Chapter 77: Revenge is a dish best served cold 2 (2/2)

Cheng Su nodded ”I understand”. She had her suspicions about Zhu Fenfang and Xia Ying just confirmed it. She decided to be careful around that concubine daughter.

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The Imperial Palace

A day later, the second game of the royal games was held in the palace. This time the royal game to be played was the Cuju.

(” Cuju was a form of traditional Chinese soccer-like game okayed with martial arts).

Cuju much like soccer involved two teams both competing for the team that kick the ball into the net. The team with the highest number of hits wins the game. The players make use of their hard and feet to get the ball thrown in while trying to stop their opponents from winning.

Like the previous royal game, the females of the Lu family was led to the royal family's section but unlike last time Su Liya was seated as a guest and not standing behind Zhu Fengyin. Princess Xia Ying was also present this time, she was seated next to the Empress.

The women of the Lu family saluted the Emperor and Empress before getting seated. The games began not long after, Lu Yaozhu and Lu Yingjie took part in the competition. The game this time was a competition between Northern Wei and Chu state.

At the start of the game Northern Wei was on the lead but Chu state delegates quickly picked up. The players put in masks while playing to ensure the anonymity of each player while the game was ongoing.

This was Xia Ying's first royal event since she arrived at the Capital, a lot of the royal relatives went up to her. They said a few good words, her relationship with Grand Princess Ni'an and the state Duke made her quite the catch.

Since the marriage with the Lu family had fallen through, a lot of the madams wished to push for a union with their family. They each tried to sell Xia Ying and the Empress on their young sons but Xia Ying wasn't impressed by any of them.

She looked towards the new guests when she heard the eunuch announce that the Lu family had arrived. She heard quite a lot about Su Liya and was curious about the new bride. She watched as four-woman walked in and saluted the Emperor and Empress.

She was familiar with one of the women, who was the slender young woman with a fringe that she had seen yesterday at prince Ye's mansion Lu Yiling. Taking the lead was an older lady, who looked like an older version of Lu Yiling.

The other two younger ladies present had to be the daughters-in-law, now to identify who was Su Liya. They were both pretty in their different ways, however, the shorter young lady was very stunning with exotic features. She had tanned skin, slanted hazel coloured eyes and plump lips.

As soon as she saw her, she had a nagging feeling like this was Su Liya and the Empress's warm question proved her right.

”Liya, it has been a while. You should visit often”, Empress Lu said smiling.

”Yes, your Highness” Su Liya replied and went to her seat.

'She is quite the beauty, it is no surprise that Lu Yaozhu fell for her' Princess Xia Ying thought as she watched Su Liya from her seat.

The game went on for two hours before coming to an end, it went rather smoothly and there were no injuries. The game ended with Northern Wei winning the game five points ahead, Chu state had put them all into the competition.

While the players went in to watch up and get changed, the rest of the guests was led to the banquets hall for the celebratory party. Su Liya followed the rest of the guests to the banquet hall when she was approached by Zhu Feifei.

She followed the palace maid closely when Zhu Feifei fell into step with her. She was and didn't know what to make of it, Zhu Feifei didn't interact with her. Zhu Feifei was just another annoying side character to her.