SEHE Chapter 71.3

Sun Mao shot Qi Miao and Peng Chulang an unfriendly glance, rolled his wrists, and gripped his mallet again.

“Catch it!”

“Quick, pass to me!”

Peng Chulang quickly struck in one ball, then Pei Yanci followed with a second and third.

In Jiangwu Pavilion, the Emperor finally laughed heartily. He directly descended from his throne, walked to the railing’s edge, watching the ball on the field with tension and excitement.

As soon as he stood up, everyone in the pavilion rose as well, clustering around the Emperor to watch together.

“Your Majesty needn’t worry. It looks settled now.”

“Still need to rely on General Peng to turn the tide.”

Gu Yueqian didn’t join in the fuss, leisurely holding her teacup and taking a sip, suppressing the smile at her lips.

Those voices of praise had just fallen when Qi Lan instantly struck in a ball.

Borrowing momentum for a second, third… scoring five in succession, directly surpassing Peng Chulang by three.

“This minister spoke ill—jinxed it.” The minister who had said it was settled earlier smiled awkwardly under the Emperor’s unfavorable gaze.

After losing another ball, Peng Chulang angrily threw down his mallet.

Pei Yanci rode his horse closer, looking at him without speaking.

Peng Chulang was just momentarily angry, venting this way. After throwing the mallet, he still had to bend down and pick it up himself.

“This person plays dirty,” compared to the other two, Peng Chulang felt that perhaps because he had eaten several meals at Pei Yanci’s expense at the Crown Prince’s mansion, he was actually closer to him.

“Mm.” Pei Yanci joined him in looking toward the person opposite.

Across from them, the three generals excitedly fist-bumped each other. Qi Lan stood alone to the side on his horse, head slightly tilted, holding his mallet horizontally, rubbing off the mud stuck to it.

Sensing Pei Yanci’s watching gaze, his eyes narrowed slightly, carelessly curling his lips into a provocative shallow smile.

Pei Yanci ignored him, turning instead to Peng Chulang, “The opposing enemy is certainly formidable, but we also have internal problems.”

“Those two?”

“One person.” Pei Yanci said, “Give me command authority.”

Peng Chulang clearly didn’t want to do this.

He had qualifications, prestige, and could make the others obey and follow orders. He wanted to use this polo match to gain the Emperor’s recognition of his abilities and return to the battlefield—for a military general, military authority was their most important value. In Anjing, he could only be stifled guarding the imperial city, spending days drinking and boasting with those wastrel sons, while also being exhausted by those tangled complex relationships, constantly in danger of losing his life.

Because of a certain person’s presence, the polo competition had never been a simple ball game.

“You only think about winning, but what if we lose?” Pei Yanci said quietly. “Right now we’re behind by four balls, and only half the time has passed. The further we go, the more our stamina fails, while Qi Lan is the type who grows fiercer with each battle.”

This was Qi Lan’s terrifying aspect—he seemed never to tire, with frighteningly strong stamina.

Peng Chulang heard this meaning and said skeptically, “You’ll take responsibility for this failure?”

He immediately denied it, “I took responsibility for winning before, and now if we lose, I won’t evade responsibility.”

“We’re all in this together—what’s yours and mine? General, don’t forget my status,” Pei Yanci smiled slightly. “If I command and we lose, what can they demand of me? Even His Highness the Crown Prince only requires that I safely finish playing this match for him. On the contrary, you’re a general of the Shence Army—you cannot lose. Right now, this just minimizes the impact of consequences. It’s not as serious as evading responsibility.”

If they lost, forget about returning to the frontier—whether he could even keep his current position would be questionable.

Because their opponent represented Great Xi.

“Fine.” Peng Chulang agreed through gritted teeth, yet felt somewhat dishonorable about pushing him out to take the blame. He cupped his hands, “Peng owes you a favor.”

“No problem.” Pei Yanci didn’t care about this.

The internal enemy he spoke of wasn’t those two—it was Peng Chulang himself.

Until this moment when catastrophic defeat loomed, command authority within the team would never fall to him.

Peng Chulang quickly summoned the other two and announced in their presence that Pei Yanci would have command for the remaining time.

