The Red Fades, the Fragrance Disappears; Who Will Pity It? (10)
"Ai, this Liang Shao really is blind. For a village girl without influence or power, he unexpectedly went so far as to avoid the emperor"s bestowed marriage!"
"Who said he isn"t? Princess Anping has talent and beauty, and also has a doting father emperor. After marrying her, he"d immediately rise to the skies in power. He"s buying and selling, steadily making profit without any loss. There are always people who are fortunate and don"t appreciate it."
"It can"t be said like this, right? Isn"t Princess Anping weak and frail, unsuitable to carry children—"Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com
"Men take three wives and four concubines, do they still need to fear having no children?"
The jeering, followed by the sound of everyone talking at once, slowly made its way to Liang Shao"s ears. He smiled stiffly, forehead protruding with blue veins. With a clatter, the chopsticks in Liang Shao"s hands snapped in two. n.o.body heard the quiet sound other than Chen Bing"er at his side.
Hearing the sound, Chen Bing"er"s face turned deathly pale. She clearly knew Liang Shao was a bit regretful now— no, no, she couldn"t allow this kind of thing to happen!
Though in her heart she was extremely aggrieved and indignant, Chen Bing"er"s face didn"t show even a sliver of it. n.o.body discovered that, inside her sleeves, her hands were clenched into fists. Her nails had long pinched her palms b.l.o.o.d.y.
Liang Shao also didn"t notice Chen Bing"er"s strangeness. He was steeped in regret and unwillingness. He was young and famous, had a high position, and even obtained the emperor"s bestowed marriage. He was always the target of everyone"s worship and envy. But in a short few months, how did everything change?
Princess Anping was originally his, Liang Shao"s, fiancée. The jealousy and well-wishes should also be his!
In the midst of the lively noise, Liang Shao suddenly stood up. He cupped his fists towards Xie Fei and said loudly, "I"ve often heard Young Master Xie is unmatched in both literature and martial arts. I don"t know if today you can give me an opportunity to let this Liang experience it?"Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com
As soon as these words left his mouth, the entire surroundings went completely silent. Everyone"s expression changed. Although Young Master Xie was brilliant and well-learned, look at his gentle and refined appearance, as though he was too weak to withstand a gust of wind. No matter how you looked at him, you couldn"t tell he was talented in both literature and martial arts, right?
Xie Fei turned to look at Liang Shao. Calmly, he said, "If you want to experience it, fine. I"ll wait and see what kind of price you can put out."
Liang Shao frowned and thought. He was born to a merchant family; honestly, his background was nothing much. In these years, he had marched and fought in battles; he also didn"t have many presentable things. But last time, after winning a battle, he had looted a famous painting. He said, "I heard Young Master Xie loves the landscape. This Liang happens to have Great Master Qi"s "Landscape of Bright Autumn Ink Painting". I don"t know if I can convince Young Master to compare with me?"
Xie Fei lowered his head, sipping at the fine wine. After muttering for a bit, he nodded. "How do you want to compete?"
Liang Shao"s face showed excitement. This Xie Fei really had a high opinion of himself, even daring to let him choose the method of compet.i.tion. This was also good. He would take this opportunity to run Xie Fei"s driving spirit into the ground. He would let Princess Anping and the laughing at him people see that he, Liang Shao, was absolutely not like Xie Fei, a useless person who didn"t have strength to truss a chicken!
Thinking about this, he looked around, saw the far away bow and target, smiled slightly. He said, "It happens that the festival has bows and arrows. There"s no harm, let"s compete in who can use the bow to shoot arrows farther and more accurately. What does Young Master think?
The room was silent. Everyone looked at Liang Shao with disdain. They had never thought that Liang Shao, who looked straightforward and upright, would even be so vicious in his heart— Young Master Xie"s talent was literature; how could he beat Liang Shao"s impeccable archery skill? He used his strength to attack Young Master Xie"s weak point. This really made people feel ashamed!
