Chapter 8: By the Golden Bright Pond Polo Field

Speaking thus, Sun Shi glanced awkwardly at the Princess.

"It was only after I relaxed my mind back then, having time to play polo and feeling joyful, that this happened. I hear the Princess enjoys operas; perhaps you could find some lively ones to watch."

"Many thanks to you, Da Da Niangzi."

Having spoken, the Princess glanced at her own female attendant; the attendant leaned in close, the Princess whispered something into her ear, and the attendant turned to go behind the tent.

"Just now, watching Da Da Niangzi control your horse and strike the ball on the field, you were truly valiant and dashing, and the horse beneath you was exceptionally divine and handsome."

"The Princess overpraises me; that horse was selected by a servant of our household at the horse market. When first bought, it was thin and bald, yet I never expected it would grow to be so magnificent."

"Oh? Then that servant's eye for quality is quite remarkable."

"He is someone our Lord Hou Jue saved at the border; it was merely a casual act of kindness, yet I never expected that person, knowing gratitude and repaying kindness, would enter our Hou Fu and dedicate himself solely to the stables."

"That is indeed a fine tale."

"Princess."

The female attendant returned from behind the tent and placed a small wooden box into the Princess's hands.

The Princess opened it, confirmed it was what she desired, and handed it back to the attendant.

The attendant placed the wooden box onto Sun Shi's table.

"Da Da Niangzi, having grown up before the Empress since childhood, I am also well-acquainted with the Imperial Uncle's family; meeting you today feels like reuniting with old friends. This jade lock is for Jing'er; I hope Da Da Niangzi will not find it unworthy."

"Princess, this is far too precious."

"It is merely a token of my sincere feelings."

"Jing'er, thank the Princess."

Xu Xu Zaijing stood up and bowed deeply in salute.

"Xu Xu Zaijing thanks Her Highness the Princess for her generous gift."

"Young Master Jing is too polite."

After this conversation, Princess Princess Pingning felt much more relieved in her heart and knew that continuing further would only lead to awkwardness.

Sun Shi also understood this, so she rose and said,

"Princess, I shall go take a look at Wu Da Da Niangzi over there."

"Da Da Niangzi, please go ahead."

After Sun Shi and the others departed, Princess Princess Pingning sat behind the table and smiled faintly.

The female attendant beside her spoke softly: "Princess, shall we have the servants arrange for several opera troupes to be invited tomorrow?"

"Let us discuss it later. Giving birth is one hurdle; whether the child survives after birth is another hurdle. Alas."

Inside the tent of the Yongchang Hou Jue Manor.

Wu Da Da Niangzi looked at Sun Shi and said,

"Why did the Princess summon you over?"

Just now, Xiao Zhu had come to report the news.

Sun Shi replied, "Is it not because my maiden family has old ties with the Imperial Uncle's family, and the Princess grew up before the Empress? It was merely a conversation of old acquaintances, yet it resulted in Zhang Sanlang, that boy, receiving another fine jade lock."

As for the specific details, Sun Shi dared not speak them plainly; should they spread and become distorted, she would surely offend someone.

Wu Da Da Niangzi laughed and said, "This Jing'er is truly someone who wins one's affection."

Speaking thus, she pulled Xu Xu Zaijing into her embrace.

Seeing her own sensible son remain still in Wu Da Da Niangzi's arms without moving recklessly, Sun Shi felt reassured; looking at Wu Da Da Niangzi, she also understood this Da Da Niangzi's intentions.

The Yongchang Hou Jue Manor was one of the wealthiest households in Bianjing; although the young masters of the family did not have rooms full of maids and female servants from childhood, once they reached adulthood, the number kept by the family or purchased from outside was considerable.

On one hand, this allowed the men of the household to gain considerable understanding of bedroom matters so as not to become obsessed;

on the other hand, it was hoped that the family would branch out and spread its leaves sooner.

A concubine of the Yongchang Marquis Manor had already borne a son, while the eldest daughter-in-law, as the principal wife, had only just conceived.

Whether the child in her womb was male or female, Wu Da Da Niangzi had no certainty in her heart; she only hoped that by drawing closer to her own son, she might gain a favorable omen.

As the two were conversing, suddenly a buzz of discussion drifted in from outside the tent.

The Guan Guan Pozi from outside the door walked in but did not speak.

Wu Da Da Niangzi spoke in a clear, loud voice: "What is it? Speak directly!"

