Even though there was nothing unusual about his expression, Jiaojiao suddenly became flustered.
Her face felt burning hot. She hurriedly turned away to pour herself some wine, forgetting that she was also wearing formal clothes. Her wide sleeve knocked over the wine cup, causing a complete mess.
After the palace maids cleaned everything up and arranged the food in front of her again, Jiaojiao slowly raised her head.
Gui Heng and the others had already left.
The little rabbit that had been jumping wildly inside her chest seemed to suddenly fall asleep. Jiaojiao could not tell whether she felt relieved or disappointed. Holding her wine cup, she quietly let out a small sigh.
……
After leaving the banquet, Gui Heng changed out of his formal clothes. Under the moonlight in the weapons storehouse, he quietly wiped the silver spear in his hands.
It was almost time for him to enter the competition.
From a dark corner where the moonlight could not reach, a short but sturdy man slowly walked out. He cautiously watched Gui Heng for a while. Seeing that Gui Heng showed no reaction, he bowed and saluted.
“This servant is Yan Sanding, a martial arts instructor. Greetings, Fifth Prince.”
Gui Heng finished wiping the spear. He lightly rubbed his fingertip along it and glanced at him.
“I have heard that Master Yan is highly skilled in archery.”
Yan Sanding said carefully, “When Your Highness was practicing with the spear just now, this servant was over there. I did not want to disturb Your Highness, so I did not speak. I hope Your Highness will not blame me.”
“It is fine.”
His tone was calm, and there was no sign that he was angry.
Yan Sanding breathed a sigh of relief. After hesitating for a long time, he finally spoke.
“There is something this servant does not understand.”
Gui Heng remained silent, signaling him to continue.
“Judging from your movements and speed just now, your spear skills are extremely impressive. Yet during last month’s examination on the eighth day, how could you have allowed Instructor Liu to strike your spear and leave you completely unable to fight back?”
The question was dangerously direct.
But Yan Sanding was a martial arts fanatic. He had willingly abandoned his wealthy family background and stayed at the palace training grounds as a servant simply because he wanted the chance to fight the best martial artists in the world.
He was genuinely curious.
Gui Heng slowly lifted the corners of his lips into a smile.
He applied a little force with his fingers and removed the shining spearhead from the spear shaft.
“Master Yan must know that when meeting the Emperor, one cannot carry a sharp weapon, even during a martial competition.”
Gui Heng’s expression remained calm. Under the moonlight, a faint deep-purple color appeared in his ink-black eyes.
“Showing your full strength does not always allow you to defeat an enemy with one strike. It may also bring disaster upon you.”
“Keep this spearhead for me. After the competition, I will come back for it.”
Gui Heng placed the spearhead into Yan Sanding’s palm.
Yan Sanding stared blankly at it before taking it.
“I’m leaving.”
……
The moment Gui Heng left the field, Jiaojiao became distracted and restless. It was only when she heard that the martial competition was beginning that she became interested again, staring eagerly at the center of the field.
The ground was covered with hard sand. On both sides stood red-and-gold decorated archery targets.
It seemed someone was going to shoot arrows.
Jiaojiao stared at the targets, and her heartbeat gradually quickened.
It was impossible to say she was not looking forward to this.
This was her first chance to see the legendary overpowered hero display his extraordinary martial skills.
And besides…
She lowered her head and took a sip of the sweet peach blossom wine, becoming slightly lost in thought.
Would he use the spear she had given him?
“Here they come! Here they come!”
Excited whispers came from all around her.
Jiaojiao quickly raised her head to look, only to lower her long eyelashes in disappointment.
The Crown Prince and Fourth Prince were the first to enter the field.
They competed in archery, although the arrowheads had all been dulled.
The two became so absorbed in the competition that they moved from stationary targets to moving targets. If the Empress had not stopped them, they would have even tried shooting backward over their shoulders.
The sight of two handsome young men standing side by side and competing in archery was quite beautiful.
However, Jiaojiao had something else on her mind.
When Cuixue excitedly praised them again and again, Jiaojiao merely looked up and glanced at the field perfunctorily.
“Ah, amazing, amazing. Very good, very good.”
Cuixue pouted.
“The Princess thinks this servant is ignorant.”
Yuqiu smiled.
“How could she think that about you? It is because the person His Highness wants to see has not arrived yet, right?”
