Reborn to Become A Queen: The Real Heiress's Comeback-Chapter 459: The Crescent Moon Rises, Arrows Fly Like Shooting Stars!

Chapter 459: Chapter 459: The Crescent Moon Rises, Arrows Fly Like Shooting Stars!

"Today’s competition will be represented by the Brave General for Nanjin!"

"Then we can rest easy!"

"Hey, hey, hey, don’t be complacent. The Old General from Eastern Wei, along with the emperor, conquered Zhongzhou back in his youth, so his strength should not be underestimated. Beiyue’s Great General Ye Xiuhan and General Zhan fought for three years, and Western Rong’s Main General Baili Jiang, none of them are easy to deal with!"

"True, our General Zhan has only fought with General Ye; she hasn’t crossed paths with the others. Winning this time might be difficult!"

The nobles murmured quietly, and the common folk whispered among themselves.

"General Zhan Lan got injured while fighting, yet His Majesty has still sent her to contend with leaders of three other nations. Can General Zhan endure it?"

"Indeed! General Zhan Lan is so loyal and loved by the people. Even though she was stripped of her command, now they need her for competition against foreign nations. If she gets hurt again, what then?"

"Shh, keep it down. We need to trust General Zhan and Young General Zhan Hui; they’ll manage just fine."

The civil officials among the delegations from three nations also had varied opinions.

One mocked, "The mighty Nanjin nation actually needs a wounded female general to compete? They truly have no one left!"

"Don’t speak nonsense! If you hadn’t witnessed the strength of the Brave General, how could Beiyue have waged war against Nanjin for years and eventually retreated?"

"Heh, just a woman. No matter how strong, she can never surpass a man!"

"You are prejudiced against women!"

"In any case, I think women are inferior to men. General Zhan Lan’s husband is the Regent King, second only to one and above millions in Nanjin, truly impressive. I actually want to see his abilities."

"This Prince is not only extraordinary in appearance but also, the less he exposes his strength, the more people fear him."

"So, be cautious. It’s said that the Regent King is quite protective and both scheming and ruthless; you wouldn’t want to be on his list."

"Indeed!"

...

The drumbeats on either side of the Martial Arts Arena rose gradually, echoing in the air. Si Yun, clad in a bright yellow dragon robe, sat at the main seat of the arena, looking toward the crowd.

Beside him was Mu Yan.

Below were Si Yao, Si Yuzhang, and Zhan Xinzhang along with four veteran generals, Zhan Beicang, Lu Zhong and other officials.

Zhan Lan glanced at Emperor Qingwu, solemn in expression, retracting her gaze to the lively crowd below, realizing that Si Yun had indeed orchestrated a grand display to manifest Nanjin’s national prestige.

Si Yuzhang stood up to introduce the rules, "Gentlemen, in today’s competition, each delegation selects appropriate candidates for different contest categories including archery, hand-to-hand combat, riding skills, spearmanship, swordsmanship, and hunting. The first round is an archery contest, with one representative from each nation to compete."

While on the surface, leaders from the four countries were sent to compete, the real challenge lay in the strategy, organization, and deployment analyses during battles.

Apart from Young General Zhan Hui, yesterday General Zhan Lan found out the competition content and requested two more people from Emperor Qingwu.

In the first round of archery competition, Zhan Lan stood up from her seat, and under the watchful eyes of the crowd, she walked step by step onto the stage.

The other three nations also sent forth individuals with remarkable archery skills for the competition.

Zhan Lan carried a black lacquered carved bow on her left side and a gold-embroidered quiver on her right. As the drums and gongs started three times, her eyes like autumn waters, with a fiery presence.

The wind swept through Zhan Lan’s hair as the competition commenced. She drew her bow and shot an arrow, which pierced through the air and hit the bullseye at a hundred meters, earning her thunderous applause from the crowd below.

"Princess is so amazing!" exclaimed Xue Lingling and Xue Yifeng, dressed in Nanjin attire, astonished below, while Huang Gun boasted to those around him.

"See that? That’s my main General, General Zhan Lan. Her archery skills are truly astonishing and otherworldly!"

