Once the phoenix hairpin appeared, all of the male and female guests' eyes turned red. Flames of envy and jealousy burned, as though they wanted to burn Feng Yu Heng and Bu Ni Shang to ashes.
Everyone knew what the phoenix hairpin meant. It had been passed down for many generations and had been worn by six empresses. Whoever had it would be announcing to the world that she was the future empress.
But the two present …
For a while, everyone began to discuss.
The Feng family's girl had been engaged to the Ninth Prince, and the Bu family's girl had been engaged to the Fourth Prince. Everyone knew that the Ninth Prince had been injured in battle and had no hope of having children. The throne could not be given to this sort of person.
That also meant …
Whoosh!
Everyone turned their heads to look at the Fourth Prince, Xuan Tian Yi.
Could it be that the Emperor favored the Fourth Prince? This was a possibility; otherwise, it would be impossible for head imperial concubine Bu's niece to be engaged to him. Moreover, Bu Ni Shang's older brother was stationed in the East and held a quarter of Dashun's military power!
Feng Jin Yuan clenched his fists tightly. He did not think that things would develop like this. The Emperor, who had never made his position clear, would use this sort of method to decide the position of heir apparent? His Feng family had chosen the Third Prince! If it really was like this, where should the Feng family go from here?
He subconsciously looked towards the Third Prince, Xuan Tian Ye; however, he saw that person still had an angry expression. His mood was not affected in the slightest by the matter of the Emperor and Empress bestowing the hairpin. In fact, when he looked over, he slightly nodded and gave him a reassuring look.
Feng Jin Yuan's heart slowly calmed down.
That's right! He had been too anxious. The current Emperor was only in his early 50s. Even if an heir apparent was chosen, there were still plenty of opportunities to make a comeback. Since they had made a choice, the Feng family no longer had a path of retreat. Like the other nobles, they had their own factions. They could only advance slowly. Even if there was no path, they had to open up a path.
Feng Jin Yuan could understand, but there was one person who was anxious. This person was none other than Feng Chen Yu, who had been said by Daoist Zi Yang to have the aspect of the phoenix.
The phoenix hairpin, as she saw it, should be hers. How could it fall into someone else's hands? She was so anxious that she wanted to jump up, but her current status was Qing Le's servant. How could she have the right to jump up and down? What's more, Bu Ni Shang and Feng Yu Heng were competing in archery, not the zither. Even if she had the qualifications to participate, what could she do? It was hard to say if he could even pull the bow, let alone shoot the arrow.
Feng Chen Yu was so angry that her eyes could shoot fire, as her face changed shape. Qing Le timely reminded her: "Pay attention to your status." She gritted her teeth and forcefully suppressed the anger in her heart. She had no choice but to lower her head. At this moment, she hated her mother, the Shen Clan. If it weren't for that evil woman, she wouldn't have been banned from entering the palace for five years. Why couldn't she openly stand in front of everyone after entering the palace? She, Feng Chen Yu, was the most beautiful woman in the world, yet she had fallen to such a state. She was unwilling to accept it!
The fourth prince, Xuan Tian Yi, had been provoked by Feng Yu Heng's words and had some criticisms of Bu Ni Shang's actions; however, who could have thought that the situation would change so quickly. A simple competition would actually be decorated with a phoenix hairpin. The significance of this was completely different.
Xuan Tian Yi wanted to cheer for Bu Ni Shang, as he thought to himself that this girl really was his lucky star! If Bu Ni Shang really could win the phoenix hairpin, then it would be equivalent to his fiancee becoming the future Empress. Even though he did not feel that the Emperor thought highly of him all along, Xuan Tianyi started to imagine that this might be a test from Father Emperor for him. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the phoenix hairpin to be given in this competition where there were only two people. Old ninth was someone whose roots had been damaged, and he had no hope of having children. It turned out that father Emperor favored him, and he had always favored him!
The more Xuan Tian Yi thought, the more excited he became. His eyes sparkled, and his gaze was so hot that it seemed a dragon could fly out! His hopes for the throne had now made such substantial progress. He could not help but look towards Bu Ni Shang, giving her a smile of praise and encouragement.
But Bu Ni Shang's heart was bitter!
She did not even have any confidence in hitting 40 steps, yet Feng Yu Heng had managed to hit 100 steps!
She watched as the eunuch moved the target 100 steps away. She could not even see the bull's eye, so how was she supposed to hit it? How much strength could a girl have? Even if she had trained in equestrian archery from a young age, she did not have as much strength as a man. Feng Yu Heng, was she making fun of her?
She looked sideways, but she saw Feng Yu Heng look at the target that had been placed back in place by the eunuch. She actually nodded, saying with a bit of satisfaction: "This is more like it. Either way, this is just a performance competition, so I will not make any more requests."
Bu Ni Shang nearly vomited blood from anger.
Forget it! She did not believe that she could not hit Feng Yu Heng, but she could. How could a young lady from a civil official family be better than her? In the end, neither of them would be able to hit the target. It would just be a competition of who could shoot further.
Thinking like this, Bu Ni Shang regained a bit of confidence. She once again raised the bow in her hand and faced Feng Yu Heng: "Miss Feng, can we begin now?"
Feng Yu Heng nodded: "The older one first."
Pu!
Everyone burst out laughing.
The empress also raised her eyebrows: "She really is like Ming!"
Bu Ni Shang felt that this was Feng Yu Heng's tactic. She wanted to disturb her mind and make her perform abnormally.
She sneered, secretly cursing Feng Yu Heng in her heart for being shallow.
