Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Just as the seemingly random, elusive ball resembling a magic ball was about to strike Emperor Huizong's cheek, a dart slammed into it, suppressing its fierce momentum and changing its trajectory. The ball grazed past Emperor Huizong's ear, ruffling his hair. Emperor Huizong was startled, but remained calm.

Emperor Huizong subconsciously took a step back, composed himself, and looked down at the ground. He recognized the owner of the dart as Chen Ge, the commander of the Imperial Guards. Liu Guangyu also saw the dart on the ground. He then gently patted his chest and said in a clear voice, "You scared me to death! Fortunately, Commander Chen saved Your Majesty."

At this moment, Chen Ge appeared from the bamboo grove behind Liu Guangyu, knelt down in front of Emperor Huizong of Song, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty was frightened just now. This servant deserves to die!"

"Commander Chen, can you explain what this thing on the ground that looks like a sphere of the underworld is all about?" Emperor Huizong of Song questioned Chen Ge loudly with a gloomy face. He felt that it was impossible for Chen Ge to appear and save the emperor by such a coincidence. Something must have happened, and he had to find out the truth.

“Your Majesty, this is what happened. Just now, the Jin envoy brought this football that looks very much like a ghost ball to see Your Majesty. However, according to palace rules, no sharp weapon is allowed to be brought into the palace. This ghost ball contains a sharp blade, so I advised the envoy to give the ghost ball to the imperial guards for safekeeping and return it to them after leaving the palace. The Jin envoy insisted that it was some kind of evidence and insisted on bringing it before Your Majesty, so we had a dispute.”

"The Jin envoy's attendants were as strong as oxen. They forced their way through the palace gates and accidentally stumbled upon the Cuju field. I followed them here, and one of the Jin attendants kicked the 'ghost ball' away, which almost caused him to bump into Your Majesty. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness!" Chen Ge finished recounting the events and buried his head in his knees, waiting for Emperor Huizong of Song to punish him.

After listening to Chen Ge's words, Emperor Huizong frowned slightly and said unhappily, "Why is it another envoy from the Jin Kingdom? They've already sent me a declaration of war, and now they want to come to the palace to see me again, bringing with them some fake 'hell ball'. What exactly do they want?"

"I heard from the Jin envoy that he wants to discuss the case of the assassination of the Jin envoy with Your Majesty. He said that their envoy cannot die in vain and that the real culprit must be found!" Chen Ge answered Emperor Huizong's question, imitating the tone of the Jin envoy.

Emperor Huizong was furious upon hearing this. He turned to Liu Guangyu behind him and said, "Eunuch Liu, listen to this! These Jin people are really being unreasonable. Do you think the Dali Temple of our Song Dynasty is just sitting around doing nothing? Ning Weizhi wrote down the closing statement of the case of the murder of the Jin envoy very clearly. Wasn't it the work of the Wolf King's faction in Jin? Why do they insist on shifting the blame onto the people of our Song Dynasty?"

Liu Guangyu quickly stepped forward and whispered in Emperor Huizong's ear, "Your Majesty, please calm down! The Jin people are right behind Lord Chen, and they have brought an interpreter with them. Your Majesty must not act impulsively and ruin relations between the two countries." After saying these words, Liu Guangyu turned to the side and gestured for Emperor Huizong to look at the three people ten steps behind Chen Ge.

Emperor Huizong then realized that after Chen Ge explained what had just happened, the Jin envoy, his attendants, and the interpreter had approached Chen Ge from behind. They must have overheard Emperor Huizong's complaints. Emperor Huizong looked embarrassed. He knew he couldn't voice his dissatisfaction with the Jin people, so he suppressed his anger and adopted a calm expression.

"Eunuch Liu, please have the Jin envoys come forward. I wish to speak with them for a few moments. Also, send someone to the football field ahead to tell Consort Luo that I will play football with her in half an hour," Emperor Huizong instructed Liu Guangyu. Liu Guangyu obeyed and summoned the Jin envoys forward.

After the assassination of the Jin envoy Yuan Yanlieque, the Jin women's Cuju (ancient Chinese football) team was somewhat frightened and hid in the inn for several days, afraid to go out. To appease the team, the Jin king temporarily promoted their coach, Mohat, to the position of chief envoy. Mohat was a straightforward and persistent man. He hadn't gone to the palace to watch the Cuju match that day, but afterwards, upon hearing that the Cuju ball could be used as a weapon of arson, he became very interested.

So, Mohart found Xiao Minghao and asked him to bring him the charred remains of the pyrrhic ball from that day for research. After three days and three nights of experimentation, Mohart managed to create a replica of the pyrrhic ball, but he lacked the skill to do so. It was only superficially similar, and he couldn't hide the sharp blade inside the cuju pouch at all, nor could the pouch close automatically after being kicked.

