The white feathered arrow hit the black bow, she slowly pulled the string, her slender fingertips were blue and white and powerful. The cold wind lifted the sleeves of her dark red phoenix robe, revealing her white wrists, which seemed to contain incomparably powerful strength despite her weak and boneless posture. She squinted one eye and aimed at Shiya who was piercing into the red bull's-eye in front of her. Her extremely serious expression made it easy to lose her mind.
This is a rare gamble!
A seemingly slender and stunning concubine who is rumored to serve the king with her beauty and a young general who gallops in the battlefield and is famous for his archery skills, betting on archery skills, imperial power and military power! It seems that the winner has already been decided at the beginning
The people around are discussing in private, they are discussing whether the imperial concubine will keep her promise and stop interfering in the government affairs of the court? Will the emperor just sit idly by
Countless pairs of eyes stared at the woman stretching her bow and string, smiling to see how she would end up after losing this huge bet.
The black strings are fully stretched, and it seems that any more force will break. The slender fingers spread out, and the white feathered arrow seemed to be endowed with mysterious power, and with a "swish", it flew towards the center of the bull's-eye. Different azimuths and the same target, the white-feathered arrows grazed the black-feathered arrows, and the fierce friction of metal and iron made a sharp sound and sparks flew. At that moment, the expressions on everyone's faces changed qualitatively, people's smiles disappeared, and their discussions suddenly stopped.
There was a suffocating silence in the Siyu Pavilion, and there was no sound.
Luo Zhi's self-confidence was completely broken. He stared at the black feather arrow that was knocked down by the white feather arrow almost in disbelief. The bull's-eye position that the black feather arrow hit was now occupied by the white feather arrow.
How...how is it possible? How could such a woman have such superb archery skills and deep inner strength
He lost! The gamble that he thought he would win, turned out to be lost!
This was a defeat in his life, not to a powerful enemy on the battlefield, but to a woman. This made it difficult for the always arrogant young general to accept.
"Sister-in-law Seven!" The Ninth Prince opened his mouth wide in surprise, his eyes were bigger than copper bells, and exclaimed, "When did your archery become so good?"
Man Yao smiled lightly. She didn't waste this year's time at all, and arranged every day very tightly.
After the Ninth Prince shouted, everyone around came back to their senses and looked at the woman in front of them in shock. It is not difficult to see a woman who can shoot arrows, but it is impossible for all the generals present to be able to knock down other people's arrows that have fallen into the bull's-eye and replace them without destroying the target. But such a seemingly delicate woman did it! No one would expect that their concubine not only has a beautiful appearance that can overwhelm the country and the city, but also has a moving and superb archery skill.
"Your Majesty is a thousand years old!" Someone shouted first, and except for the Ninth Prince and Luo Zhi, all the ministers, generals, palace eunuchs and eunuchs all knelt down, and the shout almost burst the eardrums.
Zongzheng Wuyou walked down the Guangting Pavilion, took the heavy wooden bow in Man Yao's hand, and passed it behind him casually, Xiao Xiangzi hurriedly followed it respectfully, but who knew that the bow was so heavy that it almost fell to the ground, scaring him I broke out in a cold sweat.
Zongzheng Wuyou took her shoulders, tilted his head slightly, and squinted his eyes to look at her. When did she practice archery like this? He didn't know!
Man Yao turned her head and gave him a slight smile, a bit cunning, as if to say: "You don't know a lot."
Zongzheng Wuyou's hand holding her shoulders tightened immediately, a dangerous light flashed in his eyes, Man Yao was taken aback, and instinctively shook his body, these days, she can be regarded as experiencing the horror of a long-term abstinent man's eruption He will not stop until she is exhausted every day. Seeing her timid look, he raised the corners of his eyes in satisfaction, knowing that it's good to be afraid!
He waved his sleeve robe, indicating that the kneeling people could get up.
Everyone got up, and there was a burst of admiration for the imperial concubine's archery skills, and she was praised like heaven and earth.
