Chapter 874 - 876: Pre-Competition Gift, His Thoughtfulness_1
Muyu had learned his lesson this time, and thinking of Bai Ruozhu’s previous scathing words toward Wang Tianyou, he immediately shouted, "How dare you! My master is a fifth-rank imperial appointee, do you have an official rank? If not, just stay aside!"
No rank...
Bai Ruozhu almost burst out laughing. Muyu was truly a gem, how did he even become a dark guard?
"My father is a fourth-rank officer, what’s so great about a fifth rank?" Miss Sun said, tilting her chin up like a fighting rooster.
This time, Bai Ruozhu really did laugh, "Your father is fourth-rank, but are you? I will greet your father with respect, but since you are rankless, you should greet me. Of course, I’m not the type to care about these formalities, so let’s skip the greetings. Just be more mindful when you speak in the future, lest others say Miss Sun has poor upbringing."
"You, you..." Miss Sun clearly was the type to rush to the front and act impulsively, a fool who couldn’t win against Bai Ruozhu in an argument after just a few sentences.
"So what if I’m seeking justice for my second brother? He was the second in the policy debate, by openly insulting him, aren’t you also insulting the third, fourth, and all those who rank behind him? I didn’t expect Miss Sun to enjoy making enemies for herself so much," Bai Ruozhu said, then turned towards Xu Panrui with a smile, asking, "What do you think, Miss Xu?"
Xu Panrui, noticing that many people had already turned their gaze towards them, gritted her teeth and urged the two to leave, but not without bitterness, she said, "Stop wasting words with such trivial people here. It’s better to go and cheer for Brother Tang Feng."
The people from Beiyu Study Palace didn’t dare to delay any longer and quickly entered the competition arena, while Jiang Yichun carried Dengdeng to the VIP seats to watch the competition. Before leaving, he glanced at Bai Ruozhu, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but eventually did not speak.
Bai Ruozhu just happened to turn her head to speak with Tu Ying, and didn’t notice Jiang Yichun’s abnormal behavior.
Shortly after taking her seat, the announcement for the start of the chess skill finals was made on the stage, asking Tang Feng and Bai Zepei among others to come forward. Before going on stage, Bai Zepei whispered to Bai Ruozhu, "I will do my best, I won’t let anyone look down on our family anymore."
Bai Ruozhu was taken aback and opened her mouth but didn’t speak. In fact, she wanted to say that she, her father, and her elder brother didn’t care what others thought, but then she realized that this was the motivation that had supported her second brother these years, it was his determination to protect his family.
The chess skill finals on the stage began soon after, with both sides playing speed chess, with limited time for each move and not much time to think.
Meanwhile, the third and fourth place matches that weren’t able to be held in the morning were underway. However, the eyes of the spectators were mostly on Tang Feng and Bai Zepei, with hardly anyone watching the third and fourth place matchups.
It was at this moment that someone entered the seats of the Beiyu Study Palace. The crowd turned their heads, only to see it was Tu Bai, who was supposed to be resting and healing at his residence.
With a look of shock, Tu Ying asked her brother, "Brother, why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be resting and recuperating?"
Tu Bai gave a sheepish smile and awkwardly scratched his head, saying, "My event, horseback archery, is in the afternoon, how could I not be here?"
The head of the literary academy frowned upon hearing this, "Tu Bai, don’t be foolhardy. Your health is the most important thing, the competition can wait."
Tu Bai shook his head, "My wound has mostly healed. There’s no one else in our team who’s good at horseback archery. If I don’t participate, wouldn’t that cause the Palace to lose points?"
Tu Ying stomped her foot in frustration, "Am I not here? You’re not better at martial arts than I am. Let me compete, show them what we Northern women are made of." Her fiery spirit made many in the delegation shine their eyes with appreciation, casting glances filled with admiration at Tu Ying.
"Let me give it a try. It would be a waste not to use the spot, and you wouldn’t want my trip to be in vain, would you?" Tu Bai pouted, looking almost ready to cry, "I traveled all this way, endured seasickness and a bumpy journey, and even got stabbed. If I don’t bring some honor back, this trip is a total loss for me."
Everyone stopped talking, thinking about how pitiable Tu Bai was, and they couldn’t help but feel some sympathy for him.
"And every time it’s brought up in the future, it’ll be a joke for three days, little sister. You wouldn’t want to see your big brother so frustrated that he’d fall ill, right?" Tu Bai, a burly strong man, was acting coquettishly to his younger sister, creating a rather bizarre scene.
Everyone turned away, trying to suppress their laughter—now it seemed as if Tu Ying was the older sister and Tu Bai the younger brother.
Tu Ying sighed and said, "Fine, go on and compete. If I don’t let you, you’ll probably fret too much anyway. Do as you wish. But remember, you must not overexert yourself, or else mother will ground you for three months when we get back, and you won’t be able to go to the Study Palace!"
Tu Bai’s face broke into a simple smile, "Don’t worry, little sister. Big brother will take it easy. You just need to do your best and bring honor to our Study Palace! I have faith in you—you’re going to take first place!"
Bai Ruozhu listened with surprise. The competition included both men and women, and other Study Palaces would certainly have candidates pursuing the Martial Exam Ranking. Tu Bai’s confidence in Tu Ying suggested that she must truly excel in mounted archery.
Upon hearing Tu Bai’s words, the headmaster showed a pleased expression, as he trusted Tu Bai’s judgment.
Bai Ruozhu thought for a moment and asked, "Headmaster, are there any slots left for the archery competition?"
"There are still slots. Do you want to participate too?" The headmaster asked, somewhat surprised.
Bai Ruozhu said somewhat sheepishly, "I often practice archery at home, and I could give it a try, although my horsemanship isn’t that good."
She had learned a few moves from Cui Fan in the backyard at home, and later on she also learned martial arts from Jianqi and Jiang Yichun. She practiced archery frequently as well. Thanks to her excellent eyesight, once she mastered the techniques of archery, she made rapid progress. It was just that her horseback riding, while adequate, wasn’t as exceptional as Tu Ying’s.
The headmaster was delighted to hear this, "It’s great that you can participate. Just being in the contest is an honor for our Study Palace, regardless of the results."
Because two female students were added to the team at the last minute, many people were watching. Naturally, it would be best for them to participate in more events.
At this moment, Jianqi, who was at the back of the group, stepped forward and handed Bai Ruozhu a box, saying, "My lady, if you join the archery competition, the young master told me to give you this."
Bai Ruozhu felt a little surprised, wondering what Jiang Yichun was up to. Why couldn’t he give her the item directly?
When she opened the box, she found a delicate thumb ring used by women for archery to protect their fingers. The thumb ring was new but had already been carefully softened and polished. When she tried it on, it fit perfectly.
She hadn’t planned to compete when she left home, so she didn’t bring her usual thumb ring. Until now, she hadn’t thought much of it, merely feeling that shooting a few arrows without one was inconsequential at worst, resulting in a bit of redness on her hand.
Yet, she hadn’t expected Jiang Yichun to have thought ahead for her. But why did he not give it to her earlier?
"The young master said that if you enter the archery contest, you must protect your hand well, so that it doesn’t affect your performance in the calligraphy competition later on," Jianqi added.
Feeling warm inside, Bai Ruozhu gently stroked the thumb ring as if she could feel the tenderness Jiang Yichun had bestowed upon it while working it soft. With this thought, she looked toward the VIP seats, where she saw him holding a child and looking in her direction. His eyes were shining bright, like the brightest stars in the night sky.