Chapter 42 First Game

  The one who burst out laughing was Cai Shuxian.

  She and Shen Nanhua had been eavesdropping on the conversation next door, and they knew that the child Chen Jing was holding was Li Balang's nephew. She was afraid of being partial to them, uncle and nephew, and afraid that they would suffer a loss.

  Then, Chen Jiong said "Does it matter".

  Cai Shuxian found it amusing and couldn't help but laugh.

  After laughing, she was startled again: they could hear the conversation next door, and next door must have also heard her laughter. She wasn't afraid of anything, just didn't want the people next door to hear the noise and come over to make trouble.

  Making a scene, Cai Shuxian wouldn't be at a loss. Her second brother's polo field, every servant knew her. Whoever dared to provoke her here would be skinned alive, her brother doted on her.

  Even so, Cai Shuxian didn't want to make a fuss. Once it's made, others will know. Cai Shuxian wasn't afraid of others knowing, but today Li Balang was here...

  She didn't want Li Balang to notice her outfit.

  A young girl in spring is always nervous, afraid that her crush will see her improper dress or behavior.

  After waiting for a while, footsteps came from next door.

  Cai Shuxian's face tightened slightly.

  Shen Nanhua pursed his lips and was fully alert.

  Those footsteps were not heading east, but west.

  Mo Bing and his group went to Chen Jing's adjacent room, without disturbing Cai Shu Xian who was laughing.

  Cai Shuxian and Shen Nanhua both let out a slight sigh of relief.

  Those who can come to the Wànpínglóu stadium are somewhat wealthy. Men with wealth have some vision. Women dare to mix on the second floor, rather than going up to the third floor, must be fearless.

  Since there is nothing to rely on, it can't be provoked.

  "Guess they have some sense...". Cai Shu Xian patted his still-recovering chest and lightly stuck out his tongue.

  Shen Nanhua smiled faintly.

  The uncle and nephew of the Chen family next door did not speak again.

  The two teams on the field finally ended their competition and retreated.

  Next, Li Balang and Du Shijun each led a team of horses, amidst the sound of drums, onto the field.

  The drums and banners were decorated with great splendor, and the folds of the flags shone brightly in the sunlight. The two teams of soldiers were full of morale, and the spectators could feel it, so the atmosphere on and under the arrow tower also became lively.

  "Is it a single goal or double goals?" Chen Jing looked at it for a long time, and only saw that there was a board on the south side, with a hole under the board, and a net made of a bag, which was the goal. The north side was too far away, he couldn't see clearly. This polo field was three times larger than a modern football field.

  Polo has two forms of play: single-ball gate and double-ball gate, I don't know which one was played in this era.

  He didn't quite understand, so when he said this, his voice was intentionally louder.

  Next door Mo Bing and others heard it, someone asked back: "What is a double ball gate?"

  Chen Jiong suddenly realized that polo in this era was played with a single ball gate.

  The competition for single-core doors will be more intense; while the role of forwards is becoming increasingly important, the role of defenders is weakening.

  The drumbeat is like rain, one urgent sound surpassing another.

  The two teams took their positions, and the drumming suddenly stopped.

  A man wearing long boots and a grey mouse-coloured waistcoat, after a moment of silence, stepped onto the court. He was slightly short, with a dark forehead, piercing eyes, and an air of shrewdness about him. His name was Cai Shuyuan, the second son of the Cai family, who helped his family manage this Wànpíng Gé ball court.

  Du Shijie and Li Yongrong's team is one of the better teams in Yaojiang County, so today's match was quite exciting, with Cai Shuyuan kicking off personally.

  Before the game started, he said some polite words, nothing more than thanking everyone for their support and also boasting about Du Shijie and Li Yongrong's teams.

  "...Brother Du and Brother Li made a vow: if one side wins the game, the other side must offer up their fine horse, and suffer the humiliation." Finally, Cai Shuyuan said.

  Originally, the guests were patient and waited for Cai Shuyuan to finish speaking. They were all distracted, but Cai Shuyuan's last sentence was like a huge stone thrown into the lake, stirring up ripples.

  The onlookers on the surrounding watchtowers became excited, whispering to each other and chattering incessantly, their emotions running high.

  They all like watching lively scenes.

  "...the humiliation..." Some people are rubbing their fists and waiting to see this scene.

  That's definitely going to be fantastic.

  This wager was made when Li Yongrong and Du Shijiu met at the narrow gate just now.

