Xia Houshu had no intention of going out to shoot the arrows himself. He stood aside with his arms folded and watched coldly, glancing at the tent where the woman known as "White Peony" disappeared from time to time.
This woman's name is Bai Shao, and she has exactly the same appearance as the woman in the portrait. Both of them came from the palace of Prince Ling. The only difference is that the woman in the portrait is named Yi Wu.
It's just that names can be changed, but a person's temperament is not easy to change.
People who are good at dancing are born with more natural tenderness and agility than ordinary people. It can be seen in every gesture and cannot be concealed. Bai Shao also has such a temperament in her gestures. There is also the one held in the hand of King Chonghou of the Night.
That white jade plaque happened to be engraved with a white peony flower.
There must be some connection between the two.
Maybe there is no such thing as Bai Shao and Yi Wu, they are the same person.
This intuition gave Xia Houshu a hint of conspiracy. She was very excited, but also a little worried. She had no idea that Yu Wenke had already walked to her side.
"What is Brother Mo Xian thinking about?" Yu Wenke followed her line of sight and saw that several young men from aristocratic families were firing their bows and arrows at the target with all their strength.
Those people are better at eating, drinking and having fun, but when it comes to archery, their qualifications are also mixed, and they make fools of themselves. Fortunately, most of the mediocre people are descendants of aristocratic families, and no one really dares to say anything to their face. Occasionally, there are
Individuals who are outstanding do not dare to show off too much.
Yu Wenke withdrew his gaze, his eyes fell on Xiahou Shu, and he said with a smile: "Brother Mo Xian is a relative of the Duke of Yue, and he is a brother-in-law with the Xiahou brothers. He must have received the true inheritance from the Duke of Yue, and his riding and shooting skills must be good."
Okay, why don't you come on stage and show off, so we can have a look?"
"Me?" Xia Houshu was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses and waved his hands quickly and said, "I can't do it."
Yu Wenke's expression froze. He thought of many excuses for Xia Houshu to refuse the invitation, but he never expected that she would just lie flat and let him laugh at him, like a punch on cotton.
Naturally, Yuwen Ke was unwilling to face such a stupid boy who didn't play by the rules. He forced out a smile and deliberately said: "Brother Mo Xian is so humble, maybe it's because Xiao Wang didn't recruit him well.
Does it make you feel neglected?"
Look at the words spoken in this scene!
Xia Houshu curled his lips in disgust and didn't bother to talk nonsense with him. He simply broke the jar and said: "I am just a distant and poor relative of the Duke of Yue. I grew up in a poor family and didn't have enough to eat. Fortunately, the Duke of Yue has
It was only Ji Ji who had this insight, and he had never practiced riding or shooting. This made the prince laugh."
Yu Wenke was slightly startled, looked at Xia Houshu thoughtfully, and said: "Yesterday's things are like yesterday's death. It's okay not to mention the old things. Since Mo Xiandi is willing to come to Xiao Wang's paddock today, if he doesn't practice
Wouldn’t it be a pity?”
Yu Wenke didn't stop there and said stubbornly: "I hope brother Mo Xian will give me some face!"
No matter how shameless, a manly man, he will try to show off to Qiao!
Xiahou Shu's slander turned into slander and disgust, but he said: "Your Majesty, I really don't know how to think too much. Not only do I not know how, I have never even touched a bow and arrow. Your Majesty kindly invited me, so I came here shamelessly.
But now the prince insists on poking my sore spots, is this the way the prince treats guests?"
Yu Wenke waved his hand and said provocatively: "You don't know how, or you don't dare?"
Seeing his reluctance, Xia Houshu felt a little irritated and said slightly angrily: "Your Majesty, it's really strange. I told you I couldn't do it, yet you force me to shoot arrows again and again.
There are so many people in the paddock, but the prince insists on forcing anyone. Could it be because the prince knows that I don’t know how to do it, and I don’t have a family to rely on, so he wants to embarrass me in public?"
Xia Houshu's voice was a bit loud, and it immediately attracted the attention and eyes of several young men from aristocratic families who were nearby. They all looked at Xia Houshu in surprise, wondering what the inexplicable tension between them was about.
thing.
Yu Wenke turned a deaf ear to those doubtful words and was not annoyed. Instead, he said to Xia Houshu sincerely: "What did Brother Mo Xian say? How could I have such thoughts?"
If you don't have such thoughts, why are you pressing on?
Xia Houshu wanted to tear his face off, knead and trample him repeatedly.
Yu Wenke looked at her angry face, pointed at the children of all the aristocratic families who were competing enthusiastically on the field, and said: "Look at the people here, how many of them are as good at riding and shooting as Brother Xiahou and me? Everyone is the only one who is good at riding and shooting.
It's just for fun, why should Brother Mo Xian be serious about winning or losing?"
Xia Houshu frowned slightly, thinking that you want to emphasize that everyone is just for entertainment, why do you need to pull and step on each other? If you are good at it, you can join. If I am not good at it, I will stay away and have nothing to do with each other.
"Since we are practicing skills for fun, we should respect other people's wishes." Xia Houshu said unceremoniously, "I am not good at this skill, and I have no intention of comparing, let alone winning or losing. The prince is pressing every step of the way.
, you don’t think I’m rude, but you blame me for not knowing how to show appreciation, what’s the point of this?”
"This is because I was careless." Yu Wenke said hesitantly.
Xia Houshu looked at him and asked with his eyes: So?
Yu Wenke thought for a while, then showed a look of being a teacher, and said with a smile: "In that case, why not let Xiao Wang teach you."
Before Xia Houshu could refuse, Yu Wenke handed over a bow and an arrow, and began to explain at the same time: "Actually, archery is very simple. You just need to remember a few points. The first thing is to stand with your feet open.
