Chapter 187: Keep the Silver

Second Madam spotted Zhou Yuanshen first.

She smiled and greeted him: "Yuanshen, come here quickly."

Then she added with a laugh, "You play cuju sometimes in the army too, don't you? Would you like to join?"

Zhou Yuanshen glanced at Cheng Zhao, whose cheeks were flushed pink.

Her hair had been redone into a low bun, tight enough not to come undone; her temples were a little mussed from the ball, with a few strands of loose hair sticking to her face, making her look even more radiant than the flowers.

"Who's winning?" Zhou Yuanshen asked.

Cheng Zhao's ball dropped.

She quickly calculated: "Mother and I won seven. Father and Yuanqi lost—mainly because Yuanqi was holding the team back."

Zhou Yuanqi shot her a glare: "I'm a child."

People with overly sharp minds tended to be a bit clumsy with their hands and feet; on top of that, his legs were still short, which made things very inconvenient—he always played poorly.

He usually looked down on spear fighting, and naturally he also looked down on rougher sports like cuju and polo.

If it came to debating knowledge or guessing riddles, none of them could match him by a hair—everyone has their strengths and weaknesses; he excelled in plenty of areas.

Zhou Yuanqi comforted himself with that thought, but the sight of that brute made his anger flare again: "Give me back my sachet!"

Everyone turned to Zhou Yuanshen.

His expression didn't change in the slightest: "What sachet?"

Zhou Yuanqi: "..."

Utterly shameless—he'd already forgotten, just like that, within a single day.

"Father, he stole my sachet!" Zhou Yuanqi turned to the old man.

Second Master wiped the sweat from his forehead, chuckling: "I don't oversee the Court of Judicial Review—don't bring your case to me."

"Mother..." Zhou Yuanqi changed direction.

Second Madam: "I can't do anything about this either. It's not like I could beat him, could I? Besides, I'm not the one who made that sachet."

She handed a spear to Zhou Yuanqi's hand.

Zhou Yuanqi looked at Cheng Zhao again.

Cheng Zhao suppressed a smile: "Did the Lord Duke really snatch Fifth Brother's sachet?"

"Would I lie about it?"

"Just took a look," Zhou Yuanshen said. "I was afraid it would get torn in the fuss—didn't take it."

"Then give it back to him, and I'll make you a sachet and a pouch within ten days. I'll use different spices—won't be inferior to his." Cheng Zhao said.

Then she added, "Yuanqi's is made a bit simple—suits a child, not the Lord Duke."

Only then did Zhou Yuanshen say: "Mingyu was sent to your courtyard, given to your senior maid. I never asked for your things."

Zhou Yuanqi: "..."

Zhou Yuanshen took the ball. "How do you keep score?"

"Every time the ball is kicked without touching the ground counts as one," Cheng Zhao said.

Zhou Yuanshen: "... That's too easy. In that case, I won't play—otherwise you'll only complain that it's unfair."

Zhou Yuanqi: "You've got some nerve!"

Zhou Yuanshen: "What are you putting up as a wager if you lose?"

"I'll give you ten thousand taels—mmph!"

Before Zhou Yuanqi could finish, Cheng Zhao had already covered his mouth.

Just now, her mother-in-law had said Zhou Yuanshen and his men played cuju for fun in the army; and Zhou Yuanqi had only managed eight kicks in total just now. Beating him would be easy.

What a waste of ten thousand taels of silver.

Zhou Yuanqi's eyes went wide, and he shook off her hand.

Cheng Zhao spoke for him: "If you win, the sachet matter is settled once and for all—Fifth Brother won't bring it up again."

Zhou Yuanshen gave no definitive answer, but he took the ball.

He kicked it with his knee, and the ball rose smoothly to his shoulder; then up over his head, before falling back down to be caught by his foot.

Second Madam kept calling out tricks from the side—things like "immortal picking a peach" and "linked hook moon"—Cheng Zhao couldn't understand them, and neither could Zhou Yuanqi.

But they both understood what they were seeing.

Once the ball was in Zhou Yuanshen's hands, it never touched the ground. He could keep heading the ball dozens of times in a row, and it showed no sign of dropping.

Zhou Yuanqi was dumbfounded.

