The small garden fell into a deathly silence.
In the first two shots, ng Qianqian proved her archery skills with her strength.
She could hit arrows flying through the air, let alone a living person standing still.
Moreover, after Princess Wanping placed helts on both participants, they now had a fatal weakness—they could no longer hear the sound of arrows being released.
Just now, ng Qianqian used the tactic of enticing Bai Yuwei to shoot at an angle she had calculated, using this to judge the position and timing.
It was not because she could hear it.
The sa was true for Bai Yuwei.
When Bai Yuwei realized her ears could only hear her own heavy breathing, her whole deanor collapsed.
She reached up to remove the helt.
Princess Wanping coldly asked, "Miss Bai, are you admitting defeat?"
Bai Yuwei angrily shouted, "I don’t want to wear a helt! Replace it with a cloth strip for !"
Princess Wanping, who was already in a foul mood from the damage to so many valuable items, felt incredibly annoyed by this spoiled Miaojiang heiress constantly changing her mind.
"You’re the one who said the cloth strips wouldn’t work just monts ago, and now you’re asking to switch back to cloth strips. Do you make the rules in your ho? If you can’t handle it, don’t play!"
She was impartial, rely disdaining Bai Yuwei’s behavior.
Tan’er took a bite of her candied hawthorn and said, "I’d advise you to hurry up and admit defeat. My big sister never misses; you might lose your life if you’re not careful!"
Bai Yuwei flushed with anger and embarrassnt. "You just said she has no skill in archery! You lied! You’re all liars!"
Zhou Nanyan frowned and said, "So you heard that? You knew Sister ng wasn’t well-versed in archery, yet you insisted on competing against her. Isn’t that bullying?"
Bai Yuwei pointed in ng Qianqian’s direction. "Does she look like soone who doesn’t know archery?"
Zhou Nanyan argued back rationally, "Must Sister ng genuinely lack archery skills for you to compete against her? Princess Wanping is right; if you can’t handle the loss, don’t play. It’s truly disgraceful!"
Bai Yuwei, seething, drew the whip at her waist, cracked it against the ground with a loud snap.
Tan’er quickly moved to shield Zhou Nanyan.
ng Qianqian aid her bow fully drawn at Bai Yuwei’s wrist.
"Stop!" Bai Qingchen commanded Bai Yuwei, standing to address ng Qianqian, "Young Madam Lu, my sister concedes defeat!"
Bai Yuwei’s face turned pale with fury. "Brother!"
ng Qianqian calmly asked, "If you speak on her behalf, does it count?"
Bai Qingchen responded solemnly, "It counts. My younger sister’s skills are inferior; she acknowledges her defeat. I ask Young Madam Lu to spare her."
ng Qianqian didn’t lower her bow imdiately but turned towards the audience and addressed Princess Wanping: "Princess Wanping."
Princess Wanping, in a fair and impartial tone, announced, "I bear witness to this match. The victor of this contest is ng Xiaojiu of the Twelve Guards."
Bai Yuwei, furious, tore off the helt and hurled it, along with her bow and arrows, violently onto the ground. She roughly ripped off the cloth strip covering her eyes and threw it down as well, stomping on it as though she were stomping on ng Qianqian herself.
Princess Wanping glanced at the damaged bow and the soiled helt, rolled her eyes, and said to the steward, "Add all of this to her tab."
The steward quickly retrieved a ledger, scribbling furiously: "One Imperial Treasure Bow, one battle armor helt, three Xiangyun Sha hairbands..."
"This rotten Princess Mansion—I’m never coming back!"
Bai Yuwei stord off in a rage.
Xun Yu’s expression shifted slightly. He had been observing the scene from the sidelines, hoping to see tensions escalate between the Governor Mansion and the Miaojiang delegation—but he hadn’t intended to offend Princess Wanping.
He quickly clasped his hands in a bow towards Princess Wanping and said, "Princess, Miss Bai, she..."
"Enough," Princess Wanping interrupted. "Don’t bother saying she acted unintentionally. Intentional or not, this princess couldn’t care less."
