[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son":3,"chapter-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-8":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","I Am the Xu Family's Son",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2307786,4510,"Chapter 8: Polo Field by Jinming Pond","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-8",8,"\u003Cp>As she spoke, Sun Shi cast a slightly awkward glance at the Princess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I only relaxed my mind back then, found time to play polo, and that’s how I got this. I hear you enjoy operas—why not find some cheerful ones to watch?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thank you, Lady.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that, the Princess turned to her lady-in-waiting, who stepped close; the Princess whispered something in her ear, and the lady-in-waiting moved behind the curtain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Just now I saw Lady’s horsemanship and ball-striking on the field—truly majestic and spirited, and your mount was extraordinary.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness flatters me. That horse was chosen by a servant of our household at the horse market; when we first bought it, it was thin and bald, yet somehow grew into this.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh? Then that servant has quite the eye.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He’s someone our Marquis rescued on the frontier—purely out of casual kindness, yet he repaid the favor by entering our household and devoting himself entirely to the stables.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s quite a touching story.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lady-in-waiting returned from behind the curtain and presented a small wooden box to the Princess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Princess opened it, confirmed it was what she wanted, then handed it back to the lady-in-waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The lady-in-waiting placed the wooden box on Sun Shi’s table.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady, I was raised before the Empress and am well-acquainted with the Imperial Uncle’s family. Meeting you today feels like fate. This jade lock is for Jingge’er—I hope you won’t refuse it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness, this is far too precious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s merely my heartfelt gift.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jing’er, thank the Princess.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing rose and bowed deeply.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Xu Zaijing thanks Your Highness for this generous gift.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Jingge’er, you’re too courteous.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After their conversation, Princess Pingning felt considerably lighter of heart and realized further talk would only bring awkwardness.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi understood as well, and rose to say:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Your Highness, I’ll go check on Lady Wu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“By all means, Lady.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once Sun Shi and the others had left, Princess Pingning sat behind the table and smiled faintly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her lady-in-waiting whispered softly: “Your Highness, shall I have the servants arrange several opera troupes for tomorrow?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not yet. Childbirth is one trial; whether the child survives after birth is another. Sigh.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the Yongchang Marquis’s tent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Wu looked at Sun Shi and said:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Why did the Princess summon you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiao Zhu had just come to deliver the news.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi replied: “It’s because of old ties between my family and the Imperial Uncle’s. The Princess was raised before the Empress, so we simply exchanged pleasantries—and this little fellow got himself a fine jade lock.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Sun Shi dared not elaborate further; if word spread and twisted, she’d offend someone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Wu laughed: “Jingge’er truly is a darling.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She pulled Xu Zaijing into her arms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sun Shi watched her sensible son remain still in Lady Wu’s embrace, and relaxed; she understood Lady Wu’s intentions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Yongchang Marquis’s household was among the wealthiest in Bianjing; though their sons didn’t grow up surrounded by maids and servants, once they came of age, the family kept or purchased many.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One reason was to familiarize the men with matters of the bedchamber, preventing obsession;\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>the other was to encourage early expansion of the family line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Marquis’s concubine had already borne a son, while Lady Wu, the principal wife, was only now with child.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whether the child would be boy or girl, Lady Wu had no certainty—she only hoped to draw closer to her son, to attract good fortune.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As they spoke, a murmur rose outside the tent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>An old woman entered but said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Wu said sharply: “What is it? Speak plainly!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady, it’s Prince Jing of the neighboring men’s field. He just lost a polo match to Prince Yan, and despite Prince Yan’s attempts to calm him, flew into a rage and slashed his own team captain’s throat. The captain was drenched in blood and carried off by Prince Yan’s men to a clinic in the city.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Those inside the tent dared not comment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Prince is a son of the Dragon—how could his temper be like an ordinary man’s? Prince Yan remains as benevolent as ever!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lady Wu sighed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xu Zaijing listened, knowing Prince Yan’s nature—he had once been wise and virtuous, so no one imagined he’d be driven by Prince Yong’s brutality to conspire with Consort Rong in rebellion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the Yongchang Marquis’s stable, a stablehand with gray hair, five or six scars across his face, a missing forearm, and a limp was tidying the stable’s clutter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His clothes were clean enough, but his age was indiscernible; one eye was calm, the other destroyed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After finishing his chores, his gaze filled with affection as he groomed the horses returning from the field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The horses chewed their fodder, nostrils flaring, tails swaying happily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A boy of about seven or eight, with his hair haphazardly tied, approached wearing a slightly oversized but clean tunic; his shoulders carried a basket filled with fresh horse dung. As he drew closer, one could see the lingering frostbite scars on his ears, hands, and feet.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The boy placed a small cloth bag on the Xu family’s cart, then picked up the dung and walked out naturally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stablehand walked over, took the cloth bag, and mixed it into a bundle of discarded hay.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Any veteran veterinarian who saw what was inside would immediately understand why Prince Jing’s team captain’s horse had been uncooperative on the field.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The hay in the bag caused no harm—it merely made the horse unnaturally excitable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, it was not poison, but medicine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet without generations of family tradition or exposure to similar cases, one would never know.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The stablehand cast a distant glance at the Ningyuan Marquis’s tent; his single eye shimmered with emotion, but no tears fell—perhaps they had long since dried. He turned back and calmly resumed grooming the horse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shen Hour (3 to 5 PM)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The polo match ended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though several women of the Dongchang Marquis’s Qin family had been in the Ningyuan Marquis’s tent, they departed separately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A somewhat worn carriage carried the Dongchang Marquis’s household home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside, Qin Er, the second daughter, pulled back a corner of the curtain and saw her brother riding a fine steed outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her brother was bowing farewell to a robust middle-aged man of about forty. (Gu Yan Kai married Qin Da around age twenty; Gu Tingyu was born over a decade later, so he was roughly forty now.)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The second daughter’s eyes held an unreadable expression.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beside her, the maid glanced at her mistress and said: “Lady, I just heard the Shen family is being posted to Tanzhou. Lady Shen will accompany them to the frontier!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Qin Er’s attention shifted; she asked curiously: “Isn’t Lady Shen pregnant? Traveling to Jinghunan isn’t close.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who said it wasn’t?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My brother got himself a fine horse—he’s become even more conceited.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The maid worriedly said: “Lady! Don’t say such things. Your dowry will be decided by your elder brother.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Him? It’s my sister-in-law who decides! Aren’t they already inquiring about families who don’t require dowries?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lady, don’t fret. When your elder sister married into the Ningyuan Marquis’s household, her dowry should be returned to us after her passing.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“With a son now, how will the Gu family return it? Once meat is eaten, who spits it out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The carriage rumbled, the horses whinnied—no one heard the mistress and maid’s words.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the Xu family’s spacious carriage,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zaijing dozed in his mother’s arms, while his sister chattered away about which noblewomen’s jewelry or attire had been most exquisite at the polo match, all the while admiring the jade lock her younger brother had received.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1277,"2026-06-20T10:32:38.675Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","df9da233c37ce459379150a1f94294973e045b40fc04aec495f8076374cb0abc","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-9","i-am-the-xu-family-s-son-chapter-7",790,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fi-am-the-xu-family-s-son-cover.jpg"]