Next to the fortress, there was a large open area spanning two to three li in circumference. It had originally been a stretch of wasteland covered in mud and sand. After the Protectorate relocated here, the area was quickly leveled and transformed into a grand training ground. Because the soldiers loved polo, a polo field was also built nearby.
Li Xuandu had not yet arrived when he heard the roaring cheers rising from the polo field. Drawing closer, he saw that soldiers had packed themselves around the perimeter, crowded nearly to the point of no passage.
Clearly, a polo match was still in full and fiery swing on the field—and just then, another wave of cheers burst out.
Li Xuandu quickened his steps to the entrance, where he found the passageway also jammed with people. He recognized the figures by their backs—Zhang Zhuo, Luo Bao, and others. Absorbed by the match on the field, not one of them had turned around; none of them knew he had arrived.
Li Xuandu reached out and laid his hand on Zhang Zhuo’s shoulder—the man who was blocking his path—and gave it a pat, signaling him to make way.
Zhang Zhuo was watching intently, eyes riveted. Thinking it was some blind fool who hadn’t recognized him, he swatted the hand off his shoulder without turning his head and barked: “Don’t pat me! Get lost! Stop blocking me from watching the Princess Consort—”
Standing beside him was Luo Bao. At the sound of the voice, he spun around and hastily gave a bow. Seeing that the boorish Zhang Zhuo was still obliviously blocking the way without a clue, he reached out two fingers, pinched Zhang Zhuo’s sleeve, and tugged at it, saying: “His Highness is here!” But his voice was soft, and the surrounding noise was far too loud; Zhang Zhuo hadn’t caught it. He yanked his sleeve back from Luo Bao’s fingers and shot him a look of disgust: “Don’t lean on me! Get away from me—”
Li Xuandu truly could not hold back any longer. He gave a cough. Only then did Zhang Zhuo notice. He turned his head, took one look, and gave a start—his eyes went wide and he let out a cry: “Your Highness! How did you get back so quickly? I thought it would be a few more days yet—” As he fumbled for something to say, he saw that His Highness’s gaze had already drifted toward the polo field where the Princess Consort was galloping and striking balls. Understanding hit him. He quickly stepped aside, yielding his spot, and added a flattering remark: “I have long heard that the Princess Consort excels at polo—seeing it today, she truly lives up to her reputation…”
Li Xuandu said nothing. Luo Bao, reading the atmosphere carefully, sensed that Prince Qin’s expression carried a trace of displeasure. He quickly pulled Zhang Zhuo aside and stepped up to offer an explanation: “Your Highness, today it was the Tiger and Leopard battalions’ turn to use this polo field for mounted training. The soldiers got into the spirit of it, and both sides each put out a team to play. They invited the Princess Consort to serve as judge. The Tiger battalion’s people won, and using the prize as their excuse, they clamored and invited the Princess Consort to join them. The Princess Consort being the sporting sort, she got on the field…”
As he explained, he noticed that Prince Qin’s gaze remained fixed on the Princess Consort on the field the whole time, and he wasn’t sure if His Highness was even listening to him. His voice gradually faded, and he finally fell silent. He suddenly felt someone tug at him from behind; looking back, he saw it was Zhang Zhuo, so he stepped to one side.
Zhang Zhuo’s expression was not pleasant. He lowered his voice and demanded: “When His Highness patted me just now, you saw it—why didn’t you warn me?”
Luo Bao answered, aggrieved: “Are you trying to wrongfully kill me, Right Commander? Didn’t I warn you? You just didn’t listen!”
“Are you a man or not? Can’t you speak up a little? It was so loud out here—how was I supposed to hear you?”
Luo Bao, hearing the words “a man or not” thrown at him, felt the barb go straight to his heart.
He was the most dignified attendant by the side of Prince Qin and the Princess Consort. Day to day, he was broad-minded and generous, and simply did not stoop to bickering with this coarse lout. To think this person would bully him so outrageously and say such a thing about him—he was instantly furious.
“Didn’t I tug at you? And you told me not to lean on you! I tried to do you a good turn and got struck by lightning for it! From now on, please keep your distance from me as well, Right Commander!”
