Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Chapter 75: Going with the flow

Seeing that Emperor Huizong had so easily granted his request, Shen Daoyuan was about to kneel on the floor of the hall to express his gratitude when Xiao Minghao strode up to him and loudly proclaimed to Emperor Huizong:

"Your Majesty," Xiao Minghao said, "from what I understand, the marriage between Lord Shen and Miss Chai is not based on mutual affection. Everyone in the capital knows that Miss Chai went to Xiangshan Temple to become a nun in order to escape her engagement with Lord Shen. Lord Shen's request for Your Majesty to grant the marriage is probably an attempt to exploit a loophole. Your Majesty should think carefully and not be blinded by treacherous officials, lest you alienate Miss Chai, which would be detrimental to the Song Dynasty's women's football team!" Xiao Minghao spoke with reason and evidence, causing the emperor on the throne to frown deeply.

Emperor Huizong then gestured for Liu Guangyu to step forward and inquire with Du Shiniang about Chai Nianci's attitude towards Shen Daoyuan. Having received the imperial decree, Liu Guangyu led Du Shiniang behind the red pillar of the main hall for a brief conversation. Du Shiniang was then forced to admit that Chai Nianci truly did not wish to marry Shen Daoyuan.

Liu Guangyu relayed Du Shiniang's words to Emperor Huizong of Song. The emperor immediately showed displeasure, but after careful consideration, he realized that Shen Daoyuan had always been a playboy in his eyes, and his reputation for frequently staying in brothels was well-known. Today, he suddenly pretended to be deeply in love with his fiancée, and he almost fell for it.

"Minister Shen, I have already asked Du Shiniang about Miss Chai's attitude towards your marriage with her. Miss Chai is unwilling to marry you, so I can't help her. Why don't you let Miss Chai focus on the match against the Jin women's football team? After the match, I will make the decision for you. What do you think, Minister Shen?" Emperor Huizong persuaded Shen Daoyuan with a gentle tone, and finally left him a way out, that is, his marriage with Chai Nianci could still be discussed after the match.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Minghao immediately spoke up for Shen Daoyuan, saying, "Your Majesty, Miss Chai Nianci cannot yet join the Song Dynasty's women's Cuju team. As far as I know, Du Shiniang recently challenged Lord Shen to a Cuju match, agreeing that only if Miss Chai Nianci wins will Lord Shen allow her to join Lin Chong's women's Cuju team and represent the Song Dynasty against the Jin Dynasty. Please consider this, Your Majesty!"

Du Shiniang was immediately stumped when Xiao Minghao suddenly brought up the match between Shen Daoyuan and Lin Chong's women's football team. She had originally intended to use this to force Shen Daoyuan to annul the engagement so that Chai Nianci could remain on the women's football team, but unexpectedly, Shen Daoyuan changed the stakes of the match to whether he would acknowledge Chai Nianci as a member of the women's football team.

The revised Cuju challenge letter, written by Du Shiniang, stipulated that if Shen Daoyuan's Cuju team defeated Chai Nianci's team, Chai Nianci would lose her qualification to become a member of the Song Dynasty women's Cuju team; if Chai Nianci's team won, Shen Daoyuan would allow Chai Nianci to stay at Zixiang Pavilion to participate in the Song Dynasty women's Cuju team, and would not force her to fulfill the marriage contract for a year.

When Du Shiniang made the agreement with Shen Daoyuan, she never expected that Xiao Minghao would overhear the whole story and now use it to make things difficult for her and Chai Nianci. What should she do now? She couldn't bear to see such an excellent Cuju player as Chai Nianci fail to be selected for the Song Kingdom Women's Cuju Team because of this. She thought that if Shen Daoyuan didn't admit to it, then Xiao Minghao certainly wouldn't be able to cause any more trouble.

Just as Du Shiniang's heart was in turmoil, Shen Daoyuan calmly said to Emperor Huizong, "What Lord Xiao just said about the match between me and Lin Chong's women's football team is indeed true. Lord Gao should also know about this. Why don't you let Lord Gao explain to Du Shiniang why we made this agreement in the first place?"

Gao Can, upon hearing that he had been singled out by Shen Daoyuan, felt that if he didn't say a few good words for Du Shiniang, she would surely be angry with him after court. Du Shiniang was unlike other women; she was difficult to appease. Moreover, it was indeed his idea to have Lin Chong's women's Cuju team challenge Shen Daoyuan; he had intended to use Shen Daoyuan's Cuju skills and connections to improve the female team members' abilities. He simply hadn't expected Xiao Minghao to use this to his advantage, trying to sabotage Chai Nianci's chances of being selected for the Song Dynasty women's Cuju team.

"Minister Gao, so you also know about Lin Chong's women's football team challenging Shen Daoyuan. What do you think of this matter? Tell me," Emperor Huizong said to Gao, who was standing below the steps, seeking his opinion.