If they still could not tell which older brother the little princess cared about most now, they would truly be blind in both eyes and heart.
Jiaojiao giggled twice and slipped a hazelnut into Yuqiu’s hand.
“Good Yuqiu. I knew you were the smartest.”
Eat it quickly. And please stop talking.
As palace maids accompanying their mistress, they were not normally allowed to eat while on duty.
Yuqiu smiled and peeled the hazelnut for her, placing the nut beside Jiaojiao’s hand.
About half an hour later, the competition was nearing its end.
Judging from the targets, Gui Che seemed to have hit the mark more times.
Empress Wen stared tightly at the martial field, her expression stiff and her eyes sharp.
Jiaojiao looked at the two people on the field as they prepared to fire their final arrows.
She thought about whom she wanted to win.
The conclusion was—
She did not want either of them to win.
The Crown Prince, Gui Yan, was much older than her. He also disliked Noble Consort Roujia’s behavior and usually could not be bothered to speak with her.
As for Fourth Prince Gui Che…
Although he was handsome and polite, Jiaojiao simply did not like the way he looked at her.
If only Gui Heng could defeat all of them.
The thought suddenly appearing in her mind startled Jiaojiao.
But after calming down, she felt that her reasoning was perfectly reasonable.
Although he would probably become a brutal emperor in the future, at this moment he was simply a beautiful young man who knew how to repay kindness.
Jiaojiao was still lost in her thoughts when the two men on the field drew their bows to full tension and released them almost at the same time—
“Oh!”
“Tsk!”
“Good!”
“Excellent!”
The field erupted in a chaotic mixture of sighs and cheers.
Jiaojiao stretched her neck to see and could not help widening her eyes in surprise.
Their final competition was a backward shot.
They had to turn their backs to the target and shoot without being able to see where they were aiming. The difficulty was extremely high.
The Crown Prince’s arrow was slightly off the center of the target.
But Fourth Prince Gui Che’s arrow had missed the target completely.
He had shot wide.
It was a huge mistake.
No matter how well he had performed earlier, it could not make up for this mistake. His defeat was already certain.
A hint of carefully controlled frustration appeared on Gui Che’s face. He then warmly cupped his hands toward the Crown Prince.
“Imperial Brother’s archery is truly excellent. Fourth Brother admits defeat.”
Jiaojiao instinctively glanced toward the platform.
Emperor Heng looked pleased, and even the Empress finally had a smile on her face.
But when Jiaojiao looked back at the field, she happened to meet Gui Che’s eyes.
Looking away would have been even stranger.
Jiaojiao froze for a moment, then gave him an awkward fist-and-palm salute.
Fine.
It must have been hard for him to put on such a convincing performance. She would just treat it as encouragement.
Gui Che could not help smiling.
He looked deeply at her twice before leaving the field together with the Crown Prince.
Only after they left did Jiaojiao truly become excited.
There were four princes, competing in pairs.
That meant Gui Heng should be next, right?
And that annoying Gui De.
She stared at the side of the field without blinking, wanting to see what weapon he would use as soon as he entered.
The moment Gui Heng stepped onto the field, he felt a burning gaze.
He looked up.
Sure enough, the little princess hurriedly looked away, but she could not hide the smile spreading across her little face.
Two dimples appeared beside her rosy lips, holding what seemed like a handful of moonlight.
So happy?
Gui Heng raised an eyebrow and lowered his eyes to the silver spear in his hand.
Was she happy because he was using this spear?
Thoughtfully, Gui Heng lightly tapped the shaft of the spear with his fingertips.
Together with Gui De, who carried two broad sabers, he stepped onto the martial training ground.
How could he use two sabers?
Wasn’t that cheating?
Jiaojiao accidentally said her thoughts out loud.
Cuixue laughed.
“Using two sabers and using one saber are completely different styles. It doesn’t count as cheating.”
Yuqiu said, “Third Prince is most skilled with twin sabers. It looks like he came prepared today. Fifth Prince may suffer a disadvantage.”
Gui De clearly thought the same thing.
He spun one of his sabers in his left hand and looked at Gui Heng with a smug smile. His entire body seemed to radiate pride.
Jiaojiao could not help feeling rebellious.
That was the overpowered hero holding the weapon she had carefully chosen after so much effort.
How could he possibly lose?