Zhang Zhuo hadn’t expected this eunuch, who normally spoke in such a refined and measured way, to suddenly turn on him. He was caught off guard, not yet grasping where he had gone wrong, when he heard someone shout from behind: “Coming through! Coming through!” He turned his head to see that the Khotan prince, Weichi Shengde, was holding a polo mallet in one hand and gripping his reins with the other, seated high atop a blue-maned steed, charging straight toward the entrance.
Ever since his elder brother had been rescued and returned to Khotan, Weichi Shengde had stayed on at the Protectorate and refused to go back. Not only that, he had wangled himself the position of Commandant Against Hu, and with his easygoing nature, had quickly become one of the crowd among the Protectorate’s people.
In this kind of informal match, the number of players on either side had no strict limit. He harbored a certain admiration for the Princess Consort in his heart. Today, seeing her on the field, he had finally found a legitimate excuse to get close to her—he couldn’t resist suiting up fully and wanting to take the field to show his face.
Zhang Zhuo saw him galloping over with his mallet, and even here at the entrance he showed no sign of slowing down. Luo Bao, still fuming, had turned his back and hadn’t noticed. Zhang Zhuo hurriedly reached out and yanked him to the side—just barely avoiding the collision. He looked up, and Weichi Shengde had already swept past like a gust of wind. Furious, Zhang Zhuo cursed the reckless fool at his retreating figure.
Weichi Shengde didn’t care in the slightest. He kept calling out for people to clear the way, driving back those in front of him, his eyes fixed entirely on the graceful figure atop the red horse galloping and striking balls on the field. Reaching the entrance, blood surging with excitement, he was just about to charge in—when a hand suddenly reached out, five fingers hooked like talons, seized him by the waistband, and yanked.
Before he could react, he was pulled off his horse and tumbled to the ground in a sprawling heap.
Laughter broke out from all around.
Weichi Shengde was furious and about to curse someone, but looked up to find Li Xuandu standing nearby, expression blank, gazing down at him from above—and everything became instantly clear.
That must have been him who pulled him off the horse just now.
He immediately felt sheepish. Before he could scramble up from the ground to make his greetings, he saw Li Xuandu lean down toward him—and in the blink of an eye, the polo mallet was taken from his hand. Before Weichi Shengde could react, Li Xuandu had already left him where he lay, strode in a few steps to catch up with the blue-maned steed that was circling nearby, approached it, vaulted onto its back, and rode it straight into the polo field.
The soldiers watching on all sides had been entranced by the Princess Consort galloping across the field in splendid form. Then suddenly a new rider charged in at the entrance—and they recognized him as Prince Qin himself, who hadn’t been seen in many days. He had a polo mallet in his hand; clearly he too was going to play.
What good fortune this day had brought—first the Princess Consort, and now even Prince Qin was getting on the field in person. Every person there widened their eyes in excitement, and the atmosphere of the field suddenly surged to a new peak of enthusiasm.
Li Xuandu had gone to escort the Boluoguo prince to Yancheng and had been away for nearly half a month. Pu Zhu had gradually sorted out the internal affairs of the Shuang clan’s fortress and had memorized the map of the maze passage ahead. Over the past few days she had slowly found herself at leisure.
Her royal sister-in-law Ruo Yue, though a woman of the Western Regions, was exceptionally virtuous and refined. One day she had happened to see Ju A’mu embroidering and became completely enamored with it. She came to find Ju A’mu to learn needlework every single day, sitting for more than half a day at a stretch, so absorbed she forgot to eat and sleep. Pu Zhu saw that her fingers were nearly swollen from needle pricks and felt genuine sympathy—yet she never heard Ruo Yue complain of the pain. Ruo Yue said she was determined to learn it well, so that she could one day make Ye Xiao clothes and shoes with her own hands.
Today was the same as usual—first thing in the morning, Ruo Yue had come to find Ju A’mu again for needlework.
Pu Zhu greatly admired her royal sister-in-law, but she herself had no interest in such things, and couldn’t sit still. Just as she was growing bored, Luo Bao came running to find her, saying there were soldiers from two battalions outside who wanted to hold a polo match and earnestly hoped the Princess Consort would come serve as judge.
