Chapter 249 Conspiracy
It is said that the year begins in spring.
Spring is the beginning of the four seasons, symbolizing a new beginning, the revival of all things, and the prosperity of all industries.
The grand event on the first day of March is the royal family's way of letting the people enjoy this colorful and vibrant spring.
Jinming Lake is bustling with people and lively.
The flowers in Qionglin Garden are in full bloom, colorful and gorgeous.
The Ministry of Rites will be busy all day.
In the morning, a naval dragon boat race was held at Jinming Lake. After the luncheon, the nobles and favorites followed the emperor to Qionglin Garden.
A Hundred Flowers Banquet of royal court standard will be held here.
The back garden of Qionglin Garden used to be a riding and archery field with a radius of ten miles. Now it is an endless green lawn, which is refreshing at the sight.
On ordinary days, royal nobles would also come here to play horse riding and shooting, but today was particularly grand.
The guards on duty wore flowers in their hair, brocade and gold-threaded shirts and robes, and wore jewel-clad bows and arrows. They held golden spears in one hand and flags embroidered with dragons and phoenixes in the other. Thousands of cavalrymen galloped forward, the sound of bells shook the earth, and everyone was in high spirits.
The horseback archery competition was not limited to the four princes, but other noblemen also took part.
Although Zhao Yuze felt upset, he knew that today was the final day.
Although the dragon boat race won, it did not receive praise from my father, but it was a win after all.
If I can win the horse riding and archery competition, my father will definitely look at me with new eyes.
He took two deep breaths to calm himself down.
Horseback archery is divided into three rounds. The first round is shooting at targets while standing on horseback, the second round is shooting at targets while riding, and the third round is shooting at living animals.
Everyone performed well in the first item. The eldest prince and the second prince tied for first place, Zuo Fengtian's eldest son ranked second, and Sun Chongyang ranked third.
Zhao Yuze regained his confidence and said to Zhao Yuxuan with a smile, "Second brother, don't let me win in the second round. Show your true skills."
Zhao Yuxuan smiled: "Okay."
With a burst of cannon fire, more than a dozen horses galloped out like arrows and ran around the track.
The target is movable. Several guards push a small cart carrying the target. After the target is set, the archer who hits the most bull's-eyes wins.
The second round was also normal, the second prince fell behind by one arrow, and the eldest prince won.
Zhao Yuxuan suddenly became full of energy and his face flushed with excitement.
In the third round, the archer still needs to ride his horse around the field and return to the starting point within the time of an incense stick. The winner is the one who shoots the most prey.
The guards stood in the middle of the field pushing a cage full of sparrows. When a drum sounded, they opened the cage, and hundreds of sparrows rushed out and flew all over the sky.
With a cannon blast, a dozen horses galloped out, kicking up a cloud of dust. Suddenly, two horses attacked Zhao Yuxuan from both sides, forcing him to be unable to break out.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Yuwen immediately rode his horse to rescue him.
At this time, the second cannon exploded.
The guards quickly opened the cage door, and thousands of little sparrows suddenly flew into the sky, covering the sky above their heads in darkness.
Zhao Yuze had just shot an arrow and hit two targets with it. He was excitedly nodding his arrows and preparing to shoot when he suddenly saw Zhao Yuxuan, whoosh, nodding three arrows and shooting them all at once.
Each arrow could hit two or three at a time, which immediately aroused cheers.
While Zhao Yuze was stunned, Zhao Yuxuan shot three more arrows, all of which hit the target. Each time he shot, he could hit at least six or seven sparrows.
Zhao Yuwen is equally sharp and is not inferior to Zhao Yuxuan at all.
Zuo Toyota's eldest son and Sun Chongyang also rushed over, one against one, and pushed away the two people who were attacking Zhao Yuxuan.
This allowed the brothers Zhao Yuxuan and Zhao Yuwen to break through.
Zhao Yuze became anxious. In terms of speed, he was first, but he killed fewer sparrows than them.
The riders were competing passionately and the crowd watching was screaming with excitement. No one noticed that an arrow was quietly extending out from the fence.
Zhao Yuxuan's horse was about to catch up with Zhao Yuze's horse, but for some reason, the horse suddenly let out a terrible neigh, jumped up, turned around madly and galloped in the other direction.