  The master of the Wànpínglóu has now openly stated it, and no one can deny it anymore.

  This is getting serious!

  "If I lose, it's just losing eighteen fine horses..." Chen Jing thought to himself.

  Polo matches test not only the riding and ball-handling skills of players, but also the speed and endurance of horses. Each match is divided into three periods, each lasting half a minute, with the team scoring the most goals declared the winner.

  In ancient times, "one ke" was not fifteen minutes, but half an hour. Their "half ke" was fifteen minutes. So, a game lasted a total of forty-five minutes.

  After a high-speed gallop, the horse's physical strength is exhausted and needs to be replaced. Otherwise, it will not only affect the competition but also endanger the life of the ball handler. A tired horse is prone to accidents.

  As a result, each match required two additional horses per player for replacement mounts.

  If they lose, one team will not just lose six fine horses but eighteen.

  Du Shijie's eighteen horses were all brought by himself, while Li Yongrong only brought eight, which was his total. The other ten would be borrowed from the Wangping Pavilion arena.

  He and Cai Shuyuan were very close friends and could borrow a good horse.

  On ordinary days, Cai Shuyuan lends his horses to Li Yongrong for free. However, if Li Yongrong loses, the horses are given to Du Shijiu, and Wang Pingge wants money.

  The price of a racehorse is more than twenty times higher than that of an ordinary horse.

  So a racehorse might cost three hundred to five hundred taels. Eighteen horses would be eight or nine thousand taels of silver.

  If they lose, Li Yong Rong will definitely get a beating when he gets home, and it's even harder to pay back the money. The Li family isn't wealthy enough to casually give their child several thousand taels of silver to play with.

  Eighty-nine thousand taels of silver can support a big family of several hundred people for one year's food and clothing.

  For Li Yong Rong's family, it should be a huge sum of money. If he loses this game, how will Li Yong Rong end up?

  "A bit reckless..." Chen Jiong thought to himself.

  Li Yongrong is a straightforward and impulsive person. Agreeing to such a bet is very risky. Moreover, their bet not only involves losing horses but also **.

  That's really humiliating.

  Not only will they lose face for themselves, but also bring shame to their families.

  The losing side will definitely be severely punished when they return home.

  Without eighty or ninety percent assurance, he shouldn't have agreed. Li Yongrong's team, not to mention their ball skills, but their horses are already inferior by thirty percent, truly no advantage at all. Don't know why he and Du Shijie had such a deep grudge...

  Just now when they met at the door, their enemies saw each other with an unusual red eye, with a sense of you die and I live. It's not just Li Yongrong, but also Li Yongrong's friends who are equally hostile, looking at the situation, it's not just a personal vendetta between Li Yongrong and Du Shijiu.

  Chen Jiong didn't have the chance to ask them what kind of knot they were tied up in.

  Chen Jing's mind was a jumble of thoughts, but her eyes remained fixed on the court.

  Tsai Shu-yuan finished speaking, and then he and Li Yong-rong and Du Shi-ji each gave a few orders. Amidst the urgent drumbeats, the two teams of cavalrymen took up their positions in formation.

  Outside the court, a small hourglass is placed and timing begins.

  Cai Shuyuan threw the ball onto the field, and the game officially started. The soft leather ball rolled far away, and the drums sounded again in waves. The two teams of twelve people each rode their horses to chase after the ball.

  Three forwards and three defenders per team.

  In Li Yongrong's team, Fan Naibei, Li Yongrong and Zhou Xun were the forwards, while Wan Yuan, Bai Chenyu and Xu Tianying were the defenders.

  In the end, Du Shijie's team got the ball first.

  Du Shijie dribbled in mid-air, hitting it twenty or thirty times without falling to the ground, causing the onlookers to exclaim in surprise.

  "...Is this what you call good ball skills?" Chen Jing heard the suppressed exclamations of amazement from all around, and knew that Du Shijie's previous ball control was extremely high-level in terms of horseball techniques for this era.

  He let out a soft sigh.

  Such dribbling, Chen Jiong can keep it in the air all the way to shooting, and maintain nearly a hundred times; while Du Shijie can only hold on for twenty-five or six times.

  He quietly watched.

  Du Shijie's dribble was then picked up by another player after hitting the ground.

  Suddenly, Fan Naipeng of Li Yongrong's team seized the opportunity to sprint forward, swift as lightning, snatching the ball from Du Shijie's hands and dashing towards the goal.

