The three of them sat around a large wooden table. Eunuch Ah Fu handed over a map and asked the servants to leave. The archery range became empty.
Just as I was wondering whether to find an excuse to leave, Duan Sheng, whose face was still a little flushed, took the initiative to pull me aside to practice archery. After shooting a few arrows, he carefully slipped over to my side and said, "Mu Zhaoyi... Song Huaguo, are there any other things similar to the 'heart knot'?"
"Well... I mean, if a woman wants to give a man a gift..." She spoke to me while glancing at the wooden table from time to time, as if she was afraid of being discovered by them.
I chuckled, but—I didn't quite understand! Suddenly, I saw Duan Sheng's long hair, and an idea flashed in my mind: "Hair."
"To be together through thick and thin! He gave me a love knot, and you gave me my hair!" I said excitedly.
"I didn't say I wanted to give it to him!" Duan Sheng shouted guiltily.
"I didn't say who he was!" I continued to tease her, and when she blushed again, I explained seriously, "Our hair is also called 'qingsi'. 'qingsi' sounds the same as 'qingsi', which means love, so it's customary for women to give their hair to men they like."
"Hmm," she nodded thoughtfully, "Mu Zhaoyi, you shoot arrows here first. I'll go sit over there and think for a while. Call me if you need anything!"
I blinked to show that I understood and aimed my bow at the target again.
As expected, use it or lose it. After not practicing for a long time, the arrows were in a mess and missed several targets.
After shaking my arms, I breathed a sigh of relief, picked up a new quiver and shot for a long time, but the results were still mediocre.
I was too weak to struggle anymore and was about to put away my bow and go sit with Duan Sheng when I suddenly felt a shadow covering me and my hands were held.
The shiny sleeves clung to mine, and my back felt like it was against a solid wall. "Relax your arms, don't shrug your shoulders, and look straight ahead."
Although Song Heng's voice was cold, every word he taught was very gentle.
My whole body stiffened, and I heard his puzzled voice from above: "Why are you even more tense? Relax."
I tried my best to relax. He pulled my left hand, which was holding the bow, slightly upwards, leaned over and tilted his head to help me determine the direction of aiming: "Look at that red dot."
I stared blankly at the red dot in front of me, my face burning—it seemed like the first time I'd ever been this close...
His every breath was audible: "Is it aligned?"
I was completely held in his arms, and the faint scent of ambergris wafted over from his body, and I forgot to move for a moment.
He didn't hear any response and subconsciously turned his head. I suddenly felt a soft and cool touch brushing against my left ear, and my ear instantly became hot.
Reasonable.
His body stiffened for a moment, and his hot breath was right next to my left ear. The rise and fall of his chest and the pounding sound of his heartbeat seemed to be infinitely amplified at this moment.
He let go of my hand and stepped aside, looking at the target in the distance as if nothing had happened, but his voice was hoarse: "Give it a try."
My breathing was extremely rapid. I subconsciously shot an arrow, then dropped the bow and tried to run away. Suddenly, Song Yu laughed loudly, breaking the quiet and ambiguous atmosphere and finally pulling me back to my senses. "Royal brother, you are really good at teaching! You taught Concubine Mu to go from being on target to being off target."
Song Yu and the others were standing on the other side and should not have seen what had just happened.
Song Heng ignored him. He used his slender fingers to pick out a feathered arrow from the quiver and handed it to me: "Aim at the red dot and try again."
I mechanically took the arrow, took a deep breath, and just wanted to clear everything from my mind -
Suddenly, a guard-like figure rushed to Song Heng and knelt down. "Your Majesty, an urgent secret report from the Qixia Kingdom."
I put away my bow and looked over. The other three had also come closer after hearing the noise. Song Heng unfolded the letter, read it, and calmly handed it to Duan Xiao: "Here it is."
Duan Xiao took it and glanced at it, then looked up at Duan Sheng, but his smile had faded a lot. "Duan Sheng, we have to go back now. The guests are here to urge us."
The four of them went to the Yamato Hall. On the way, I heard Song Heng instructing Ah Fu in an orderly manner to summon civil and military officials. By the time I separated from them and went in different directions, my dizzy mind had already understood most of what was going on.
The Liudan Kingdom did not take action against the Songhua Kingdom first, but instead secretly sent troops to the border between the Qixia Kingdom and the Liudan Kingdom. The war between the three kingdoms was about to break out.
I paced back and forth in my room, my head a mess. I wasn't too worried about the inevitable defeat of Liudan. I subconsciously raised my hand to touch my left ear, then quickly pulled it back.
Song Heng today is very different from usual.
After absentmindedly finishing his lunch and lying down, he suddenly realized that there was still something about his father that he had not yet told her. He hurriedly asked Xiaotao and Xiaocui to take care of things and then went to Chengqing Palace, hoping that he had finished making arrangements and returned to the main hall.
Song Heng's fingers were tightly gripping a thin piece of rice paper, and the pinched end was already wrinkled.
Some time ago, someone impeached Mu Chenfeng for "collusion between officials and businessmen". Song Heng understood that Mu Chenfeng was looking for small gains but would never violate principles, so he just sent someone to investigate as a routine matter and did not take it to heart.
And then there really was nothing that happened. He just sent a servant to the money shop to deposit money. The collusion between officials and businessmen was completely false. However, he was stunned when he accidentally saw the account record he had investigated.
The name on it is "Mu Shuang", and it is deposited monthly. Later, someone was sent to check again. After arranging the strategy for defending against the enemy with Qixia today, the result was obtained.
The servant at the money shop revealed that this "Mu Shuang" had only appeared once and was indeed a young girl, but due to business rules, no other information could be disclosed.
After asking about the time of appearance, Song Heng chuckled. The entire Chengqing Palace became even quieter because of this chilly laugh - the time of appearance was exactly the day of Mu Anguo's birthday.
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