Chapter 402 Lao Ba's Request

Seeing that no one had any other questions, Zhao Feng left the Imperial Garden with the result of the draw, and the others also dispersed, busy preparing for the game three days later.

Cuju is a popular sport in Daxing, and most boys and girls know it.

It's just that some people like Cuju more, so they are good at it, while some people are not interested and their skills are relatively unfamiliar.

But now that Cuju has become a competition event this month, the princes and princesses have to pay attention to it.

At least they still have three days to prepare. Not to mention improving their own skills, they can at least carefully select close servants who play Cuju better.

In any case, they all need to work hard.

Moreover, from this month on, many people have an additional goal.

That is to help the people they support win the first place.

Especially now that the preliminaries have been decided, the operability here is greater.

While others were busy, the eighth prince invited Princess Ankang to sit in his courtyard for a while.

"Ankang, you've rarely come back to the palace recently, come to my place and sit for a while before leaving the palace."

The renovation of Jingyang Palace is a big deal in the palace, and the Eighth Prince has naturally heard about it.

And from his appearance, it seems that he has something to say to Princess Ankang.

Princess Ankang didn't think much about it, and immediately agreed, and also wanted to see if the Eighth Prince had anything to say that he couldn't say here.

"Well, that, Eighth Brother, I want to go too!"

Princess Yuan'an on the side said shamelessly.

Because she had something to ask of someone, she didn't call him "Old Eight" as usual, but called him "Eighth Brother".

"Whatever you want."

The Eighth Prince didn't care, and smiled and responded casually.

The three of them went to the Eighth Prince's Xiaoyao Villa together, and a group of attendants followed them.

After arriving at the Xiaoyao Villa, the Eighth Prince dismissed his attendants.

Princess Yuan'an also followed suit and asked her attendants to wait outside.

They are all in the royal family, so they all have this kind of vision.

Then the two of them looked at Princess Ankang silently.

Princess Ankang spread her hands and said:

"I am just a close attendant. If you have anything to say, just speak up."

Yu'er was ready to leave, but Princess Ankang held her hand and forced her to stay.

When the Eighth Prince heard what Princess Ankang said, he felt that it made sense, so he acquiesced to letting Yu'er stay and immediately said:

"The boss has won over a lot of people, so this month's competition may not be so easy for you."

Hearing this, Princess Ankang's heart moved, and she couldn't help asking:

"How many people are going to help the eldest brother?"

"More than half." The Eighth Prince replied with an ambiguous number, and then said: "During the time you were away from the palace, Concubine Zhang was busy with a lot of things."

"Maybe she felt that the three of the boss couldn't accomplish anything, so she personally stepped in."

"During this period, many people have said bad things about Concubine Zhang behind her back, but since she has lost face, she will definitely not care about these rumors."

"It's just that Concubine Zhang has done this. If the three of the boss can't produce some results, they will definitely be very embarrassed in the end."

It's not difficult to hear that there is a lot of gloating in the Eighth Prince's words.

But Li Xuan and Princess Ankang frowned together.

Others don't know, but they are very clear.

The pressure on the eldest prince has reached a certain extent. He even visited Jingyang Palace in person before and lost his composure in front of them.

Concubine Zhang's daily behavior is suffocating enough.

Now that she is forced into a corner, she has increased her intensity.

Even Li Xuan couldn't help but feel sad for the three siblings.

"It's impossible for them to win."

"As for their crazy mother, let them worry about it themselves."

Li Xuan shook his head and didn't care about it.

"Of course, there are still many who have not been won over by the boss."

The eighth prince continued.

"Because of their positions, these people can't help Concubine Zhang and the boss."

"But they don't have a suitable supporter at the moment. After all, there are only five people with points now, and the eldest prince and his three siblings occupy three positions, which is considered a family."

"Besides, it's you and me."

The eighth prince said, pointing to Princess Ankang and himself.

Princess Yuan An, who was listening on the side, suddenly felt that she was excluded from the circle and couldn't help but snorted.

"Yuan An, why are you humming?"

"Who told you not to participate in the competition properly before."

The eighth prince scolded Princess Yuan An and then got back to the point:

"Those who have no chance of winning will not give up easily, and may even make more trouble, such as the third prince."

Li Xuan couldn't help but smile slightly.

