Chapter 328: Charity Match (2)

Disappointment, boredom, shouting, sighs.

In that instant when the ball was kicked off, the audience’s emotional transformation was so swift that many couldn’t react in time.

Xu Zhiqian was like this, and Chen Maoqian, Fan Yong, and others were even more so.

They looked at the frenzied audience members and couldn’t help but be completely bewildered, while the same thought arose in their minds.

Were all these people actors hired by Zhang San?

How could the change be so dramatic?

However, the audience themselves hadn’t realized how crazy they had been just moments before. They simply saw people tumbling over, especially when Imperial Guards Cavalry pressed forward aggressively, and couldn’t help but shout out instinctively.

Before one wave had settled, another arose.

Before the goalkeeper had even kicked the ball, Cao Dongdong, who had gotten up from the ground, suddenly charged toward the main referee, his face twisted with rage as he roared.

“You damned blind fool! They fouled me so badly and you didn’t blow the whistle. What kind of useless waste did Zhang San teach you to be!”

The players from the police bureau side also ran toward the main referee.

Ma Xiaoyi led the charge, unleashing a tirade at the main referee: “You bird-brain, do you even know how to blow a whistle? If you don’t, go home and practice with a pig’s bladder. Brother San’s asshole could blow better than you!”

The Imperial Guard team members also rushed over quickly.

“Young master, Little Ma, what’s this? Can’t handle losing so you want to threaten the referee?”

“Your mother’s! It was you, you damned convict soldier, who fouled me just now!”

Cao Dongdong pointed at a dark-faced young man and cursed angrily.

The dark-faced young man chuckled: “If you’re afraid of being fouled, why play? Go play old football with the Qi family brothers instead – that game suits noble young masters.”

“You bird police should stop playing ball and go back to shoveling manure.”

“Haha!”

Usually everyone feared the young masters, but once on the field, nobody backed down from anyone. This was all thanks to Zhang Fei setting a good precedent – during training, he often exchanged insults with the young masters, and seeing this, everyone else joined in the trash talk. As they kept at it, it became tradition.

Various insults continued on the field while the crowd outside kept fanning the flames. Seeing the players from both sides pushing and shoving each other, the audience stood up and joined in the verbal assault.

“They’re fighting! They’re fighting!”

“Beat those bird police to death!”

“Hit them!”

“So what if you’re a young master? Get him!”

The scene immediately became extremely chaotic.

Hearing those offensive words, Empress Dowager Cao glanced at Zhang Fei, who was standing obediently beside her, and was about to ask: “Is this what you call fighting spirit?”

Before she could speak, she heard her nephew Cao Ping shouting at the Imperial Guard Cavalry Commander Wang Chao: “You damned bastard, you definitely sent people to target my son on purpose!”

Wang Chao retorted: “The referee didn’t blow for a foul, so what grounds do you have for saying that?”

Cao Ping then turned to Zhang Fei: “What kind of bird rules did you set?”

“Uh…”

“Ping’er.”

Empress Dowager Cao held her forehead and said: “Your aunt is getting a headache now. Why don’t you all go argue outside?”

Cao Ping suddenly came to his senses – his aunt was here. He quickly said: “Aunt, please forgive me. I was just worried about Dong’er.”

Empress Dowager Cao frowned and shook her head. Her nephew was like this by nature, so she couldn’t really blame Zhang Fei.

Hanlin Academy Academician Zhang Ban said: “This football is too barbaric – even the streets are more civilized than this.”

Starting off like this from the opening – wasn’t this barbaric enough?

“Can this game even continue?”

Empress Dowager Cao couldn’t help but ask Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei said sheepishly: “In response to the Empress Dowager, this can’t be blamed on me. This is only because of the grudges between the Imperial Guard Cavalry and the police bureau, but I believe they’ll soon back down and continue playing.”

“Is that so?”

Empress Dowager Cao didn’t quite believe it.

Suddenly, the main referee reached into his chest, and the situation on the field immediately changed dramatically. The players who had been surrounding the referee scattered like birds and beasts.

