“Pass the ball!”
On the court, players from both teams ran like the wind.
Nangong Meijiao scored the first goal, which immediately caused cheers.
In the stands, the young queen mother also applauded and said with a smile, "That must be the beauty from the Southern Kingdom Prince's family. She looks so much like her mother. In the blink of an eye, she has grown so big."
Concubine Zhang at the side couldn't help but take a few more glances at the tall figure in the field, and praised: "Mei Jiao's figure is really good, I don't know which man will marry her in the future."
Then he continued, "By the way, sister, the last marriage proposal was rejected by Prince Nangong. I heard that Meijiao even ran away from home because of this marriage proposal."
"Oh? Is this true?"
The Queen Mother was stunned for a moment, then sighed and said, "Children nowadays are different from before. In the past, it was the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words that decided the marriage, and the children dared not say anything. But now, as long as the children don't want to, parents really can't do anything."
Concubine Zhang glanced at the red shadow in the distance and smiled, "It's not that the parents have no choice, it's that they dote on their children too much. If children are truly filial, how could they go against their parents' wishes? To be honest, for those unfilial children, parents only need to punish them a little bit, and they will naturally behave themselves."
The Queen Mother looked at the court and said nothing more.
Concubine Zhang also smiled, calmed down and concentrated on watching the game.
Zhang Yaner's team began to counterattack.
After a few passes, Zhang Yan'er immediately rushed towards the goal, bypassing Nangong Xiaoxin and Nangong Meijiao who were returning to defense.
A young girl kicked the ball from the edge and passed it to her.
Before the ball hit the ground, Zhang Yan'er jumped up, suddenly turned her body sideways in the air, and kicked it out.
"Bang!"
The ball shot out and rushed towards the right corner of the goal.
Just as he was about to go in, a hand suddenly appeared and blocked the way.
“Bang!”
The ball was blocked and bounced out.
Zhang Yaner did not give up and immediately rushed over again, ready to fire a second shot!
Unexpectedly, after the goalkeeper blocked the ball, he immediately pounced and hugged the ball.
Zhang Yaner ran closer and saw the young man holding the ball and sliding down the grass at her feet. She suddenly became angry and wanted to kick him hard in the head.
But she held back.
"Just wait for me!"
She snorted coldly, wiped the sweat from her forehead, turned around and left with a gloomy face.
Nangong Xiaoxin ran over and said with a smile: "Luo Qingzhou, good job!"
Luo Qingzhou got up from the ground, raised his hand and threw the ball to her.
Nangong Xiaoxin received the ball and immediately started attacking.
The ball passed back and forth between the three forwards and soon reached the opponent's goal.
Nangong Xiaoxin shot the ball, but it was blocked by the opponent's goalkeeper.
Zhang Yaner's team immediately launched a counterattack.
Soon, the ball was passed in front of the goal. Zhang Yan'er made a fake shot and suddenly passed the ball to a young man on the right.
The young man kicked the ball directly into the goal.
“Bang!”
Luo Qingzhou still blocked it with his hand.
However, at the moment the ball bounced out, a young girl suddenly rushed over and headed the ball for a second shot.
“Bang!”
This time the ball was very close to the goal, but Luo Qingzhou still grabbed the ball in his arms.
Nangong Xiaoxin cheered and praised not far away.
Zhang Yaner's face turned blue with anger.
"Bang!"
Luo Qingzhou kicked the ball out and passed it to Nangong Xiaoxin.
The sun gradually rose into the sky.
The morning football game lasted for two incense sticks.
There was a half-time break.
At the end of the first half, Nangong Xiaoxin's black team scored four points, while Zhang Yaner's white team only scored one point.
Zhang Yaner angrily cursed her teammates.
Nangong Xiaoxin naturally couldn't help but step forward and sneer proudly: "It's obviously your own fault, but you blame others. Wow, you're so arrogant."
Zhang Yan'er was immediately furious: "Nangong Xiaoxin, do you think you are so great? If you didn't have a great goalkeeper, I would have scored a lot of goals! In the first half, you didn't even have as many shots as I did!"
Nangong Xiaoxin said sarcastically, "What's the point of shooting a lot if you can't score? It's all in vain. Zhang Yan'er, just admit that you are not as good as me. It's not shameful."
"roll!"
