s.h.i.+ Qingxue glanced at Qin Yanyan, explaining slowly with an almost casual tone.

“It is rare that Empress Dowager finally comes to the Peace Temple to recuperate. Of course, Her Majesty wants to rest in such a quiet environment in this temple. At this time, you want to play Cuju, such a troublesome and energy-intensive game. Doesn't it give Her Majesty no time to rest when Her Majesty is on trip?

Besides, Cuju can't be played by only a few people. You take this game as a compet.i.tion. Do you want to find the monks to play with you as well?”

There were no excessive words in her sarcasm and irony, but she made Qin Yanyan more and more embarra.s.sed and blame herself for not having chosen a better contest.

Sure enough, Ling Ruiyin also nodded, agreeing, “Yanyan, it is good for you to entertain everyone with a contest. But the temple is a quiet place, and Cuju may disturb the monks' cultivation.”

“In this case, what about the archery? This won't disturb others, but also allow them to show their skills and compete with each other.” s.h.i.+ Baoning said at the right time. Her suggestion made Ling Ruiyin surprised.

She laughed, “Okay! Sure enough, Baoning is so thoughtful. When I was young, I went on the battlefield with the Late Emperor. My archery skills were even taught by the Late Emperor in person!”

Speaking of her beloved husband, although Ling Ruiyin was almost 70 years old, there was an affectionate look on her face like a young girl.

Since Empress Dowager said so, Qin Yanyan had no other way no matter how unwilling she was. Moreover, the Qin Family was also an aristocratic family which had the tradition to learn martial arts, and she was incomparable in the aspect of riding and archery among those peers in her family, so she believed that she must be much better than s.h.i.+ Qingxue.

Thinking this way, Qin Yanyan gave a provocative look at s.h.i.+ Qingxue, but she saw s.h.i.+ Qingxue looking at s.h.i.+ Baoning solemnly.

She didn't seem to be confident at all. Could it be that s.h.i.+ Qingxue was not good at archery?

Qin Yanyan was overjoyed and showed a stronger desire to show herself. She quickly called her subordinates to prepare the target for archery, as if she were afraid that s.h.i.+ Qingxue would escape.

On the other side, s.h.i.+ Qingxue was standing in front of s.h.i.+ Baoning. Ignoring Zhao Zhu'er's surprise, she asked, “Baoning, why do you do this?”

s.h.i.+ Baoning seemed to be unable to understand s.h.i.+ Qingxue's question and smiled innocently, “What's the matter? You have been taught by grandfather and father since childhood and you are best at archery. I pick the contest you are skilled at, but why are you blaming me for it?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue was speechless, but Dong Shuang couldn't bear it and said angrily, “First Lady, you clearly know that when Sixth Lady embroidered with you yesterday, her fourth finger of right hand was accidentally scratched by you while helping you to divide your threads. Now it's hard for her to bend it. How is she able to shoot arrows?”

s.h.i.+ Baoning glanced at Dong Shuang with a cold face, criticized her angrily, “When your masters are speaking, how dare you a servant to interrupt? Don't think that you can be lawless when Qingxue spoils you! You need to know that your contract is still in the s.h.i.+ Family and you are a servant in the s.h.i.+ Family!”

“Dong Shuang just blurted out her thought without thinking about it. Why are you so mad?” s.h.i.+ Qingxue said calmly and pulled Dong Shuang behind her.

Such an obvious move to protect her made s.h.i.+ Baoning's eyes darkened, but soon she returned normal and smiled tenderly, “We are a family, and of course I won't be mad at you. I'm just worried that this servant will cause you trouble in the future!”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue stared straight at s.h.i.+ Baoning, as if she wanted to reveal her real face under her calm expression.

But she failed, so she could only squeeze a smile, “So you make us compete the archery for my good?”

“Of course. I'm your sister. No matter what I do, it must be for your good. I think with your capability, the small wound on your hand definitely won't affect your performance.”

In this way, s.h.i.+ Baoning also put on a posture showing that she could give her anything, “It doesn't matter if you are really worried. I won't partic.i.p.ate in this compet.i.tion, and I will always be by your side to help you in return since you've done the same before.”

In this way, she seemed to be a good sister, who cared for her sister wholeheartedly and hoped that her sister would win the game.

s.h.i.+ Qingxue didn't even have a reluctant smile. She looked at s.h.i.+ Baoning meaningfully and turned away.

The two sisters separated unhappily, but Qin Yanyan was in high spirit and even took the initiative to be the first one to perform.

Ling Ruiyin had always liked the active and lively children. Even though she did not have a good impression of Qin Yanyan before, she nodded in satisfaction at this time.

Qin Yanyan shot ten arrows. Seven arrows. .h.i.t the yellow bullseye area. Two arrows were outside the center. Only one arrow at the beginning missed the target because she didn't control it well.

“Great! You are indeed the baby daughter of the Prime Minister Qin. Your archery skills can only be developed in the general's family!” Ling Ruiyin saw this and her eyes were s.h.i.+ning. She was a bit more satisfied with Qin Yanyan.

The one who shot next was Leng Jing. She was also born in a general's family, and her archery skills were also very impressive. Six arrows. .h.i.t the center area, while the other four were a bit away from the center area, but they were all on the target. Compared with Qin Yanyan, she was just a little worse.

