10. Betting on Arrows
◎“I have never lost.”◎
Cangshuang Tower was located in Liuye Lane in the East City. When Xiao Pingchuan and Xu Youcai arrived, it was already late.
The alley faces the river on one side, with lanterns hanging high along the riverbank. The thin red light, like a veil, spills onto the river surface, illuminating the entire alley in an extremely ambiguous way.
A large boat, over a hundred meters long, was moored on the riverbank. On the boat was a three-story building with carved beams and painted pillars, flying eaves and pointed roof, with wind chimes hanging from the corners, making a lively tinkling sound when the wind blew.
Xu Youcai stared at the extravagantly luxurious Cangshuang Tower with his mouth agape and exclaimed, "We're eating sand in the Northern Territory, while these bastards are chewing gold here."
Xiao Pingchuan nodded expressionlessly: "So we'd better be ruthless later and squeeze out as much money as possible."
Upon arriving at the entrance of Cangshuang Tower, a tall, thin steward stood under a row of large, bright red lanterns. Seeing that the two were unfamiliar faces, the steward stopped them and politely asked, "May I ask which family you two distinguished guests are from?"
Xu Youcai asked, "What? Isn't it true that only rich people can get into the building?"
The manager's smile deepened, though it didn't reach his eyes: "You flatter us, esteemed guests. It's just that the building is narrow and winding. I see that this is your first time here. If you didn't have someone to guide you, you might get lost."
“No need, I never get lost,” Xu Youcai said.
The manager's smile faltered slightly. "Please don't make things difficult for me, sir."
"How do I get in without someone I know to guide me?" Xiao Pingchuan asked.
The steward said, "Those of the fifth rank or above, or whose family assets exceed 100,000 gold."
Xu Youcai gasped, thinking to himself, "No wonder it's called a den of iniquity; even the threshold to enter is so high."
"Look at you two..."
"Old Sun, this is a General of the Cavalry, how dare you stop him?"
A person suddenly appeared behind them and spoke.
The General of the Cavalry is a first-rank official, so he should be qualified to enter the tower.
"Oh dear, it was my fault for not recognizing your greatness, General. Please forgive me." The steward bowed and apologized.
After speaking, he bowed and scraped to the man, saying, "Thank you for reminding me, Young Master Wei. You're a bit late today."
"Something came up at home and I was delayed for a while." The man glanced coldly at Xiao Pingchuan and said, "I haven't yet asked the general for an explanation for disciplining my younger brother."
The heir of the Marquis of Anping was brutally beaten in the street, his limbs were broken, and he was writhing in pain on his bed. How could his older brother not come to avenge him?
So, upon learning that Xiao Pingchuan had come to Cangshuang Tower, he followed him there immediately.
Tonight, I'll make him suffer a lot.
Xiao Pingchuan looked down at him and asked, "Who are you?"
“Wei Xun”.
“Oh, you must be Wei Xun,” Xu Youcai replied.
Wei Xun was quite well-known in the army.
In recent years, the Marquis of Anping's family has been interested in developing their military career. Of his two sons, the legitimate son Wei Gu inherited the position of heir apparent but does nothing all day, while the illegitimate son Wei Xun serves in the central army.
The central army of Daliang was enormous, numbering over 200,000. It was a direct army of the imperial court stationed in the capital, divided into two parts: the Imperial Guard stationed within the capital and the Yamen Army stationed outside the city to protect the capital.
Wei Xun served as the General of the Jishe Battalion in the Imperial Guard.
Unlike the heirs who benefited from their ancestors' influence, Wei Xun's current official position was earned through his own hard work and skill. Even Xu Youcai, who was far away in the northern border, had heard of the name of General Wei Xun, the Central Army's Archer.
"General Wei, how do you intend to seek an explanation?" Xiao Pingchuan asked.
“Of course, we’ll do it the manly way,” Wei Xun said. “How about a contest of archery, General Xiao? Do you dare?”
Xiao Pingchuan nodded.
“I win. The general must personally apologize to the crown prince.”
"What if you lose?" Xu Youcai asked.
"I have never lost."
Xu Youcai: "......"
To be honest, although Wei Xun's archery skills were famous in the army, he was just the best among the worst.
Do you want to know what kind of place the Shule River is?
The area is perpetually shrouded in yellow sand, so thick that you can't even open your eyes during a fight. Moreover, the sand everywhere requires exceptional eyesight.
