Chapter 67: The Polo Field and Hu Yan [Many thanks for everyone's support! Another bow]

Princess Princess Pingning smiled faintly and said, "Jing'er, someone has challenged your family. Go."

"Yes."

Having spoken, Xu Xu Zaijing rose and walked outward.

Qi Heng, standing nearby, asked softly, "Mother, who was that Elder Brother Xu just speaking of?"

"He is an elder striving with his very life to secure a future for his descendants. Heng'er, you were born into a Ducal Mansion and need not struggle for your life in such a manner. You must be grateful to your ancestors!"

"Yes, your son understands. Thank you, Mother, for your guidance." Though Qi Heng's face showed confusion—at his age, he did not yet understand what it meant to strive with one's life—he still indicated he had received the lesson.

Xu Xu Zaijing exited the tent and saw on the polo field a noble young master dressed in luxurious attire, a blue forehead cloth tied around his brow, leisurely riding his horse across the field while holding a polo mallet, looking quite high-spirited and proud.

The horse's four limbs were also wrapped in blue silk, complementing perfectly the animal's sleek, glossy bluish-black coat.

Behind him, several riders were distributing blue silk forehead cloths.

Servants were also busy wrapping the limbs of the horses about to enter the field with blue satin.

Looking at this, Xu Xu Zaijing felt it greatly resembled how top-tier races in his previous life involved changing tires for racing cars.

Inside the Xu family tent, Sun Shi was speaking with her daughter-in-law, Lady Xie, about the Duke of Han.

After the founding of Great Zhou, the Duke of Han's family once had a formidable Da Da Niangzi who, over the matter of the Emperor bestowing a concubine, locked herself and her pair of children inside the firewood shed!

Furthermore, she declared that if a beautiful concubine entered this household, she and her children would burn themselves alive.

This so terrified that Duke of Han that he knelt in the hall, begging that no concubine be bestowed.

Although that Da Da Niangzi was so strict with her own husband, she was very lenient with her son, not minding if he kept concubines or bed-warmers.

This also caused the noble family that had married their daughter to the Duke of Han back then to be tricked by his household:

They had thought that serving as a daughter-in-law in the Duke of Han's family would mean being protected by the mother-in-law, but as it turned out, she was strict with her husband yet lenient with her son.

However, later on, the Duke of Han's family did indeed flourish with descendants; the one on the field now was Han Han Chengyun, the legitimate eldest son of the Duke of Han's second branch, who ranked fifth in the family.

He usually enjoyed lingering in brothels and entertainment quarters alongside Rong Rong Xian; seeing his younger brother shrink with fear whenever Xu Xu Zaijing was mentioned these past few days, this one wished to vent some anger on behalf of his little brother.

Teaming up with Han Han Chengyun was Wei Wei Faqi, the legitimate son of the second branch of the Marquis of Fu'an's family; previously, his father and his own elder brother had fought over the family inheritance, making a scene known throughout all of Bianjing.

Had it not been for the matter of Bai Gao launching an army, their family would inevitably have received an imperial edict of reprimand from the Emperor.

Both Wei and Han were young masters from second branches, which gave them common ground to discuss (jointly criticizing their respective main branches), and through such interactions, they became inseparably close.

Following behind them were also three young men from earl families and official households.

When the Xu family signaled their marker, their servants had already led the black horse to the field's edge to warm up, wrapping its legs in red silk.

Gu Gu Tingye was already riding his horse back and forth in front of the Xu family tent, a large red forehead cloth embedded with gemstones representing the Xu family tied around his brow, looking at those noble descendants making their entrance with eyes full of amusement.

The horse's four legs were also wrapped in red silk.

The Liang family's Sixth Young Master was still too young to enter the field.

Just as Xu Xu Zaizhang was preparing to rise, Zheng Xiao and Zhang Zhang Fangling, the Zhang family's Fourth Young Master, lightly urged their fine horses to the front of the tent from not far away, followed by a noble young master none of them had ever seen before.

"Zhang'er, you rest first; we will take the field only if we cannot defeat them," Zheng Xiao called out with a laugh.

Sun Shi also said something to her son; Xu Xu Zaizhang raised his arm guard, placed it on the table, indicating he would not participate.

Brother Qingyun hurriedly fetched three large red forehead cloths from inside the tent and walked over.

Zheng Xiao and Gu Gu Tingye nodded to each other, then continued:

"Jing'er, this is the Eleventh Young Master Jiong from the fifth branch of the Marquis Hu Yan's family of Jinghai; his father currently holds the position of Commander of the Tiger Wing Naval Army. He grew up in Dengzhou and only arrived in Bianjing two days ago. He is older than us."

