The arrival of another person also made everyone's eyes brighter. The emperor's grandson Jiang Di brought Liu Yuting, the fiancée promised by the emperor, to the banquet. Liu Yuting, who has been growing up since she was a child, has become more and more impressive. She lives up to her reputation as one of the four beauties in the capital. He Qizhou
He didn't dare to recognize each other for a moment, but Liu Yuting nodded to him first, which made He Qizhou feel a little embarrassed. He Qizhou also came with his brother Liu Yucun.
He Qizhou learned from everyone's mouths that the food at the dinner was not very attractive. The highlight was the pot-throwing treasure hunt before the meal. Every year, King Cheng would take out a treasure as a reward for the leader of the game. The treasure was on the pillar on the wall.
The hanging weapons and armors are all top-quality products. It is well known that King Cheng loves to collect weapons. This year's important weapon is a sword named "Bullying Frost", which was cast by the Zheng family of the Southern Tang Dynasty.
He Qizhou was greatly moved. What he dreamed of was a sword of his own. When King Cheng held out the sword wrapped in red cloth in public, it caused a commotion in the hall.
The venue for the pot throwing game was in a spacious hall. The sword was placed on a simple long table at the north end of the hall. Under the gaze of everyone, King Cheng opened the red cloth wrapped in layers, and a dark long sword flashed faintly under the light.
Cold light.
"Why is there no scabbard?" someone asked.
King Cheng introduced: "This sword is called Qishang. It has a history of more than a hundred years. Its sharpness can cut iron as hard as clay. It was a famous sword made by the Zheng family in the Southern Tang Dynasty. When our ancestors conquered the Tang Dynasty, during the battle of Huainan, the man holding this sword was
The commander-in-chief of the Southern Tang Dynasty was beheaded on his horse and the scabbard was lost. The sword was obtained by Cheng Tianhe, the founding general of our country, and was equipped with another scabbard. Unfortunately, General Cheng died in the battle with Zhou Zhou forty years ago, and this sword was obtained by Zhou General Xiao Ta.
Later, when Yang Zheng was marching to the grasslands in the north, he killed Xiao Luan, the captain of the Zhou army who was escorting grain and grass. This Xiao Luan was the eldest son of Xiao Ta. Yang Zheng got the sword again, but because the scabbard had been replaced by the Northern Zhou style, he had it shot again.
He gave this sword to his general Wen Ting. Unfortunately, General Wen died in the battle of Shangmapo in Youzhou. The escaped entourage handed the sword to me, but the scabbard was lost again! Because the scabbard was ominous,
Therefore, it has been wrapped in red cloth, hoping to get rid of the bad luck of this sword!"
Seeing the dignified expressions on everyone's faces, King Cheng continued: "That's why the sword is unlucky. Originally, I didn't want to take it out as a lottery ticket, but... I might as well tell you some news. Due to floods in the south and drought in the north, the grassland is no worse than in the south.
Young Master, in order to compete for winter pasture, the war between the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty has escalated. Your Majesty thinks this is a God-given opportunity for us. In two days, he will issue an edict to change the name of the country from 'Tianxi' to 'Dingbei', so this year
It's the first year of 'Dingbei'. I think it's time to show off this sharp weapon. I wonder if you dare to compete?"
As soon as King Cheng finished speaking, the crowd in the hall was excited. He Qizhou was also excited, imagining the joy of holding a sword on the battlefield.
"Why don't you dare!" "Dare!" "Swear to destroy Zhou Lu!" shouts came and went.
Everyone can throw a pot, but the arrows and pots in Prince Cheng's Mansion are a little different. The arrows use the standard feathered arrows in the army. The arrowheads have not been removed, just unbladed. The pots are made of copper.
The mouth is no more than an inch wide, not much wider than the widest point of the arrowhead.
A red line is drawn on the south side of the long table where "Bullying Frost" is placed in the hall. The copper kettle is placed one foot away from the red line and about three feet away from the entrance of the hall. Participants stand behind the red line and throw, and those who fail to throw are eliminated on the spot.
The winner continues to the next round of the game. After each round, the copper kettle will move back two feet until the last player is determined.
Because the mouth of the pot is extremely small and the distance is far, it is extremely difficult to hit the target. After the first round, only about 30 people passed the test. Most of them were the previous Jinshi. This time, only six people, including He Qizhou and Xu Mu, passed the test.
For humans, hitting the target depends on wrist strength, vision and concentration. It is almost impossible to hit the target based on luck, so those who pass the test are all people with strong martial arts skills.
In the second round, the copper pot moved two feet toward the door, and more than half of the people were eliminated. He Qizhou felt that this was not difficult for him. He seemed to have an innate talent for bows and arrows, and the arrows he used were similar to those he used when hunting.
The ones used are exactly the same, so the first two shots pass easily.
In the third round, the copper pot moved another two feet. This time, even Xu Mu was eliminated. He Qizhou's arrow struggled at the mouth of the pot, and then he threw it in without any risk. Six others passed this level, and the leader was naturally
It was Xiao Jihuai who was calm and composed. Ever since he won the lottery by throwing in a copper pot two feet away three years ago, he had not come to participate in the game for two consecutive years. His participation also made others less confident.
The copper pot was moved to a distance of eight feet, and He Qizhou became the first person to throw it. People in the hall formed a circle, and everyone's eyes were focused on the thrower. Although the last arrow was a bit dangerous, He Qizhou
He didn't panic. He threw three times in a row, but he still found some feel. He silently calculated in his mind how much strength he would need to increase by two feet. Just when he was about to take action, he was told to stop.
