Chang Sui Ning and the other female family members looked over subconsciously and saw four chamberlains leading the way, and then a young woman in official robes walked into everyone's sight.
Mrs. Wang was a little surprised: "It's the Lord of Gu'an County who has arrived."
Her status as county head alone would not attract such attention from the Wang family and other officials. What really attracted people's attention to Mingluo was her status as a female historian, and she was a female historian who was highly trusted by saints.
When she appeared outside the palace with her servants, she probably came on behalf of the Holy Emperor.
Sure enough, this time is no exception.
After drinking wine with Qiao and paying homage to several important ministers, she said with a smile: "Ming Luo was ordered by the saint to come to watch the students perform the bow, and was ordered to bring this thing to add to the glory of the competition -
—”
As she spoke, she looked at the chambermaid beside her who was holding a long box.
Another chamberlain opened the long carved box and saw a bowing stick. The stick was several feet long, with a dragon wrapped around the stick, and its end was like a crescent moon.
"This bowing stick was made by the late emperor and the late prince. When he was young in the palace, the late prince often held this bowing stick with the late emperor." Mingluo said with a smile: "Today, the saint specially uses this to give all the students a gift.
Some prizes will be awarded to the winner of this final round."
The supervisors suddenly became noisy.
The significance of the gift given by the emperor is extraordinary, not to mention the staff used by the former Crown Prince!
The supervisors who are waiting for the competition in the Juju arena are all gearing up and their fighting spirit is getting higher and higher.
"Ning Ning, what does the bow staff used by the former Crown Prince look like?" Qiao Yumian asked Chang Sui Ning curiously.
Chang Suining had withdrawn his gaze: "It's nothing special."
And she didn't have much impression. She had many bow sticks, and they all looked similar.
Listening to the excited voices of the students, Qiao Yumian said "Ah": "I thought it must be extraordinarily different."
After thinking for a while, he understood: "Although the Juzhang itself is not much different, it is very different because its former owner was His Royal Highness... Everyone will want to compete for this prize."
of."
Chang Sui Ning showed a hint of disdain.
The previous owner was just an unlucky guy. Things belonging to an unlucky guy are bound to be bad luck, so I don't know what there is to argue about.
Mingluo has been guided to take a seat. Her position is not with the female relatives, but among the officials. Since she came with the instructions from the saint, she is at the top.
In the field, as a drumbeat sounded, the twenty-four supervisors participating this time all led their horses into the field.
Most of them have young faces. They are all wearing green-white narrow-sleeved robes and wearing black boots. They hold reins in their left hand and a bow stick in their right hand. They are all handsome and full of energy.
These twenty-four people are all selected from the internal competitions of each school one month in advance. There are six Imperial Colleges, and each school finally selects four people to form a team. These four people represent the glory of their respective schools.
They lined up in six teams at this time, and the ribbons tied around their waists were also divided into six colors.
"Ning Ning, have you seen brother?" Qiao Yumian tugged on Chang Sui Ning's sleeve.
Chang Suining looked over and saw Qiao Yubai, who was wearing a blue ribbon around his waist. He was standing at the head of the team, which was the vanguard position.
"I see, brother Yu Bai is in the fifth column. He should be the last to play in the preliminary round, it will be an hour later."
When two polo teams compete, six teams will play against each other three times. The competition format is five quarters per game, with each quarter lasting half an hour. Therefore, the winner will be determined at the end of the game for both teams, plus a break in each quarter.
It takes about half an hour.
There are four teams in front of Qiao Yubai, and they need to play two games, which is one hour.
Hearing that she was so familiar with the rules, Wang smiled and asked, "Ning Ning also likes to watch polo now?"
In the past, Ning Ning didn't like these things.
Chang Suining nodded: "I've seen a few shows."
Wang said: "If Ning Ning likes it, she can learn it in the future."
"Yes, I'll let my brother teach Ning Ning." Qiao Yumian said with a bright smile in her eyes: "Brother's kickball is very good. Ning Ning hasn't seen it yet, right?"
Chang Suining smiled and said "Hmm": "You will be able to see Brother Yubai's skills later."
"When it comes to juju, I'm quite knowledgeable -" a smiling woman's voice suddenly sounded.
Chang Suining looked over and saw Mrs. Duan walking over with a smile, followed by a flowery little girl, it was Wei Miaoqing.
Just as Chang Sui Ning was about to stand up, Mr. Duan gently pressed his shoulder: "No need to be polite, just sit down and talk."
While talking, Mrs. Duan smiled and nodded to each other, then sat down next to Chang Suining.
Chang Suining then asked: "Madam, are you also here to watch the shooting match?"
"Well, you came here with my boy." Duan smiled and raised his chin towards the opposite side.