Then came Chen Xiujiao and Zhao Zhu'er. Although they were both taught to shoot arrows by families, they rarely worked hard on it, so they were a bit worse in accuracy. Half of the ten arrows missed the target, while others missed the center area and hit the periphery.

Ling Ruiyin also praised them with a few words and asked Mammy Chang to reward them.

Qin Yanyan raised her eyebrow to look at s.h.i.+ Qingxue and said with intention to tease her, “Sixth Lady, it's your turn to shoot now. Why do you still not take the arrows yet?”

Facing the expecting or mocking eyes of everyone, s.h.i.+ Qingxue could only take the bow and arrows handed over by a servant. But as soon as she tried to draw the bow, her finger was hurt so much that she frowned.

Leng Jing was keen-eyed, and she saw s.h.i.+ Qingxue's injured hand at once. She quickly grabbed it to check it out, and found that the place where her fourth finger bent had begun to bleed, “Qingxue, why don't you say it when your hand is injured?”

Leng Jing was a short fuse. When she saw Qingxue's hand hurt so badly, she immediately reported to Ling Ruiyin, “Your Majesty, Qingxue accidentally hurt her hand. If she shoots, she won't be able to perform at her best. Please forgive her.”

“What? Qingxue's hand was hurt?” Ling Ruiyin looked at their direction worriedly, but because they were a little far away, she didn't know about the injury.

But Qin Yanyan said coldly, “Why didn't she mention that she was injured when we proposed to compete the archery just now? How is she unable to hold the arrow when it's her turn to perform now? Can things be so coincidental in this world?”

“The wound is here. If you don't believe it, you can see for yourself!” Leng Jing couldn't bear Qin Yanyan's superior posture. She spread s.h.i.+ Qingxue's right hand, and the bleeding wound was shown to the crowd.

But Qin Yanyan didn't even look at it, but said casually, “Last time, Her Majesty held a painting compet.i.tion and she said that she wanted to be a supervisor to avoid the compet.i.tion. This time she is injured and can't compete again. It is so coincidental that it should be suspected whether someone does it on purpose!”

Ling Ruiyin frowned, but did not scold Qin Yanyan. She called s.h.i.+ Qingxue to come forward and checked her wound carefully and sighed, “This wound is serious. How is it injured?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue lowered her head, and replied in an upset tone, “It was just injured accidentally.”

Ling Ruiyin was exactly sensitive. How couldn't she find that s.h.i.+ Qingxue was in a bad mood? She didn't ask about the cause of the injury, but only asked, “Do you still want to continue the contest?”

“Your Majesty!” Qin Yanyan exclaimed, fearing that Ling Ruiyin really agreed s.h.i.+ Qingxue to quit.

But Ling Ruiyin waved her hand and said justly, “The fact that Xue's hand is injured is not false, but the compet.i.tion has already begun. Therefore, I will leave the right to make a decision to her, and only she can make the best choice for herself.

Xue, what is your decision?”

s.h.i.+ Qingxue looked up at Ling Ruiyin in confusion, then looked down at the wound on her hand, and tried to clench her hand again. But the extreme pain made her sweat and powerless.

Could she really shoot arrows in this state?

Qingxue didn't answer, Ling Ruiyin thought that she needed time to think, so she said, “It is more important to be entertained than to compete, and it's not in a hurry. It is too late today. You can go back and think carefully about it. Give me your choice tomorrow!”

Chen Xiujiao hoped that s.h.i.+ Qingxue could be ashamed at this moment. How was she willing to wait until tomorrow? She was also afraid that a long delay might cause trouble. But it wasn't convenient for her to speak, so she poked Qin Yanyan, wis.h.i.+ng that she could speak in front of Ling Ruiyin.

Unexpectedly, not only did Qin Yanyan not object, but she smiled generously, “Your Majesty is right. Qingxue's hand is hurt. No matter whether she wants to quit or continue the contest, we should give her time to have a rest. Only in this way can it be fair!”

Ling Ruiyin did not expect Qin Yanyan to say such words. After being surprised, she was also joyful. She called her to come close to her and praised, “Yanyan is really a good kid. Not only are you capable of the archery, but you are also considerate!”

“Don't say it, Your Majesty. I will be shy!” Qin Yanyan took the opportunity to lean in Ling Ruiyin's arms, laughing and playing, which made Ling Ruiyin pleased and satisfied.

But Chen Xiujiao was so anxious that she was about to stamp her feet. She grabbed Qin Yanyan aside while no one was there, and asked in a serious tone, “We have clearly pushed s.h.i.+ Qingxue to a desperate situation. If she takes the chance to quit the game, others will definitely think that she escapes from it because she is useless. Why do you give her another day to prepare? What if her hand recovers?”

Qin Yanyan sneered indifferently, “Haven't you seen the wound on her hand? How can it be all right in a day? Besides, even if her injury is healed and she can compete tomorrow, do you think she can beat me?”

“It is reasonable, but a long delay may cause trouble. The longer time she gets…”

Before Chen Xiujiao finished, Qin Yanyan interrupted her impatiently, “What do you know? Even if she were really ashamed today, only we would witness it. Empress Dowager spoils her so much. Maybe she will feel sad for her wound and think that it is not a big deal that she quits.”

“So what do you mean?” Chen Xiujiao understood, but she still didn't know what Qin Yanyan wanted to do.

Qin Yanyan laughed treacherously and said slyly, “Watch the show! There must be audience. You just wait and see tomorrow!”