While Jiang Yi was touched by Yang Ning's words, the ladies who were watching the ga from the porch were in disbelief.
"Oh my! How can Lady Jiang hit 6 in her first shot? Wasn't Lady Zhu's highest score 5? Does that an Lady Jiang has scored higher than Lady Zhu? How can that be possible?"
"I was shocked about the Princess hitting a Bullseye, but I am even more shocked to see Lady Jiang not missing her first shot but hitting a 6. I shouldn't have comnted on her skills earlier; now I feel embarrassed facing her."
"I still can't believe Lady Jiang beat Lady Zhu's score and got a higher score than her. Looks like we assud the winner a little too soon."
"I thought Lady Jiang would drag her team down, but it looks like the teaching given by the Princess earlier helped her a lot. Otherwise, I am sure that Lady Jiang couldn't have gotten such a score."
"I thought the Princess was just a case of a lacking person becoming royalty. But she is truly a genius. How can she play so well? Bullseye! I have never heard a woman ever hitting a Bullseye on her first try."
"Did you all notice that the Princess didn't say a word earlier when we were talking about playing archery? She didn't even say anything when Lady Zhu Yating was boasting about her skills. She is truly a master at hiding her emotions.
Pfft, it looks like she knows that she doesn't need to care about anything." The lady covered her mouth and whispered carefully to her friends, careful not to let Zhu Yating hear all of this.
However, Zhu Yating, who was gritting her teeth and trying to put on an indifferent expression, clenched her fists as she still could hear their sarcastic comnts even though they were whispering. "These bitches! Zhu Yating, control your emotions. It was just a coincidence. These ladies' mouths will shut on their own when Yang Ning and Jiang Yi hit their second shot and embarrass themselves."
She took a deep breath and waited for Jiang Yi and Yang Ning to make their second shot.
___
A tense silence enveloped the surroundings after Yang Ning and Jiang Yi placed their bows on the table, successfully hitting all five shots one by one. The onlooking ladies from the porch fell into a stunned hush, while Zhu Yating clenched her fists and gritted her teeth in a mix of shock and anger.
Not a word was uttered, as everyone remained too speechless to respond to the extraordinary display they had just witnessed.
After the servant, who was announcing the scores, woke up from his shock, removed the arrows from the target board, and announced the score of their last shot.
"Crown Princess - Score 10."
"Lady Jiang - Score - 8"
After announcing the scores of both, he started playing the congratulatory drum again, and all the servants watching the ga erupted in huge applause. Soon, the ladies also joined the cheers and started clapping, "Princess Yang Ning was the best!"
"Long live our Princess. We're so blessed to have such a capable princess to protect us." The ladies shouted, falling for Yang Ning's charms.
"How can soone be so beautiful and strong at the sa ti? If the Princess were a man, I would have married her."
"Oh, shut up! I am older than you, so I would have gotten married to her before you."
While the other ladies playfully claid their hypothetical bids on Yang Ning and indulged in dreams of marrying her in a parallel universe, Zhu Yating clenched her fists and pinched herself hard on the thigh to maintain composure.
"How can that... how can the good-for-nothing Crown Princess defeat her in the ga?" Zhu Yating mumbled under her breath.
Initially, she had thought that Yang Ning's first bullseye shot was a re coincidence and that she would soon be embarrassed in front of everyone after she took her remaining shots. However, one by one, Yang Ning delivered all five shots with a bullseye, hitting the center and leaving everyone speechless with her performance.
Not only Yang Ning, but even Jiang Yi, considered the weakest player in the group whom no one wanted to partner with, scored 8 as her highest and 4 as her lowest. As soone playing for the first ti, claiming to know nothing about the ga earlier, how could she score so well?
Even Zhu Yating, coming from a military background, couldn't hit a score of 8 even once, with her highest being 5. Witnessing Jiang Yi outscoring her, Zhu Yating couldn't help but feel extre humiliation and embarrassnt. Earlier, she had proudly announced to everyone that she would win the ga and take the prize from Guo Yurong.
However, at this mont, she could do nothing but lower her crimson face in embarrassnt, avoiding everyone's pitiful, mocking gazes.
___
After Guo Yurong and Madam Liu calculated the collective scores, they exchanged surprised glances, as they hadn't anticipated this result. Guo Yurong had organized this activity for everyone to have fun, but she had never expected, even in her wildest dreams, that the results of the friendly ga would be so remarkable.
They were aware that Princess Yang Ning stood out from the other ladies, but the outco was truly exceptional and outstanding.
Guo Yurong, also shocked by what she witnessed, cleared her throat and announced, "Today, we have witnessed a marvelous ga played by Princess Yang Ning and Lady Jiang Yi. The individual score for Princess Yang Ning was 50, while for Lady Jiang Yi, it was 30. Their cumulative team score is 80."
"With this, they have erged as the winners of the first round. As for the second team, we have Lady Zhu Yating and Lady Shen with a cumulative team score of 28. According to the rules of the ga, both highest-scoring teams will play the second round to determine the ultimate winner," she said.
She glanced at Zhu Yating, who had her head lowered in embarrassnt, and felt slightly bad for her. Zhu Yating did well; however, who would have expected that Yang Ning and Jiang Yi would break the records for a woman's score in archery?
Guo Yurong cleared her throat awkwardly and asked, "Lady Zhu Yating, do you want to participate in round two, or..." She trailed off, trying to give her the option to back out from the ga and let Yang Ning be announced as the winner. It was her way of offering a chance to avoid further humiliation.
Zhu Yating understood Guo Yurong's intention and felt even more embarrassed. However, she knew that if she accepted to participate in the second round and was defeated by Yang Ning again, her reputation would be ruined forever among the ladies.
She pursed her lips tightly and said, "Lady Guo, it's getting late now. If we play the second round, it will be quite late, and the sun will set by the ti we end everything. Since Her Highness showed a remarkable performance in the first round, you can end the ga here. I have no objections."
Guo Yurong glanced at Lady Shen and asked, "Lady Shen, what do you think—" Before she could complete her words, Lady Shen nodded and added hurriedly, "Yes, yes. The first round was enough. I am too tired to play again." She laughed awkwardly. Seeing Yang Ning's marvelous performance, she dared not face them again in the ga.
Guo Yurong then turned to Yang Ning and Jiang Yi, who were still standing in their places, and asked them the sa question, "Princess Yang Ning and Lady Jiang, do you have any objections to ending the ga with the first round? If you raise objections, we can discuss this further and consider adhering to the rules decided earlier."
Yang Ning glanced at Jiang Yi and understood that they were thinking the sa thing. Yang Ning shook her head and said, "Lady Guo, we have no objections to this decision. Also, as Lady Zhu said, it is indeed getting quite late. We should end this ga here."
Guo Yurong nodded in understanding and was pleased by Yang Ning's mature thinking. Yang Ning could have chosen to humiliate Lady Zhu Yating further, as Lady Zhu might have done if she had won the first round. However, Yang Ning decided to let the ga end with round one only and showed a great example of sportsmanship to not humiliate and embarrass Zhu Yating and Lady Shen anymore.
Guo Yurong stood up to announce the results, "We will end the archery competition with the first round only. For this ga, Princess Yang Ning and Lady Jiang Yi have erged as the winners." She said and clapped for them, while others also joined in, giving them a huge applause.
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