'Clang. '
The arrow hit the ground, but it missed the copper pot by more than ten feet.
All the officials laughed heartily, "Prince Zhong is quite powerful..."
"Haha, this is too crooked. I might as well touch the copper kettle."
"I really can't bear to look at it. It seems that this round, King Zhong is probably going to be at the bottom."
Zhao Mengqi heard these comments, but seemed unaffected. He picked up another arrow, repeated the previous process, and shot it gracefully again.
This time he didn't cross the copper kettle, but he was still five or six feet away from the copper kettle.
Many people couldn't help but laugh. They just thought that King Zhong's actions were decent, but the result was ridiculous, so in comparison, it looked even more funny.
Just when everyone was waiting to see his third performance, he turned around and left the long desk.
"Prince Zhong gave up now? Isn't there another time?"
"Tsk, tsk, even if it breaks the jar, I'll drop it again, just in case it works."
"It seems that King Zhong's character still needs to be tempered. If he stops working hard after a slight setback, how can he take on a big responsibility?"
When Zhao Guan's family saw this scene, they were naturally in a bad mood, and many officials were still laughing. They couldn't help but grab the paperweight and knock on the court case, "Where is the decency!?"
Seeing the emperor getting angry, the officials had no choice but to restrain themselves, but the corners of their mouths were clearly still tense.
Later, several other people also went to try the shot. Zhao Mengxi was indeed very good at it. Although the first arrow did not go in, it did bounce off the mouth of the bottle, and the next two arrows, one for the bottle and one for the ear.
Zhao Heyun's test results were actually the same as his, but Zhao Menghao missed an arrow and only hit the copper pot. He was much prettier than Zhao Mengqi. There was also Zhao Mengguan, who only hit one ear, with a smug look on his face. Very dissatisfied.
After the test, it officially begins. Each person has eight arrows, and the calculation of the results is clear at a glance. There will be no dispute. As for why it is not nine, because nine also has the meaning of extremes, and is usually only used by the emperor.
Zhao Mengxi was the first one. He confidently walked to the long desk, picked up an arrow, and threw it cleanly, clanging it into the pot.
"What a blessing!" Many officials couldn't help but cheer, and among them Wu Yan, the imperial censor, was the most enthusiastic.
Zhao Mengxi did not pause, and continued to throw. Even the front arrow was still in mid-air, and the back arrow had already been chased out.
Dang dang dang rang eight times in a row, and all of them hit the pot!
This pleasing performance directly ignited the passion of all the officials. They cheered and applauded continuously, and even Zhao Guan's family nodded in approval.
Zhao Mengxi had been at the bottom for three consecutive rounds before, but this time he was finally proud. In his opinion, it was impossible for anyone to surpass him. This time he was firmly in first place.
After Zhao Mengxi left the stage with a proud smile, Zhao Heyun stepped forward slowly.
The gait looks very stable, but those who are interested can still see the heaviness in it. After all, Zhao Mengxi's too-perfect start is like a show of force, putting great pressure on the newcomers.
There is no trace of frivolity in Zhao Heyun, and he is making a difficult decision at this moment.
He was confident that he would complete the pot, which would definitely tie the score, but considering that voting was required later, the viewing experience was also very important, so he gritted his teeth and decided to take a chance.
Zhao Heyun took a deep breath, then stretched out his hands, picked up an arrow each, and threw them out at the same time!
"Ouch!"
There were screams of shock among the officials, and then suddenly stopped, their eyes firmly fixed on the two arrows parallel in the air.
The two arrows were separated by more than a foot, and then gradually moved closer, as if being pulled by invisible ropes. Finally, they were tightly together and landed accurately in the small mouth of the pot.
"Wonderful!"
"Amazing!"
"wonderful!"
Amidst the exclamations of the officials, Zhao Heyun waved his arms in turn and threw the arrows one after another.
In the eyes of others, the arrows connected with each other and formed a line in the air, heading straight for the copper pot.
The arrows were inserted one by one from the mouth of the bottle, still trembling, causing the copper pot to murmur...
However, the last arrow deviated slightly and fell into the ear hole next to the mouth of the bottle.
