Lu Ronghuai Pointed at Himself and Showed Off Modestly
On the third day of the Wanchao Hui, everyone gathered at the maqiu grounds.
Today there would be a women’s maqiu match. Unmarried young ladies from every kingdom could take part, and unmarried young men would also come to watch. If one took a liking to someone, he would return home and tell his parents, after which they would go to her household to propose marriage.
For that reason, during the maqiu matches at the Wanchao Hui, every maiden of marriageable age approached with her full effort and best presentation, each hoping to catch the eye of a worthy match.
Chu Yuan followed Lu Ronghuai up to the viewing platform and sat down beside Lu Rongshen.
“What are you dazing over?” Lu Ronghuai gave Lu Rongshen a light smack on the head.
“Ah? Oh, Third Brother, Third Sister-in-law, you are here.” Lu Rongshen returned to himself, a smile spreading across his refined and handsome face.
“How did your talk go yesterday?” Lu Ronghuai instructed the eunuchs to serve tea, then turned and asked.
Lu Rongshen grinned happily. “It went quite well. Miss Bai is so gentle, gentler even than my Mother Consort.”
Lu Ronghuai and Chu Yuan exchanged a glance.
Chu Yuan asked, “What did the two of you talk about? Would it be convenient to tell us?”
Lu Rongshen replied, “She asked me to the garden, and then... well, she asked what I liked, and I asked what she liked, things like that.”
“That was all?”
“Yes. Is that not what one talks about when meeting in private?” Lu Rongshen looked bashful.
Lu Ronghuai: “...”
Chu Yuan pushed a plate of dried fruit toward Lu Rongshen. “Eat a little. The match has not started yet.”
Lu Ronghuai pulled Chu Yuan toward himself and murmured into his ear.
“Bai Qingyu did not explain things clearly to him.”
Chu Yuan replied, “Miss Bai perhaps has concerns of her own.”
Lu Ronghuai: “... I will ask later.”
Chu Yuan glanced at Lu Rongshen, who was still foolishly smiling while eating dried grapes, then shook his head and stopped him. “Your Highness had best not interfere. Let them resolve it for themselves.”
Lu Ronghuai followed his gaze and looked over. He was instantly rendered speechless.
“... Very well. I will listen to Ah-Yuan.”
Before long, many young ladies in bright riding clothes appeared on the maqiu grounds below.
Bai Qingyu had not slept all night. After parting from Lu Rongshen yesterday, she returned and fell into endless regret. She had clearly meant to tell him the truth in person, yet when she saw the boy’s shining eyes full of anticipation, those words somehow would not leave her mouth.
That night she tossed and turned, her sorrow knotted in a hundred coils.
She sat beside Bai Yi with dark circles under her eyes and a listless expression. Bai Yi turned his head and gave her a look. “Did things go badly with the Eighth Prince?”
Bai Qingyu sighed. “No. I still have not told him.”
Bai Yi paused. “Then what did you spend so long talking about with him yesterday?”
Bai Qingyu closed her eyes and raised a hand to press at her temples, her voice hoarser than before. “He thought I had invited him on an outing. He was very happy. I... could not bring myself to say it.”
Bai Yi: “...”
Bai Yi turned his head and looked up. Lu Rongshen was holding a plate in both hands, his eyes bright as he stared at Bai Qingyu, the smile on his face impossible to ignore.
He certainly was quite happy, smiling like a little fool.
Bai Yi copied Bai Qingyu and raised a hand to press at his own temple. With a splitting headache forming, he asked, “Then when do you intend to tell him the truth?”
Bai Qingyu’s expression remained steady, but within those ice-blue eyes lay surging waves vast as the sea. “When an opportunity presents itself.”
Just after the two had finished speaking, a shadow fell before them.
The Third Princess, Lu Lingshuang, held a riding whip in her hand and looked down at Bai Qingyu with an arrogant expression. “Miss Bai, my side is short one person. Come fill the spot.”
Bai Qingyu raised her eyes and met the gaze with cool indifference. “Many thanks for Your Highness’s kindness, but this subject does not play maqiu.”
Lu Lingshuang gave a dismissive sound. “This Princess invited you only because you are about to become the Eighth Prince’s consort. That is why I am giving you face. You ought not to mistake generosity for weakness.”
