Chapter 53: A Temporary Itch to Master Skills
The May sun was indeed quite scorching, but today the weather was kind to us; it was a cloudy day and there was no rain, making it much cooler than the previous days. Therefore, He Yuan's comment that "the sun was blinding" seemed rather inexplicable.
He Yuan was only interrupting Qi Jingxuan to avoid causing a disturbance. After speaking, she immediately changed the subject and looked at A Qing, saying, "Why did you jump in?"
Unlike Qi Jingxuan, he knew that A Qing had not left the capital and was secretly protecting Shen Yan near the Shen family.
He tried to persuade Aqing several times to stop, but Aqing wouldn't listen and continued to do as she pleased.
If it were anyone else, He Yuan might have simply kicked them out of the capital, but A Qing seemed to be Miss Shen's friend, who was also the future Princess Consort of Pingjun. He couldn't resort to violence, so he could only let him be.
However, this person is said to be an excellent archer and his martial arts skills seem quite impressive. If he causes any trouble while staying in the capital, it is hard to guarantee that he or the Prince of Ping's mansion will not be implicated. Therefore, He Yuan has been sending people to keep an eye on him.
Today is Qi Jingxuan's wedding to Shen Yan, and A Qing is also nearby. He Yuan already knew about this and originally thought that he was just secretly protecting Shen Yan to ensure that the wedding would go smoothly. Who knew that he would suddenly jump out and startle the prince so much that he almost shouted "There is an assassin!"
On one hand, He Yuan felt that Qi Jingxuan's overreaction was somewhat embarrassing, and on the other hand, he was annoyed that A Qing was causing trouble, but he couldn't blame either of them.
Qi Jingxuan was so frightened that he almost fell over, but fortunately Xu Jinyu pulled him up, preventing him from embarrassing himself in public on his wedding day.
After regaining his footing, Qi Jingxuan was both shocked and furious. He then followed up on He Yuan's earlier question in a trembling voice, "Yes, you... why are you still here? Didn't we tell you to go back to Yingzhou?"
Aqing was mute, so naturally she wouldn't answer their questions. She just rolled her eyes dismissively and then took the longbow off her back.
This longbow is inconvenient to carry on ordinary days. Carrying it on the street would easily attract attention and could lead to being stopped or even confiscated by the patrolmen of the Five Cities Garrison. Therefore, he usually keeps it at the inn and rarely carries it with him.
Today is Shen Yan's wedding, and he was afraid that someone might take advantage of the crowd and the guards' relaxed vigilance to cause trouble, so he brought out his bow and found a position that was both convenient for hiding and for making a move to keep watch in secret.
He hadn't originally planned to appear in public, but the arrows shot by the two people in the wedding procession were too much for him to bear, so he couldn't help but jump out.
Aqing raised her bow towards the wedding procession, then waved her other hand, which held a copper coin.
He then raised his chin provocatively at Qi Jingxuan and tossed the copper coin into the air.
The copper coin spun through the air, tracing an arc before spinning and falling back down.
As it fell into the air, an arrow flew towards the copper coin with a whoosh.
With a soft "plop," the copper coin was nailed to a tree not far away.
The person standing under the tree was watching the commotion when an arrow suddenly shot towards him. He instinctively cried out, covered his head, and bent over to dodge. After confirming that the arrow had not hit him, he looked around and eventually found it in the tree.
Upon closer inspection, everyone saw that the arrow had not only pinned the coin to the tree, but the arrowhead was also perfectly positioned in the center of the coin's hole.
After a moment of silence, cheers erupted from all around.
Some people, craning their necks in confusion, asked, "What's going on? What's going on?" Those standing under the tree who had seen clearly explained with a smile. After understanding, everyone was amazed and cast curious and admiring glances at A Qing. They wondered who this person was in the Shen family, and why his archery skills were so superb, as they had never heard of him before.
The tree that was hit by the arrow was not too far from the Shen family's house. He Yuan had good eyesight and saw it at a glance, which startled him.
Although he had heard from the prince that this man was an excellent archer who never missed a shot, he was only seeing him for the first time today, and he was even more skilled than he had imagined.
He was a martial artist and knew more than others. The most amazing thing about this arrow wasn't that it accurately hit the tossed coin, nor that it struck the exact center of the coin, but rather the control of the force!
Iron is harder than copper, and arrows are sharp weapons. To shoot an arrow like this and nail the copper plate to the tree without breaking it requires extremely precise control of the force.
The best archers in the army may be able to hit the bullseye every time, but they may not have such precise force.
Aqing paid no attention to the praise from others, but simply raised an eyebrow at Qi Jingxuan, her meaning clear: she was not convinced by the arrows they had just shot and was issuing a challenge.
It's customary for the bride to block the door and test the groom with questions. If the groom can't answer them, he can ask someone from the wedding procession for help, but he still has to answer them. If he admits defeat directly, he'll lose face.
Qi Jingxuan didn't want to lose face, especially not in front of A Qing. But as someone who had been chased and killed by A Qing eight times and had succeeded in shooting her every time, he knew that A Qing's archery skills were beyond the reach of ordinary people.
