Chapter 6

In the days between spring and summer, Xu Zaijing, led by his mother, accompanied his older brothers and sisters to Madam Wu's polo field in the outer city.

In Xu Zaijing's view, this polo field was a large social venue for the nobles in the capital.

It was also a matchmaking meeting for young men and women.

Everyone had their own circles.

Nobles were divided into high and low, with many in-laws;

Officials' families also had various relationships of superiors and subordinates, peers, and teachers and students.

Depending on the relationship, groups of people gathered together.

On the polo field,

outstanding performances sometimes attracted the attention of noble ladies and officials' wives in the capital, and perhaps there could be an enviable good marriage.

It might also be like Qi Heng, the little Duke Qi in Xu Zaijing's memory, who was favored by many noble ladies because of his outstanding performance; it was hard to judge how it would turn out.

Tall, handsome horses galloped across the field, the sound was thunderous, and after scoring a goal, there were drummers beating drums to celebrate; the atmosphere was blood-pumping.

On the edge of the huge enclosure,

each family had a not-so-small tent,

and the tent only had one side facing the field, while the other three sides could not be seen from the inside.

Noble ladies and officials' wives could relax in the tent, talk, and applaud in low voices.

Screaming loudly would be mocked for lack of upbringing.

The legitimate and concubine-born sons of each family did not have such restrictions, and when they saw a good goal, they could stand on the edge of the field and cheer loudly.

The weather was neither cold nor hot. Under the tent of the Lady Ningyuan Hou Fu, Madam Bai was sitting on a couch with a big belly, her right arm around Xu Zaijing, who was sitting on a chair.

Madam Bai had a full face of smiles. Xu Zaijing was wearing white inner clothes, and outside was a small robe of dark green silk, with silver-white unicorn patterns embroidered on the robe.

An older boy was pulling Madam Bai's left hand, wanting a hug.

"Mother, I am your biological child; why do you always hold him?"

This made the women under the tent smile.

"Mother, hold me!"

Xu Zaijing knew that this was Gu Tingye.

He was good and handed the pastry in his hand to Gu Tingye, but Gu Tingye didn't want it.

"You get up quickly and let your mother hold you; my mother wants to hold me!"

"Ye-ge, Jing-ge is a guest when he comes to our tent; naturally, we should take care of him more," Mama Chang said with a smile.

Inside the tent, an eighteen or nineteen-year-old girl did not smile. The gold-threaded silver butterfly flower brocade narrow-sleeved jacket she wore, although luxurious, was somewhat old, and even the jewelry on her head was pitifully few.

In the corner of the tent, she hugged the boy in her arms and whispered: "Yu'er, do you see? She is not your biological mother; your mother was divorced by your father because of her and eventually died of depression. She is the murderer who killed your mother."

"Wei Wei Yima, is what you said true? But Mother Bai treats me very well."

"Yu-ge, your aunt is your mother's own sister and the person in the world who loves you the most; how could she lie to you!" the maid beside the girl said gently.

In the happy atmosphere under the tent, the women's laughter covered the conversation of these two big and one small.

The boy, who was thin and sallow, but with black and piercing eyes, showed a puzzled expression.

Sun Shi, who had come down from the polo field, was taking off her green arm-guards, her forehead slightly sweaty. She came to the tent of the Lady Ningyuan Hou Fu and saw her youngest son eating pastries attentively beside Madam Bai.

"Sister, I'm really sorry to trouble you. This month, if this little monkey doesn't find you, he will cry loudly. You are almost nine months pregnant, and you are still often disturbed by this little monkey."

Madam Bai looked at Xu Zaijing, who was eating pastries quietly beside her, and said with eyes full of smiles:

"Sister, it's nothing; Jing-ge and I have a fate.

Today I really wanted to go shopping in the garden with Mama Chang, but Mama Chang said Jing-ge was here and told me to watch you play polo, so I took the family carriage to come and see.

Look, it just so happens that the Marquis is also off today and is playing ball in the men's enclosure over there."

Sun Shi looked at her son and said: "Little monkey, come over here."

Sun Shi was wearing embroidered polo clothes convenient for playing polo. She handed the arm-guards to Xiao Zhu beside her, but she didn't go in front of Madam Bai to pick up Xu Zaijing; instead, she stood not far away and let Xu Zaijing walk over by himself.

A five or six-year-old boy beside Gu Tingye followed behind after Madam Bai put Xu Zaijing down, with a protective intention.

Sun Shi looked at Madam Bai with eyes full of appreciation and some questions.

"This is the little servant Zhique of the second son, Tingye."

Sun Shi held Xu Zaijing and glanced at Xiao Zhu beside her.

Xiao Zhu took out a small silver cake with one hand and held the little boy with the other.

"Little brother, walk slowly; this is a thank-you gift from my mistress."

As she spoke, she placed the silver cake into the hands of the little servant named Zhique.

The little servant turned his head to look at Madam Bai and Gu Tingye, and seeing no one speak to stop him, he took it into his hand.

He bowed and saluted with quite a bit of etiquette.

"Thank you, Madam, for the reward."

In front of everyone, Sun Shi smiled slightly and looked at Madam Bai.

"Madam, Madam Wu is pregnant and cannot go down to the field. I will go keep her company. You are also almost at your time; you should be more careful."

Madam Bai still had some reluctance in her eyes, smiled, and nodded.

"Sister, go ahead. I have plans in my heart; my father also sent several experienced midwives, and they are also here with me today."

"Then I can rest assured. You, everything else is good, but you are more like the mother of this little monkey of mine than I am; his aunt is even jealous of you. She says he treats you better than his own aunt."

"Jing-ge and I have a fate."

Madam Bai replied with a smile in her eyes.

Sun Shi and her party left the tent with a smile.

Madam Bai looked around the tent and saw the girl hugging Gu Tingyu in the crowd. She knew that was the biological younger sister of the deceased Madam Qin, the second Miss Qin. After nodding in acknowledgment, Madam Bai beckoned to Gu Tingyu.

The second Miss Qin had a smile full of love on her face, and one couldn't see what she had just said at all. She let go of Gu Tingyu and pushed him toward Madam Bai.

Afterward, she bowed and saluted, looked at Madam Bai, who was surrounded by relatives and women again, had an unknown expression in her eyes, and then left.

At this moment, Gu Tingye squeezed out of the crowd, not knowing where he was going.

The second Miss Qin pretended not to see him and left from behind the tent. She saw Gu Tingye also follow out, with a little servant behind him.

She pretended to stop and waited for Gu Tingye to come to her side. She squatted down, seemingly tidying her clothes, and whispered: "Those who snatched my things, I'd better push them into the water to teach them a lesson."

Afterward, she pretended that nothing had happened and left leisurely, supported by her maid.

Gu Tingye's small body paused, and his eyes lit up.

Under the tent of the Duke of Qi's manor, the tent was even more luxurious than the Gu family's.

A woman who was stern and had a noble aura in every gesture sat upright behind the table.

She was thin, and although the people beside the tent couldn't see her, she didn't relax her posture because no one was watching.

She looked at the thunderous horses galloping across the field and listened to the noisy voices of the noble officials' wives around her.

Her brows, however, were always furrowed; clearly, her mind was not on this polo field.

The personal female official beside her whispered:

"Princess, drink some tea."

The woman took the tea cup; although the tea cup was porcelain, it was fired to feel like jade, clearly a set of precious tea sets.

If there are any typos or paragraphs that are not smooth, please point them out, readers.

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(End of chapter)