Lin Chong's Women's Cuju Team

Seeing Ning Zhanyan take the antidote pill, Chen Jinhuan finally breathed a sigh of relief. She grabbed Ning Zhan's hand and ran towards the football field, saying as she ran, "Sixth Brother, let's meet up with Coach Lin and Brother Wu first. There's strength in numbers, isn't there?"

Ning Zhanyan said softly, "Okay!"

At that time, the Wolf King saw that the football field was burning with a sudden fire and thick smoke. He ordered his men to detonate several underground traps. The ministers on the viewing platform were so frightened that they ran away with their heads in their hands, screaming and making a complete mess of things.

The Wolf King pressed his broadsword against Emperor Huizong's neck again and said to him in a sinister tone, "My esteemed Your Majesty, the game is now over. Both the Song and Jin sides have scored four goals, so we are tied again. What do you think we should do next?"

Emperor Huizong was terrified by the scene of the Jin woman setting herself on fire and the current chaos. He replied in a trembling voice, "Do as Your Majesty wishes, and I will grant your request!"

Heh! The Wolf King chuckled twice, but his laughter was cunning and arrogant. He quickly beckoned Gao Qiu to bring out the imperial edict he had prepared earlier, forcing Emperor Huizong of Song to sign it and admit defeat in today's football match between Song and Jin, and to hand over the three cities and the gold and silver treasures mentioned earlier to the Jin Kingdom.

However, to Emperor Huizong's surprise, Gao Qiu handed him another imperial edict after he signed it. It was an abdication edict, which forced him to admit his incompetence and that he had lost three cities to the Jin Dynasty because of his addiction to Cuju (an ancient Chinese football game). Therefore, he was to repent and pass the throne to his five-year-old ninth prince, and appoint Gao Qiu as regent.

This was clearly a scheme by Gao Qiu and the Wolf King to seize his imperial power, but unable to do so directly, they used his five-year-old son as a puppet – the old trick of "holding the emperor hostage to command the princes." Thinking of this, Emperor Huizong was furious, regretting his past blindness in believing in the loyalty of Gao Qiu and his son, and agreeing to a football match against the Jin team, thus falling into Gao Qiu and the Wolf King's trap.

Seeing that Emperor Huizong was hesitant to sign the abdication edict, Gao Qiu impatiently urged, "Your Majesty, this is the most dignified ending for you. If you do not cooperate, I can personally send you on your way. The result will be the same. Don't you understand now that the Song court has long been under my control?"

"You...you traitor! You sellout!" Emperor Huizong of Song was so angry that he threw the abdication edict on the ground and pointed at Gao Qiu's nose, cursing him loudly.

Seeing Emperor Huizong berate Gao Qiu and throw away the imperial edict, Xiao Minghao picked it up and glanced at it. He discovered that Gao Qiu indeed wanted to become regent and force Emperor Huizong to abdicate. He and Gao Qiu and his son were already at odds, and now that he knew they were colluding with the Wolf King of the Jin Dynasty, his father-in-law's previous dealings with the Jin crown prince were all for naught. They would certainly be suppressed by Gao Qiu and his son from now on.

Thinking this through, Xiao Minghao steeled his resolve. He couldn't let Gao Qiu succeed today, no matter what. He was protecting Emperor Huizong, and he was willing to gamble his future and his life. Therefore, he proposed to Gao Qiu:

"Lord Gao, may I offer some advice to His Majesty? However, this is not the place to speak, and the imperial edict and abdication decree still require the imperial seal to be valid. Perhaps I could take His Majesty to obtain the seal? I wonder if Lord Gao would grant me this opportunity?"

Gao Qiu glanced at Xiao Minghao with disdain and said to him in a lukewarm tone, "Lord Xiao is indeed wise, knowing the principle that a good bird chooses a good tree to perch on. Very well! I will give you this opportunity. Quickly take His Majesty to retrieve the Imperial Seal."

Gao Qiu hasn't even received the abdication edict yet, and he's already referring to himself as "this king"—how arrogant!

However, Xiao Minghao didn't want to waste any more words with him, so he simply grabbed Emperor Huizong's hand and turned to walk towards the palace gate of the Cuju field.

Emperor Huizong resisted Xiao Minghao's attempt to take his hand, and cursed, "I never thought you, Xiao Minghao, would also join Gao Qiu and his son in rebellion! I really misjudged you! I should understand one thing: if you could abandon your wife and children back then, then you can betray me today."

"I was truly blind; I couldn't judge people properly!"

"Let me go, Xiao Minghao, you traitorous scoundrel!"

Seeing this, Xiao Minghao quickly grabbed Emperor Huizong's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Your Majesty, if you have a chance to escape later, I'll hold off the pursuers for you." Emperor Huizong was startled. He exchanged a glance with Xiao Minghao and noticed a glint in the other's eyes. He was half-believing and half-doubting, but he still took a step forward and followed Xiao Minghao.

