Chapter 117 Killing Three Birds with One Stone
Having finally escaped numerous trivial matters, Yinzhen embarked on his journey to the Mulan Hunting Grounds. Perhaps because he had spent so much time with the children, he still retained a childlike heart and wanted to surprise Hongzhao. Therefore, he did not send anyone in advance to inform them, but simply led a small group of people on a simple journey, and their pace was much faster than when Hongzhao and his entourage arrived.
The Emperor had spoken, ordering that the Crown Prince be kept in the dark. Naturally, no one in or outside the palace dared to say anything. Hongzhao, along with Prince Yi and the Mongol princes, received no news at all.
Since he had promised to compete with the princes of Mongolia, Hongzhao naturally would not go back on his word. The next two days were the days of the pre-arranged sacrificial procession, so the competition was scheduled for the third day.
The Prince of Khorchin frowned, looked up at the weather, and sighed inwardly at the cloudless sky. Why couldn't it just suddenly rain heavily for several days to cover up the whole thing?
Competitions on the grasslands are limited to a few events: horseback riding, archery, wrestling, and hunting. Winning or losing is fine. But if this noble Jin Miaomiao were injured, wouldn't a large army be pressing in the next day?
After all, the current emperor is different from the previous emperor. The previous emperor had many sons and could have any of them, but the current emperor has only one son, Scorpion Dung...
Thinking about it any further would be disrespectful, so he coughed lightly to quickly pull his wandering thoughts back and secretly glanced at his youngest son.
Bala was the youngest son of the Khorchin prince, two years older than the crown prince. Seeing his father's gaze, he nodded subtly, remembering all his father's instructions. They couldn't tarnish the Khorchin's reputation, nor could they harm the crown prince; a narrow victory was best.
Hongzhao looked at the system screen and saw that the "True Obedience Value" was pitifully hanging at 8%. He nodded without any surprise. These people were extremely respectful to him on the surface, but in reality, they were afraid of the emperor. Perhaps in their eyes, he, the crown prince, was just a fox borrowing the tiger's power.
The first competition was archery, but the target was not a boring fixed target. Instead, the waiters stood at the finish line and threw objects into the air, with the objects decreasing in size, eliminating them round by round.
Hongzhao had already demonstrated his archery skills in the palace. Prince Yi peeked ahead and saw that the smallest object was only three copper coins. Compared to three white birds flying around, it was far inferior. Without any worry, he smiled and crossed his arms, waiting to watch their performance.
There were more than thirty people standing in a row below, of all shapes and sizes, and unsurprisingly, they all looked like teenagers. The most robust of them all was Balin Baiyin, the son of the Prince of Balin.
"It is already a great honor for the Crown Prince to spar with our grassland children. There is no reason for His Highness to be subjected to a series of matches. Therefore, I have taken the liberty of suggesting that they compete first, and the Crown Prince can then spar with the winner in the last two rounds. I wonder what the Crown Prince thinks?"
The Khorchin prince meant well, and Hongzhao was not one to be indiscriminate; he would naturally agree to something that could save him some effort.
"I have no objection, gentlemen, please proceed."
As the drums sounded to cheer, the boys looked serious and prepared for battle. When they got serious, they really showed some skill, as they had been skilled in archery and horsemanship since childhood. After elimination rounds, the items changed from apples to green dates, and there were still more than a dozen people left on the field.
This is also where the main character makes their appearance.
Hongzhao unbuttoned one of the buttons on his shirt, stretched out half an arm to pull the sleeve to his waist, and walked down the steps to the group, showing no sign of nervousness. On the contrary, his composed demeanor made him seem unpredictable.
"As expected, like father, like son. The skills you have displayed are enough to show how outstanding you princes are. In that case, I will not be modest any longer and will start the next round."
As he spoke, he stood in front of his "target," reached back and pulled the handkerchief that Xiao Dezi had been holding—the one he had prepared for himself—from his hand, casually twirled it twice, stuck it over his eyes, hooked it behind his head, and tied a knot. Then he pulled it down and hung it on the bridge of his nose to expose his entire field of vision.
“We can begin,” he gestured to the waiter.
Looking at his posture and the three copper coins in the messenger's hand, everyone thought to themselves that this prince was still too young and couldn't handle being provoked. He looked steady, but he had only come up with this idea after watching others shoot arrows so well. If he missed, wouldn't he be even more embarrassed?
But no one present spoke up to stop them.
Seeing this, the waiter no longer hesitated, and threw the three copper coins in his hand into the air with all his might.
Hongzhao's eyes were fixed on the coin. The instant it slipped from his hand, his gaze sharpened. He deftly covered his eyes with a handkerchief, and with fluid movements, he drew the bow and released the arrow. The bow swelled in his hand like a full moon, and the arrow, with a whooshing sound, flew forward as if it had eyes.
Unsurprisingly, the arrow pierced through three copper coins and shot straight into the tree trunk further away. The three copper coins hung neatly in the arrow, and the arrowhead penetrated seven-tenths of the way into the tree trunk, demonstrating the immense power of the arrow.
Hearing the complete silence around him, Hongzhao slightly curled his lips, steadily removed his blindfold, and walked straight back to his seat without even glancing in the direction he had shot. How much self-confidence must one have to act like this?
Bala stared wide-eyed at the arrow whose fletching was still trembling slightly in the distance, his gaze slowly shifting to his equally stunned father. For the first time in his life, he doubted and disbelieved his father's words. How could he possibly win by such a narrow margin? His father hadn't said that the Crown Prince's archery skills were so divine!
After a moment of stunned silence, praise and compliments erupted one after another. The dozen or so people standing below knew that there was no need to compete anymore. After all, who among them could shoot an arrow through three copper coins while blindfolded? Continuing the competition would only be a humiliation.
Hongzhao remained calm in the face of the praise. He waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's just a trivial skill. I just praised all the contestants for having sons who are as good as fathers. As their son, I naturally can't let my father down."
Um... everyone here participated in the late emperor's Mulan Autumn Hunt, but the current emperor's horsemanship and archery... it's hard to say.
But at this moment, no one would dare to provoke such a reaction, and even fewer would dare to say such things in public. After all, the Crown Prince's words were, on the one hand, a reference to the incident two days prior when the Prince of Balin, drunk, nearly disrespected the Emperor.
It's only natural for a son to avenge his father.
As Hongzhao spoke, he turned his head to the side and saw that the seat where his thirteenth uncle had been sitting was suddenly empty. He looked around but couldn't see where the person had gone, so he had to give up.
Uncle Thirteen isn't going to watch the next round of matches? That shouldn't be the case.
It's not that Prince Yi stopped watching, but rather that another person has traveled a long way to see it.
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