Chapter 13: A handful of sweat
Seeing that the royal hunt was about to start in three days, Bai Shuqin still didn't come to see him. Although he knew that Bai Shuqin was superb in martial arts, he didn't know if she would use arrows.
In the afternoon, he came to Bai Shuqin's room, only to see Bai Shuqin lying on the bed weakly, his lips chapped and his cheeks sunken a lot. He was shocked in his heart, although he made people cut off her food, but from what Qingluan knew, she should eat and drink well, how did she end up like this.
He asked Qingluan, who was taking care of her at the bedside, what was going on. Qingluan looked at him, then at Bai Shuqin on the bed, silent.
Bai Shuqin struggled to sit up from the bed, but Qingluan hurriedly helped her up. She glanced at Qingluan gratefully, and said weakly: "I'm afraid I can't do it!" ”
Zhuo Jinxuan scolded Qingluan: "Didn't you say that everything is okay with her?" That's what you mean by okay? Even if I had the order, would you really want to starve her to death? ”
Bai Shuqin shook his head gently, and angrily excused Qingluan: "Everything is self-inflicted, and it has nothing to do with her." I'm dead, you don't... You're not satisfied. ”
Seeing that she was out of breath when she spoke, he hurriedly came to her bed and asked Qingluan to quickly go to Taiyi Li. If she starves to death, what will it be like to spread it!
"No... No... Trouble! She gasped for breath and finished saying this, her eyes slowly closed, her hands were weakly placed on the side of the bed, and the whole person fell under the bed, as if she was dead.
Zhuo Jinxuan held her body that was about to fall, hugged her body, and roared angrily: "Bai Shuqin, I don't allow you to die like this!" ”
Bai Shuqin was pretending, and in order to teach him a lesson, she has been dressed up like this all day long. As soon as I got up from a nap today, I heard Zhuo Jinxuan's footsteps, and immediately went back to bed and lay down, looking like I was going to die.
Qingluan saw that she had gone too far, coughed lightly, and reminded the third princess.
Bai Shuqin immediately opened his eyes when he heard this, and said with a wicked smile: "Then I won't die!" ”
Zhuo Jinxuan just thought that she was dead, and the whole person was on the verge of going crazy, but at this moment, seeing her like this, he looked at her angrily.
Bai Shuqin also knew that he was playing a little big, so he hurriedly preemptively attacked: "You want to starve me to death!" You ask Qingluan, has anyone given me a drop of water and a grain of rice these days! If I'm useless, I'll starve to death by you! ”
Zhuo Jinxuan was speechless by what she said, and he was about to lose his temper with her, and choked back. He let go of her: "In that case, you should have come to see me sooner!" ”
"If you don't want to see me, you can hide in Baifu, I can't want to see you?" Bai Shuqin raised his head and questioned him.
Knowing that he was wrong, Zhuo Jinxuan didn't want to continue to entangle with her on this topic, and the business was important. He told her about the royal hunt and told her to prepare in advance.
Bai Shuqin felt that this matter had nothing to do with her, and whether or not to participate would have little impact on her, so he refused him: "Although I haven't been hungry these days, I'm too tired to go!" ”
"This is the emperor's order, I can't help you not go!"
"Then you say I'm seriously ill, terminally ill! You don't want me to be in the limelight either. She knew why he wanted her to participate, and she refused to do so.
This matter is about the dignity of the country, if it weren't for this, he really didn't want her to participate, but he still felt very uncomfortable being told so nakedly by her.
"Tell me, how can you agree to participate!" He didn't believe that she was invincible.
Bai Shuqin rolled her eyes, thinking of something that she needed his help with, but she couldn't just promise him, she still had to pretend, she smiled: "You are begging for someone's attitude?" ”
Zhuo Jinxuan couldn't help it, so he softened her tone: "It's a help for me, please come and participate in this hunt." ”
"Yes, but you have to promise me one condition! I haven't thought about it now, I'll tell you when I think about it! Bai Shuqin smiled cunningly.
