Chapter 126 The Cuju Ball Flying Toward Prince Fu

Chapter 126: The Cuju Ball Soars Toward Prince Fu

Qiu Heng smiled at Qiu Song, who was staring at her with eager eyes. "It's true."

Fang Zhou, standing nearby: ?

Qiu Song shook Qiu Feng's arm excitedly. "Second Brother, did you hear that? Sixth Sister really killed a black bear with one slap!"

Qiu Feng looked skeptical.

"Sixth Sister, please take me as your disciple! I want to learn how to kill black bears!" Qiu Song suddenly knelt down and grabbed Qiu Heng's ankle.

Qiu Heng was silent for a moment.

She hadn't expected this Little Fatty to be so ambitious.

"You have to start with the basics first."

Qiu Song looked up. "How do I practice?"

"Find a good martial arts teacher and don't be afraid to work hard."

"I'm not afraid of hard work!" Qiu Song stood up, puffing out his chest. "Once I get the basics down, Sixth Sister, you gotta teach me."

Qiu Heng gave a sweet smile. "Okay."

"Let's go." Qiu Song dragged Qiu Feng away.

Qiu Heng looked at her biological younger brother and suddenly said, "Second Brother can train with Third Brother."

If chaos was unavoidable, people with fighting skills would have a better chance of surviving.

Qiu Feng was stunned. "I... can I?"

"If Sixth Sister says you can, then you can." Before Qiu Heng could say anything, Qiu Song announced loudly.

Dinner was at Qiansong Hall. Everyone from the three branches of the family was there, except for the eldest son, Qiu Yang, who was still at school.

"Qiu Heng saved the little princess of Prince Fu's mansion and got the emperor's praise. Starting next year, everyone in our manor can go to the autumn hunt," Earl Yongqing announced publicly, delighted by this uplifting news.

First Master Qiu smiled and added, "Then we're all basking in Qiu Heng's glory."

Earl Yongqing looked at his grandchildren. "You should all learn from Qiu Heng and always keep the manor in mind."

After dinner, everyone went their separate ways. Third Master Qiu, not wanting to ruin his daughter's mood but still worried, spoke softly, "Qiu Heng, I'm glad you're so skilled, but more than that, I want you to be safe. I don't really care about the autumn hunt."

"Father, don't worry. I'll put safety first."

"That's good."

Back in her room, the First Madam spoke with mixed feelings. "I didn't expect Sixth Girl to be so capable, and now she's the savior of Prince Fu's mansion."

First Master Qiu laughed. "Isn't that a good thing? It benefits our manor in the end."

"Yeah, it's a good thing." The First Madam didn't argue, but she felt uneasy.

It would've been better if her own kids had earned this glory.

Two days later, the Old Madam took Qiu Heng to a banquet at Prince Fu's residence.

On the way, the Old Madam was feeling a bit annoyed.

Twenty years ago—no, ten years ago—mixing with people like Princess Kang and Princess Consort Fu would've been a rare honor and a point of pride.

But at her age, she just wanted to drink tea and eat snacks every day, not waste energy sucking up to people. She never thought Sixth Girl would push her into being more ambitious.

"Qiu Heng, don't talk too much in front of Princess Consort Fu, or you'll make our manor look bad."

"Yes."

The carriage stopped, and the grandmother and granddaughter got out. A steward was already waiting.

"Old Madam, Sixth Miss Qiu, the princess has been looking forward to seeing you."

Princess Consort Fu was waiting in the flower hall. When she heard the Old Madam had arrived, she stood up to welcome her. "Old Madam, please sit. Ever since I was in Dingbei, I've wanted to meet you and thank you. Today, I finally get to."

The Old Madam could tell Princess Consort Fu was sincere and smiled happily. "You're too kind, Your Highness."

"It's not just politeness. I really thank you for raising such a brave and clever granddaughter as Sixth Miss. I only have one daughter, Rong Ning. If anything had happened to her, my world would've fallen apart..."

Beside them, Princess Rongning curtsied to the Old Madam.

The Old Madam's annoyance suddenly faded.

She realized she only hated one-sided flattery; this give-and-take was actually pretty nice.

After the meal, Princess Consort Fu chatted with the Old Madam over tea, and Princess Rongning invited Qiu Heng to play in the garden.

"This is where I practice cuju," Princess Rongning said, pointing to an open space in the garden. "Want to have a match?"

"Sure."

Seeing Qiu Heng agree so quickly, Princess Rongning smiled and clapped her hands. Two teams of maidservants came over.

"Let's go." Princess Rongning tossed the cuju ball high up.

When it came to cuju skill, Princess Rongning was better, but Qiu Heng had martial arts training. Even when she tried to hide it, her strength and agility weren't far off.

The two teams were evenly matched, and the game got intense.

Princess Rongning was in high spirits, feeling totally pumped.

"Watch this!" She did a backflip and kicked the ball toward the high goal in the air.

Qiu Heng jumped up, caught the ball, and kicked it hard.

The ball shot like a meteor, flying over everyone's heads and out of the area.

"Watch out!" Princess Rongning shouted instinctively, just as a guard behind Prince Fu moved quickly to block the ball.

Prince Fu stopped and looked their way.

Princess Rongning walked up to him with a smile. "Father, did I scare you?"

"Rongning, playing cuju again?"

Just then, Qiu Heng came over and curtsied to Prince Fu. "I disturbed you, Your Highness. Please forgive me."

Prince Fu waved his hand with a chuckle. "No harm done. So, Sixth Miss Qiu, you're good at cuju too?"

"I just mess around a bit."

"If you can go toe-to-toe with Rong Ning, you must be quite skilled."

"Father, aren't you just bragging about yourself?"

"Haha, isn't it only natural for a dad to be proud his daughter's good at cuju?" Prince Fu's tone was full of affection.

Princess Rongning shot a curious glance at the Taoist next to Prince Fu: "Father, are you going out?"

"A new True Man just showed up at Lingwei Temple—really deep into Daoist arts. I'm heading over to pay him a visit." Prince Fu nodded to Princess Rongning and Qiu Heng. "You girls keep playing, just watch out you don't get hurt."

Even after Prince Fu was long gone, Qiu Heng's eyes still followed him.

"Miss Qiu, what are you staring at?" Princess Rongning asked with a smile.

Qiu Heng quickly made up an excuse: "The Taoist by the prince's side looks familiar, as if I've seen him before."

She'd purposely kicked the cuju ball over there, just to get a look at the Taoist accompanying Prince Fu.

She had thought it over repeatedly—given her master's knowledge and skills, there's no way he was a nobody. The capital was moving south in just a few years, and by then, even without the title of National Preceptor, her master must've been connected to the power center of Great Xia.

That's why she had to keep an eye on any Taoist hanging around the nobility.

"That Taoist is from Lingwei Temple. You might've seen him there, Miss Qiu." Princess Rongning, who had little interest in Buddhism or Daoism, extended an invitation to Qiu Heng. "Come on, let's have another match."

On the way back to Earl Yongqing's mansion, Qiu Heng asked the old lady, "Grandmother, have you ever been to Lingwei Temple?"

She had to go see this new True Man with profound Daoist skills.

"Yes, I've been there. It's on West Mountain." The old lady asked curiously, "Why the sudden interest in Lingwei Temple?"

"Today, while playing cuju with Princess Rongning, I nearly hit Prince Fu. I heard him mention going to Lingwei Temple, so I was just curious."

The old lady choked, her throat tightening: "You nearly hit Prince Fu with your cuju ball?"

Good heavens, she'd thought this trip was going way too smoothly—so this was the catch!