ATPnovel Chapter 38 Shooting Willows in the Western Garden
Chapter 38 Shooting Willows in the Western Garden
The thing Liu Feng feared most has come to pass.
The blazing sun hung overhead, like a furnace.
The Xiyuan Dragon Boat Race has a fixed procedure. In the morning, the emperor first attends a royal banquet at the Fengtian Hall. After the banquet, the emperor moves to the Xiyuan Garden and leads his noble officials to board the imperial boat to watch the dragon boat race on Taiye Pond.
Workers like Liu Feng naturally didn't receive such treatment. They had to enter the palace before dawn, each guarding their own assigned area and unable to leave their post for the entire time. Even their meals were simply a quick bite to eat on the spot.
Sunlight shines on the water, the willows droop in the stillness, and the cicadas chirp incessantly.
Liu Feng was covered in sweat, looking dejected and completely lacking in energy.
"grown ups......"
Liu Feng didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, and waved his hand listlessly.
Li Shoutian squeezed his legs together and hurriedly ran towards the outhouse.
Liu Feng shook his head. It was just too hot; he couldn't stand it without water. But if he drank too much water, he'd be constantly running to the toilet, it was practically a bug!
I greeted the commander next to me and then went to the outhouse to relieve myself.
"grown ups......"
Liu Feng had just come out of the outhouse when he was suddenly startled by Li Shoutian and glared at him irritably.
Li Shoutian lifted the corner of his robe and fanned Liu Feng solicitously, lowering his voice: "From our position, can we see the Emperor?"
Liu Feng paused, "You talk too much, don't you?"
Li Shoutian smiled ingratiatingly: "I'm just happy to be here. If I can see the Emperor in person today, it will be an immense blessing, and it will bring glory to my family."
Liu Feng: "Don't be delusional, you're not so lucky. The Emperor doesn't travel this way, and neither do the most powerful and influential officials. We can only watch from afar..."
Li Shoutian looked utterly disappointed.
Just then, a round of applause came from the direction of the West Garden Gate. Liu Feng hurriedly led Li Shoutian back to the river embankment.
A group of young eunuchs approached from a distance. They didn't speak, but instead raised their hands and clapped three times.
Everyone knew that the Emperor was coming.
Before long, the imperial guards, the Imperial Guards, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards walked in neatly.
Liu Feng looked at the handsome flying fish uniforms of the Imperial Guards, then looked down at his own attire. It was truly infuriating to compare oneself to others!
Following them was the emperor's palanquin carried by twenty or thirty eunuchs, each one strong and robust.
Liu Feng clicked his tongue in amazement. "Even eunuchs have such good food!"
After the imperial carriage passed, a large group of civil and military officials dressed in crimson court robes arrived one after another, their scarlet robes forming a vast and unbroken sea.
The group at the back were all young people. Liu Feng grinned, wondering if they were all there for the Zhen family's daughter.
The venue for this competition was Taiye Pond, which later became Beihai, quite far from Liu Feng's location.
Before dawn, Liu Feng took Li Shoutian to join in the fun and broaden their horizons.
Six dragon boats were moored at the dock. Three were painted boats, with the main dragon boat being ten zhang long and reserved for the emperor. Members of the imperial family, princes, founding nobles, high-ranking officials of the cabinet, and officials from the six ministries and nine departments would accompany the emperor on the same boat to watch the race. The remaining two boats were used by the eunuchs and the Embroidered Uniform Guard, respectively.
The other three boats were racing dragon boats, with teams from the eunuchs, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Imperial Guard participating. The latter two teams certainly wouldn't dare beat the eunuchs; eunuchs are petty, hold grudges, and are known for their cunning.
To put it bluntly, this so-called dragon boat race was just for the emperor to amuse himself; it's said there were even stunt performances during the race.
We could only hear the sounds, not see the competition. About half an hour later, news arrived that the Directorate of Ceremonial had captured the flag.
Liu Feng shook his head. It was truly absurd and laughable that a group of rootless eunuchs had seized the flag.
"That's it? My five roast ducks, all gone to waste!" Li Shoutian looked utterly dejected.
Liu Feng said irritably, "Look at you, so pathetic! Once you achieve merit, you'll have plenty of opportunities."
Just then, a red-robed eunuch from the Directorate of Ceremonial rushed over, panting, and shouted, "Quickly! The Emperor wants to shoot willow branches!"
It caused an uproar instantly.
According to the old imperial custom, the Dragon Boat Festival was first celebrated with a performance of archery by Xun Guiwu, followed by dragon boat races. Later, Xun Guiwu was executed by the retired emperor, and the archery performance was discontinued.
The competition venue was on the west bank where Liu Feng was located.
Shooting willow branches was a very popular equestrian archery activity in ancient northern China, which was most popular during the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties and continued into the Ming dynasty. It was used for military training and was also a recreational activity during the Dragon Boat Festival.