Then, he raised his bow and faced the target that was almost invisible in the distance. He took a few deep breaths and finally adjusted his state of mind to the best state. Then, he nocked an arrow on the bow. With a whoosh, a sharp arrow left the bowstring and went straight to the center of the target.
Everyone's breathing stopped, as their gazes followed the arrow.
Bu Ni Shang silently prayed that the arrow would be able to shoot further and further. She had already used all of her strength, even forgetting to aim. All she wanted was for the arrow to shoot further.
But the arrow still fell to the ground about 60 paces away.
Only then did everyone let out a sigh of relief. They saw a few guards run forward and report back to Emperor Tianwu: "Reporting to the Emperor, 63 paces away from the center of the target by one chi and thirty zhang."
Pu!
Xuan Tianming did not hold back and let out a laugh. Xuan Tian Ling also laughed, but he looked honest and kind. When he laughed, it was not as dazzling as Xuan Tianming's.
But no matter how dazzling it was, it was still a laugh. Bu Ni Shang's expression was not too good, and Xuan Tian Yi's face also darkened. "Second Brother and Ninth Brother, how about watching the Feng family's girl's archery skills first before making fun of her."
Xuan Tianming nodded, "Right, when our Heng Heng hits the target, I can cheer then."
Xuan Tian Yi almost wanted to say that he was crazy. From such a long distance, even a man who practiced martial arts might not be able to hit the target. It would be strange if the Feng family's girl could succeed.
But Xuan Tianming still had that happy expression. In regards to Feng Yu Heng, although he also felt that this was risky, that girl never boasted. As long as she could say it, she would definitely have a way to do it.
In regards to this, Xuan Tianhua also trusted Feng Yu Heng, so he also advised Xuan Tian Yi: "Fourth Brother, just watch for a while. Just treat it as enjoying a wonderful archery performance."
Xuan Tian Yi snorted coldly and did not speak further. When everyone turned their gazes back to the archery competition, Feng Yu Heng had already picked up a bow and arrow.
She was two years younger than Bu Ni Shang. When girls were growing, a difference of one year was a great deal. It was to the point that when she stood there with a bow, it gave people the feeling that Bu Ni Shang was bullying a child.
He was not worried that Feng Yu Heng would not hit the target. On the contrary, he began to worry about what would happen if Feng Yu Heng hit the target.
His hidden guards had told him more than once that Feng Yu Heng had martial arts, and it was not weak. Not only was it not weak, it was so strange that the hidden guards could not see through it.
Although Feng Jin Yuan could not see through Feng Yu Heng many times, he understood Feng Yu Heng very well. This girl never boasted.
Since Feng Yu Heng had laid out the conditions, he trusted that Feng Yu Heng would definitely be able to hit the target. That was why he was conflicted. If the phoenix hairpin was really given to Feng Yu Heng, what exactly was the Emperor's intention? Could it be that the throne would really be given to the Ninth Prince?
While he was thinking, Feng Yu Heng had already begun loading her arrows.
What surprised everyone was that not only did the Feng family's second young miss load her arrows, she actually loaded three arrows at the same time!
What was she doing?
Xuan Tianming, however, had already narrowed his eyes. He seemed to have guessed a little of this girl's intentions.
Feng Yu Heng curled her lips and gave Xuan Tianming a reassuring look. She then pulled the bow to its full length and aimed at the target for a while. After counting to five, with a whoosh, the three arrows were released.
The atmosphere at the scene was already extremely tense. Bu Ni Shang practically believed that Feng Yu Heng was certain to lose, so she simply shot the three arrows at the same time to see if she was lucky enough to hit the target further.
But the men that knew archery as well as Ren Xifeng, who had also practiced martial arts from a young age, saw through the trick.
They saw that the three arrows were initially moving side by side, but after twenty steps, they suddenly split into three. The speed was only slightly off when the arrows separated, but they immediately adjusted themselves.
Emperor Tianwu's eyes lit up. In the instant that the three arrows separated, his entire body began to tremble.
The Empress naturally did not understand archery, but she also became nervous because of Emperor Tianwu's influence.
Xuan Tian Yi only felt that the situation was not quite right. The three arrows from the Feng family's girl were too strange. There was a strong sense of danger, and his intuition told him that Bu Ni Shang might lose.
At this time, Xuan Tianming's voice sounded. For the first time, he did not sound lazy. Instead, he was very interested. As the arrows moved, he explained the rules of the three arrows to everyone present, "Three arrows fired at the same time. After twenty steps, the arrows will split into three parts. The first arrow is fast, the second arrow is fast, and the third arrow is fierce. Another twenty steps, starting at forty steps, the first arrow will be weak. The second arrow will chase after the first arrow's tail, quickly increasing its momentum. "
It was as though Feng Yu Heng's three arrows had grown ears, as they really followed Xuan Tianming's description. At forty steps, the second arrow hit the tail of the first arrow with a "bang." The first arrow that had already slowed down began to speed up once more, and the third arrow behind it continued to advance at the same speed.
Xuan Tianming continued: "Sixty steps, the first arrow will slow down, using the second arrow's momentum to push forward another ten steps. Seventy steps, the second arrow will be weak, the third arrow will be strong, suppressing the second arrow, sending the first arrow forward, the first arrow's momentum will rise again. The second arrow, the third arrow, fall. "
With the word fall, the two arrows behind it fell to the ground. The last remaining arrow, however, continued to advance at the same speed.
"Eighty steps, ninety steps, hit!" Just as Xuan Tianming finished speaking, that arrow nailed itself firmly into the target. It did not deviate, hitting the center of the circle!
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
