With so many people around and Fan Changyu and Xie Zheng standing quite far apart, they could only exchange a brief glance across the crowd before she followed Qi Zhu toward the changing hall.
On the men’s side of the spectator stands, a eunuch announced, "The next match will include the Grand Princess, General Huaihua, Young Master Shen, and the Prince of Jianning... Would any gentlemen care to join?"
This was a prime opportunity for ordinary nobles to mingle with the elite, and immediately, many young men eagerly volunteered, their faces flushed with excitement.
Some who had already played earlier lamented, "Why is the princess only joining this round?"
A bystander chuckled, "Young Master Shen is dashing and an exceptional polo player. Perhaps the princess is here to admire his skills."
Another muttered enviously under his breath, "Then what’s the point of this match? The princess is of noble status, General Huaihua is peerless in martial arts, and Young Master Shen is a master of polo. With the general and Young Master Shen protecting her, this game is just for the princess’s amusement. Who knows? By the end, a match might spark a romance between the princess and Young Master Shen."
Gongsun Yin glanced at Xie Zheng’s conspicuously white attire, suppressing a grimace as he said, "Xie Jiuhang, over the years, I’ve helped you with big and small matters. How about repaying that favor today?"
Xie Zheng turned his head slightly, giving him a cool look.
The changing hall wasn’t far from the polo field. The men’s section was in the front, while the women’s was in the rear, separated by a courtyard with a guarded side gate to prevent mix-ups.
Fan Changyu was already dressed in athletic attire, so changing was simple. But Qi Zhu’s elaborate palace robes and intricate hair ornaments required the efforts of seven or eight maids, taking nearly two cups of tea to redo.
Once Changyu changed into her crimson polo outfit, she stepped into the courtyard to wait.
She had never played polo before, but after watching a few matches from the stands, she had grasped the rules. The side hall had polo mallets and balls, so to familiarize herself, she picked up a mallet and practiced swinging it a few times in the yard.
Today’s match was a ten-player martial polo game. As long as no one intentionally harmed others, striking the ball into the goal while on horseback would count as a score.
The courtyard wall had a latticed stone window, and since no one was around, Changyu used it as a makeshift goal, aiming a shot through the openings.
Her precision was impeccable—the fist-sized ball flew straight through the window, drawing applause from the nearby palace attendants.
But the cheers abruptly stopped.
On the other side of the window, the ball was caught by a large, well-defined hand.
The afternoon breeze was gentle, rustling the hem of the man’s indigo athletic robe. The hand that caught the ball had prominent veins, and above the wrist was an ornate vambrace. The tight sleeves revealed the firm muscles of his forearm, exuding strength.
Thinking she had hit someone, Changyu stepped forward to apologize, "I’m sorry—"
Her words caught in her throat when the man turned his head. Taking in Xie Zheng’s striking indigo polo attire, she asked in surprise, "You’re playing polo too?"
The athletic suit suited him far better. His ink-black hair was tied neatly into a crown, and though his expression was coolly indifferent, his sharp brows and eyes radiated an effortless charm and vigor that was impossible to ignore.Xie Zheng walked leisurely to the moon gate and tossed the ball he had intercepted back to her with a raised arm. "The chief official asked me to join in for some fun."
Fan Changyu caught the ball he threw back and understood the implication in his words. Most of the players on her and Qi Zhu's team were members of the imperial family. If the opposing team lacked someone of high status, they would likely spend the entire polo match deferring and flattering them, which would make the game rather dull.
Just as she was about to respond, a man's voice suddenly came from beyond the moon gate: "Jiuheng! So you're here—I've been looking all over for you!"
The newcomer had striking features and a naturally cheerful demeanor—it was Shen Shen. Spotting Xie Zheng, he then noticed Fan Changyu practicing in the courtyard and suddenly laughed. "I was wondering how such a busy man like you suddenly found time for polo. So you're here with the General of Huaihua!"
He was dressed in the same crimson riding attire as Fan Changyu, clearly part of her and Qi Zhu's team. Clapping Xie Zheng heartily on the shoulder, he said, "Good! It's been years since we last played polo together. Let's settle the score on the field later!"
