CHAPTER 261: CHAPTER 256 ACTIVITIES

Zhao Ming smiled contentedly and was very satisfied, so he casually grabbed a handful of arrows, handed them to Fu Tinghan, "You give it a try."

Fu Tinghan took them, because of Zhao Hanzhang, and also because he was living in chaotic times, he exercised his body every day and occasionally practiced archery, so he was quite confident.

He aimed a bit at the copper pot, threw the arrow, and it fell outside, skimming the mouth of the pot.

Fu Tinghan was not discouraged; rather, he was interested in adjusting the angle and continued to throw the arrows. They flew over the pot’s mouth and landed behind it.

Zhao Ming comforted him, "You just need to control your strength better; the angle and accuracy are fine, just reduce your power a little bit."

Fu Tinghan agreed and reduced his strength for the third arrow, which fell skimming the front of the pot’s mouth.

Zhao Ming: ...

Fu Tinghan, not willing to give up, calmly threw one arrow after another from his hand, but by sheer coincidence, none hit the target, all just skimming the pot’s mouth, missing by a tiny bit.

One arrow even spun around the pot’s mouth, but perhaps the angle was still a bit off, and after a turn, it fell back out of the pot.

People nearby squeezed in to watch the excitement. There were many who missed, but he was the only one who took this many arrows and missed with each one.

Zhao Hanzhang blinked, rolled up her sleeves and said, "Let me try, let me try."

Immediately, a government official eagerly came forward and gathered all the arrows scattered on the ground and handed them to Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang took an arrow, sized it up and lightly threw it, and the arrow drew a graceful arc in the air, landing in the pot.

Zhao Ming raised an eyebrow.

Zhao Hanzhang also grew cheerful, picked another arrow, sized it up and threw it, once again hitting the pot’s mouth. The crowd burst into cheers, and someone shouted, "County Lord, only ten arrows are enough!"

Fu Tinghan looked at Zhao Hanzhang beside him, as if she were glowing, and couldn’t help but laugh. He turned and took an arrow from the official’s arms, handing it to her.

Zhao Hanzhang took the arrow, thought for a moment, then closed one eye aiming at the right ear, moved her hand lightly, and the arrow flew straight into the right ear of the pot.

The crowd quieted for a second, then exploded into even louder cheers.

Fu Tinghan laughed as he handed her an arrow; Zhao Hanzhang took each one and threw them forward, hitting every time, in the pot’s mouth, and in both ears. Towards the end, she seemed to no longer need to aim or size up, and the arrow was thrown as soon as it reached her hand.

The final arrow squeezed into the right ear, and Zhao Hanzhang finally stopped, but people’s enthusiasm was at its peak, clamoring for Zhao Hanzhang to throw again.

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hands with a smile, "Today is your festival, this is for you to play, now I’ll stand aside and watch you play."

The young men and boys heard this and ambitiously rolled up their sleeves, ready to perform, and the young ladies were also unwilling to be outdone, squeezed into the crowd to queue up.

Some young men trying to cut the line were rudely pushed out by them, "Shame on you, a good man cutting lines, go to the back and queue!"

Zhao Hanzhang heard this and looked over, and the young man’s face turned red from being observed. He lifted his sleeve to cover his face and went to the back.

Zhao Hanzhang chuckled, made way for others, and the young ladies immediately squealed, squeezing up to stand where she once stood.

Among them, Fan Ying was the fastest and most nimble.

Zhao Hanzhang was momentarily surprised to see her excitedly holding the arrows on the table, a bit conflicted. She recalled that officials in the government could throw pots as a demonstration but weren’t eligible for awards.

After all, in these days, they must maintain order and judge fairly; if referees also compete, it isn’t quite fair to the contestants.

Zhao Hanzhang was already squeezed out; Fu Tinghan raised his hand with a virtual embrace to shield her shoulder from being jostled.

Seeing her watching Fan Ying with a conflicted face, he smiled and said, "They are just playing, won’t break the rules with prizes."

Fan Ying’s admiration for Zhao Hanzhang was known throughout the county government; she was always the first to show support and fully implement Zhao Hanzhang’s policies, even more so than Fu Tinghan, who helped formulate them.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the excited Fan Ying, nodded slightly, and invited Zhao Ming to the next contest spot, "Uncle, we’ve set up many contests, including embroidery and needlework. Do you want to try?"

Zhao Ming cast her a sidelong glance, "Shouldn’t this kind of contest be something you try?"

Although saying that, Zhao Ming graciously went to observe a few contest spots, and their arrival stirred up excitement among the young ladies who were competing, their hands trembling as they held needles.

This involved threading the needle, whoever threaded the most and fastest won. Somewhere else, there was even a contest for grinding bean powder.

Zhao Hanzhang placed three large grinders there, where in regulated time, three people simultaneously ground bean powder, and whoever ground the most and finest would be rewarded.

Zhao Ming nodded, the contests primarily related to livelihood, and Zhao Hanzhang indeed put in great effort.

Zhu Chuan and others were also watching the excitement in the crowd; originally, they dismissed these commoner contests, but outside was too lively, and with Zhu Chuan’s enthusiastic invitation, the gentlemen came along.

Upon arrival, they just caught Zhao Ming throwing pots, barely spoke before witnessing Fu Tinghan miss arrows, and had no chance to jest before seeing Zhao Hanzhang hit each arrow perfectly.

The young men fell silent, even Zhu Chuan expressed surprise, "Miss Zhao is so good at archery?"

One gentleman said faintly, "She is indeed capable of repelling chaos soldiers; I heard that before relieving Xiping County’s siege, she battled against Shi Le outside Wu Castle, repelling his five thousand elite troops."

Following them, Zhao Family’s gentleman silently remarked inwardly: there weren’t five thousand troops, nor were they elite.

But he nodded seriously, facing the gazing crowd, solemnly stating, "Indeed, back then she fought Shi Le solo without losing ground, and slew many Xiongnu and Jiehu soldiers, temporarily intimidating them into retreat, allowing Wu Castle a brief respite. At that time, her battle robe was stained red with blood, looking like a rakshasa."

Thus, Zhao Hanzhang’s reputation as the Lady Rakshasa spared no Zhao Family clansman from being implicated.

Successfully making Zhao Hanzhang appear fiercer and more esteemed among the gentlemen, Zhao Family’s gentleman achieved his purpose and withdrew.

He glanced around, spotting Zhao Kuan and others emotionlessly judging near there and quickly beckoned Zhu Chuan and others, "Our cousin is there; let’s go over and see."

Zhao Kuan’s stall involved riddle guessing, with rewards for correct answers.

But many who crowded up were illiterate, thus needing Zhao Kuan to read the riddles for them to guess the answers.

Although the event had been running less than half an hour, he was already numbed, showing little expression, mechanically repeating these riddles one time after another, successfully deterring many.

Seeing his cousins and so many gentlemen come over, his face showed little emotion.