Though the two were surprised, they at least sensed Peng Chulang’s intention to muddle through from here on. They also felt somewhat disgruntled, and simply went along with it.

In just moments of huddled discussion, the power center of the team completed its transfer.

The ball was again thrown into the air. The previous ball had been struck by Qi Lan’s side, so this round it was their turn to strike. Who would have thought that just as Sun Mao struck the ball toward Peng Chulang, a mallet suddenly shot out, forcibly changing the ball’s direction, heading straight for Qi Lan.

How could the latter pass up this opportunity? He galloped at full speed all the way. The youth’s tough, upright body was like a bamboo bending in the wind. Bending and twisting with one strike, the ball, wrapped in flying dust, rushed toward the goal at rapid speed.

Just as it was about to enter, a figure abruptly appeared before the net.

Qi Miao tried to intercept the ball, swinging with all his might. In his urgency, he swung and missed completely. Losing his balance, his body tilted sideways, and the ball struck him squarely in the forehead.

“Aiyaa——“

“Qi Miao!” The other three immediately spurred their horses closer.

Qi Miao covered his head with one hand while the other still gripped the reins tightly, preventing himself from falling off. When he raised his head again, blood flowed from his forehead down past his eyes and nose—a terrifying sight.

“Miao Miao!” A heart-wrenching male voice came from Jiangwu Pavilion, followed by commotion. Faintly, one could hear eunuchs’ shrill voices shouting, “Someone come—the Duke of Jingguo has fainted!”

“You go down first. Let the substitute, Young General Jiang, come up,” Pei Yanci said.

Though Jiang Yi hadn’t been exposed to polo before, these competition rules were simple. More than anything, they relied on martial prowess and agile physical technique. Any capable military general could quickly become a good polo player.

Qi Miao shook his head, rolled up his sleeve to wipe the blood and sweat flowing down his face, “There’s still half an hour. I can hold on.”

Saying this, he tore a corner of his robe and wrapped it around his forehead, binding it tightly.

“Let’s continue.” Despite the pain making him grimace, Qi Miao still cursed and his eyes kindled with fighting spirit. “Even if we’re going to lose, we can’t lose too ugly. General Peng, you’ve been on battlefields—how can you act like a deserter at this moment? Until the last moment, who knows who’ll win or lose?”

He was just angry, couldn’t stand seeing Qi Lan’s arrogant manner.

Shame flashed in Peng Chulang’s eyes. Before he could speak, Pei Yanci patted his shoulder, “Now isn’t the time for talk—the ball is coming. General Peng, you take the vanguard position. Lieutenant General Qi, you still patrol the perimeter, supporting and intercepting at any time.”

“Good!” Qi Miao said with resounding force.

Sun Mao wanted to speak but hesitated. Looking at the three, a sneer of disdain had just risen at the corner of his mouth when it was immediately cut off by Pei Yanci’s gaze.

His expression instantly stiffened somewhat. He coughed dryly. Just as he was about to follow Peng Chulang, a gauze-wrapped hand suddenly reached out to grasp his reins.

“Whose orders? Zheng Qinglai?” Unlike the Emperor’s directly subordinate Northern Barracks Imperial Army, the Southern Barracks Imperial Army was under the jurisdiction and command of the Prime Minister’s office. Precisely speaking, Prime Minister Zheng could command them.

“Or were you bribed by the Princess?” Pei Yanci offered another possibility, observing the changes in his expression. He smiled slightly, “So it really was Prime Minister Zheng.”

It seemed that after they won two matches yesterday, Zheng Qinglai had sensed something.

He had already laid so much misdirection in advance, working hard to keep himself beneath notice, yet this person was still cautious and vigilant, not giving him any chance to turn things around.

“Either cooperate with me obediently, or do nothing at all. Otherwise, don’t blame me for being impolite.” Pei Yanci’s gaze turned cold as frost, his imperial bearing instantly crushing the other completely.

Sun Mao’s entire body trembled. For a moment he didn’t know what to say. For an instant, he wanted to immediately dismount and kneel on the ground.

Sometimes kneeling was an act of submission, but even more an act of evasion.

Avoiding those eyes that made one’s liver and gallbladder turn cold.