Perhaps his voice was too loud, for Qi Zhu, who had been changing inside the hall, heard him. She emerged in her riding outfit and greeted the two: "Prince Regent, Young Master Shen."
Shen Shen's father had passed away early, so by rights, he could inherit the title of Duke of Shen. Thus, many in court addressed him as Young Master Shen. However, since he also held an official post, many others called him General Shen.
With a bright smile, Shen Shen clasped his hands in greeting. "Your Highness."
Qi Zhu caught a fleeting glimpse of indigo robes through the latticed window, her eyes dimming momentarily before she smiled and said, "I only joined this match for the excitement. My skills are rather poor, but I’ve heard Young Master Shen is exceptional. Might I ask for some guidance?"
Shen Shen, ever amiable, readily agreed. "It would be my pleasure."
Qi Zhu then turned to Xie Zheng. "Changyu is also playing polo for the first time. Teaching your own wife falls to you, Prince Regent."
She shot Fan Changyu a teasing grin.
Fan Changyu looked baffled. As Qi Zhu walked off with Shen Shen, chatting and laughing while carrying her mallet, she felt awkward standing there alone with Xie Zheng and said, "I’ve practiced enough..."
"Your swing is incorrect. It could injure you on horseback," Xie Zheng interrupted.
Fan Changyu stared at him blankly.
Xie Zheng stepped forward, wrapping his hand around hers holding the mallet from behind. "Keep your wrist level, relax your waist—don’t tense up."
His warm palm guided her wrist, but when his other hand settled on her waist, memories suddenly flooded back. Fan Changyu stiffened involuntarily. Xie Zheng glanced down at her. "What’s wrong?"
Fan Changyu forced herself to reply, "Nothing."
Fortunately, Xie Zheng was genuinely focused on teaching her.
When Fan Changyu finally swung the mallet correctly, the ball flew far into the distance. As the palace servants went to retrieve it beyond the courtyard wall, she turned to Xie Zheng with a smile. "I didn’t know you could play polo too!"
A gentle breeze stirred, shaking loose a shower of locust blossoms from the trees. A few petals landed on Xie Zheng’s lapel, but he left them untouched, instead plucking one from Fan Changyu’s hair. "Now that A Yu is happy, will you return home with me today?"Fan Changyu looked at the tall, jade-like figure standing amidst the flurry of petals and suddenly smiled, recalling the words she had overheard while passing the spectator stands earlier. "Let's see how you perform on the field," she said with a lifted lip.
The polo match eventually took a chaotic turn. Qi Zhu's horse inexplicably panicked on the field, charging straight toward the spectator stands and causing a scene of utter confusion.
Fan Changyu had been right beside Qi Zhu and could have protected her, but Gongsun Yin and Shen Shen, seeing Qi Zhu's horse in distress, both spurred their horses forward to help. The three collided, making matters worse. In the end, Fan Changyu managed to save Qi Zhu, but both women tumbled off their horses and nearly got trampled by the oncoming steeds. Fortunately, Xie Zheng arrived in time to control the charging horses.
As for Gongsun Yin and Shen Shen, the two unlucky souls collided in the chaos, fell from their horses, and broke their legs.
What was meant to be a polo match to help Qi Zhu choose a suitable husband ended in complete pandemonium. Yu Qianqian was beside herself, ordering attendants to escort the frightened noblewomen and ladies back to their residences, summoning imperial physicians for treatment, and launching a strict investigation into the cause of the horse's panic.
After thorough inquiries, the blame fell on a noblewoman. The horse Qi Zhu had ridden was the gentlest in the entire stable. Originally, it was meant for a certain princess who was supposed to participate in that round. The noblewoman, who held a grudge against the princess, had timed it perfectly to feed the horse fodder laced with drugs.
Unexpectedly, Qi Zhu had decided to join the match at the last moment, forcing the princess to yield the horse to her—thus leading to the incident.
Yu Qianqian was furious, but fortunately, when Qi Zhu and Fan Changyu fell, Fan Changyu had shielded her, rolling several times to dissipate the impact. Neither of them was seriously injured.
Only Gongsun Yin and Shen Shen suffered more severe injuries.
By the time the matter was settled, dusk was approaching. Fan Changyu and Changning returned to the residence with Xie Zheng.
