The next day, Duan Changchuan woke up habitually at Yin hour.

Unexpectedly, Bai Su, who usually didn’t get up until Mao hour in the morning, woke up when she heard his movements.

She was still wearing her snow-white undergarments. Her long hair was loose, and she only had a loose robe draped over her shoulders. She knocked on the door and entered his bedroom.

Before she entered, the aroma of peonies had already drifted into the room through the crack in the door.

Duan Changchuan sniffed lightly and said, “It smells much better than last night.”

Bai Su took the clothes from Chang Le and helped him put them on one by one, and said, “Did I forget to tell you that you can’t sniff other people’s pheromones casually? Pheromones are AO’s private organs. Duan Xiaochuan, what you did is hooliganism, you know?”

The youth’s breathing paused.          

He straightened his neck and retorted, “Then … then you have looked at my glands. Why didn’t you say so? You even looked twice. And you were the one who released the pheromones. Compared to me, aren’t you even more of a hooligan?”

The woman helped him fasten the last button on his shirt and patted it lightly. She then let out a breathy laugh.

Her long and narrow eyes couldn’t hide the teasing, saying, “I’ve always been a hooligan. I thought Your Majesty already knew it on the day of the wedding.”

“You …!”

He wanted to say, “You’re a woman. How can you be so shameless?”

But he was also afraid that she would reply, “What is shamelessness? I don’t have such a thing.”

Wouldn’t that make it even more infuriating?

His angry words were stuck in his throat, and he couldn’t get them out.

Ah …! How could there be such a person? Not only was she not ashamed of being called a hooligan, and she was even proud of it?!

“Alright, alright. I won’t provoke you anymore. I heard that you’ve been very busy with court matters recently, so I wanted to tease you. Other than politics, there must be something else in your head, right, hm?”

The person in front of him said as she intimately pinched his earlobe. Her eyebrows curved.

Bai Su’s fingers weren’t that delicate due to years of hard work. These days, she had been practicing swordsmanship every night, even the joint of her fingers had a thin layer of calluses.

When they touched his sensitive skin, they were rough and warm.

The youth belatedly realized … that he was being cared for.

He looked away uncomfortably and said awkwardly, “I am the Emperor. Of course, I have to think about politics all the time …”

“Cough, I’ll pay attention …”

He heard an indulgent voice said, “Hmm, good.”

–

At Mao hour, the morning court began on time.

In March, the spring imperial examination was still the topic of discussion among the courtiers.

The Ministry of Rites presented the final regulations and read the booklet in the main hall.

“The examination is scheduled for the sixth day of March. The examination venue is in the Shuge Building in Shengjing. The Ministry of War will send people to supervise and guard it.”

“In addition, the grading of the imperial examination and court examination papers will be entrusted to the Grand Secretary and the Grand Tutor. The topics will be decided by drawing lots on the sixth day of the third month.”

The rules had been set long ago, and the reading of the memorials was just a formality. Duan Changchuan was drowsy listening to it, but he had to force himself to stay awake.

It was simply a torture.

He finally managed to hold on until the court was over. His thighs were probably red from pinching himself. He looked tired and dispirited … and strangely, he was especially hungry.

He had already had breakfast before the morning court. Today’s court wasn’t long either … but Duan Zhangchuan felt as if he had been hungry for the whole day and night. He really, really wanted to eat.

“Chang Le, what snacks did the kitchen prepare today?”

The little eunuch hurriedly responded, “Answering Your Majesty, today’s snacks are water chestnut cake and peach blossom pastry, and the tea is biluochun. Should this servant ask them to send it to the study?”

Duan Zhangchuan looked at the sun that was already high in the sky and the willow catkins floating on the red walls …

He suddenly remembered what Bai Su said to him this morning.

“How can people be so tense all the time? If others want to be tense, then let them be. Whoever is tense will die early, do you understand?”

“While Zhou Yu talked and laughed, the enemy’s ships went up in flames^[1]周瑜谈笑间樯橹灰飞烟灭 – Zhou Yu (175 – 210), was a Chinese military general and strategist serving under the warlord Sun Ce in the late Eastern Han dynasty of China; 谈笑间, … Continue reading. Since everything has been arranged, all we have to do is wait for it to finish its own business. As for the rest, troops for the enemy, earth for floods^[2]兵来将挡水来土掩 – there will always be a correct way to deal with an opponent or a problem; Deal with whatever comes our way.. You’ve been worrying about this and that, worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. This is not diligence, this is called internal friction.”

“Duan Changchuan, don’t exhaust yourself like this.”

She said at that time.

The young man looked up at the clear sky, his eyes reflecting a deep blue.

Suddenly, he curved his lips and said, “Let the kitchen send the snacks directly to the cuju^[3]蹴鞠 – Ancient Chinese football field. Then let Minister Yang call a few guards to practice a few moves with me.”

“Yes … Ah? Your Majesty, do you want to play cuju? But Imperial Physician Fang said that it’s best if you don’t do any intense exercise right now. cuju is such a difficult thing to do … This servant’s heart is … Eh? Your Majesty?”

Chang Le had been bowing and walking slowly. After chattering for a while, he realized that the person in bright yellow had long disappeared.

He got up in a daze. The young emperor had already taken off his crown and was walking forward with large strides, getting further and further away from him.

He quickly trotted to catch up, “Your Majesty … Your Majesty! Wait for this servant! The imperial physician said that you can’t walk so much recently, and you can’t walk so fast!”

“Don’t follow me. Go directly to the kitchen and get the snacks.”

