On the Qúc Ju field, Li Xuan still maintained his shooting posture, a faint smile on his small face, enjoying the shocked gazes of the crowd.
"Hmph!"
"Who said dressing a kitten in a vest was a joke just now?"
"Try laughing again, I want to see it."
Li Xuan slowly retracted his high-raised hind leg, then shook his body, smoothing out the wrinkles on his vest, truly an elegant and noble cat.
The Sixth Princess felt a chill in her heart from Li Xuan's stare, and she Dizzy raised her hand to touch her messy hair by her temples, then looked at the few strands of hair scattered on the ground, still unable to fully react.
"What just happened?"
"How did they score a goal?"
The Sixth Princess turned her head and asked her two attendant eunuchs beside her, puzzled.
The two attendant eunuchs exchanged glances, both seeing each other's confusion, and immediately knelt down to beg for forgiveness:
"Please forgive Your Highness, we are incompetent and did not see what happened clearly."
They gritted their teeth, and in the end, could only tell the truth.
The Sixth Princess's confusion deepened, and recalling the previous scene made her feel even more dazed.
She had thought it was just her momentary distraction, which was why she hadn't noticed the ball shot by that cat.
But the two attendant eunuchs, whose strength was one rank higher than hers, were also the same.
Surely, all three of them couldn't have been distracted at the same time, could they?
The Sixth Princess subconsciously cast her gaze towards the First Prince and Fourth Prince off the field, and found that both of her brothers also had solemn expressions.
"Rare and Exotic Beast!"
"It must be a Rare and Exotic Beast, no doubt!"
The Fourth Prince asserted.
"But what kind is it?"
"It looks like an ordinary house cat, but it has such great strength."
"And looking at its movements just now, its intelligence is definitely not low; at least it can understand the rules of Qúc Ju."
The First Prince usually enjoyed training hunting dogs, which was a hobby he shared with the Eighth Prince.
Aside from his younger siblings, the First Prince would spend any free time playing with his hunting dogs; it was one of his few pastimes.
Consort Zhang, thinking of it as a way to practice the art of governance, did not stop this pastime.
However, what Consort Zhang didn't know was that the First Prince had no such complex thoughts; he simply preferred to be close to animals more than other people.
Because the First Prince liked training hunting dogs, he also had some understanding of various Rare and Exotic Beasts.
After all, those who play this usually want to get their hands on a pet with a higher potential from the start.
The Falcon raised by the Eighth Prince, known as the God of Ten Thousand Eagles and the Overlord of Birds, follows the same principle.
But according to the First Prince's understanding, there had never been such a special feline Rare and Exotic Beast.
Those with such great strength talent are usually tigers or leopards; one that resembles a house cat completely exceeded the First Prince's knowledge.
"Big Brother, you have no impression of it at all?"
The Fourth Prince knew the First Prince's hobby, and couldn't help but ask.
The First Prince shook his head, his gaze already unable to leave Li Xuan on the field.
Back then, when he lost to Princess Ankang in the beast-taming competition, he thought it was all a coincidence, never expecting that he had been mistaken.
The First Prince immediately reacted, turned his head to search the stands, and quickly found the Eighth Prince, who had a look of excitement.
"It seems Old Eighth knows more than I do."
Recalling the Eighth Prince's frequent interactions with Princess Ankang recently, the First Prince couldn't help but feel a tickle in his heart, and he muttered to himself:
"What kind of cat is this, after all?"
The others, however, didn't think so much, merely marveling at how powerful Princess Ankang's cat was.
Especially among the young Little Beans, their reaction was almost identical to Li Xiong's earlier, just without Li Xiong's vulgarity.
But on the stands, gasps and exclamations rose and fell, making the originally rather quiet stadium atmosphere suddenly become lively.
But apart from the Little Beans who were watching the excitement, the other older Imperial Princes and Princesses and the Consorts all frowned.
After all, the Eighth Prince appearing earlier was already headache-inducing enough; now with Princess Ankang as another formidable opponent, it was naturally impossible for them to be happy.
As for the few with the deepest thoughts, they had already begun to realize that something was amiss.
The First Prince was still studying Li Xuan when he noticed the Fourth Prince beside him deep in thought, and couldn't help but ask him, "Fourth Brother, have you thought of something?"
The First Prince also knew that this younger brother of his was always meticulous, and thought he had come up with something.
"Big Brother, Princess Ankang brought this cat to the Imperial Garden gathering, probably around the time Consort Xiao passed away, so it's only been about a year or so."
Hearing the Fourth Prince's words, the First Prince recalled for a moment and nodded: "I also remember it being about that long. Is there a problem with this?"
