Chapter 127 Poisoning
In the blink of an eye, it was the tenth day of May, and the sports meet arrived as scheduled.
Song Yuzhu was not the first to propose the idea of a sports meet. Our ancestors had held sports meets thousands of years ago. However, there were not so many events at that time, and the number of participants was limited.
According to historical records, during the Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Wen sought out those who could run dozens of miles without stopping and rewarded them with hundreds of thousands of coins. This was the first recorded sports event.
Later, the Wu Dynasty also held several sports games, but only the nobles could participate in the games. The poor people were not qualified to participate, let alone watch.
Today, the Great Qi Dynasty has re-organized the sports meeting, not only allowing common people to participate, but also allowing them to watch. This is the first time in history.
Early in the morning before daybreak, the common people who came to the capital brought their families to the parade ground outside the western camp to reserve seats.
I heard that the emperor would also be coming today, and everyone was ready to see his face.
At 1:05 a.m., Song Yuzhu arrived at the Jingxi camp in a horse-drawn carriage, escorted by hundreds of people.
Amid the roar of applause from the crowd, Song Yuzhu climbed onto the viewing platform that had been set up in advance.
The viewing platform is three stories high. Sitting on it, one can have a panoramic view of the entire competition venue. Only Heidao and Baixiu are with him on the stage.
The attendants pulled up the curtains around the venue, and Song Yuzhu could see the competition venue below. It was almost the same as the track and field stadium in his memory.
The spacious and flat training ground was painted with white lime powder to form a 100-meter track, a 400-meter circular track, and a relay track. The open space in the middle was used for archery, high jump, long jump, and weightlifting.
A three-meter square podium was temporarily built on the side, where the winner will receive the award.
Song Yuzhu had originally planned to compete in events such as swimming and diving, but swimming venues were difficult to find and the diving referees didn't know how to score, so they simply canceled them.
The remaining events are all quite entertaining, especially running and Cuju, which people enjoy watching and can understand.
The competition was divided into three days. The first day included long-distance running, relay races and weightlifting. The second day included short-distance running, archery, high jump and long jump. The third day included Cuju, polo and wrestling.
Although this sports meet looked so simple that it was not even as good as those held at ordinary universities, it still made the people of Shangjing very excited.
The sports meet was about to begin. The Ministry of Rites read out the imperial edict and competition rules. The content was long and boring, and the people were drowsy listening to it.
"I heard that someone from Xuanyi Tower also participated in the competition?" Song Yuzhu asked, leaning on the railing with both hands.
Heidao said, "A few nimble guys participated in the relay race. Lord Liu asked me to keep an eye on them and make sure they don't embarrass him."
"Why didn't Liu Yanzi come to participate? With his skills, he can definitely win the championship in the high jump." Song Yuzhu couldn't help laughing as he said this.
Bai Xiu also laughed and said, "Lord Liu said he would not show up to show his face. If Your Majesty wants to see it, he will come to the palace to dance for you anytime."
"Hahahahahaha..." The three of them burst into laughter at the same time.
After the announcement, the athletes entered the venue. There were more than 350 participants in the ten events, including four teams in polo and four teams in Cuju who entered the finals.
The athletes lined up in neat rows according to their numbers. The clothes they wore were uniformly distributed by the court. They wore their own clothes inside and a white coat outside, on which their respective codes were printed with red dye, making it easier for the referee to identify the results of the game.
The first event was a long-distance race. There were three groups of ten people in each group, and the running distance was three thousand meters, or six miles.
Using an hourglass to time, the top three players from each team will proceed to the second round.
At the same time, the weightlifting competition in the circle also started. Originally, there were 30 people participating in the competition, but for some reason, only 20 people showed up today. Ten athletes simultaneously claimed to be unwell and cancelled the competition.
So many cancelled competitions in the same event attracted the attention of the referee. He felt that there was something fishy going on and reported the matter to the official from the Ministry of Rites who was in charge of the Games. The official did not dare to take it lightly and quickly reported the matter to the emperor.
Song Yuzhu asked someone to present the list of participants for the weightlifting competition, and soon the guards brought over the list of twenty participants.
Seventeen of the twenty were from the military, and the remaining three were civilians. Among the seventeen in the military, one was particularly eye-catching. General Du's son Du Zhanzhou also participated.
Du Chong is a veteran who followed Song Yuzhu to conquer the world. He has been diligently training soldiers in the military camp over the years. Song Yuzhu is unwilling to believe that this matter has anything to do with him.
"Send someone to call General Du up."
After a while, Du Chong walked up to the viewing platform with a smile on his face and knelt down to greet Song Yuzhu.
"This general pays homage to His Majesty."
"Get up."
Song Yuzhu pointed at the people competing in weightlifting in the middle of the venue and said, "I heard your son is also participating?"
Du Chong touched his head and smiled: "My silly boy has some strength, so I let him participate."
"Which one is your son?"
Du Chong said, "The one with the round head in the middle, number 27."
Soon the weightlifting competition began, and Du Chong cheered for his son. His son was indeed very strong, and he could lift a millstone weighing more than 200 kilograms at once. However, the No. 635 next to him obviously lifted it more easily than him.
By the end, there were only a few people who could lift 300 kilograms, only Du Zhanzhou and No. 635 were still persisting.
Du Zhanzhou gritted his teeth and walked up to him and whispered, "Don't be ungrateful, kid. You took the money from my family and yet you still dare to come here. Aren't you afraid that my father will cause trouble for you?"
