To others, even Xu Yunci, Li Shiyue had always been seen as a delicate and frail little cousin. This was the first time she had so openly and firmly revealed her true feelings.
Xu Yunci's phoenix eyes were full of smiles. He took two steps forward and said, "Okay, I'll play with you in the next match."
Li Shiyue was taken aback. Wouldn't that make Princess Chunhui resent her even more?
Regardless of her agreement or not, the gong signaling the end of the halftime break rang out. When Li Shiyue came to her senses, Xu Yunci was already sitting on his horse, clearly preparing for the start of the second half.
Li Shiyue mounted her horse and couldn't help but look at Princess Chunhui and Fu Yunning, who were chatting happily on the viewing platform. She gave some instructions to a palace maid, who then walked towards the end of the viewing platform.
Chang Shun handed over the polo club, and Li Shiyue looked away, took the club, and focused intently on the polo ball in the middle.
She was unaware of everything happening at the horse farm. From a pavilion on the south side, Qin Ying could see everything clearly, except for not being able to hear what they were saying.
But the palace maid who had been on the viewing platform was now standing by the door: "The princess would like to invite the prince to join her in the next performance."
Qin Yingsheng resembled his birth mother, Consort Shun, more. He always had a smiling face, though the smile never reached his eyes. He spoke with a hint of nonchalance, his gaze falling on the delicate figure on the distant horse field: "Who does my imperial sister want to compare herself to?"
The palace maid replied respectfully, "It is Miss Li Shiyue from the Rongguo Duke's Mansion. However, the princess has another matter she would like to ask the prince for help with."
Qin Ying let out a soft, ambiguous laugh through his nose: "Speak."
The mother and daughter in Pixiang Palace clearly lack the strongest backing without a prince. It seems that the actions of this good princess today are worth the effort he had previously shown favor to Pixiang Palace.
Both were princes, and his abilities were clearly no less than anyone else's. It was only because his birth mother was of lowly birth that he was inferior to Qin Zhao, who was born of the legitimate wife.
Why is it that even though they're both princes, Qin Zhao gets to be the crown prince while he's destined to be a prince for life? The Consort of Pixiang Palace comes from a respectable family, yet she has no sons. How wonderful it would be if one day her family's influence could be used to her advantage.
Concealing the greed in his eyes, Qin Ying rested his index finger on his forehead, listening to the palace maid's words, a cold smile appearing on his thin lips: "Go back and tell my sister that I know."
The palace maid withdrew, and the servant behind her stepped forward: "Does Your Highness really intend to agree to the princess's request?"
"Why wouldn't I? I love it when I can cause trouble for the Crown Prince." Qin Ying casually raised his eyes. He loved doing things like causing trouble for the Crown Prince or the Xu family himself.
With my gaze fixed on the horse racing field, I must say that the figure in light blue on horseback was truly captivating.
Li Shiyue gripped the cue stick with her backhand, raised her wrist, and sank the last ball just before the gong sounded. A joyful smile spread across her face as she turned to look at Xu Yunci. She saw him dismount and walk towards the Crown Prince's side. She wondered what the approaching guards had said, but both Qin Zhao and Xu Yunci wore serious expressions.
Before she could hide the joy on her face, she met Xu Yunci's complicated gaze and hesitated whether to go forward. Just as she was about to take a step forward, Xu Yunci and Qin Zhao walked out.
Xu Lingyu noticed the doubt in her eyes and comforted her, "There are some matters concerning the Jingzhao Prefecture. As the Junior Magistrate of the Jingzhao Prefecture, Erlang, it would be impolite not to go. Your cousin will accompany you in a while, okay?"
"It's alright. It's not good for your aunt to be there by herself. Cousin, go over there quickly. There are also Sixth Cousin and the others."
Xu Lingyu glanced at the viewing platform. Yang Shi was moving alone among the officials' wives; it wouldn't make sense for her not to go over. After giving her several instructions, she led her people towards the viewing platform.
Xu Lingzi pulled Xu Yunyao and the other two over. Seeing Li Shiyue's calm expression, she thought she was nervous: "I'll fight with you. I'll definitely be able to beat...down."
She raised her hand, made a fist, and gestured twice. Although she didn't say the name, everyone knew who she was talking about. As soon as she finished speaking, Xu Lingzi's gaze fell on Princess Chunhui and Prince Qin Ying of Yan, who were walking down from the viewing platform together.
It turned out that Prince Yan and Princess Chunhui were together. Xu Lingzi pursed her lips. She had heard her brother mention that Prince Yan Qin Ying's riding and archery skills were not much worse than those of Crown Prince Qin Zhao.
Princess Chunhui had changed into a magnificent silver-white riding outfit, embroidered with Shu embroidery and trimmed with red brocade, featuring patterns of butterflies. The gold thread on the outfit was selected by the palace embroiderers to create the most lustrous designs. She wore it, and a lightly patterned sash was tied around her waist. Her hair was styled in a bun, with two gold hairpins of different lengths on her right side. Her hair was parted in a 4:6 ratio at the front.
She raised her chin and walked over like a proud little peacock, looking around disdainfully: "What, are you going to admit defeat? I'm afraid Brother Lize won't play with you anymore."
It was as if she knew in advance that Xu Yunci was going to leave; there was something definitely off about what she was saying.
Faced with Princess Chunhui's provocation, Li Shiyue smiled slightly and didn't take it to heart: "My cousin has many affairs to attend to, it's not like I absolutely need him to be here. The Xu family has other cousins, and there's also my sixth cousin, they can all handle it."
Princess Chunhui seemed to be in a fairly good mood and didn't dwell on the matter any further. She crossed her arms, took the reins from the maid, and mounted her horse with surprising agility.
Just as Xu Lingzi was about to pull Li Shiyue toward the horses, Xu Yunyao stepped forward and stopped her, saying, "Let me do it."
The former stopped and looked at Qin Ying, the Prince of Yan, who was still standing to one side. He nodded, seemingly wanting to give some instructions, but he opened his mouth and said nothing.
Li Shiyue slightly curtsied in the direction of Prince Qin Ying of Yan, then turned around and, together with Xu Yunyao, mounted their horses.
The four sat on their horses, all in a straight line. Princess Chunhui held a riding whip in her hand and pointed to the items that the palace servants had just placed on the prize table: "The prize is that pure gold begonia inlaid with tourmaline filigree phoenix tail hairpin, which belonged to my grandmother, Empress Mingyu. Such a rare and precious item, today I will show you its beauty."
"What you want, and what you shouldn't have."
Li Shiyue held the reins in one hand and the golf club in the other, glancing at the phoenix-tail hairpin on the prize table. The bright sun made it difficult to see clearly, and she had no interest in the hairpin.
Looking at the polo ball in the center of the field, she wasn't really fighting for Xu Yunci's heart today; she just wanted to prove herself and deflate the arrogance of the little princess in front of her.
"My grandmother once said that people are distinguished by social norms and etiquette. But Heaven is right, social norms and etiquette cannot distinguish a person as good or bad. The old things of Empress Mingyu are extremely precious to the princess, but in my eyes, even a golden house built with ten thousand taels of silver is not as good as what I want."
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