Chapter 4 Chapter 4 I bet 10,000 strings of cash, and Xie Tingyu is the first to fall...
Xie Tingyu was led to her seat by her attendants. She casually spread out her pomegranate silk skirt, bent her left leg to support her elbow, and casually curled her right leg. Her other finger tapped on her thigh to the rhythm of the music. She leaned lazily against the pavilion pillar.
Thanks to what had just happened, everyone at the banquet knew Xie Tingyu, but Xie Tingyu knew no one. She sat there alone, and the other girls sat around her.
The servant filled the wine cup. Xie Tingyu raised the wine cup and happened to look up, his eyes met Ji Lian who was sitting on the second floor.
Ji Lian now changed into a dark purple robe, and his originally loose hair was tied up again. The men around him did not dare to get too close to him because they were afraid of his royal aristocratic status, so Ji Lian occupied a large area conspicuously.
The two looked at each other for a moment.
Xie Tingyu thought to himself: I have no one here, and he has no one there, so our situations are quite equal.
Ji Lian thought: This stinky woman actually dared to look at me. I should have bitten off a piece of flesh from her shoulder just now.
Xie Tingyu pretended not to see the resentment in Ji Lian's eyes, toasted him from a distance, smiled, raised his head and drank all the wine.
The attendant next to him immediately filled his glass with wine, but Xie Tingyu shook his head, pushed the wine bottle aside, and stopped drinking.
Jiangzhu lowered his head to make tea and noticed that Ji Lian's waist was empty. He handed the teacup to Ji Lian, took out a round fan, and gently fanned it, asking softly, "Where is your sachet?"
Ji Lian sneered, gritted his teeth, and spat out word by word: "It was snatched away by a dog that doesn't know what's good for it."
Jiangzhu paused her fanning hand, followed Ji Lian's gaze downwards, and finally fixed her gaze on the face of a woman in the pavilion who was chatting and laughing with two pretty attendants.
He understood that maybe this girl was the dog that His Highness was talking about?
His Highness has never concealed his contempt and disgust for women since he was a child, and basically never interacts with women.
This is the first time I have seen His Highness react so strongly to a woman.
Now, His Highness is only seventeen years old, having reached adulthood, and the Imperial Court will soon issue a marriage decree. The Sage has already stated a few days ago that he will issue a decree to arrange a marriage for His Highness after the autumn hunt. It remains to be seen which noble lady will capture His Highness's favor.
Jiangzhu couldn't help but wonder, could it be one of the girls attending the banquet today?
Another "bang" was heard.
Ji Lian finished her tea and slammed it down on the table. She couldn't help but grumble, "What's wrong with these people? They keep throwing themselves into her arms. Are they also infested by insects?"
Jiangzhu looked towards the pavilion again.
At this moment, a musician climbed up from Xie Tingyu's arms with an embarrassed look on her face, raised her hand and saluted, "I am truly sorry. I was just accidentally startled by the caterpillar that suddenly flew over, and I twisted my ankle and fell on you. Please forgive me, madam."
"Nothing."
The musician bowed again and was about to leave when a "wait a minute" stopped him. A bony hand, carrying a scent of sandalwood, reached towards him.
Xie Tingyu picked up the green worm on his shoulder with two fingers and wrapped it with the handkerchief handed to him by the attendant. "It's okay, you can go now."
The musician left with a red face.
Seeing this, Ji Lian snorted coldly and muttered softly, "You're always pretending."
Jiangzhu shook his head. His Highness seemed to be at odds with the young lady in the pavilion. It was unlikely that she and His Highness were to have a relationship. He couldn't help but glance at her a few more times. In terms of appearance, the two seemed quite compatible.
At this moment, a man walked over the curved bridge and came to the center of the table. As soon as he opened his mouth, he said, "Everyone..."
Xie Tingyu turned his head and felt that the man's voice was familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
The man first looked around, raised the wine bottle, and said some polite words to invite people to appreciate the flowers. Then he turned around and paused when he saw Ji Lianshi on the second floor. Then he turned back and started mumbling some words again.
Xie Tingyu suddenly realized.
It turned out that the voice she heard behind the rockery came from this person, Yuan Wangshu of Runan Yuan family.
