Chapter 23 That Girl is Interesting

"Cousin, come quickly!" Yuan Wan turned her head and looked around but couldn't find Ming Zhaohuan. She turned around and saw that he was still sitting there. She also saw that he seemed to be talking to Shi Jianli. She paused slightly and called out with a smile.

"Wait until they have had enough fun before going. They won't feel any sense of accomplishment if I go." Mingzhao first replied to Shi Jianli, his tone gentle but not without arrogance.

Then he looked at Yuan Wan and said, "You guys play first, I'll be there soon."

Upon hearing this, Yuan Wan quietly concealed her disappointment and turned to look at Mingyue Lin playing the touhu game.

"The first arrow hits the mouth, it counts as four points!" Tianfeng shouted loudly, and his high-pitched voice made the atmosphere particularly lively.

Shi Jianli nodded slightly when she heard that, then turned around with a small basket of cherries in her hand to look at the crowd gathered over there. From time to time, she picked up one or two cherries, put them in her mouth and bit them, letting some juice soak onto her lips.

Mingzhao was also looking at his younger brothers and sisters who were playing the game of tossing pots over there. His eyes inadvertently fell on her bright red lips, and he was slightly distracted.

After realizing what he was looking at, he raised his eyes, brushed past her cold brows, and quickly lowered his head to drink tea.

The slightly cool tea went down my throat, my Adam's apple rolled, and the coolness in my lungs suppressed the abnormal throbbing in my chest.

Not far away came the sound of Tianfeng counting the points: "Two arrows hit the ear, one point, five points!"

"Three arrows against the pole, no points, count as five points!"

Leaning on the pole means that the arrow enters the pot with an angle and does not enter the pot completely.

"Four arrows hit the mouth, two points, seven points total!"

…

"The last arrow has an end, which gives you six points, totaling twenty points!"

"Good!" The onlookers cheered.

Ming Yuelin raised his chin and said proudly, "How's it going? Even though I had a pole to lean on, I didn't miss a single arrow. Isn't that impressive?"

"Great." Ming Zhouqing praised him, "I'll take over next."

"Hey, let me give you my seat!"

It was lively over there for a long time, and Tianfeng's singing voice could be heard from time to time.

Mingyuelin stared at it for a while, then ran over to put down the basket that Shi Jianli was holding, and pulled her: "Sister Li, come and play too, don't sit still."

After pulling her up, he looked at Ming Zhaohuan and said, "Brother, you should go and throw a round too and show off your skills!"

"Okay." Mingzhao stood up and followed them.

"Make way, make way, make way! Our sharpshooter is here!" Mingyuelin pulled Shi Jianli, pushed Ming Zhouhe aside, and made room for Ming Zhao.

At this time, Ming Zhouwu had just finished pitching and was preparing to find the next person to pitch.

Tianyu, who collected the arrows, placed the quiver at the throwing area.

Mingzhao bent down and drew an arrow. After weighing it, he aimed at the mouth of the pot and threw it.

"You have a beginning, get four points, count four points!"

"Hit in a row, get two points, total six points!"

"Three consecutive hits, two points, eight points total!"

"Four consecutive hits equal two points, which counts as ten points!"

The onlookers all clapped and cheered, "Great!!"

…

"There's an end, six points, totaling 26 points! Double the full pot, totaling 52 points!!"

"Brother, you're amazing!" Ming Yuelin looked at Ming Zhaohuan excitedly, "Third brother was only one arrow away from completing the pot, and you already hit it!"

Ming Zhouhe folded his arms and chuckled, "When you praise Big Brother, you don't have to bring me into comparison, right?"

"Hehe~" Mingyuelin turned around and smiled at him guiltily, then pulled Shi Jianli, "Sister Li, come too."

Sister Li is very accurate in archery, maybe she can catch the whole pot.

Shi Jianli smiled and nodded, "Yeah."

Tianyu picked up the arrow, and Mingzhao took it and placed it next to Shijianli's feet.