Mohart was captivated by the ingenious design of the pyrrhic sphere and decided to use the pretext of examining evidence to enter the palace and force Emperor Huizong to lend him the intact pyrrhic sphere evidence found by the Dali Temple for his study. However, when he entered the palace with the counterfeit pyrrhic sphere, he was intercepted by Chen Ge, the commander of the Imperial Guards. His attendants then got into a fight with Chen Ge, nearly injuring Emperor Huizong.

“Your Majesty, my attendant was reckless just now and almost bumped into you with a football. Please forgive him! I will punish him severely when we get back.” Mohat did not speak Chinese, but his expression was respectful and gentle. After the interpreter relayed the message, Emperor Huizong was no longer angry.

Emperor Huizong waved his hand and said gently to Mohat, "I heard about what happened just now from Commander Chen. It must have been a misunderstanding. I will forgive you this time, but you must not be so presumptuous in the palace next time! This is the palace of the Song Dynasty, not the palace of your Jin Dynasty."

Upon hearing Emperor Huizong's explanation, Chen Ge thought to himself that this cowardly emperor was truly pathetic. What misunderstanding? He probably just didn't want to offend the Jin envoy. However, knowing that the Jin envoy, who had been appointed in a time of crisis, was so interested in the sphere he had created, Chen Ge couldn't help but feel smug. But he would never tell the Jin people the technique for making the sphere.

The ghost balls that the Wolf King tricked him into making were only a dozen or so. More than ten of them had already been used in the last palace football match. He hadn't told the Wolf King the manufacturing techniques, precisely because he was afraid the Jin people would use the ghost balls for some evil purpose. As for the ghost ball manufacturing blueprints and other hidden weapon blueprints that Lin Chong discovered, they were all unfinished products. Some were blueprints of failed attempts at research. He deliberately let Lin Chong discover them to dispel his suspicions that he had faked his death.

While Chen Ge was lost in thought, the Jin envoy had already told Emperor Huizong of Song the purpose of his visit to the palace. Emperor Huizong looked troubled after hearing this, because he knew that Ning Weizhi's testimony did not mention the manufacturing techniques of the Netherworld Ball, but only mentioned a Netherworld Ball that had not yet been hit by a flaming arrow, and that the assassin was killed on the spot.

Emperor Huizong knew that this sole piece of evidence must not be handed over to the Jin envoys. He also feared that the Jin people would steal the technology to manufacture the pyre, as it was undoubtedly a powerful concealed weapon. After obtaining the blueprints from Lin Chong, Zhou Chengquan submitted a memorial suggesting that the Ministry of War study its manufacturing method so that it could be used on the battlefield in the future. However, the Ministry of War's weapons manufacturing bureau spent many days but still could not manufacture the pyre that ignited at the slightest touch.

"Your Majesty, I only wish to study this Netherworld Sphere as evidence for three days. I will return it intact after three days. Lord Xiao can vouch for me; here is a guarantee he wrote on my behalf, with his signature and fingerprint on it." Mohart had the interpreter present the guarantee to Liu Guangyu. Liu Guangyu had no choice but to accept this hot potato, and gave Chen Ge a look, hoping he could help him out of the predicament.

Chen Ge understood, but how could he possibly undermine Xiao Minghao? He felt that Ning Weizhi or Gao Can should play the stern role; he was merely a commander of the Imperial Guards, and it was inappropriate for him to appear too enthusiastic about the diplomatic relations between the Jin and Song kingdoms in front of the Emperor.

Emperor Huizong took the guarantee from Liu Guangyu and glanced at it. He cursed Xiao Minghao a thousand times in his heart. How dare he openly help the Jin people? Although he suspected that the Left Chancellor and Xiao Minghao had accepted benefits from the Jin people, he did not expect that they would protect the Jin envoy to this extent and even want to hand over the Netherworld Ball developed by Ning Zhanyan to foreigners. This was tantamount to treason.

Just as Emperor Huizong was struggling with this dilemma, a young eunuch announced loudly, "Gao Can, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, and Xiao Minghao, Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, request an audience with Your Majesty!" Emperor Huizong immediately responded, "Summon them!"

Xiao Minghao, dressed in official robes and looking serious, walked ahead, followed by Gao Can, who casually fanned himself with a folding fan. In truth, Xiao Minghao hadn't wanted to vouch for Mohart in person; he only intended to write a guarantee and submit it as a formality. However, his palace informant reported that Mohart had gotten into a fight with Chen Ge at the palace gate over the Underworld Sphere, forcing him to enter the palace to smooth things over for Mohart.