Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Wu Song was furious, his face dark with rage, the veins on his neck bulging. He clenched his fist, ready to slap Yelü Wen across the face. Seeing this, Du Rushuang quickly grabbed Wu Song's arm and whispered in his ear, "Brother Wu, I want to talk to A-Wen alone. Wait for me in the hall. I'll be right back!"

Wu Song looked worried and said to her, "Shuang'er, Yelü Wen has returned to the Wolf King's side and is now an envoy of the Jin Kingdom. I'm worried that he will plot against you!"

"Don't worry! A-Wen won't do anything to me. On the contrary, your appearance with me will definitely anger him. Let me talk to him alone." Du Rushuang raised her voice, deliberately letting Yelü Wen hear her conversation with Wu Song. Seeing the determination in Du Rushuang's eyes, Wu Song had no choice but to wave his hand, indicating that she should talk to Yelü Wen alone.

Yelü Wen naturally heard Du Rushuang's request to speak with him alone, so he stepped forward, took her hand, and led her towards the hall's entrance, then into his own room. Upon entering, Yelü Wen quickly closed the wooden door and pressed Du Rushuang against it, kissing her.

A torrent of kisses rained down on Du Rushuang, leaving her breathless and her face flushed. When Yelü Wen had finished kissing her, Du Rushuang shielded her chest with her hands, panting as she asked, "Awen, have your injuries healed these past few days?"

“My godfather helped me heal my injuries, and my internal injuries have long since healed, but my skills are still not as profound as before. Shuang’er, I’ve missed you so much these days! Have you missed me?” Yelü Wen asked Du Rushuang gently, his eyes burning with desire as he asked the woman in front of him.

“Of course I wanted to! Tell me quickly, what did you do when you went back to Jin with the Wolf King? Why did you change your identity as an envoy when you returned to Song this time? Are you planning something?” Du Rushuang reached out and gently stroked Yelü Wen’s chin, asking him tentatively.

"Shuang'er, I'm sorry! I can't tell you about my plan with my adoptive father. My adoptive father assassinated the Jin envoy to incite conflict between the Song and Jin dynasties, and then have the Jin king station troops on the border to put pressure on the Song. Emperor Huizong of Song will definitely send Zhou Chengquan back to the border to guard it, and my adoptive father will lead troops under the pretext of intercepting and killing General Zhou Chengquan on the way, and take the opportunity to rebel." Yelü Wen calmly revealed the great things he and the Wolf King had done in the Jin kingdom.

"Later, the King of Jin was forced to acknowledge my adoptive father as the king of his tribe. My adoptive father now holds great power in the Jin court, and even the king has to be wary of him. After gaining power, my adoptive father made me the Jin envoy and ordered me to return to Song to handle the match between the Jin and Song women's football teams." Yelü Wen said while observing Du Rushuang's reaction, not wanting to miss the expression on her face.

However, Du Rushuang showed no surprise. She seemed to have a premonition about what the Wolf King and Yelü Wen had done in the Jin Kingdom, and was simply there to confirm her suspicions. Seeing Yelü Wen staring intently at her, Du Rushuang forced a smile and asked calmly, "You and the Wolf King want to use the Song-Jin football match to cause trouble again? You and Gao Qiu and his son planned this all along, didn't you?"

“Yes! Shuang’er, listen to my advice, never appear at the women’s football match between Song and Jin, it will be dangerous! Now that you’ve come to me, I won’t let you leave.” Yelü Wen frowned as he advised Du Rushuang, his words carrying a threatening tone.

“Ah Wen, you know I would never betray Coach Lin and the sisters of the women’s Cuju team. Don’t force me! I must participate in the Cuju match against the Jin women at the end of this month.” Du Rushuang looked into Yelü Wen’s eyes and said to him in the most determined tone.

Yelü Wen reached out and hugged Du Rushuang tightly, then looked down at her face and said helplessly, "I knew you wouldn't listen to my advice, but you also know that I would never betray my godfather. If he hadn't saved me from the wolves back then, I would have been a wandering ghost long ago. However, I will not let my godfather hurt you again."

"My godfather promised me that if I help him complete this mission in the Song Kingdom, he will set us both free. Then we can retire from the world and travel to famous mountains and rivers, okay?"

When Yelü Wen spoke his last few words, his eyes flashed with longing for a bright future for the two of them. Du Rushuang could tell that he truly wanted to wander the world with her. Wu Song had also said these words to her, but hearing them from Yelü Wen's mouth made her feel even more bitter and heartbroken.