Zhuo Jinxuan's heart sank, afraid that she would make any excessive requests, and he would not be able to agree to her everything, so he thought about it before saying, "As long as it's not too much!" ”
The degree of excesses is not easy to define, this remark firmly grasped the initiative in his hands, and Bai Shuqin naturally knew it. But she had already thought about what she wanted, but it was not time to say it yet.
Zhuo Jinxuan roughly told Bai Shuqin about Zhao Linlang's situation, and seeing her thoughtful appearance, he thought she was worried, and comforted her out of kindness: "You don't have to worry too much, as long as you don't compete with Zhao Linlang in archery, the possibility of winning is still very high." It doesn't matter if you lose, just don't lose too ugly. ”
Bai Shuqin didn't worry about the competition, the emperor asked her to participate in the hunt by name, Nangong Che, as his personal guard, naturally knew about it, no wonder he didn't give her any more tasks this time.
She is a little strange, Zhao Linlang's biggest purpose in the country should be to choose a husband for herself and marry. The eldest prince Zhuo Qingyuan and Zhuo Jinxuan have just married, and Zhao Linlanggui is the princess of Zhao Guo, so it is naturally impossible to marry them as a concubine now, and only the second prince Zhuo Linfeng can choose from.
Although Zhuo Linfeng is weak, he is not so weak that even Zhao Linlang can't beat him. Why didn't she choose him, but chose Zhuo Jinxuan to compete?
She thought about it, Zhuo Linfeng had no power behind him, and he was not liked by the emperor, and this battle for the throne almost excluded him. Even if he marries Zhao Linlang, the situation will not change much.
If the other two princes become emperors, even if Zhao Linlang is now a concubine, the chances of becoming the queen in the future are also very high, and the worst will definitely be the position of the concubine. In the event of the birth of an heir, the throne is also expected. Obviously, Zhao Guo took a fancy to Zhuo Jinxuan.
The emperor must have a good idea in his heart, and it seems that the emperor does not want Zhao Linlang to have anything to do with Zhuo Jinxuan. So it's not that she didn't give her a task this time, she not only wants to win but also wins beautifully!
In a blink of an eye, it was the day of the hunting, the drums were beating in the hunting ground, the yellow flag was fluttering in the wind, and all the important ministers of the court were wearing armor and waiting for the battle. Before the hunt officially began, everyone gathered in front of the camp.
Bai Shuqin followed closely beside Zhuo Jinxuan, at this moment she was wearing a red riding suit, her hair was only combed in a high ponytail, and she looked heroic.
She noticed a woman standing next to the Emperor, also dressed in light armor and carrying a bow and arrows behind her. Although she doesn't look like a country and a city, she has handsome eyebrows and looks handsome, and she is a favorite appearance of both men and women, Bai Shuqin guessed that she should be Zhao Linlang.
The soldiers standing next to him blew their horns, signaling the imminent start of the hunt. The horn fell, and there was silence all around, except for the sound of the wind blowing.
The emperor sat on a high seat with a majestic expression. The chief manager beside him held a yellow jade silk in his hand, stepped forward, and said to everyone: "Thanks to God's love, this year's wind and rain are smooth, the people live and work in peace and contentment, and today is even more beautiful and beautiful!" The triennial royal hunt is about to begin! ”
Bai Shuqin felt that his sharp voice was harsh, and he just wanted to cover his ears. Zhuo Jinxuan glanced at her, and she quickly took back the hand covering her ears.
The chief manager put away the jade silk, cleared his throat and continued to shout: "Before the hunt begins, Princess Zhao Guolinlang will compete with the three imperial concubines to cheer up the hunt!" ”
Zhao Linlang heard her name, walked to the open space in front of the emperor, and bowed: "I heard that the three imperial concubines are not allowed to shave their eyebrows, and this time I am fortunate to be able to compete with the three imperial concubines, it is a great honor!" ”
Seeing that she had gone up, of course Bai Shuqin couldn't lag behind, tidied up his clothes, and stepped forward to salute the emperor: "Erchen has seen my father!" He turned to look at Zhao Linlang again: "Princess Linlang is too famous!" ”
"I don't make any requirements for the content of the test, it's up to you to decide. However, everything should be done with safety first, and you must not hurt the other party! Although the emperor said this, his eyes were looking at Bai Shuqin.