“Wait, wait! Don’t pull out the card! I was just saying that you need to pay attention and look more carefully. I didn’t… didn’t mean anything else!”

Cao Dongdong immediately panicked terribly.

After all, during training, he was the one who got sent off the most, so he was all too familiar with this gesture.

But today he absolutely couldn’t be sent off so quickly.

“If you don’t get back to your positions right now, I’ll have you sitting on the sidelines.”

This referee was personally trained by Zhang Fei, and his temper was quite explosive too.

In an instant, players from both sides returned to the field and lined up again.

The audience seats erupted in another round of boos.

Empress Dowager Cao asked in surprise, “What happened?”

Zhang Fei smiled and said, “This is what I meant by rules – organized savagery with rules is called fighting spirit.”

Empress Dowager Cao remained silent, clearly not agreeing with this view.

Back at midfield, Cao Dongdong immediately whispered to a teammate, “Pass me the ball in a moment.”

“Young Master, they’re playing so rough, maybe we shouldn’t…”

“They’re rough, but I’m even rougher. Just pass me the ball – I want to teach them a proper lesson.”

“Yes.”

With the sound of the whistle, the match resumed.

Cao Dongdong first passed the ball to winger Li Ping, then quickly ran forward. Li Ping didn’t stop the ball and directly passed it back to Cao Dongdong.

After receiving the ball, Cao Dongdong was immediately pressed by two players. He turned around, shielding the ball with his back, then suddenly flicked it up with his toe, spun around and accelerated, threading between the two defending players.

Even the spectators supporting the Imperial Guards team couldn’t help but shout, “Beautiful!”

Quick as lightning, a defending player came flying in with a sliding tackle – it was that dark-faced young man again.

“Brother, watch out!” Ma Xiaoyi shouted.

A fierce glint flashed in Cao Dongdong’s eyes. He kicked the ball forward, leaped high into the air, spun 720 degrees with an added somersault, and crashed heavily onto his back.

“Ow! Ow! It hurts so much! It hurts so much! Woo woo woo, my leg is broken, broken, broken!”

Cao Dongdong clutched his legs and rolled around on the ground.

“…?”

The dark-faced young man was completely dumbfounded!

“Brother!”

“Young Master!”

Ma Xiaoyi and the other players rushed over.

The referee’s whistle immediately sounded.

“Dong’er!”

Cao Ping suddenly stood up and said to Wang Chao, “If anything happens to my son, I won’t let you off.”

Wang Chao was somewhat confused – that tackle seemed a bit too vicious.

Fan Zhen snorted, “This isn’t playing ball, it’s attacking people.”

Only Zhang Fei showed a puzzled expression, thinking to himself that this diving technique wasn’t something he had taught, and he couldn’t have performed such a beautiful fall either.

Although he hadn’t seen clearly either, if it were real, there was no need for such a spectacular fall.

It was a textbook diving performance.

The referee rushed over and immediately showed a yellow card to the dark-faced young man.

The dark-faced young man was so frustrated he was jumping on the spot, “Referee, I’m innocent! I didn’t even touch him – he’s faking it! Young Master, if you’re a real man, stand up!”

Cao Dongdong continued rolling around on the ground, “Ow! It hurts so much! It hurts so much!”

“You’re still pretending?”

The dark-faced young man rushed forward to pull Cao Dongdong up.

“Don’t you dare touch my brother!” Ma Xiaoyi pushed the dark-faced young man away with both hands, then quickly bent down to ask, “Brother, are you alright?”

Cao Dongdong winked at him.

“Brother…”

Ma Xiaoyi immediately started crying, “Brother, you died so tragically! Cough, cough, cough – no, no, no – Brother, is your leg broken?”

“Mm!”

“Don’t be afraid, Brother. From now on, Little Ma will carry you to the Moon Attainment Inn on his back, woo woo woo!”

Hearing actual wailing from the field, Empress Dowager Cao felt her heart wrench and asked, “Ping’er, shouldn’t you go take a look?”

