Zhan Shou snorted coldly, pointing at the archery range beside him. "If the Sixth Prince is willing to compete with me, best two out of three, then I will submit!"
The thinking of these military officers was actually quite simple: either you had enough prestige in the army, or you could make them willingly submit. Otherwise, even if they obeyed your orders, they wouldn't truly respect you.
Lu Yunqi was about to say something, but unexpectedly Murong Jie agreed on the spot: "Fine! Since General Zhan has made the challenge, I shall compete with you."
Zhan Shou burst into laughter upon hearing this. "Good! The Sixth Prince is a real man with balls!"
Murong Jie asked, "How do you propose we compete?"
Zhan Shou replied, "Naturally, whoever hits the bullseye wins. If it's a tie, we'll add another round!"
Murong Jie nodded. "Agreed."
Lu Yunqi grew anxious and said, "Are you stupid?! With your strength—you can't even truss a chicken—you want to compete against one of the top five generals of the Lu family army? Have you lost your mind?"
If he had mastered the Nine Deaths One Life Divine Art, then there would indeed be no one in this world who could match him.
But right now, he was in the weakened period just before the divine art's completion—he could neither use his true qi nor exert any physical force. Even for archery, he could only use the lightest bow.
Zhan Shou had clearly noticed this as well. This Sixth Prince, who couldn't even truss a chicken, still wanted to accept his challenge. Wasn't he just asking to be humiliated?
Zhan Shou stepped forward and picked up a massive bow. The great bow weighed at least a hundred jin, yet Zhan Shou lifted it effortlessly with one hand. Holding the bow with one hand, he nocked an arrow, drew the string, and casually loosed a huge arrow—it struck the dead center of the bullseye!
Cheers erupted from the surroundings, and Zhan Shou laughed with arrogance. Then came the second arrow, then the third—all striking the bullseye perfectly.
The applause was deafening. Zhan Shou's archery was truly miraculous, and he was renowned throughout the army for it.
Lu Yunqi let out a sigh of admiration as well. "Impressive—no wonder he's one of the Five Divine Generals. Sigh, wife! How about we just concede? Losing to him isn't shameful."
Zhan Shou tossed the bow aside and snorted. "Sixth Prince, if you please!"
Murong Jie nodded and stepped forward to select a bow. He walked straight past the row of massive bows, went to the very end, and picked up the lightest, smallest bow.
Zhan Shou laughed outright upon seeing this. "Your Highness, that bow is for the boys' training camp. Surely you don't intend to beat me with that?"
Murong Jie said nothing, simply carrying the bow to the archery range as jeers rose from the crowd.
This unfavored, invisible prince had only gained his position by clinging to the young heir of the Lu family, so the Lu family army naturally looked down on him greatly.
Whispers spread through the crowd: "He's here to embarrass himself, isn't he?"
"The young heir is being reckless too, and the Nine Thousand Years is going along with it. How can they trample on the soldiers' loyalty like this?"
"The Nine Thousand Years is indeed a hero, but this young heir…"
"Sigh, let's just call it a day! A boys' camp bow—isn't he just begging to be humiliated?"
At that moment, Murong Jie spoke calmly: "Lu Yunqi, did you bring any copper coins?"
Lu Yunqi answered, "I did—just over a dozen. Is that enough?"
Murong Jie replied, "Enough. Listen for my command—when I tell you to throw, you throw."
Lu Yunqi thought to himself, He's not planning to shoot an arrow through the hole of a copper coin, is he?
That would be a clever way to break the deadlock, but the bow was far too light. Even if he could shoot through a coin, it might not be enough to beat General Zhan.
Still, Lu Yunqi responded, "Alright, I'll cooperate when the time comes."
Murong Jie stood in place, holding the bow and taking aim for a moment, then said, "Now, would you come over and blindfold me?"
At these words, the whispers around them fell silent. They thought, Is he planning to shoot a hundred paces with his eyes covered?
Lu Yunqi was stunned too. He walked over with a handkerchief and said, "I say, can you really do this? Don't mess this up—with your eyes covered, can you even hit the target?"
Murong Jie said, "You just need to do as I say."
"Fine, fine, fine!" Lu Yunqi said impatiently. "Anyway, it's not me who'll be embarrassed."
With that, he blindfolded Murong Jie and stepped back a short distance, then heard Murong Jie say: "First arrow—throw one copper coin about ten meters in front of me."
The moment Murong Jie finished speaking, the coin in Lu Yunqi's hand flew out, and there came a whoosh… clink… thud.
The arrow left the bowstring, passed through the hole of the copper coin, and struck the target a hundred paces away—dead center of the bullseye.
For over ten seconds, the field was dead silent. After a long pause, all that could be heard was Lu Yunqi's exclamation: "Holy shit!"
Murong Jie didn't stop. He continued: "Again! Second arrow—throw two copper coins at the same time, about ten meters in front of me!"
Lu Yunqi picked up the coins and tossed them upward with force. Two arrows flew out—whoosh, whoosh… clink, clink… thud, thud…
The overlapping sounds came through—both arrows hit the dead center of their targets.
Third arrow—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh… clink, clink, clink… thud, thud, thud…
After those three arrows, the only sounds left in the entire field were the sounds of the arrows, the coins, and the targets being struck—along with the sharp intakes of breath from the soldiers.