Chang Sui Ning looked over and saw that Wei Shuyi had just sat down under the pergola. He was not wearing official uniform today, but was wearing a moon-green fine silk gown embroidered with bamboo patterns. After sitting down, he looked up as if he was investigating something.
, as they looked at each other, a smile gradually appeared on their brows and eyes, like the first unfolding of a green mountain scroll.
He smiled and nodded to Chang Suining.
Chang Sui Ning also nodded with him.
Wei Miaoqing, who sat down next to Duan, felt angry when she saw that her brother quickly looked away and started talking quietly with his colleagues beside him - his brother didn't even look at her just now!
And mother——
When Wei Miaoqing saw Duan holding Chang Sui Ning's hand, she couldn't help but frown in confusion - on such a hot day, wouldn't her mother find her hands sweaty?
Ever since they met at the flower party at Kasuga's house, my mother had been mentioning the Chang family's wife every now and then for some reason, and she would invite people to the house to talk to her from time to time, as if she was possessed by a demon!
She felt depressed more than once and repeatedly asked Fang in charge - she didn't know what her mother liked about the Chang family's wife.
Manager Fang always hesitated to speak and only tried to persuade her to calm down.
It wasn't until the last time that he finally answered her question, but he still asked in a complicated tone - Girl, isn't the answer obvious?
At that moment, she was strangely silent for a moment, feeling that it was unfair - what kind of truth was this?
Manager Fang still asked back - but didn't you say before that Mrs. Chang's appearance is unreasonable?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! At this moment, Wei Miaoqing couldn't help but look at the answer right in front of her - the face that Manager Fang said "It's reasonable for people to be evil".
Gritting his teeth secretly.
In her sight, the owner of that face smiled at her.
Wei Miaoqing's clenched molars loosened uncontrollably, and most of the "hostility" that could not be called solid was immediately dissipated. A slightly haughty nod was her last insistence.
The drum music starts, and the ball-playing competition begins.
The two teams of students, with red and dark green ribbons tied around their waists respectively, got on horseback and galloped on the field with bow sticks in hand.
The hollowed-out colorful ball was knocked away by the student's stick and passed into the colorful door with the sound of intensive drum beats.
"In!"
Every time a goal is scored, the referee will place a colorful flag with the same color as the ribbon on the waist of the scoring team.
At the end of each quarter, the side with more flags wins the round.
After five quarters, the final winner will be determined based on the number of wins.
"After the first round, the red side Guangwen Hall wins!"
As soon as the sound fell, in addition to the four students wearing red belts in the field, the supervisors from the Cantonese Hall who were watching also cheered.
They won three of the five quarters this time, and in the last quarter there was only one flag difference between the two sides. The difference between the two sides was only two goals, which was a narrow victory.
A narrow victory is also a victory, and it makes people more excited because it is hard-won.
The next two teams were about to take the field, and the students from the winning red team temporarily left the field to rest.
"Wen Zheng, your last shot was a miracle. You should be rewarded by Joe with two fishes!"
A classmate from the same team patted the young man named Wen Zheng on the shoulder: "You have to play well in the next game too!"
Wen Zheng nodded, then raised his hand to wipe the sweat to hide the uneasiness in his eyes.
"When I win the bow stick from His Highness the late Crown Prince, no one is allowed to snatch it away. It will be kept in our academy——"
"We have drawn the first column and are the first to play. If we want to win the Ju Zhan, we have to play at least two games. This is where we are, you can't think too far ahead!"
"We have Wen Zheng here! Of course I dare to think about it!"
The students wiped their sweat, laughed and walked away.
As the second game began, the crowd of spectators became increasingly crowded.
Although the sun was shining brightly in the sky, the enthusiasm for the competition was ignited even more intensely.
The students were sweating while riding horses and swinging clubs, and the eyes of the spectators were busy and nervous as they followed them all the time.
There were bookboys walking among the crowd, bringing herbal tea to the spectators to relieve the heat. After one sip, they felt refreshed and refreshed.
In the pavilion where a group of officials were, someone arrived late.
Yao Yi, who was taking a break today, wore regular clothes and chose an inconspicuous place to sit down.
The female relatives of the Yao family also came. Yao Xia could always find Chang Sui Ning in the crowd, but this time she couldn't squeeze in to Chang Sui Ning's side as she wished. Firstly, there was no room next to Chang Sui Ning. Secondly, when Yao Xia came
I saw Wei Miaoqing there too——
Seeing Wei Miaoqing looking towards him, Yao Xia used his eyes as a ruler and picked a seat in the row behind them, exactly the same distance away from them, and sat down carefully.
Next, when it comes to serving water, Miss Yao is a bit busier than the book boy who shuttles among the crowd to deliver tea.
Another half hour passed, and it was the yellow team that won the second game.
This time there was a huge disparity between victory and defeat, with the yellow team winning four quarters.