"Jiong'er, I was defeated by a single move against him; this is Xu Xu Zaijing, the Fifth Young Master of Marquis Marquis Yongyi's family. And this is the Second Young Master of the Lady Ningyuan Marquis family, Ye'er."

"Second Young Master, Fifth Young Master." Hu Seeing Hu Yanjiong, seemingly unskilled in speech, merely smiled and performed a fist-and-palm salute.

"Hey, are you coming up or not? Dragging out a best-of-three match like this! Otherwise, just admit defeat!" Han Han Chengyun shouted from not far away.

Upon hearing Han Han Chengyun's words, the surrounding spectators began to heckle loudly.

Wei Wei Faqi laughed especially loudly, as if laughing loudly alone could defeat the opponent.

"Boom... boom!"

The musicians and drummers by the field also began to play; the drumbeats were deep and slow, possessing considerable momentum.

Zhang Zhang Fangling looked at Xu Xu Zaijing and said, "Since we chose your family's marker, it would be improper for us to usurp your role; you shall command."

As he spoke, the four of them tied on their forehead cloths.

After Xu Xu Zaijing secured his forehead cloth and waited for the servants to finish wrapping the silk around the horses' legs, he glanced at the opponents and said, "Ye'er and I will take the rear; three in front, two behind. Let's go."

"Boom boom boom, boom boom boom."

Both sides entered the field, and the rhythm of the drums and music accelerated.

This created a tense atmosphere akin to two armies facing off before battle.

In the tents by the field, from time to time, close friends and old acquaintances, swept up by the atmosphere, cheered and shouted vigorously for the few on the field.

Incense sticks were lit and placed into the incense burners.

As the challenger, Han Han Chengyun possessed the right to serve first; he glanced at the opposing formation.

"Clang~"

At the sound of a gong, the exquisite, smooth, lightweight wooden polo ball was struck flying by Han Han Chengyun's mallet.

Han Han Chengyun had intended to use the advantage of his horse's heading and acceleration to catch Xu Xu Zaijing off guard.

But after the ball was struck airborne, Xu Xu Zaijing, positioned further back, lightly tugged the reins, causing the black horse beneath him to rear up instantly, turn ninety degrees in a flash, and accelerate toward the polo ball.

"Hee! 'Giddyup!'"

The black horse snorted air from its nostrils!

"Hoo~~ chi, hoo~~ chi."

"Hoo~ chi, hoo~ chi."

"Hoo-chi hoo-chi."

The sound of the black horse exhaling from its nostrils was like a steam locomotive accelerating, powerful and quickening.

His breathing quickened, and his speed increased as well.

Seeing Xu Xu Zaijing immediately turn, a wave of clamor rose from the field.

"Bravo!"

"Well done!"

Many spectators in the tents of the various noble families let out cries of surprise.

Having just arrived in Bianjing, Seeing Hu Yanjiong, who had been somewhat invincible playing polo in Dengzhou, brightened his eyes.

"Giddyup!"

In an instant, hooves churned across the polo field as they rushed toward the ball.

Xu Xu Zaijing reached the ball a breath earlier than his opponent and, without a word, turned sideways to pass it to Gu Gu Tingye.

Gu Gu Tingye ducked low to receive the ball and precisely struck it toward the opponent's half.

The opposing side had not committed all their forces to the offensive rush for the ball,

so two horses charged together toward the ball's landing spot.

Seeing Hu Yanjiong arrived a step early, tapped the ball lightly to change its direction, dodged the opponent galloping toward him, glanced up, and immediately made a long pass.

Zhang Zhang Fangling, positioned in the center, received the pass and swung his mallet with all his might to strike the ball.

Crack!

The polo ball flew swiftly toward the goal.

The polo goal consisted of a wooden board with a hole of moderate size beneath it (as seen in the TV drama).

However, Zhang Zhang Fangling used slightly too much force; the ball barely smashed against the wooden board above the goal, equivalent in modern football terms to hitting the crossbar.

The ball rebounded and flew to a spot not far within the field.

"Ooh!"

"Alas!"

"Too high!"

The spectators sighed in unison.

Wei Wei Faqi rode over laughing loudly,

"Hahaha, Si Lang, you damn fool, you missed!"

Before the crowd's sounds of regret could even finish,

Han Han Chengyun shouted loudly from behind, "Watch out!"

It turned out that Zheng Xiao, riding a sturdy peach-blossom horse, had galloped over, shoved Wei Wei Faqi aside, gently swung his mallet, and sent the ball grazing the edge of the hole before drilling it inside.

"Well done!"

"A rebound goal!"

The spectators erupted in cheers.

"Wow!!!"

Zheng Xiao howled with unrestrained joy.

He even ran to the sidelines to accept the crowd's acclamation.