He absolutely could not lose!
Otherwise, Jiaojiao did not even want to imagine how smug Gui De would become.
Thinking of this, Jiaojiao’s face flushed.
She suddenly shouted,
“Fifth Brother!”
Everyone around her turned to look at her.
Even the Emperor looked at her in surprise from the high platform.
Gui Heng, however, showed no reaction.
It was as if he had heard nothing.
The next instant—
The spear shot forward like a dragon, and a flash of silver light suddenly appeared!
To cheer them on, the musicians struck the drums.
The thunderous drumbeats mixed with the sharp clang of metal striking metal, making the entire scene especially thrilling.
Jiaojiao clenched her little fists tightly.
Her eyes remained fixed on the two figures moving rapidly across the field, and her whole body leaned forward.
Yuqiu nervously held her lightly to keep her steady.
Every now and then, she glanced at the field and could not help feeling secretly shocked.
Among all the princes, Third Prince had always been the most courageous and skilled in combat. The twin sabers were also his specialty.
So how could Fifth Prince, who was usually so unremarkable and never stood out at anything, fight him for so long without falling behind?
Gui De was wondering the same thing.
The two men moved swiftly and lightly.
As they fought, they almost became a blur of shadows. To outsiders, it looked as if they were evenly matched.
But Gui De was in the middle of the fight.
No one understood the true situation better than he did.
He had originally thought he could win easily.
But now—
Gui Heng was completely suppressing him!
Gui De was only able to remain standing because of his pride and his unwillingness to lose to a bastard.
But he was not far from collapsing.
He really did not want to admit it.
Although his sabers were not sharpened, they still had blades.
Yet his opponent was practically beating him with nothing but a stick, leaving his arms numb and his legs weak.
The longer they fought, the more people began to notice that something was strange.
This was clearly not an evenly matched battle.
Fifth Prince… Gui Heng seemed to be doing it on purpose.
He was deliberately refusing to defeat Gui De completely.
He was deliberately watching Gui De struggle under his attacks.
His movements were fierce yet smooth, graceful and composed, while every move pushed Gui De further and further back.
Gui De could not defeat him.
He could not even find a way to escape.
Eventually, even Jiaojiao, who knew absolutely nothing about martial arts, could tell that something was wrong.
She looked up toward the high platform.
The Empress’s face had already become extremely unpleasant.
Even Emperor Heng slowly frowned.
The drumbeats grew faster and faster.
Jiaojiao became anxious.
With a sudden movement, she stood up and knocked over the small table in front of her.
Wine and food spilled all over the ground.
Aunt Du asked her to move a little to the side.
Jiaojiao quickly obediently stepped away while looking toward the field.
She was not sure if it was her imagination, but she felt that Gui Heng in the middle of the battle had also glanced in her direction.
The palace servants hurriedly knelt down to clean everything.
Perhaps the commotion was too loud, because even Noble Consort Roujia came over to ask what had happened.
Just then—
The great drum sounded with a tremendous boom.
No one had any attention left to spare for such a small matter as the little princess knocking over a table.
The moment the drum sounded, everything on the field suddenly changed.
Gui Heng planted the spear against the ground and flipped through the air.
He landed lightly beside Gui De.
In the next instant, the silver spear was already pressing firmly against the back of Gui De’s neck.
The arrogant Third Prince was forced to bend one knee and lower his head.
The position looked almost exactly like he was kneeling and paying respects to Gui Heng.
Moonlight flowed like water.
The night breeze was cool.
The two men stood facing each other in an extremely strange position.
During the fierce battle, the hair that had been tightly tied at Gui Heng’s forehead had come loose.
His black curls, darker than the night itself, brushed against the sharp lines of his face.
The moonlight coated his features with a silver glow.
Someone nearby was saying something, but Jiaojiao could not hear a word.
The young man bathing in moonlight was impossible to look away from.
Just then, he turned his head.
Slowly, very slowly, he raised his eyes and looked toward her.
In his eyes, dark as the night mist, a deep purple color appeared and disappeared beneath the light.
His thin lips moved silently.
He was saying—
I did it.
“Gui Heng…”
Jiaojiao whispered his name.
The noisy voices around her faded away like a receding tide.
Everything around her became completely silent.
The only thing she could hear was her own heartbeat, beating again and again against her chest.
So clear.