In this way, no matter how good a participant's aim is usually, a slight mistake on the spot could lead to elimination. It's not just about skill, but also about luck.
However, just like in horse racing, the prince always had exceptionally good "luck".
As the contestants were eliminated one by one, only Chu Yun and Chu Xu remained.
Chu Yun fired first, his long arrow hitting the left edge of the bullseye.
Since the two had previously achieved similar results, Chu Xu could only win by hitting the bullseye.
He drew his bow steadily, but somehow, he missed the target.
In the stands, Chu Wan, sitting next to Wu Shuang, frowned and asked curiously, "Shuang Shuang, did you see a light? I was startled when Brother Bo shot, and again when Brother Qi shot."
Wushuang was standing right next to her, with almost the same perspective, so she naturally noticed this strange thing as well.
In her previous life, she didn't have the chance to accompany the emperor on his northern tour, but she still clearly remembered the incident after the tour when the fifth prince became the consort of the northern frontier and married Princess Fuya.
In retrospect, Chu Yun's victory as the imperial son-in-law was anything but honorable.
Most people were cheering for Chu Yun's victory, and no one paid attention to the whispers of the two girls.
Emperor Deqing went so far as to announce to Fuya that Chu Yao would become the emperor's son-in-law.
Unexpectedly, Fuya did not smile at all.
“Uncle Emperor, I don’t fancy him.” Fuya said bluntly, without any regard for the fact that he was the ruler of a country. She raised her hand and pointed to the row behind the royal seats: “I still think he is more suitable to be my consort.”
Emperor Deqing and the others turned around to look, and there sat Chu Yao.
Chapter 95 | Table of Contents
Chapter Ninety-Five:
The audience seating in the arena was divided into three sections. The central section was reserved for the royal family, while the two sides were for accompanying members of the royal family, nobles, officials, and their families, who were seated in order of their rank.
Fuya was a daughter of the grasslands, unlike girls from the Central Plains who valued chastity and quietness. Her voice was clear and loud, and even many people near the royal stands could hear her clearly. The crowd whispered among themselves, discussing the matter, and no one could tell whether the girl was simply bold and uninhibited or shameless.
Emperor Deqing was slightly displeased, but out of consideration for his elder sister, he patiently advised, "Fuya, didn't I tell you before that Chu Yao's marriage was arranged long ago and cannot be changed? You must choose someone else."
He deliberately emphasized the word "must" to remind Fuya to comply.
Anyone else would have knelt down and begged for forgiveness long ago; even the most clueless person would know not to go against the emperor. But Fuya never plays by the rules. She pouted and said coquettishly, "Uncle Emperor, but no one else is as good as him. Fuya wants the best."
Emperor Deqing was an emperor, but also a man. When the young girl spoke softly, he was too embarrassed to lose his temper. So when he spoke again, his voice was even softer than before: "Girls shouldn't be so willful. There are so many good things in the world, how can you have them all?"
“Uncle Emperor, I know you’re in a difficult position. You said the other day that the Emperor’s word is law and cannot be changed.” Fuya smiled gently. “Don’t worry, I won’t make things difficult for you. I’ll handle this myself.”
After Fuya finished speaking, she lightly jumped down from the stands and ran all the way to Wushuang.
"Hey! Jun Wushuang! Come down here, let's have a contest, whoever wins will marry Chu Yao and become his princess!"
The events that had just occurred in the Royal Stand had not yet reached Wushuang's location when she was suddenly challenged to a contest to win a husband. This was completely beyond her comprehension, leaving her momentarily speechless.
Chu Wan was the first to stand up angrily and confront Fu Ya, saying, "What right do you have to compete with Shuangshuang for my brother! I don't want you to be my sister-in-law!"
On the day the Grand Princess arrived at the camp with her two children, Chu Wan and Fu Ya, as members of the royal family, had met.
Fuya recognized her but didn't care. She casually said, "Don't you all believe that the eldest brother is like a father? That means you should listen to your brother in everything, but you have no say in who he marries, so don't cause trouble here."
Chu Wan wasn't good at arguing, and after being ridiculed by Fu Ya, she couldn't think of any strong words to retort for a long time, her face turning red with anger. [qiushu.cc updates quickly, has a clean website layout, few ads, and no pop-ups. I love this kind of website, definitely deserves a good review!]
