Chapter 109

Everyone was startled by Gu Jiu Ling's action; the Princess Yuan Qing standing far away never imagined this fool would be so reckless as to actually shoot an arrow at her face without any hesitation.

At that moment, she didn't think much, her body suddenly shrank downward and she rolled forward.

She looked quite embarrassed; just as she left where she had been standing, the arrow shaft violently pierced into the stone crevice of the Taihu stone behind her, lodging firmly.

But the arrowhead actually pierced through the apple she had just bitten, pinning the apple to the outside of the stone crack, the arrow shaft continually letting out a faint sound.

All around fell into dead silence.

If one were to say that Gu Jiu Ling's earlier shot seemed like that of a clueless novice, now looking at the apple pinned outside the stone crevice...

Not to mention the onlookers, even Xiao Yin was greatly surprised, looking at Gu Jiu Ling in disbelief.

Gu Jiu Ling's archery is actually this formidable?

That earlier shot was actually meant to frighten Princess Yuanqing, and this arrow went straight through the fruit—truly impressive.

The surrounding crowd took a long time to recover, and Princess Fukuing excitedly clapped and laughed, "Your Majesty's aunt, mighty!"

The people around immediately burst into cheers, after all, just now they had been verbally squeezed by the Bei Di princess, and now these Southern Qi noblewomen struck back with action, slapping the other side hard.

What's with saying Southern Qi women aren't worthy of good men? Your Bei Di lot aren't any better—just as easily scared into wetting their pants.

If we talk about horseback archery, these Southern Qi ladies truly lack the strength to truss a chicken, but when it comes to gossip, snide remarks, poetry, nonsense, and petty speculation…

Those words flooded into Yuanqing's ears; the Bei Di maid hurried to help her princess up, only to be struck several times by Princess Yuanqing's whip.

Such a sore-loser attitude even made her brother Tuoba Heng unable to watch, and he lowly rebuked, "Yuanqing! Don't act rashly!"

Gu Jiu Ling slowly lowered the longbow in her hand, the corner of her mouth curling into a smile.

Xiao Yin focused his gaze on the woman before him, his limpid, amorous peach-blossom eyes deepening further.

"You… how can you shoot arrows? How can you?" Princess Yuanqing stared fixedly at Gu Jiu Ling, her eyes red with anger.

Gu Jiu Ling thought to herself, "Old lady, from kindergarten onward my parents signed me up for all sorts of odd extracurricular classes—guzheng, painting, piano, calligraphy, roller skating, ice skating, swimming…"

The most outrageous was that year's Olympics, when a particularly talented little girl, excelling in archery, was recommended to Tsinghua.

Good grief! Her mother acted as if she'd discovered a new continent, paying a high price to put her in archery class and insisting she continue through high school; unfortunately she won a provincial selection trophy, but still fell just short of an Olympic championship.

Today's shot at Yuanqing was an extraordinary performance of her years of shooting practice; she hadn't expected to hit the apple directly.

Gu Jiu Ling chuckled lightly, took the arrow feather handed by Princess Fukuing, raised her bow again toward Yuanqing, and said, "Winner takes all—I still have two arrows left; will you concede or keep standing there?"

Princess Yuanqing's face turned ashen with anger, her brows knotted tightly, she coldly regarded Gu Jiu Ling, then suddenly turned and strode to stand before the Taihu stone, placing another apple on her head once more.

Gu Jiu Ling had just drawn the bow when Yuanqing unexpectedly took the apple down and began to nibble it; this apple was fetched by her maid and was quite sweet.

She placed the core on her head and gave Gu Jiu Ling a cold smile.

Gu Jiu Ling's heart skipped a beat; just now piercing the apple had been partly luck, her original intent was merely to frighten her, and she would surely dodge.

But she didn't expect Yuanqing to dare stand there again; crucially, she could never hit that core.

The atmosphere around grew somewhat oppressive; everyone stared at Gu Jiu Ling, some even anticipating.

Xiao Yin furrowed his brows deeply; fortunately Yuanqing served as the target rather than Gu Jiu Ling—worst case, he'd kill Yuanqing and deal with it, after all, who let that woman, blind as she is, provoke his consort?

Provoking her is courting death!

Tuoba Heng's face darkened on the side, while Xiao Yin lightly laughed, "Just a little game between the ladies, Your Highness need not worry, hehehe…"

Tuoba Heng coldly glared at the gleefully laughing Xiao Yin, his expression so dark it could wring out water.

Gu Jiu Ling now felt a twinge of apprehension; good luck might not always be on her side.

She stared fixedly at Princess Yuanqing standing opposite, then a thought struck her: "Someone! Bring a silk sash!"

The palace attendants hurriedly fetched a silk sash as Gu Jiu Ling instructed, and she curled her lips slightly: "Help this consort blindfold me!"

Ah! The surrounding onlookers gasped in unison.

Princess Yuanqing's face changed; she watched wide-eyed as the palace maid used the sash to blindfold Gu Jiu Ling.

Only then did Gu Jiu Ling slowly and deliberately raise her hand, aiming the arrowhead once more at her face.

Earlier, she had feared dodging, the apple fell, and Gu Jiu Ling seized the moment to shoot an arrow through it.

Now, if she doesn't dodge, she wants to see whether Gu Jiu Ling dares to actually shoot her dead.

The fact proves she dares—she really does dare.

Even someone like Xiao Yin, a martial arts prodigy, might not hit the apple while blindfolded, let alone now that it's merely a leftover core.

Gu Jiu Ling is using Princess Yuanqing's life as a raft.

Gu Jiu Ling slowly drew the bow; obviously the aim wasn't steady—we'll see whether Yuanqing dodges this time; if she does, it'll be a joke, but if she doesn't, Gu Jiu Ling will have her eyes blindfolded while a core sits on her head!

From any angle, Yuanqing feels death is certain.

Princess Yuanqing's whole body stiffened there, her hands trembling slightly, her eyes showing fear for the first time; the woman standing opposite is truly a formidable foe.

She… underestimated the enemy.

Gu Jiu Ling's pupils flickered; the arrow in her hand was about to release when Princess Yuanqing opposite suddenly took the core from her head and coldly said, "You win!"

Bei Di's great prince Tuoba Heng stepped forward and said, "Consort, your archery is superb, but let's call it a day, everyone."

"Yuanqing! Come over! The palace banquet is about to begin."

This gives Yuanqing a face-saving way out, so she won't look too bad after admitting defeat.

Princess Yuanqing finally lowered her head, slowly walked to Tuoba Heng's side, then followed him forward; after a few steps she turned sideways and gave Gu Jiu Ling a cold glance.

That gaze felt as if it had been laced with poison!

Only then did Xiao Yin breathe a sigh of relief; Gu Jiu Ling was surrounded by a group of women chatting and laughing, jointly facing Bei Di, these Southern Qi folks were united as well—only Princess Changping silently gritted her teeth and watched coldly from the sidelines.

When did Gu Jiu Ling learn archery? Just how many more talents does she have that they don't know about?

This time she truly seemed to have hatred bleeding out; could she be a demon, impossible to kill no matter how many times?

Gu Jiu Ling handed the bow and arrow to the palace attendants, then walked toward Xiao Yin with a grin.

"Your Highness?"

Xiao Yin gave her a cold stare: "Go back, we'll settle the score later!"

He stopped short, bent over, and looked at her: "Someone's got an arrow aimed at the apple on your head — how fun, right?"

Gu Jiu Ling shivered: "This… is just for fun!"

"You wait for me!" Xiao Yin ground his molars.