Even several minutes after the last arrow was loosed, silence still reigned—until Murong Jie removed the blindfold from his eyes, and at last, deafening cheers erupted.
"Excellent!" Zhan Shou stomped his foot hard, then strode forward with a booming laugh. "Not bad! Incredible! Sixth Prince, from this day forth, I, Zhan Shou, will follow your every command! Hahahaha…"
As he spoke, he gave Murong Jie a heavy slap on the back. Murong Jie's face darkened, and with a sudden retch, he spat out a mouthful of black blood before collapsing limply to the ground.
Lu Yunqi, startled, rushed forward to catch him, letting him fall into his arms. He then kicked Zhan Shou hard, cursing loudly, "What the hell is wrong with you?! Don't you know he's frail and sickly? What are you standing there gaping for? Go fetch the army physician, now!"
Zhan Shou was terrified as well. Though he had never thought much of this useless prince before, if he accidentally killed a prince with a single slap, his own life would surely be forfeit.
The army physician hurried over, and after taking his pulse, actually let out a relieved breath. "Rest assured, Young Marquis. This mouthful of stagnant blood the Sixth Prince has coughed up has actually alleviated the depression that has plagued him for years. I'll prescribe a decoction to regulate his condition, and he should recover before long."
Lu Yunqi was delighted. "That old bastard Zhan Shou—he fumbled his way into knocking the stagnant blood right out of Murong Jie?"
Zhan Shou was equally stunned, unsure whether to laugh or cry. With an awkward expression, he said, "Young Marquis, in that case… this general shouldn't be punished, right?"
Lu Yunqi let out a cold laugh. "See if you dare show disrespect to the Prince again!"
Zhan Shou replied, "I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare. This general won't dare anymore. I… I'll go accept fifty strokes of the rod right now!"
Lu Yunqi didn't stop him. With Zhan Shou's burly frame, fifty strokes of the rod were nothing more than child's play to him.
By then, Murong Jie had woken up as well. Having just vomited blood, his already ghostly pale face now looked as white as paper, his handsome features so exquisite they seemed painted on by a master artist.
Lu Yunqi stepped forward. "You're awake? You're a lucky one, aren't you—no, I should say I, the Young Marquis, am your lucky star. That slap from Zhan Shou just now knocked out the stagnant blood that's been accumulating in your lungs for years. From now on, you'll feel much better overall. The physician has prescribed you medicine—drink it first, rest a while, and I'll take you back to the estate."
With Lu Yunqi's support, Murong Jie sat up and asked, "I didn't embarrass you just now, did I?"
Lu Yunqi clicked his tongue. "At a time like this, don't say such things. But truly, you surprised me! When did you learn archery? Shooting that accurately even blindfolded—you should do more of that from now on."
With that, Lu Yunqi raised an eyebrow meaningfully at Murong Jie.
Seeing that Murong Jie remained silent, Lu Yunqi chuckled twice and said, "Your performance today was indeed impressive. Zhan Shou has been won over. These fifty thousand troops are the confidence your husband gives you. Remember this: your father the Emperor and your three elder brothers must not know about this. Don't think that just because your father has been summoning you more frequently lately, he actually cares about you as a son. He's even worse than your three brothers!"
Murong Jie looked up at Lu Yunqi and asked, "And what about you? Why are you helping me so much?"
If this had been any of his previous lives, Lu Yunqi would have groveled at his feet. But what use was groveling, no matter how fast? Three lifetimes of being killed by this man—those debts could never be settled with a few sweet words of flattery.
He lazily sat down beside Murong Jie, gave him a sharp slap across the face, then tilted his chin up with his fingers. "Why, you ask? Of course, because I like… this face of yours! You're so handsome—isn't it only natural that I should pamper you? And not only will I pamper you, I'll also bear you sons and daughters. So work hard, and let me conceive your child soon."
Murong Jie's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he thought Lu Yunqi was a madman spouting nothing but nonsense.
He had actually been feeling a trace of melancholy gratitude toward Lu Yunqi for helping him so greatly, but after that stinging slap across his face, he instantly snapped back to reality. Lu Yunqi was simply a born lecher—the only reason he bestowed his favor on anyone was their looks.
He had been frequenting brothels since he was fourteen, and had surely delighted in countless beauties.
If not for his exotic, foreign-featured face, he would probably have remained nothing more than a punching bag for Lu Yunqi's casual abuse.
Now he was merely a plaything to be rewarded when Lu Yunqi was in a good mood—why should he feel any gratitude toward him?
If that was the case, then your Lu family's fifty thousand troops, I'll gladly accept.
As dusk fell, Lu Yunqi brought Murong Jie back to the Lu estate.
Though he had spat out blood, Murong Jie's complexion actually seemed considerably better. That evening, Lu Yunqi supplemented him with some deer blood, and his face instantly regained a rosy flush.
With his color restored, Murong Jie's face was more breathtakingly beautiful than ever—one glance at him was enough to bewitch a person's very soul.
Lu Yunqi asked his system, "Little Tong! Am I pregnant yet?"
The system replied with great regret: "No, Master. Pregnancy isn't something that happens just because you want it to."
Lu Yunqi was furious. She stepped forward, grabbed Murong Jie by the collar, and pressed her lips against his, thinking, You useless thing—I told you to shoot more, and tonight you're going to shoot plenty for me!