Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Seeing that Zhang Ruowen's injuries had almost healed, Du Rushuang returned to Zixiang Pavilion to participate in Cuju training. Apart from Consort Luo, who was unable to leave the palace and would occasionally send Lin Chong with Du Rushuang, Du Shiniang, and others to the palace to accompany her in Cuju training, the other members of the Song Dynasty women's Cuju team were all focused on training at Zixiang Pavilion.

Lin Chong and Wu Song discussed and devised a new training method for the female players' physical training. This was tough on Pan Jinghe, Chai Nianci, and Zou Xiaoyan, as they were not as physically fit as Du Rushuang and Chen Jinhuan. Du Shiniang was only a substitute player, and Gao Can had said that she was not allowed to officially play against the Jurchens, so her training was more of a sparring match.

Time flew by, and only a month remained until the match against the Jin Kingdom's women's Cuju team. The women's Cuju players from Zixiang Pavilion were constantly honing their teamwork and coordination. Gao Can frequently supervised Lin Chong and the others, and Zou Xiaoyan privately sought his advice on Cuju techniques, making rapid progress.

Aside from training, Du Rushuang tried her best to avoid too much private contact with Wu Song, but Wu Song always found opportunities to get close to her, saying he wanted to help her back and teach her footwork, and that he wanted to train her concentration face-to-face. How could Du Rushuang not know what Wu Song was thinking? She couldn't do anything about Wu Song, but Zhang Ruowen hadn't visited her once since Du Rushuang returned to Zixiang Pavilion.

Instead, Du Rushuang repeatedly climbed over the wall to secretly return to the Flying Eagle Escort Agency to see Zhang Ruowen. Zhang Ruowen told Du Rushuang that his adoptive father had visited him many times, giving him his inner strength to help him recover his health as soon as possible, saying that he had important matters to entrust to him. He could not visit her at Zixiang Pavilion because the Wolf King had sent people to monitor his every move day and night.

One night, after training, Du Rushuang dragged her weary body back to the Flying Eagle Escort Agency, only to find Zhang Ruowen nowhere to be seen. She found only a letter he had left for her. The letter said the Wolf King wanted Zhang Ruowen to return to the Jin Kingdom, entrusting him with an important mission. Zhang Ruowen told Du Rushuang not to worry about him, that he would return to her soon, but that when they met again, they might be enemies.

Sure enough, a week later, Gao Can brought Lin Chong, Du Shiniang, and the others a shocking piece of news: the Jin envoy had been replaced, and Mohart had returned to his position as the coach of the Jin women's Cuju team. Lin Chong and the others also recognized the new Jin envoy.

"Lord Gao, who exactly is this new Jin envoy? Stop keeping us in suspense, how could we possibly guess?" Du Shiniang said coquettishly, tugging at Gao Can's sleeve.

The advisor glanced at Du Shiniang, then at Wu Song sitting beside her, and suddenly teased Wu Song, "Brother Wu Song, this new Jin envoy is a formidable foe. Can you guess who it is?"

Wu Song was completely baffled. He shook his head slightly, indicating that he couldn't guess. Gao Can approached Wu Song and whispered in his ear, "Let me give you a hint, Brother Wu. This man has a close relationship with Miss Du Rushuang. Miss Du is half Jin, so how many Jin men do you think would have a close relationship with her?"

"Yelü Wen? He's become the new Jin envoy? He wants to be an enemy of our Song women's football team?" Wu Song asked Gao Can in surprise. Gao Can pursed his lips, using silence as his answer.

At this moment, a woman's voice came from outside the hall: "Lord Gao, Instructor Lin, I heard that a new envoy from the Jin Kingdom has arrived. Who is this person? Are you talking about this?"

When Wu Song looked up, he saw that the woman who entered was Du Rushuang. On this bright and sunny day, Du Rushuang was wearing a bright and eye-catching fiery red belted dress. The light gauze of the skirt swayed gently with her steps, showing off her exquisite and graceful figure.

Wu Song quickly called to Du Rushuang, saying, "Shuang'er, come sit next to me. Lord Gao just told me who the new Jin envoy is."

Du Rushuang glared at Wu Song, wondering why she had chosen to sit next to him when there were so many empty chairs in the hall. So she moved to sit next to Lin Chong, avoiding Wu Song's intense gaze. Seeing this, Lin Chong quickly turned to Du Rushuang and said, "Shuang'er, we just confirmed that we were questioning Lord Gao about the newly arrived Jin envoy. Guess who he is? He used to be from the Zixiang Pavilion."