"Halt, Xiao Minghao! I'm sending Mu Shen with you and that dog emperor to retrieve the Imperial Seal!" The Wolf King grabbed Xiao Minghao by the collar, preventing him from taking Emperor Huizong away. Xiao Minghao breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the Wolf King hadn't directly refused his request to take Emperor Huizong, but had instead sent men to keep a close watch on them.

"Xiao Minghao, I will trust you this once, out of our past service as officials in the same court. If you dare to deceive me and the Wolf King, I will surely cut off your head!" Gao Qiu threatened Xiao Minghao.

"This humble official would never dare to deceive Your Highness and the Wolf King," Xiao Minghao said to Gao Qiu and the Wolf King with the respect due to a subject, appearing sincere.

Just then, Ning Zhanyan was pulling Chen Jinhuan, trying to reunite with Lin Chong and the others, when he saw Xiao Minghao pulling Emperor Huizong towards the palace gate of the Cuju field. He murmured, "The opportunity has come! Let's hurry."

"What opportunity?" Chen Jinhuan asked, puzzled.

“Jin’er, look, Xiao Minghao is taking His Majesty away from the Wolf King’s control. We can do this and that…” Ning Zhanyan told Chen Jinhuan about his plan to save the Emperor, and Chen Jinhuan nodded in agreement as she listened.

After a brief conversation, the two parted ways. Chen Jinhuan sought help from Lin Chong and the others, while Ning Zhanyan went to pursue Xiao Minghao and Emperor Huizong of Song.

At this moment, much of the smoke from the self-immolation of the Jin Dynasty witch on the Cuju field had been dispersed by the north wind. Lin Chong also noticed that Xiao Minghao was pulling Emperor Huizong towards the palace gate of the Cuju field. He discussed with Du Shiniang:

"Shi Niang, look in the distance, aren't those two His Majesty and Xiao Minghao? They seem to be trying to escape the football field. We can take this opportunity to rescue him."

Du Shiniang looked into the distance and spotted two figures as Lin Chong had described. She said to Lin Chong, "Brother Lin, I just heard that the Wolf King has buried a lot of ghost balls in this football field and under the stands. We don't know when the Wolf King will detonate these ghost balls again, but I don't think he will kill His Majesty for the time being. Let's run away in the direction His Majesty is going, but be prepared that we may be injured by the ghost balls at any time."

Lin Chong grabbed Du Shiniang's hand and tried to turn and run away, but Yelü Wen noticed him and stepped forward to warn the two sternly, "Instructor Lin, Du Shiniang, I advise you not to act rashly! My godfather sent someone to tell me that he only allowed Xiao Minghao to take the Emperor back to the palace to retrieve the imperial seal. You're not trying to save the Emperor, are you?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Chong quickly waved his hand and said, "No! Lord Yelü misunderstood. Just now, Shi Niang said she was a little hungry. After all, we had just had a fierce football match, and I wanted to take her to the tent over there to find something to eat."

Yelü Wen looked at Lin Chong and Du Shiniang with suspicion, then coldly ordered his guards to bring them some pastries and fruit. Lin Chong and Du Shiniang could only temporarily abandon their thoughts of escaping and rescuing the emperor, and wait and see.

The Wolf King's eyes were fixed on the departing figures of Xiao Minghao and Emperor Huizong, fearing they might escape. Suddenly, a Song soldier with an arrow in his chest staggered closer and fell in front of him. He quickly ordered his men to help the imperial guard up and asked, "Who are you? Why were you shot?"

"Your Highness, I am a Jin soldier guarding the west gate of the capital, but... I was disguised as a Song soldier. Just now, the west gate was suddenly breached by a Song army. The leader of that Song army was... a young general... I think his surname was Shen. Our men are either dead or wounded. I'm keeping my breath... just to send a message to... Your Highness." The soldier who had been shot with an arrow died after saying these words.

The Wolf King was taken aback. A young general surnamed Shen? Could it be Shen Daoyuan returning to the capital to rescue the emperor? Impossible! Could their plan have been leaked today? The Wolf King lowered his eyes and thought it over for a moment, realizing that there was only one person who could have leaked their plan: Ning Zhanyan. No wonder he was so easily captured and used to threaten Chen Jinhuan and Ning Zhanshuang; it turned out he already had a way to deal with him.

So, Emperor Huizong's demand for a final shooting match between the two countries was definitely a deliberate delay tactic; he wanted to wait for Shen Daoyuan to rescue him. No way! This needs to end quickly. Once that dog of an emperor has finished preparing the imperial edict and decree, I'll just blow up this football field and let them all die here.