Therefore, any ordinary soldier in the Black Flag Army is capable of hitting the bullseye every time, not to mention being able to shoot blindfolded.
“Please, General,” Wei Xun said.
Xiao Pingchuan nodded.
Wei Xun dismissed the steward and personally led the two men the way.
The Cangshuang Tower is an exquisite building. Upon entering, one is greeted by a spacious front hall with a three-story ceiling, red gauze around the pillars, and gold leaf covering the floor.
Ahead was a raised platform with a railing, where four or five beautiful women, dressed in light clothing, were dancing gracefully. Below the platform, at the tables, almost everyone was groping a girl.
Wei Xun was unsurprised, but Xiao Pingchuan and Xu Youcai consciously looked away.
"The archery practice is on the second floor." Wei Xun led the two upstairs.
"Archery in a building? Are you kidding me?" Before Xu Youcai could finish speaking, a very spacious area appeared before him.
“The north and south sides of the second floor of Cangshuang Tower are connected, which is sufficient,” Wei Xun replied.
"Hey, General Wei, you usually only play on the third floor, why are you on the second floor?" Someone saw Wei Xun come in and asked, "This won't do, no one here dares to play with you."
Wei Xun was an excellent archer; they weren't stupid enough to offer him money so easily.
“Go away, that guy from the North is here, I’ll play with him,” Wei Xun said.
The man immediately wore a gloating expression and shouted to the crowd, "Brothers, our Master Wei is going to teach someone a lesson! Come and watch the show!"
As soon as he shouted, the building became lively, and people dropped what they were doing and came over.
"Who are you lecturing?"
"Who's so unlucky as to fall into my hands, Master Wei?"
"Make way, make way, let me see."
Soon, the entire second floor was packed with people.
Of all those present, only Xu Youcai and Xiao Pingchuan were unfamiliar faces, easily recognizable at a glance.
"Who is this?" someone asked.
"I don't know, he looks unfamiliar."
"Oh, you don't all recognize this person? General Xiao Pingchuan from the Northern Border," the person who had greeted the group at the beginning introduced with a grin.
He was also a spoiled brat, and he usually stayed close to the Wei family.
"General Xiao has been busy marrying his beautiful bride these past few days, how come he has time to come here?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a chorus of snickers and laughter erupted around him.
They might not recognize Xiao Pingchuan's appearance, but they knew that he, a dignified general, had been betrothed to a village girl, and that the village girl was very bold, daring to openly provoke all the scholars in the world.
As for his status as a general, the northern border was far from the emperor's reach, so who actually witnessed the general killing someone? On the contrary, his reputation for begging for food everywhere was much more prominent.
Moreover, he was born into a family of refugees, and in Daliang, one's background was everything.
Xu Youcai had a fiery temper and was about to strike, gripping the axe in his hand.
Xiao Pingchuan gently pressed him down and whispered, "No rush."
Seeing that the two remained silent, the crowd assumed they were easy to bully and reached out to touch Xu Youcai's axe, thinking, "This axe looks quite heavy."
Xu Youcai shoved him aside and said in a deep voice, "My axe has chopped up a lot of people. The blade is sharpened with human bones. Be careful not to get hurt."
The man immediately withdrew his hand, no longer daring to touch it.
"How does the general want to play?" Wei Xun asked Xiao Pingchuan.
"How do you usually play?" Xiao Pingchuan asked.
This was the first thing Xiao Pingchuan said as he entered the building. It was an ordinary sentence, but everyone sensed a chill in it.
"To put it simply," the waiter in the building popped out and said solicitously, "the rules of archery betting are that the distance between the bow and the target is thirty paces, and three arrows make up a round. Whoever hits the bullseye first wins. If they hit the bullseye at the same time, the distance between the bow and the target is increased. The one with the greater distance and the higher accuracy wins. The bet starts at ten taels of silver per round, with no upper limit."
Xiao Pingchuan nodded. "Old Cai, why don't you go upstairs and have some fun first?"
Xu Youcai nodded.
Upon hearing this, Wei Xun looked around and pointed to someone from the crowd, saying, "Zhou Kang, come and keep General Xu company."
Zhou Kang was his deputy.
A tall, slender man stepped out from the crowd, stood in front of the group, and took the bow and arrow from the waiter inside the building.