“Yes.”

Cao Ping immediately said, “I’ll go check on him right away.”

He was extremely worried too.

“Cough, cough, cough!”

Zhang Fei suddenly had a coughing fit.

Cao Ping glanced at Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei winked.

Wang Chao saw this and immediately said, “Oh, Dong’er is faking it.”

“Faking it?”

Empress Dowager Cao was taken aback.

“So he was faking it.” Emperor Zhao Xu suddenly became excited, “What an excellent use of tactical deception!”

“…?”

The stand immediately fell silent.

The Song Emperor wasn’t reading literature – he was studying military tactics.

This was really…!

Emperor Zhao Xu also realized his words were somewhat inappropriate, so he changed the subject, “Zhang San, what does that yellow card mean?”

Zhang Fei quickly explained.

Zhao Xu nodded, “No wonder they scattered like frightened birds when the referee reached into his pocket earlier. I see, interesting! Very interesting!”

What was so interesting about it?

The group of civil officials looked at Zhao Xu with dejection.

“Young Master, can you still play?”

As the police team’s players blocked the Imperial Guard players, the referee came to Cao Dongdong’s side.

The crying stopped abruptly, and Cao Dongdong said, “Let me try.”

“Brother, let me help you up.”

Ma Xiaoyi supported Cao Dongdong as he stood up. Cao Dongdong tested his foot, then said to the referee, “I’m much better now.”

“See! I told you he was faking it. I didn’t even touch him,” the dark-faced young man said angrily.

The referee looked at Cao Dongdong with disdain, blew his whistle, and gestured to indicate a free kick.

These players had all been trained by Zhang Fei, so when the whistle sounded, they automatically positioned themselves in formation.

In the stands, seeing that Cao Dongdong was perfectly fine, the audience understood what had happened and immediately erupted in boos – they hadn’t been supporting the police team to begin with.

“Commissioner Cao, what a fine son you’ve raised!” Wang Chao said sarcastically.

Cao Ping chuckled, “His Majesty said that deception is fair in war. I really don’t know how the Cavalry Commander trains his troops.”

Sima Guang suddenly asked, “What are they doing?”

“They’re about to take a free kick.”

Zhang Fei quickly explained to them.

Empress Dowager Cao knew about free kicks, but seeing the Imperial Guard players line up in front of the penalty area, she asked, “Is this how they defend against shots?”

Zhang Fei hurriedly replied, “No, this formation is only used to defend against free kick shots.”

Emperor Zhao Xu wondered, “How can they shoot when they’re blocking like this?”

Zhang Fei said, “They can still shoot.”

With such a tight wall, how could anyone shoot?

Everyone looked toward the field with great curiosity.

Cao Dongdong and Ma Xiaoyi stood in front of the ball.

“Brother, they definitely expect you to shoot. Why don’t we surprise them and let me take it instead?” Ma Xiaoyi’s eyes darted around as he spoke.

Cao Dongdong snorted, “How could that be possible? This is a free kick I earned by taking that fall. You stay put. At this distance, they can’t stop me.”

Ma Xiaoyi said, “Then I’ll take the next one.”

“Fall down yourself then.”

“Fine, I will!”

With the whistle’s sound, the two separated. Cao Dongdong eyed the wall, his face full of confidence. After a few running steps, he lifted his leg and struck.

These were old opponents – the Imperial Guard players had anticipated that Cao Dongdong would take this kick himself. This fellow’s footwork was indeed troublesome, so they all jumped in unison.

The ball soared high over the wall.

“What a pity!”

Empress Dowager Cao could see it was too high.

But before she finished speaking, the ball, after clearing the wall, dropped sharply and headed straight for the near corner of the goal.

The goalkeeper seemed to have guessed correctly and dove for it, but the angle was simply too sharp – he came up just an inch short.

The ball hit the net!

The booing in the stadium stopped abruptly.

“Beautiful!”

Emperor Zhao Xu immediately stood up excitedly, pumping his fist and shouting loudly.

