Ningxing Academy has always advocated the cultivation of both civil and military skills together. In the afternoon, the young men all changed into the uniforms customised by the academy to learn horseback archery.
Wen Chan stood outside the team because he was a newcomer and had no clothes.
There was a very wide grassland behind the academy, with stables and straw targets. And there was no shortage of knives, guns, and sticks.
Zhong Wenjin stood beside him, fiddling with the bow in his hand, and tried to pull it. “Your Highness, you haven’t changed your clothes. So you don’t need to practice riding. Why don’t you try my bow? It’s quite easy to use.”
Wen Chan glanced at the bow. The material was average, and the workmanship was also so-so. It should be a bow from the academy. He stretched out his hand and took it, “I haven’t pulled a bow for a long time.”
“I can understand.” Zhong Wenjin was quite good at understanding others and handed over a feathered arrow1
at the same time.
“The accuracy may be a little off.” Wen Chan put the arrow on the bow.
He really hadn’t shot arrows for a long time. Originally, there were hunting parties every year. But since the accident at that hunting party, he no longer participated in hunting parties, and the number of times he drew the bow became less and less.
“Your Highness, I won’t laugh at you even if you miss the target.” Zhong Wenjin said seriously.
“Then do I have to thank you for demanding so little from me?” Wen Chan asked with a smile.
“How dare I demand from you.” He said hurriedly, “I was just saying that.”
Wen Chan smiled and drew the bow while speaking. His black eyes stared at the straw target2
a hundred metres away; the arrow was aimed at the bull’s eye, and he exerted the strength of his arm until the bow was fully drawn and fixed.
Zhong Wenjin was extremely surprised to see that his arms were still quite stable, with no trembling as the bow was fully drawn.
After a pause, the arrow on the bow quickly left the string and broke through the wind with the power of thunder. In the blink of an eye, it was firmly nailed to the straw target, and the arrow brushed the edge of the bull’s eye.
Wen Chan saw it from a distance and sighed with regret, “The accuracy is indeed much worse.”
When he turned around his head to look, Zhong Wenjin’s eyes were wide open like copper bells, as if he had seen a ghost.
“What’s wrong with you?” Wen Chan stretched out his hand, puzzled, and shook it in front of him.
“You are…… You are really, really……” He racked his brains and finally found a suitable statement, “You are really hiding your light under a bushel3to conceal one’s talents!”
“You are overpraising.” Just as Wen Chan said this modestly, he found that all the people around him were staring at him, and their eyes were not much different from Zhong Wenjin’s.
“Am I such a waste in the eyes of you all?” Wen Chan asked, pretending to be calm.
“It’s hard to say.” Zhong Wenjin replied, “Do you know what the rumours about you are in the capital?”
“I’ve heard a little bit about it.” Wen Chan calmly and unhurriedly took out a second feathered arrow from the quiver.
“They all said that, Your Ninth Royal Highness, you don’t like paperwork or martial arts. You just eat and drink all day. And if you’re free, you flirt with the beauties in the capital. In short, you don’t do your proper business.” Zhong Wenjin spoke very bluntly, thought for a while, and finally concluded, “I think they misunderstood you.”
As he said that, Wen Chan shot the second arrow. This one was far away, and it didn’t even reach the target. It stuck into the ground halfway.
Wen Chan still had a calm face, “It seems that I got some luck with the first one.”
As if this was the arrow that His Ninth Royal Highness should shoot, everyone who was still surprised laughed a little seeing it, cast a mocking glance at Wen Chan, and returned to their conversations.
Zhong Wenjin was not stupid either. He knew he had done it on purpose. But he didn’t say much. He just took the quiver and placed it at Wen Chan’s feet, “Your Highness, I will go to practice horseback archery after the teacher comes. You can practice archery here by yourself.”
Wen Chan nodded, “Go ahead.”
Xie Zhaoxue had specifically told Zhong Wenjin to take care of Wen Chan before, but Zhong Wenjin’s heart for playing was so great that he really couldn’t stay at all. After coming to an agreement with Wen Chan, he ran to the A1 zone.
Wen Chan stood alone in the same place for a while and simply concentrated on practicing his bow, shooting arrows one by one crookedly.
“Your Ninth Royal Highness, it’s probably useless to practice like this.” A strange voice interrupted from the side.
Wen Chan turned his head to look and found that it was Zhong Wenting who had come.
He thought: I didn’t go to find you, but you landed in my lap first.
There was a bit of similarity between Zhong Wenting’s and Zhong Wenjin’s eyebrows. But he was less youthful than Zhong Wenjin, perhaps because he had also died once, and his young face showed maturity.
