September 9th is the day of the Grand Archery Ceremony.
Before daybreak, General Xuanwei and Yizhou Zhechou Duwei Li Dalu got up early to prepare for today's important events. While he was busy, the steward of the Prince's Mansion came to report something to him.
The prince went somewhere last night and came back very late. The steward happened to see him and saw that his eyes were red and he looked dazed. He closed the door and fell asleep. The steward went to check on him and found that the prince had not gotten up yet. He knocked on the door to ask, but there was no movement in the room. He felt uneasy and came to report.
Li Dalu immediately went to his nephew's residence and knocked on the door for a long time before the door opened from the inside. His nephew appeared lazily. After taking a closer look, he found that he was just as the steward had said, with a gloomy face, bloodshot eyes, and an extremely tired look, so he asked what was going on.
Yuwen Zhi just said he had nothing to do. When he heard Li Dalu urging him to get up early and get ready, he showed an impatient look on his face. He casually said, "I know," and then said it was still early, and then he closed the door and bolted it. This time, no matter how much Li Dalu knocked on the door, it would not open.
Li Dalu knew that his nephew had a casual temperament and did things as he pleased, so he felt helpless seeing this. After a moment of hesitation, he said to the inside of the house: "My nephew, are you worried about today's archery competition? Don't worry! Your uncle will do his best to help you win the championship, so that you can win the princess and return in glory!" After that, he whispered to the steward to take care of this side and not let the my nephew be late, and he hurried away first.
Inside the room, Yuwen Zhi lay on the couch with his back facing up, eyes closed, and motionless.
After returning last night, he had not slept for a moment. He recalled the past and felt extremely depressed. He thought that since she said so, he might as well fulfill her wish. After all, she was the one in his heart. It would be best if she could get what she wanted. He was a man, why did he bother himself with troubles? Sometimes he felt very unwilling and must disrupt today's affairs. If he didn't get his wish, no one in the world could get his wish. If he couldn't get the person he loved, it would be worth it to make her hate him for the rest of her life.
Yuwen Zhi felt his heart suddenly filled with love, uncontrollable, and suddenly filled with hatred and anger. He was already tossing and turning in the middle of the night, and still couldn't make a decision. He was in agony, and then he heard the steward knocking on the door outside, carefully reminding him that the time was almost up. He couldn't help but become more and more irritable. He lay there for a while, gritted his teeth, opened his eyes, and turned over from the couch.
He was helped to wash and change his clothes, and then he came out with a stern face. Turning around the door, he looked up and saw Li Dalu and a family guard who came with him also coming out of a nearby room. The two seemed to have just finished a meeting.
The general was a member of the family, named Yuwen Ji, and one of his father's confidants. After walking a few steps, Li Dalu seemed to remember something, looked around, called the people to the corner of the courtyard shaded by trees, and whispered a few instructions. After that, he watched Yuwen Ji hurried away, and then he breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look in the direction of Yuwen Zhi's residence, shook his head, and was about to walk over when he heard a voice behind him: "What are you discussing?"
Li Dalu turned around and saw that it was Yuwen Zhi who came out from behind a clump of branches. He was relieved and said a few perfunctory words. He looked at his nephew, who had changed into formal clothes and looked much more energetic. He praised him for his outstanding talent and urged him to leave. Yuwen Zhi did not move: "You are hiding, are you hiding something from me?"
Seeing his nephew looking at him coldly, Li Dalu hesitated for a moment, then led him back into the house, closed the door and whispered his plan to him.