Bai Yi frowned. “Third Princess, my daughter has only just returned to the capital. If there is any place she has offended Your Highness, I ask Your Highness to forgive her. Please do not make things difficult for her.”
Lu Lingshuang raised her brows high and spoke with imperious arrogance. “When did this Princess make things difficult for her? Inviting her to play maqiu is also for her own good. Miss Bai will eventually need to find her place among the noble ladies of the capital. If she takes no part in anything, does she expect people to pay her any notice in future?”
Bai Qingyu pressed down Bai Yi, who was on the verge of losing his temper, and stood up.
“Very well. I will go.”
Bai Qingyu had not worn riding clothes today. She first went to change, and only when the match was nearly about to begin did she appear upon the maqiu grounds.
Lu Lingshuang had long since grown impatient. Seeing her come over, she vented her temper by cracking her whip. Dust flew up and scattered across Bai Qingyu’s clean shoes.
Bai Qingyu stood where she was without moving.
The mark left by the whip on the ground was less than half an inch from her.
When Lu Rongshen saw this from the viewing platform, he was so startled that he at once stood up and was about to run down below.
Lu Ronghuai stopped him. “What are you doing?”
Lu Rongshen said anxiously, “Lu Lingshuang is bullying her!”
Chu Yuan said, “Eighth Brother, do not be anxious first. Father Emperor and the others are all present. The Third Princess will not dare go too far.”
“Sit down,” Lu Ronghuai said as he turned his teacup, his tone calm. “Father Emperor is watching. If Miss Bai cannot endure even this little bit of provocation, then how is she to become your Eighth Prince’s consort?”
Lu Rongshen puffed out his cheeks and sat back down in sullen unhappiness.
He knew his Third Brother was right, but he was still unhappy in his heart. Lu Rongshen clenched his fists and secretly made up his mind.
If anyone dared bully his wife in the future, he would return every bit of it twofold.
No, that was not right...
Lu Rongshen suddenly turned his head and glared at his Third Brother. “Third Brother, you are deceiving me. If Third Sister-in-law were bullied, you would never just sit and watch. You threw Lu Lingshuang into the ice pond last time.”
Lu Ronghuai pointed at himself and showed off modestly. “My apologies. I possess that ability. Do you?”
Lu Rongshen: “...”
He was so angry that he burst into tears and ran off to his Mother Consort to complain.
Chu Yuan stifled a laugh. “Why does Your Highness always bully Eight Brother?”
Lu Ronghuai smiled faintly. “While I still can, I will bully him a few more times. Once he marries... ah, no, once he takes a wife, if I wish to bully him, there will be someone who will not allow it.”
“Oh.”
At the front, they were already placing wagers. The greatest number of bets had been placed on the Red Team led by Lu Lingshuang, while those willing to bet on the Blue Team were few and scattered.
Lu Ronghuai drew a silver ingot from his sleeve and tossed it into the tray at the front.
“This Prince wagers on the Blue Team to win.”
Chu Yuan asked curiously, “Your Highness is not placing the wager on Miss Bai?”
“I would sooner throw this silver into the river than place it on Lu Lingshuang’s team.”
Chu Yuan: “...Very well.”
On the grounds below, the Red and Blue teams lined up in neat formation. Maqiu was played with five people to a side. Besides Lu Lingshuang and Bai Qingyu, the Red Team included Min Xiaomiao, the daughter of General Pingwei, and two commandery princesses.
Opposing them was the Blue Team, led by Xu Zhizhi of Grand Tutor Xu’s household, joined by Fang Rouling, daughter of General Zhennan, and three young women from the families of second-rank officials.
Xu Zhizhi took one look at Bai Qingyu and immediately made her displeasure known. “Third Princess, you found someone this tall. How are we supposed to compete?”
Among the girls there, only Min Xiaomiao was somewhat taller, yet with Bai Qingyu standing beside her, even Min Xiaomiao suddenly appeared especially petite.
Lu Lingshuang looked immensely pleased. “Everyone picks their own people. This Princess simply has better eyesight. You need only wait obediently to lose.”
Xu Zhizhi stared at Bai Qingyu’s long arms and long legs, regretting that she herself had not thought to recruit her, allowing Lu Lingshuang to gain the advantage first.
With such long arms, Bai Qingyu could hook the ball away with a single easy sweep. How were they supposed to compete for it?
“We are going to lose,” Fang Rouling whispered at her side.