"Who are you telling to get out? Say it again, and see?"
"I told you to get out! What's wrong?"
The two men immediately came closer, clenched their fists, glared, and seemed ready to fight.
Seeing this, players from both sides rushed forward to persuade them.
Nangong Meijiao stood between the two of them and frowned, saying, "It's just a ball game. The important thing is the game. Why take it so seriously?"
Nangong Xiaoxin sneered: "That's right, some people, when they lose, they become angry and humiliated."
Zhang Yan'er became even more angry and said, "Nangong Xiaoxin, who did you say lost? The second half hasn't even started yet, do you really think you're going to win?"
Nangong Xiaoxin said proudly: "I have a gold medal goalkeeper, so we will definitely win."
Nangong Meijiao immediately said, "Xiao Xin, stop talking."
Zhang Yan'er pointed at Nangong Xiaoxin and was about to continue arguing when Nangong Meijiao said, "Stop talking, everyone. Be quiet."
Zhang Yan'er was immediately furious and glared at her, "Who the hell are you? What qualifications do you have to order me around?"
Nangong Meijiao frowned, not wanting to argue with the little girl, and turned around and said, "Xiao Xin, let's go."
Seeing that she ignored her, Zhang Yan'er felt even more humiliated. She was immediately furious and could no longer bear it. She went up and kicked her hard in the back.
Nangong Meijiao didn't expect her to suddenly attack, and was holding Nangong Xiaoxin to prevent her from acting impulsively. Just as the kick was about to hit her, a hand suddenly reached out from the side, grabbed her arm, and pulled her to the side.
"laugh-"
Zhang Yan'er used too much force and kicked in vain, and she slipped and fell to the ground.
At this time, Nangong Meijiao finally reacted and turned around to see that she was clinging to someone's arms. She was stunned for a moment and immediately pushed away.
“Hahahahahaha…”
Nangong Xiaoxin suddenly covered her stomach and burst into laughter.
Nangong Meijiao hurried over and helped Zhang Yaner up from the ground. Just as she was about to speak, Zhang Yaner, angry and ashamed, mad and hateful, suddenly slapped her in the face and cursed, "Bitch!"
“Bang!”
A crisp slap suddenly sounded on the court.
Zhang Yan'er's slap missed the target, but Nangong Meijiao slapped her to the ground instead.
Nangong Meijiao said with a frosty face: "Who are you calling a bitch?"
At this time, the Queen Mother, Concubine Zhang and others who saw the dispute outside the stadium all walked over quickly.
"What's going on? What's going on? Yan'er, why are you lying on the ground? Who knocked you to the ground?"
Concubine Zhang ran into the stadium with a panicked look on her face.
In fact, she had just seen Nangong Meijiao take action.
Zhang Yan'er immediately covered her face and crawled up from the ground, and burst into tears: "Aunt! This bitch..."
“Bang!”
Before she could finish her words, Nangong Meijiao slapped her again. This time, the slap landed directly on her mouth, knocking out the rest of her words.
The crisp sound of slapping was clearly heard by everyone.
Concubine Zhang was shocked and angry. She ran over in a hurry and hugged her. Then she looked at Nangong Meijiao and said angrily, "Meijiao, how could you be so cruel to a little girl? Even if she scolded you, you could just teach her a lesson, but how could you slap her? You are slapping me in the face, the Queen Mother in the face, and His Majesty in the face."
Zhang Yaner threw herself into her arms and burst into tears.
Nangong Meijiao was not afraid of her. She looked at her coldly and said, "Concubine Dowager, she called me a bitch. Do you think I shouldn't hit her? Her last name is Zhang, and mine is Nangong. You have to understand that in Dayan, in this palace, no one has the right to call Nangong a name, not even you!"
Concubine Zhang was so angry that she trembled all over. She immediately turned to look at the Queen Mother and cried, "Sister, you have to make a decision for my Yan'er. She will be the imperial concubine in the future, but she was slapped in front of so many people. This is a slap in the face of you and His Majesty."
Unexpectedly, the Queen Mother slapped her in the face with a "slap", and said gloomily: "How dare you sow discord! Meijiao hit her, and she deserved it. Isn't what Meijiao said right? In this palace, no one with a different surname has the right to scold her, not even me! You have even less right! Concubine Zhang, you don't teach your own family well, but you scold people without any respect. With such upbringing, how can I let the emperor marry her as a concubine?"
