She retracted her bow and bent down to pick up the apple on the ground. She glanced at Cai Lin and suddenly smiled. “You lost.”
She had an innocent look, but today, she looked too calm from the beginning to the end, making people ignore her age. Now that she was smiling, she looked like a young girl again. Everyone looked at her and felt that she was not stupid. This little girl actually had bright eyes and molars, looking quite graceful and gorgeous.
Cai Lin couldn’t say a word. There was still blood on his face from the cut just now, and his tears fell, spreading the blood. His face was red and swollen, looking extremely miserable. At this moment, he couldn’t care less about his reputation. There was only fear in his eyes.
Shen Miao raised her eyebrows, satisfied to see the fear in his eyes.
The servants quickly helped Cai Lin, who was so frightened that his legs went limp, down the stage. The examiner in charge of the test walked up to Shen Miao and asked in surprise, “Miss Shen, you used to practice archery too?”
Archery not only required accuracy but also a lot of strength. Shen Miao, a delicate little girl, was so good at drawing the bow. Moreover, everyone could see clearly that the last arrow hit the apple when Cai Lin was moving out of terror. It was truly impressive.
Did she ever practice archery? Shen Miao tilted her head slightly and fell into deep thought.
That was the first year she went to the State of Qin as a hostage. The prince and princess all liked to humiliate her. It seemed to be extremely interesting to see her, the empress, being humiliated, but she couldn’t get angry at them because at that time, the State of Qin was lending troops to Ming Qi.
Those princesses and princes had invented a new way of playing, which was the rule set by Cai Lin at the test today. When she was used as a target, the royal family of the State of Qin would deliberately shoot her hair, tear her clothes, and even accidentally shoot her arm and neck.
At that time, every night, she would carefully set up a target in her room and practice diligently. She treated those targets as people who had hurt her. She practiced seriously and shot hard. Finally, she polished her skill to the point that she never missed her marks.
However, during the day, when it was her turn to shoot, she would still deliberately miss or be too weak to draw the bow. She had no choice. She had to return to Ming Qi alive to see Wanyu and Fu Ming.
That tiring life lasted for an entire year. Today, when Cai Lin mentioned it again, she suddenly returned to those humiliating days. In this life, she could kill and shoot whoever she wanted. If anyone dared to provoke her, she would make them shut up!
This was what she should do.
She smiled. “I’ve seen my elder brother practice hard in the courtyard and learned over the years.”
The Cai couple below the stage were so angry that they almost fainted. Their son used to be an archer, but today, not only did he miss his marks, but he even made a fool of himself in front of everyone. Shen Miao said that it was just the first time she drew the bow, but she hit the apple. What was more humiliating than that?
Everyone turned around and saw Prince Yu clapping. “Not bad.”
Shen Miao glanced at him but did not say anything.
The examiner said loudly, “Is there anyone else who wants to challenge her to archery?”
Shen Miao naturally won this round. If no one else challenged her, Shen Miao would be the winner.
Hearing this, Shen Yue’s expression turned ugly. In the first test, she was completely overshadowed by Shen Miao. She looked at Fu Xiuyi, who was talking to Prince Zhou and Prince Jing, from afar, and clenched her fists tightly.
However, the next moment, someone shouted, “I want to challenge Shen Miao!”
In the male section, a young man stood up. This person looked to be only 16 or 17 years old and was quite good-looking. But one could tell at a glance that he was an honest person.
Shen Miao knew who this person was. She found it funny. This was the son of the Xie family, the second young master, Xie Changwu.
This person was extremely tactful and extremely bureaucratic. Later on, when the Xie family was declining, he, his brother, and their mother, Madam Fang, lived very comfortably with the pension granted by the new emperor. Xie Changwu and his younger brother, Xie Changchao, even became officials in the imperial court. At that time, she really did not like these two brothers, because the two brothers were on the side of Consort Mei and were on good terms with Fu Sheng. They even often helped Fu Sheng suppress Fu Ming.
The reason why Shen Miao reminded Xie Jingxing to find a chance to get rid of his half-brothers was because she hated them and wanted to seek revenge.
Now, before she could take her revenge, this person took the initiative to come to her. But why? She glanced at Lord Cai’s seat. Lord Cai’s face was dark, and Xie Changchao seemed to be comforting him.
By the way, recently, the two brothers of the Xie family had been taking the initiative to befriend Cai Lin. Unfortunately, the person Cai Lin wanted to befriend had always been Xie Jingxing and he ignored the two brothers. Now was a good opportunity for the two brothers to curry favor.
At the end of this year in her previous life, when Shen Miao forced Prince Ding, Fu Xiuyi, to marry her, Xie Changwu and Xie Changchao both joined Lord Cai. Then… two years later, the Cai family was involved in a corruption case and was wiped out.
There were many things that were changing, but there were also many things that remained unchanged.
The Xie brothers wanted to use this change to please the Cai family.
Just as Shen Miao was about to answer, a voice suddenly sounded from the side.
The voice was lazy and carried an indescribable mockery. “You don’t dare to challenge me at home, but now you’re challenging a young girl? Xie Changwu, you’re getting worse.”
Xie Jingxing appeared on the stage. He crossed his arms and looked at his half-brothers below the stage with a faint smile. “How about I challenge the two of you? Let me teach my younger brothers a lesson. Don’t be a coward and embarrass our family by competing with a young lady outside.”
He glanced at Shen Miao again and said, “You can leave.”
