Win yourself back
After she said this, everyone in the tent was shocked once again.
Zhao Jingyu is arrogant, and the people around him are as arrogant as he is. A little girl who is powerless can make such a big boast without even frowning. It's true that like master, like servant.
Although His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the only prince, he was not brought up in pampered circumstances. He started learning literature at the age of three and martial arts at the age of six. He has never slacked off for more than ten years. He is an outstanding literary talent and skilled in military affairs, especially riding and archery, which were personally taught to him by His Majesty. Looking around the capital, there are not many people who can beat him. How could a little girl like her compare to him
Not only others thought so, but Xie Nanfeng also had the same idea. If it weren't for the fact that everyone was watching, he would have wanted to go over and remind Xiu'er to take back what she had just said.
Xie Zhanting stood silently beside the emperor. Because of the soup made by this little girl, he felt an inexplicable pity for her. At this moment, seeing her calmly and confidently challenging the prince, her calm and composed appearance instantly reminded him of his own daughter.
He did not think that this girl was arrogant and ignorant of the immensity of the world. On the contrary, he believed that this girl must have been confident enough to dare to give it a try.
Like Nan Jia, she becomes calmer the bigger the situation, so even if the most distinguished person in the world stands in front of her, there is no fear in her eyes.
She didn't take these people seriously at all.
Xie Zhanting trembled all over at his unexpected discovery. He had a strong premonition that this girl who had the same cooking skills, the same temperament, and the same phoenix eyes as Nan Jia must have some mysterious connection with Nan Jia. Although he had no clue at the moment, his feeling was definitely not wrong.
He clenched his fists tightly and forced himself to calm down, so as not to lose control and ask the little girl for confirmation.
He missed his daughter so much that he wanted to get any information about her. He even thought that even if the girl said she was Nan Jia's ghost, he could accept it calmly, because he still didn't want to believe that Nan Jia would leave him so cruelly.
"Uncle!" Su Jincheng noticed his abnormality and pulled his clothes from behind.
Xie Zhanting suddenly came to his senses, lowered his head, and tried to hide his emotions by tidying up his clothes.
Zhao Jingyu was still standing there, his face still as calm as ever, as if Xie Nanjia's words had not caused any ripples in his heart.
He didn't speak, so no one knew what he was thinking.
Song Jingxing obviously thought the same as most people, thinking that Xie Nanjia was overestimating her own abilities and was arrogant. He felt disdainful of this, but at the same time he felt extremely ashamed and annoyed. This girl would rather risk her life to challenge him and go with Zhao Jingyu. Could it be that he, the crown prince, was not as charming as a dandy bastard
How can it be
He is the crown prince who is second only to the emperor, the heir apparent of the Great Zhou, and the future emperor. In terms of status, talent, and appearance, he is no match for Zhao Jingyu. Yet this girl wants to challenge him to a duel for Zhao Jingyu in public. What's the difference between this and slapping him in public
Furthermore, even if he accepted the challenge and won the game, how glorious would it be to win over a weak girl? If it got out, people would only say that he, a prince, coveted the daughter of a minister and had the audacity to compete with her. The most important thing was that the little girl looked down on him. He won her body but not her heart. What was the difference between this and robbing a commoner
Thinking of this, Song Jingxing felt so frustrated that he was about to explode. He originally wanted to piss off Zhao Jingyu again, but he didn't expect to be put in an awkward situation where he was unable to back down again. Moreover, the one who embarrassed him this time was a young girl.
It's so abominable!
“Your Highness, you are not brave enough, are you?” Xie Nanjia looked at his changing expression and felt calmer inside.
"Why shouldn't I dare?" Song Jingxing said, "I just thought it would be unfair to you."
"There's nothing unfair about it." Xie Nanjia smiled. "This is what I proposed. I will bear the consequences of winning or losing. I can't blame others. Besides, how can Your Highness be so sure that I will lose?"
The last sentence effectively stimulated Song Jingxing. At this point it would be embarrassing whether he competed or not. If he backed down in front of a little girl, it would only be more embarrassing.
"Since you are determined to compete, I will grant your wish. Considering that you are a woman, you can decide the rules. I will let you shoot three more arrows, so that you won't say that I won unfairly."
"Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness. I don't need to give in." Xie Nanjia said, "My rules are very simple. Each of us has eight bamboo arrows, and we throw them all at once. Whoever hits the target with more arrows wins. This will save time and effort. What do you think, Your Highness?"
Song Jingxing was stunned, and so were the others. This rule was too casual. It sounded like cheating and relying on luck. This girl had said it so seriously before, could it be that she was just bluffing or just talking big
Everyone shook their heads and smiled in understanding. Song Jingxing also smiled and felt completely relaxed.
"As you wish." He said with a smile.
The two men returned to the field, the eunuchs rearranged the two copper pots, handed bamboo arrows to the two men, and everyone returned to their seats to watch the fight.
Song Wanji didn't say a word throughout the whole process. He sat back in the main seat with a gloomy face and waved to Zhao Jingyu to go to his side.
Zhao Jingyu turned a blind eye and continued to stand there without moving an inch. Her peach blossom eyes, which were always as affectionate as spring water in the past, seemed to be frozen and piercingly cold.
The young eunuch who served as the archer stood at the sidelines, rubbed his hands nervously, and asked the two men if they were ready.
Song Jingxing was already confident of victory, so there was nothing to prepare. He nodded to indicate that he was ready.
Xie Nanjia looked at Zhao Jingyu and smiled at him.
Zhao Jingyu had a wooden face and didn't give her any response.
