"Okay. You two, please get ready." Xiao Jihuai took a step forward, stood between the two of them, and said, "Start!"
He Qizhou already had a countermeasure. Before Xiao Jihuai finished speaking, he quickly raised his hand and shot. Zhou Tong's arrow had just been placed on the string, and he didn't even make a move to open the bow. He saw that He Qizhou had already shot the arrow.
He couldn't help but feel tense in his heart, and the target he had originally chosen moved again, so he didn't rush to shoot the arrow. He just hoped that He Qizhou, who had hurriedly shot the arrow, would not hit it.
He Qizhou did not hit the squirrel, but he shot hard into a long twig with lush branches and leaves. After the arrow was shot into the squirrel, it immediately trembled greatly, and the squirrels that were looking for food and playing were immediately hit.
They were so frightened that they fled in all directions and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
"Hahaha, if you miss the squirrel and scare it away, you won't lose. I even wonder if he saw the squirrel."
"Let me tell you, this guy is very talented!"
The discussion started again behind the scenes. Xu Mu couldn't stand it anymore and said, "What do you know? He just doesn't want to kill. How many people can choose a twig so quickly and scare away all the squirrels?"
"Yes! You have never seen He Qizhou shoot Zhou Jun, that accurate shot, tsk tsk..." Jiang Damin hurriedly added something from his heart.
Zhou Tong's expression changed, because it was indeed possible that he could hit the twig, but the arrow could not be released so fast. He could only tentatively say to He Qizhou: "Good archery skills, now the squirrels have run away.
Why don't you ask Mr. He to ask another question?"
He Qizhou had mixed feelings in his heart. Originally he just wanted to save face and strive not to lose. But now he saw that the opponent was slow to shoot arrows and his archery skills were probably not much better. It was definitely not Xiao Jihuai's deliberate arrangement to humiliate him. It was very likely that these were the reasons.
While the person himself wanted to raise his social status, he also wanted to save face for Xiao Jihuai.
I had always felt that I owed Xiao Jihuai, but now that he was in the limelight on his territory, he was really overshadowing him, so he made up his mind to lose the round and said, "How about we each shoot ten arrows and see who shoots the pine cone?"
How about more?"
"Okay! One person and one arrow. Mr. He invites you first." Zhou Tongtong said.
"Where are the pine cones?" "Can you hit it from such a distance? Do you have to shoot it down?" "Do you want me to run under the tree and count them?" The crowd started to roar again.
"If you don't bother me, I'll do the counting." Xiao Jihuai said with a smile.
"Then I'll shoot first." After saying that, He Qizhou fired an arrow and passed by a fist-sized pine cone. Everyone with good eyesight let out a sigh. He Qizhou had already decided to be two arrows behind Zhou Tong, so the first arrow would definitely not be
You will hit it. For such a big pine cone, it may take some luck, but the hit is almost certain.
"He Qizhou missed." Xiao Jihuai said.
Zhou Tong's first arrow was slightly more accurate than He Qizhou's. The pine cone was scratched by the arrow feathers. After shaking for a while, it was still hanging on the treetop intact. This time, more people sighed because the target was moving.
, more people saw the pine cone.
"Zhou Tong hit it, but it didn't fall." Xiao Jihuai reported the result again.
"He Qizhou missed."
"Zhou Tong missed."
"He Qizhou missed."
"Zhou Tong's shot missed."
…
"Zhou Tong shoots down!" No one shot down the pine cone until the seventh arrow, when Zhou Tong found the feeling and shot down a fruit nest that had been hit before. As Xiao Jihuai reported the results, the crowd burst into laughter.
Roaring and cheering sounds came and went.
But He Qizhou felt a haze in his heart. Zhou Tong did shoot accurately, but he was still far behind him. It wouldn't matter if he was an ordinary person, but he was the most skilled archer among the more than 100,000 Hebei soldiers!
The army is not a frontier army, but it shouldn't be so unsatisfactory!
He Qizhou has seen many Zhou army's shooting skills. Zhou Tong's level is only comparable to the ordinary Yulin guards of the Zhou Dynasty. He is not sure how many people like Pei Zhenglun and Shen Tinggu in the Northern Zhou Dynasty have better shooting skills than him.
, this battle against Zhou Dynasty can be described in one word - difficult!
"He Qi's boat hit the target but did not land."
"Zhou Tong hit it, but it didn't fall."
He Qizhou is about to curse, but you, Zhou Tong, have been hit by two more arrows. If I can't shoot any of them, it will be too humiliating.
"He Qizhou missed."
"Am I just saying that he is just pretending to be a fake person? You see He's face is so ugly. He can't hold on to his dignity."
"It seems that the guy named Xu Mu can't do it either, and he still speaks for him!"
"Yes, you have to look at Mr. Xiao to get the top spot in Wushu. Last year's class was really not good."
"I heard that both of them escaped from the Northern Zhou Dynasty. I wonder if they were ever arrested?"
"Let me tell you a secret, He Qizhou's adoptive father is Yang Zheng..."
"ah……"
The discussion behind them was endless, and at the end of the arrow contest, the noise started again.
"Quiet, quiet! Archery requires a calm mind. Please wait a moment." Xiao Jihuai persuaded He Qizhou loudly when he saw that he looked bad.
Zhou Tong shot his ninth arrow, and finally a second pine cone fell, and cheers erupted again.
"He Qizhou shot down."
"Okay!" Jiang Damin and his two subordinates shouted. At the same table with them were two subordinates of the general. Hearing those two people cheering just now, Jiang Damin almost couldn't bear the frustration.
He Qizhou also breathed a sigh of relief. It was still embarrassing to miss ten shots out of ten. Now at least he proved that his archery skills were not too bad.