Someone beside glanced at Huang Gun disdainfully and scooted away.

After Zhan Lan hit the bullseye, her little finger proudly curled. Mu Yan’s face broke into a smile.

Her Lan’er was just like when she was a child; every time she hit the bullseye, she would proudly curl her little finger, then bounce over asking for praise.

"Master, Master, look, I hit the bullseye!" She boasted like a little peacock.

At that time, he coolly told Little Zhan Lan not to be arrogant.

As the memory came to him, Mu Yan’s smile deepened.

Vermilion Bird suspiciously looked at Mu Yan; the master smiled, probably because he saw his wife performing well and felt proud for her!

Vermilion Bird raised an eyebrow; if the master had gone up to compete, likely even the madam’s archery wouldn’t measure up.

On the viewing stand, Lu Zhong sincerely admired, "The crescent moon is half high, and arrows shoot like meteors from afar!"

He had heard of Zhan Lan’s extraordinary archery, but seeing it firsthand stirred his heart with admiration.

Emperor Qingwu displayed pride; no matter how powerful Zhan Lan became, she was always his subject, bound to heed his command.

The four veteran generals wore beaming smiles.

Excited, Wang Chen slapped his thigh, "The bow crushes the Southern Mountain tiger; the arrows never miss the mark, it’s exhilarating!"

Li Qiang, pointing at Zhan Lan, laughed, "See? That’s my disciple..."

Quietly, Zhao Feng cursed, "Bah, shameless old man, Lan learned archery by herself, it has nothing to do with you, old codger!"

Li Qiang argued defiantly, "Even though my disciple never learned archery from me, she’s still the strongest!"

Wang Chen disdainfully looked at Li Qiang, "Brazen, I’ve never seen an old man like you trying so hard to claim credit!"

Zhang Zhao frowned looking at the three and scolded, "Hey, hey, hey, focus on watching Lan’s competition. You three shameless folks, so many people are watching. Who doesn’t know Lan is my disciple, what’s the point of fighting?"

The other three looked at Zhang Zhao disdainfully, cursed, "Bah, shameless old dog!"

Hearing the four veteran generals competing for apprentices on stage, Mu Yan rubbed his brows with his thumb, his smile curving.

What were these four little old men fighting for! Lan’er was his disciple and his woman; no one else could claim her.

Zhan Xinzhang watched as Zhan Lan’s archery skills became more refined, he felt increasingly that his granddaughter’s journey was not easy.

Zhan Lan learned the basics of archery from him, but later she must have encountered tutelage from an expert, otherwise, it wouldn’t be possible to achieve such superior archery skills.

Her bow seemed to meld with her as one, directing what to hit with precision.

Zhan Beicang watched as Zhan Lan achieved her current stature through her perseverance. He felt an overwhelming guilt because if not for him, his daughter wouldn’t have suffered so much, swapped under someone else’s care, becoming a female general through warfare, taking the path he once tread.

Initially, he only wanted a tender and soft daughter, but unexpectedly, she turned out to be tough and resolute!

Zhan Beicang’s throat felt choked, his heart weighed heavily like a stone.

The envoys of the three countries sang praises for Zhan Lan’s archery skills.

"Who could have imagined such prowess in this female general? It appears we underestimated her strength!"

"The wind is quite strong today, hitting the bullseye from a hundred steps away is indeed not easy. Western Rong and Beiyue’s Divine Archers were affected by the wind, missing the bullseye; what a shame!"

"Look, Eastern Wei’s Divine Archer Xiao Li is stepping up! It seems Zhan Lan will face an equal match!"

Indeed, aside from Zhan Lan, after three shots, Xiao Li the Divine Archer from Eastern Wei also hit the bullseye from a hundred meters away.

For a moment, the two were evenly matched, hard to distinguish the victor.

Xiao Li smiled and said, "Hitting the bullseye from a hundred meters is nothing special; the skilled archers from all four nations can achieve that. The real challenge is hitting the bullseye amidst obstacles; that’s the true victory."

"Sure, how shall we compete!" Zhan Lan sparked an interest in the challenge.