Perhaps it was her nature to love a lively atmosphere—she had always been suppressed in the past, but here, with the sky vast and the earth wide, and Li Xuandu seemingly too busy to ever manage her in these matters, she felt completely unrestrained. Naturally she would not refuse. She changed into light, comfortable clothes, put on her riding boots, and went.
After serving as judge, she was invited to play as well—so she simply took the field herself and played polo alongside the soldiers.
She was galloping across the polo field, fully focused, when she heard a wave of enthusiastic cheering rise from all around. She didn’t pay it much mind; her eyes were fixed intently on the ball rolling rapidly back and forth on the ground below. She spurred her horse forward, intercepted the ball from beneath a soldier’s horse, paused for a moment, glanced toward a teammate, signaled that they should be ready, and swung her mallet toward the ball. Just as the mallet was about to strike—unexpectedly, a mallet came swinging in from the side, one step faster than her, and snatched away the ball she had been solidly controlling.
She couldn’t stop her momentum in time; her mallet swung through empty air.
A stop as certain as that, and someone had stolen the ball away mid-stroke.
Pu Zhu felt a twinge of annoyance and then curiosity. Wanting to know who had taken her ball, she immediately halted her horse and turned to look at the person beside her who had stolen it.
What was this…
It was actually Li Xuandu?
He was holding a polo mallet, seated high atop a blue-maned horse, looking at her.
When had he come back?
She had thought he was still in Yancheng at this moment!
While she stood there stunned, she saw him suddenly swing his mallet and strike the ball he had just snatched from beneath her mallet—sending it back into play. Then he abandoned her, wheeled his horse around, and went after the ball. He wove left and right all the way, keeping tight control, swiftly bypassing several obstacles, and quickly arrived near the goal. With one swing of his mallet, he sent it out.
There was a resounding crack—and the ball, as if it had eyes, flew straight through the narrow gap between the two defenders directly facing him and shot cleanly into the goal.
Such accuracy was genuinely rare to see on a polo field any day.
Another wave of thunderous cheering erupted across the field.
Li Xuandu sat atop his horse, holding the reins in one hand. He wheeled the horse around and, following suit, turned his face back toward Pu Zhu and flashed her a grinning smile.
Look at that smug satisfaction of his…
Utterly insufferable!
Pu Zhu snapped back to herself. She bit her lip, looked away from him, fixed her eyes on the ball that had been put back into play, and spurred her horse to give chase. She quickly pulled up alongside him, the two of them neck and neck, each refusing to yield to the other, competing for the ball rolling this way and that beneath the horses’ hooves. Finally she spotted a gap, quick of eye and hand, and at last wrested the ball back. She broke away at the front and carried the ball forward, quickly read the field, and struck the ball to a nearby teammate who was in the best position. With a spirited cry she commanded: “Drive it in!”
The centurion who received the ball was himself a polo expert; he had played together with the Princess Consort back in Wulei. Now, seeing the Princess Consort on a field full of riders single out him alone to pass the ball to—and hearing her order him to score—his blood ran hot. He didn’t stop to think about what Prince Qin might make of it; without hesitation he followed the direction of her pass, caught the ball in the air with one swing of his mallet, and successfully sent it into the goal.
The watching crowd saw the Princess Consort’s side combine perfectly with the centurion and quickly reclaim the point. They erupted in another thunderous round of cheers.
Pu Zhu was overjoyed—she had finally let out that pent-up frustration—and she shot a sideways glance at Li Xuandu.
Li Xuandu stared at the young centurion who was excitedly galloping to her side and celebrating with her by clapping mallets, and narrowed his eyes. He signaled the referee to put the ball back in play.
Pu Zhu had joined the Tiger battalion; Li Xuandu had barged in partway through and, without a word, started stealing the ball from her—so naturally he fell in with the Leopard battalion. The two sides played several more rounds. The centurion who had been striving to stay with the Princess Consort and determined to compete with Prince Qin for the ball, after taking several lessons from Prince Qin, finally had something of a realization. With a significant glance from his teammates, he no longer dared to continue, and slowly withdrew from the contest with his teammates.
