Sheng Tang: What is Liu Jianjun going to do today?

Chapter 142 Come to Junchen

Li Xian looked at Taiping with a calm and composed expression.

Taiping was never a weak woman, at least not when it came to horseback riding.

At that moment, the Imperial Guard swung his crescent-shaped staff, and the ball was not passed to the head of the staff that Taiping held high, but was accurately passed to the gap a few feet in front of her horse!

Princess Taiping had been waiting for this moment. She suddenly spurred her horse, and the steed beneath her instantly accelerated.

Amidst all the astonished gazes, Taiping displayed superb horsemanship that was completely at odds with her beautiful appearance!

She lowered her body, almost level with the horse's neck, and extended her right hand with her crescent-shaped staff. With a deft hook, she caught the rolling wooden ball firmly within the staff's loop. The entire movement was fluid and seamless!

"Stop her!" Zuo Zuomu was the first to react and shouted urgently.

But it's too late!
Those Hu riders who had initially lowered their guard due to underestimation were already a step too late to turn back and intercept them!
Princess Taiping seized this fleeting opportunity and charged along the border at high speed! Her red Hu skirt fluttered in the wind, like a leaping phoenix!

Li Xian had made preparations in advance. He fully mobilized Jinghong, not to provide support, but to rush straight into the middle, on the one hand to attract the remaining defensive forces, and on the other hand to create space for Taiping to sprint!
Three Hu people were pulled away by Li Xian, but Taiping was riding a nag after all, and one of the Hu people who was closest to him still rushed in front of Taiping.

Taiping remained calm. As her opponent approached, she suddenly executed a nimble spike, deftly changing direction and slipping past the flustered Hu man from the inside!
The sidelines erupted in even more enthusiastic gasps and cheers than before!

No one expected that this seemingly delicate noblewoman would have such courage and skill!
In the blink of an eye, Taiping had dribbled the ball deep into the opponent's territory, with the opponent's goal right in front of him.

Zuo Zuomu's face showed a look of dejection.

Everyone knew it was unstoppable.

not only that.

If a woman riding a nag could break through the encirclement, what if... that dark-faced youth in Li Xian's group, riding a Ferghana horse just as fine as Li Xian's, were to make a move?
As the only person in Li Xian's team who owned the same fine horse as Li Xian, Zuo Zuomu naturally kept a close eye on Liu Jianjun throughout the process.

In his view, since the start of the game, this dark-faced boy had been leisurely riding his Ferghana horse, which could go at lightning speed, at the very back of Li Xian's team. He seemed to be full of flaws, but as long as he accelerated and sprinted, he could form the perfect encirclement with the other Golden Guards.

With Li Xian, the swift attacker, in front, and the dark-faced youth, the terrifying protector, behind, this team is frighteningly strong!
"A point! Another point!" The referee's gong rang out just in time.

Taiping has easily knocked the wooden ball into the goal.

For a moment, the entire stadium fell silent, then erupted in thunderous cheers.

This time, all the cheers were reserved for that fiery red figure. Taiping was so excited that his cheeks turned red. He reined in his horse and turned around, raising his chin at Li Xian, as proud as a peacock spreading its tail feathers.

Li Xian smiled and shook his head, reined in his horse, glanced at Zuo Zuomu, and asked calmly, "Shall we continue?"

"I'm not fighting anymore, I'm not as good as you! You guys even have a finalist who hasn't even gone all out yet!"

Zuo Zuomu gestured with his mouth towards Liu Jianjun, readily admitting defeat.

Their stationed horse teams would never go all out in a single race, because they face more than just Li Xian's challenging team every day.

To fight to the death even when you know you're outmatched is to make sure the polo field loses everything.

Li Xian was taken aback, looked at Liu Jianjun leisurely behind the polo field, and instantly burst into laughter.

But he decided to keep this wonderful misunderstanding a secret.

He spurred his horse, turned, and walked towards Liu Jianjun. Li Xian asked with a smile, "How was your time?"

"Exciting!" Liu Jianjun exclaimed excitedly. "I've never ridden a horse so fast before!"

Li Xian: "...Whatever makes you happy. They've admitted defeat, so we can go collect our money." Liu Jianjun showed great enthusiasm for collecting the money, riding his horse at the front and heading towards the foreign merchant.

Hu Shang didn't show any dissatisfaction with Li Xian's team winning the game. In fact, as long as there were people playing and the stadium was kept lively, he was guaranteed to make a profit.

After all, the majority of his profits came from those who bet on football matches.

Li Xian didn't care how much money he won from polo. He simply asked Liu Jianjun to go with a foreign merchant to collect the money, while he and Taiping sat together, chatting idly.

But just then, a commotion arose outside the arena.

Li Xian frowned subconsciously. Then, the Imperial Guards stood in front of Li Xian and Taiping, watching warily in the direction from which the commotion was coming from.

Manager Hu dared not neglect a guest of such high status as Li Xian. He glanced over and immediately said politely, "Honorable guest, I'm really sorry. Perhaps some gamblers have lost money and are causing trouble. I'll go and drive them away right away."

Li Xian was not surprised at all. As the saying goes, nine out of ten gamblers lose. He had seen this many times when he was a regular on the polo field.

At this moment, Liu Jianjun also returned, carrying a cloth bag in his arms. Judging from the size of the bag, these foreign merchants must have used silver to pay off their debts. This was a valuable commodity that foreign merchants and Tang people often used to do business.

This time, we won quite a lot.

"What's all the fuss about? Shall we go check it out?"

Li Xian readily agreed to Liu Jianjun's request, nodded, and walked over with the foreign merchant.

Before long, Li Xian saw the people causing trouble.

He was a man who looked like a thug, with a pointed face and a cunning look in his eyes. But at this moment, he was kneeling on the ground with snot and tears streaming down his face, begging a merchant from the Hu region for mercy: "Manager! Manager! The gambling money this time is the money I borrowed to pay off my loan. If I can't pay it back, those loan sharks will kill me!"

"Save me, save me!"

The man knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing.

Then, Li Xian heard the foreign merchant say to him in an extremely nonchalant tone, "It's that scoundrel again!"

Liu Jianjun leaned closer curiously: "Is this a regular customer?"

"This kid is a regular at the casino. His father's surname is Cai, and he's also a gambler. He lost his house and land in a bet with someone, and when he couldn't pay his debts, he used his wife to settle them!"

Liu Jianjun clicked his tongue and said, "That woman really followed the wrong person!"

Hu Shang laughed heartily: "Don't pity his wife, sir. She's a ruthless woman. She had an affair with the person she was betting against and got pregnant. Nobody knows who the father of the child is. Now that the bet is settled, who can say for sure who lost and who won?"

Liu Jianjun was dumbfounded.

The merchant from the Hu shook his head again and said, "The child in that woman's belly is this person in front of you."

"With two fathers like that, you can imagine what kind of person he is. He has been addicted to gambling since he was a child. When he loses all his money, he steals, robs, borrows money from loan sharks, commits murder and arson, and does all kinds of evil. I think this person will be taken to the market to be beheaded sooner or later."

At this moment, Liu Jianjun asked curiously, "Hey, since he lost because of that old man surnamed Cai, whose surname does he have now?"

"He took that old man's surname, his name was Lai Junchen..."

……

(End of this chapter)