Almost all the students at the Martial Academy recognized Master Fan. Although today was a rest day and not class time, Master Fan’s sudden outburst and shout still shocked those young students who had been making a commotion toward the young ladies. They only dared to whisper to each other about why Master Fan had come and such, with no one daring to whistle inappropriately again.
The young ladies on the left hadn’t done anything improper to begin with, so naturally they weren’t frightened by Master Fan. However, Master Fan’s shout made them all notice the handsome gentleman sitting beside him. He wasn’t just ordinarily handsome—those eyebrows, those eyes, that bearing, especially the way the handsome gentleman seemed to lower his brows and eyes modestly because of their attention, increasingly drew the young ladies to continue secretly observing him while chatting quietly with their companions.
Zhao Sui had never been so flustered before. He had only frowned at the frivolous behavior of the young students whistling at Miss Yao, never expecting that Master Fan would—
Had Miss Yao also looked over?
Would she recognize him, whom she had only glimpsed twice in passing on the last rest day?
If Miss Yao remembered him, would she wonder why he so coincidentally happened to be watching matches at the Martial Academy today?
All these speculations had no answers, so Zhao Sui kept his eyes lowered until the sense of being watched from the left gradually lessened. Only then did Zhao Sui raise his gaze to look at the horse racing grounds below, with the corner of his peripheral vision catching Miss Yao in her pale yellow short jacket and skirt, similarly looking straight ahead.
She wasn’t looking at him.
Prince Hui’s long-tensed body gradually relaxed.
The first polo match began.
Some students walked directly to the railing in front of the first row. On the young ladies’ side, as Miss Yao led her six companions to stand there, the other young ladies also successively filled the positions along the railing.
Gradually, young students from the back rows walked toward the railing in the middle of the viewing stand. It was clear that if seven or eight more students squeezed forward, some would be standing shoulder to shoulder with Miss Yao. Many students noticed this. Among them, a group of young men in brocade robes who had already occupied the right railing jeered at their leader—a young heir of some marquis or duke’s household. This heir, who appeared fifteen or sixteen years old, then led several attendants toward the young ladies’ side.
Zhao Sui left his seat and walked downward expressionlessly.
Master Fan thought Prince Hui also wanted to watch the match up close. Glancing at the few remaining positions along the middle railing, he walked while glaring at that young heir from the Jinghai Earl’s residence. The Jinghai Earl’s household had long declined, with each generation more useless than the last, but a lean camel was still bigger than a horse—relying on the Earl’s title, they could still swagger among students from minor official families.
The young heir was closer to those positions, but Master Fan’s glare was too fierce. Moreover, beside Master Fan was a cold-faced gentleman of unknown but certainly noble origin. The young heir tactfully retreated with his attendants to their original position.
At this point, Zhao Sui couldn’t retreat back either, so he could only take his position at the railing, five people’s distance to the left of Miss Yao, leaving one empty space to his right for Master Fan. To Master Fan’s right was a student hesitating about whether to change positions.
Student figures occasionally walked to the nearby railing, but Yao Huang paid no attention. Her gaze moved back and forth between her three brothers and Li Tingwang. Li Tingwang often said unpleasant things, but his martial arts and horsemanship were very strong—he was the forward in their ten-person team.
As the match progressed, Li Tingwang, Yao Lin, and three from the opposing team chased the ball near the viewing stand. Five horses were in danger of colliding at any moment. Yao Huang nervously gripped the railing. Seeing that Li Tingwang even had the leisure to look at her, Yao Huang angrily scolded: “Hurry and grab the ball! What are you standing there for!”
Li Tingwang smiled, suddenly spurring his horse to leap over the two polo mallets blocking his path. Before his mount’s hind hooves touched down, he bent down with one swing and seized the wooden ball, sending it with one strike to Yao Lin waiting ahead to the side.
Yao Lin then coordinated with the Luo brothers ahead, successfully scoring this point.
Only then did Yao Huang’s anxious heart settle. When withdrawing her gaze, she finally noticed the handsome gentleman standing several steps away with upright posture, like a jade tree standing tall in the wind.
If this person had ordinary looks, Yao Huang probably would have had difficulty recognizing him. But ten days ago, Yao Huang had first been enchanted by his fine horse, then stunned by that fleeting glance from horseback. The celestial appearance of this person standing beneath the plum blossoms all over the trees at Meiling left an especially deep impression on Yao Huang. Unfortunately, at the time she feared the bee behind her and had no time to admire more before running in another direction.
Like the other young ladies from Longevity Lane, Yao Huang also enjoyed looking at handsome gentlemen. However, now they were standing too close. Yao Huang only wanted to steal glances but didn’t want him to notice, as if she had ulterior motives of seduction. So after her initial surprise, Yao Huang immediately withdrew her gaze.