Xie Tingyu looked at her carefully and found that her eyebrows and eyes were very similar to her mother's, with the same pair of drooping eyes.
Yuan Wangshu smiled. "It's hot and humid in the summer, so we have to find some fun. It would be too boring to just play pot-throwing. Today we're going to play a new game called 'Lotus Heart Piercing Fish'."
She raised her hand, pointing to the wooden carved fish floating on the lake, and said, "All you have to do is shoot your arrows into the rings on the fish's backs to score points."
Xie Tingyu thought to herself that this was quite interesting. If it were just some idle talk about "what can be said", she would rather find a place to fall asleep.
A servant of the Yuan family loudly announced the rules.
First, swimming fish are divided into three distances: near, medium, and far, and the farther ones are worth higher points.
Secondly, all throwers must stand on the small wooden boat and must not lose balance and fall into the water, otherwise they will be eliminated directly.
Third, two people form a group, and the total throwing time is two quarters of an hour. The one with the highest score within the limited number of throws wins.
As soon as these words were spoken, the noble ladies came in groups of three or four.
Naturally, no one came close to Xie Tingyu.
Most of these girls from aristocratic families had been classmates with Xie Tingyu when they were young. They knew very well that Second Lady Xie had to be carried to the academy by her attendants when she went to school. She walked unsteadily, and her schoolbag was also carried by her attendants. Even the small task of grinding ink was done by her servants.
There was a large circle around Xie Tingyu. No one wanted to team up with her. They all thought she was too weak and they would definitely lose if they teamed up with her.
When Cen Xiu saw Xie Tingyu was alone, she puffed out her chest and was about to step forward. Someone nearby grabbed her and kindly reminded her, "No outsiders are allowed to enter. Doing so will be considered cheating."
Xie Tingyu was not enthusiastic about this. If no one formed a team, she would take the initiative to give up.
God acted as a matchmaker, and because Wang's daughter was absent, another person was left alone and formed a team with Xie Tingyu.
Cui Yuanying stepped onto the small wooden boat first, crossed his arms over his chest, raised his chin slightly, glanced at Xie Tingyu coldly, and said nothing.
Xie Tingyu asked, "We are a team. You are not still holding a grudge against me for what happened just now. Will you push me off the boat as soon as I get on?"
Cui Yuanying sneered, "I, Cui Yuanying, am a man of integrity and upright conduct. I wouldn't resort to such despicable tactics." She paused, then sneered, "However, if you fell into the water, I wouldn't save you."
"Okay." Xie Tingyu smiled gently.
"Knock, knock, knock."
A girl wearing a green scarf banged a gong and shouted, "The game begins!"
The music in the pavilion immediately changed from Qingping tune to Pozhen music, with each note clear and powerful, and the strings and pipes playing rapidly.
The small wooden boat sailed towards the center of the lake.
To liven up the atmosphere, someone in the viewing tower has led these young men to place lottery bets, with the minimum bet being fifty strings of cash. The betting methods include who will win the first prize, who will be the first to fall into the water and be eliminated, etc., which are quite varied.
"Who do you think will win?" Someone pulled another person's sleeve.
"I want to vote for that...that is..." someone hesitated.
"Tell me... Oh... Why didn't I see Sister Wang Lanzhi? If she were here, I would definitely vote for her first." The man continued pushing.
"I want to vote for... that unfamiliar person... Xie Tingyu. She's in the same group as Cui Yuanying."
"What do you mean by 'unfamiliar face'? You think she's pretty? I don't know you well enough. You only know how to judge people by their looks..." Ji Lian listened to the conversation of the people around him. After thinking for a while, he told Jiang Zhu, "I'll bet 10,000 strings of cash on Xie Tingyu to be the first one to fall into the water."
Jiangzhu took the order and left.
All the arrows were put into the quiver, which contained thirty arrows in total, meaning each person could throw fifteen times.
"Let me try." A girl in a black round-neck military uniform picked up an arrow and stepped forward.
"Hey... almost!"
When the man threw, his lower body was unstable and swayed, and the arrow grazed the ring and missed.
Seeing this, the others also stepped forward to throw their arrows. Perhaps it was their first time, so their technique was unfamiliar and no one hit the target yet. In the blink of an eye, several arrows had already been deflected, including Cui Yuanying's.