Shoulder width, the weight of the body falls evenly on both feet, and the body leans forward slightly; then hold the bow in the left hand, the arrow in the right hand, place the arrow on the arrow rest, with the single-color main feather facing you, and the arrow tail groove buckle
Buckle the bowstring. Then clasp the string with the index finger, middle finger and ring finger of your right hand, and pull the bow open. At this time, the index finger is placed above the arrow nock, and the middle finger and ring finger are placed below the arrow nock. Then aim, ensuring that the eyes, front sight and
The aiming point on the target is in a straight line. After aiming, continue to apply force with your right shoulder, and at the same time, quickly open the three fingers of your right hand to hold the string, and the arrow will be shot. Remember not to open the bow too early, otherwise your hand will shake; nor too late.
, if it is too late, both the mind and the eyes will panic. Its momentum is not slow, not panic, not high, not low, not heavy, not light, calm and free..."
Hearing what he said so eloquently, Xia Houshu felt noisy and just wanted to find a place to escape quickly. However, Yu Wenke did not give her this chance. Instead, he became more enthusiastic, as if she didn't know what to do if she didn't study hard.
Xia Houshu used to think that she was already thick-skinned enough, but she didn't expect that there were many people who were even thicker-skinned than her and would pretend to be deaf and dumb. However, several children from aristocratic families around her who didn't know her identity had already started whispering among themselves about something suspicious about her identity.
, the arrogant words got into her ears.
Xia Houshu didn't want to be too conspicuous, so he said, "You don't have to trouble the prince, I can do it myself."
As she said this, she took the bow and arrow and took a few steps back. She imitated their example and put in a lot of effort before loading the arrow. But when she aimed at the red heart, she hesitated again.
She has never touched a bow and arrow, and she doesn't even know the basic techniques, let alone shooting by luck. She was so aggressive just now, and if she makes a fool of herself this time, she will definitely become the laughing stock of everyone present.
In fact, it didn't matter if she was laughed at, but she felt unwilling to be looked down upon by these people.
Yu Wenke looked at her doubtfully and reminded: "Brother Mo Xian, please."
He took advantage of the situation and made a "please" gesture.
Xia Houshu suddenly felt like he was riding a tiger that was hard to get off.
Unable to bear Yu Wenke's enthusiastic teaching, Xia Houshu had no choice but to bite the bullet and shoot an arrow.
As expected, the arrow was like a baby bird that had just left the nest, falling to the ground like a lifeless creature within a few meters of leaving the string...
The surroundings suddenly became quiet, and even the air seemed to be a bit colder, not to mention how embarrassing it was.
Yu Wenke looked at this situation and was speechless, as if he didn't expect that Xia Houshu really couldn't shoot an arrow.
The people watching also started whispering. From their eyes, Xia Houshu could guess what they were talking about. They were nothing but disbelief and ridicule.
Not far away, Xia Houyi, who was surrounded by young men from aristocratic families and was being taught archery, also heard the sound and looked over.
Xia Houshu threw the bow in his hand to the attendant next to him with a look of displeasure on his face, and said angrily: "I won't play anymore!"
Yu Wenke quickly recovered from this shock.
"Everything is difficult at the beginning, don't be discouraged." Yu Wenke said as he took the bow and arrow from the attendant, demonstrated to Xia Houshu again how to hit the target, and finally said to her, "Will you try again?"
Are you quarreling with her? It's not enough to laugh once, you have to laugh thoroughly?
Xia Houshu glared at Yu Wenke fiercely.
With so many people watching at the scene, Xia Houshu could not help but feel a little embarrassed. She thought that she came with Xia Houyi, so she kept evading it. If there was a quarrel, it would be difficult for Xia Houyi to do it, and it would also make outsiders gossip. The situation was such that
Forced, she had no choice but to take the bow and arrow again, and kept comforting herself in her heart, just be embarrassed if you are embarrassed, it was just being laughed at anyway, who would remember who she was afterwards.
So Xia Houshu pretended to continue trying several times, but none of her shots reached a range of more than five meters. The onlookers were no longer surprised and started to guide her enthusiastically.
When Xia Houshu set up his bow and arrow again, he saw that Yu Wenke walked to the target by himself, asked his attendant to take a lime bag wrapped in red cloth, held it up and said to her: "Brother Mo Xian, when you see this
Red bag? If you can shoot this, then the bow the emperor gave me will be yours."
These words are both hurtful and extremely insulting.
Faced with this unexpected provocation, Xia Houshu's competitive spirit was suddenly aroused. She looked at Yu Wenke and asked seriously: "Is this true?"
Yu Wenke nodded, pointed at everyone, and said: "Everyone present can testify!"
This means that if Xia Houshu refuses to fight, she is cowardly.
"Then you have to think carefully. If I win, the bow will be mine." Xia Houshu confirmed again. It's not that she wanted the bow, but she just felt that Yuwen Ke would be a target for her.
It was a huge irony, so she didn't think much about it, casually took an arrow and put it on the bow, aimed at the red bag in Yu Wenke's hand, and tried to pull the string to the fullest.
After the enthusiastic guidance from the group of people just now, Xia Houshu seemed to have understood some essentials of archery. While recalling their words, she slowly adjusted the strength and direction. As soon as she let go, the arrow flew out. However, her strength may be a bit weak.
Big, or maybe his hand shook when he shot the arrow. The arrow was not aimed at the red bag in Yuwen Ke's hand, but pointed directly at his chest.
It’s over! It’s over! It’s over!
Xia Houshu never expected that she would shoot so far this time. For a moment, her mind was filled with images of Yu Wenke lying in a pool of blood and herself being pulled onto the guillotine...