Arriving before the tent of the Duke of Ying, hearing the sounds from within,

he became even more exuberant,

circling his horse and clashing mallets with his teammates in celebration.

"Brother Jiong, great pass!" Xu Xu Zaijing shouted loudly.

On the field, Han Han Chengyun circled his horse over to where Wei Wei Faqi stood,

"Don't mind your head and neglect your rear."

"Yes, yes, Brother Yun, I was careless."

In the next round, Xu Xu Zaijing took the kickoff.

After maneuvering the Han family team, Seeing Hu Yanjiong completed a shot on goal.

Unfortunately, it was anticipated; Han Han Chengyun galloped over and blocked the ball right at the goal's edge.

It was also a spectacular interception.

"Well done!"

"Bravo!"

"Beautiful, Brother Yun!"

"Hey, you strike the ball so slowly; have the Misses of Qiyun Pavilion drained your body dry?"

Wei Wei Faqi shouted loudly beside Seeing Hu Yanjiong.

Seeing Hu Yanjiong glanced at him, said nothing, lightly tapped his horse's flank, and rode away.

The few men on the Han side were accustomed to playing together; although Xu Xu Zaijing's horsemanship and polo skills were quite good, their coordination was unfortunately lacking.

When the incense stick had burned halfway, five blue flags stood erected on the field.

Three red flags representing the Xu family stood erected.

As time passed, observing his companions' superb horsemanship and understanding of polo, Xu Xu Zaijing and the other four gradually developed a tacit understanding.

Their formation also shifted from the initial three-forward, two-back arrangement to a one-on-one setup.

Xu Xu Zaijing naturally faced off against Han Han Chengyun; although Han Han Chengyun was two years older, his strength could not match Xu Xu Zaijing's, allowing Xu to overpower him in the matchup.

Gradually, the Xu family side gained the upper hand.

Seeing Hu Yanjiong even employed a move resembling 'Su Qin Carrying the Sword' on the field to forcibly intercept the pass from Han Han Chengyun to Wei Wei Faqi.

This flashy technique immediately drew cheers from the spectators along the sidelines.

Many noble ladies from families of civil officials and titled aristocrats were also inquiring about the identity of this unfamiliar young man.

When only one-fifth of the incense stick remained, eleven red flags and five blue flags were already standing on the field.

Finally, the announcement declared the Xu family the winners of the round with a score of twelve to five for the red side.

Han Han Chengyun complained rather dissatisfiedly about his teammates.

"Brother Yun, do not rush; there is still one more match, and we will surely turn the tide."

Brother Qingyun, however, trotted eagerly to the huge wooden scoreboard by the polo field, having already realized that the Xu family would win the next round as well.

This massive wooden board displayed nameplates for various noble and civil official families of Bianjing, each made of different materials.

The numbers below represented the match records of the Young Masters and noble ladies from each family.

Although they were all the same size, the materials could be customized.

The Liang family had also earned a small profit from manufacturing these nameplates.

It could be considered the polo ranking tournament for the Bianjing division of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The idea naturally came from Xu Xu Zaijing; back then, when Wu Da Da Niangzi heard Xu Xu Zaijing's proposal, she repeatedly exclaimed how wonderful it was.

The men's and women's ranking boards erected beside the polo field also prompted many competitive young nobles in the capital to frequent the grounds.

Some specifically sought out soft targets to pad their records, while others challenged the strong, seeking only the toughest bones to gnaw.

The polo field stewards were clever enough to assign different tiers to each family based on strength, forcing those padding their scores to reveal their true abilities.

Outstanding polo teams, disapproving of such score-padding behavior, taught those bullying the weak a severe lesson.

This became a temporary source of amusement and gossip in Bianjing at the time.

This precedent quickly spread from Bianjing to every corner of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

It is said that even in the capital of the Northern Liao Kingdom, there is now a ranking board modeled after this Jinming Pool Polo Assembly.

The nobles of the Northern Liao Kingdom are equally tireless in their enthusiasm; as for the Bai Gao Kingdom, they are busy with internal strife, so the trend has not yet reached them.

As the five players walked off the field, young attendants hurried over to lead their horses.

Xu Xu Zaizhang stepped out of the tent and happily patted several of them on the shoulders.

Seeing Hu Yanjiong was also extremely delighted; in Dengzhou, he had always been bullying novices, and tormenting others had long ceased to give him any sensation.

Only now, coming to Bianjing and encountering such experts, did he truly feel alive.

Suddenly sensing something, he turned his head to look toward the Xu family's tent.

Behind the hazy light gauze, a figure was jumping and cheering excitedly beside Lady Sun.

Thank you all for your support; if there are any typos or awkward phrasing, please do not hesitate to point them out.

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(End of Chapter)