"That"s fine." Xie Fei raised his eyebrow slightly, laughing coldly. "This young master will play a bit with a.s.sistant Minister Liang. Make it a way to amuse ourselves." As he spoke, Xie Fei lifted his changpao and made to get up, but a pair of white hands grabbed onto his sleeves. He turned and met Xi Wen"s worried gaze.
"Young Master…" Xi Wen said with resistance, biting her lip.
"There"s no need to worry. I know my limits," Xie Fei quietly a.s.sured her.
Xi Wen pursed her lips, hesitating under Xie Fei"s steady and gentle gaze for a long time before she nodded and slowly loosened her hold on Xie Fei"s sleeve.
The servants quickly prepared targets and brought them to the courtyard. The first target was at a distance of twenty meters. Each target after it successively added another twenty meters. Astonishingly enough, the final target was placed two hundred meters away.
Xie Fei and Liang Shao came to the center of the courtyard. Everyone rose up and unconsciously made a lively ring at their side. There was only Tang You and the others left at the tables, secretly fiddling with a simple betting plate.
Chen Yuyan first took out three hundred tael banknotes. With a pah! he slapped it onto the left side of the table. He said, "I bet that Fei-ge will win!" then looked at Tang You.
Tang You felt around in his money pouch for a long time. Finally, he fished out a few silver pieces. But he even threw them on the table boldly: "I also bet on Fei-ge"s win. I believe in his cunning. He"ll definitely win until Liang Shao doesn"t even have his pants left!"
Chen Yuyan looked at the silver pieces with disdain: "Just these few silver pieces, what are you even betting?"Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com
Tang You cast Chen Yuyan a sidelong glance, refusing to give in: "Silver pieces are also silver, how is this not betting?" As he spoke, he looked at the remaining people and urged, "You guys hurry up, we have to go scam some people before the compet.i.tion starts."
Those remaining people looked at each other, then said in unison, "We also bet on Fei-ge!"
If he lost, it was just these few silver pieces, but brotherly affections couldn"t be thrown away. They absolutely had to support Fei-ge"s face! Winning? It doesn"t exist.
When they finished betting, the few of them immediately took the betting pool and snuck into the ground. One after another, they bombarded the crowd. Out of everyone partic.i.p.ating besides Tang You and the others, most people bet on Liang Shao"s win. Only some people bet on Xie Fei. Other than them, who really believed in Fei-ge"s win, the others were all looking to pull some favor with Xie Fei.
Xie Fei and Liang Shao didn"t know what as happening outside. When the two of them finished familiarizing themselves with the bow and arrow, they began to properly compete.
Liang Shao smiled confidenty, taking the initiative to stand in the center first. He held the bowstring, held the arrow, and forcefully pulled back his arm. With a sou, the arrow flew out, firing straight into the eighth target, directly in the red center.
He frowned, dissatisfied, and without waiting for the crowd to finish applauding, Liang Shao pulled back his arm again. They only heard a sou sound. n.o.body had noticed that the arrow had already flown through the air like a meteor, immediately hitting the tenth target"s red center!Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com
Everyone on the sidelines was stupefied. Tang You, Chen Yuyan, and the others also ate a shock. This Liang Shao"s character was poor, but his archery skills were really not bad.
The n.o.ble young ladies watching from the sidelines began to worry. Everyone started to talk at once: "Aiyo, I don"t know if Young Master Xie"s archery is any good, I really don"t want to see that village girl"s proud expression!"
"n.o.body has seen Young Master Xie shoot arrows normally. I also didn"t hear gossip of his archery skill being good. He probably can"t compete with Liang-daren."
"Exactly, Young Master Xie is famous for his literary talent, he probably isn"t good at shooting arrows, right?"
"I heard Liang-daren can split a bamboo branch from a hundred paces. No matter what, Young Master Xie probably can"t beat it…"
Hearing the surrounding young ladies" conversation, Xi Wen"s heart skipped a beat. She nervously pinched her handkerchief, silently saying a prayer for Xie Fei.
