What Bad Intentions can the Yandere Crown Prince have?-Chapter 428 - 424: Every Morning and Evening – Empress Side Story (Part 3)
Li Mu was listening with great interest, but was abruptly interrupted. He frowned and looked up: "If it’s not intentional to use this as a pretext, then it’s truly foolish!"
Prince Su was choked.
Admit it? Or not?
Before Prince Su could figure it out, His Majesty the Emperor continued: "Unable to distinguish right from wrong, nor weigh importance, such foolishness, how can I entrust the Capital City’s defense to you?"
"For now, Li Qing is relieved of his position as the Right Guard General, to reflect deeply on his mistakes, and observe later results!"
A sudden storm of reprimands fell upon him, leaving Prince Su utterly stupefied. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺
In the end, not even giving him a chance to argue: "You are dismissed!"
To remove Prince Su’s military position like this was something Tang Xiaobai could never have imagined.
"It’s hard to say if Prince Su is really using this as a pretext, but our Emperor is truly an expert at it."
Li Mu didn’t mind: "He brought it upon himself," touching the bruise on his right arm, "The Imperial Physician says it needs to be hot-compressed every night."
Tang Xiaobai glanced at him irritably: "It’s still early for nighttime," she poked his injury maliciously, "No polo until you’re healed!"
Li Mu frowned and asked in a low voice: "Can I at least watch?"
Tang Xiaobai chuckled: "You can, but I also want to go!"
...
Only when Tang Xiaobai arrived did she realize that His Majesty had already secretly formed a polo team without her.
Two teams competed on the kicking field, each with four members.
Li Mu had formed a small team of four with himself, Li Xingyuan, Tang Ziqian, and Gu Yuan, all familiar faces.
Opposing this team of royal family members was a group of kicking players selected from the Imperial Guard, many of whom Tang Xiaobai also knew, such as Gu Wei and Gu You.
"So how did you end up confronting Li Xiao?" Tang Xiaobai asked.
It seemed that His Majesty only wanted to play with familiar people.
"He came up and provoked us himself." Li Mu was focused on the situation on the kicking field, but spared some attention to speak with her.
But after saying this, he pulled his attention away from the field and turned to look at Tang Xiaobai: "He seems very dissatisfied with me."
Tang Xiaobai naturally still remembered the bizarre incident of Li Xiao proposing to her, but could only feign innocence at this time.
"Perhaps His Majesty hasn’t subdued him completely!" Tang Xiaobai said earnestly.
A trace of coldness appeared at the corners of Li Mu’s lips: "Ah Jiao is right!"
Tang Xiaobai mourned for Li Xiao for a minute, then turned her attention back to the field.
Today, because Li Mu wasn’t playing, his team of royal family members was short one person, so they temporarily pulled in someone’s guard to fill in.
Though Tang Ziqian, Li Xingyuan, and others were highly skilled in martial arts, their ball skills didn’t show overwhelming superiority, and the temporary substitution naturally weakened their combat effectiveness, resulting in fierce back-and-forth play on the field.
Tang Xiaobai watched for a while and said: "With the Tibet envoys entering the Capital, there will surely be a contest."
"Our polo team will not lose."
Tang Xiaobai laughed: "No wonder Ah Brother is reluctant to leave his post."
Tang Ziqian’s appointment came around the same time as Qin Xiao’s, but Qin Xiao had left in early spring.
Tang Ziqian initially didn’t leave because of Tang Jiaojiao’s wedding.
Now that the wedding is over, he still hasn’t left, perhaps waiting until the Tibet envoys depart the Capital.
"Should there be a polo expert among the Tibet envoy team, we might have to personally confront them with Ah Brother, Xingyuan, and Gu Fourth Son!"
"What a pity Qin Xiao left in a hurry." Tang Xiaobai felt a bit regretful.
If Qin Xiao were still here, their team would truly be perfect.
During this entire conversation, His Majesty’s gaze was fully fixed on the field until hearing this sentence, when he turned to glance at Tang Xiaobai.
"Do you think any of us four are inferior to Qin Xiao?"
This was strangely sarcastic...
Just as Tang Xiaobai turned her head, he turned his face away again, his eyes still firmly locked on the field.
Under the sun, his handsome and pretty profile looked ominously dark.
Tang Xiaobai stifled a laugh and went to hold his hand.
The young man’s fingers feigned a brief struggle, breaking free from her palm, only to reverse and hook onto her fingers, holding tightly.
Tang Xiaobai felt flustered, leaned her head towards his shoulder, nudged it gently, and whispered with a grin: "No, if you are to personally go to battle, just the four of you won’t suffice, you’ll need two more substitutes after all!"
Li Mu’s corner of the mouth closest to her slightly curved up: "Then we’ll just find more."