Man Yao slightly curled the corners of her lips, hiding the sarcasm in her heart. From the white-haired evildoer to the chaos in the harem, and now to the goddess they are talking about descending to the world, the speed has become uncommonly fast. She stared at Luo Zhi, who was still immersed in the blow of being defeated by a woman, and asked, "General Luo, are you convinced?"
Only then did Luo Zhi come to his senses, he had always considered himself a manly man, daring to do something, but now he didn't know what to do. After a moment of silence, he turned around and knelt down in front of her, and took out a small bronze medal from his pocket with the word "Luo" engraved on it. He frowned, and turned his face to one side, with an expression as if he had made up his mind after a fierce ideological struggle. He held up the bronze medal with both hands, and said through gritted teeth: "Your Majesty is very good at archery, and I am willing to admit defeat. However, the general will not accept it!"
He said it bluntly, admitting defeat, but he refused to accept it. Such a man is indeed a bloody man.
Manyao smiled slightly and said: "Why are you dissatisfied?" "
Luo Zhi thought for a while, and said: "If the empress shoots that arrow first, the last general can turn defeat into victory.
Man Yao suppressed her smile, and said in an emotionless voice, "Really? Well, come here, bring a bow and arrow."
Xiao Xiangzi hurriedly passed it up with both hands holding the bow, Man Yao took it with one hand, Zongzheng Wuyou frowned slightly, but didn't say anything, let go of her shoulders, glanced at the proud Luo Zhi beside him, his eyes Without changing his expression, he backed away a little.
The archery target in the distance is made of high-quality wood, and the white feather tube of the bull's-eye has been removed. Luo Zhi took a black-feathered arrow and prepared to defeat her in the same way after she shot it. That method is not too difficult for him. He was ready, just waiting for the woman to make a move. But, unfortunately,... he didn't have that chance.
This time, the white-feathered arrow in Manyao's hand not only hit the bull's-eye, but the powerful internal force carried by the sharp arrow split the solid target, and there was only a "pop", and the split wood shot out in all directions, smashing into pieces. The sawdust flew up, like smoke and dust splashed by countless horseshoes, permeating the air for a long time and could not disperse.
There was another deathly silence.
If the accuracy of the previous arrow was more important, then what shocked people about this arrow was the huge momentum created by the deep internal force.
Luo Zhi's hand holding the bow was completely stiff. Last time, he rushed to capture the bull's-eye, trying to make her give up, but she turned the defeat into victory by shaking off the arrow feathers. But this time, she shot first and directly destroyed the target, not even giving him a chance to make a shot. He turned his head to look at her, seeing her calm and indifferent face, he said unwillingly: "Your Majesty violated the current rules."
Manyao smiled lightly and said: "What is the current rule? I only said that whoever's arrow is in the most central position of the bull's-eye will be considered the winner." A palace official went to pick up the white-feathered arrow that was shot, and the point of the arrow pierced impressively. Within a complete red bullseye.
Luo Zhi was speechless immediately.
Manyao said seriously: "General Luo, do you know why you lost?"
Luo Zhi closed his lips, frowned and remained silent. Because he was too arrogant and confident, he violated the taboo of soldiers and underestimated the enemy! Missed the best opportunity to win. If he didn't look down on women, use 30% more force with one arrow, and the arrow penetrates deep enough, then even if the imperial concubine has deep internal strength, she can only destroy the target but not shake his arrow, then he will win. If he had been patient and tested the opponent's strength before thinking of countermeasures, he might have the same chance to win, but he didn't, so he lost, completely. Today's imperial concubine's two arrows made him understand more than one truth.
Women, it can be like this.
He hesitated slightly, but opened it anyway. : "If the empress can give me another chance...",
Long cut off. Said: "General Luo, you are a general of tens of thousands of people, and may be the commander of hundreds of thousands of people in the future. You should understand what is on your shoulders? The stability of the border directly affects the fate of a country. If you are on the battlefield, The enemy understands your temperament and deploys a female general to fight against you. If you lose the war because of underestimating the enemy, will the other party give you a second chance? Who can give you a second chance for those thousands of soldiers who died because of your mistakes? Chance?"
