Chapter 113

Lost?

Wei Luo was slightly surprised. Wu Rong people grew up riding on horses. She had heard that they started riding horses when they were five years old. They all had exceptional horsemanship, even the women could ride galloping horses in the grassland. It wasn’t that shameful for Zhao Zhang to lose to them. But from Zhao Liuli’s words, it seemed as if the way he had lost was wrong.

Did something happen?

Wei Luo wanted to ask her, but after seeing Emperor Chong Zhen’s unpleasant expression, she paused and decided to not ask.

Coincidentally, the third round was starting.

This round was equestrian archery. Although each group had three people, the focus of the contest was on Zhao Jie and Wan Qi Zhen. The rules of the contest were that the people would ride horses around the competition arena while the palace servants let go of sparrows outside of that area. Whichever team collectively shot the most number of birds would be the winning team. Since the first two rounds were a tie between Da Liang and Wu Rong, this round was crucial.

Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the people below. Even on the viewing platform, Wei Luo and Zhao Luili couldn’t help feeling nervous.

Outside of the competition arena, the leather drums were struck. One of Wu Rong’s warriors was the first one to step forward.

Thirty minutes later, Da Liang and Wu Rong had shot a total of fifteen and eighteen sparrows, respectively. The last part of the third round would be Zhao Jie’s and Wan Qi Zhen’s turn.

Wan Qi Zhen was wearing an embroidered han fu robe with the right layer of the robe on the top as he rode a black horse out. His shoulders were broad and he had an awe-inspiring presence. He lifted his right hand and placed it on the left side of his chest to salute Emperor Chong Zhen and Wu Rong’s emperor. Then, he tightened his grip on the reins and heroically shouted, “Jia” to urge the horse forward. He rushed forward like a shot arrow.

At the same time, the palace servants released dozens of birds. As they flew up towards the sky, they passed over Wan Qi Zhen’s head.

When Wan Qi Zhen drew back his bow, his movement was as smooth as flowing water. He released the arrow as soon as he targeted a sparrow. The sparrow dropped the ground. Without even glancing at it, he shot a second sparrow, a third sparrow… It seemed as if he shot with unfailing accuracy and never missed!

Stunned, the nearby palace servant counted, “Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen…”

By the time he lapped around the competition arena and returned, he had shot a total of twenty-one sparrows! The Wu Rong people had already shot eighteen sparrows. Everyone calculated in their minds and couldn’t help sweating in worry from Zhao Jie. If Da Liang wanted to win, he would have to shoot at least twenty-five sparrows. However, there hadn’t been any pause in Wan Qi Zhen’s speed when he was shooting the arrows. Could Zhao Jie be even quicker than him?

Even Emperor Chong Zhen couldn’t help furrowing his eyebrows.

Wei Luo looked in Zhao Jie’s direction. It would be a lie if she said she wasn’t worried. Although she also wanted him to win, she didn’t want him to feel too much pressure. The important thing about participating was that he only needed to do his best.

In contrast, Zhao Jie didn’t show any signs of anxiousness. He showed the same calmness as before. When Wan Qi Zhen cast a meaningful glance at him, he let it pass by him without any change in his expression. He urged the horse forward at the starting place. As if he felt something, Zhao Jie slanted his head to look in Wei Luo’s direction. Because they were too far apart, Wei Luo couldn’t clearly see his expression and only saw that he quickly looked away. After the drums were struck, he rushed into the competition arena.

His body was tall and slim, but he looked even taller while riding a horse. A gust of wind caused his dark black robes embroidered with golden thread to flutter. His entire body seemed like an exquisite and sharp sword that had been unsheathed. Looking at him was enough to delight everyone’s eyes and make them lose their senses. When the people on the viewing platforms had regained their senses, they saw him taking out two jin pu gu arrows, attaching them to the bow, aiming them at the sky, pulling the bowstring…

One after another, everyone gasped. Prince Jing was planning on shooting two arrows at once? It would be once thing if his targets were stationary things, but his targets were sparrows that were flying in the sky!