Concubine Zhang was stunned by the slap. When she heard these words, she was immediately frightened and her face turned pale. She hurriedly knelt down with Zhang Yan'er and cried, "Queen Mother, I was wrong, I was wrong. When I return, I will discipline Yan'er and will not let her cause trouble again..."
Zhang Yan'er was so scared that she stopped crying. The identity of imperial concubine was the honor of her whole family. As long as she successfully became a noble concubine, their family would become true royal relatives in the future.
She was so scared that she immediately kowtowed and admitted her mistake.
The Queen Mother snorted coldly and said sarcastically, "It's just a game. If you lose, you lose. Just laugh it off. With this kind of temperament and upbringing, how can you serve the Emperor in the future? You still praise your niece to the skies, saying that no one can compare to her. How ridiculous!"
After saying that, he turned around and left.
Concubine Zhang was so frightened that she trembled all over. She stood up in a hurry, dragged Zhang Yan'er to chase after him, and cried, "Queen Mother, Yan'er was wrong, Yan'er was wrong, Yan'er apologizes to you..."
The queen mother's face was full of frost. She ignored them and looked at the girl in the red dress on the stage. Her tone became gentler and she said, "Huoyue, come and have lunch with me at noon. I have something to tell you."
Nangong Huoyue looked at her coldly and said, "I'm sorry, mother, I have no appetite."
The Queen Mother stopped and stared at her for a moment before quickly walking away.
Concubine Zhang didn't dare to cry anymore, and hurriedly pulled Zhang Yan'er and followed behind her closely.
The group quickly got into the sedan chair and drove away.
On the court, Zhang Yaner's teammates also quickly dispersed.
Nangong Xiaoxin shrugged and said, "That guy is really uneducated. He lost, so he lost. He even wanted to hit Sister Meijiao. He deserves to be scolded by the Queen Mother."
Prince Duan came over and said with a sullen face: "It's because you are so ruthless after winning. Why did you mock others when they lost? You said they were uneducated, you..."
"Father, am I not well-educated too?"
Nangong Xiaoxin suddenly looked at him and said, "As my father, why didn't you teach me well? Tell me."
Prince Duan: “…”
"snort!"
He brushed his sleeves and ignored her. He turned around and looked at Nangong Meijiao and said, "Meijiao, you were too impulsive just now. One slap is enough. There is no need to slap her a second time. After all, the concubine is an elder, and face should be given. And that girl is still the quasi-imperial concubine, after all, hey..."
Nangong Meijiao said coldly: "She didn't give me face, I have been very tolerant. If it were someone else, she would be lying on the ground now."
Prince Duan sighed and said, "After lunch in the palace, you should go to the Concubine Dowager and apologize. The Concubine Dowager should be with the Queen Mother. Let the Queen Mother see your attitude, and today's matter will end here."
"Mei Jiao did nothing wrong, why should she apologize?"
At this moment, a majestic voice suddenly came from behind.
Prince Duan turned his head to look.
Nangong Huoyue, dressed in a fiery red dress, walked over with a cold face and said, "Meijiao, I support you and will not apologize. I will trouble anyone who dares to make trouble for you. She is just the daughter of the Minister of Rites, and she dares to scold our Nangong family. If it were me, I would have slapped her teeth out long ago! And that concubine, I will slap her a few times sooner or later. Come with me tonight, we will go to her place and then to the Minister of Rites' house. I want to see how arrogant they are."
Prince Duan glanced at her and said nothing more.
This person even dared to confront and ignore the Empress Dowager, let alone a concubine and the Minister of Rites. If she really went there tonight, the Minister of Rites would probably be scared to death.
"Come on, take a shower and have dinner later. The emperor may come to watch the game this afternoon, so we should continue playing in the second half."
Prince Duan changed the subject.
Nangong Huoyue glanced at the young man behind Nangong Meijiao and said, "Let's go to my place for dinner. It just so happens that I haven't been to a lively place for a long time."
Prince Duan quickly asked, "Huoyue, are you really not going to the Queen Mother?"
Nangong Huoyue turned around and said, "Don't pay attention to her. If she really has something to do, she will come to me herself. Let's go."
They looked at each other and had no choice but to follow her.