Xie Tingyu stood on the wooden boat with his hands behind his back, feeling that this game was quite difficult.
Firstly, there is a fixed distance between the canoe and the lake, which is a bit far.
Secondly, the fish swimming in the lake float on the water surface and are not fixed, but will flow along with the waves.
Thirdly, when people throw the rings, the boat will also move, and when the body leans forward, it is extremely easy to fall into the lake.
Cui Yuanying looked at Xie Tingyu impatiently, "How long are you going to keep watching? You don't even have the strength to throw it away, do you?"
Xie Tingyu asked, "Why are you so irritable? What will you do if I throw it in?"
At this time, a voice was heard: "Youchu, Yuan Wangshu scored ten points."
There is the beginning, which means the first arrow hits the target.
Everyone around was full of praise for him, saying things like, "You're truly a master of pitching pots." Yuan Wangshu, with a proud look on his face, bowed to everyone and felt very pleased with the praise.
Seeing this, Cui Yuanying curled her lips and muttered softly, "Yuan Wangshu can only show off when Wang Lanzhi is not around. If Wang Lanzhi is here, what role does she have?"
When Xie Tingyu heard Cui Yuanying muttering his name, his movement of bending over to take the arrow paused slightly, and then returned to normal in an instant.
Cui Yuanying looked at Xie Tingyu's slowness in picking up the arrow and said sarcastically, "Looking at you like this, I'm afraid you're just here to make up the numbers, right?"
As he spoke, Xie Tingyu leaned sideways, exerted all his strength and threw the arrow. The arrow drew an arc in the air and entered the ring perfectly.
"In the beginning, Xie Tingyu scored ten points." The deacon in charge of keeping score announced loudly.
...Huh? No way? How could she get in?
When everyone was still calculating which angle and which force would allow them to enter the ring in one go, Xie Tingyu's score suddenly made people feel that something was not right.
Aside from the music from the Hexagonal Pavilion, the surrounding commotion, centered around Xie Tingyu, gradually died down. Everyone turned to her with shocked, inquiring eyes.
If it was natural for Yuan Wangshu to throw the ring in, then it seemed incredible for Xie Tingyu to throw the ring in.
The expression on Cui Yuanying's face froze.
Another ray of silver light penetrated the center of the ring.
"Twenty points!"
It doesn't make sense, it really doesn't make sense.
Upon hearing this, Yuan Wangshu turned sideways and looked at Xie Tingyu.
Cui Yuanying narrowed his eyes and stood behind Xie Tingyu to observe him carefully. When this man threw the ring, his posture was as steady as a rock, his abdomen was tightened, his shoulder blades were retracted and sunken, and he used his back to drive his arms to generate power, while his wrists did not move at all.
This is clearly the posture of archery, and it is very skillful.
Women from aristocratic families learned the Six Arts from a young age, with horseback riding and archery being the most important. If a woman was too weak to ride a horse or draw a bow, she would be laughed at. And Xie Tingyu, as a child, was the target of everyone's ridicule.
"What! Twenty points? No way?"
Someone exclaimed, "Ah!", followed by a loud "splash" sound of someone falling into the water.
A huge splash of water occurred, and the girls nearby covered their faces with their sleeves.
It turned out that the small boat had collided with another boat, causing the boat to tilt violently and the people standing on the edge immediately fell into the water.
"What are you talking about palpitations? You were just trying to scare me, right? After you left Jiankang, you actually learned how to shoot arrows?" Cui Yuanying suddenly asked.
"Don't you understand the principle of 'one should look at a man with new eyes after three days of absence'?" Xie Tingyu turned his wrist, held the arrowhead in one hand, and gently tapped the end with the arrowhead against his palm.
Cui Yuanying seemed to be choked and turned his head away, ignoring Xie Tingyu.
The author has something to say:
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Ji Lian lost ten thousand strings of cash
The butler in the old domineering romance novel said, "I haven't seen the young master smile like this in a long time."
Jiangzhu: "I haven't seen His Highness so angry in a long time."
In the future, you will see your Highness crying for her, laughing for her, getting jealous for her, getting angry for her, and even crawling on the ground to beg her... (Lights a cigarette)
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I'm such a fool! I didn't even start a paragraph review. I'm going to start one now.
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