In the end, though the field still had as many riders as before on the surface, in reality, it had come down to a contest between just Prince Qin and the Princess Consort alone.
Team matches could be had any day, but the chance to watch Prince Qin and the Princess Consort face off on the field—back and forth, each refusing to yield—was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity.
Not one of the watching soldiers felt let down; on the contrary, every one of them was as exhilarated as if they’d had something to drink. They stamped their feet and shouted, the cheering shaking the heavens, nearly blowing the roof off the polo field. The noise carried all the way down the mountain to the common people below, who—bewildered—had some of the bolder ones climbing up to watch the excitement along with everyone else.
Pu Zhu and Li Xuandu galloped and swung mallets across the field. Her stamina simply could not match his. As the game went on she gradually began to tire, yet she refused to concede defeat, gritting her teeth and holding on through the final ball. As the two passed each other again, her legs were somewhat fatigued, and the red horse beneath her stumbled slightly in its leap. For a moment she hadn’t gripped tightly enough, and she swayed in the saddle—nearly falling off.
Li Xuandu immediately reached out to steady her, but saw her waist brace itself and she righted herself on her own, then came at him for the ball again.
The two were close together; Li Xuandu could see her clearly—her cheeks were flushed, she was dewy with fragrant perspiration, and her chest rose and fell gently with each breath. A thought crossed his mind. He spotted his moment, and gave the ball he had been controlling a gentle nudge, deliberately ceding it to her mallet.
Pu Zhu had just swung her mallet when the ball came to meet it on its own. With no one ahead to block her, it flew straight into the goal.
The concession was extremely deft—it happened precisely at the moment the two horses crossed paths, which blocked the view of those watching from the sides. And as the light was gradually fading as well, it was even harder to see clearly. The crowd only saw the Princess Consort score another goal, and went wild with enthusiasm, cheering loudly once more.
Amid the whole field’s roaring acclamation, Pu Zhu drew in her mallet, caught her breath, and fixed her gaze on Li Xuandu—who was watching her with a smile—then wheeled her horse around and left the field, ending the most fiercely contested polo match she had ever played.
Seeing that she had left, Li Xuandu spurred his horse and hurried after her.
With the Princess Consort and Prince Qin leaving the field one after another, the day’s match came to a close. The crowd applauded to see them off, still savoring it all, discussing Prince Qin’s and the Princess Consort’s ball skills in small groups of twos and threes. Then they gradually dispersed as well.
Pu Zhu rode at full gallop straight to the front of the fortress, dismounted, handed the horse off to the men at the gate, and without waiting for Li Xuandu, strode off inside at a brisk pace.
Li Xuandu followed close behind her, right into the center of the maze passage. He called out “Zhuzhu” several times from behind, but seeing that she ignored him, he quickly caught up to her in a few strides, seized her hand from behind, and forcibly pulled her into a dead-end alcove nearby. He blocked her against the wall and wouldn’t let her leave, and began to coax her in a low voice: “Are you angry? Is it because I didn’t let you win earlier? It was wrong of me—I was foolish. Next time I’ll definitely let you win, all right?”
Pu Zhu finally let out a soft huff and raised a hand to push at his chest, which was in her way.
“Move aside! Losing is losing—am I afraid of losing? Who asked you to let me win?”
It was only now that Li Xuandu understood. He had gotten it backwards—she was actually furious at him for letting her have that last ball. He couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, and immediately pulled her body close against him, lowering his head to murmur in her ear: “My dearest darling! If I don’t let you win, who do I let win?”
His voice was low, his breath warm and moist, and with that tender, melting endearment, it all drifted into her ear wave after wave.
Dusk had gathered and settled into this dead-end corner of the passageway. As the light dimmed, the mood between them suddenly grew warm and intimate.
Pu Zhu had been put out by him and quite displeased, but now that he was holding her and coaxing her like this, she felt her ears and half her body break out in goosebumps. Her already-tired legs turned suddenly to jelly, and if he hadn’t been holding her, she feared she wouldn’t have been able to stand at all.
