Finally, someone asked about them.

Although the two concubine-born young masters had been brought out by their elder brothers, sitting in such a setting inevitably made them feel somewhat out of place. The legitimate sons of various families were friends with each other and conversed among themselves, naturally not including them in their conversations. They naturally had to sit on the sidelines. If Han’s eldest young master hadn’t truly not wanted to speak with his own younger brother anymore, he wouldn’t have casually asked them anything.

Finally having a chance to speak was quite awkward for Qi Ning. He lowered his head without saying anything, then heard his elder brother answer for them: “Jingkang will take the examination this year; Jingan still needs to pass the provincial examination first.”

Qi Ning felt his face burning with embarrassment for a moment.

Fortunately, he knew that no one present really cared about him—they were just asking casually. Indeed, the conversation immediately turned to Qi Le, with all the young masters from various families congratulating him on his upcoming examination.

Qi Le smiled honestly and said, “I’ll do my best, do my best.”

Young Master Fu picked up the conversation, laughing: “Your doing your best is one thing, but if you really want to do well, you’ll need your second brother to do his best too.”

Everyone revealed knowing smiles upon hearing this, then heard the previously silent Qi Ying respond with a faint smile: “As long as he does his best, it doesn’t matter if I don’t.”

Second Young Master Qi had spoken little today, so his rare meaningful statement naturally left an impression in the minds of all the young masters.

Everyone couldn’t help but secretly ponder the meaning of his words. Was he simply saying he wouldn’t help his own brother cheat in the spring examinations? Or was he also indicating he wouldn’t help anyone else cheat either?

The Qi family had always maintained upright principles and had never engaged in warming scrolls. Otherwise, with the Qi family’s power and status, Third Young Master Qi wouldn’t have failed even to take the provincial examination. This year, with Qi Ying serving as chief examiner for the spring examinations, was he planning to maintain this upright tradition throughout? That would offend many people. Even though the Qi family was currently at its peak, would they dare to act this way?

Everyone was somewhat uncertain.

While everyone’s thoughts were secretly turning, Qi Yun beside them sensed the wrong direction and, worried that everyone would again involve his younger brother in difficult situations, quickly came to his rescue: “Have you all rested enough? I’m quite eager to try—I can hardly contain myself.”

Everyone present was perceptive—how could they not see that Qi Yun was protecting his younger brother? None of them made things difficult. Fu Zhuo was the first to respond, picking up his mallet and standing with a laugh: “Who’s afraid of you? Your family is definitely hosting today!”

The men all laughed heartily, each standing up in response. Young Master Han immediately had the servants bring up the horses, then heard Fourth Prince Xiao Ziheng laugh: “Wait, wait.”

Everyone looked in his direction and saw the prince lounging sideways in his chair with his long limbs, grinning: “Rong’er and Ziyu rarely come out. Why don’t we all play this match together?”

Everyone looked at the two ladies and realized both were wearing riding clothes today. They heard the Fourth Prince continue: “I think we have exactly ten people today. Why don’t we divide into teams of five each…”

In just a few sentences, the Fourth Prince had divided both teams.

He put himself, his sister, Qi Ying, Han Feichi, and Qi Ning on one side, and Qi Yun, Fu Zhuo, Fu Rong, Han Feiyu, and Qi Le on the other. After speaking, he looked around and asked quite openly: “So, does anyone have any objections?”

The Fourth Prince was so brazenly acting as matchmaker that it was too obvious for anyone to know how to comment. Naturally, there was silence all around, while he felt no shame whatsoever. He stood up, patted the nonexistent dust from his fine clothes, and said with satisfaction: “None? Good, then that’s settled.”

There were quite a few ways to play polo, divided into single and double goal methods.

Single goal meant opening a hole about one foot in size at the bottom of a wooden wall, with a net bag behind the hole, with victory determined by the number of balls each side managed to get in. Double goal meant setting up goals at both ends of the field, with victory achieved by hitting the ball through the opponent’s goal.

The latter was popular in Jiangzuo.

Since there were ladies on the field today, the men naturally had to restrain themselves somewhat—they couldn’t very well let the Fourth Prince’s Consort and Sixth Princess get injured.