"Ah! What a pity!"
"The sky is not beautiful, it is so wonderful but not from beginning to end..."
"The game of pot throwing requires the unity of spirit, energy and spirit. I saw that he threw it in one breath. In the end, I thought it was due to lack of breath that he made a slight mistake, but it was already amazing!"
Seeing the result, Zhao Heyun's eyelids twitched. His adventure must have failed.
His viewing ability was definitely much better than that of Zhao Mengxi, but the last arrow only hit his ear but not the pot. This was a flaw.
With regret, Zhao Heyun had no choice but to withdraw even if he was unwilling to do so.
However, the officials were still interested in it and couldn't stop praising it. Even Zhao Guan's family high-fived him, which was a pity in the end.
Next, it was Zhao Mengqi's turn to appear.
This originally inconspicuous young clan had achieved quite good results in the past, making everyone think he was secretive, but now they actually have some expectations for him.
I saw him silently walking to the long desk. He still looked calm on the outside, but there was a lot of sweat on his palms.
The outstanding performance of the first two put a lot of pressure on the newcomers.
What's more, Zhao Mengqi is more like a pure scholar on weekdays. He can't lift his shoulders or lift his hands. His biggest entertainment is to glance at Wazi when passing by. He only plays pot throwing a few times at family banquets, but the distance is only It's less than a third now.
After reciting the meditation mantra silently, he carefully picked up the arrow, held it over his shoulder, and made several gestures before throwing it out.
"Clang!"
The arrow hit...the bottle, rebounded, and landed.
This result did not cause boos, and all the officials just watched quietly.
Zhao Mengqi's pressure increased a bit. It took him a long time to calm down before he picked up the next one and threw it out more seriously.
The arrow drew a beautiful arc, fell, and missed.
Afterwards, Zhao Mengqi calmed down, completely ignored everything outside, and continued again, working harder every time.
It's a pity that some things are useful without hard work.
The projection from behind becomes farther and farther away from the copper pot.
In the Chinese people's concept, they focus on asking questions rather than asking questions, and will not laugh at efforts. Therefore, most of the officials at this time had a sigh on their faces, feeling sorry for Zhao Mengqi.
After eating a duck egg, Zhao Menghao had no choice but to leave the show. He felt a little introspective. He seemed to have neglected physical exercise.
Zhao Mengguan, who was in a very complicated mood after seeing the excellence of the two people in front of him and the bleakness of Zhao Mengqi, walked to the long case and lowered his head to inspect the eight arrows that had been reloaded.
In fact, he is still a little self-aware. Maybe the result will be better than Zhao Mengqi, but he must not try to catch up with the first two.
But he also thought that Zhao Mengqi's throwing skills were even worse, and he could still rank third and still maintain the first place in the overall score, so he slowly relaxed.
In this state of mind, Zhao Mengguan became calmer and even showed the demeanor of a humble gentleman. He completely complied with the "New Style of Hu Tou" set by Sima Guang and threw the arrow without any fancy.
As a result, the fun was greatly reduced, and the officials became dull.
He just shot eight arrows in such a regular and even slightly rigid manner, but the result surprised all the officials. Two arrows hit the pot and one hit the ear.
If we go by the usual distance, Zhao Mengguan should be able to achieve very good results, which is considered outstanding among ordinary people.
Seeing his results, Zhao Meng was also satisfied with his performance. He felt that he had performed beyond the ordinary. Anyway, he was already in third place. When he came off the field, he even looked at Zhao Mengqi with a provocative look.
Zhao Mengqi didn't notice it at all, because he didn't even know where his mind was wandering.
"Next, please throw the pot at His Highness Prince Zhong." Ma Guangzu called, but there was no response for a while.
So everyone looked for Zhao Mengqi, only to find that he was sitting behind the desk, tilting his head and shaking his head like a chicken pecking at rice, and he was dozing off.
All the officials couldn't help but be in an uproar. This loyal king didn't take the competition seriously. Was he really planning to die in the end?
When Zhao Guanjia saw it, he was furious and gave Dong Songchen a wink.