Chen Liang glanced at him and walked forward to lift the heavier millstone.
"Did you hear me?" Du Zhanzhou grabbed him and shouted.
Chen Liang said coldly: "Get out of the way, don't block the road."
The young master of the Du family was used to being flattered, but this was the first time someone dared to speak to him like this. He was so angry that he grabbed Chen Liang's clothes and punched him.
All of this was seen clearly by the people in the stands.
Du Chong wiped the sweat from his temples and said, "This bastard... Your Majesty, please forgive me."
"It's okay. Young people are full of energy. Just ask them to pull them apart."
At the end of the competition, Chen Liang won the weightlifting championship with his super high strength of 480 kilograms, which was also the first gold medal of this Games.
Amid the cheers of the people, Song Yuzhu personally went up to the podium and presented him with the medal.
When presenting the award, Chen Liang suddenly knelt down and said, "I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty!"
The guards next to him thought he was trying to murder the emperor and quickly pushed him to the ground.
Song Yuzhu said: "Don't panic, you said you are guilty, why?"
Chen Liang raised his head, his gray face full of tears: "I killed my own aunt."
*
The story begins with the auditions that day.
Chen Liang returned home happily holding the wooden sign and told his family the news that he had been selected.
At first, the uncle and aunt didn't believe it, but soon all the neighbors came to join in the fun, and they finally believed that Chen Liang had become a big star today.
"Oh my, a stone millstone weighing several hundred kilograms, and your Xiao Liang picked it up with one hand."
"Is...is that so?" Aunt Yu covered her mouth with her hand as if surprised.
"Of course! Why didn't I realize Xiao Liang had such great abilities before?"
Yu nodded with a fake smile, and after sending the neighbors away, she quickly consulted with her husband: "Boss, what do you think about Chen Liang going to lift weights?"
"What else can I do? If he's strong enough, just go ahead and lift it. I heard that he'll give me money for my rank."
Yu pinched him and said, "Even if we give it to you, it's not ours!"
"I have raised him for so many years, how dare he not respect me!"
"I'm just afraid that he will be blinded by money." Yu knew that she had treated her nephew badly over the years and was afraid that he would take the money and not give it to her.
Chen Lao Er waved his hand and said, "Don't let your imagination run wild. With so many people competing, he may not be able to get a place."
*
Towards evening, a sedan chair suddenly stopped in front of the blacksmith shop, and a woman in luxurious clothes walked out of it.
When a distinguished guest came to the shop, Yu hurried to greet him and asked the woman what she wanted to make.
The woman first looked Yu up and down, then said condescendingly: "I heard that your nephew participated in the weightlifting competition."
"Yes... yes." Yu didn't understand why she asked this.
"Here is five hundred taels of silver. Tell him he doesn't need to go for a few days." The woman asked the maid next to her to take out a few silver bills and throw them to her.
Yu looked at the banknotes and her eyes widened: "This...this, this."
"Don't you understand what it means?"
"I understand! I understand!" Yu grabbed the banknotes on the ground and put them in her arms.
The woman showed a contemptuous look and said, "Take the money and get the job done. If you dare to block my son's future, don't blame me for not forgiving you."
"Yes, yes, yes! I will keep him at home and not let him participate in any sports events."
After sending the woman away, Yu took out the silver note from her bosom and examined it carefully, confirming that it was indeed five hundred taels. She blushed with excitement!
I didn't expect to encounter such a good thing. I really got a great bargain!
That night she told her husband about this, and the couple were naturally very excited.
While she was happy, Yu thought of Chen Liang: "What should I do with him?"
"What else can we do? We can't let him go. If that doesn't work, we can tie him up with a rope." Anyway, the money has been obtained, so what's the point of fighting for the title?
Yu felt that it was inappropriate: "Can a rope tie up that fool? Your Excellency has said that if Chen Liang dares to participate in the competition, he will not let us off! Otherwise, we will do it once and for all..."
Chen Lao Er was so scared that he kept shaking his head: "No, no, he's my nephew."
Yu sneered in her heart. You seized Boss Chen's property and forced your sister-in-law to death, but I never saw you treat him as your own nephew.
"Think carefully! If Chen Liang lets this out, none of us will survive!"
Chen Laoer lit up his pipe and started smoking. He had no conscience to begin with, and now he was blinded by money and instigated by his wife, he became even more ruthless.
"I can't do it anyway, how about knocking him out and letting him lie down at home for two days?"
"Oh, why are you pretending to be so high and mighty? You didn't hesitate when you forced your sister-in-law to jump into the well!"
"Bang!" There was suddenly a sound of something falling outside the door.
The couple was startled. Chen Laoer quickly put on his clothes and tiptoed over. In the moonlight, he saw two cats fighting outside the door.
"Damn it, I'm scared to death! Speak more quietly!"
"Okay, if you can't do it, I'll be the bad guy!"
The next day, Yu went back to her parents' home on the pretext of feeling unwell and bought some arsenic from a clinic near her home.
That night she cooked a big pot of meat, poured arsenic into Chen Liang's big bowl, and brought it to the woodshed.
"You've worked hard these days. Come and try this. Auntie specially stewed the meat for you. Try to win the championship in the competition in a few days." Chen Liang picked up the chopsticks, picked up a piece of meat and brought it to his mouth. Just as he was about to eat it, he suddenly asked, "Auntie, have you eaten?"
(End of this chapter)
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