Chapter 11 Who will pity me when my beauty fades and my fragrance disappears

"Ah, this Liang Shao is really blind. For a powerless village girl, he actually disregarded the emperor's marriage!"

"Who says it's not true? Princess Anping is talented and beautiful, and she has a father who loves her. Marrying her will instantly make you a star. It's a sure win, but some people just don't appreciate what they have."

"You can't say that. Isn't it said that Princess Anping is too delicate to get pregnant and have children—"

"A man has three wives and four concubines, and he's still worried about not having children?"

The sounds of people's chatter and laughter gradually reached Liang Shao's ears. He smiled stiffly, but veins popped out on his forehead. With a "snap", the chopsticks in Liang Shao's hand broke into two pieces. This slight sound was heard by no one except Chen Bing'er who was beside him.

When Chen Bing'er heard the noise, her face turned pale instantly. She knew clearly that Liang Shao was somewhat regretful - no, no, she would not allow this to happen!

Although Chen Bing'er was extremely sad and angry, her face did not show the slightest bit of it. No one noticed that she was clenching her fists in her sleeves, and her nails had already left bloody marks on her palms.

Liang Shao did not notice anything unusual about Chen Bing'er. He was deeply immersed in regret and unwillingness. He became famous at a young age, held a high position, and was granted a marriage by the emperor. He had always been the object of admiration and envy of everyone. But how could everything change in just a few months?

Princess Anping was originally his, Liang Shao's fiancée, so all the admiration and congratulations should also belong to him, Liang Shao!

Amid the bustle, Liang Shao suddenly stood up, bowed to Xie Fei, and said loudly: "I've always heard that Master Xie is a man of both civil and military talents, and no one can match him. I wonder if there is a chance for me to see him today?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole garden fell silent and everyone's expression changed. Although Prince Xie was talented and well-read, looking at his gentle and frail appearance, he could not be said to be a man of both civil and military talents, right?

Xie Fei turned his eyes to Liang Shao and said calmly: "You can see it if you want, but it depends on what price you can pay."

Liang Shao frowned and thought about it. He was born into a merchant family and didn't have much background. He didn't have anything to show for his military career in the past few years. However, he did manage to find a few famous paintings after winning the battle last time. So he said, "I heard that Master Xie is obsessed with landscapes. I happen to have a painting called "Landscape Qiu Ming Ink Painting" by Master Qi. I wonder if I can ask Master Xie to compete with me?"

Xie Fei lowered his head and took a sip of the wine. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded and asked, "How do you want to compete?"

Liang Shao showed a look of delight. This Xie Fei was really arrogant. He actually dared to let him choose the way of the competition. Well, he would take this opportunity to crush his arrogance and let Princess Anping and those who laughed at him see that he, Liang Shao, was definitely not a useless person like Xie Fei who was powerless!

Thinking of this, he looked around and saw the bow and arrow and target in the distance. He smiled and said, "It just so happens that there are bows and arrows at the banquet. Why don't we have a competition to see who can shoot the arrow farther and more accurately with a bow? What do you think, Prince?"

After he finished speaking, everyone was silent. Everyone looked at Liang Shao with disdain. They really didn't expect that Liang Shao, who seemed to be upright, actually had such sinister intentions - Master Xie was good at literature, how could he compare to Liang Shao, who was an expert in archery? He used his strengths to attack Master Xie's weaknesses, which was really despicable!

"It's okay." Xie Fei raised his eyebrows slightly, smiled faintly, and said, "This prince will play with Minister Liang for a while, just for entertainment." As he said that, Xie Fei lifted his brocade robe with both hands and was about to stand up, but a pair of white hands grabbed his sleeves. He turned around and met Xiwen's worried gaze.

"Prince..." Xiwen stammered, half biting her lower lip.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing." Xie Fei comforted softly.

Xiwen pursed her lips, hesitated for a long time under Xie Fei's firm and gentle gaze, then nodded and slowly loosened her hands that were holding Xie Fei's sleeves.

The servants quickly prepared the targets in the courtyard. The first target was twenty meters away from the starting point, and each subsequent target was twenty meters further away. The last target was two hundred meters away.

As soon as Xie Fei and Liang Shao arrived, everyone stood up and gathered around them to join in the fun. Only Tang You and a few others were left around the table, fiddling with a simple gambling table in a mysterious manner.

Chen Yuyan first took out three hundred-liang silver notes from his arms, slapped them on the left side of the table, and said, "I bet on Brother Fei to win!" After that, he looked at Tang You.

Tang You searched his wallet for a long time, and finally took out a few small pieces of silver. He threw them to the left in a very heroic manner: "I also bet on Brother Fei to win. I believe that with his insidiousness and cunningness, he will definitely beat the opponent and leave him with nothing!"

Chen Yuyan looked at the small pieces of silver with disdain: "With just this little bit of silver, why are you still betting?"

Tang You glanced at Chen Yuyan and said unconvincedly, "Silver coins are also silver, why can't we gamble with them?" Then he looked at the remaining people and urged them, "Hurry up, we still have to trick some people before the game starts."

After they looked at each other, they said in unison: "We'll bet on Brother Fei too!"