"Big Brother, the good days at Jingyang Palace are only recent; before that, they couldn't even afford food and lived on empty stomachs."
How Jingyang Palace used to live, those in the palace knew more or less.
During the Imperial Garden gatherings, saying kind words in front of others, promising to take care of Princess Ankang, was just talk, to establish a good persona of caring for younger siblings.
But who would genuinely rush to help a princess from the Cold Palace who had no power, no influence, and was even disliked by everyone?
Consort Xiao was too glorious in the palace back then.
When she was glorious, everyone naturally showed her a good face.
But when Consort Xiao lost her power, those who had once fawned over her the most, in turn, became the most eager to kick her when she was down.
It was as if someone had forced them to curry favor with Consort Xiao in the first place, and now they wanted to collect all those debts.
When Consort Xiao was glorious, she never actively bullied anyone.
But when her glory faded, countless evil spirits emerged.
If it weren't for the Cold Palace blocking them, those debt collectors would have shortened Consort Xiao's life by who knows how many years.
Good and evil come in thousands of forms; the human heart is hard to know.
Coupled with the long-standing rumors in the palace about Empress Wu targeting Jingyang Palace, even fewer people dared to enter Jingyang Palace, fearing they would also be implicated.
After all, the main competitors for the position of mistress of the imperial harem back then were only Empress Wu and Consort Xiao.
Therefore, everyone firmly believed this statement.
In addition, Yu'er always worked odd jobs outside Jingyang Palace to subsidize its expenses, which also made Jingyang Palace's difficult situation no secret.
And what the Fourth Prince wanted to say at this moment, naturally, was not just this.
"Big Brother, you know more about Rare and Exotic Beasts than I do."
"Generally speaking, feeding them must absolutely not be sloppy, otherwise, they simply won't grow."
"With the cat's current strength, that kick just now would probably not be surprising if it killed someone."
"Where did Jingyang Palace get the extra resources to feed this cat?"
Although the Fourth Prince asked this, his expression seemed to indicate that he already had some guesses, but this kind of guess made him disbelieving.
The First Prince, prompted by the Fourth Prince, also noticed something was amiss.
"Eh, what exactly is this…?"
They had all seen Princess Ankang's sallow and emaciated appearance before, and it shouldn't have been faked.
But the Fourth Prince's words were also not wrong, which immediately made the First Prince unable to understand.
The Fourth Prince did not keep him in suspense for long, but merely whispered to the First Prince:
"There must be something strange here, perhaps related to Father Emperor."
The First Prince's pupils contracted, and he looked at the Fourth Prince with a solemn expression, as if asking him for confirmation again.
In response, the Fourth Prince nodded silently, and added:
"This matter still needs to be discussed, but for now, let's be careful."
"Especially with matters related to Ankang."
The two then silently looked towards the field, their expressions equally complex, pondering something unknown.
And it was clear that the two brothers were not the only ones with the same confusion.
"Zhan'er, can you discern the origin of this cat?"
On a viewing platform, Consort Zhao asked the Third Prince.
"Forgive my poor eyesight, Mother."
The Third Prince looked earnestly at Li Xuan on the field, and gently shook his head.
Hearing his son's reply, Consort Zhao pondered for a moment, then suddenly smiled faintly.
"This Imperial Garden competition, it seems, is not just child's play."
The Third Prince frowned upon hearing his Imperial Concubine say this.
"It seems our Emperor is not just thinking of amusing us."
Consort Zhao sighed with emotion, and unlike the Third Prince, her gaze was more focused on Princess Ankang.
Although the Third Prince had questions about his Imperial Concubine's words, being accustomed to commands, he would not ask about things his Imperial Concubine did not proactively bring up.
The Third Prince silently turned his head and continued to watch the match on the field.
"One to zero."
As the referee announced the current score, a new ball was also delivered into the Sixth Princess's hands.
Although an unexpected incident occurred just as the match began, the game still had to continue.
This time, Zhao Feng no longer hid in the shadows to watch the game, but directly stood by the side of Princess Ankang and the Sixth Princess's field.
However, his gaze, well, it would always intentionally or unintentionally fall upon Li Xuan.
As the party involved, Li Xuan naturally understood that this was Zhao Feng warning him.
That last kick, if it had been slightly off target, the Sixth Princess's pretty little face would probably have been shattered.
If a Qúc Ju match resulted in the death of an Imperial child, Zhao Feng might even have to atone with his own life, so his merely glaring at Li Xuan was already considered polite.
In response, Li Xuan just grinned, making himself look very harmless.
But clearly, this trick no longer worked on Zhao Feng.
Zhao Feng's face was grim, almost all of his attention focused on Li Xuan.
"Sigh, he doesn't trust me at all."