"Oh?" Du Rushuang exclaimed in surprise. She lowered her eyes and pondered for a while before giving up. She said to Lin Chong, "Instructor Lin, there are many guests coming and going in Zixiang Pavilion, and the guards are all Jianghu people or his soldiers carefully selected by General Zhou. How could I remember so many? If there are Jin Kingdom spies mixed in, I would not recognize them at all. After all, my memory of being a spy before coming to Zixiang Pavilion is still a bit vague."

"Shuang'er, that envoy from the New Jin Kingdom is Yelü Wen, your lover." Seeing Du Rushuang's puzzled look, Wu Song thought it would be better to tell her the answer directly so he could observe the woman's reaction.

"What? It's A-Wen? How could he become an envoy for the new nation?" Du Rushuang's eyes widened upon hearing Wu Song's sarcastic words; she was stunned by the answer. However, she couldn't sit still for long. She said to Lin Chong, Du Shiniang, and the others, "Instructor Lin, Sister, Lord Gao, you all stay here and have some tea and chat. I need to find A-Wen and ask him why he became an envoy for the Jin Dynasty, and what kind of shady dealings he did with the Wolf King back in the Jin Dynasty."

Seeing Du Rushuang's anxiety, Du Shiniang quickly stood up and approached her, pulling her into her arms and advising her, "Shuang'er, I know you want to gather intelligence on the Jin Kingdom for us, but Yelü Wen has now regained his identity as a Jin citizen. He is no longer Zhang Ruowen. What good will it do you to ask him? He might go crazy and imprison you, preventing you from continuing to help us prepare for the Cuju match against the Jin women."

“Awen wouldn’t do this to me. I think he might not have wanted to be the Jin envoy. I need to find out what happened to him in Jin. Maybe Awen has some difficulties. I must go to see him today,” Du Rushuang said to Du Shiniang in a firm tone.

Du Shiniang wanted to say a few more words to Du Rushuang, but Wu Song beat her to it. He glanced at the anxious woman with reddened eyes and said softly to Du Shiniang, "Shiniang, why don't I accompany Shuang'er to the inn where the Jin envoy is staying to find Yelü Wen? With me protecting Shuang'er, I believe the Jin people won't dare to act recklessly!"

Du Rushuang lifted herself up from Du Shiniang's embrace, then stood up and walked to Wu Song's side, saying to Du Shiniang, "Sister, since Wu Song is willing to accompany me, you can rest assured and let Shuang'er go see Awen."

Du Shiniang sighed helplessly, gave a few more instructions, and then let Du Rushuang and Wu Song leave. Wu Song, now with a legitimate mission to protect the flower, put his arm around Du Rushuang's shoulder and left Zixiang Pavilion.

Wu Song and Du Rushuang arrived at the inn where the Jin envoys were staying to request an audience with Yelü Wen. Two Jin guards led the two to the inn's main hall, where Yelü Wen appeared, dressed in a magnificent golden envoy's robe, exuding official authority. However, his gaze towards Du Rushuang was somewhat complex, seemingly a mixture of anger and restraint.

Yelü Wen deliberately greeted Du Rushuang in Jin language: "Shuang'er, I never thought we'd meet again as enemies. What's the meaning of bringing Wu Song here today?" His gaze towards Wu Song was filled with hostility as he said the last sentence. Although Wu Song didn't understand Jin language, he guessed from Yelü Wen's words and demeanor that the man was jealous and was probably questioning him about why he had come with Du Rushuang.

As expected, Du Rushuang replied to Yelü Wen in Chinese: "Awen, Brother Wu is the deputy coach of our women's Cuju team. He came with me today just to ask you whether your King of Jin has received the list of Song women's Cuju team members appointed by His Majesty, and whether your Jin women's Cuju team's list is ready."

Yelü Wen, seeing that Du Rushuang answered his questions in Chinese and that she had come with the purpose of exchanging information between the women's Cuju teams of the two countries—essentially an official exchange among the three—snorted coldly, giving Wu Song a few sharp, icy glares before replying to Du Rushuang: "This envoy has already submitted the list of my Jin Kingdom's women's Cuju team to your Lord Xiao Minghao. I think you've only come under the pretense of visiting me, wanting to inquire about the important things my adoptive father and I have done in the Jin Kingdom."

"Shuang'er, if you care about me, you can come to see me alone. There's no need to bring unrelated people, especially Wu Song. I think a man like him, who was abandoned by you but is still clinging to you, is as disgusting as a fly!" Yelü Wen said to Wu Song in a sarcastic tone.