Luo Zhi was stunned, but was speechless. He bit the bullet, took out the soldier talisman again, and handed it to Manyao. He knew what this meant, the Luo family army would no longer be under the command of their Luo family, and he would be ashamed of his ancestors.
Man Yao saw that although there was unwillingness in his eyes, his face was still calm. She didn't say anything more, and slowly took the soldier talisman in her hand, but didn't even look at it, as if it was nothing to her like a toy. Not really.
Zongzheng Wuyou took her hand, his voice was low and majestic: "Let's all go away."
All the ministers kowtowed, and before Manyao left, Luo Zhi suddenly asked: "Your Majesty has some archery skills, why don't you just split the arrows once? It will be easier to win that way."
Manyao said with a meaningful smile: "A good arrow cannot be destroyed."
The imperial concubine left for a long time, but Luo Zhi was still kneeling on the spot, he kept thinking about everything that happened today, and the last sentence. He didn't get up and go back to the mansion until all the officials dispersed. Along the way, he was thinking about how to explain this matter to his elderly mother.
After returning home, Luo Zhi lingered in the courtyard, not daring to enter the house. He couldn't even imagine what his mother would do after knowing that he had lost the talisman. This afternoon, every moment became extremely tormented.
On the second day, she finally didn't hide it. Luo's mother knew that her son had bet on the soldier talisman, and she fainted on the spot. After waking up, she cried, made trouble and hanged herself, no one tried to persuade her, the whole Luo Mansion was extremely lively.
When this matter spread to the palace, Manyao smiled and said: "Let's go, visit Mrs. Luo at the Luo Mansion." He was rewarded with a generous gift.
It is undoubtedly a kind of great favor for the imperial concubine to visit in person, and everyone in the Luo family went out and knelt to welcome her. On that day, Manyu understood why Luo Zhi looked down on women.
From the moment she stepped into Luo's mansion, after Luo's mother rushed out to salute, Wu Lao prostituted her, dragged her into tears, and scolded her son for being unfilial. I kept talking about the heroic deeds of the three generations until the death of Luo Zhi’s father. I never stopped crying during the whole day, and I didn’t even stop eating. While wiping my tears, I drank water to replenish water, and then continued to cry .
It's not right for Man Yao to leave, and it's not right to stay, so I just listen to her seriously. Luo Zhi was sitting next to him, frowning tightly, and persuaded his mother several times, but was scolded back, and in exchange for a burst of more violent crying. He looked up at the sky helplessly, seeing that Man Yao was not impatient at all, he couldn't help admiring the patience of this noble woman.
When it was dark, Zongzheng Wuyou saw that she hadn't returned to the palace, so he sent someone to pick her up.
Luo's mother then let her go embarrassedly, and sighed: "I made your mother laugh. The loyalty and bravery of our Luo family have been ruined by the old woman's useless son. How can the old woman have a future when she dies?" Face up to his father! Madam, you don’t know, what Zhi’er’s father hated the most in his life was gambling, and this rebellious son actually used the soldier talisman as a bet to do such a rebellious thing, how can he inherit his father’s will in the future? , protect the frontier?"
While speaking, Luo Mu peeked at Manyao. Man Yao just listened to her quietly, her face remained calm. Seeing that she didn't respond, Luo's mother stopped. "Get up and see off.
In the courtyard outside, Man Yao stopped, turned around and took out the soldier talisman, and handed it to Luo Zhi.
Luo Zhi was taken aback for a moment, and looked at her puzzled, not daring to reach out to pick it up.
Mother Luo's eyes were bright, and she winked at her son, but Luo Zhi still didn't move.
Manyao smiled slightly and said: "I saw the general drunk yesterday, so I made a joke with the general. The Luo family army is the elite army of our dynasty, and Luo Jianghan is an indispensable loyal minister and good general of our dynasty. How can this soldier talisman be used at will? Come to bet?"
She was reminding him not to be reckless in doing things in the future, but to think twice before acting.
Luo Zhi's eyes changed a few times. He naturally knew that it was not a joke. If he won, he would definitely force her to promise to withdraw from the court in front of all the officials and never participate in political affairs again. And this military talisman is in her hands, she can take the opportunity to control more military power, why should she return it to him
"Why?" He thought and asked.