At this, Liang Shao smiled in satisfaction. He raised his eyebrow, completely confident that Xie Fei would absolutely unable to beat him. He had practiced shooting since he was young. Xie Fei, perhaps he couldn"t even hold a bow steady.
Thinking this, he looked at Xie Fei happily. "Young Master Xie, it"s your turn."
Xie Fei took the bow the servant offered him. With a calm and elegant appearance, he gently pulled the bowstring and let go. The arrow flew in an arc and hit Liang Shao"s arrow on the tenth target, destroying the arrow like a hot knife cutting through b.u.t.ter, and steadily hit the red center of the target.
In that moment, everyone was stupefied. After a long time, someone cried out in shock and began to clap. Following him, the entire courtyard exploded in ardent applause. Xi Wen also began to clap unconsciously, her eyes sparkling.
Tang You"s jaw hung open. He rubbed his eyes hard, unable to believe it: "Fei-ge… When did he become so fierce? Laozi hasn"t become blind, right?"
Chen Yuyan was shocked until he couldn"t speak properly. He stammered, "I—I don"t know. Fei—Fei-ge hid this deeply."
As everyone sighed in awe, Liang Shao"s face became extremely ugly. He would have never thought that in the end it would be like this. Originally he had thought to seek the limelight. Who knew instead he would become Xie Fei"s stepping stone! No, he absolutely couldn"t recognize his loss like this, or maybe tomorrow, he would become the laughingstock of the entire city.Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com
At this time, Liang Shao blinked and saw a servant moving a new target, walking towards the tenth target. A lightbulb lit up in his head. He said, "Young Master Xie"s shooting is really exquisite. Only this Liang would like to add difficulty, shooting moving targets…"
Before he even finished speaking, Xie Fei took the bow from the servant"s hand. With a pull of the string, sou–sou–sou–sou–sou, five arrows fired consecutively. When everyone came back to their senses, they saw those five arrows had all shot into the servant"s distant moving target. Each and every one hit directly in the red center. Not a single one missed.
Everyone was silent for a second. In the next second, the exclamations were like floodwaters exploding out: "My G.o.d, what did I just see! Splitting bamboo from a hundred paces can"t describe Young Master Xie"s archery skill by even ten or twenty percent!"
"Brilliant! Simply brilliant!"
"I really never thought the gentle Young Master Xie even had this kind of amazing archery skill. It really makes people to see him with new eyes!"
Xie Fei didn"t to listen to the crowd"s praise. He turned to look at Liang Shao carelessly. Calmly, he said, "Like this?"
Liang Shao"s face immediately turned dark. His muscles twitched, long unable to keep his laughing expression. He used all his strength to smile composedly: "Young Master Xie really is talented in both literature and martial arts. This Liang readily acknowledges my inferiority."Please read at yanyantls dot wordpress dot com
Xie Fei nodded, putting down the bow and turning to leave. The surrounding crowd opened up a path for him. Standing in the middle of the crowd was Xi Wen, who had long fallen into a daze, her eyes fixedly staring at Xie Fei. He still had that handsome face and the elegant and sharp look of a n.o.ble young master, but her heart beat even faster.
Xi Wen was still in a daze when Xie Fei walked to her. Seeing her little face unusually flushed, he touched her lightly. "What is it? Not feeling well?"
Xi Wen startled. She hurriedly said, "No, it"s nothing, I—I just got too excited." As she spoke, she lowered her head. Quietly, she said, "Young Master"s archery has really reached perfection. I became dazed just looking."
Xie Fei laughed, not saying anything, and took Xi Wen back to their seats. The rest of the people conversed excitedly as they slowly returned to their seats. Only Liang Shao, his face white, sat down with his entire body stiff, tightly clenching his teeth. He hated that the fists resting on his thighs couldn"t smash the table to pieces.