Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Hasalawa was injured by the magic ball, while Du Rushuang easily dodged the bladed projectiles. Mohart watched from the sidelines of the football field, utterly puzzled. The magic ball's mechanism was clearly not broken; blades flew out of the ball every time it was kicked, yet why couldn't it harm Du Rushuang? Although he had heard that Du Rushuang knew martial arts and was quite skilled at football, there was no way she could change the ball's trajectory. Mohart was completely baffled.

In the end, Du Rushuang scored significantly more goals than Hasalawa, winning the one-on-one Cuju challenge for the day. Yelü Wen ignored the dejected Hasalawa and went straight to Du Rushuang, saying, "Shuang'er, you're amazing! You managed to easily avoid the hidden weapons shot out by the 'Dark Ball'."

"Yelü Wen, you're finally admitting that the golden football ball you just saw was a ghost ball? How did you Jin people acquire the technology to make ghost balls?" Du Rushuang grabbed Yelü Wen's sleeve tightly and questioned him.

Yelü Wen looked innocently into Du Rushuang's excited eyes and said weakly, "Shuang'er, I really didn't know that Hasalawa and the others would use the Nether Sphere to test you. I also don't know where Mohat got the Nether Sphere manufacturing blueprints from. You have to believe me!"

Seeing Yelü Wen's excitement and sincere tone, Du Rushuang felt that Yelü Wen had no reason to hide anything about the stolen blueprints for the celestial ball. So she said to him, "Awen, now that I've defeated Hasalawa, I'm going back to Zixiang Pavilion with my sister and Coach Lin today. The time for the Cuju match between the two countries is running out, and I want to go back and focus on training in Cuju."

Yelü Wen knew that Du Rushuang had made up her mind to leave the inn where the Jin delegation was staying. But the thought of parting with the woman he loved made him very reluctant. He embraced Du Rushuang and said to her gently, "Okay! If you want to focus on your training, I won't stop you. But you have to promise me that you won't stop me from climbing over the wall at night to go to Zixiang Pavilion to find Dai."

Yelü Wen deliberately whispered his last words close to Du Rushuang's ear. Du Shiniang, Lin Chong, and the others standing nearby couldn't hear what they whispered, but they saw Du Rushuang blush deeply and then nod slightly.

A while later, just as Du Rushuang was about to return to Zixiang Pavilion with Du Shiniang, she was blocked by Hasalawa again at the gate of the post station. Hasalawa put his hands on his hips and loudly questioned Du Rushuang: "Du Rushuang, why did you focus on attacking my left side when you were kicking the ball into the starting position? Who told you that my left hand is not flexible?"

"No one gave me any hints. I figured it out myself from the first two balls. You, this Jin woman, react a little slower with your left hand than your right," Du Rushuang replied calmly. Then she turned and quickened her pace, leaving Hasalawa standing there, gritting her teeth, looking like she had lost and was unwilling to accept it.

Seeing this, Mohat stepped forward and patted Hasalawa on the shoulder to comfort her, saying, "Don't be angry! Cuju is ultimately a team sport, not a one-on-one match. In about ten days, we will be able to officially compete against these Song women in Cuju. Then you can get your revenge for today's arrow."

"Coach Mo, can we really win? If we lose, we might be severely punished by our king when we return home. Are you really fully prepared?" Hasalawa blinked and asked Mohat with a doubt.

“Hassalva, please believe in me, and more importantly, believe in yourself!” Mohart replied solemnly, his brow furrowed.

As soon as Du Shiniang, Lin Chong, and the others returned to Zixiang Pavilion, they saw the steward Xu Gui pulling Yang Bingnan aside to discuss something in hushed tones. Lin Chong sat on a wide-backed mahogany chair in the main hall, then secretly instructed Xu Gui to report to him on the news from the martial arts world over the past few days. He and Du Shiniang had a clear division of labor: Lin Chong was responsible for collecting news from the martial arts world, while Du Shiniang personally oversaw the information from the imperial court.

After Lin Chong finished his business with Xu Gui, he hurried to Qixia Hall to find Du Shiniang. Seeing Lin Chong's ashen face and uneasy expression, Du Shiniang knew something serious must have happened. Upon asking, she learned that Shen Daoyuan had led troops to the border but was ambushed on the way. Fortunately, Lin Chong had informed Liangshan Marsh to secretly protect Shen Daoyuan, thus saving his life.