She turned her face away, evading his lips as they gently began to kiss her.
“All right, I’m not angry anymore… let’s go inside…”
Her voice had begun to tremble, her breathing turning rapid.
Li Xuandu seemed not to hear her. He lowered his head and continued kissing her earlobe—warm, soft, delightfully pleasant against his lips and tongue. His nostrils were filled again with the scent of her body mixed with her perspiration. He could not help but shudder involuntarily, feeling that one more moment of this was more than he could bear. He scooped her up into his arms and pressed her into the dim corner of this dead end, holding her captive there.
“…Let’s go back…”
Pu Zhu knew what was about to happen. Both nervous and excited, she was utterly drained of strength, her arms soft as they wound around his neck. Her face buried in his chest, her eyes closed and lashes trembling, she made a futile, murmured appeal.
“I can’t remember the way anymore,” Li Xuandu murmured softly—and pressed forward.
Perhaps that fiercely exhilarating polo match just finished had left her body more sensitive than it had ever been; it couldn’t withstand even the slightest impact, much less one so forceful as this.
Her toes suddenly curled taut, and she let out a soft cry—in an instant she was carried by him to the heights.
When it was over she was still pressed there in that dim corner against the wall, the two of them neck to neck and ear to ear, holding each other close, their hearts pounding like kettledrums.
After a long while, Li Xuandu let out a long, slow breath, gently straightened her skirts, cradled her in his arms, and retreated from the dead end to continue on toward the back.
Ju A’mu had been waiting for them in the courtyard with the maids. Seeing him carry her over from a distance, she suppressed her smile and quickly signaled the maids to draw back, then quietly slipped away herself.
Outside the chamber, the sky grew darker and darker, until it was fully dark. Li Xuandu finally had his fill and bathed with her as well—sloshing water all over the floor—before carrying her back to the bed. They laughed and played for a while longer. Then he suddenly thought of her playing polo with the soldiers, and a twinge of jealousy rose unbidden in his heart.
He wanted to stop her from doing it, yet feared that bringing it up would displease her.
Lost in thought, he suddenly heard her ask: “Your Highness, are you displeased that I played polo with the soldiers?”
Li Xuandu gave a start, came back to himself, saw her brilliant eyes fixed on him, and quickly shook his head in denial: “Why would I be? As long as you enjoy it!” That was what he said, but there was still a little knot in his heart that he couldn’t quite untangle, and he couldn’t help adding: “They are too rough and unruly. What I worry about is that they’ll be careless and reckless—that you might end up getting hurt.”
That was the honest truth; he genuinely did have that worry.
Pu Zhu propped herself on his chest and looked up at him. She studied his face for a moment, then broke into a bright smile: “Then from now on I’ll wait until Your Highness has time, and we can play together. How about that?”
Li Xuandu’s brows lit up and his whole face broke into a smile. It was as if a warm spring had coursed through his entire body, and every pore felt indescribably at ease.
“Good—you said it yourself!”
Pu Zhu nodded: “I have another idea as well. If the opportunity arises—could we set up a grand polo tournament and invite all the small Western Regions kingdoms that have recently pledged allegiance to Your Highness to come here? By way of the competition, we could not only display the Protectorate’s military might to them, but also foster a closer affinity between them and the Protectorate…”
Pu Zhu noticed that Li Xuandu had been listening at first, but gradually seemed to have drifted into his own thoughts—she didn’t know what he was thinking about. When she finished speaking he gave no reaction at all. She hesitated, then said: “This is just something I came up with over these past few idle days. If it’s not suitable, then never mind…”
Before she had finished speaking, she suddenly saw him seem to snap back—his eyes lit up with a flash of light as they met hers. He pulled her into a tight embrace, kissed her hard, and said: “My darling! I’ve thought of a way!” With that he released her, leapt from the bed in one bound, and quickly began to dress.
Pu Zhu was utterly baffled. She slowly propped herself up and sat on the bed, watching him dress. He told her to go ahead and sleep if she was tired, then he turned and left her behind, striding away without looking back.