After dinner, Fan Changyu finished her bath but couldn’t find Xie Zheng. Upon asking the servants, she learned he had gone to the clean room near the study to bathe.
This struck her as odd. Since their marriage, Xie Zheng had hardly ever avoided her to bathe alone in the study's clean room. When she went to look for him, she happened to meet Xie Shiyi carrying medicinal wine, about to enter.
Only then did she discover that Xie Zheng had injured his arm while subduing the panicked horse.
Fan Changyu dismissed Xie Shiyi and personally carried the medicinal wine into the study.
Xie Zheng had already finished bathing. His hair was half-dry, and he wore only a thin robe as he sat at the desk, writing intently by candlelight.
Hearing footsteps, he looked up and frowned at the sight of the medicinal wine in Fan Changyu’s hands. "The servants’ tongues grow looser by the day."
Fan Changyu raised an eyebrow. "If you want to keep a group of people loyal only to you, go ahead."
Her sharp tone made Xie Zheng chuckle. He set down his brush. "Such temper?"
Placing the wine on the desk, Fan Changyu glared at him coldly. "Why didn’t you say you were injured?"
Xie Zheng replied, "If I got hurt just subduing a panicked horse, what if A Yu decided I was useless and refused to come back with me?"
Even now, he was joking. Fan Changyu shot him an exasperated look and said stiffly, "Take off your robe. I’ll apply the wine."
Seeing she was truly angry, Xie Zheng stopped teasing her. He removed his outer robe, revealing a honey-toned, well-defined torso in the candlelight.
His right arm was already swollen, bearing two raw, rope-burned circles—marks from when he had wrapped the reins around his arm to wrestle control of the panicked horse.Fan Changyu poured some medicinal wine into her palm, rubbed her hands together, then began massaging it gently into the bruised flesh of his arm. With a furrowed brow, she asked, "Does it hurt?"
Her spring robe was thin, and after bathing, her dark hair was simply tied up. As she bent her head to focus on applying the medicinal wine, a loose strand fell from behind her ear, half-covering her pearly earlobe in a strangely alluring way. The faint scent of her usual soap mingled with the aroma of medicinal wine in the air.
Xie Zheng gazed at her lightly knitted brows under the candlelight and suddenly felt his heart soothed. Though he hadn't drunk any wine, he felt slightly intoxicated nonetheless.
With a faint smile, he said, "It doesn't hurt."
Fan Changyu sighed helplessly, "You..."
After finishing with the medicinal wine, she noticed Xie Zheng was still wearing the snow-trimmed white robe from earlier in the day. "Why are you wearing a scholar's robe today?" she asked.
Xie Zheng lowered his phoenix eyes slightly and replied, "Never worn one before. Thought I'd try it." Then he asked her, "Does it look good?"
Fan Changyu nodded. He did look handsome in the scholar's robe.
Xie Zheng's eyes darkened as he pulled up the robe he'd removed for treatment. Suddenly smiling, he said, "Since A Yu likes it, I'll wear it more often." But there didn't seem to be much genuine mirth in his eyes.
Fan Changyu found this increasingly odd and frowned. "There's no need to go that far..."
Xie Zheng's gaze remained deep and unreadable. He pulled her onto his lap, resting his chin lightly on her shoulder. "Do you remember this volume of 'Tiger Strategy', A Yu?"
Only when seated at the desk did Fan Changyu see that he had been making annotations on the pages. Judging by the thickness of the book, he seemed nearly finished.
Xie Zheng kissed the nape of her neck and said, "Last time I quizzed you on military strategy, there were many points you didn't understand. After I finish annotating this, you can study it properly."
Mentioning that incident made Fan Changyu glare at him fiercely, gritting her teeth. "There won't be a next time!"
Xie Zheng chuckled softly behind her. "What are you thinking about, A Yu? Your husband merely feels guilty for not having finished annotating the 'Six Strategies' for you. Besides 'Tiger Strategy', I'll find time to annotate the other five military texts for you too."
Fan Changyu suddenly felt somewhat abashed. Looking at the detailed annotations, she said carelessly, "I think I might have a copy of 'Tiger Strategy' among my books."