At this time, he smiled gently and walked slowly towards Wen Chan, “Your Highness should straighten your lower back first, otherwise it will be difficult to aim the arrow.”
Wen Chan’s eyes rolled with a little coldness, and then he also smiled, “You see, actually, this guy looks very unfamiliar. I wonder which young master he is?”
“Your Highness, the subject is the son of the Zhong family’s head, Zhong Wenting.” He bowed to Wen Chan in a proper manner, “This subject followed my father into the palace, so I am honoured to meet Your Highness.”
“Oh — —” Wen Chan pretended to suddenly see the light4to suddenly realize, “It was the Young Master of the Zhong family.”
He looked at Zhong Wenting up and down, “Sure enough, if a father is a lion, the son cannot be a dog5With a distinguished father such as you, the son is sure to do well. / like father, like son. Young Master Zhong is very similar to Prime Minister Zhong. Both of you have a sneaky look.”
Zhong Wenting was taken aback, “What?”
Wen Chan clapped his hands, “Look at my memory. I am a giant among men, but my scholarly knowledge6The words he chose to describe them. is narrow and shallow. I hope Master Zhong won’t mind.”
“How could this subject dare to mind?” Zhong Wenting’s expression was quickly concealed. He bent over to pick up a feathered arrow with a gentle expression and said, “Your Highness, this subject knows one or two about archery. If Your Highness doesn’t mind, I can discuss it with you.”
“No need!” Wen Chan refused quite confidently, “I think my archery skills are still pretty good. The martial arts master in the palace praised me for my deep understanding of the essence of archery. As long as I keep practicing, I can be the best in the capital.”
Zhong Wenting, “……”
As he said this, Wen Chan reached out to take the feathered arrow from his hand as if to prove it to him, and put it on the bow without saying anything, “I’ll shoot a bull’s eye for you to see.”
Zhong Wenting looked at his posture while pulling the bow, his eyes closed slightly.
Wen Chan had precisely made up his mind to play dumb and disgust him. And make him sound out the difficulties and retreat to avoid defeat7fig. to back out of an awkward situation; to get out on finding out what it’s really like. Therefore, he shrunk his neck and shoulders when he pulled the bow, which looked a little funny.
Just as he was aiming at the bull’s eye, a warm body suddenly came up from behind. At the same time, a red silk-sleeved arm stretched out in front of him, holding his left hand with a warm palm, and pressed the other palm on the back of his neck, straightening his posture.
Wen Chan’s body stiffened suddenly, and as soon as he was about to struggle, he heard a familiar voice in his ears, very close, “Straight body and straight shoulders are the foundation of archery. Could it be that the martial arts master in the palace had been so angry at his Royal Highness that was about to die then that he said something like that?”
After all, the words of a man on his deathbed always come from the heart.
Wen Chan didn’t hear Liang Yanbei’s quiet movement at all, and he was surprised for a moment. He loosened his strength and wanted to turn around, but he was unexpectedly restricted by his arms. His right hand was also held. And the external forces from both sides showed the way to Wen Chan.
Wen Chan’s breathing came to a halt when the hot air from his nose reached his ears. Then, before he could have time to think about anything, the arrow slipped out of his hand and flew straight out, passing hundreds of metres, and suddenly, it hit the straw target — — Right in the bull’s eye.
Then the breath left, Wen Chan turned around in a daze, and Liang Yanbei was already standing two steps away.
This arrow caused a lot of commotion, and many people looked there again.
Liang Yanbei didn’t seem to see it and said to Wen Chan, “Look, didn’t this arrow hit the bull’s eye?”
“How did you get here?” Wen Chan asked subconsciously.
“Naturally, I came by foot.” He answered as a matter of course.
However, Wen Chan only noticed the existence of people when he got so close to him and was inevitably startled. Liang Yanbei’s breath was hidden too well.
Not only Wen Chan but also Zhong Wenting. At this time, his face looked very ugly, and he could hardly maintain his gentle smile. As soon as he saw Liang Yanbei, he instinctively stepped back a few steps. His eyes flashed with almost constant fear and hatred.
But Liang Yanbei didn’t even give him half a glance and said to Wen Chan, “The fuzi just told me that he has nothing to teach me, and he let me take a rest. So I came to see Your Highness.”
“Why did you come to me?“ Wen Chan suddenly called to mind the existence of Zhong Wenting, who was still there, coughed lightly, and showed a slightly frivolous look, “I was just about to show Young Master Zhong archery.”
Liang Yanbei glanced at Zhong Wenting and raised his eyebrows slightly, “Can it be that Young Master Zhong wants to learn archery from His Royal Highness?”