"I was so careful with my aim."
Li Xuan even started to complain, completely disregarding the fact that he had almost kicked the Sixth Princess's head off just now.
The Sixth Princess held the ball in her hands, and after a moment of contemplation, turned to look at her two brothers in the stands.
At this moment, the Fourth Prince raised his hand to make a gesture, then indicated with his eyes.
The Sixth Princess received the signal, nodded, and then handed the ball to an attendant eunuch beside her.
"You two will attack next, I'll defend from the back."
With that, the Sixth Princess walked to the back of the field, almost standing directly under her own goal.
The Sixth Princess turned her head and saw the Fourth Prince nod to her, understanding that she had interpreted correctly.
Earlier, the Fourth Prince had signaled her to retreat to the back and observe the opponent.
Although the Sixth Princess was not as intelligent as her two brothers, she was good at taking advice.
Especially towards her own brothers, she was even more obedient.
She knew she wasn't good enough, but she knew her two brothers were better than her.
When she couldn't make up her mind, leaving it to her brothers to decide was definitely the right choice.
The Sixth Princess's principle of handling matters, to some extent, also possessed the wisdom of self-awareness.
The two attendant eunuchs, having received the ball from the Sixth Princess's hands, appeared somewhat nervous, secretly swallowing their saliva.
After all, they themselves weren't clear how that point had been lost just now.
If the match continued to go unfavorably, they would likely face punishment upon their return.
"There's something strange about the opponent, bring out your true skills!"
"Alright!"
The two immediately put away their underestimation of the enemy and began to seriously exert all their strength.
This time, they did not choose to launch a straightforward, simple attack like the Sixth Princess.
One person first kicked off, passing the ball to the right edge of the field, while the other was already prepared and in position.
The next moment, the receiver immediately launched an attack, actually bypassing the Three Little Ones through a sneak attack, finding an undefended angle to strike the Fengliu Eye.
To be able to launch such an efficient sneak attack through only a brief exchange shows that these two not only possess considerable strength but are also quite skilled in Qúc Ju.
These attendants were all carefully selected by Consort Zhang from the Black-Clothed Eunuchs of Qingshu Hall, so their strength was naturally beyond question.
The problem, however, was that the Three Little Ones on the other side were not to be trifled with either.
The two attendant eunuchs launched a sneak attack, but before the ball could gain height, Li Xuan nimbly snatched it down.
He merely flicked his tail, instantly changing the ball's direction, and it floated lightly towards Yu'er.
All attacks in this Qúc Ju match, because the Fengliu Eye of the goal is in mid-air, are from bottom to top.
Therefore, it is essential to intercept the ball before it flies high, otherwise, once the ball gains height, the difficulty of interception greatly increases.
This is also why the combination of the Eighth Prince and Falcon is so powerful.
The Eighth Prince's ball skills are superb, allowing him to coordinate with his teammates to execute difficult high-altitude interceptions.
As for Falcon, it's even more outrageous; its offense and defense are both launched in the most challenging high-altitude areas, giving it a considerable advantage.
Most ordinary people's approach is the same as Li Xuan's earlier, intercepting the ball before it rises.
The Three Little Ones are now leading by one point, and Li Xuan has been warned by Zhao Feng's gaze, so he decided to give the next opportunities to perform to the two girls.
Anyway, with Li Xuan there, the Sixth Princess side shouldn't even dream of scoring a single point.
Even if Princess Ankang and Yu'er can't break through the opponent's defense, the match will still end 1-0, so they will win no matter what.
Yu'er received the pass from Li Xuan, and then passed it to Princess Ankang.
"Your Highness, catch the ball."
Princess Ankang had already run to the very front of their field, trying to get as close as possible to the opponent's goal.
The little girl excitedly took a running start, then threw her entire body forward, kicking the ball heavily with a dull thud.
"Bang! Bang!"
Loud thuds, almost indistinguishable, rang out one after another.
One sound was Princess Ankang's small foot kicking the ball.
The other sound was the ball instantly smashing into the face of an attendant eunuch on the opposite side, directly knocking him to the ground.
The entire crowd collectively gasped "Ouch," subconsciously touching their own faces, and couldn't help but mourn for the unlucky eunuch.
Princess Ankang shrunk her neck, not expecting to cause trouble so quickly.
"Are you, are you alright?"
The ball bounced high and landed outside the field.
The attendant eunuch opened his eyes blankly, with a bright red ball print on his face and two streaks of crimson flowing from his nostrils.
At that moment, his soul seemed to have left his body, and he saw the back of his own head.
However, the searing pain on his face ultimately managed to retain his soul, but the attendant eunuch still couldn't help but think:
"Which good family's little girl has such powerful feet?"