Recalling the past when they fought side by side, Du Rushuang knew that Yelü Wen longed for freedom more than she did, to live the kind of life he wanted, instead of being ordered around and living in constant fear and danger.

Thinking of this, Du Rushuang gently kissed Yelü Wen's Adam's apple and said in a hoarse voice, "Wen, as long as you don't hurt my sisters, I promise to stay with you for the rest of my life. Wherever you go, I will go."

When Yelü heard that Du Rushuang's tone had softened, he coaxed her, "Shuang'er, go out and tell Wu Song that you can stay at the inn with me tonight? I want to spend more time alone with you."

Du Rushuang wanted to extract more information from Yelü Wen about the Wolf King and Gao Can's conspiracy. She wanted to know what they planned to do during the Cuju (ancient Chinese football) match between the Song and Jin dynasties—whether it was to assassinate the current emperor or something else entirely. So she returned to the hall and dismissed Wu Song. Although Wu Song was unwilling, he couldn't stop Du Rushuang's decision, and he believed that Du Rushuang must have her own reasons for staying by Yelü Wen's side.

Wu Song returned to Zixiang Pavilion alone near dusk, but he was surprised to find the pavilion completely silent. Steward Ding told him that Zixiang Pavilion would not be receiving guests tonight, and that Lin Chong, Du Shiniang, and others had something to discuss privately.

When Wu Song hurriedly arrived at the main hall of the health center on the south side, he heard Lin Chong loudly say to Du Shiniang, "Shiniang, you can't go to the palace to ask the Emperor to send someone to the border. We can only investigate General Zhou's matter privately. Listen to me, don't act impulsively!"

Wu Song looked closely and saw that after Lin Chong finished speaking, Du Shiniang ignored him and started to leave. Lin Chong grabbed the woman's sleeve to stop her from leaving, his expression serious and tense.

Du Shiniang said impatiently to Lin Chong, "Brother Lin, the intelligence we received is that General Zhou has been missing for seven days. He disappeared on his way to the border, and lost contact when he was almost at Yanmen Pass. I'm worried that he has already been murdered by the enemy. Please let me go to the palace to see the Emperor and ask him to send someone to find General Zhou."

"Shi Niang, have you considered that the Emperor might have sent someone to assassinate General Zhou on the way? If you insist on entering the palace, you might anger the Emperor, and he will definitely kill you too! Let's wait for Wu Song to return before discussing this matter, okay?" Lin Chong persuaded Du Shiniang again.

Upon seeing this, Wu Song quickly coughed lightly, then looked at Lin Chong and Du Shiniang and said loudly, "Brother Lin, Shiniang, Wu Song is back. Do you have anything important to tell me?"

When Lin Chong saw Wu Song return, he quickly greeted him warmly, saying, "Brother Wu, please sit down. We have received news that General Zhou Chengquan, the General Who Guards the North, has gone missing on his way to the border, and it has been more than seven days since he disappeared. You should quickly inform Liangshan Marsh and ask them to use their intelligence network to help us check the news in the Jianghu and see if any of the outlaws from any mountain have seen General Zhou."

"So you wanted to find out about the Green Forest bandits? No problem! I'll send a request for help to Liangshan right now. But what was that about you pulling on Shi Niang just now?" Wu Song patted his chest, promising to help find Zhou Chengquan's whereabouts. At the end of his sentence, he remembered that he also needed to help persuade Du Shiniang not to act impulsively.

Seeing that Wu Song had agreed to help find Zhou Chengquan, Du Shiniang quickly pulled him to sit at the table and told him about her desire to go to the palace to see Emperor Huizong and ask him to send officials to find Zhou Chengquan. Wu Song blinked and advised Du Shiniang, "Shiniang, don't you think that General Zhou's disappearance might be because the Emperor fears his military power and wanted to assassinate him on his way to the border?"

"No! You don't know what my sworn brother told me before he left. He said that last time he made a deal with the Emperor to get me out of the Ministry of Justice prison. After that, the Emperor used the matter of bestowing titles on our women's football team to coerce my sworn brother into guarding the border for three years, and he was not allowed to return to the capital without an imperial edict. Since the Emperor has already detained my sworn brother's family in the capital, why would he send someone to secretly kill my sworn brother?" Du Shiniang finally couldn't hold back and truthfully relayed to Lin Chong and Wu Song everything Zhou Chengquan had said to her the night before he left the capital.

Lin Chong and Wu Song exchanged bewildered glances after hearing Du Shiniang's words. If it wasn't the current emperor, then who else would want to harm General Zhou Chengquan, the General Who Guards the North?