Mo Jing Qi was caught unprepared by the sudden change of event.
n.o.ble Consort Liu looked at Ye Li with an undetectable praise: "I think Princess Ding will probably win."
The empress knew that though n.o.ble Consort Liu was born to a family of ministers, she was a rare woman versed in both civil and military affairs. She asked: "Do you think that Princess Ding will win, n.o.ble Consort?"
n.o.ble Consort Liu said: "Princess Ling Yun isn"t as brave as she pretends."
"Then, do it your way, Princess Ding." Mo Jing Qi stood up and said: "Let it be decided by an arrow. Missing the target or dodging the arrow will be considered a defeat. Let it begin."
The imperial garden suddenly went quiet. The eunuch who acted as the host stood between the two of them and shouted with a shrill: "Princesses, please get ready." Then he stepped away quickly: "One..."
The two of them drew their bows at the same time. To everyone"s surprise, Princess Ding who seemed graceful and restrained drew that bow without much difficulty.
"Two..."
Princess Ling Yun drew her bow to the fullest with the arrowhead pointing directly at the woman who stood opposite her. She had complete confidence that she could kill Princess Ding who overestimated herself if she shot this arrow. As long as... she shot it! All of a sudden, Princess Ling Yun"s hand that was on the arrow shook slightly since she had clearly seen the eyes of the woman opposite her. Those eyes as cold and deep as snow sent her into an ice house instantly. To Princess Ling Yun, Ye Li looked like a different person with a murderous look that couldn"t be held back in her eyes and with a sense of confidence that she could hit her target with one shot. Ye Li just looked at her peacefully, as if she didn"t care about the arrow which was pointing at her, as if she was sure that arrow would definitely miss. The more Princess Ling Yun thought about it, the more she looked at Ye Li"s arrowhead involuntarily. She found with despair that if she didn"t dodge, even though Ye Li was a rookie, her arrow was definitely going to strike her.
Before Princess Ling Yun knew it, her forehead already glistened with sweat.
Ye Li felt the bow and arrow in her hand calmly. Though they weren"t handy, far less so compared with the sniper rifle which she had used for several years in the past, the first shooting compet.i.tion still made her excited even it was just for making fun of a little girl. Looking straight ahead from the arrowhead, she saw clearly the fear in Princess Ling Yun"s eyes which she couldn"t hide any longer and Ye Li smiled slightly.
Nearly everybody held their breath for this moment. Lei Teng Feng"s eyes were fixed on Princess Ling Yun. Because of where he was seated, he couldn"t see Ye Li"s face but from her posture he could tell that Ye Li wasn"t familiar with this kind of bow and arrow. Given Ling Yun"s archery skills, she was sure to win this game. Why was she so nervous?
Mo Xiu Yao was calm in his wheelchair with his hands on the armrests at leisure. However, it took a keener eye to see that something was hiding under his right hand. His eyes were on Princess Ling Yun as well, not her face but her arrowhead.
I wouldn"t lose... Princess Ling Yun tried not to pay attention to Ye Li"s arrow and cheered herself up while secretly taking a swallow of saliva. However, her eyes couldn"t help but looking for Ye Li"s arrowhead.
"Three!" The shriek rang by her ears, Ling Yun saw clearly that the smile by Ye Li"s lips grew deeper. Her hands pulled back and she was ready to shoot when the full string let out the arrow voluntarily.
"Hoot!" The arrow flew past Ye Li"s shoulder and landed not far away behind her.
How was that possible? Princess Ling Yun was stunned. What was more shocking to her was that she lost before Ye Li even shot her arrow. She looked at Ye Li"s smile in a daze, clearly seeing that Ye Li said without making any sound: "It"s my turn now..." and more clearly she saw that there wasn"t any joy in those eyes, only a dazzling gleam and murderous look colder than the edge of the arrow. She saw Ye Li pulled back the string with strength and drew the bow to its fullest then released the arrow...
"Hoot!"
"No!" Ling Yun suddenly screamed out loud. She didn"t even care about her image and crouched down with her hands covering her head. The arrow landed a step ahead of her with a thump. Princess Ling Yun looked at the arrow swaying from side to side slightly in front of her in a trance and burst out crying.
Everybody present looked at each other blankly while Ye Li put down the bow in her hands casually saying to Princess Ling Yun with all smiles: "Princess, my hands feel sore. You shouldn"t have worried that I would shoot you."
"You... You..." Princess Ling Yun was choked with sobs with her hands pointing at Ye Li but couldn"t speak anything else for a long time.
Ye Li looked at her with smiles. All she felt was her dark mood acc.u.mulated during the day had been erased in that instant. As expected, it felt good to teach a mischievous kid a lesson.
"Good!" Mo Jing Qi clapped his hands and laughed: "Princess Ding wins this game. What do you think, Teng Feng?"
Lei Teng Feng looked at the woman who was all smiles not far away with a complicated expression and stood up: "Princess Ding is a true heroic woman. I"m sincerely convinced. The winner without a doubt is Princess Ding. Ling Yun, get down on your knees and apologize to Princess Ding" Lei Teng Feng made a prompt decision and said to Princess Ling Yun. What Ye Li demanded was for Princess Ling Yun to apologize in front of all the ministers and generals of the court. However, Lei Teng Feng only took the later part of that demand and asked Ling Yun to apologize at once, which may let others think that princess of Xi Ling had the courage to take responsibility, besides she might win some sympathy since she was crying so hard. Later at the royal banquet n.o.body would insensibly bring this up again. However, if the apology was delayed until the royal banquet, the news that Ling Yun had lost to Princess Ding would spread to every corner of the palace. After it was gossiped by everybody, their comments on Ling Yun would only be worse. Even if Ling Yun got down on her knees and apologized, their impression of her wouldn"t turn better. What was more important, it might affect what he was going to do next.