The Daqian dynasty did not follow the Ming dynasty's method of shooting gourds, but instead continued to use the traditional method of shooting willow branches.
The competition area will be marked with two rows of willow branches as targets. The green bark of the willow branches will be peeled off a few inches from the ground to expose the white wood as the bullseye.
The riders used featherless crossbow arrows, which had broad, blunt arrowheads that could easily break willow branches. The arrow fletching was featherless, so it didn't interfere with the flight path, making it a true test of the rider's archery skills.
The moment the emperor spoke, Liu Feng and his men were instantly scrambling to keep busy. They had to quickly clear the area and set up the willow-shooting area, while also preparing various equipment, saddles, horses, and bows and arrows.
Everyone was exhausted from running back and forth, covered in sweat.
Liu Feng wiped his sweat, took the water bag from Li Shoutian, and gulped down several mouthfuls: "Your good fortune has arrived; you'll get to see the Emperor in person."
Li Shoutian, panting heavily, said, "I'd rather not have this kind of good fortune."
Liu Feng smiled, then glanced at the ceremonial procession approaching slowly in the distance and quickly put down the water bag.
When the emperor arrived, these armed Imperial Guards responsible for perimeter security naturally had to retreat.
Li Shoutian was furious that he failed to see Emperor Yankang again!
Liu Feng had no interest in paying attention to him. He stood on tiptoe and peered over Xun Gui's direction, wanting to see what Shui Rong looked like.
Of the four princes of different surnames, the Prince of Nan'an was stationed on the frontier, and the other two old princes were ill and unable to come, so he was the only one who came. He was easy to find, but he was too far away to see his face clearly. However, his innate refined and elegant demeanor could be felt even through the crowd.
Bah! You hypocrite! One day, I'll skin you alive.
From the stands, Emperor Yankang clapped and cheered, saying with a smile, "People always say a tiger father and a dog son, but today it seems that's an overgeneralization. Feng Tang has indeed raised a good son. At his age, my riding and archery skills were far inferior to his... I'll reward Feng Ziying with some Western trinkets..."
After a while, hearing no response, Emperor Yankang turned to Dai Quan: "What are you looking at?"
Dai Quan then came to his senses and bowed, replying, "Your Majesty, just now this old servant caught a glimpse of Liu Feng tiptoeing and looking towards Xun Gui. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see who he was looking for."
Emperor Yankang was in a good mood and jokingly said, "There's no need to be suspicious of everything. Being too suspicious is bad, exhausting! Besides the Jia family, who else can he turn to?"
Dai Quan had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't see clearly from a distance. Despite his doubts, he didn't say much and could only give a vague reply.
Emperor Yankang seemed to suddenly remember something, and pointed to the eunuch beside him: "Go, call Liu Feng over."
Liu Feng followed the eunuch up to the stands, completely bewildered, wondering why the emperor had suddenly summoned him.
Emperor Yankang took a sip of chilled plum juice and looked at Liu Feng: "I remember that your family has practiced martial arts for generations..."
Liu Feng thought to himself, "Who the hell spread this nonsense?"
"...I remember all your merits. I've wronged you before. Today is a rare opportunity. Go and shoot a couple of arrows. If you can hit the white spot, I will reward you with a place in the Imperial Guard's martial arts academy."
Liu Feng was taken aback. Back then, Emperor Taizu, in order to balance the power between civil and military officials, reopened the martial arts academy to specifically train the sons of nobles and martial arts talents, thus providing the army with a source of talent.
Dai Quan reminded Liu Feng to express his gratitude, and Liu Feng then realized what was happening and hurriedly bowed in thanks.
Liu Feng had no idea how to shoot willow branches, and he was too guilty to tell the truth.
They were stunned when they arrived at the training ground.
The rules on the field are strict. Riders must gallop at full speed and shoot an arrow at the white part of a willow branch while on horseback. Only if they can catch the branch after it is shot down can they be considered excellent. If they only manage to break the branch but fail to catch it, they are only considered average. If they miss, they lose.
Among the disciples of Xun Gui in the martial arts arena, perhaps only one in ten could catch a broken branch.
Liu Feng inwardly groaned, mentally cursing the people who spread rumors about his family's generations of martial arts practice, before steeling himself to collect the equipment.
"good!"
The onlookers cheered loudly, and Liu Feng, who had just returned after receiving his gifts, also clapped along.
The noble young man in the arena tightened the reins, casually tossed aside the willow branch in his hand, turned his horse around, and then lightly squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, causing the horse to gallop away.
He drew his bow and shot the arrow in one smooth motion, then shot another arrow that broke a willow branch. He then bent down and caught the broken branch steadily, winning cheers from the crowd.
After making inquiries, Liu Feng learned that this person was the heir of the Prince of Nan'an, and he had also come for the Zhen family's daughter.
Emperor Yankang clapped and cheered from the stands, but his eyes held a strange look, and he seemed to be plotting something...