Man Yao said: "I am not Wu Zetian, and I have no intention of becoming Wu Zetian." In her eyes, the country, the world, and people's livelihood are all inferior to that person. And she just wanted to help her husband, that's all.
Luo Zhi asked: "Who is Wu Zetian?"
Man Yao forgot that people in this era do not know that there is such a person as Wu Zetian. She said lightly: "The only female emperor in history."
Luo Zhi was shocked on the spot. Has there ever been a woman who was an emperor in history? Why doesn't he know? The woman in front of him sometimes reminded him with profound words and actions, and sometimes she was astonishingly direct and frank. She doesn't seem to be afraid of anything and doesn't care about anything. It took her a day to make him understand many things, such as the inviolability of imperial power, women should not be underestimated, opportunities depend on people's grasp, there is no law of success or failure... Everything he has is a gift from the emperor, with or without , but a word, a flash of thought.
A seemingly weak concubine is so powerful, how terrible is the unfathomable emperor
Luo Zhi took a deep breath and felt a chill down his spine. He knelt down and reached out to receive the soldier talisman.
Man Yao took a deep look at him, and said earnestly, "General Luo, I hope you... will not disappoint me and the emperor."
Luo Zhi raised his head, his previous disdain and arrogance no longer appeared in his gaze, and he said firmly with the posture that a soldier should have: "The general understands. Please rest assured, the emperor and empress."
Manyao nodded in relief. After leaving Luo Mansion, she went to see Xiang Ying again. It was already late when she returned to the palace, and she was exhausted.
Zongzheng Wuyou had been waiting for her in the Manxiang Palace for an hour, seeing her tired face, holding her in his arms, he felt distressed, "Why did you come back so late?"
She was so tired that she didn't want to talk, and she leaned limply in his arms, not wanting to move. He stopped asking, and hugged her tightly, rubbing his chin on her forehead.
After resting for a while, she raised her head and smiled at him, "Is the paperwork finished?"
He nodded "Yes".
She rubbed against his arms, and suddenly wanted to be hypocritical, "Wuyou, I want to take a bath, so you carry me there.
"Okay." Zongzheng Wuyou's voice was magnetic and gentle. He ordered someone to prepare hot water and carried her there. Then he waited for her outside the bathroom, but after waiting for a long time, she didn't come out.
Because she doesn't like to be greeted by others when she takes a bath, there are no maids around, and she is the only one in the room.
Zongzheng Wuyou waited for half an hour, but when he heard that there was no movement inside, he frowned and called her twice outside the door, but there was no response.
He pushed the door open and went in, his heart seemed to be squeezed by a soft hand, it hurt so softly, she fell asleep leaning against the bathtub!
The mist rising from the room had already dissipated, and the woman by the pool had a thin face, her skin was slightly pale, her brows were slightly frowned, and there was a trace of fatigue that could not be erased. The long white hair hangs down, draped over the smooth fragrant shoulders exposed to the water, and a section is immersed in the water, floating and spreading out gently, like thoughts being fiddled with. The bath towel she held in her right hand was on her left arm, as if she accidentally fell asleep in the middle of washing. In her sleep, she lost her coldness, and she was too beautiful to touch.
Zongzheng Wuyou walked over slowly, his footsteps were extremely light, he tried to enter the water with his hand, and it was already cold. Frowning, he gently picked her up, put her on his body, and wiped her body with a dry towel, his movements were extremely gentle. In the end, he carefully wrapped her in a blanket and carried her back to the bedroom.
She didn't know anything about this series of actions. I don't know if his movements were too gentle, or she was too sound asleep
Put her in bed and cover her with a quilt. He stared quietly at her sleeping face, not willing to move his eyes away.
There were three knocks on the door, and Leng Yan called out in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the landlord has news."
Zongzheng Wuyou frowned, got up and went out, Leng Yan handed over a white note with both hands, his expression was not very good.
Zongzheng Wuyou took it over, unfolded it, and his expression suddenly changed.
Phoenix Nirvana Heroine Soul