Chapter 108: I am Wuhen!

But seeing that woman, her pure beauty was like the moon; it seemed she felt his gaze, she glanced sideways, the corner of her mouth hooking with a faint, provocative arc.

His aura sank involuntarily, his thick black brows slightly furrowed.

This woman dared to threaten him with his grandfather!

His eyes suddenly flashed, and an idea suddenly sprang to mind!

……

Ye Qingran was pondering whether to join the archery competition and openly seize that pearl, or wait for someone else to get the pearl and then reap the benefits like a fisherman, snatching it away, when suddenly her shoulder was bumped.

She raised her head to look, only to see that person extremely tall, with a face utterly ordinary, the kind you'd see in a crowd and never remember.

As for his demeanor, it was also ordinary.

His overall presence was very low, like an invisible person!

"Sorry!"

Ye Qingran slowly shook her head.

"Who are you?"

"I am Wuhen."

Wuhen?

Ye Qingran had never heard that name, yet she felt she had seen him somewhere before. But his face and aura, she determined, were completely unfamiliar!

"Could I be mistaken?"

Ye Qingran secretly thought to herself.

Wuhen's gaze, carrying a faint apology, looked at her, allowing her to scrutinize him, seeming not at all hollow.

Ye Qingran gradually let go of that thought.

"Miss Ye, if there's nothing else, I'll take my leave first."

Ye Qingran slowly nodded, watching Wuhen's retreating back, unable to figure out where that faint sense of familiarity came from, so she let it go.

……

Here, Ye Qingran couldn't help but ponder, when the Empress Gu's voice slowly came over.

"Ye Qingran, your mother, General Dingyuan Yun Sui Feng, is the Female War God of our Donglin Country, with glorious military exploits; archery and horsemanship are her absolute strengths. As the daughter of General Dingyuan, your archery skill must be not bad either. Now that you've finally returned, why not also join the archery competition?"

Everyone wore a look of anticipating the show.

"Since the Empress says so, I, your subject, will participate!"

Ye Qingran nodded in agreement.

Seeing Ye Qingran actually agree, everyone present had varied expressions.

Many people looked at Ye Qingran with eyes full of mockery.

Who in Xiliang City doesn't know that Ye Qingran, though daughter of General Dingyuan, has inherited none of her mother's abilities?

If she participates in the archery competition and can't even hit the target, wouldn't that be a laughingstock?

"Sister, are you also participating? That's wonderful! Remembering how we practiced archery together as children, I miss it dearly; now we can finally shoot archery together again, Huanhuan is so happy!"

Ye Huanhuan stepped forward, wanting to grab Ye Qingran's hand, but she dodged; Ye Huanhuan wasn't annoyed.

"Sister, the preliminary round is about to start, hurry over!"

The archery competition is divided into the preliminary round, the second round, and the final top-three showdown.

In the preliminary round, anyone can participate; each person gets five arrows, scores are ranked from high to low, and the top ten advance to the second round.

In the second round, besides single-arrow archery, multiple-arrow archery and moving-target archery are added. The scores of the three events are summed, and the top three scorers rank in the top three.

The final ranking among the top three is based on who can shoot down more flying birds while using fewer arrows.

Ye Qingran waved her hand and said lightly, "The preliminary round is too troublesome; why don't you enter the second round and then challenge me?"

As soon as she said that, many people's faces changed.

Mu Qingrou burst out laughing: "Hahaha, Ye Qingran, you probably can't even hit the target, yet you dare to boast and let Ye Huanhuan challenge you? Are you even worthy?"

Zhao Yan also sneered: "I think she's afraid of being eliminated outright in the preliminary round, finding it embarrassing, so she says that."

……

People looked at Ye Qingran, their eyes somewhat filled with dissatisfaction.

Empress Gu, however, smiled and said: "Ye Qingran, you've also seen this; if you don't join the preliminary round, it won't convince everyone. How about this: you may skip the preliminary round, but if you lose to Huanhuan in the second round, you apologize to everyone?"

"Just apologizing isn't enough? She must kneel and kowtow to apologize to everyone!" Dongfang Ling'er said fiercely.

Empress Gu naturally agreed with Dongfang Ling'er's words, but as the mother of a state, it would be improper for her to say such a thing herself.