When she used to study military texts on her own, there were many things she couldn't understand. She'd hired numerous strategists at great expense, but they would look as if they'd rather dash their heads against pillars when explaining military strategy to her, making Fan Changyu too embarrassed to continue. Eventually, she had them annotate the books for her instead.
As for the military texts Li Huaian had given her, she'd passed them on to subordinates immediately upon receiving them and had no recollection of which ones they were. Later, when Zheng Wenchang returned that copy of 'Tiger Strategy', she'd casually asked Xie Wu to shelve it. When she came across it again later, she assumed it had been annotated by her previous advisors and completely forgot Li Huaian had ever given her military texts.
At her words, Xie Zheng's eyes grew increasingly cold, though he maintained a faint smile. "Is that so? I didn't see it when organizing your books. Perhaps it was lost during the move."
Hearing this, Fan Changyu thought no more of it.
As she tried to stand up, the man behind her kept his arms firmly around her waist, showing no intention of letting go. He began planting intermittent kisses on the nape of her neck, his intentions unmistakably clear.
Startled, Fan Changyu turned to glare at him with some annoyance. "Your arm is injured!"Xie Zheng left a red mark on the side of her neck. When he lifted his head, his dark eyes were mesmerizingly intense. His voice was soft, as if negotiating, yet laced with a smile that felt like temptation: "Then could A Yu be a little softer-hearted and indulge me this once?"
The desire in his gaze wasn't overwhelming, but it was tangled with something far more profound.
Fan Changyu was stunned speechless by his shameless words. In the end, she didn't dare to struggle with real force. When it was over, she lay sprawled across the desk, her disheveled hair cascading down as she slowly caught her breath. The robes beneath her were already hopelessly wrinkled.
Xie Zheng kissed her cheek before going to the clean room to fetch water for cleaning.
When Fan Changyu had regained some strength and stood up, her sleeve accidentally knocked over a book on the desk. As she bent to pick it up, she noticed another volume propping up the corner of the table. Squinting at the title on its cover, she clearly read the words "Tiger Strategies."
Fan Changyu looked between the annotated copy Xie Zheng had made for her and the one used as a makeshift table leg. She retrieved the latter as well.
When Xie Zheng returned, he found Fan Changyu comparing the two books by candlelight. Hearing his footsteps, she looked up at him with utter confusion: "Didn't you say this book was lost?"
Without changing expression, Xie Zheng replied, "It was lost. Where did you find it?"
Fan Changyu's face darkened. "Xie Jiuhang, are you taking me for a fool? Didn't you use it to prop up the table?"
The servants would never dare use books from this study as furniture supports—it had to be him!
Xie Zheng casually remarked, "Was it used to prop the table? I forgot."
Fan Changyu was speechless for a long moment. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn't understand: "What did this military manual do to offend you?"
Remembering how he had grilled her on its contents earlier and then proceeded to torment her, she suddenly suspected the answer lay within these pages.
Hearing this, Xie Zheng stared at her for a long while before finally offering a faint smile and saying, "It didn't offend me."
Fan Changyu knew Xie Zheng was angry.
When he got angry, it wasn't that he gave her the cold shoulder. He would still answer her questions—just with an indifferent tone and a smile that unsettled her.
By bedtime, Fan Changyu still hadn't figured out what was wrong. When she asked Xie Zheng, he brushed it off lightly, saying it was nothing.
With him like this, "nothing" was definitely something.
In the darkness of the bed curtains, Fan Changyu glanced at Xie Zheng lying on the outer side, his breathing even as if already asleep. She sighed quietly before closing her eyes and forcing herself to sleep.
Perhaps she really was exhausted, because she drifted off quickly.
But in the middle of the night, she was awakened by pressure.
Damp. Hot. Stifling.
The man behind her seemed to know she was awake but said nothing, his broad chest and iron arms trapping her immobile while his movements below were unusually fierce.
At first, Fan Changyu could endure it silently, but by the end, even biting her lip couldn't suppress a few muffled moans. She nearly tore through the bedding.
Then he turned her face to kiss her—a punishing, frustrated kiss that carried clear undertones of both reprimand and resentment...
Due to the horse incident, both she and Xie Zheng had requested leave from the next morning's court session.
When Fan Changyu woke, Xie Zheng was no longer in the room, though he'd ordered breakfast to be kept warm for her.
