Chapter 59: Archery Competition: Could she be an undercover agent sent by Tingyu Tower?
How could she forget that Jiang Cichen had frequently opposed her and deliberately made things difficult for her in the capital.
If he wanted the stars in the sky, would she really go and pick them for him?
Luo Wan thought about it and gave a more pertinent answer: "If it's not too difficult, I can help you get it."
Jiang Cichen suddenly smiled, and there was a bit of the playfulness in that smile that she was familiar with, but also something else that she couldn't explain.
He took a half step back, creating a perfect distance between them, and lightly touched the map on the table with his fingertips. "No rush. There's plenty of time to go."
Just then, footsteps were heard outside the tent. Xie Yan lifted the curtain and walked in. "Ah Chen, do you want to go to the martial arts competition?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Yan's attention was drawn to the things covering the table: "What is this?"
Jiang Cichen said: "Map."
Xie Yan leaned in closer, marveling, "This is much more detailed than those simple maps we have in our army! Where did you get this treasure?"
Jiang Cichen ignored him, looked at Luo Wan, and said with a smirk, "Do you want to go and take a look?"
*
When Luo Wan followed Jiang Ci Chen to the martial arts training ground, it was already surrounded by soldiers.
Chen Nanyuan was fighting with two burly soldiers. He was now dressed and his body was agile, so he was still able to handle the siege of the two men with ease.
"Nanyuan's skills have improved again." Xie Yan commented from behind Jiang Cichen and Luo Wan, with a hint of approval in his voice.
This is the tradition of the Yinan military camp. Soldiers are accustomed to competing with their companions after training to test the results of their training.
Sometimes, when the game got exciting, the cheering soldiers would place a bet on which side would win. The stakes were usually just a few coins, or a few squats.
Luo Wan's gaze fell on the three men competing in the martial arts arena. The other two, though muscular, had ordinary moves, attained through daily training. Chen Nanyuan was different. His moves showed that he had undergone professional and systematic training. Each move was executed with ease, a skill far superior to the other two.
Soon, the other two were defeated.
The soldiers were in a commotion, some cheering and some wailing.
The wailing was just because they made the wrong bet, so the losing side punished themselves by doing squats and push-ups.
Luo Wan was puzzled: "What are they doing?"
Xie Yan hurriedly said, "According to the Southern Army's tradition, if you stand on the wrong side and lose, you should accept the punishment willingly. That's what makes it fun."
Luo Wan understood, and heard Jiang Cichen say to Xie Yan, "Why don't you go compete with Chen Nanyuan?"
Before Xie Yan could reply, Chen Nanyuan noticed them, wiped his sweat, and ran over excitedly, "Young Master!"
"What's there to compare him and me to? We've known each other for so many years, I've already grown tired of him." Xie Yan squeezed in between the two of them and said, "Since Miss Luo is a disciple of Tingyu Tower, how about I compete with her?"
Having grown up together, Xie Yan understood Jiang Cichen best, and not a single detail of his thoughts escaped Xie Yan's eyes.
He said something about asking him to compete with Chen Nanyuan, but in fact he wanted to get him away because he disliked him.
He refused to let Jiang Cichen get his wish. He even took the initiative to compete with Luo Wan to see when this Governor Jiang would stop being stubborn.
Luo Wan didn't expect Xie Yan to take the initiative to mention competing with her, but this was a good thing for her.
Since she has chosen to stay in the Yinan military camp and help Jiang Cichen take over the capital and Liangding in the future, the fastest way to integrate into the military camp is to fight side by side with the Yinan army. Apart from that, she can become one of them.
Xie Yan took the initiative to bring it up, and Luo Wan agreed.
Chen Nanyuan looked at the backs of Xie Yan and Luo Wan as they walked side by side towards the martial arts arena, and couldn't help but lower his voice: "Master, are you going to let them go up to compete?"
Jiang Cichen asked back: "What else?"
Chen Nanyuan said anxiously, "Master Xie did this on purpose. He's clearly against you!"
Jiang Cichen said, "After this competition, General Xie's reputation in the army may not be preserved."
Chen Nanyuan didn't understand: "Why?"
Jiang Cichen asked, "Do you know who the Miss Chi you used to call her is?"
Chen Nanyuan shook his head. Although he had guessed that Chi Wanwan's identity was not simple when he followed his master in the capital, he did not know who she was.
Today, when he returned from the fields, he changed his name just because Qin Yue called her Miss Luo, never giving it much thought as to why Miss Chi became Miss Luo. He trusted his young master, and since he was with him, he just respected him.
Jiang Cichen said, "We surrounded two assassins from Tingyu Tower in Wutan Town."
Chen Nanyuan nodded and said, "I remember this."
Jiang Cichen said, "That person is Luo Wan in front of us, the fake Miss Chi who you met in the capital."
Chen Nanyuan's eyes widened. He had always said, "It is better to demolish a temple than to ruin a marriage," but it turned out to be a wedding dress for this Miss Luo and someone else, and that person was the prince of the Northern Kingdom!
But back then, the Ninth Prince had such deep feelings for Luo Wan, so why did they separate now? And why did she stay with him?
The young master now has an irreconcilable feud with the Northern Kingdom. If Luo Wan is an undercover agent planted by the Northern Kingdom among them, wouldn’t it be troublesome?
Thinking of this, Chen Nanyuan asked cautiously, "Could she be an undercover agent sent by Tingyu Tower?"
Jiang Cichen glanced at him calmly and said, "Report the results of your investigation."
Since being assigned to Yinan City, they have made a detailed plan on how to reverse the situation in Yinan City which is only a matter of time and inevitable defeat.
The first step is to start with food and supplies.