Xu Zhizhi frowned. “It has not begun yet. If we play well, we still have a chance to win. Sisters, all of you, gather your spirits. Focus on defending against Bai Qingyu.”
The match began and everyone mounted their horses.
Xu Zhizhi’s team guarded Bai Qingyu closely and gave her no chance to get near the ball. Yet after playing for quite some time, everyone realized something was wrong.
Bai Qingyu seemed... to have no intention whatsoever of competing with them for the ball. Since mounting her horse, let alone a mallet, she had not even taken up a riding whip.
Xu Zhizhi was the first to react. Raising her voice, she shouted, “Change formation. Attack the Third Princess.”
Lu Lingshuang had been playing with ease. Since everyone was surrounding Bai Qingyu, there was an opening on her side for taking the ball. She seized the chance, snatched the ball away, and while riding fast swung her mallet, driving the ball straight toward the other side’s goal.
“First round, Red Team wins.”
Lu Lingshuang smiled smugly at Xu Zhizhi.
Xu Zhizhi bit down hard and in the second round clung tightly to Lu Lingshuang, successfully winning a round back.
Lu Lingshuang rode over to Bai Qingyu with an angry face and scolded her. “Do you even know how to play maqiu? The ball came right in front of you and you did not even bother to receive it. Useless thing!”
Bai Qingyu raised her eyes with perfect composure. “This subject’s skill at maqiu is poor. If Your Highness wishes, Your Highness may still replace me with someone else.”
Lu Lingshuang looked at her darkly. “Are you truly incapable or are you playing tricks on this Princess? This Princess already inquired. When you played maqiu in the western frontier, you even won first place.”
Bai Qingyu blinked, her gaze calm.
She glanced at the delicately built young ladies on the field and sighed faintly in her heart before once more speaking with tact. “Previously this subject always played together with soldiers. My hand knew no restraint. Yet now all those on the field are noble ladies. This subject fears injuring everyone by accident.”
“This Princess does not care. Today this Princess must win this match. If you dare not apply yourself, this Princess will not spare you lightly.”
After saying that, Lu Lingshuang rode her horse away toward the front.
The third round began. Bai Qingyu fell in behind the rest of her team. When the ball was struck toward her, she would return it, but she made no move to contest for possession and remained always at the outer edge of the action.
Then Min Xiaomiao, in her effort to reach the ball, stretched herself flat along her horse’s neck in a sharp and precarious lean, her body suspended half off the saddle. Her mallet was no more than two or three inches from the ball.
At that very moment, Fang Rouling suddenly urged her horse into Min Xiaomiao’s horse.
Gasps rose from the viewing platform.
The horse was frightened and suddenly reared up on its forelegs. Min Xiaomiao fell backward and let out a scream, so frightened that she squeezed her eyes tightly shut in terror.
A fall like that would leave her dead or broken.
Min Xiaomiao’s heart went cold. In that instant, she had already begun to make her peace with whatever came next.
Yet after waiting a long while, no intense pain came.
She cautiously opened her eyes and discovered that she had landed on Bai Qingyu’s horse.
It was Bai Qingyu who had saved her.
Min Xiaomiao immediately jumped down and looked at Bai Qingyu with overwhelming gratitude. “Thank you, Miss Bai. If it had not been for you just now, I certainly would have fallen to my death.”
Bai Qingyu’s expression remained calm. “It is nothing. Be more careful.”
Min Xiaomiao nodded. She mounted her horse again. Once the match ended, she would settle accounts with Fang Rouling.
Yet after being thrown into disorder like this, their earlier spirit had already scattered. In the end, the final round still went to the Blue Team.
“The match is over. Blue Team wins.”
Lu Ronghuai won until his pockets were full. After counting the silver with great satisfaction, he handed all of it over to Chu Yuan.
“Here, wife. Take it and spend it.”
The two were still speaking when suddenly a tremendous cry of alarm erupted from the crowd.
Lu Ronghuai had only just lifted his head when he felt a fierce gust sweep past at his side.
Lu Rongshen spun like a top and charged toward the grounds with astonishing speed.
Bai Qingyu had been injured.
✧ A Word from the Author ✧
Lu Dog: I can protect my wife.
Lu Rongshen: I can too.
Lu Dog: You can protect a hammer.
Lu Rongshen: Waah~
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