Princess Wanping had heard too much nonsense today and had no patience for others’ chatter.
She handed the bookkeeping ledger to Bai Qingchen. "Young Master Bai, your sister accrued this debt. Since she left, as her elder brother, I trust you’ll settle it for her?"
Earlier, everyone had heard Bai Yuwei clearly promising to compensate for all damages.
Bai Qingchen took the ledger. "I will have soone bring the silver to your mansion later."
Princess Wanping said, "That would be best."
ng Qianqian removed her helt and cloth strip, handing them along with her intact large bow to the female official.
Princess Wanping glanced at ng Qianqian, and for a mont found this woman more agreeable than Bai Yuwei.
Princess Wanping detested bullying of the weak.
Even if soone weaker annoyed her, she wouldn’t deliberately make things difficult for them. The only people she truly snubbed were those like the Empress Dowager or the Imperial Concubine.
The only person she had ever used her status to trouble was ng Qianqian.
Because ng Qianqian had taken Lu Yuan from her.
It was unforgivable.
ng Qianqian, now seated, sensed Princess Wanping’s gaze.
Was it an illusion? Why did it feel like Princess Wanping was sotis admiring her, and sotis glaring at her with clenched teeth?
ng Qianqian thought for a mont, then stood and addressed Princess Wanping: "Princess, the wager has concluded. May I take Chen Long with now?"
Princess Wanping replied indifferently, "Take him."
At that mont, Si Snake spoke up: "Chen Long, I have questions for you. Sheep and Hai Pig, since you’re here too, join us. Rooster."
Ji Li snapped coldly, "Call Ji Li!"
ng Qianqian understood that Si Snake wanted to investigate the matter of the betrayal.
She had lost her mory from that ti and couldn’t determine who had falsely conveyed the "Chu Grand Marshal’s" orders. She needed to listen; perhaps interacting with the Twelve Guards could help her regain so mory.
She walked over to Princess Wanping and smiled at her. "Princess Wanping."
Princess Wanping responded, "I’ve given you the person. What more do you want?"
ng Qianqian rubbed her hands sheepishly: "I’d like to talk with the Twelve Guards. Might I trouble you to take care of Lu Yuan’s mother for ?"
Princess Wanping was montarily stunned.
As if to say—what kind of favor is this?
The group planned to head to a gazebo nearby for their discussion.
ng Qianqian strode quickly after them.
Si Snake said, "Little Yin Hu, this doesn’t concern you. Don’t follow."
ng Qianqian widened her eyes. "How is it not my concern? I’m your—"
Chu, Grand, Marshal!
A short ti later, ng Qianqian, her acupoints sealed by Si Snake, was carried back to the small garden by two maids from the Princess Mansion, her face ashen.
-
In the Xun Family’s horse carriage en route ho.
Bai Yuwei said grudgingly, "Brother, why did you admit defeat earlier? I don’t believe she dared to injure !"
Bai Qingchen admonished her sharply, "If I hadn’t admitted defeat in ti, your right hand would already be useless."
Bai Yuwei rebutted, "She’s not that skilled! Brother, stop praising others while belittling us!"
Bai Qingchen stopped arguing over the facts and instead said, "Wei’er, your behavior is making regret bringing you out today."
Bai Yuwei, hurt, called out, "Brother!"
Bai Qingchen spoke earnestly, "In Miaojiang, everyone indulges you because Grandfather protects you. But this is the Capital City—you can’t act as you did in Miaojiang. In so ways, I’m relieved you didn’t marry Lu Yuan. With your personality, you’re truly unsuited for life as a lady in the Capital City."
Bai Yuwei, overco with emotion, began crying, then threw open the carriage curtains and leapt from the moving vehicle.
The coachman was so startled, he quickly reined in the horses to a halt.
Bai Qingchen said, "Where are you going?"
Bai Yuwei, brimming with indignation, replied, "I’m going to see Grandfather! I’ll tell him soone bullied !"
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