“Eh? Eh! This servant will go … Your Majesty, please slow down … ”

“I know, so nagging.”

???

–

When Duan Changchuan arrived at the cuju field, he ate two pieces of pastries and drank a large bowl of lotus root starch, feeling satisfied.

Because he had just eaten, it was not suitable for him to move too vigorously, so he first watched the guards on the field play.

Not long after, the arena was surrounded by more than half of the crowd.

There were members of the royal family’s side branches who came to join in the fun, as well as maids and eunuchs who were off duty today.

Datong country was relatively open and there were not many restrictions. When they heard that the Emperor was holding a cuju match here, more and more people gathered.

The atmosphere at the scene was visibly heated.

“Hey, hey, hey, watch out for him! Guard him! Sigh, you see, they didn’t guard him!”

“Hahaha, that’s our Commander. How could it be so easy to defend against him? Even if you go, you’ll be finished!”

“That’s right! Kick! East! Kick to the east, pass him! Nice!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Good shot!”

Duan Changchuan felt an itch in his heart, but in consideration of his dignity as the Emperor, he only “calmly” drank his tea.

However, that pair of dark eyes stared particularly closely, and the arms hidden in his wide sleeves twitched from time to time.

After waiting for nearly two hours, the Imperial Guards finished their game. Only then did he “slowly” take off his outer robe and step down from the field under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

The young man’s black hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and he was dressed in dazzling gold.

He spun the ball, passed the opponent, lifted the ball, and scored smoothly to the hoop.

He took the lead at the beginning of the game.

The people around him clapped and cheered.

“His Majesty, what an excellent shot!”

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and change your tactics to defend against His Majesty! To guard against thieves, one must guard against the king, don’t you understand? “

“Attack! If you can’t defend, attack him!”

There were also people on the field who responded, shouting, “Is His Majesty someone you can guard against?”

The other side shouted angrily, “How can’t we? Brothers, let’s go! There are more than ten people, can’t we surround His Majesty?”

“Hahahaha, you bunch of rascals!”

“Why don’t you just use human flesh to trap His Majesty in the middle? It’s a foul, a foul!”

In the end, in the midst of the jeering, the young man held the ball with both feet and made an upside-down golden hook, directly passing the ball out of the encirclement.

The players who had been surrounding the Emperor were dumbfounded when they saw the ball fly out.

What happened to guarding against His Majesty becoming an iron bucket? Who would have thought that the iron bucket was indeed hard, but the iron bucket was not high enough!

Immediately, everyone dispersed and hurried to chase the ball.

Of course, it was already too late.

The situation on the field was changing rapidly. The ball had already been kicked to their own field, and none of their own defenders was under the hoop.

The players in red kicked the ball all the way as if they were in a no-man’s land.

Unsurprisingly, the Red Team scored a second goal.

“Hahaha, you can’t win even when you play foul, hahaha! Stop kicking, it’s embarrassing!”

“Are you stupid? His Majesty is not the only player we have, hahaha!”

Duan Changchuan watched the players kick the ball all the way into the hoop. When he heard the noise around him, the corners of his lips unconsciously raised.

When he looked again, he realized someone was standing in the originally empty seat.

A phoenix embroidered with golden silk and a bright red dress.

In the fluttering willow catkins, she was quietly looking at him with a faint smile between her brows.

It was Bai Su.

Duan Changchuan composed himself, turned around, and threw himself into the game “as if nothing had happened”.

Bai Su saw that after he made eye contact with her, the young man’s movements were obviously a little stiff as he continued to run. She could not help but smile in her heart.

She simply sat down, poured herself a cup of tea, and drank it quietly.

On the other side, Yi Man also led a person over and said, “Imperial Physician Fang, why are you here? Please sit here, Master went to watch His Majesty play, I’ll call him.”

“I …! I have already warned Le Gonggong before that His Majesty should not do any exercise now. Back then, Gonggong agreed so well, but now he’s accompanying His Majesty to play cuju? His Majesty is better doing horse riding he is more skilled than this cuju that can fall at any time … I’m not exaggerating, but if His Majesty falls even a little bit, we won’t be able to pay with our lives!”

“Ah … ah? Is it that serious?! Fang Daren, please wait a moment, I’ll call Master right away!”

“I’ll go down with you to persuade His Majesty to come back.”

The conversation between the two caught Bai Su’s attention.

Alpha frowned, grabbed Fang Moyan’s arm, and asked coldly, “What’s wrong with His Majesty? Why is it inappropriate to do exercise?”

When Fang Moyan saw her, he quickly saluted, “Greetings, Your Highness. Please forgive me, Your Highness. I have something urgent to do now, so I’ll take my leave first.”

After that, he took advantage of Bai Su’s daze to pull out his sleeve and hurriedly run down the steps.

Bai Su looked at the sweaty young man not far away and then looked at Fang Moyan who had already gone down to reprimand Chang Le.

She felt a little panic in her heart for no reason.

The next moment, she saw Fang Moyan directly grab the flag of the deployment correction and call an emergency stop to the game.

The sound was so loud that the whole stadium could hear it.

But it was also because of this that the previously orderly stadium suddenly became chaotic.

Everyone looked at the referee’s position in unison, but they were still running because of inertia, and several people bumped into each other in an instant.

And at the center of the “fight” on the field, the bright yellow figure was simply in the eye of the storm.

“Your Majesty, be careful! Your Majesty!” Chang Le screamed at the top of his lungs, and his throat was hoarse.

She watched the bright yellow figure fall to the ground because of a collision. The uneasiness in Bai Su’s heart reached its peak.