"Get down on my knees..." Princess Ling Yun turned pale. It never occurred to her that she would lose to a fragile woman of Dong Chu in a field that she took the most pride in. Thinking of her previous promise made under an impulse, she couldn"t take that back even though she regretted it now. She looked at Lei Teng Feng for help only to get a look of warning from him. Then she looked around her, there were the emperor, empress, consorts, ministers and ladies of Dong Chu plus envoys and princess of Nan Zhao. She knew that her reputation would be ruined if she kneels.
"There"s no need to kneel down. I only need an apology from the princess." Ye Li said all of a sudden.
Princess Ling Yun was stunned, however, she knew that if she kept on making a scene there was no good for her. She didn"t have much power in Dong Chu, without her brother"s help, she didn"t have a chance to defeat Princess Ding.
Princess Ling Yun gritted her teeth and bowed slightly. She said: "It"s my bad that I"ve offended you. Please forgive me for that, Princess Ding."
Ye Li smiled and nodded: "Princess, you are our guest here. Don"t worry about that." Then turning around, she no longer paid Princess Ling Yun any attention and walked towards Mo Xiu Yao.
Mo Xiu Yao lowered his eyes. The thing under his right hand disappeared in an instant when he looked up and saw Ye Li was in front of him. Though Ye Li looked as gentle and detached as usual, Mo Xiu Yao was sure that he saw something bright and something different in her eyes.
Lei Teng Feng cupped his hands towards Ye Li in silence to show his thankfulness. Ye Li nodded coolly and sat next to Mo Xiu Yao while trying to ignore the looks from all around her. Princess Ling Yun who returned in distraction and sat by Lei Teng Feng no longer bothered to cause Ye Li any trouble.
Aware that Mo Xiu Yao was staring at her, Ye Li lifted her head and asked in confusion: "What is it?"
Mo Xiu Yao said a little remotely: "It was dangerous." If it wasn"t for Princess Ling Yun who didn"t have a strong mental power, any other person could have shoot Ye Li with that arrow. Both side suffering could have been the best result.
Ye Li shook her head. She shrugged with a smile and said: "There was no danger. If it wasn"t Princess Ling Yun, I wouldn"t have asked for a game of archery." She had chosen archery since she was sure that Princess Ling Yun wasn"t determined enough to compete with a sniper, even for an instant. A proud and willful princess who was born in a palace and well protected couldn"t keep her level in front of Ye Li.
Well, if Princess Ling Yun didn"t tremble and shoot her with the arrow, she had a way out as well: "Besides, you won"t let anything happen to me, will you, Your Highness?" Ye Li smiled thinly seeing Mo Xiu Yao"s disapproving look.
Mo Xiu Yao stopped for a second then nodded slightly: "You are right." If Princess Ling Yun"s arrow didn"t miss Ah Li, he wouldn"t let that arrow hit her either.
"Princess Ding, have you learned archery?" Mo Jing Qi, who was sitting on the host seat asked loudly.
Ye Li stood up and answered with respect: "Your Majesty, I haven"t. Only that my brothers would teach me some when I visited my uncle"s but I haven"t learned it properly."
Mo Jing Qi smiled meaningfully. Ye Li no doubt had a great talent and metal state being able to defeat a master of archery like Princess Ling Yun without proper teaching. Mo Jing Qi held n.o.ble Consort Liu between his arms and laughed: "It seems that Princess Ding and my lovely consort are both remarkable women versed in both civil and martial affairs."
n.o.ble Consort Liu said uninterestedly: "Your Majesty, you are right."
After the emperor, empress and n.o.ble consort left, Ye Li didn"t bother to deal with those people who came up to her with praise or question. Mo Xiu Yao and her found a quiet place in the imperial garden to rest. Most people were sensible enough not to disturb them but there were one or two exceptions. Having refused a maid sent by Lady Ye of Bright Deportment to invite her for a little reunion, Ye Li turned to Mo Xiu Yao who had been staring at her all this time with a smile: "What is it, Your Highness?"
Mo Xiu Yao played with the cup in one of his hands casually and said: "Ah Li, you have martial talent and good foundation as well."
Ye Li didn"t mind that Mo Xiu Yao knew about her skills. Mo Xiu Yao was cautious. Though he seemed gentle he always had his guard up so it would be impossible for him to not know about that living in the same manor. Besides, Ye Li didn"t intend to hide that from him since she needed s.p.a.ce to practice, even to learn more to strengthen her skills.
Ye Li"s eyes met Mo Xiu Yao"s and she smiled openly: "Then it must be good since you think so."
Clearly, Mo Xiu Yao didn"t mean to get to the bottom of it. He smiled and shook his head: "If you want to, there are some rare books on martial arts in the study you could read."
Hearing that, Ye Li"s eyes lightened up.
Mo Xiu Yao continued with a smile: "Since you don"t know how to wield a sword, I can ask someone to help you with that."
"Really?"
"The more able you are to defend yourself, the less worried I would be. It"s true for sure." Mo Xiu Yao smiled.
At that instance, Ye Li felt she was so lucky to have married a rich, understanding and open-minded husband.
"Great! Thank you." Ye Li said with a smile.
Mo Xiu Yao shook his head slightly: "We are family. You can tell me whatever you want. There"s no need to say thank you." Seeing a sincere smile he had never seen on Ye Li face, Mo Xiu Yao felt that it was truly a good idea to find someone to teach Ah Li how to play sword.