Although he still didn't know the Eighth Prince's intention to invite Princess Ankang here today, he could hear the Eighth Prince's dissatisfaction with the Third Prince in his tone.

It seems that there is a lot of grudge between the two.

Last time during the Autumn Hunting Competition, Li Xuan saw that the two of them were very emotional when they started fighting.

I'm afraid that they have accumulated a lot of conflicts in the past.

"Is the Eighth Prince trying to find Ankang to deal with the Third Prince together?"

"But the Third Prince didn't have any points and was completely eliminated from the final competition."

"Is he trying to take advantage of the last few games to vent his anger?"

While Li Xuan was guessing what the Eighth Prince wanted to do, Princess Yuan'an, who was listening on the side, couldn't stand it first.

"Eighth Prince, what do you want to do after talking for so long?"

"Haven't we said all this before in the Imperial Garden?"

Princess Yuan'an rested her chin on her hand, frowned, and said impatiently.

"Children should not interrupt when adults are talking!"

The Eighth Prince retorted unhappily.

Then he coughed dryly, and it was not difficult to hear that he was quite embarrassed.

"Ankang, there is actually no other intention for my brother to find you today, I just want you to do me a favor."

When Princess Ankang heard this, she immediately smiled and said:

"Oh, brother, aren't you being polite?"

"If you need my help, just say it directly, why do you have to beat around the bush."

Li Xuan also wanted to see what the Eighth Prince wanted Princess Ankang to do, and he actually made him take such a big detour.

"I heard that you tamed a white tiger in Fanglin Garden during the last autumn hunting competition?"

"That's right."

Princess Ankang didn't expect the Eighth Prince to mention Dabai.

"How did you train this white tiger?"

"It's pretty obedient." Princess Ankang looked at Li Xuan in her arms and answered honestly.

"In that case, can you lend it to me?"

The Eighth Prince hesitated for a long time and finally made his request.

Hearing this, Princess Ankang and Li Xuan were stunned and looked at him with strange eyes.

Princess Yuanan and Yu'er on the side were not much better.

"Why borrow the trained white tiger for no reason?"

Li Xuan frowned and tried to find a suitable excuse for the Eighth Prince.

The Eighth Prince was stared at by several people and explained immediately:

"I just borrowed it to ride, what do you think?"

This sentence made Li Xuan, who was still trying to find an excuse for the Eighth Prince, stare at him with wide eyes.

"You are so old, but you are still so playful?"

Li Xuan was angry at him for not fighting.

"Speaking of which, this is also a trouble left over from the last autumn hunting competition."

"I teamed up with those little kids and promised them that I would compensate them later."

"But later, they were punished by their mothers. I feel really bad about it."

"It just so happened that I heard that you, Ankang, had just tamed a white tiger. So I wanted to borrow your white tiger to make the little kids happy once, and it was also my way of repaying their favor."

After hearing the eighth prince's words to the end, everyone suddenly realized.

Otherwise, Princess Ankang and others really thought that the eighth prince was fickle and wanted to exchange his Saker Falcon for the white tiger.

"Oh~"

"That's what happened."

Princess Ankang breathed a sigh of relief. She really thought that the eighth prince was going to ask her for the white tiger.

"What else do you think it is?" The eighth prince asked curiously.

"Uh, nothing." Princess Ankang made a fool of herself and changed the subject: "It's not difficult to borrow Dabai, but Dabai is still kept in Fanglin Garden. Manager Zhao told me before that after the renovation of Jingyang Palace is completed, Dabai can be brought to Jingyang Palace."

"When I borrow Baihu by then, it shouldn't be a problem, right?" The Eighth Prince asked immediately.

Princess Ankang nodded and agreed to it.

"Okay, Ankang really helped me a lot!"

The Eighth Prince jumped up happily with a smile on his face.

Li Xuan didn't expect that he had been beating around the bush for a long time just to borrow Dabai to please the little kids.

It seems that he can continue to be the king of children.

After all, how can the Eighth Prince not be supported by the little kids when he cares so much about them.

Li Xuan can see that the Eighth Prince is sincere in playing, without any other thoughts.

If he was born in an ordinary family, the Eighth Prince would definitely be a good brother.

"You've been dawdling for so long, just to borrow a tiger?"

Princess Yuan An, who had been listening for a long time, couldn't help but complain.