Losing is just a little bit of money, we can't lose our brotherhood, we must give Brother Fei face! win? Does not exist.

After placing the bets, several people immediately mixed into the crowd with the betting plates. After repeated attacks, almost everyone participated. As expected by Tang You and others, most people bet on Liang Shao to win, and a small number bet on Xie Fei. Except for a few of them who really believed that Brother Fei would win, the others were there to build a relationship with Xie Fei.

Xie Fei and Liang Shao were unaware of what was happening outside. After they became familiar with the bow and arrow, they began the formal competition.

Liang Shao smiled confidently, took the lead and stood in the center with a bow and arrow. He held the bow in one hand and the arrow in the other. He stretched his arm hard, and with a whoosh, the arrow shot out and hit the eighth target straight into the bull's eye.

Frowning in dissatisfaction, before everyone cheered, Liang Shao stretched out his arm and drew the bow again, exerting a little force with his index finger. There was a whoosh sound, and before anyone noticed, the arrow had already flown out like a meteor and instantly shot into the red heart of the tenth target!

All the onlookers were stunned. Tang You and Chen Yuyan were also surprised. Liang Shao didn't seem to be a good person, but he was surprisingly good at archery.

The young ladies who were watching the scene became worried and started talking at once: "Oh, I don't know if Master Xie's archery skills are good or not. I don't want to see that village girl's smug face!"

"No one has ever seen Master Xie shoot arrows, nor has anyone heard of his good archery skills. I think he is not as good as Lord Liang."

"Yes, Master Xie is famous for his talent. I'm afraid he is not good at archery, right?"

"I heard that Lord Liang's archery skills are so good that it can shoot through the air from a hundred steps away. There is no way that Master Xie can compare to him..."

When Xiwen heard the discussions of the ladies around her, her heart instantly tightened. She nervously clenched the handkerchief in her hand and silently prayed for Xie Fei in her heart.

Liang Shao smiled with satisfaction. He raised his eyebrows and was very confident that Xie Fei could not surpass him, because he had been practicing archery since he was a child, while he, Xie Fei, might not even be able to hold the bow and arrow steadily.

Thinking of this, he looked at Xie Fei proudly and said, "Xie Shizi, it's your turn."

Xie Fei took the bow and arrow handed to him by the servant, with a calm look on his face. He gently pulled the bowstring and released it. The arrow flashed an arc of light and pierced into Liang Shao's arrow on the tenth target. It was so powerful that it directly destroyed the arrow and shot steadily into the red heart of the target.

For a moment, everyone was stunned. After a while, someone exclaimed and clapped. Then the whole courtyard broke out into warm applause. Xiwen couldn't help but clap her hands as well, her eyes sparkling.

Tang You was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth. He rubbed his eyes hard in disbelief: "Brother Fei...when did you become so fierce? Am I blind?"

Chen Yuyan was so shocked that he couldn't speak properly, and stammered: "No, I don't know, Fei, Brother Fei is very secretive."

Amidst the exclamations, Liang Shao's face looked extremely ugly. He never expected the result to be like this. He originally wanted to be in the spotlight himself, but he became a stepping stone for Xie Fei to become famous! No, he couldn't just give in like that, otherwise he would become the latest laughing stock in the entire capital by tomorrow.

At this moment, Liang Shao saw a servant carrying a new target towards the tenth lane. A light bulb suddenly lit up his head and he said, "Prince Xie's archery skills are indeed superb, but I am better at shooting at moving targets..."

Before he could finish his words, Xie Fei took the bow and arrow from the servant, pulled the bowstring, and five arrows were fired in succession. When everyone came to their senses, they saw that the five arrows had all hit the target that the servant was carrying in the distance, and every arrow hit the bull's eye.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and then exclamations burst out like a flood: "Oh my God, what did I see? Shooting an arrow through a willow at a hundred paces can't even describe one tenth or one twelfth of Master Xie's archery skills!"

"It's a miracle, it's really a miracle!"

"I never thought that the gentle and refined Prince Xie would have such amazing archery skills. It's really impressive!"

Xie Fei turned a deaf ear to everyone's praise. He turned around and looked at Liang Shao indifferently, and said lightly: "Is that so?"

Liang Shao's face darkened instantly, his shaking muscles no longer able to hold a smile. He forced himself to smile calmly and said, "Xie Shi is truly a man of both civil and military talents. Liang is willing to admit he is superior."

Xie Fei nodded, put down his bow and arrow, and turned to leave. The crowd that was crowded together spontaneously made way for him. Xiwen, who was standing in the crowd, had already been stunned, staring at Xie Fei with her eyes fixed. He was still the handsome and elegant gentleman, but her heart was even more flustered.

Xiwen was still in a daze, and Xie Fei had already walked in front of her. Seeing that her little face was abnormally flushed, he gently touched it and said, "What's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

Xiwen was startled and said quickly, "No, no, I was just too excited." Then, she lowered her head and whispered, "The prince's archery skills are so superb that I was stunned."

Xie Fei smiled but said nothing, and took Xiwen back to his seat. The others also returned to their seats slowly while talking excitedly. Only Liang Shao turned pale, clenched his teeth tightly, sat stiffly, and wanted to slam his fist on the table heavily.