However, they heard the Sixth Princess laugh: “Don’t hold back, or it will be too boring. This princess’s polo skills have been personally praised by Father Emperor—be careful not to lose face later.”

After speaking, she mounted her horse with agile movements, clearly demonstrating excellent equestrian skills.

The Sixth Princess’s words were not boastful—she was indeed very skilled at polo. She had been joining her fourth brother on the polo field since childhood, and with excellent riding skills, her abilities were outstanding among women. Men who were somewhat rusty at polo probably couldn’t match her.

The men all mounted their horses at this point, and Han Feiyu nearby joined in: “How would we dare? Who doesn’t know Your Highness’s excellent polo skills? Please go easy on us later.”

Everyone joked on horseback for a while, then divided into two sides on each half of the field, about to begin the opening play.

The ones stepping forward to contest the opening were Xiao Ziheng and Qi Yun respectively. In this interval, Xiao Ziyu found an opportunity to speak with Qi Ying.

She rode her horse closer, looked at Qi Ying, pursed her lips, and called out: “Brother Jingchen…”

Upon hearing this, Qi Ying looked down at her. She had many things she wanted to say to him, but being looked at by him like this made her tongue-tied, unable to remember any of her words. After thinking for a long time, she managed to squeeze out: “You know my riding skills have always been good. I definitely won’t hold you back later—we’ll certainly win!”

Qi Ying raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly, though the smile quickly faded. He then said calmly: “Victory or defeat doesn’t matter. It’s good as long as Your Highness doesn’t get injured.”

Seeing that fleeting smile, Xiao Ziyu was suddenly overwhelmed with joy. Hearing him tell her not to get injured, she felt he was being especially good to her today and felt quite satisfied for the moment.

She didn’t know that Qi Ying’s smile just now wasn’t because of her.

When he heard Xiao Ziyu mention her excellent riding skills, he unconsciously thought of Shen Xiling, remembering the young lady’s frightened yet endearing appearance on horseback during their trip to Qixia Mountain a few days ago. His mood unconsciously improved, so he showed a trace of a smile.

Unaware of the reason, Xiao Ziyu continued to feel happy and was about to say a few more words to him when she heard a “bang”—her fourth brother had won the opening ball, and the match had officially begun.

For such casual gatherings among friends, Qi Ying naturally had no intention of competing seriously. His purpose was just to play casually and exercise a bit. However, his horse Zhuri was quite excited. Probably because when accompanying Shen Xiling on their autumn outing a few days ago, to accommodate the young lady’s poor riding skills, he had been restraining Zhuri and not letting it run freely. Zhuri, a fine thoroughbred, had felt as frustrated as a donkey that day. Today, once on the polo field, it was truly excited beyond measure. It immediately let loose and galloped joyfully, impossible to rein in, running faster than the ball itself.

This stirred up all the men on the field, making them take the game seriously.

Han Feichi was most excited. He had always been close to Qi Ying and was very familiar with him. Their cooperation was tacit, passing the ball closely and accurately like flowing clouds and water.

When they reached the opponent’s goal, the ball was passed to Qi Ying. Instead of shooting directly, he caught sight of Xiao Ziheng not far behind him diagonally. He immediately pulled the reins lightly, slowing Zhuri’s pace. Han Feiyu and Fu Zhuo from the opposing team immediately surrounded him. Qi Ying seized this opportunity to pass the ball diagonally backward to Xiao Ziheng’s mallet. The Fourth Prince was also skilled—in the heat of the moment, he made a long shot and immediately scored, winning the first point of the match.

This goal immediately earned applause from the entire field, with no one noticing Qi Ying’s subtle maneuver.

He clearly could have won this first point, but he deliberately gave it to Xiao Ziheng.

Actually, it wasn’t that no one noticed. Han Feichi, who was closest, saw his second brother subtly pull the reins and thought his second brother was truly cautious, even yielding in such matters.

He glanced at Qi Ying, and their eyes met. How familiar were they with each other? Qi Ying naturally knew Han Feichi had seen it. He smiled at him and shook his head.

Han Feichi understood his second brother’s meaning—he was telling him not to say anything.

