Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 425 Conventional Activities

Rong Jin has been temporarily transferred by the Ministry of War to help maintain order at the competition venue. It was just a coincidence that it was his turn today.

In the next five arrows, Rong Yu hit four and missed one, and passed the archery competition with a score of 17. Madam Feng breathed a sigh of relief, but Marquis Pei glared at Rong Yu and sat down angrily.

Next is the horseback archery competition, which is more difficult than the foot archery competition. The examinees ride on horses and draw their bows, shooting arrows at the target one by one while galloping, and the score is determined by the number of hits. There are also 20 arrows, but the horseback archery competition requires 10 arrows to hit the target to pass.

Pei Rongyu passed the horseback archery competition with a score of thirteen arrows, but old Marquis Pei's face became even worse.

In the eyes of Lord Pei, such a result is simply a disgrace to himself and the Zhenbei Marquisate. Yes, everyone has different standards. In Hua Lei's opinion, if Xiaoyuan can get this result, she will be satisfied.

At this time, Xiaoyuan, Rongjue, Yunhai and others were all picking up arrows on the field. Because in the horseback archery competition, in order to prevent accidental injuries, all personnel were not allowed to approach the target within a certain range.

After the competition, the personnel had to collect all the arrows and put them in the designated place. There were one or two thousand arrows scattered on the ground, densely packed.

The target is also littered with arrows that hit the target in the last round of contestants, and picking up and sorting out the arrows is a very time-consuming task.

While picking up the arrows on the ground, Rong Jue said optimistically, "Hehe, I'm helping to pick them up now, and in a few years, I'll let others help me pick them up. I really don't suffer any loss at all."

Xiao Yuan on the side looked at him, somewhat speechless. Do you have to care about this? Even if you suffer a loss, what can you do? Can you not do anything now?

On the other side, Yun Hai was pulling out arrows from the target while saying, "I am helping others pull out arrows from the target now, so I will let others help me pull out arrows from the target in the future."

Rong Jue straightened up and looked at Yun Hai, feeling unhappy. Ever since Rong Jue's archery performance surpassed Yun Hai's once last semester and he won first place, Rong Jue had become a little arrogant.

However, in the first horseback archery result of this semester, Rong Jue's performance regressed a bit. Not only did he fail to catch up with Yun Hai, who ranked first, but he also fell to fourth place. So he became a little sensitive again.

At this moment, he listened to Yun Hai's words and felt that Yun Hai's words had a hidden meaning. Was Yun Hai hinting at his poor archery skills? Now that he was picking up arrows dropped by others, would he have to ask others to pick up arrows dropped by him in the future?

The sensitive young boy said unhappily, "Yunhai, are you mocking me?"

Yun Hai glanced at Rong Jue and said slowly, "You should be more open-minded, otherwise even your last advantages will be gone."

"You... Xiaoyuan, how come you are so smart? You always get first place in your studies! And you are humble and easy-going. No wonder the teacher and classmates like you. I like you the most, too."

Rong Jue came close to Xiao Yuan. Xiao Yuan, who was praised for no apparent reason, looked at the two of them, pursed his lips, and said nothing. Yun Hai glanced at Rong Jue and turned his head away.

After picking up the arrows, a new competition started again. The surroundings were filled with shouts and applause, which was very lively.

Hualei was earning money while joining in the fun in the stands every day. When the martial arts competition was eight or nine days old, basically all the competitions were over and the rankings were basically announced.

Of course, various military departments, government offices, etc. already have a rough list of people to be recruited.

The martial arts examination has reached its last day. I heard that on the morning of the last day of each martial arts examination, the children of noble families in the capital city would come together as a family to participate in various family competitions.

In the afternoon, the children of noble families in the capital and the newly admitted students who could ride horses and had good rankings were randomly formed into teams to have a "Jiju" competition.

It is similar to playing football in the past, but here, people are more likely to hit the ball on horseback, so it is also called "polo". It can be said to be a grand party at the end of the martial arts competition, so it is also the most popular time.

Family competitions are usually initiated by family members with good family backgrounds and strong strength. If someone is dissatisfied with someone or other family members, they can set up a challenge. There are individual competitions and team competitions.

To challenge others or be challenged by others is an honor in the eyes of a young man. It represents the recognition of others. Even if you lose, it is an honorable thing. However, winning is definitely better.

The competition should be stopped at a certain point, without hurting anyone's life, and even more so, it is not allowed to use shady means such as underhanded tactics, so this final Easter egg program is the most popular.

I heard from Old Madam Pei that during the last half day of a certain martial arts competition, Pei Jingyang, then the eldest son of the Dingbei Marquisate, was challenged by Bai Liyun, the eldest son of the Dingxi Marquisate.

At first it was said to be a one-on-one match, best of three. But for such a competition, the young men of similar age in each family were eager to give it a try.

So, everyone asked to join one of the groups and participate in the competition. Soon, the number of people increased and it was a bit out of control. After all, there was only half a day.

Finally, the then Vice Minister of the Ministry of War decided that the Dingxi Marquisate and the Zhenbei Marquisate, which was then the Dingbei Marquisate, would launch a family honor war.

Each of the two marquisates sent two to three children from the family to start a team competition and two individual competitions, with a best-of-three format. However, regardless of whether the first two rounds were all won or all lost, the third round would be played.

Individual competitions are horseback archery competitions and physical combats. Group competitions are hook-pulling competitions. When it comes to hook-pulling competitions, many people may not know that it is actually the tug-of-war competition in the previous life.

It is said that at that time, Pei Jingyang, Pei Jingyuan and Pei Jingxuan could not last even a cup of tea in the first round of the hook-pulling competition, and were dragged into the ditch that served as the dividing point by the three brothers Bai Liyun and poured with a bucket of cold water.

Pei Jingyang was so angry after losing that he took off his shoes and threw them away, saying that the soles of his shoes were slippery. Then in the subsequent individual competition, he won the horseback archery competition barefoot against Bai Licheng, the second son of Dingxi Marquis's Mansion.

In the individual horseback battle, he used a silver spear to defeat Bailiyun and Bailishui who challenged him continuously. In the end, he won Dingxi Marquis Mansion 2 to 1.

However, I heard that Pei Jingyang, this reckless man, later injured his foot and walked with a limp for more than a month.