Zhao Yuwen was thrown high into the air, holding the reins tightly with one hand, but the reins broke. With a scream, he was about to be thrown out, but his feet were stuck in the stirrups and he was about to be dragged by the horse.
"Oh my God, go and save them!" The queen was so anxious that she was about to cry.
Some people around started to talk quietly.
"The horse is frightened!"
"The two rounds just now were fine, why are you shocked?"
"Could it be that someone is secretly doing something?"
Gu Huan twisted the handkerchief in her hands and looked at it nervously.
No one can get into trouble and must be rescued, otherwise all the efforts will be wasted.
Although everything was arranged, she still broke out in a cold sweat.
The Royal Guards cavalry rushed towards Zhao Yuxuan frantically almost at the same time.
Zhao Yuwen and his friends no longer cared about the competition and turned around to stop the horses and rescue the people.
Zhao Yuze was dumbfounded and held the horse's head, not knowing what to do.
In this case, if he continued the competition, it would be wrong to win.
He gritted his teeth, turned his horse around and galloped after him.
Zhao Yuxuan suddenly used the power of the stirrups, his waist flashed, and in the blink of an eye he was back on the horse's back, his whole body pressed tightly against the horse's back, and no matter how hard the injured and mad horse tried to shake him off, he could not be shaken off.
Zhao Yuwen arrived first: "Brother! Come here!"
"Get on my horse!" Sun Chongyang also arrived, whipped the horse hard on its butt, galloped over, approached Zhao Yuxuan, reached out and grabbed his arm, and the two of them exerted force, Sun Chongyang jumped off the horse, and Zhao Yuxuan got on his horse.
Zhao Yuxuan didn't bother to talk and rode back at a gallop.
Zhao Yuwen also quickly turned his horse's head, and the two horses were closely following each other and returned to the track in the blink of an eye.
Zhao Yuze's horse was frightened by the panic, and it didn't obey his command and kept spinning in place. Zhao Yuze was so anxious that he pulled out his dagger and stabbed the horse's butt hard.
The horse felt pain, neighed, and ran away.
But in the end, he was still one step behind Zhao Yuxuan and Zhao Yuwen.
Taking into account the number of sparrows hunted, Zhao Yuxuan came first and Zhao Yuwen came second in this round.
Zhao Yuze was completely dumbfounded.
How is that possible!
Why is this happening?
The Zhao Yuxuan brothers looked at each other and smiled.
The queen was crying her heart out when she suddenly saw her two sons win. She was surprised and happy.
"They won? Did they win?"
Gu Huan nodded: "Yes, the Second Prince and the Sixth Prince won. Congratulations, Queen."
The queen didn't even bother to wipe away her tears and grabbed Gu Huan.
There are too many people around, so it’s inconvenient to talk.
The queen looked at her deeply and held Gu Huan's hand tightly.
Gu Huan told her that victory or defeat is a matter of risk, and that the Second Prince might suffer a little.
But the queen didn't expect it to be this hardship, it was so dangerous.
Zhao Yuxuan's soft armor was scraped off by the saddle, and his clothes were torn. He put on his cloak and hurried to the bottom of the platform to report with everyone.
The emperor frowned and asked, "What's going on? Why did the horse suddenly get startled?"
Zhao Yuxuan cupped his hands and said, "Father, I am not good at horse riding."
"Father, someone shot an arrow and injured the horse!"
Zhao Yuwen's words shocked everyone. Someone really was plotting against them.
Everyone couldn't help but look at Zhao Yuze.
His face turned red with anger.
It wasn't him!
The emperor's face was terribly gloomy. Someone had actually used secret tactics twice right under his nose!
He looked sharply at Concubine Jiang, and then at Prince Ping'an, whose face was gloomy.
Imperial Concubine Jiang was anxious: "How is it possible? There were so many horses crowded together just now, they must have been frightened."
Young Master Zuo said, "Bring the horse over and we'll know the answer."
The guards had already restrained the horse and found that an arrow had hit the horse's hind leg.
The commander of the imperial guards rode over and said, "Your Majesty, please allow me to report that the Second Prince's horse was shot by a hidden arrow and has gone mad with fear."
It was quiet and silent all around.
A grand ceremony, full of conspiracy and intrigue.
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