According to the rules, each team had ten chances to kick the ball. Ever since Gu Zhan scored, he gradually found his rhythm. In the end, the match ended in a 6–6 draw with Liu Kang.
After the game ended, Liu Kang looked at Gu Zhan with shining eyes, which made Gu Zhan’s scalp tingle. Does this guy have some kind of strange hobby?
The next moment, Liu Kang grabbed Gu Zhan’s hand. Before he could even speak, Gu Zhan quickly shook him off in fright.
“Speak properly. Don’t get handsy.”
Pfft—
Wen Yunyue, who had just walked over, heard this clearly.
In the capital, there were many brothels that kept male courtesans, and relationships between men were not a secret among the nobility.
With Gu Zhan’s words and expression, the meaning was obvious.
Liu Kang’s face instantly darkened. He couldn’t help but curse, “Damn it, I like women.”
He was not into men.
Only then did Gu Zhan realize he had misunderstood. He felt slightly awkward and quickly changed the topic.
“Zichen wanted to say something earlier?”
Liu Kang knew this wasn’t something worth arguing over and said, “Second Master, would you like to join my cuju team?”
“Join a cuju team?”
Gu Zhan had never really considered it before.
Liu Kang nodded. “Yes. If the Second Master joins, you will be the captain.”
Liu Kang truly loved cuju. However, among the nobility, there were very few skilled players. It was rare to find someone like Gu Zhan, so how could he let him go?
As for the captain position, Gu Zhan was a member of the imperial family, so there was no way he could be placed under someone else. As long as Gu Zhan agreed to join, Liu Kang was willing to take orders from him.
Gu Zhan had no official position, and he was the most idle person in the prince’s residence. If he joined the cuju team, it would at least give him something to do. Moreover, cuju was something he genuinely enjoyed.
After thinking it through briefly, Gu Zhan agreed.
Liu Kang was the happiest one after hearing his answer. He had already forgotten how many times he had cursed Gu Zhan in his mind before, and now he laughed.
“With the Second Master joining, our cuju team will surely become famous.”
This wasn’t entirely flattery. Since Gu Lin had caught the emperor’s attention, the Prince’s Estate had been under constant scrutiny. After today, news of Gu Zhan joining Liu Kang’s cuju team would likely spread quickly, and the team would naturally gain fame.
Originally, Gu Zhan planned to continue playing, but Liu Kang insisted on taking him out to celebrate. Gu Zhan had no choice but to follow him back to the city.
Liu Kang glanced at Wen Yunyue beside him and teased, “I know Second Master can’t bear to part with Miss Wen. Why don’t you come along too?”
Gu Zhan widened his eyes. “……”
How did this guy see that he couldn’t bear to part with Wen Yunyue?
Wen Yunyue, however, remained calm and agreed without any change in expression.
Gu Zhan frowned slightly. He still could not understand what Wen Yunyue’s purpose was in sticking so closely to him.
After returning to the capital, they casually entered a decent restaurant.
At the table, Liu Kang began introducing the situation of the cuju team.
The team had only been formed for a little over a month, and the members’ skill levels varied greatly. Liu Kang planned to hold a match soon to select the stronger players as official members.
“Besides me and the Second Master, the rest of the team are commoners. I hope the Second Master won’t mind.”
Gu Zhan shook his head. “I won’t… However, Zichen, have you considered inviting others as well?”
It wasn’t that Gu Zhan held class prejudice, but this world simply worked that way.
In Great Wei, apart from imperial cuju matches, there was also an annual tournament organized by the Ministry of Rites, called the Spring Tournament, held in spring as the name suggested.
Commoners were not allowed to participate in the Spring Tournament. If Gu Zhan wanted to compete, he would need to assemble a cuju team made up of nobles or officials’ sons.
Liu Kang gave a bitter smile. “Of course I tried, but they all refused.”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so excited when Gu Zhan agreed.
Gu Zhan felt troubled as well. Since he had joined the team, he naturally hoped they could participate in more competitions, but those tournaments all had strict status requirements. Their hastily assembled team simply wasn’t qualified.
Wen Yunyue, seeing Gu Zhan’s troubled expression, spoke up.