Just as this thought arose, the hand on the reins had already released. Pei Yanci had already left.

Sun Mao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Even Peng Chulang hadn’t noticed—how had he seen through it?

His temperament was naturally irritable. This time he had merely seemed even more irritable. Sometimes when striking the ball toward teammates, opponents just happened to also be in position to receive it. He’d done it so covertly—in such urgent, pressing battle conditions, how had he detected the signs?

He couldn’t figure it out, but the chill that had passed through his heart earlier lingered. He didn’t dare make any more moves.

But on the other hand, there was Prime Minister Zheng’s instruction—he couldn’t not comply either.

Pei Yanci saw his passive delay and stopped managing him. He flexed his stiff fingers, looking with firm resolve at the four people opposite.

Thanks to the martial arts Tang Xizhui had taught him, his physique had greatly strengthened and his movements had become much more agile.

But it wasn’t enough.

He had to win.

No matter what he did, he never lost.

Qi Lan opposite clearly had the same thought.

In the instant the black horse and date-red horse crossed paths, Qi Lan revealed a trace of contempt.

“What’s your relationship with the Crown Prince?”

Two mallets crossed, neither yielding. The ball rolled between the urgent hoofbeats, momentarily deadlocked in place.

“You’re being a bit nosy,” Pei Yanci said.

“That spot was originally mine.” Qi Lan said, “You got your position through unspeakable connections, and you won’t let others speak of it?”

“Since you already know, why ask me?” Pei Yanci laughed lightly. His mallet deftly flicked up, successfully seizing the ball. “Superfluous.”

The black horse’s hindquarters rammed toward the date-red horse. The mount beneath Pei Yanci cried out in pain. His entire form swayed left and right—he nearly got thrown off.

The rough reins wound several more times around his hand. One foot gripped the stirrup tightly. He gritted his teeth secretly, once again leaping astride the horse’s back and pursuing Qi Lan.

Qi Lan had already struck the ball to midfield. Seeing someone coming from behind, he directly struck the ball toward the goal hole.

But halfway, one of his own teammates suddenly appeared. Seeing the ball coming, the teammate hastily turned his horse. The ball still grazed the horse’s head. After scraping past, the ball’s speed dropped sharply, wobbling and rolling to the ground.

That teammate saw the ball fall and hurriedly swung his mallet, planning to continue striking it into the hole. But Qi Miao had already spotted the opportunity. With one mallet he intercepted the ball, dribbled it a few times, and successfully struck it into the hole.

“I scored!” Qi Miao’s face showed utter disbelief as he shouted into the distance, “Father! Your son won a ball!”

In Jiangwu Pavilion, the Duke of Jingguo, who had just awakened, fainted again from excitement.

“What’s going on?” Qi Lan grabbed the teammate who had blocked the way.

They were all temporarily teamed up. Though he was the youngest in age, because of his strong abilities, their previous cooperation had been good—nothing like scrambling for the ball had ever happened.

“I don’t know either.” That teammate also couldn’t explain clearly.

Just now he had seen Pei Yanci trying to intercept the ball, so he came over to block him. Somehow, he had instead become the one getting in the way.

Qi Lan didn’t say much more and continued spurring his horse to pursue the ball.

One ball could still be called an accident, but several consecutive balls all lost due to teammates interfering—this seemed suspicious.

The atmosphere in Jiangwu Pavilion and the viewing stands had reached unprecedented excitement and fervor.

From Peng Chulang’s team initially winning balls with apparent certainty of victory, to later falling far behind with hearts gradually sinking to the depths, grief and indignation making bodies tremble—who would have thought that in the final half hour they would find life in the face of death? With each ball Pei Yanci and the others scored, enthusiastic cheers rang throughout the venue.

Watching that figure on the field who remained calm and commanded with skill throughout, Gu Jiuqing’s cold, lonely heart beat wildly faster and faster.

That was his person!

Every drop of sweat on Pei Yanci’s face was like the most dazzling star, reflecting the most brilliant radiance, falling into the hearts of everyone present.

“Excellent——” The entire venue erupted in cheers again.

“They’ve tied it up!”

“Really didn’t expect that with such a large point deficit, they could still tie.”