The corners of his mouth were raised to a smile, but his delicate eyes seemed to be full of unwelcomingness. The moment Zhong Wenting met his gaze, the nightmare deep in his heart spread, and his fingertips trembled.
“It was this subject who was rude. This subject will take my leave first.” Zhong Wenting walked away almost embarrassedly.
Liang Yanbei didn’t realise that he had scared the man away. And he turned to Wen Chan and said, “This person is really crafty-looking, and he is even more timid than Zhong Wenjin.”
Wen Chan asked helplessly, “When did you come? How much did you hear?”
Unexpectedly, Liang Yanbei curled his lips, quite aggrievedly, and said, “It was His Highness who was too absorbed in talking to him. I stood beside you for a while, but you didn’t see me.”
“Then were you standing behind me then? I don’t have eyes behind me. So how can I see you?” Wen Chan said.
“I was standing over there when I came.” Liang Yanbei argued and also pointed his finger to the side, “Then after that, only I walked behind his Royal Highness.”
Why did it seem more like his fault the more he talked? Wen Chan hurriedly changed the subject, “Are you really too idle?”
“I’m here to do some serious business.” Liang Yanbei said, “The dean asked me to take Your Highness to go take your measurements and buy clothes for Your Highness.”
“Dean? How come I haven’t met the dean of Ningxing Academy yet?” Wen Chan was quite puzzled. He thought that he had been here for a day, and there was no movement after being assigned to the A5 Hall. Did they disdain him that much?
“Why haven’t you seen him before.” Liang Yanbei bent over and picked up the tangerines that Wen Chan had put on the ground before and said while peeling them, “Didn’t Your Highness only see him at noon? The dean also gave His Royal Highness a few tangerines.”
Wen Chan glanced at the tangerines and asked in surprise, “Lord Liang is the dean of this academy?”
“He took over the post just two or three months ago. He is usually busy with court affairs and doesn’t care much about this place.”
It seemed that the emperor was really anxious to promote Liang Jun. This academy seemed to be a small one and not of much use. But in fact, the students in it were either rich or noble, and the identity of anyone was no small matter.
What was gathered there was the blood of the next generation of the capital.
“Then what are you doing here?” Wen Chan didn’t believe from the beginning that he was simply here to study. This small academy couldn’t teach Liang Yanbei anything.
At this time in his previous life, he had already entered the army, learned war tactics, and prepared to become a generalissimo.
“My father asked me to help manage the academy.“ He said, “Anyway, I have nothing to do all day long.”
“So you entered class A1? Do you like studying that much?” Wen Chan expressed his great incomprehension. If it were him, he would have never abused himself like that.
After Liang Yanbei heard this, he glanced at Wen Chan bitterly, “I originally wanted to study with Your Highness. But I didn’t expect that life would be as unpredictable as the weather.”
The corners of Wen Chan’s eyes twitched, and he stopped the topic in time, “Take me to take the measurements.”
There was only one hour to practice horseback archery in the afternoon, and it got dark much faster than in the summer. After Liang Yanbei and Wen Chan finished their work, they practiced archery on the grassland for a while. Later, the last rays of the sun disappeared in the sky, and the bell in the academy rang, long drawn out.
Wen Chan said goodbye to Liang Yanbei, got into the carriage that had been waiting for a long time, and returned to the palace.
After Liang Yanbei followed the carriage go away, with his eyes, he put away the reluctance in his eyes and headed home alone.
The students all left very fast, and it didn’t take long for the academy to be silent, except for the sounds made by the masters who lived in the academy.
Zhong Wenting stood in the woods with his hands behind his back. His sturdy clothes8
had not yet been changed, and the black clothing made him blend into the dim environment.
“Young Master.” A woman with her face covered landed behind him with qinggong, knelt down respectfully, and bowed her head to listen to his instructions.
“I have explored the real situation of Wen No. Nine, and you can take action tonight.” Zhong Wenting said coldly.
The woman was stunned, “The lord……”
“About my father, I will tell him myself. You just do as I say.” Zhong Wenting interrupted her, a sinister look on his face, “Kill him at one blow, and bring me his severed head.”
Since she had been ordered, the woman could not disobey. So she could only reply, “Yes.”
Then the figure flashed and disappeared between the branches, leaving only Zhong Wenting alone. The hatred on his face became stronger and stronger, distorting his facial features. After a long time, it gradually subsided until it became his gentle appearance during the day. He then walked out of the woods, unhurriedly.
The boundless night quickly shrouded the capital, and under the cold wind in the late autumn, the capital fell into a deep sleep ahead of schedule.
Translator’s corner
Thank you so much for reading the chapter. If you liked my translation and wanna support me, you can comment down your thoughts or send me a Kofi.
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