She knew that if she didn't say it, someone else would.

"What do you all think?" Empress Gu looked at the crowd, smiling as she asked.

"I think the Thirteenth Princess makes sense!"

"What the Thirteenth Princess said is correct; Ye Qingran is so arrogant, if she loses she must kowtow and apologize!"

"Agree!"

……

Many people expressed agreement.

Empress Gu looked at Ye Qingran, seemingly helpless, and said: "Ye Qingran, you've seen this; unless you join the preliminary round, otherwise, if you lose, the consequences…"

All of this was within Ye Qingran's expectations; she looked at Empress Gu, curled her lips, and said: "This doesn't require the Empress to worry."

Empress Gu just smiled without speaking.

"Ye Qingran, this palace wants to see just where your confidence comes from!"

The archery competition soon began; those who had signed up drew lots uniformly, then shot in the order of the draw, with dedicated examiners recording the scores.

There were eighty-eight participants in total; after an hour, the preliminary round ended, as expected, Ye Huanhuan took first place with an overwhelming advantage. Dongfang Xuan came second, Mu Qingrou fourth, and Dongfang Ling'er sixth.

Ye Qingran noticed that the boy who had bumped her shoulder, named Wuhen, also participated in the contest, but he ranked last!

Ye Qingran initially saw him stride onto the field full of confidence, draw his bow to full, his face calm and unchanging, and she thought he was a master, figuring that even if he couldn't place in the top three, he at least would make the finals. But when she saw that of his five arrows, three struck the adjacent targets, one missed entirely, and the last had already dropped limp before reaching the target, she was stunned.

Indeed, appearances can be deceiving!

The top ten advanced to the second round.

The second round consisted of three single-arrow rounds, three multi-arrow rounds, and three moving-target rounds.

After all ten completed their turns, Ye Huanhuan placed first overall with the highest total score.

"Huanhuan, you're amazing!"

Mu Qingrou gave a thumbs-up and loudly praised her.

"Yes, first place in the second round! It looks like this year's top spot belongs to you, Huanhuan!"

Zhao Yan echoed.

Ye Sisi gave Ye Huanhuan a sisterly hug.

Dongfang Ling'er pursed her lips, then looked away.

Since that time at the Medicine King Pavilion, when Ye Huanhuan refused to help her, she has hardly interacted with Ye Huanhuan.

However, this did not stop her from despising Ye Qingran.

Dongfang Ling'er glared at Ye Qingran and shouted, "Ye Qingran, I want to see what score you can shoot!"

Those words reminded everyone.

"Ye Qingran, yeah, it's your turn now!"

"Ye Huanhuan, hurry up and challenge Ye Qingran—I can't wait to see her make a fool of herself!"

"Don't provoke her, she's already terrible—what if she gets so nervous she pees herself?"

"Hahaha, don't say that—it really could happen!"

……

The crowd all looked at Ye Qingran, their eyes showing various expressions, mostly with a gloating attitude.

Ye Qingran is truly clueless—how dare she let Ye Huanhuan challenge her? Ye Huanhuan is the second-round champion with excellent scores, while Ye Qingran is just a worthless waste; how could she be a match?

Ye Huanhuan, maintaining her "understanding" persona, raised her hand and said to everyone, "All right, sis was just joking earlier—don't pressure her. If sis doesn't want to, then forget it."

This was an indirect admission that Ye Qingran is terrible! And it directly stirred everyone's emotions.

"Why should we just let it go? She just spouted nonsense—does she think she doesn't have to take responsibility for her words?"

"Exactly, Ye Qingran either accepts the challenge or she just apologizes to everyone!"

"Ye Qingran, you won't get away with slipping through today!"

……

Everyone refused to back down; they insisted Ye Qingran make a fool of herself.

"This…"

Ye Huanhuan put on a troubled expression, not knowing what to do, but deep down she was thrilled.

She knew that no matter what she said, Ye Qingran couldn't escape today!

She eagerly awaited Ye Qingran's performance—after all, the worse Ye Qingran was, the more it would highlight her own excellence!

"I'll go."

A cool voice came from the crowd.

The crowd followed the sound and saw the speaker leaning against a tree, head slightly tilted back…

"Is it him?!"