"General Xu." Zhou Kang clasped his hands in a fist salute.
"You recognize me?" Xu Youcai asked in surprise.
"I have long admired your name."
Xu Youcai could hear the respect in his tone, which was quite rare.
He straightened up a bit and returned the greeting with his hands clasped in a fist salute.
“Wait, ten taels a round is a bit low,” Xiao Pingchuan said. “Let’s start at five hundred taels, and increase by one hundred taels for each step back.”
Wei Xun smiled and said, "I have no problem with that, but I don't know if General Xiao can come up with that much silver."
He had heard that Xiao Pingchuan was already destitute in order to raise funds for the Black Flag Army.
“There’s no need for General Wei to worry about that,” Xiao Pingchuan said.
Wei Xun shrugged. "Let's begin then."
The center of the second floor has been cleared out, a target has been set up, and a line has been drawn thirty paces away from the target.
Everything is ready.
At a distance of thirty paces, the target was barely larger than the arrowhead, making it exceptionally difficult.
Zhou Kang made the first move. He deftly drew his bow with one hand, stepped to the side, raised his hand to nock the arrow, and shot it out with a "thud" after a quick aim.
Those closest to the target reached out and took a look—good heavens!
"Bullet hit!"
No wonder he came from the elite Jiji Battalion, one in ten thousand.
After Zhou Kang finished shooting the arrow, he stepped aside.
Xu Youcai stepped forward, chuckled, and praised, "Brother, your archery skills are indeed not bad, but they are still a bit inferior to mine."
"Bullshit!" someone scoffed. "General Zhou hit the bullseye every time, how can you possibly be better than him?"
"Exactly, they brag without thinking."
Xu Youcai was too lazy to talk. He picked up his bow, casually nocked an arrow, and shot it without even aiming.
Zhou Kang frowned.
A moment later, a series of gasps of astonishment came from the other side of the target.
Zhou Kang looked closely and saw that his arrow had been split in half by the arrow that followed, and that arrow had penetrated half an inch into the target.
This is a light bow; you need a lot of arm strength to make sure the arrow doesn't go in.
This time, everyone put away their contempt and looked at Xu Youcai and Xiao Pingchuan with a more scrutinizing gaze.
Wei Xun's expression also turned serious.
Zhou Kang, on the other hand, acted exactly as he should.
Both arrows hit the bullseye on the first shot, resulting in a draw and requiring a continued contest.
Xu Youcai shot the second arrow first, and it hit the bullseye again.
Zhou Kang then hit the bullseye as well.
The third arrow, and both of them hit the bullseye again.
The first game ended in a draw.
The stakes increased to six hundred taels of silver, and the two men each took a step back, and the second round began.
As expected, the second game ended in a draw.
Continue backing away...
When Zhou Kang had taken eighty-one steps, his third arrow finally missed, while Xu Youcai still hit the bullseye three times and won.
At this point, Xu Youcai had won 3,600 taels of silver. According to the grain price in the capital, one shi (a unit of dry measure) of millet cost 1.4 taels, enough to buy more than 3,000 shi of millet. However, the 70,000 Black Flag Army consumed at least 100,000 shi of grain per month, which was far from enough.
Zhou Kang, true to his word, clasped his hands in a gesture of respect and prepared to step back.
But Wei Xun grabbed him and slapped him hard across the face twice, gritting his teeth and saying, "You've completely disgraced the Central Army."
Zhou Kang had nothing to say and listened to the reprimand with his head down.
Just as the third slap was about to land, Xiao Pingchuan intercepted it halfway, saying, "Don't hit someone in the face, General Wei, you've gone too far."
Wei Xun shook off his hand with a gloomy face and said angrily, "I'm disciplining my own people, it's none of your business to meddle like a dog chasing a mouse."
Xiao Pingchuan winked at Xu Youcai.
Xu Youcai understood, walked over, pulled Zhou Kang behind him, and said to Wei Xun, "I have long heard of General Ji She's great name. General, would you like to play a game with me today?"
Wei Xun turned his head, looked him up and down, and said disdainfully, "If it were your general, I might consider it. Who do you think you are?"
Xu Youcai was not annoyed by this, but generously said, "Just having a game, or does General Wei dare not?"
"I dare not? What a joke! Do you think I got this general's position for nothing?"
"General, please."
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