The yellow team is led by a boy who looks to be only sixteen or seventeen years old. Although he is not very old, the other three people in the team are more like following his orders than following his lead——
This young man looks very majestic and powerful.
And he played very fiercely in the game.
Chang Suining looked at the young man who threw the club to the book boy when he left the field, then tilted his head slightly and asked Xi'er in a low voice: "Do you know who this person is?"
"That's the husband of the Chang family..." Xi'er whispered: "The Chang family belongs to Mrs. Yingguo's mother's family."
Chang Suining subconsciously looked at Ming Luo who was sitting opposite: "Is that the cousin of Ming Nu Shi?"
Although Mingluo was a concubine and not a daughter of Duke Ying's wife Chang, the relationship was that way.
Xi'er nodded: "Yes, it seems to be called Chang Miao."
Chang Sui Ning said "Oh" clearly: "The five elements are short of water."
Xi'er: "...probably so."
While the master and servant were talking, Xi'er suddenly saw a familiar figure in the crowd and couldn't help but said in surprise: "My lady, the husband is here too!"
Chang Sui Ning looked over and saw Chang Sui An beside a pergola. He must have just arrived and was looking around. When he saw Chang Sui Ning, he hurriedly waved to her: "Sister!"
Chang Suining raised his hand to respond to him.
Since she was here with all the female relatives, Chang Sui'an had never come over. At this time, he looked at Qiao Yubai who had just come on the stage, and curled his lips and said: "I came so late, how come Qiao Yubai hasn't been beaten down yet?"
There was a scholar beside him who was waving a folding fan quickly and said: "This gentleman must be coming back to the Imperial Academy for the first time to watch Juju. This Qiao Langjun is a rare good Juju player. Last year, his school won the first prize."
!”
He went on to elaborate: "This Qiao Langjun plays the ball with ease, advances and retreats appropriately, never takes any risks and is very good at building momentum. He also knows how to lead his teammates and always keeps an eye on the overall situation. He is a rare and calm person on the court - "
Chang Sui'an still looked dissatisfied, and made a fist-pumping gesture with a "hum" sound: "That's because I didn't play, otherwise I would beat him until he cried for his father and mother!"
"..." The scholar hesitated to speak, shook his head and walked away.
"Sword boy, tell me!" Chang Sui'an pointed at Qiao Yubai who was already on the horse: "Is Qiao Yubai my opponent?"
Before he finished speaking, the sword boy turned to look at the passing book boy and said, "Excuse me, please give me a bowl of herbal tea."
There was so much noise all around that it made sense that he couldn't hear Lang Jun's words.
Seeing the sword boy turning back, Chang Sui'an wanted to ask again, but the tea bowl was suddenly handed to his mouth, almost knocking his teeth: "Master, please have a bowl of tea."
Chang Sui An Wei took the "Gudongdong" and drank it.
Over there, Chang Sui Ning said softly "Hey".
Qiao Yumian heard the sound and asked quickly: "Ning Ning, what's wrong? Is there something wrong?"
At this time, her brother was starting to play, so she was inevitably very nervous and looking forward to it.
"It's nothing, I just didn't expect this person to be in Brother Yubai's team -" There was no need for Qiao Yumian to ask again, Chang Suining had already explained who that person was: "Sixth Lang of the Cui family."
He loved to wear pink brocade robes and put bugs at the flower party at Duke Zheng's mansion to scare the little girls - Cui Jing's cheap brother.
"I heard that this man is a dandy..." Qiao Yumian whispered: "My father said that his family took him to the Imperial College to study and think about his past. He was very noisy."
I just didn't expect that this person would be selected into the kutsu team of her brother's academy just one month after arriving.
But she vaguely heard her brother mention something, saying that the other party was really good at playing ball.
Chang Suining said "Hey" again.
Qiao Yumian became nervous again: "What's wrong with Ning Ning?"
"It's okay, I just met an acquaintance."
Chang Sui Ning, who was subconsciously paying attention to the movements of the officials in the pavilion opposite, then his eyes fell on the young man who had just appeared.
The young man did not wear an official robe, but wore a dark blue narrow robe. He was not originally arrogant, but some people's appearance and aura were so different that he was not allowed to remain unknown in any situation.
"Captain Cui!"
"Captain, please take a seat quickly -" Qiao Jijiu quickly stood up and gave up his seat.
"The main thing is to offer wine, and Cui is a guest at most. Don't mix priorities." Cui Jing declined Qiao's hospitality.
Mingluo also stood up, with an unexpected smile in his eyes: "How come Governor Cui is here today?"
Cui Jing only looked at the arena: "Invited by my brother."
"Langjun, Langjun, Langjun——!" Yipot on the sidelines suddenly put his hands to his mouth, jumped up excitedly and shouted: "The big man is here to see you!"
The sound even drowned out the sound of the drums.