Xie Nanjia didn't care and nodded to Si She, indicating that she was ready too.
At the command of the archer, the two men raised their hands and threw at the same time. Sixteen bamboo arrows were shot at the two bronze pots respectively.
With the sound of ping-pong, the bamboo arrows fell into the pot one after another, except for one that missed and fell to the ground.
Everyone screamed and stood up, unable to believe that the one that fell was Song Jingxing's.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince is from No. 7 Middle School!" Si She shouted. Not knowing Xie Nanjia's name, he paused and said, "Girl is from No. 8 Middle School!"
There was total silence in the tent.
Song Jingxing stared blankly at the two pots in front of him, unable to believe that the little girl had really hit all eight.
It's not like he hasn't played this casual game with others before. If he can hit five or six balls at a time, he's considered an expert. He's already done his best to hit seven balls, but this little girl can hit all the balls in one go. This... This is absolutely impossible!
"Your Highness, thank you for your courtesy!" Xie Nanjia bowed and said, the smile in his eyes was full of contempt.
"This is impossible!" Song Jingxing said in a panic, "Either you are lucky or you are cheating!"
Xie Nanjia burst out laughing, the sound was like a silver bell, but it hurt Song Jingxing's eardrums: "Your Highness the Crown Prince was afraid that others would say that you won unfairly before, but now you think that I won unfairly?"
Although no one said anything, they all felt that the Crown Prince's words were ungentlemanly.
Although losing to a little girl is embarrassing whether you admit it or not, it is always more generous to admit it than not.
Song Wanji was also dissatisfied with his son's behavior and slammed the teacup on the table.
Song Jingxing had a strong sense of self-esteem. When provoked by Xie Nanjia and seeing that his father was dissatisfied with him, he lost control of his emotions and shouted at Xie Nanjia: "You are playing tricks in this game, which doesn't count. I want to play another game with you."
“…”Everyone was speechless.
Xie Nanfeng, who had been worried about Xie Nanjia, ran to his father excitedly and whispered, "Father..."
Xie Zhanting raised his hand to stop him from saying anything else.
Even without him saying it, Xie Zhanting knew what he meant. The move the little girl used was exactly the one his daughter used to play when they played pitching pots at home.
No one knew how shocked the father and son were. Then Xie Nanjia laughed and said, "Since Your Highness said that I was cheating, why don't we try something without cheating? We should throw the balls in the order of Youchu, Lianzhong, Guan'er, Xiaojian, Dairen, Langhu, Longshou, and Longwei. We must not only hit the target, but also throw them in the correct order. If we miss or throw the ball incorrectly, we will not get any points. After all eight balls are thrown, the one with the highest score wins. How do you think?"
The crowd was shocked.
If the previous round was a matter of luck, then this round can only rely on strength. The little girl took the initiative to increase the difficulty. She can't be completely sure, right
If this is true, she is too amazing.
Song Jingxing was also very surprised. He felt that he had underestimated his opponent before, which allowed the little girl to take advantage of him. If he played another game according to the previous rules, he would have a chance of winning. Unexpectedly, the little girl suddenly changed the rules and raised the difficulty to the highest level, which made him lose confidence for a moment.
He shamelessly added this game. If he loses again, it will be a huge disgrace.
"Your Highness the Crown Prince has never played this kind of game before, right? Let me go first!" Xie Nanjia said with a smile.
Without waiting for Song Jingxing's response, he took the bamboo arrow from the eunuch and threw it casually, muttering, "Youchu!"
The bamboo arrow drew a graceful arc in the air and fell into the pot with a sound.
Before everyone could marvel at her, they saw her throwing the arrows one after another, chanting: "Hit the target in a row, pierce the ears, brave arrow, tough belt, wave pot, dragon head, dragon tail!"
The crisp sound stopped, and all eight bamboo arrows were thrown in order, without missing a single one.
There was dead silence in the tent again.
Xie Nanfeng stared blankly at the copper pot filled with bamboo arrows, tears streaming down his face silently.
When he was still young, his cousin Su gave his sister a talking parrot. He wanted it, but his sister refused and said that she would give it to him when he could hit eight lobs. He practiced hard for a long time and finally hit eight lobs, but the parrot died.
He was very sad and angry with his sister. He ignored her for more than a month. When his sister asked him how to forgive her, he thought of the same trick he had played with Xiu'er just now to embarrass her. In order to make him happy, his sister practiced day and night. When she finally succeeded, he had already forgotten about the incident. However, his sister was sick for many days because of this, and he was severely beaten by his father.
Xie Nanfeng recalled the past and turned to look at his father. Seeing that his father also had tears in his eyes, he knew that he was also thinking of his sister.
When his father said that the soup made by Xiu'er was the same as his sister's, he didn't feel anything. But when he saw Xiu'er playing the pot, he realized how gaffe his father had made.
"Father!" He choked and held Xie Zhanting's shoulders.
Xie Zhanting raised his hand to stop him again.
Now is not the time to talk about this.
In the silence, Song Wanji stood up with the help of the table and said in a deep voice: "Alright, I'm tired, you all go back and rest!"
Everyone knew that he was trying to save the prince from embarrassment again, so they all stood up and left the table, kneeling on the ground and saying in unison: "Your Highness, we are leaving!"
Song Wanji waved his hand wearily, and everyone got up and walked out. Zhao Jingyu was originally near the door. When the emperor waved his hand, he turned around and left without looking back.
Xie Nanjia hurried after him.
She didn't dare to run in the tent, and when she chased after him, Zhao Jingyu had already gone far away.
(End of this chapter)