Chapter 641: Another Fall (1)
With that one sentence from Imperial Concubine Wei, many others immediately voiced out their agreement.
She was the only concubine from the palace that the emperor had brought this time, so it was only natural that many ladies would want to curry favour with her.
Even outside of the spring hunt, there would occasionally be a polo match or two held in the palace. Besides, the spring hunt was such a good opportunity to play.
Since Imperial Concubine Wei had spoken, there would also naturally be people who volunteered to organise things.
Feudal Princess Anmin stood up and looked in Royal Princess Duanjia’s direction with a smile. “I’ve long heard that Cousin Duanjia is skilled at polo, but I’ve never had the opportunity to see it for myself. Since a chance has presented itself, how about we each lead a team?”
Royal Princess Duanjia was indeed a great polo player. This was something that was well-known in the circles of the imperial family, and there was no need to hide it.
Before Princess Wei and Royal Princess Duanjia could reject the idea, Imperial Concubine Wei followed up.
“I’ve also heard about Duanjia’s skill. Since a rare opportunity has presented itself, Duanjia should show these bumpkins what’s what!”
Imperial Concubine Wei had spoken. It was very difficult to reject her at this point unless Royal Princess Duanjia had a real, physical excuse.
Chu Lian had read through half of the original story, so she was aware that Imperial Concubine Wei and Feudal Princess Anmin weren’t easy to deal with. This was especially so for Imperial Concubine Wei. Since she had spent many years in the palace, she definitely possessed some wit, along with the power to wield it.
While all this seemed like nothing out of the ordinary, there might be a trap hidden somewhere.
With these kinds of people who plotted many steps ahead, if one wasn’t smart enough, the best choice would be to keep a low profile.
But Imperial Concubine Wei seemed to have her sights locked on to Royal Princess Duanjia today. Just what was she intending to do?
Logically speaking, Prince Wei was the emperor’s most favoured brother, and Prince Wei never involved himself in politics at all. If Imperial Concubine Wei had some brains, she would behave amicably to be in the good graces of the emperor. She wouldn’t do something so stupid as to make things difficult for Royal Princess Duanjia, and she wouldn’t dare to make Prince and Princess Wei her enemies.
Chu Lian looked towards Royal Princess Duanjia and blinked. Her intentions were obvious, she was warning Duanjia to be careful.
A slight smile surfaced on Royal Princess Duanjia’s lips. She looked quite like Chu Lian when she smiled, and when put side-by-side, the two did indeed look like sisters.
When Princess Wei caught sight of the two, she nearly became entranced by them.
Royal Princess Duanjia stood up. “Since Imperial Concubine Wei has already said so, Duanjia has to step up.”
“Great, we’ll have an exciting polo match to witness today then. Since it’s going to be a competition, there has to be a prize. I shall use this bracelet of South Sea pearls as the prize for the victor,” Imperial Concubine Wei happily said.
The older princesses all took out an accessory or two to contribute to the prize pool, putting them on a silver dish held up by a palace attendant.
Soon, the silver dish was filled with a myriad of colours from the many accessories, giving off a dazzling shine under the sun.
“It seems like everyone’s excited for the polo match, too. Look, even our miserly Princess Luo has offered up a phoenix hairpin. Duanjia, Anmin, the two of you have to put up a good match! Alright, the two of you, start picking out your teammates. As it’s a battle between young ladies, let’s keep it between the younger generation, so that us older ladies can rest our old bones,” Imperial Concubine Wei joked with a playful smile.
Right after her words, someone immediately rebuked her and praised that she wasn’t old at all– she was only in her thirties, and had many years to go!
However, Imperial Concubine Wei’s seemingly harmless words had unexpectedly brought a huge restriction to the formation of their teams.
They weren’t allowed to choose older ladies for the polo match. In the Great Wu Dynasty, a girl was considered an adult woman once she hit twenty. Imperial Concubine Wei was only in her thirties, but she had described herself as old, so they were only allowed to choose among the ladies under twenty.
Looking around, the number of ladies under twenty who had come to the spring hunt was pitifully low.
The emperor’s generation had vied fiercely for the throne, and many members of the imperial family had died at that time. Until now, there still weren’t many members in the imperial family.
The blood relations were getting thinner and thinner, and people like Feudal Princess Anmin weren’t even considered core members of the imperial family.
Now that there was an age restriction, the available choices for teammates had dwindled even further.
With that in mind, there were very few people who fit the requirements.
On the other side, Feudal Princess Anmin moved quickly, and managed to form a team in seconds!
Amongst them was the fifteen-year-old Royal Princess Nanzhang, Prince Hexi’s twin daughters Dong’er and Nan’er, and Royal Princess Nanyin’s youngest daughter, Honoured Lady Xincheng.
This immediately made Royal Princess Duanjia frown.
She looked through the whole shelter, but there were very few young ladies left.
Chu Lian was stumped. She suddenly had a bad premonition. She looked towards Feudal Princess Anmin and saw a faintly pleased look on her face. Chu Lian didn’t know why, but she had the feeling that the one that they were actually scheming against wasn’t Royal Princess Duanjia, but her.
The opponent’s team was completely made up of members of the royal family, and the lowest position among them was still an Honoured Lady.
This move had blocked Royal Princess Duanjia from selecting anybody of lower statuses, such as maids.
She had to select ladies with proper backgrounds, or it would be disrespecting her opponents.
Dignity trumped over everything. If Royal Princess Duanjia failed to assemble her team, there would be no need to even compete. Her side would have already lost, and would be ridiculed.
Royal Princess Duanjia was competitive in nature, and she couldn’t stand failure.
Once her competitiveness took over, even Princess Wei wouldn’t be able to control her.