Zhao Linlang also saw it, but she saw that Bai Shuqin was thin and weak, so she didn't feel at ease. She glanced at Bai Shuqin and turned to face the emperor: "Your Majesty, Linlang has been practicing martial arts since childhood, in order to ensure fairness, please ask the third princess to decide how to compete!" ”
Zhuo Jinxuan suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, as long as he was not better at archery than Zhao Linlang, Bai Shuqin still had a great chance of winning. Who knew that Bai Shuqin said: "Father, then it's better than archery!" ”
Zhao Linlang was taken aback, she didn't expect that she would choose what she was best at. But since she chose it herself, she can't be blamed for losing.
The soldiers emptied the field, the target stood a hundred meters away, and Bai Shuqin drew a black dot with a diameter of only one centimeter in the red heart in the middle of the target.
After everything was dealt with, she returned to the emperor: "Father, it is not difficult to shoot the bull's-eye, and it is not difficult. Erchen wanted to arrange a person at a distance of fifty meters and put an apple on his head. One arrow per person, whoever can shoot through the apple and hit the point that Erchen just drew will win. What do you think? ”
Hitting the bullseye she drew is definitely not an easy task, and now it is necessary to shoot through the apple on the human head in the middle, which is not only a test of archery, but also a psychological challenge. Don't talk about Zhao Linlang, there are very few generals here who can do it, and it can even be said that there is none.
The emperor understood it in his heart, but he was also very interested in such a competition, so he asked Zhao Linlang: "Linlang, what do you think?" ”
Zhao Linlang also secretly pinched a handful of sweat, but looking at Bai Shuqin's calm and natural appearance, he naturally couldn't show weakness: "Linlang is no problem!" ”
Bai Shuqin glanced at her and asked her to come first, she didn't shirk, picked up the arrow and entered the shooting range.
A soldier in armor stood fifty meters in front of the target with an apple on his head. Bai Shuqin had his eyes covered with a black cloth to prevent the conditioned reflex of dodging when he saw the arrow coming at him.
Everyone stared with bated breath, and their hearts secretly sweated for the soldier. If one of these two people misses the shot, then his life will hang by a thread.
Zhao Linlang held the arrow she was most familiar with on weekdays, and for fear of accidentally injuring the soldier, some fine sweat oozed from her palms. All eyes around her were focused on her, and she wiped her hands and raised her arrow.
Her heart was pounding, and all her mind was focused on the apple. She kept adjusting the angle position, and finally chose the one she was most satisfied with, and let the arrow shoot. The arrow shoots straight through the apple, shoots at the target, and finally inserts itself in the ninth ring!
The onlookers erupted in warm applause, and even Zhuo Jinxuan couldn't help but applaud her, but she sweated for Bai Shuqin next.
Zhao Linlang finally breathed a sigh of relief, handed the bow and arrow to Bai Shuqin, and said to her angrily: "It's your turn!" ”
Bai Shuqin took the bow and arrow and looked at her with appreciation: "She is worthy of being the princess of Wuguo, good archery skills!" ”
"Thank you for the compliment, and I hope you don't let me down either!" She replied.
Everyone was still immersed in Zhao Linlang's superb archery skills just now, and when they saw Bai Shuqin coming to power, they almost decided that she had lost.
Bai Shuqin didn't care what everyone thought, he walked straight to the shooting range, first moved his muscles and bones, and then raised his bow and arrow. Just when everyone thought she was going to shoot an arrow, she suddenly lowered her bow and arrows.
Everyone thought that she was cowardly, and Zhuo Jinxuan was even ready to take her down, but saw that she quickly picked up the bow and arrow again, this time even omitting the aiming action, and directly shot the bow and arrow.