Sitting on the other side of Wushuang, Wu Hui stood up to chime in: "Third Sister's marriage to Prince Ying was decreed by the Emperor himself, and no one can change it."
To her surprise, Fuya completely ignored her, raised her chin, and provocatively said, "Jun Wushuang, why don't you say anything? You rely entirely on your sisters and friends to stand up for you. How can you be a princess if you're so cowardly and afraid of trouble? How can you manage the entire palace? I think you should just obediently give Chu Yao to me!"
Wushuang knew that Fuya was using reverse psychology. If she responded, she would be ridiculed in public if she said anything slightly inappropriate. But if she didn't respond, she would fall for Fuya's words, "cowardly and afraid of trouble, unworthy to be a princess."
She was caught in a dilemma when a sudden inspiration struck her.
“Girls of our Qi Kingdom value promises,” Wushuang smoothed the wrinkles on her skirt, rose gently, and said calmly and unhurriedly, “His Highness Prince Ying and I have already been engaged and made a marriage contract. If we were to compete as you suggested, wouldn’t that be tantamount to breaking our promise? I absolutely cannot do such a thing. You can ask the Prince if you don’t believe me and see what he says.”
Fuya was bold and outspoken, and upon hearing Wushuang's words, she turned around and headed back towards the Royal Stand.
Chu Wan quickly pulled Wu Shuang along, saying, "Let's go together and ask our Imperial Uncle for help."
The three of them stepped onto the stands one after the other. Before Fuya could reach Chu Yao, Chu Wan had already rushed to Emperor Deqing's table: "Uncle, Wanwan has a request for you. Shuangshuang is so good, don't replace her and let someone else be my brother's queen."
Emperor Deqing sighed, thinking, "You promised to handle it yourself and not make things difficult for him. Chu Wan looked so aggrieved that she was about to cry. Wasn't that enough to make things difficult for him?"
Consort Jing knew that Chu Wan and Wu Shuang had been close friends since childhood, and fearing that Chu Wan might get agitated and anger Emperor Deqing, she quickly pulled Chu Wan aside and whispered a reprimand: "You must find out the truth before making a conclusion. Don't believe what others say and jump to conclusions without distinguishing right from wrong."
Emperor Deqing was quite lenient with the little girl and didn't take it to heart. He said softly to Chu Wan, "Your aunt is right. Neither I nor your brother have agreed to this."
"So you're going to agree in a little while?" Chu Wan was even more heartbroken, and tears streamed down her face.
When Chu Yao saw his sister crying, he quickly came over to pat her head and comfort her, completely ignoring Fuya who brushed past him along the way.
Fuya is the little princess of the Northern Frontier. She has been pampered since childhood and has never been ignored like this before. Naturally, she is extremely resentful and stubborn, and she is even more unwilling to compromise.
"I don't understand the rules of your Qi Kingdom, but on the grasslands, whether it's a girl choosing a husband or a man getting married, they have to compete with their rivals. Only the winner is qualified to have the one they love."
“But my brother and Shuangshuang aren’t from the Northern Frontier; they’re from the Qi Kingdom. Of course, we should follow the Qi Kingdom’s rules,” Chu Wan poked her little head out from under Chu Yao’s palm and retorted, puffing out her cheeks.
Seeing that her most beloved granddaughter and her granddaughter whom she was meeting for the first time were about to quarrel, the Empress Dowager could no longer sit still and stepped in to smooth things over: "Alright, alright, stop arguing, you're giving me a headache. We're all family, regardless of which country we're from. If Fuya wants to compete, then let her compete. It's no big deal."
“Alright, then let’s have a horse-riding archery competition. It’s not about shooting arrows after the horse race, but about playing pitch-pot while riding horses. Horse riding is a specialty of the grassland people, while pitch-pot is a game for you people from the capital. This way it’s fair and no one will be at a disadvantage,” Fuya said excitedly.
"Oh, this competition is quite interesting. It's even more difficult than the previous two. It'll be perfect for me to see your skills." The Empress Dowager patted Fuya's shoulder, her gaze falling on Wushuang, and continued, "The Marquis of Runan has made great contributions to our Qi Kingdom in Fujian over the years. I also want to see if it's true what they say, 'Like father, like daughter.'"