It’s hard to break a phoenix’s destiny

Chapter 497 Who Really Cares About Cockfighting

After the queen left, the atmosphere became a little awkward.

Sima Chi sat in the main seat, looked at the people in front of him, and suddenly said, "Let those women leave the palace. There is no place for them here."

After these words were spoken, everyone was stunned again.

That group of women... there were quite a few of them. Sima Chi and them were happily drinking, eating meat and singing songs last night, why didn't they want to do that today?

Because Sima Chi was missing Chief Steward Yang, there was no one to take charge of many things, so the palace servants around him looked at each other, not knowing what to do.

Du Jian had no choice but to step forward bravely and said to Zhao Huanyong, the leader of the Red Spear Army, "General Zhao, please help clean up the scene. The cockfight will officially begin soon."

"Okay." Zhao Huanxiong was very straightforward. He knew that he was the one who would do this anyway. Of course, these women were not simply asked to leave the palace. Because they had physical contact with the emperor, if the emperor didn't want them, they would definitely die. It was a pity that the women didn't understand and still expressed their love to Sima Chi in a coquettish way.

After all the women were "cleaned up", the makeshift cockfighting arena finally became quiet.

Sima Chi looked at Yang Xianrong and asked, "Why doesn't Queen Hui come over and sit? It's still a little cold today. There is a charcoal brazier here to keep warm."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Yang Xianrong smiled slightly, "I'll just stand here so I can see more clearly."

"Oh?" Sima Chi also laughed, "Queen Hui is good at choosing a place."

Yang Xianrong didn't pay any more attention to him, but just replied with a smile, then found a sunny and warm place to sit down, squinting at the fighting cocks in the chicken coop, and occasionally talking to Cui Xi, and she was in a very good mood.

In any case, the cockfighting began in full swing.

After three cheers of "Long live the emperor", the emperor and his subjects took their respective positions to the sound of gongs and drums.

The referee of the cockfighting competition was Ma Shizhong, who first announced the rules of the best-of-five competition, and then introduced the appearance, age and previous records of the fighting cocks of Sima Chi, Du Jian and other ministers, and then announced the names of the duels. Of course, the most important thing is that these fighting cocks also have to sign a life and death agreement before the competition.

After that, he invited the eunuch Lin Ruowang from the Ministry of Rites, who was in charge of all matters related to cockfighting for the emperor, and Du Jian, who was in charge of tea. Of course, some officials also brought their own fighting cocks and showed them off.

Sima Chi was anxious, and after the officials' cockfighting warm-up match, he hurriedly asked Lin Ruowang to let his fighting cock out for a walk.

Minister Ma was also very good at creating a good atmosphere and remained calm. He explained the rules again and asked Lin Ruowang and Du Jian to sign and seal their fighting cocks respectively before letting the two fighting cocks come to the center of the stage.

The first one, a golden-mouthed one, had dark yellow fur and a huge beak. When it walked out of the chicken coop, it deliberately walked around the cage and even stopped in front of Sima Chi for a moment, as if to say hello to him.

Sima Chi was naturally happy, and said with a smile: "The first one I will show up is this Golden Mouth, he is not an ordinary fighting cock. Master Du, you better be careful."

Du Jian came over holding his red phoenix, bowed respectfully to Sima Chi, and said, "Your Majesty also saw my fighting cocks the other day, let's let them compete this time."

The two chickens had just stood still on the platform when the "Golden Mouth" suddenly flew up halfway and pecked the eyes of the still dazed Red Phoenix blind. Faced with this sudden change, no one reacted.

Only the red phoenix was running around wailing, with many of its long tail feathers falling off, looking very miserable.

The first game is over like this?

Du Jian was completely stunned.

According to the original plan, his red phoenix is ​​very capable of fighting. Even if the emperor's golden mouth is very powerful, it should be possible for them to bite and peck each other for dozens of rounds.

On the other hand, Sima Chi was drooping because of his victory. Because of too many flattering words, Sima Chi felt that these people were just deliberately perfunctory to him and were just fooling him.

"Master Du, what are you doing? Get your fighting cocks out of here, don't let them get in the way." Chief referee Ma Shizhong reminded Du Jian, "Hurry up and prepare for the next game. It's windy now, but we can't let the emperor and Queen Hui stand outside for too long."

Du Jian trotted after the injured red phoenix, because it was missing an eye and was no longer useful. Therefore, after catching it, he threw it into the cage, and naturally someone would take care of the rest.

He took out another golden chicken foot, which was also in very good condition, especially the pair of big feet which were reddish yellow and looked like they were made of gold from a distance.

Sima Chi finally nodded, approving of the quality of the chicken. He looked at Lin Ruowang again and asked him to release his killer beak.

The killer beak looked a bit unattractive. After coming out of the cage, it did not move but just stood there. The small eyes on its head kept staring at the golden feet of its opponent, the golden rooster feet. Its neck kept shaking, and no one knew what it was thinking about.

Yang Xianrong didn't like watching such bloody scenes in the first place. After seeing the Red Phoenix's eyes being pecked out, she immediately felt nauseous and turned around to talk to Zhang Liangchu.

Zhang Liangchu whispered, "I have seen cockfighting in the palace, and it was very lively before. My master has also served many cockfightings and is also an expert."

"Can you do it?" Yang Xianrong asked.

"I really can't do it. I am particularly afraid of the trembling head of the fighting cock. I feel uncomfortable just looking at it." Zhang Liangchu laughed, "But I do know that Du Jian wants to take the top position."

"Oh?" Yang Xianrong took another look at the two eunuchs who were concentrating on cockfighting, "I don't know either of them."

"I used to work in the palace and served the emperor. In this situation, aren't they all willing to use their own people?" Zhang Liangchu laughed again, "This palace is not big or small, and everyone knows what kind of people these people are. Now, I'm going to bet that Du Jian will not win."

"Why? Because you are afraid of defeating the emperor?" The wind was a little stronger, and Yang Xianrong pulled her cloak tighter.

"This must be one of the reasons." Zhang Liangchu smiled mysteriously, "But, everyone doesn't know that Lin Ruowang looks like a eunuch from the Ministry of Rites, but he and Minister Ma are cousins."

At this moment, Yang Xianrong felt that cockfighting was a very interesting thing.

What is being fought is not the chicken, but the person behind it.