Sending a large number of additional personnel to explore the food supply route of Weizhou would easily alert the enemy, and the food supply route is top secret. It is almost impossible to learn anything from the Xiliang army.
Jiang Cichen thought of a way. He had Chen Nanyuan sneak into Weizhou City, disguised as a Xiliang farmer, pretending to work on the ridges of the fields. In fact, he got acquainted with the farmers in the fields and inquired whether there were any grain carts from Xiliang passing by here.
Of course, he couldn't ask the people of Xiliang so directly, so he had to ask in a roundabout way. For this purpose, Chen Nanyuan also learned to speak fluent Weizhou dialect.
Finally, on the seventh day, before he was tanned into charcoal, he figured out the route of food and grass based on what the people of Xiliang said.
During those days, Chen Nanyuan imitated the old farmers in the fields and did it very well. When he came back, he was also shirtless. Who would have thought that he would meet a woman in the military camp, which led to the farce in the morning.
After Chen Nanyuan informed Jiang Cichen of the routes and patterns of the food supply, he said, "The next batch of food should arrive in five days, Jiagu Road. Sir, should we take action?"
Jiang Cichen said, "Take your time. Even if we rob this batch of food and grass, it won't cause any loss to them. It's like shocking a tiger from behind a mountain. They can't be without reserve food and grass."
Chen Nanyuan nodded. If the young master wasn't in a hurry, then neither was he. He would be right if he followed the young master.
A sudden cheer erupted in the martial arts arena. Looking in the direction of the sound, I saw two straw targets standing in the middle of the arena. Straw was tied to a cross and rolled into the shape of a human, with a red heart target paper nailed to the human face.
The bull's eye shook violently in the spring breeze, and the target paper, which was fixed with only an iron nail, flew around.
After the arrow is shot, the target paper will still move with the wind. To hit the bull's eye under such conditions requires both strength and luck.
"Master Xie, isn't this bullying?" Chen Nanyuan frowned. "Who doesn't know that his archery skills are unrivaled among the three armies?"
Jiang Cichen raised his eyebrows. He was sure that when Xie Yan faced a rare opponent like Luo Wan, he would not be able to suppress his competitive spirit and would challenge him to a fight in boxing and kicking skills.
Unexpectedly, Xie Yan went against his usual behavior and went straight to the field where he could easily crush his opponent. This was really unlike Xie Yan. What he always hated most was archery competitions. He also disdained to flatter and please women, and even more disdained to use his strengths to attack others' weaknesses, which would only increase his reputation as a bully.
There must be something wrong when things are abnormal. Jiang Cichen was a little curious about what Xie Yan wanted to do.
The soldiers on the sidelines spontaneously split into two factions. Xie Yan's side was bustling with activity, while Luo Wan's side was deserted. Some of the few supporters were there for Jiang Cichen's sake, while others simply preferred to side with the women.
When he was in Tingyu Tower, although Luo Wan's archery skills were not top-notch, he was still among the top three.
She might not be able to compete with Xie Yan in terms of archery skills, but if they were just competing on whether one could do something to the best of their ability, then in this competition, as long as she could hit the bull's eye, she would not lose.
Xie Yan tested the bow and said, "Miss Luo, the Yinan military camp is short of funds, so please be understanding."
Luo Wan said softly, "No problem."
Apart from encountering a damaged bow and arrow, if a person can only hit the bull's eye with a certain type of bow and arrow, it means that this person actually has no ability to hit the bull's eye.
They both drew their bows at the same time and aimed at the bull's eye.
Jiang Cichen's scorching eyes fell on Luo Wan.
When she stood, the lines of her back were flexible yet sharp.
Xie Yan's arrow was the first to come out of the bow. With a "whoosh" sound, it cut through the spring breeze and hit the bull's eye with incredible accuracy, firmly nailing it to the straw.
Amid the sound of the wind and cheers, Luo Wan shot his arrow.
The target paper is blown up and down, left and right, but the nail is fixed. As long as it is blown to one side by the wind, the target paper will naturally fall back when the wind dies down.
The opportunity Luo Wan found was this moment!
Just as the arrow's tip was about to touch the bull's eye, another arrow flew in from the other side, and the two arrowheads collided in mid-air, sending out several sparks. Luo Wan's arrow was severely deflected, but the subsequent arrow, with undiminished momentum, hit the bull's eye squarely.
Luo Wan turned to look at the "culprit". Xie Yan was still in the same posture as when he shot the arrow. After he hit the target, he slowly put down the bow.
It turned out that after Xie Yan shot the first arrow, he immediately drew his bow and shot another arrow towards Luo Wan's bull's eye. The force of this arrow was far greater than Luo Wan's arrow, which knocked Luo Wan's arrow off course.
Some people questioned: "General Xie is a bit of a bully!"
Someone retorted: "I only know that they both stood in the same place and shot arrows, but General Xie hit the target, while Miss Luo didn't."
"But General Xie didn't shoot at his target!"
Seeing the quarrel going on, Luo Wan said calmly: "I lost this round, there are still two rounds to go."
In Luo Wan's mind, winning or losing an archery match wasn't the most important thing. If possible, Luo Wan still hoped to win. A strong person would be respected by the soldiers.
Xie Yan clasped his fists and said with a smile, "Thank you, thank you!"
He turned around and looked at Jiang Cichen not far away.
The two contestants reached an agreement, and the onlookers stopped arguing and waited for the next round to begin.
Jiang Cichen slowly approached the competition area, and all the soldiers bowed respectfully: "Commander Jiang."
Luo Wan saw him and her gaze fell on his left shoulder again.
Xie Yan said jokingly, "Miss Luo, it's hard to get a lesson from Governor Jiang."
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