If only her initial intention in approaching him hadn't been such a disrespectful scheme, how wonderful that would have been.
****
Seeing Yun Lie's resolute expression, Yun Pei didn't care that Luo Cuiwei was still behind him. He earnestly advised Yun Lie, "It's just a small token of support. It doesn't matter how much you give. Even if you only take out two pieces of silver, it will count! It's rare for Father to be in such a good mood today. You should at least do something to join in the fun and not spoil his mood."
"There's no need."
Yun Lie has never been one to flatter or fawn, so his answer was exactly what Yun Pei expected.
Whenever he had spare money, he would only use it to buy food and drink for his comrades and subordinates. He would never pretend to be rich just because his father was in a bad mood.
"How about I lend it to you?" Yun Pei wasn't about to give up trying to persuade him. "After all, I'm doing a little better than you..."
Yun Lie scoffed dismissively: "Do you think I'd just lend money to anyone who's willing to do so? He's picky about who he'll lend you money to, you know?"
"Those three guys really went all out!" For some reason, Yun Pei became more and more agitated as he spoke. "'Some people' have even been saying behind his back that they'll crush Xiong Xiaoyi's Linchuan army today. People say you can't lose face even if you lose the battle, so why don't you give him a boost?"
Yun Lie had never bothered to argue with others over such trivial matters. Upon hearing this, he merely clicked his tongue lightly and was about to reject the offer outright when his palm suddenly felt a chill.
He looked down and then back in confusion, first glancing at the gold-threaded jade bracelet in his palm, and then at Luo Cuiwei, whom he was protecting behind him.
Her face was slightly flushed, and her bright eyes sparkled with a smile.
She even winked at him.
He flirted with him again!
****
Although the Luo family is currently facing some difficulties, they are still a much stronger family than a weak one, and are by no means short of money.
However, fearing that he would be too ostentatious in front of the emperor, Luo Huai specifically instructed Luo Cuiwei not to bring too much cash, and even only a few banknotes.
After all, no matter how wealthy a merchant family is, they should not be richer than the emperor's private household; to flaunt wealth in front of the emperor is no different from courting death.
Therefore, after hearing Yun Pei's words, Luo Cuiwei thought of Yun Lie's financial situation and couldn't come up with any money for the time being.
But a stubborn streak of protectiveness suddenly surged within her, and she was unwilling to let Yun Lie lose this advantage no matter what.
So she gritted her teeth and took off her bracelet.
After Yun Pei left, Yun Lie couldn't help but glare at her lightly and said gently, "Do you really like to join in the fun?"
"Why would I join in?" Luo Cuiwei awkwardly avoided his gaze, picked up an orange and rolled it around on the table, muttering, "I just wanted to support you."
Perhaps it was because the spring breeze was just right, Yun Lie felt as if countless little flowers were blooming one after another around his ears.
He felt he might be laughing, and might even be laughing stupidly, which was not right.
So he quickly cleared his throat, suppressed his burning excitement, and said seriously, "Alright, I'll borrow it from you. I'll personally go and get your bracelet back after this competition is over."
This means that he has accepted her favor.
Luo Cuiwei suddenly raised her head, her face flushed, but a sly smile appeared at the corner of her eyes: "Just now you told Princess Jinhui that you would accept money from anyone who wanted to lend it to you. Why did you accept it when I lent it to you?"
Yun Lie choked on his words, his handsome, light bronze face burning as if on fire. "Haven't you ever heard of the saying 'the more debts you have, the less you worry'?! Anyway, it's not the first time I've owed you, so I'll just pay you back slowly!"
Enraged and embarrassed, he became incoherent.
Luo Cuiwei bit her lip and smiled, taking a sip of tea before changing the subject: "General Xiong, you absolutely mustn't lose..."
"If he loses, I'll immediately skewer him and make him into a whole roasted bear." Yun Lie still had a lot of confidence in Xiong Xiaoyi.
“If we really lose, roasting a whole bear won’t help,” Luo Cuiwei wrinkled her nose and chuckled softly with some unease. “That was my dowry left to me by my mother.”
Although she had impulsively given away the bracelet, she couldn't help feeling uneasy now that she thought about how unpredictable the situation was on the field and how the outcome was uncertain. But if Xiong Xiaoyi really lost and she couldn't get the bracelet back, she would be sad and regretful, but she wouldn't regret it.
Yun Lie felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and sat there dumbfounded, his ears ringing.
A moment later, he stood up expressionlessly and said with unwavering determination, "I'm going to the sidelines to 'oversee' the battle."
"Huh?" Luo Cuiwei looked up at him, completely bewildered.
"If Xiong Xiaoyi dares to lose today," Yun Lie gritted his teeth, his body seemingly engulfed in raging flames, "I'll tear him to pieces right here and now roast him into bear jerky!"
They didn't even leave him a complete corpse!
Chapter 27
In Dajin, polo matches are traditionally played with four players per team, and two teams compete against each other.
Today, the red and black clothes are used to distinguish them. The black-clad group includes Xiong Xiaoyi, the military advisor of the Linchuan army under Prince Zhao Yunlie, and Zheng Qiuqi, the left general of the vanguard battalion of the Yuancheng navy under Princess Jinhui Yunpei. The remaining two are just people assigned to the imperial court to make up the numbers.
The four of them were not familiar with each other, so there was no tacit understanding between them.
On the other side of the red-clad figure, two were Princess Huanrong Yunxi's personal guards, and the other two were Prince An Yunhuan's personal guards.
Princess Huanrong Yunxi and Prince An Yunhuan were both highly favored by Emperor Xianlong. Although they held no official positions, they often received imperial edicts to assist in managing state affairs.
The relationship between these two princes is quite complicated: when they are on the same mission, they will fight each other fiercely and sabotage each other whenever there is a conflict of interest; but sometimes they will join hands to suppress others because of common interests.
To maintain this strange relationship of "alliance and hostility," the two governments would occasionally have some seemingly friendly exchanges, with people from both sides getting together to play polo being one of the many ways to "friendly exchanges."
In other words, the four players in the red shirts today have a slight edge in teamwork compared to the four players in the black shirts who are complete strangers.