There were ten targets, initially the second, third, and fourth princes, the Gao siblings, and several generals from the western and northern borders. Fu Yueli, not wanting to reveal his martial arts prowess yet, opted not to participate. At the start of this round, the emperor offered a prize: whoever could hit the bull's eye with three consecutive arrows, all on target, would receive a rare Ferghana horse.
Therefore, the contestants were all eager to try, and the onlookers watched from the side, waiting for the order to be given, ten arrows were fired at the same time, then ten arrows, and then ten arrows, and this round was over.
When everyone took a closer look, they discovered that nearly all ten of them had hit the bull's-eye with three arrows. However, the first two arrows were always pushed out by the third arrow, falling to the ground. Only Fu Baiheng and Gao Siqi had all three arrows still on the target. The former's three arrows pierced the bull's-eye, demonstrating his immense arm strength. The latter's three arrows blossomed into a flower, the second arrow accurately splitting the first arrow's shaft through the center of its tail, and the same was true for the third.
The emperor who was watching on the side applauded and laughed loudly, "Well, General Gao, this is a brilliant move! But you and Heng'er both hit the bull's eye, but there is only one Khan's blood horse, how are we going to divide it?" The emperor couldn't help but frown, looking thoughtful.
Fu Baiheng then graciously declined, saying, "Your Majesty, there's no need to embarrass me. I'm willing to give up. Compared to General Gao's archery skills, I'm still far behind."
The emperor smiled with satisfaction and said, "Well, in that case, I will give the Ferghana horse to General Gao."
Someone immediately brought a tall, blood-red horse from the woods nearby. Gao Siqi thanked the emperor and took the horse's reins. She stroked the horse's head with her big hand and whispered something into the horse's ear. The horse, which had been a little irritable, immediately became much gentler. Gao Siqi gently stroked the horse's back and looked at Shi Mingyue proudly.
Shi Mingyue couldn't help but laugh. Her cousin was still so childish. Then the next round of warm-ups began. Gao Siyuan and Gao Siqi came over with their BMWs.
"Congratulations!" Shi Mingyue smiled at her.
Gao Siqi said modestly, "It was just luck!" Then she glanced at her brother and said, "Thank you very much."
Gao Siyuan pretended to be confused and asked, "Why are you thanking me? Shouldn't you go thank the Second Prince? He was the one who gave you the BMW."
"With my archery skills, I can easily do the same as you, right?"
Gao Siyuan turned his head and saw Fu Baiheng walking towards them with a smile on his face. He shook his head and whispered, "No more talking."
Gao Siqi was naturally obedient. He looked at Fu Baiheng and said with a generous smile, "Thank you, Second Prince, for giving me this horse."
"No, my archery skills are not as good as General Gao's. Besides, General Gao needs this horse more on the battlefield." Fu Baiheng curled his lips and smiled.
Gao Siqi wasn't very good at dealing with people, so he said sincerely, "You need to practice more to become proficient in archery. Thank you, Second Prince."
Fu Baiheng sized up Gao Siqi. She had bright features, was almost as tall as him, and looked truly dashing in her men's clothing. He had never seen a woman like her before, and his heart was moved. However, he also knew that the Gao siblings were Shi Mingyue's cousins, and therefore Fu Yueli's people. He smiled gently at Fu Yueli again, "Didn't the Emperor send Shi Qian, the commander of the Imperial Guard, to teach you kung fu? Why don't you try going to the hunting grounds this time?"
Fu Yueli said: "No, I'm not very good at riding a horse, let alone hunting."
Fu Baiheng smiled and said nothing more. He had sent someone to observe Shi Qian teaching Fu Yueli, and Fu Yueli indeed seemed to have no foundation at all. But his father truly valued him, having hired Tutor Huo to teach him literature and Shi Qian to teach him martial arts. If this continued, Fu Yueli would soon become his strongest competitor. It was time to find a way to eliminate him, Fu Baiheng thought to himself.
At the hour of Si, everyone rode into Zichuan Valley to begin hunting, including the emperor. Shi Mingyue and Fu Yueli returned to their tents. The hunters would return around the hour of Wei, when the prey would be counted, and the one with the most kills would receive a prize. Actually, the two hadn't wanted to come, as Fu Yueli didn't participate in hunting, but the Gao siblings had persuaded them to come so they could gather around the bonfire for a lively evening.
The two returned to the tent to tidy up, and Shi Mingyue decided to take out the unfinished purse and continue embroidering it. She didn't shy away from Fu Yueli, because the day before yesterday, when Fu Yueli saw her and asked her about it, she had said straight out that she would give it to him once it was finished. Fu Yueli watched her embroider quietly, lowering his head to stir the charcoal fire in the brazier to make the tent even warmer.
After a while, there was a commotion outside the tent, and a sharp female voice cursed: "You're asking for death! How could a snake get into the tent for no reason?!"
Shi Mingyue immediately put down her purse, exchanged a glance with Fu Yueli, and went out to check the situation.
It turned out that the one who was cursing was Concubine Cen, and the one she was scolding was the commander of the Imperial Guard, Shi Qian. Shi Qian lowered his head and listened to her scolding. In front of him lay the snake body that had been cut into several parts, with blood flowing everywhere, which looked a bit disgusting.
"Your Majesty asked you to protect us here, and this is how you protect us. You didn't even see a snake crawling into my tent?" Concubine Cen was just warming herself by the fire when suddenly a snake crawled into her arms. She almost fainted from fright, and was now furious, questioning Shi Qian.
Shi Qian lowered his head and said, "I have been negligent in my duty. Please punish me, Your Majesty."
"Punish? How can I punish you? Let's talk about it after His Majesty comes back!" Concubine Cen sneered.
At this time, everyone in the surrounding tents was attracted by the movement outside. A beautiful woman in a blue satin cotton jacket came over with a look of concern on her face and asked, "Sister, are you okay?"
"That's my third brother's mother, Concubine Hui." Fu Yueli explained to Shi Mingyue in a low voice.
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