Gao Can quickly bowed to Emperor Huizong and said, "Your Majesty, this matter is my fault. I recommended Miss Chai to Du Shiniang, but I was afraid that Lord Shen would not agree to let her participate in the Song Dynasty Women's Cuju Team. So I could only use the Cuju Challenge to force Lord Shen to agree. But I think that this matter ultimately depends on Your Majesty's opinion. After all, the Song Dynasty Women's Cuju Team represents the glory of the Great Song Dynasty and is meant to share Your Majesty's burdens."

As soon as Gao Can finished speaking, Shen Daoyuan stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I believe that Chai Nianci is capable of serving as a member of the Song State Women's Cuju Team. My Cuju match agreement with Du Shiniang can be cancelled."

"Minister Shen, you certainly understand the importance of prioritizing national affairs, but this makes it difficult for me to refuse the marriage." Emperor Huizong said to Shen Daoyuan in a solemn tone. However, he was actually pondering something in his heart. Gao Can had just said that the Song Dynasty's women's Cuju team represented the glory of the Song Dynasty. He was skeptical about whether the five women chosen by Du Shiniang and Lin Chong could really defeat the Jin Dynasty's women's Cuju team.

Emperor Huizong of Song was inherently a suspicious man. Although he didn't usually pay much attention to state affairs and only indulged in pleasure, he was still very concerned about the Jin Dynasty's women's Cuju (ancient Chinese football) team, after all, the stakes between him and the Jin Dynasty were three cities. So Emperor Huizong glanced at Gao Can, then at Xiao Minghao and Shen Daoyuan, and thought: Since you two are all making things difficult for me here, I'll play a big game with you.

"Minister Shen, Minister Gao, since you both understand the greater good, I won't make things difficult for you. I think it's very necessary to have Minister Shen compete against Lin Chong's women's Cuju team. I can take this opportunity to see how skilled the five women trained by Lin Chong and Du Shiniang really are at Cuju. How about we set the competition for three days from now at the Chengwu Hall in the Imperial Palace? Minister Gao will be in charge of preparing everything for the competition." Emperor Huizong pointed at Gao Can and Shen Daoyuan, speaking in an unquestionable tone.

Upon hearing Emperor Huizong's words, Gao Can quickly stepped forward to accept the task, then secretly gave Xiao Minghao a look, hinting that he should help as well. Shen Daoyuan, however, was surprised by Emperor Huizong's opportunistic move. He had originally intended to help Chai Nianci by sending her to the Song Dynasty's women's Cuju team for training, but now he had become the villain, helping Gao Can and Xiao Minghao instead.

Having received a hint from his advisor, Xiao Minghao quickly bowed to Emperor Huizong and said, "Your Majesty, I wish to join Lord Shen's Cuju team, along with Lord Gao, General Zhenbei, and others, to compete against Lin Chong's women's Cuju team. Please grant me permission, Your Majesty!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Huizong found the matter quite amusing. If it weren't for concerns about his reputation, he would have liked to personally compete against the five female Cuju players. Chen Jinhuan was undeniably a great beauty, and thinking of this, Emperor Huizong couldn't help but unfold the portrait of the beauty he had been holding and look at it several more times. Liu Guangyu quickly coughed lightly beside the emperor, quietly reminding Emperor Huizong, who was somewhat lost in thought while looking at the portrait.

Emperor Huizong then realized he had been somewhat out of line and quickly said loudly to Xiao Minghao, "Good! Minister Xiao is willing to join Minister Shen and the others to share my burdens, I grant it. Let Grand Commandant Gao be the referee then."

Upon hearing Emperor Huizong mention his name in the hall, Gao Qiu, who had been silent and watching the commotion for a while, quickly stepped forward and replied, "Your Majesty, I am willing to share your burdens!"

Du Shiniang and Lin Chong, holding no official positions, could only exchange a furrowed brow after hearing the emperor's words, inwardly groaning. They had been able to formally confirm the identities of the five female Cuju players before the emperor today, but Xiao Minghao had repeatedly disrupted their plans. However, they dared not disobey the imperial decree; if the emperor wanted them to compete, they had to undergo the emperor's Cuju test three days later.

After a while, Emperor Huizong ordered Liu Guangyu to lead Du Shiniang and Lin Chong out of the palace, as he needed to continue discussing other political matters with his ministers. Du Shiniang and Lin Chong then hurriedly left the palace and returned to the Zixiang Pavilion to tell Du Rushuang, Chai Nianci, Chen Jinhuan, and two others about what had happened that day.

"I think the emperor is deliberately trying to cause us trouble," Du Rushuang said angrily.

"Why didn't Shen Daoyuan deny playing Cuju with us back then? Is he up to something again?" Chai Nianci asked Du Shiniang with suspicion. Du Shiniang shrugged, indicating that she didn't know what Shen Daoyuan was up to either.

"The Emperor is truly incompetent! He actually treats Cuju (ancient Chinese football) as a matter of state, and even wants to watch our Cuju match in three days." Chen Jinhuan cursed a few times to vent her dissatisfaction.