Shi Jianli bent down to draw the arrow, stood firmly and gathered his strength, raised his hand to aim at the mouth of the pot, and easily threw it into the mouth of the pot.

"You have a beginning, get four points, count four points!"

The second arrow also entered Hukou.

"Hit in a row, get two points, total six points!"

The third arrow also entered Hukou.

"Three consecutive hits, two points, eight points total!"

When drawing the fourth arrow and gathering strength, Shi Jianli lowered her eyes, pressed down her wrist slightly, and threw it out with force.

The arrow hit the edge of the pot, making a crisp sound.

"Four arrows narrowly missed, no points, count as eight points!"

"Five arrows narrowly missed, no points, count as eight!"

Mingzhao glanced at her hand, then glanced at her expression, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Seeing this, Ming Yuelin comforted her, "Sister Li, don't be nervous."

Shi Jianli turned her head to look at her and smiled at her: "Okay."

She bent down to draw the sixth arrow, tilted her wrist slightly to the left, and threw it again.

"Six arrows piercing the ear gets one point, totaling nine points!"

"Seven arrows through the ears, one point, ten points!"

"Eight arrows narrowly missed, no points, count as ten!"

Mingyuelin watched with bated breath, looking even more nervous than Shi Jianli.

Next to the rockery outside the garden wall stood two middle-aged men, one tall and mighty, the other straight and handsome, with some similarities between their eyebrows.

"That little girl is quite interesting. Whose is she? I've never seen her before." Duke Anguo Ming Weisu looked at the excitement over there, a little surprised, and asked his second brother beside him with a smile.

Compared to his eldest son who could only come back two or three times occasionally, Ming Weisu spent a full six years guarding the border.

Ming Weishen, with his hands behind his back, heard this and asked, "Is that the one who's playing pot toss now?"

"Um."

"My wife's sister's daughter lost both her parents and had no choice but to come to your house for refuge."

He said with pride: "I have learned the six arts and eight graces, and I am excellent in all of them, no worse than men."

After hearing this, Ming Weisu looked at Shi Jianli with even more curiosity.

"The ninth arrow scores one point, totaling eleven points!"

Shi Jianli looked at the pot, reached out to draw the last arrow, but accidentally knocked over the quiver.

Mingzhao was still close, so he stepped forward to help pick it up. As he leaned over, he whispered, "Why are you hiding your clumsiness?"

Shi Jianli paused after taking the arrow, stretched his wrist, and said calmly, "If you get tired of lifting it, it will naturally be inaccurate."

Mingzhao glanced at her lowered eyes, smiled and nodded, not knowing whether she believed it or not.

Shi Jianli took aim and shot the last arrow neatly, and soon a "ding-dang" sound was heard.

"There is an end, six points, seventeen points!"

"Good!" The onlookers cheered out of respect.

"Sister Li is so awesome!" Ming Yuelin pulled her back with a smile.

Shi Jianli looked at her and said, "You are the best at showing support."

"You are already very good, but I only got nine points." Yuan Wan also praised with a smile.

After the game of throwing pots, they played some other games such as backgammon and Liubo. When the sun set in the west, they dispersed.

On the way back, Shi Jianli and Ming Zhou were walking side by side.

Ming Zhouhe asked, "Cousin, did you throw the pot out on purpose? Why?"

Ming Zhou and He knew that her accuracy was very poor. When she first came to the mansion, she deliberately shot the arrow off target. This time, after observing her for a while, it was not difficult to find that she deliberately shot the arrow out of the target.

Shi Jianli came closer to him and whispered, "My aunt told me that the Duke's wife is interested in pairing my second cousin with my cousin from the Yuan family."

Having said that, Shi Jianli stopped talking.

Unfortunately, the second cousin doesn’t seem to have any feelings for the cousin from the Yuan family. The cousin from the Yuan family likes the eldest cousin, but I don’t know what the eldest cousin means.

Ming Zhouhe understood how this little feast came about. He chuckled and also bent down and whispered, "They won't make it."