“Brother Lin, I find the ambush of Lord Shen very suspicious. How did those thieves manage to steal Lord Shen’s route map to the border? I don’t think the court would have leaked the information. How exactly was the route map leaked?” Du Shiniang asked Lin Chong with a puzzled look.

“I don’t know either. Lord Shen specifically sent his deputy, Wu En, to give me his marching route map. He also suggested that my friends in the Green Forest should secretly protect them. If the route map has been leaked, it can only mean that there is a traitor in our Zixiang Pavilion,” Lin Chong said to Du Shiniang with a tense face.

"If that's the case, could the ambush that my sworn brother Zhou Chengquan suffered last time also be related to this traitor within Zixiang Pavilion? I must capture this person and avenge my sworn brother!" Du Shiniang said loudly, gritting her teeth.

"There are fifty or sixty people in Zixiang Pavilion, big and small, plus the spies running around outside. Where should we start our investigation?" Lin Chong asked Du Shiniang with a bewildered look.

Just then, someone knocked on the door. Du Shiniang quickly called out, "Who is it? Don't you know I'm discussing important matters with Instructor Lin?"

"Shi Niang, it's me. Shen Lang sent someone to secretly deliver a letter to me. I want to show it to you. This matter is extremely urgent." Chai Nianci said loudly from outside the door, as if afraid that the people inside the room would not hear her.

Du Shiniang rushed to open the door and welcomed Chai Nianci into the room. Chai Nianci handed Du Shiniang the letter Shen Daoyuan had written to her. It turned out that Shen Daoyuan had deliberately sent his military route map to Zixiang Pavilion because he also suspected there was a traitor within the pavilion; otherwise, Zhou Chengquan wouldn't have been attacked by the Jin. This time, he had infiltrated the situation to lure out the traitor within Zixiang Pavilion. He had already identified two suspects: a senior advisor and the manager, Liu Guangfu.

However, Shen Daoyuan was unable to determine which of the two was the real mole, and he needed Du Shiniang's assistance in investigating the matter. Gao Can's closest confidante within the Zixiang Pavilion was Zou Xiaoyan, but Du Shiniang rarely revealed the pavilion's secrets to Zou Xiaoyan; she considered her only a sister and didn't need her to extract information about people in the court.

However, perhaps Gao Can bribed the servants or maids in Zixiang Pavilion; otherwise, Shen Daoyuan wouldn't have suspected him. Besides, Gao Can and Shen Daoyuan were on opposing sides before the Emperor, and they had argued and fought over duties in front of the Emperor many times. Du Shiniang thought it over and decided that she should discuss with Lin Chong how to test Gao Can; that fellow was too cunning.

As for Liu Guangfu, Du Shiniang knew he was grateful to Zhou Chengquan for saving his life in the palace, so logically, Liu Guangfu wouldn't betray Zhou Chengquan. Besides, Liu Guangfu was only in charge of the kitchen and food procurement at Wangyue Tower, and Du Shiniang rarely involved him in court affairs. She didn't know why Shen Daoyuan would suspect him of this matter.

After Du Shiniang shared her thoughts with Lin Chong, Lin Chong recalled that when Wu En gave him Shen Daoyuan's marching route map, the two had arranged to have breakfast at Wangyue Tower. At that time, Liu Guangfu personally served them seafood porridge and meat buns. Liu Guangfu had been eating breakfast behind them while they were talking.

"Shi Niang, do you think Liu Guangfu might have overheard Wu En and me talking that morning, stolen the blueprints from Wu En, made a copy, and then returned them?" Lin Chong told Du Shiniang his guess.

“Possibly! But why would Steward Liu steal Lord Shen’s marching route map? What benefit would he gain from doing this? Besides, General Zhou was kind to him; he shouldn’t repay kindness with enmity.” Du Shiniang murmured softly as she lowered her eyes in thought. “Let me think, Brother Lin, do you think it’s possible that Steward Liu has some kind of leverage that someone with ulterior motives has been able to exploit?”