A companion beside her excitedly leaned to her ear to whisper: “That person is so handsome. Compared to him, even Li Tingwang becomes ordinary-looking.”
Yao Huang smiled to show agreement, quietly replying: “His family background should also be extraordinary. We’d better not stare at someone like that too much.”
Just as they would envy the wealth of noble families’ sons, noble families’ sons would also despise the poverty of small households—this was all human nature. Among them, young ladies from high families at worst would verbally mock them, but young gentlemen from high families might both mock and assume that daughters of small households must have intentions to climb up the social ladder, even if that high-born gentleman was fat-headed and big-eared.
Yao Huang dared to come to the Martial Academy to watch the excitement because her father was at least a Company Commander official, and she had three robust brothers present who could protect her. If she were merely a daughter of a common civilian family, even if some official’s daughter was willing to bring her to watch, Yao Huang, knowing her own beauty, wouldn’t dare show her face.
The first match ended. Li Tingwang and Yao Lin’s team won. Because it was a best-of-three format, there were still two more matches.
Yao Huang and her six companions temporarily returned to their previous seats.
Master Fan glanced at their original seats, which were now quite distant, and pointed to the empty seats in the first row behind them: “The second match will start soon. Shall we sit here for a moment?”
Zhao Sui nodded.
One match lasted two kè, with a two-kè rest period in between. Li Tingwang pulled Yao Lin to the viewing stand where Yao Huang and the others sat. With a jump and flip, the two young men climbed onto the stand like monkeys.
Both Li Tingwang and Yao Lin recognized the handsome gentleman beside Master Fan—the person who had required Yao Lin to recite texts while standing as punishment the other day.
Yao Lin’s mood was quite complicated when Master Fan sternly said: “Isn’t there a path over there? Why climb up? If the railing breaks and you two fall, who will be responsible if you’re injured?”
Li Tingwang and Yao Lin: “…”
Yao Lin was thick-skinned and rather bold, muttering quietly: “Master Fan never used to come watch us play polo. Why did you come today? And this gentleman, are you a new academy official at the Martial Academy? Do you teach literary or martial classes, or is your rank even higher, so that even Master Fan and the others must listen to you?”
Master Fan: “…”
Zhao Sui: “Assistant official, with authority to supervise and inspect the Martial Academy.”
The numerous young ladies listening with perked ears and the students who had quietly gathered nearby to watch the show up close: “…”
Li Tingwang: “Did Your Excellency come today also for inspection?”
Zhao Sui: “Yes, to examine whether such private polo matches have hidden dangers.”
Yao Lin became nervous, and the students who loved playing private matches also became nervous, all fearing that wherever the assistant official was dissatisfied, today’s match would become their last private game.
Zhao Sui: “You may compete with peace of mind. In a few days, the Martial Academy will naturally have new regulations regarding private matches.”
The implication was that private matches could continue.
After a noisy commotion, the second match was about to begin. Li Tingwang, who hadn’t managed to say a few words to Yao Huang, had to follow Yao Lin down the viewing stand.
Yao Huang, Zhao Sui, and the others once again stood at the railing.
The students were quite clever. Knowing there was an inspection official present, the second match was played much more properly, with no more underhanded tricks to grab the ball or block people. However, chasing on horseback and swinging mallets to strike the ball were very exhausting. As they played, some young man was first to remove his outer robe, revealing an upper body that was still somewhat thin but could also be called lean and fit. Immediately after, more young men began removing their outer garments.
Zhao Sui: “…”
He looked toward Miss Yao not far away and saw that she was still smiling as she surveyed the young men on the field. Her eyes even grew brighter. When several young men deliberately rode horses in front of the young ladies’ viewing stand to display their physiques, two young ladies beside Miss Yao turned away or averted their eyes, but only Miss Yao was still—
Suddenly, Miss Yao looked toward him.
Zhao Sui immediately lowered his eyes.
Yao Huang caught his movement of hastily averting his gaze and then lowering his eyes to stand silently, including his earlobes that quickly flushed red.
Yao Huang thought, this young Martial Academy assistant official must rarely spy on others. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so inexperienced. The cleverer approach would clearly be to pretend to look at other young ladies behind her—just raising his eyelids for the briefest moment would provide cover.
Inexperienced as he was, Yao Huang felt this person’s thin-skinned appearance was quite endearing, ten thousand times better than those who lewdly ogled people and when discovered would raise eyebrows and wink.
After Yao Huang continued watching the field, Zhao Sui said quietly to Master Fan: “With female spectators present, their behavior does not conform to propriety.”