She saw the Eighth Prince laying the groundwork for so long, and thought it was a big deal.

"Yuan An, what do you know? Do you know what a big tiger means to little kids?"

"And this is a rare white tiger!"

The Eighth Prince was deeply hurt by Princess Yuan'an's ignorance and beat his chest in anger.

Princess Yuan'an didn't care about the Eighth Prince's reaction and subconsciously turned her eyes to Li Xuan in Princess Ankang's arms.

"A big tiger is not as cute as Ah Xuan."

"You don't know who it is?"

Princess Yuan'an rolled her eyes at the excited Eighth Prince in dissatisfaction.

Princess Ankang let the two of them argue, sitting quietly aside, silently stroking Li Xuan's soft fur.

"Superficial human."

Li Xuan secretly complained.

...

After having lunch in the Eighth Prince's Xiaoyao Villa, the three little ones said goodbye and left.

When they returned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Zhao Feng had already asked the carriage to wait for them here.

When sending them out of the palace, Zhao Feng said that the date of going to Qianxing Pavilion this month would be postponed to after the competition.

The three little ones also expressed their understanding of this.

In arranging the date to go to Qianxing Pavilion, the three little ones have always trusted Zhao Feng and believed that he could make the best arrangements.

Before leaving, Li Xuan patted Zhao Feng with his tail, then stood up and wrote:

"My four legs should all be considered feet, right?"

"It's impossible that the first two are considered hands and the back two are considered feet, right?"

As for the rules of the game, Li Xuan had to ask more clearly.

Zhao Feng's eyes twitched. He didn't expect Li Xuan to be so particular about the rules.

"For animal trainers, the rule that you can't touch the ball with your hands doesn't apply."

"Ah Xuan, not every animal trainer is as smart as you, who can distinguish the rules clearly and will be entangled in which leg is considered a hand and which leg is considered a foot."

"It's already a great achievement to be able to train an animal to play Cuju."

"How can you ask for more?"

Zhao Feng explained helplessly.

After all, it's not fair to ask other animal trainers with Li Xuan's intelligence.

Not to mention that Li Xuan, the cat, is much smarter than ordinary people.

After getting Zhao Feng's affirmative answer, Li Xuan was relieved.

After the three little ones returned to Xingqing Palace in a carriage, they started practicing Cuju without stopping.

All three of them were Cuju novices, and even the ball used for Cuju was the first time they had seen it.

Manager Shang helped them find the ball, set up the goal, and found a few flowery eunuchs who knew how to play Cuju to accompany them in practice.

Princess Ankang's physical fitness is far superior to that of ordinary people, and she is very fast at getting started.

Yu'er is a warrior after all, and she is not slow at learning.

As for Li Xuan...

He lay on the goal and acted as a goalkeeper.

The wind flow hole on the goal for the ball to pass through is narrow, and Li Xuan can block all attacks with his tail just by lying on it.

Seeing Li Xuan playing Cuju like this, Shang Zongguan couldn't help but smile and said:

"Ah Xuan, contestants are not allowed to touch the goal directly, otherwise it will be a foul."

After hearing this, Li Xuan reluctantly jumped off the goal and landed on the ground.

At this time, it was the turn of the three little ones to attack.

Princess Ankang lightly bounced the ball twice and then passed it to Li Xuan.

"Ah Xuan, come on!"

The ball flew towards Li Xuan, but Li Xuan still lay on the ground in a lazy manner.

He didn't do anything else, just used his tail to pull, and the ball immediately left a residual image, whistling like wind and thunder.

The flowery eunuch standing on the other side in charge of sparring suddenly had his hair standing on end, and no one dared to move for a while.

Then they all turned their heads and looked at the goal silently, and found that the wind-flowing eye on the goal seemed to have become a little bigger, and the ball was nowhere to be seen.

Li Xuan frowned, stood up from the ground, and looked more serious.

"It seems that I really need to practice hard."

Li Xuan's shot just now was a little off.

The eunuchs in flowery clothes who were practicing with him couldn't help but swallow their saliva nervously when they saw this scene.

Especially when they saw that Li Xuan seemed dissatisfied with the previous shot and seemed to be more serious.

Shang Zongguan watched from the side and sighed silently, knowing that someone would be in trouble in the game in two days.

"I hope he doesn't kick anyone to death." Shang Zongguan muttered a little worriedly.