"Do you train martial arts in the army, or do you play ball?" he asked.

Cheng Zhao whispered: "You saved your ten thousand taels, didn't you? You almost gave it away for nothing."

Zhou Yuanqi: "..."

He murmured to Cheng Zhao, "That brute is showing off! You should practice hard and beat him someday."

"Why don't you win against him yourself?"

"I won't measure swords with a soldier—it would tarnish a scholar's reputation," Zhou Yuanqi said.

Cheng Zhao: "Just admit you can't beat him—that doesn't tarnish any scholar's reputation either."

Zhou Yuanqi: "..."

Everyone had worked up a sweat, including Zhou Yuanshen.

The maids brought water for them to wash their faces and hands.

Because of all that exercise, everyone was hungry at dinner and ate a little more than usual.

After the meal, Cheng Zhao and Zhou Yuanshen returned to Nonghua Courtyard.

"You enjoy playing cuju?" Zhou Yuanshen asked her.

Cheng Zhao: "I have to try a bit of everything, for fear people might say I don't know how. But there are too many things, so I never master any of them."

Her energy was limited, and her obligations were many. Aside from running the household, she'd only scratched the surface of everything else.

She glanced at Zhou Yuanshen: "Whereas you—whatever you're good at, you excel at it completely."

"The frontier is rather dull—there's really only that sort of thing. Pitch-pot, archery, horseback riding, ball games," Zhou Yuanshen said.

When stationed there, not every day was spent preparing for battle. On the contrary, most of the year was just standing guard.

So they had to find ways to pass the time.

Young men with hot blood and boundless energy naturally burned it off on those pastimes.

Now that he was back in the capital, he found that noble young masters played these games too—just more reservedly and elegantly than Zhou Yuanshen and his men did.

"If you like cuju, next time I play with your little uncle, you can come and watch," Zhou Yuanshen said.

Cheng Zhao said that would be fine.

When they returned to Nonghua Courtyard, they found that the Dowager Madame's senior maid had arrived.

The Dowager Madame wanted Zhou Yuanshen to go to Shou'an Courtyard.

"So late?" Zhou Yuanshen frowned. "If Grandmother has nothing urgent, I'll go see her tomorrow morning."

"My lord, the Dowager Madame instructed that you—" The maid looked troubled, casting an imploring glance at Cheng Zhao.

Cheng Zhao then said, "Go on, you should go. I have needlework to do anyway; I'll be up late."

She told the maid to wait at the door.

She had her own people change Zhou Yuanshen's clothes, swapping out the garments that were damp with sweat.

The night breeze in August wasn't cold, but still, it was wise to guard against catching a chill.

"It's probably about Concubine Mu," Cheng Zhao said. "Last time, Sister-in-law suggested bringing Concubine Mu back, and it's right in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Zhou Yuanshen: "I'll go see."

Cheng Zhao: "If Grandmother insists that she come back, just let her come back. Focus on the important matters—don't waste your energy quarreling with Grandmother over trivial things. If it's something else, we'll discuss it later."

She wanted Zhou Yuanshen to stay focused.

Focused on the path to power.

If he climbed to the top, Cheng Zhao reaped the benefits too—they were husband and wife, two crickets on the same string.

At other times, as long as it didn't sacrifice Cheng Zhao's own interests, Cheng Zhao felt compromise was acceptable.

Cheng Zhao had drawn her boundaries very clearly: Concubine Mu was a concubine—she didn't threaten Cheng Zhao's position, so they could coexist; but if Huan Qingtang wanted to be a co-wife through dual inheritance, that was absolutely out of the question.

So when it came to Concubine Mu, any compromise was fine; but on the matter of Huan Qingtang's dual inheritance, she would not yield a single step.

The Dowager Madame's "blows" were not gentle gusts of wind—behind her stood the emperor.

And the emperor was already irritated by Zhou Yuanshen's disobedience during the hunt.

"Alright, I'll go take a look," Zhou Yuanshen said.

He changed and went out.

Cheng Zhao brought out her sewing basket, had the maids help her separate the thread, and called for Nanny Li to fetch some fine fabrics as she picked out materials to make a sachet for Zhou Yuanshen.

First a sachet, then a pouch.