That shot was truly magnificent.

Zhang Fei watched with tears in his eyes – so this was where the Chinese national team’s hope lay, in the Northern Song!

He had to admit, that footwork was absolutely beautiful!

Considering the many flaws in today’s leather balls, Cao Dongdong had still managed to shoot such a perfect curved shot.

Wang Chao gritted his teeth, “What are they doing?” Then he angrily complained to Zhang Fei, “Your free kick rule isn’t fair – how can you let someone take it so leisurely?”

Zhang Fei replied sheepishly, “The rules are fair for both sides.”

“Goal!”

Cao Dongdong shouted excitedly, then ran straight toward the stands, arrogantly yelling, “All you bastards shut the hell up!”

Ma Xiaoyi also rushed over, shouting at the spectators, “Keep booing! Why don’t you keep booing? Have you all gone mute?”

“Cheater! That goal was a fraud.”

“A gentleman is open and at ease, while petty men are always worried. You petty people won’t be arrogant for much longer.”

“Cavalry Commander, teach these bird-cops a good lesson.”

The spectators were not to be trifled with either, and immediately roared back angrily.

When Cao Dongdong heard this, he directly twisted his buttocks and, in front of several spectators, swayed the “injured leg” from earlier, as if saying, “I did cheat, so bite me!”

The spectators were instantly completely enraged.

How arrogant could he be?

Next, the Imperial Guard team began their attack. Just as the kickoff started, the entire stadium erupted in hoarse cheering.

After several passes, a Guard winger suddenly accelerated and, relying on speed, directly broke away from the opposing defender.

The cheering immediately reached its peak.

“Ah!”

Some spectators roared with fierce expressions.

Even Empress Dowager Cao seemed infected by the atmosphere, clenching her fists tightly and praying they wouldn’t score.

Just as they reached the goal line, the opponent made a high cross into the penalty area.

Looking into the penalty box, the opposing players were all tall fellows about six feet in height.

At the far post, a Guard midfielder leaped high and headed the ball, sending it straight toward the corner.

At the critical moment, the opposing goalkeeper dove over and blocked the ball out, while a defender reacted quickly and immediately cleared it with a big kick.

“What the hell! How did that not go in?”

“Isn’t this football? How can that guy use his hands?”

“Foul! That guy fouled! Referee, are you blind?”

“If you can’t officiate, let me do it.”

But there was no time for lamenting, as the spectators immediately began booing frantically again.

The booing was deafening.

It turned out that after the clearance, the ball landed right at the feet of a police team player, who immediately passed it to midfielder Cao Dongdong, and Cao Dongdong directly passed it to Ma Xiaoyi.

Compared to Cao Dongdong’s nimble movements, Ma Xiaoyi pursued speed more. Perhaps from being chased and beaten by his father since childhood, his speed was indeed astonishing. He kicked the ball about ten feet ahead, then buried his head and sprinted like a lone cavalry charge toward the opposing penalty area, with three Guard defenders immediately surrounding and pursuing him.

“Son! Charge! Charge!”

Ma Tianhao jumped up directly, shouting loudly.

Under the pavilion, Emperor Zhao Xu and Cao Ping also shouted, “Charge, charge, charge!”

The speed was so exciting to watch.

Sima Guang and Wang Anshi felt that this usually refined and scholarly emperor seemed like a completely different person.

This football must be poisonous!

Ma Xiaoyi reached the edge of the penalty area and unleashed a powerful shot with tremendous force.

Unfortunately, it was shot too straight and was blocked by the goalkeeper.

But it still gave everyone a cold sweat.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my! That scared me to death! That scared me to death. So terrifying, how did that brat run so fast? Oh my!”

Wang Chao was seen clutching his heart, collapsing into his chair, moaning continuously.

Everyone looked at this fellow with mixed feelings of laughter and tears – such a dignified commander actually being frightened like this.

Wang Chao couldn’t care about appearances anymore; he was indeed thoroughly frightened.