Changning was quite disappointed to learn that Gongsun Yin had injured his leg and wouldn't be able to lecture at Chongwen Hall for some time. After comforting her, Fan Changyu learned Xie Zheng had returned to his study. Considering the delicate tension between them, she decided not to go directly to him.Xie Wu had noticed something off between Xie Zheng and Fan Changyu ever since that day Xie Zheng questioned him. Today, he finally got the chance to talk to Changyu about the military strategy book.
When Fan Changyu learned that the annotated copy of The Tiger's Strategies was actually done by Li Huaian, she looked stunned: "Wasn't that annotated by the advisors I hired at great expense?"
Xie Wu was nearly in tears: "No, it was done by Young Master Li."
Suddenly, Changyu felt a headache coming on—she finally understood why Xie Zheng had been acting so strangely these past few days.
The windows of Xie Zheng's study were wide open, bathing the room in brilliant spring light. The courtyard outside was lush with greenery.
Seated at his desk in a moon-white brocade robe, Xie Zheng focused intently on reviewing the documents in his hands. Even under the warm spring glow, his expression remained cold and unreadable.
Suddenly, a small wooden puppet popped onto the windowsill with a "ha-ya!" sound. The puppet wore soft armor and an outer robe—an outfit Changyu often favored.
Xie Zheng glanced up and saw that the puppet's limbs and torso were controlled by thin strings, a common folk puppet show technique.
The puppet raised a crude wooden sword, yet somehow managed to look quite imposing. A voice came from below: "Once, there was a girl who, through a twist of fate, went to the battlefield and became a general."
"An Army Supervisor, knowing she wasn't well-read, gave her some military strategy books. But when she learned he had approached her from the start just to use her, she stopped considering him a friend and gave the books he'd given her to her soldiers."
As the narration continued, a blue-robed puppet appeared on the windowsill, handing books to the female general puppet, who then passed them to smaller puppets labeled "soldier" on their heads.
"Later, a straightforward general borrowed a book from her. To show he was returning what he'd borrowed, he also gave back the books she had awarded to her troops."
A puppet labeled "Zheng" on its head handed a book to another labeled "Five."
"With the books back in her hands, she couldn't just give them away again, so she had her subordinates store them away—she didn't even know which book had been returned."
"Later still, the girl got married. Her husband found one of those books and learned it had been annotated by that Army Supervisor."
A much more finely crafted white-robed puppet sprang onto the windowsill.
"He was unhappy, but he didn't tell the girl why. She couldn't guess. One day, she found a military book being used as a table prop and, not remembering it was from the Army Supervisor, thought it was annotated by the advisors she'd hired. When she asked why he was using it to prop up the table, he grew even more upset."
The white-robed puppet stomped its feet angrily on the windowsill.
"The girl wondered—why was he so unhappy? He even started dressing like the scholars he used to disdain. When she finally realized the book wasn't annotated by her hired advisors but by the Army Supervisor, it dawned on her: her husband was jealous."
The female general puppet paced back and forth on the windowsill, looking troubled: "The girl thought she ought to cheer him up. But her husband was peerless—a man of both martial and literary prowess, the greatest hero under heaven. She couldn't fathom why he'd be jealous of some minor Army Supervisor."
"After much deliberation, she concluded she must not have expressed her feelings to him enough. So she went to find him."The female general puppet walked up to the little white-robed puppet, and their puppet heads lightly touched under the guidance of the thin strings.
"The young lady recently learned a poem, with a line that says, 'Having seen the gentleman, how can I not be glad?' She heard it means that even in wind and rain, seeing you brings joy to her heart. She feels this is exactly how she feels every time she sees her husband, and she thought she should tell him."
The vermilion brush in Xie Zheng's hand had long left a large blot on the paper.
His figure seemed frozen in place, unable to move, yet his heartbeat was more intense than ever before—thump, thump, thump—as if it were about to burst through the flesh of his chest.
When Fan Changyu stood up beneath the window lattice, no matter how vast the world was, his dark eyes reflected only her.
His lady general, bathed in the radiant spring sunlight, leaned on the windowsill with a brilliant smile and said to him, "Xie Zheng, having seen the gentleman, how can I not be glad?"
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