"Hello, junior brother, wait a moment!" The person who spoke was actually Xiao Jihuai. He turned to King Cheng who was sitting beside the long desk and continued: "Teacher, I have already won a lottery. I shouldn't be greedy anymore. It's just that I feel that this time
Xu Mu is probably the strongest person in martial arts, so I want to throw this arrow for her as compensation, is it possible?"
King Cheng nodded and said, "If you win, you can make the decision yourself."
Xu Mu was secretly angry, but he didn't want to refute Xiao Jihuai's face in front of everyone, so he didn't refuse.
"Teacher, I see that the casts of several brothers are very accurate. I don't know when it will end. How about this. Move the copper pot to two feet and five feet. I will cast it first. If it doesn't come in, you can continue. I don't know.
What do you think, brothers and sisters?"
There was an uproar in the hall, two feet five feet? Two feet is already the farthest distance in history, and now Xiao Jihuai actually wants to move so far? Naturally, no one objected to his mention. He was relying on his ability. If
If your opponent's strength far exceeds yours, there's nothing you can say about it.
A trace of unhappiness flashed through He Qizhou's heart. If he added two feet by two feet, he might be able to win once or twice, but if he added more than two feet at a time, he would have no confidence at all. Two feet and five feet was absolutely impossible.
The mouth of the pot is as small as a black dot. Alas, it seems that there is no way to seize the treasure!
He Qizhou reluctantly handed the arrow in his hand to Xiao Jinhuai, who was walking over. As he got closer, He Qizhou felt more and more that there was nothing to criticize about Xiao Jinhuai's appearance.
Everyone's eyes followed him. Although it was a bit incredible, no one would doubt that Xiao Jihuai would miss this arrow! After Xiao Jihuai stood still, he took a deep breath, and the energy in his body surged. He Qizhou, who had already stepped aside,
Suddenly, I felt Xiao Jihuai's extremely powerful internal strength.
I saw Xiao Jihuai flick his wrist, and the long arrow flew towards the copper pot in the distance. The moment after he took action, there were exclamations and sighs, because many masters had already seen that this arrow would fly past the copper pot.
The pot was about half a foot wide. As the arrows flew, there were more and more exclamations. When I saw that the tip of the arrow had slipped past the mouth of the pot, an even more shocking scene appeared.
As if the arrow was pulled by an invisible thread, the arrow suddenly collapsed, suddenly stopped, and fell straight into the copper pot below.
After a moment of dullness, bursts of cheers erupted in the hall! Someone shouted, Eight meridians! Eight meridians! Mr. Xiao has opened the eight meridians! He Qizhou was behind Xiao Jihuai and saw with his own eyes the five fingers of his right hand hooking towards the flying arrow.
It should be a martial arts similar to Dragon Claw Tire, but Xu Mu is not strong enough and can only control a tree branch three feet away that is as heavy as an arrow. But is this too speculative? Think about it, Xiao Jihuai has already cheated on drinking.
He couldn't help but feel angry, and suddenly shouted: "Senior Brother Xiao, why are you cheating again!"
Xiao Jihuai smiled and looked sideways at He Qizhou, as if he was happy to see He Qizhou lose his temper and said: "Junior Brother He can also 'cheat' like this."
Suddenly, there was a sound of ridicule in the hall. King Cheng interrupted the jeers and said: "Ji Huai, when did you open the eight meridians, you didn't tell me."
"Reporting to my teacher, I had my pulse opened when I was at Yanmen Pass. Since you have been working hard on the martial arts, I don't want to trouble you. Besides, it is only a small achievement so far, and there is nothing to show off. I hope my teacher can forgive me!" Xiao Ji said deeply!
He bowed deeply to King Cheng.
"That's right, that's right. The foundation is quite solid. Don't let it go in the future!" King Cheng said.
"Thank you for your teaching!"
King Cheng smiled at He Qizhou again and said: "He Qizhou, it is only natural for you to have such thoughts, but what is the test in our Armed Forces Academy? It is martial arts! Xiao Jihuai did not violate the rules, so this throw should not be ignored
To cheat."
Seeing that King Cheng recognized the arrow, there was another burst of applause in the hall. Only He Qizhou was still unwilling to accept it and asked: "Master Jiu Jiu, isn't this throwing the arrow just throwing the arrow into the pot? How can you throw the arrow into the pot?"
To control it? Is there such a rule?"
King Cheng nodded and said: "You asked very well. There were indeed no rules originally. It only required throwing from behind the line. But one year someone had a little cleverness. After throwing the arrow branch, he caught up with the arrow branch and gently threw the arrow.
Dial it into the copper pot. Of course, this cannot be counted. From then on, I established a rule in throwing the pot. After throwing the arrow branch, you cannot touch the arrow branch with your body or borrowed objects. Xiao Jihuai uses his energy to control the arrow, so he cannot
It’s a violation.”
"Is this the only rule?" He Qizhou suddenly felt inspired.
"That's it." King Cheng said.
"The place here is too small. Master Jijiu, can you move the red line to the door?" He Qizhou asked.
"Of course." King Cheng agreed with some doubts.
"Can I shoot arrows with a bow instead of throwing them with my hands?" He Qizhou asked again.
"Ah?" There was an uproar in the hall, followed by a round of sneers.
"Okay." King Cheng also became interested.
"Can I borrow the big bow on the pillar?" He Qizhou saw an ox-horn bow similar to his own on the pillar not far away.
"That bow was made by the best craftsmen of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. I know Yang Zhan also has one. You can use it." King Cheng waved his hand and said.