Master Fan: “…”
Though he was a teacher, he was a teacher who taught martial arts. In Master Fan’s view, when hot-blooded young men got heated and removed their outer robes, it was perfectly normal—it wasn’t like cornering some young lady and deliberately exposing their bodies in that kind of rascally behavior. How did this have anything to do with propriety?
But it was Prince Hui who had spoken. Master Fan could only gather his breath and shout toward the field: “Match suspended!”
The twenty young men on horseback all reined in their horses and looked toward Master Fan’s position in bewilderment.
Master Fan, who had repeatedly exposed his own fit upper body when instructing students in martial arts, felt his face heat at the words about to leave his mouth, but still steeled himself and said: “All of you put your clothes back on. Henceforth, whenever there are female spectators, no one is permitted to be improperly dressed!”
With this order, the entire venue suddenly fell silent, followed by buzzing discussions from all quarters.
The Martial Academy students all found the newly arrived pretty-boy assistant official to have scholarly airs and should go work at the Imperial Academy instead. Among the young ladies, the modest ones remained silent, while the bold ones also criticized that handsome assistant official for being too pedantic. They hadn’t found the polo-playing students improper—why was the assistant official, a grown man, managing so broadly?
Prince Hui, who had practiced martial arts since childhood, had keen hearing and caught both types of disdain.
Zhao Sui didn’t care what others thought of him. He quietly looked toward Miss Yao several steps away, only to see that Miss Yao was also looking at him.
Their eyes met. Zhao Sui lowered his gaze again.
Yao Huang was about to smile when all twenty young men on the field, dripping with sweat and unwilling to put their shirts back on, rode their horses over. Yao Lin was the most impulsive with the loudest voice, directly protesting: “Has Your Excellency ever played polo? If you had, you’d know how hot we are. Even in winter when playing polo, people go bare-backed, much less on such a hot day as today.”
Master Fan: “Shut up! When you’re told to put them on, put them on!”
The young men at the Martial Academy, when riled up, dared to contradict even the Academy Supervisor, let alone an assistant official of unclear rank. They felt this rule made no sense and dared to unite in refusing to comply. Even the students watching from above loudly refuted, and even Master Fan’s voice couldn’t overpower theirs.
Zhao Sui listened for a moment, then raised his hand to stop the clamor. He looked down at the young men below and said: “Let’s have a match. You select your ten best players. If you can defeat Master Fan and me, henceforth you may dress or undress as you please. If you lose—”
Yao Lin: “Then we’ll obediently wear our clothes while playing, no matter how hot it gets, and won’t be allowed to take them off!”
Zhao Sui: “Put them on now first.”
Yao Lin and the other bare-chested young men went to find their discarded shirts.
Zhao Sui, with Master Fan in tow, descended from the right side of the viewing stand without a sideways glance.
For fairness, both Zhao Sui and Master Fan rode warhorses provided by the Martial Academy. Their robes differed from the uniform team colors, making them easy to recognize.
The spring light was bright and beautiful. On the left side of the field were only two people, while on the right stood ten masters jointly selected by the two teams, including Yao Lin, Li Tingwang, Luo Kun, and Luo Peng.
Yao Huang, who had always enjoyed watching her brothers play polo, was inexplicably drawn to direct her gaze toward that handsome and proper young assistant official.
Before the other martial arts instructor serving as referee released the ball, the young assistant official sitting upright on horseback remained elegant. However, once the ball entered play, the young assistant official immediately became fierce as an eagle and brave as a wolf. Even her brother, renowned on the field for his fearless courage, was forced to voluntarily rein in his horse to avoid him. In just four or five encounters, as he bent down for one long strike, the small wooden ball streaked across the sky like a meteor, straight into the goal.
In that moment, the entire venue fell silent again.
Just as Yao Huang was also shocked by this person’s powerful arm strength, the young assistant official turning his horse seemed to glance toward her direction.
From the distance, Yao Huang couldn’t judge clearly.
The match continued. Li Tingwang and the others, after all, had superior numbers. After rearranging their tactics, they pursued the two opponents very closely.
The polo ball came toward the viewing stand. Yao Huang gripped the railing tightly again.
The young assistant official and Li Tingwang galloped at the very front. Just as Li Tingwang became distracted looking toward Yao Huang, that assistant official also looked toward Yao Huang.
Yao Huang froze.
Immediately after, the young assistant official extended his solid arm, which was a section longer than the sixteen-year-old young man’s, and struck fiercely once more.
The wooden ball whirled past before Yao Huang’s face, turning in an incredible arc before entering the goal again.
It was the first time Yao Huang had seen such a magnificent and beautiful shot. When she looked at the young assistant official again, she couldn’t hide the admiration and appreciation in her eyes.
Prince Hui, sitting steadily on horseback, tightened the reins slightly and rode away with lowered eyes.