"Zhou Tong shot down."
"He Qi's boat hit the target but did not land."
Having succeeded with one arrow, He Qizhou ignored those noisy people at all. Xu Mu looked at He Qizhou with relieved eyes. Of course she knew that He Qizhou deliberately lost the competition. Only the three brothers Jiang Damin kept complaining about He Qizhou, saying that he had
He was injured, so it was good to be able to shoot one down. Of course Xiao Jihuai could see the depth, but he probably didn't want to embarrass Zhou Tong, so he didn't point it out to his face.
"I conceded." Zhou Tong was a little confused. The other party lost so calmly. Could it be that he really conceded to him? He didn't have much confidence in saying "I conceded".
"If you lose, you lose, I'll drink!" He Qizhou was already greedy. After returning to the wine table and being persuaded by many people to drink, he decided to take a risk and take a few sips. Anyway, Yang Zhan was suffering from injuries and had been drinking secretly.
"There are two more cups left, so I'll drink them for him." When Xu Mu saw one cup of wine finished, he didn't wait for him to pick up the second cup. He reached out to grab the second cup one by one and poured it directly into his stomach: "He was indeed seriously injured.
, I hope you will understand me."
Xiao Jihuai's expression changed and he said: "Come here, please remove all the wine from this table. Brother He was injured for the country. We are really embarrassed to drink alone."
"Senior Brother Xiao..." Xu Mu saw that Xiao Jihuai was unhappy and didn't know how to persuade him.
"Don't blame me for being stingy, please eat more food." Xiao Jihuai interrupted Xu Mu. When the other tables saw the main table removing the wine, they did not dare to drink more. Without the wine, the banquet ended quickly.
.After the meal, almost no one left the Hou Mansion. Xiao Jihuai invited a theater troupe to sing in the back garden stage. Some of those who didn't want to listen to the opera wandered in the garden, some played chess in the pavilion, and some played gambling games such as hutou and Pai Gow.
.Since Xiao Chihuai has not yet gotten married, and there is no mistress in the house, the visiting female relatives huddled together and chattered about who was most likely to become Mr. Xiao's concubine.
He Qizhou noticed that Xu Mu drank two glasses of wine for him, which made Xiao Jihuai very jealous, so he excused himself and went back to his house to rest. Xu Mu also returned to his waterside residence. Xiao Jihuai had a chat with several "big shots"
After a few words, one person went back to the study to read. The three of them seemed to be avoiding each other.
Just after Shen Shi, with the arrival of those who announced the decree from the palace, people who had been scattered throughout the Hou Mansion gathered in the big house with five bays. Out of politeness, He Qizhou showed up even though he was extremely reluctant.
The scene of the decree issuance.
The person who came to deliver the decree was Tian Jun, which surprised He Qizhou. However, he was surrounded by the crowd and had no time to take care of himself. He only nodded and smiled once, and the smile was quite mysterious. This time he only brought a young man with him.
Eunuch, there is no little princess.
The tables and chairs in the central hall had long been evacuated. Eunuch Tian was welcomed to the north central hall of the hall and stood facing south. Those with official positions and orders could watch the ceremony in the left and right side halls, while others retreated outside. Tian Jun saw Xiao
When Ji Huai was ready, he unfolded the imperial edict and said loudly: "Handan Marquis, deputy general of the Hebei Army's southern Hebei camp, Xiao Ji Huai, academician of the Privy Council, is listening to the edict——"
"The humble minister is here." Xiao Jihuai fell to the ground facing Eunuch Tian, and all the people watching the ceremony knelt down to listen to the order.
"Handan Marquis, deputy general of the Hebei Army's southern Hebei camp, academician of the Privy Council, imperial sword guard Xiao Jihuai, loyal to the country, unparalleled in bravery, led the army to attack the captives, and recovered the Beiguan of Yuzhou Town. His contribution is commendable, and he was specially promoted to the imperial palace.
A hundred households will be armed with swords and guards, and will be given a hundred taels of gold. I admire this!"
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty, long live my emperor!" Xiao Jihuai stood up slowly. Tian Jun also realized what he was doing. He rolled up the imperial edict and stepped forward to give it a gentle hand and said, "Congratulations, Mr. Xiao Hou, for receiving divine grace again. I will reward you."
The gold has been sent to your father's house."
"Thank you, father-in-law! You must stay for a glass of wine in the evening." Xiao Jihuai stuffed the banknotes he had prepared into Tian Jun's sleeve.
"No, no, our family has to rush back to answer the call. There is something I want to discuss with Mr. Xiao Hou." Tian Jun put away the banknotes and said with a smile.
Because the announcement was closed, people in the side hall and outside the door rushed over one after another, vying to express their congratulations to Xiao. Some even praised Mr. Xiao as the pillar of the country and an unparalleled hero, which interrupted Tian Jun's speech.
Xiao Jihuai waved his hand hurriedly, indicating to the guests that he would talk to him later: "Father-in-law, please speak."
"Oh, I have two more edicts to declare here. They happen to be here. Can they borrow the precious land for use?" Tian Gong said fairly.
"Of course you can. Everyone please leave. My father-in-law still has an edict to declare." Xiao Jihuai said loudly and took the lead into the side hall.
"Hey Qizhou, Xu Mu will stay for a moment, who of you two will hear the announcement first?" Tian Jun stretched his neck and asked after seeing the two people standing at the back of the crowd.
"Xu Mu." He Qizhou said hurriedly. Although he had an experience, it is always good to have one more chance to learn. Being rewarded by the emperor was expected. Liu Xizhou and Jiang Shuo both said that they had already