, she passed the ball to Si Xuansu.
Si Xuansu played Cuju very seriously. Jiang Yiqing saw that she was not relaxed at all. She launched an attack as soon as she received the ball. The black team followed her closely and rushed up after she kicked the ball, trying to intercept it in the air in various ways.
The ball glided through the air in a low arc, slipped between the defender's legs, soared high, and flew into the far corner of the net!
Jiang Yiqing was stunned. What kind of skill was that? She was able to kick the ball from low to high, as if she had calculated the defender's movements. The ball slipped through the only gap and hit the target precisely.
Jiang Yiqing couldn't help but applaud, and everyone in the General's Mansion watching the match also applauded.
Jiang Yiqing kept replaying the moment in her mind. The goddess's aerial shot was so cool! Her skirt billowed in the air like the leaves of a giant water lily, and her long legs inside her pants were so shapely. The pose at the moment of scoring was so captivating that it was impossible to look away. This reminded Jiang Yiqing of the day they first met, when she had also seen her legs.
No, she was watching the goal, not the leg.
Si Xuansu didn't show much joy after scoring. She calmly accepted everyone's applause, walked over to Jiang Yiqing, and whispered affectionately in her ear, "That pass was good."
"Hey, she passed it pretty well, didn't she?" Jiang Yiqing had put a lot of effort into the pass, taking into account Si Xuansu's attack route and trying her best not to be noticed by the Black Team. Although the praise was well-deserved, Jiang Yiqing was still overjoyed to hear her say that.
"Really?" Jiang Yiqing smiled shyly.
"Are you really sure you don't know how?" Si Xuansu asked with a puzzled look.
"This is my first time playing Cuju," Jiang Yiqing said quickly, explaining to herself that playing football and Cuju are different.
After they scored, the roles of attack and defense were reversed, and the black team started attacking. According to the rules of the game, the captain and vice-captain would switch roles after each scoring opportunity, regardless of whether they scored or not.
Jiang Yiqing was very active in defense. Because the goal was high, she hadn't gotten used to it yet, but her defense was not much different from what she remembered.
When the Black Team captain scored, Jiang Yiqing leaped high and intercepted the ball in mid-air. Her figure froze in mid-air, and everyone watched this scene with tension.
Her body tilted ninety degrees in the air, the ball touched the instep of her foot, turned, and the direction of the attack changed. At that moment, the chain tied to her ankle reflected the sun and emitted a dazzling light.
No one had ever seen this defensive stance before; it seemed incredibly powerful, but also quite worrying.
Jiang Yiqing fell to the ground, landing on her arms first, and rolled once. Everyone rushed to her, worried that she might have been injured.
Jiang Yiqing brushed the grass clippings off her clothes, stood up nimbly, and said to them with a smile, "Nothing's wrong."
"Son-in-law, you lied to us! You pretended to be a newbie, but we are the real newbies!" Hearing her say this, everyone felt relieved, and someone complained.
"This is really my first time playing Cuju, but I've had some experience with similar sports before," Jiang Yiqing explained.
The roles of offense and defense changed again, and this time Si Xuansu passed the ball to Jiang Yiqing.
Jiang Yiqing was taken aback. She originally wanted to kick it back to her, but seeing that Si Xuansu was in a bad position, she decided to score the goal herself.
That's probably why the goddess passed the ball to her; she didn't want to disappoint her.
She's going to score! She absolutely has to, no one can stop her!
Despite her high fighting spirit, Jiang Yiqing was unusually cautious. She pretended to pass the ball, used a fake move to fool a defender, and then walked past him to continue forward.
The defenders rushed over again, and Jiang Yiqing made another fake pass, fooling another person. That person was still confused until the end, not knowing how she could make such a fake pass.
Jiang Yiqing bypassed the second person and came to the third person. This person had learned his lesson. Jiang Yiqing made another feint, and the man thought she was going to charge again, so he took a step back to guard against her. Seeing him retreat, Jiang Yiqing volleyed the ball over his head and headed straight for the goal. The man was dumbfounded.
The ball spun rapidly in the air, then plummeted, barely touching the top of the goal and going in.
At that moment, the anklet on her ankle flashed again, so bright that Si Xuansu repeatedly looked at it and narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Goal!" The Red Team players were overjoyed when they saw the ball go in and shouted with delight.
They all ran towards Jiang Yiqing, lifted her up, and tossed her into the air. Jiang Yiqing's heart was already racing, and she was so happy she almost choked.
Jiang Yiqing regained some of her feel for playing football, and others were more lenient with her, so she successfully had her moment in the spotlight.
Seeing her happy expression, Si Xuansu hugged her tightly, hooking one arm around her knee and supporting her waist with the other, pulling her into his arms.
The princess carry was too suggestive, and Jiang Yiqing's face flushed. She forcibly changed the subject, saying with lingering interest, "Put me down, I can still kick!"
Si Xuansu stared at her quietly, but his eyes held a dangerous glint in them, making Jiang Yiqing's heart pound even harder.
She felt a burning sensation in her ankle and looked down to see Si Xuansu's fingers hooking the chain on her ankle.
She suddenly felt very ambiguous. Before she could say anything while looking into her eyes, Si Xuansu gently placed her on the grass.
"Young master, those feints of yours are really cunning!" someone shouted.
"...All's fair in war!" Jiang Yiqing cleared her throat to find her voice, and said confidently, "Besides, can you call the vice-captain's actions treacherous? I was doing this to help the team win."
Afterwards, with the outstanding performances of Jiang Yiqing and Si Xuansu, the Red Team completely crushed the Black Team with a score of 7:1, thus winning the first Cuju Tournament of the General's Mansion.
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