"Replying to Da Da Niangzi, it concerns His Highness the Prince of Jing from the adjacent men's hunting ground; just now, having lost the polo match to the Prince of Yan, and disregarding the Prince of Yan's attempts to mediate, in a fit of rage he slashed his own polo team's captain with a sword. That captain, covered in blood, was dragged away by the Prince of Yan's subordinates to a medical hall in the city."

Those within the tent found it improper to discuss further,

"His Highness, being a dragon son, how could his temper be like that of an ordinary person? The Prince of Yan, however, remains so benevolent and kind!"

Wu Da Da Niangzi remarked with some sighing.

Xu Xu Zaijing listened, yet he knew this nature of the Prince of Yan; previously, he had indeed been wise and benevolent, so no one would have expected him to be driven by the Prince of Yong's barbarity to conspire with Consort Rong to raise an army.

In the stables of the polo field belonging to the Hou Jue Hou Jue Yongyi Manor, a groom with gray hair, five or six knife scars on his face, one missing forearm, and a limp was tidying up sundries in the stable.

The groom's clothing was fairly clean, yet his age was indiscernible; one eye was filled with calmness, while the other was destroyed.

After finishing tidying the sundries, he groomed the coats of the horses returning from the field with eyes full of affection.

The horses ate their fodder, flaring their nostrils and snorting, their tails swaying back and forth, appearing very joyful.

A stable boy of seven or eight years old, with his hair tied up messily and wearing clothes that were somewhat large yet clean, walked over; a basket hung from his shoulder containing horse dung he had just collected, and approaching closer, one could see that the scars from chilblains on his ears, hands, and feet had not yet fully faded.

The stable boy placed a small cloth bag onto the Xu family's sundry cart, then picked up horse dung from the ground and naturally walked out.

The groom walked a few steps, took that cloth package, and mixed it into a bundle of unused fodder.

Had a veteran veterinarian seen the contents inside, they would certainly have known why the horse of the Prince of Jing's polo team captain had been out of sync with its rider on the field.

It was simply because the grass in this package, when eaten by the horse, caused no other harm, only making the horse somewhat abnormally excited.

In the end, it was not poison, but medicine.

Yet without a family inheritance spanning generations of experience, and without encountering corresponding cases, one would never know.

The groom cast a distant glance at the tent of Lady Ningyuan Hou Fu; a wave of crystalline shimmer stirred in his single eye, yet no tears fell—perhaps they had long since dried up—as he turned back calmly to continue grooming the horse's coat.

Shen hour (three to five in the afternoon).

The polo match concluded.

Although several female members of the Qin family from Dongchang Marquis Manor had been inside the tent of Lady Ningyuan Marquis Manor during the polo match, they traveled separately on the return journey.

A carriage bearing old marks carried the people of Dongchang Marquis Manor back home.

Inside the carriage, the Second Young Lady of the Qin residence pulled aside a corner of the window curtain and saw her own brother riding a fine steed outside.

Her brother was clasping his fists in farewell to a robust middle-aged man of about forty. (Gu Yankai had married the Eldest Miss of the Qin family at around twenty; more than a decade later, Gu Gu Tingyu was born, so at this time he was approximately forty years old.)

An obscure expression lingered in the eyes of this Second Young Lady.

The maid Xiang, standing beside her young lady, shifted her gaze and said, "Miss, I just heard that the Shen family is being assigned to Tanzhou. The Da Da Niangzi of the Shen family will accompany them to the outer prefecture!"

The Second Young Lady of the Qin family, her attention caught, asked curiously, "Is not the eldest daughter-in-law of the Shen family with child? The journey to Jinghu South Circuit is no short distance."

"Who would say otherwise?"

"That brother of mine, having acquired a fine steed, has grown even more arrogant."

The maid spoke with some worry: "Miss! Do not speak so often; after all, your future dowry rests in the hands of your eldest brother."

"He? It is my sister-in-law who decides! Are they not currently inquiring about families that require no dowry?"

"Miss, do not be anxious. Since the Eldest Miss married into Lady Ningyuan Hou Fu, now that she has passed away, her dowry should be returned to our family."

"Now that they have a son, how would the Gu family send it back? Once meat is tasted, who would spit it out?"

The carriages rumbled, the horses neighed; yet no one heard the conversation between this mistress and her servant.

On the spacious carriage of Xu Fu,

Xu Zaijing was dozing in his mother's embrace, while his sister chattered incessantly in the carriage compartment about which family's women had worn the most beautiful jewelry at the polo match and whose attire was most exquisite, all the while admiring the jade lock her younger brother had received.

(End of chapter)