In the silence, the appearance of Cao Guozi seemed like a huge irony, reflecting Cai Lin's scratched face and tears of fear, and reflecting Shen Miao standing with a nod and an indifferent posture.
She retracted her bow, bent down to pick up some grass fruit from the ground, glanced at Cai Lin, and suddenly smiled brightly, saying, "You lose."
She had always looked a bit young, and today she had seemed overly calm, making people forget her age. Now, with a gentle smile, she suddenly had a touch of innocence. Looking closely, everyone realized that her previous dullness wasn't foolish at all; this little girl had bright eyes and beautiful teeth, and possessed a certain grace and elegance.
Cai Lin was unable to utter a single word. His face was still stained with blood from the scratches he had just made. Tears were falling down his face, blurring the blood and leaving his entire face red and messy. He looked utterly miserable. At this moment, he no longer cared about saving face. He simply stared at Shen Miao, his eyes filled with fear.
Shen Miao raised her eyebrows, as if she finally realized she was afraid. It was good to be afraid. Killing the chicken to scare the monkeys would make an example of them. In the future, these snakes, insects, rats and ants around her would eventually behave themselves.
The servants hurriedly helped Cai Lin, whose legs had gone limp with fear, off the stage. The examiner in charge of the examination walked up to Shen Miao and saw a grass fruit riddled with arrows. He asked in surprise, "Miss Shen, have you ever practiced archery before?"
Not only must the aim be good, but the strength in the hand pulling the bow must not be loose. Shen Miao, a delicate little girl, was so skilled at pulling the bow. Moreover, everyone could clearly see the last arrow. Cai Lin collapsed in fear, and yet Shen Miao was able to shoot the grass fruit even when Cai Lin was moving. That was not surprising.
Practiced before? Shen Miao tilted her head slightly and fell into deep thought.
That was her first year as a hostage in Qin State. The Qin royal family, whether princesses or princes, all loved to bully her. It seemed very interesting to watch her, the queen, being humiliated. But she couldn't get angry because Qin State was lending troops to Ming Qi at that time.
Those princesses and princes had invented a new way to play, similar to the rules Cai Lin had established during the inspection today. They took turns holding the target. While she was holding the target, the Qin royal family would deliberately mess up her hair, tear her clothes, and even "occasionally" accidentally injure her arms and neck. And she could only grit her teeth and endure it.
At that time, every night, she would carefully set up a target in her room and practice diligently. She treated those targets as people who had hurt her. She practiced seriously and shot hard, and finally she could hit the target every time.
But in the daytime, when it was her turn to shoot, she would still deliberately miss the target or be unable to draw the bow. There was no other way, one had to bow their heads under the eaves. She had to return to Mingqi alive to see Wanyu and Fu Ming.
That exhausting way of living lasted for a whole year. When Cai Lin mentioned it again today, it suddenly brought her back to those humiliating days. In this life, she had no leverage over anyone else, so naturally, they could kill or shoot at will. She wanted a life without constraints. If anyone provoked her, she would ruthlessly return the favor. If the Cai family dared to speak about Shen Xin, they would be so scared that they would shut up!
This is what she should do.
She smiled slightly and said, "I've seen my brother practicing diligently in the courtyard. I've seen him so many times that I just followed his example. I never expected to hit the jackpot today."
The Cai family couple in the audience were so angry that they were completely thrown off their feet. Their son had once been a top-ranked archer, but today not only did he not hit a single target, he also made a fool of himself in public. Shen Miao said that he had only imitated others and shot a grass fruit on his first try. How could this be called stupid?
"Pa, pa, pa." The crisp sound of applause rang out. Everyone turned around and saw Prince Yu clapping his hands: "Really good."
Shen Miao glanced at him but said nothing.
The examiner said loudly, "One shot at rifle shooting. Anyone else want to challenge me?"
This round was naturally won by Shen Miao, and others could naturally come up and jump to Shen Miao. If no one challenged her, Shen Miao would be the undisputed number one.
Upon hearing this, Shen Yue's face suddenly darkened. During the first verification, she had been completely overshadowed by Shen Miao. From afar, she watched Fu Xiuyi chatting with Prince Zhou and Prince Jing, clasping his hands tightly before releasing them. In her heart, she cursed the useless Cai Lin.
But the next moment, someone on the field shouted, "I want to challenge Shen Miao!"
At the men's table, a young man stood up. He looked no more than sixteen or seventeen, and was not bad looking, but his eyes betrayed an undisguised sophistication and shrewdness, and even his humble tone sounded pretentious.
With just one glance, Shen Miao knew who this person was. She felt a little amused. This was none other than Xie Changwu, the illegitimate son of the Lin'an Marquis Xie family, Xie Jingxing's half-brother.
This man possessed no other talents, but he was incredibly smooth and cunning, a master of posturing and flattery in official circles. Later, when the Xie family fell, these two illegitimate sons and Fang Shi, thanks to the new emperor's subsidies, lived comfortably. Xie Changwu and his younger brother, Xie Changchao, even served in the imperial court. She disliked the two brothers at the time because they sided with Madam Mei, were friendly with Fu Sheng, and often helped him suppress Fu Ming.
The reason Shen Miao reminded Xie Jingxing to find an opportunity to eliminate his half-brother was because she was still brooding over the events of her previous life. These two people couldn't be kept alive; keeping them would only create hatred.
Now her revenge hadn't even arrived here, and this man had taken the initiative to come to her door. But why? She glanced at Mr. Cai's seat. Mr. Cai had a sullen face, and Xie Changchao seemed to be comforting him.
By the way, the two brothers of the Xie family have recently been planning to seek a job under Lord Cai, the Imperial Court Official, and have been actively trying to befriend Cai Lin. Unfortunately, Cai Lin has always wanted to befriend Xie Jingxing and has ignored the two brothers. But isn't this a good opportunity?
You have to know that in her previous life, at the end of this year, when she had successfully forced Fu Xiuyi to marry her, Xie Changwu and Xie Changchao both joined Lord Cai's forces. And then... Two years later, the Cai family was implicated in a corruption case, their property was confiscated, and their entire clan was exterminated.
Many things have changed, but many things have not changed. It seems that the process has changed, but the outcome has not changed.
The two brothers of the Xie family wanted to use this method to please the Cai family, but they wanted her to embarrass them?
Shen Miao was about to answer when she heard a voice suddenly appear from the side.
The voice was lazy and filled with unspeakable sarcasm. "You don't practice with your brother at home on weekdays, but now you come to challenge this little girl? Xie Changwu, you are getting worse as you grow older."
Xie Jingxing appeared on the stage, his arms folded as he looked at his two half-brothers who were stunned below with a half-smile. He smiled and said, "How about I challenge you two? Let me teach my younger brother a lesson, too. Don't be a coward and shame yourself by fighting with a woman."
He glanced at Shen Miao again and said, “You can go down.”
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