Without waiting for people to get over their doubts, Zhao Jie’s arrows had already been released and two sparrows fell straight down from the sky.

Zhao Jie didn’t stop. He took out two more jin pu gu arrows from his quiver and shot down another two sparrows.

On the viewing platform, Wu Rong’s emperor’s mouth was gaping open in shock and amazement. It was one thing to shoot with unfailing accuracy was one arrow. It was too unbelievable to be accurate with two arrows. After all, Zhao Jie and the sparrows were constantly moving. Could this Prince Jing be supernatural creature? Even if Zhao Jie had defeated Wu Rong’s army until they had to retreat little by little eight years ago, he was unexpectedly still this impressive eight years later! Wu Rong’s emperor initially had ideas of defeating Zhao Jie, but those intentions in his mind were now as dead as ashes. Zhao Jie’s actions had thoroughly convinced him to give up.

For the last time, Zhao Jie placed three zhi jin pu arrows into his bow, aimed the arrows at three sparrows in the sky, and released the arrows.

A nearby place servant counted in a loud voice, “Thirty-five, thirty-six, thirty-seven!”

Wei Qi Zhen’s face went through a myriad of colorful changes.

Without any doubt, Da Liang had won this round.

Zhao Liuli was shaking from top to bottom from watching this scene. Her eyes were opened wide. She was afraid of missing even one tiny moment. Zhao Jie had reversed the undesirable situation and turned defeat into victory. She happily shook Wei Luo’s arm and said, “My imperial brother is too amazing.”

Wei Luo also thought that Zhao Jie was amazing, but it would be embarrassing to be too obvious about it. After all, Emperor Chong Zhen and Empress Chen were sitting right there. She should try to be more reserved.

But, she really felt that Zhao Jie was so valiant and so handsome. She really wanted to go over there and hug him. At the same time, there was a strong feeling of pride in her heart. He was her man. How could he not be amazing?

The old eunuch stood on the viewing platform and announced the results of the equestrian archery competition. First round’s archery went to Da Liang, second round’s horsemanship went to Wu Rong, and third round’s equestrian archery went to Da Liang. In accordance to the rule of best two out of three, Da Liang was the winner in this competition.

Wu Rong’s emperor accepted his loss, stood up, saluted Emperor Chong Zhen, and said, “As expected, Da Liang has many talented people in both scholarly and physical areas. Wu Rong’s warriors will openly admit to defeat.”

Emperor Chong Zhen said polite words with his mouth, but he couldn’t hide the pride in his eyes.

——–

There was another reason why Wu Rong’s people had come to Da Liang. It was for an alliance through marriage.

The partner for the marriage alliance would be fourth prince Wan Qi Zhen. He was twenty-five years old this year. Although his home had countless concubines, there wasn’t a legal wife. Wu Rong’s emperor had originally asked Emperor Chong Zheng for sixth princess Zhao Liuli, but Empress Chen wasn’t willing for Liuli to marry to such a far away place, so this matter had been set aside.

When Wu Rong’s emperor mentioned this again, Empress Chen thought of Zhao Jie’s words.

“Dan Yang’s age is close to Wan Qi Zhen’s. She’s also the daughter of Duke Zhen’s legal wife. She would be an appropriate marriage partner to Wu Rong’s prince. If she continues to stay in the capital, she’ll never walk out of the dead end. It’ll be good if she marries someone from a far away place. Perhaps, after a long time passes, she’ll be able to get over her current feelings.”

Empress Chen reflected on Zhao Jie’s words and thought it wasn’t unreasonable.

If Gao Dan Yang stayed in the capital, she would constantly hear news about Zhao Jie and Wei Luo and the issue would weigh heavier and heavier in her mind. Perhaps, she might even fall into obsession and ruin her future. Empress Chen looked at Gao Dan Yang, who was sitting in a seat below her. She was wearing a pink and purple robe that had wide sleeves and was embroidered with white butterflies. Seeing that Gao Dan Yang was preoccupied with staring at the competition arena, Empress Chen silently sighed, looked away from her, and said to Emperor Chong Zhen, “Your Majesty, this empress has an idea…”

On the other side, after Wei Luo saw Zhao Jie leaving, she hesitated for a moment before finding an excuse to leaving the viewing platform.