Tang Xiaobai eagerly offered ideas: "We could organize more matches, not limited to the Imperial Guard. I heard many noble youths in the Capital love polo... You could form several more teams, after all, you’re the Emperor and can’t play right from the start..."
...
Empress’s suggestions are seldom not adopted by Li Mu.
The news spread quickly, resulting in enthusiastic registrations from the aristocratic youths.
On the first day’s trial competition, there was Li Xiao, the Heir of Prince Su.
In Tang Xiaobai’s impression, besides the title of Heir of Prince Su, Li Xiao wasn’t particularly noteworthy.
Unexpectedly, on the kicking field, his agility was surprising.
After seizing the ball once, with fourteen consecutive hits in the air, he dashed left and right directly into the goal, leaving Tang Xiaobai full of admiration.
"If he had passed the ball to Liu Song on the east side just now, it would have gone in." His Majesty the Emperor snorted disapprovingly from the side.
Tang Xiaobai suppressed a laugh and agreed, "Your Majesty is right; cooperation should be emphasized on the kicking field, and personal showing off is not advisable!"
Even though Li Xiao had a serious tendency to show off, it couldn’t be denied that he was indeed the most dazzling one in this match.
After the match, when the two teams saluted before the Imperial Court, after Li Xiao finished his salute, he raised his head provocatively at Li Mu.
According to previous practices, His Majesty the Emperor should at least say some words of praise.
But facing Li Xiao, His Majesty didn’t even want to utter a single word, nor lift an eyelid.
In this situation, Tang Xiaobai had no choice but to step in for him.
"I didn’t expect the Heir of Prince Su’s ball skills to be so exceptional." Empress complimented with a warm smile.
Hearing the compliment, Li Xiao lowered his head a bit, his face turned red, and he dared not look at her.
"I wonder, last time when you competed for the ball with His Majesty, who got it?" Tang Xiaobai asked with a smile.
Li Xiao’s expression tensed up: "It was—it was His Majesty..."
At that moment, Tang Xiaobai could clearly feel His Majesty the Emperor’s mood lifting beside her.
Childish as it was, what else could she do but help?
Li Xiao glanced at Li Mu, dissatisfied, "It’s normal to make occasional mistakes on the kicking field!"
Tang Xiaobai asked with a smile, "Then who won in the end?"
Li Xiao’s face was almost burning, but his voice got louder, "General Tang, Prince Li, and Gu Fourth Son are all masters in this field; I lost with full approval and submission!"
After speaking, he purposely shot a sideways glance at Li Mu.
Not mentioning you at all!
Li Mu lifted his eyelid slightly, "You lost three balls to me."
Li Xiao: Can I curse?
...
Putting personal grievances aside, Li Xiao’s ball skills were indeed commendable; at least Tang Xiaobai thought it should be no problem to choose him as a substitute.
But His Majesty the Emperor refused, "I don’t wish to team up with him."
With the word "I" used, Tang Xiaobai could only smile and nod, "Li Xiao is impulsive and lacks composure, indeed not quite suitable."
Seeing her agreement, Li Mu felt much more comfortable and added, "He cooperates well with Liu Song and others, so it’s better to maintain the current situation; it will also represent the court’s face when the time comes."
Tang Xiaobai was a bit surprised, "You want these people to compete against the Tibetan envoys?"
This team of Li Xiao had no technical problems, but their political undertones seemed somewhat villainous.
Heir of Prince Su, Li Xiao, Zheng Ye, grandson of Prime Minister Zheng Shidao, and Liu Song, son of the trusted Left Martial Guard General Liu Tai of the late emperor.
Originally, their fixed team also included Prince Li Shu, but Li Shu was currently observing the mourning for the late emperor and could not come.
They were particularly prominent in the social circle during the late emperor’s reign.
However, after Li Mu ascended the throne, they were marginalized.
Competing against the Tibetan envoys, if they win, it would indeed be a glorious matter!
"Kicking is just kicking," His Majesty the Emperor looked indifferent, "I’m not so reluctant to part with such a small achievement!"
...
The two substitutes for the imperial team’s lineup were also decided within two days.
One was the son of a certain Princess, and the other, Tang Xiaobai somewhat familiar yet not too familiar with, was Attendant Xiao Yan, known for his literary reputation.
Once the team was complete, Li Mu, whose injury wasn’t much of an injury to begin with, had almost recovered and finally received permission from Empress to return to the field.
"I haven’t seen you play kicking yet!" Tang Xiaobai removed the hot compress from his arm, pinched the arm that couldn’t be pinched, and her mind already conjured up the image of a youthful figure riding a horse and swinging a mallet.
However, at this moment, she heard Li Mu hesitantly say, "Tomorrow... you should rather, rather not watch, okay?"