He looked around in his wedding procession, first glancing at Xu Jinyu.
Xu Jinyu quickly shook her head, indicating that she couldn't do it.
Although he could be described as both scholarly and martial, he was well aware of his own limitations.
He prided himself on his academic talent, saying that as long as the examiner wasn't a learned scholar like Li Ge Lao, he could handle the questions.
In terms of martial arts... he's really nothing special, only capable of defending himself. Let alone comparing himself to someone like Ah Qing, he wouldn't necessarily win every time against ordinary soldiers in the army.
Anyone with eyes could see how powerful Ah Qing's arrow was. For him to challenge him to an archery contest was just asking to make a fool of himself.
Seeing this, Qi Jingxuan could only look to Gu San and Shuang Lu, who were the best martial artists among his friends. If they couldn't do it, then no one else could either.
Shuanglu frowned and, like Xu Jinyu, shook his head.
Although Gu San felt he couldn't beat him, he had a stubborn streak and took the bow, aiming it at the tree.
When He Yuan saw that Gu San was going to try, her eyes flickered slightly, and her mind raced.
Seeing that Gu San had someone find a copper coin and was about to throw it, He Yuan quickly dispersed the people around the tree, shouting, "Make way, make way, stay far away, be careful not to get shot by arrows."
Gu San glared at him: "A Yuan, what do you mean? Is my aim that bad?"
Even if his archery skills weren't as good as this dark-faced man who suddenly appeared, he shouldn't have been able to shoot someone else, right?
He Yuan smiled awkwardly, "Just in case. It would be inappropriate to see blood on such a joyous day, wouldn't you say?"
He whispered something in Gu San's ear.
Gu San thought that today was his friend's wedding, so he didn't bother to argue. He withdrew his gaze, concentrated, and tossed the copper coin in his hand away.
With a clang, the copper coin was grazed and sent flying, while the arrow pierced the tree trunk with a thud, its fletching trembling for quite some time before finally stopping.
Gu San clenched his fist, stomped his foot, and yelled, "Just a little bit more!"
He Yuan thought to himself, "You're not just a little short, but for a young master from a wealthy family, being able to hit a tossed coin is indeed quite impressive. He would be a very good archer in the army."
But missing the shot is missing the shot, and losing is losing, there's no doubt about that.
Aqing had already put the bow back on her back, crossed her arms, looked at Qi Jingxuan smugly, and let out a disdainful snort.
Qi Jingxuan gritted his teeth in anger, wondering who else he could turn to, when He Yuan approached and said, "Your Highness, why don't you let Xiao Qin give it a try?"
"Little Qin"
He Yuan pointed to someone, and Qi Jingxuan looked up and saw that it was the same person who had told him last time that a childhood sweetheart had gone to the Shen family.
Qi Jingxuan frowned, somewhat doubtfully asking, "Is he capable?"
He Yuanwei sighed almost imperceptibly: "He is already the best archer under my command. If he can't do it, no one here can."
We can't just go to the army and bring over a skilled archer now; by the time he arrives, the auspicious time will have passed.
Qi Jingxuan glanced around at his group of cronies and couldn't find anyone who could compare to A Qing, so he could only nod and say, "Then let him give it a try."
He Yuan felt relieved when she saw that he had agreed, and gave Qin Yong a wink.
Just now, when Gu San was shooting arrows, He Yuan had already secretly informed Qin Yong to prepare.
Upon receiving the order, Qin Yong stepped forward with his bow, tossed the copper coins into the air like A Qing had done, and then swiftly drew his arrow and fired.
He moved so fast that the arrow was already shot out before anyone could react.
Just now, when Gu San was shooting arrows, He Yuan intentionally dismissed the people standing by the tree, and now his men had quietly replaced them nearby.
Qin Yong's arrow had barely been shot out when it struck the tree. Before the others could even see it clearly, they were already cheering. One of them rushed over, pulled the arrow out of the tree, and held up a copper coin in his other hand: "It hit! It hit! The coin isn't broken, and it hit the center perfectly!"
The others cheered when they saw this, but Aqing, who had excellent eyesight, was so angry that her face turned black. She reached out to grab He Yuan, who was standing next to her, and made a series of gestures with her hands.
Qin Yong did indeed hit the copper coin, but he clearly used too much force, cracking it. The person who pulled out the arrow had a perfectly intact coin hidden in his hand, which he used to replace the one that had actually been hit. Otherwise, the coin would have already fallen from the tree because it had cracked.
He Yuan hissed, lightly stomped on A Qing's foot, and gritted his teeth in his ear, saying, "Why are you causing trouble on Miss Chen's joyous day!"
Aqing paused for a moment, looked at Qi Jingxuan, who was dressed in a wedding gown to welcome the bride, and then at the Shen family's gate, which had been repainted and carefully decorated. Only then did she remember what day it was. She scratched her head and awkwardly stepped aside.
It's all Prince Ping's fault for finding such poor archers, which made him unable to resist showing off his skills.
Seeing that he obediently stepped back without saying anything more, He Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, put on a smile again, and reached out to Qi Jingxuan, saying, "Your Highness, please."
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