She knew that it wouldn’t be good for her to do this. It would make it seem like she missed him a lot… But, when Wei Luo thought it over, there was nothing shameful about her wanting to see him.

With such a thought, her mind became more open-minded.

Wei Luo knew that Zhao Jie would probably go Bao Shu Hall to rest after leaving the training area. Bao Shu Hall was where he resided before he established his residence outside of the palace. After he moved out of the palace, he would only occasionally go there to rest for half an hour or so when he came to the palace.

Wei Luo had only gone there once when Zhao Jie had led her there when she was seven or eight years old. By now, she had already almost completely forgotten about it. She walked there using her memories. On both sides of the path, there were verdant and lush sequoia trees. They were so tall that they seemed to reach the clouds and covered most of the sky. The more she walked, the more secluded it felt. She seemed to have never walked on this path before.

Jin Lu was following behind her. She uneasily asked, “Miss, did we take the wrong path? This path doesn’t look right.”

She couldn’t see any signs of a palace hall in front of them. Was Bao Shu Hall really in this direction? Jin Lu was very doubtful.

Wei Luo looked around and thought of the scenery from back then. She was positive that she hadn’t taken the wrong path. “It’s this way. Let’s continue.”

They didn’t walk much further before coming to wide clearing. There was a moon gate at the end of the path. After they passed through the moon gate, they would see Bao Shu Hall.

Wei Luo sped up her steps. The moon gate was right in front of her. Just as she was to pass through it, she heard someone say, “Wait.”

Wei Luo stopped and subconsciously looked in the direction of the voice.

Not far away from the foot of the wall, Wan Qi Zhen was crookedly lying on a flat stone. His left sleeve was rolled up and his strong and powerful arm was exposed. Seeing that Wei Luo had stopped, he lifted his other hand to gesture at her and said, “Come here.”

Why was his posture like he was teasing a dog?

Wei Luo definitely wouldn’t go over there. Why did he appear here? What if it was a trap? If she went over there, someone might see and gossip about them. Not only would it ruin her reputation, she might even have to marry him and go to desolate Wu Rong.

She didn’t want to live like a cow or sheep that was hidden in the long grass unless the wind was blowing.

Wei Luo pursed her lips, decided to ingore him, and continued walking towards the moon gate.

Wan Qi Zhen probably hadn’t expected that would just she leave. Stunned, he struggled to sit up and said, “You… This prince has been poisoned!”

Wan Qi Zhen felt moody after having his dignity completely crushed by Zhao Jie at the recent equestrian archery competition. So, he left the competition arena to walk in this sequoia forest by himself. He didn’t know that this place was near Zhao Jie’s previous palace hall. After being stopped at the moon gate, he was sneak attacked by a yellow-striped snake. The snake wasn’t poisonous and he squeezed it to death with one hand. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Wei Luo walking over here.

Zhao Jie had embarrassed him, so he would tease his little princess consort. What would Zhao Jie’s expression be if he saw that his woman was with him? Besides, this young girl had an exquisitely beautiful appearance. It would be too much of a pity if he didn’t tease her.

However, Wan Qi Zhen would have never expected that there would be a woman that would ignore him.

After hearing he was poisoned, Wei Luo didn’t even slightly pause in her steps as if she couldn’t see or hear him at all.

Coincidentally, Zhao Jie had finished changing into a navy blue robe embroidered with hornless golden dragons and walked out of the moon gate at this time. Wei Luo quickly walked forward. Without even greeting him, she dodged behind him.

The young girl grabbed the back of his clothing and only revealed a pair of dark eyes

Zhao Jie froze for a moment. Just as he was about to ask her why, he saw Wan Qi Zhen slowly getting up near the foot of the wall.

He narrowed his eyes. His dark eyes deepened.