“May I ask, Young Master Liu, who did you invite before?”
Liu Kang named a few people sons of marquises and earls.
Gu Zhan searched for his memory. Their cuju skills were quite good, but they were proud and rarely played unless it was an imperial event.
“Miss Wen, do you have a suggestion?” Gu Zhan asked.
Wen Yunyue said calmly, “If Second Master does not mind, you may try inviting people of lower status.”
Since they could not invite noble sons, it did not mean they could not invite officials’ children.
Gu Zhan turned to Liu Kang. “What do you think?”
Liu Kang hesitated. “That makes sense… but as far as I know, most skilled players already belong to established teams.”
Talented players had long been recruited by noble households. There was no way they would still be available for Gu Zhan’s team.
Wen Yunyue smiled faintly. “The ones you mentioned earlier should all be legitimate sons, correct?”
Liu Kang nodded. “Yes.”
There was an unbridgeable gap between legitimate sons and illegitimate sons.
“In that case,” Wen Yunyue continued, “if Second Master and Young Master Liu do not mind, you will quickly find the people you need.”
There were far more illegitimate sons than legitimate ones.
Liu Kang was stunned. “Invite illegitimate sons?”
He was the second son of the Liu Duke’s household. Above him was an elder legitimate brother and a half-brother born of a concubine. Because that concubine-born brother once overestimated himself and tried to compete for the heir position, Liu Kang had never had a good impression of illegitimate sons.
But Gu Zhan was different. He had modern thinking and did not care about legitimacy or birth status at all. After hearing Wen Yunyue’s suggestion, he said, “Zichen, since we don’t have other options for now, let’s do as Miss Wen suggests.”
Liu Kang looked at him in disbelief. “Did the Second Master agreed?”
He could not believe Gu Zhan would accept it. Gu Zhan had always been proud and looked down even on many noble sons, let alone illegitimate ones.
Now he was actually willing to form a team with them. Liu Kang even wondered if Gu Zhan had lost his mind.
Gu Zhan looked at him in confusion. “Is there a problem?”
Liu Kang shook his head. “No.”
If Liu Kang could accept commoners, then accepting illegitimate sons was nothing.
After the meal, the two discussed many things. Gu Zhan provided ideas, while Liu Kang executed them.
Wen Yunyue sat quietly to the side, listening. Thinking back to Gu Zhan’s reactions earlier, she became even more certain of her suspicion.
After the meal, they parted ways. It was nearly curfew time, so Wen Yunyue returned to her residence without needing Gu Zhan to remind her.
After returning to the Marquis household, Wen Yunyue dealt with Marquis Yong’an and then returned to her room. She took down a book from the shelf titled Strange Tales. It was a leisure read she often used to pass the time.
One of the stories was called Rebirth Through a Corpse, about a love between a human and a demon. Because human life was fragile, the demon used a forbidden technique to replace the human’s body again and again, allowing him to continue living.
The story said that this technique not only allowed rebirth but also preserved the memories of the original body, making it impossible for others to detect any flaw.
Wen Yunyue flipped to that story again and stared at the title thoughtfully.
“Qiu Lan, do you believe there is such a thing as rebirth through a corpse in this world?”
Qiu Lan had not expected the usually rational Wen Yunyue to ask this. She shook her head. “Probably not. How could something so unbelievable exist?”
People often judged things as impossible simply because they did not align with normal reasoning.
Wen Yunyue said nothing, her gaze fixed on a passage in the book.
The technique was not perfect. It had a fatal flaw. No matter how well the person disguised themselves, even if personality could be perfectly mimicked, handwriting could not be changed.
Everyone’s handwriting carried unique habits that could not be concealed.
Wen Yunyue closed the book. Although logic told her such a thing was impossible, the changes in Gu Zhan were too significant. She did not know how he had deceived Gu Lin, but she still felt something was wrong.
A person who had not experienced any major event suddenly undergoing a drastic personality change was far too abnormal.
In Wen Yunyue’s plan, Gu Zhan was crucial. She had to figure out the relationship between the current Gu Zhan and the former one before she could act accordingly.