He trusted his second brother in everything and certainly wouldn’t gossip. He immediately nodded at Qi Ying understandingly.

Qi Ying then turned his horse toward Xiao Ziheng, who was being surrounded and cheered by everyone, to offer his congratulations.

Some things were indeed small matters, but just because you didn’t care didn’t mean others didn’t care.

And sometimes, only when you cared could others not care.

With the first point taken, the field became thoroughly heated. The men on both sides were stirred with some heroic spirit. For a time, the polo field was filled with flying dust and neighing horses, with finely carved wooden balls being struck and flying all over the field—quite lively and entertaining to watch.

Both sides fought vigorously, going back and forth without determining a winner. When Qi Yun’s side scored another point, they would be one ahead of the Fourth Prince’s side. The men gathered to joke and tease, while the ladies, not wanting to interfere, waited at the sidelines for them to finish talking.

During this interval, Fu Rong and Xiao Ziyu, the sister-in-law and sister-in-law, had a brief chat.

The elder sister-in-law glanced at her sister-in-law and said quietly: “How is it? Did you get to speak with Second Young Master Qi today?”

Three years had passed, and this former legitimate daughter of the Fu family, now Fourth Prince’s Consort, had also changed considerably.

She had always been a gentle and gracious noble lady, but now, having married into the imperial family, she had gained additional dignity and nobility, appearing more prestigious than before. Three years ago, when speaking with Xiao Ziyu, she still inevitably had to be somewhat deferential, but now it was completely different—she could completely dominate the other party.

However, Xiao Ziyu didn’t buy into her sister-in-law’s authority. The conflict from three years ago still weighed on her heart unresolved. Hearing this, she didn’t respond but coldly snorted and retorted: “What business is it of sister-in-law’s? Sister-in-law should just look after my fourth brother—there’s no need to ask about other matters.”

Such pointed sarcasm would anger anyone, but Fu Rong didn’t get angry. Upon hearing this, she just smiled and continued: “Playing polo like this until the day ends, how many words can you exchange with him? If you don’t think of a way, Your Highness will have come out for nothing today.”

Although Xiao Ziyu didn’t favor Fu Rong, these words hit her heart.

It was so difficult to see him once—of course she wasn’t willing to part with him like this. Though unwilling, she still couldn’t help but ask in a disdainful tone: “You have many ideas—do you have a solution?”

Fu Rong smiled slightly at the corners of her lips: “You need to find a way to be alone with him—for instance, if you were injured?”

Xiao Ziyu was startled, then wanted to scold her upon realizing what she meant. She thought that even if she went so far as to fake an injury, it would mostly be her fourth brother who would care for her. Would Brother Jingchen, who was so careful about maintaining proper boundaries, bypass her fourth brother to look after her alone?

She was about to scold when Fu Rong blocked her words: “If it’s an injury you sustained for his sake, he won’t be able to refuse.”

This sentence truly enlightened Xiao Ziyu.

She felt it made great sense, and the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed. However, she felt no gratitude toward Fu Rong in her heart. Instead, she spoke sarcastically: “Sister-in-law is still so capable, using such twisted and cunning schemes.”

Upon hearing this, Fu Rong still didn’t get angry, remaining calm and quiet. She smiled faintly and continued: “Your Highness need not mock coldly. In all matters, just remember to look out for yourself, and don’t let irrelevant people ruin your good marriage prospects.”

After speaking, she lifted her eyelids and looked at her meaningfully.

Xiao Ziyu couldn’t help but be stunned again.

Irrelevant people? Who? Looking at her meaningful expression, could she be referring to that orphan girl from the Fang family?

Did she also know about the Qixia Temple incident?

Xiao Ziyu frowned and asked: “How do you know about this matter?”

Fu Rong smiled, again with that meaningful expression. After remaining silent for a while, she replied: “If even Prince Duan knows about it, how could your fourth brother not know? He cares about you far more than Prince Duan does.”

Author’s Note: Your sister-in-law is still your sister-in-law—you have to respect that. (BTW, I just calculated today that there are about four more chapters until the kissing scene. I’ve been looking forward to writing the kissing scene for at least two months—am I finally going to write it? Woo woo woo)