  Another cry of surprise rose from the top of the watchtower.

  Fan Naipei's ball skills were quite skilled.

  But near the goal, he suddenly made a mistake, and the ball was dropped from his stick and taken away by Du Shijie.

  The onlookers all held their breath, watching Du Shijiu with bated eyes.

  Du Shijie finally scored a goal by hitting the ball into the net.

  The onlookers on the arrow tower let out a burst of excited cheers, deafening.

  Chen Jiong's eyes sank. Just now, Fan Naipei's ball-snatching skills were evident in his superb ball-handling skills. With such high-level ball-handling skills, he shouldn't have made the mistake of losing control of the ball afterwards.

  He was disappointed instead.

  This ball is on Fan Naipei's responsibility.

  But Chen Jing was not present, and he didn't dare to make any rash guesses. After all, the situation on the field changed rapidly, and sometimes mistakes were not intentional.

  After Du Shiji's goal, their team morale was high.

  Then, kick off again.

  This scramble is even more intense.

  Until half a quarter of the first round had passed, there were no more goals. Du's team was one goal ahead.

  "Let's yield to each other." Mo Bing, from the elegant room next door, leaned over the railing and stretched his neck towards Chen Jiong. The seemingly humble phrase was filled with sarcasm.

  "Congratulations." Chen Jiong said lightly.

  Mo Bai burst out laughing.

  Their conversation was also clearly heard by Cai Shuxian and Shen Nanhua next door on the east side.

  Cai Shuxian's small mouth pouted, somewhat dissatisfied.

  Just won one game, what's there to be proud of!

  Li Balang is back in the lead again!

  During this brief respite, the onlookers who had originally intended to wait and see began to place their bets.

  "Hope he can win three sets, Du Shiji played well today..." someone said.

  "At most win two games, Li Balang's ball skills are also among the best, not inferior to those horse ball worshippers' skills. Their team's Fan Naipeng is also a good player."

  "It may be a draw..."

  Onlookers estimated and guessed, placing their bets one after another.

  Du Shijie won a game, with more popularity, most of the spectators bet on Du Shijie to win. Some also bet on a draw. But those who bet on Li Balang to win were very few.

  Like a polo match, both sides are evenly matched, and winning two or three goals in one game is considered very exciting.

  Du Shijie has already won one game and is in a very advantageous position.

  In the next two rounds, maybe no goals will be scored, or one or two will be scored. Li Balang's difficulty in winning is relatively high.

  "Hum! I'll buy it too, and win against Li Balang!" In Cai Shu-xian's elegant room, these idle talks could also be heard. Seeing that everyone didn't believe in Li Yong-rong, she snorted coldly, feeling indignant in her heart, and took out 1,000 taels.

  Shen Nanhua smiled on one side.

  This is Cai's home court, and she really doesn't know what it means to gamble with Cai Shuxian. However, the other party is generous and willing to spend a lot of money, which is quite refreshing.

  Shen Nanhua hastily suppressed his smile, afraid of embarrassing Cai Shuxian.

  Chen Jing heard the noise from next door, glanced at that wall, and then turned his gaze back to the court.

  "......Second Uncle, did Eighth Great Uncle win?" Chen Wengong looked puzzled and asked Chen Jing.

  "Not yet," said Chen Jiong.

  "When do we win?" Chen Wengong asked. He had always remembered what his eighth uncle said, that after winning they would go drinking. Chen Wengong really wanted to go drinking. A boy of his age was curious about everything and wanted to try everything.

  "When it's over, then we've won, right?" Chen Jiong said with a smile.

  As soon as he said this, a cold laugh came from Mo Bing's group of people next door on the west side.

  "That bookworm is really ignorant of the heights of heaven and the thickness of earth!" Someone sneered coldly in a low voice, "He's still dreaming his beautiful dream."

  "Maybe he wants to go down and fight too..." someone chimed in. Then, they burst into laughter, as if they had heard something particularly amusing.

  "I'm afraid you can't even ride a horse?"

  A burst of drumbeats resounded through the sky, interrupting the ridicule from next door.

  The second round has begun again.

  Chen Jing straightened his posture and looked seriously. This time, his gaze was fixed on Fan Naipeng. If Li Yongrong lost this time, it was likely that Fan Naipeng was behind the scenes.

  A thief in the family is hard to guard against.