Chapter 4 Hair and Beard Receive Eternal Life

  "May I ask who you are?" Chen Dong heard the man's words clearly and said in a deep voice: "Although Liaoxia is strong, it competes only with physical strength. The prosperity of our dynasty, however, is not due to anything else, but rather the prosperity of morality, rivaling the governance of the Three Dynasties."

  That middle-aged man with a look of disdain on his face replied, "I am Guo Baoyi, the envoy of the Great Liao State. You scholars can call me Lord Guo." He pointed to the Confucian scholar shooting willows beside him and said, "My whole life's work has been in archery and horsemanship, not in eloquent speeches like you scholars. But scholars also practice archery, if you don't believe it, we can have an archery competition."

  The Liao envoy, Yelü Daishi, who was standing beside him, had a faint smile on his face. Guo Baoyi was a Han Chinese general from the Yan state, with a rough exterior but cunning interior, always avoiding reality and striking at emptiness, a man who could rival scholars in literature and military men in eloquence. "Since there's already a dispute, we can only dampen the arrogance of these Song Dynasty Confucians, we cannot lose the prestige of the Great Liao State." Yelü Daishi thought to himself, this time he came as an envoy to request that the Song court prohibit merchants from trading with the Jurchen-led Jin state by sea route, but the date for the imperial audience had been repeatedly delayed by Cai Jing and Zhao Zifu, which also secretly displeased him.

  "We, the great Song Dynasty's heroes, are not afraid of you, are we?" Among the Taixue students, there were also many skilled archers. At this moment, being provoked by the Liao people, how could they hold back? They rubbed their fists and palms eagerly.

  Arriving at the archery grounds, he stood still, but heard Guo Bao Yi say: "The shooting willow game is only for women to be so close, go back another fifty steps." After finishing speaking, he didn't wait for Taixue's response and retreated fifty steps on his own, taking out a hard bow from his waist pocket and looking at the crowd with pride.

  The distance from here to the willow branch hanging in the distance is already a hundred paces away. Although the soft bow can barely be used to shoot at this distance with a throwing method, it cannot take aim accurately. Only a hard bow of more than two stones can be shot flatly. Just now, Guo Baoyi observed carefully on one side, and among the Taixue students who were skilled in archery, none of them drew a bow that exceeded two stones, so at this distance, he was already standing in an unbeatable position.

  The crowd of scholars should have accepted the challenge to test their archery skills, but now they couldn't back down. Chen Dong furrowed his brow and suddenly thought of someone. He quickly stood up and loudly called out to a not-too-distant place: "Yuan Zhixia, Zhao Xingde!"

  Zhao Xingde gradually learned the way to ride a horse, and got several praises from Li Ruoxue, and was playing with great enthusiasm. Suddenly, he heard someone calling himself, raised his head, and saw Chen Dong, Li Ruo and others looking over here.

  "It's a fellow student of Tai Xue." Zhao Xingde explained. Xu Bu Zhi nodded, and Zhao Xingde only waved his hand to Chen Dong and the others without getting up. Li Ruoxue was concentrating on calculating chess moves and didn't notice the Tai Xue students beside her at all.

  But then Chen Dong had already rushed forward, paid his respects to Dr. Li as a teacher and student, and without saying a word, pulled Zhao Xingde up, walking while saying: "Raise soldiers for a thousand days, use them at one time." Zhao Xingde was taken by Chen Dong in a daze to the archery range, where Chen Dong had already ordered someone to borrow a horse to go back and fetch the bow that Zhao Xingde was used to using at Taixue. While pointing to the middle of the range, he explained the situation to him.

  The rules of shooting willow are different between the Great Song and Liao countries. The Great Song's shooting willow is to hang willow branches in mid-air, and whoever shoots down the most willow leaves wins. The distant willow branches have already been tied up with thin ropes, gently swaying in the wind. Since we are competing within the borders of the Great Song, naturally we will follow the rules of the Great Song.

  The local gentry and common people heard that the scholars of Taixue were going to compete with the Liao people in shooting willows, and they all came to watch. In a short while, there were tens of thousands of people surrounding the outside of the venue. Soon, his fellow students who went to fetch bows brought back several hard bows and dozens of arrows. Zhao Xingde pulled the bowstring a few times, tested a few arrows, and felt that it was still manageable. He looked at the Liao person Guo Baoyi and said in a low voice, "Can we start now?"

  Guo Bao Yi's mind stirred slightly, he had just seen Zhao Xing De shoot those few arrows with ease, and he thought to himself that he didn't have a chance of winning. He lowered his head and whispered a few words in Yelü Da Shi's ear, Yelü Da Shi nodded, and Guo Bao Yi said to Zhao Xing De: "My partner also wants to compete with you, we are evenly matched and neither of us will give in, so please send out two people to compete as well!"

  The students of Taixue surrounded by four sides suddenly made a noise, Chen Dong and Deng Su looked at each other, although there were many excellent archers among the students, but only Zhao Xingde could pull the strong bow of three stones. If someone else came out to fight, it would be self-inflicted humiliation. Although there were also military officers from the Imperial Guard in the crowd watching the battle, on the one hand, these soldiers were not allowed to show off their skills, and on the other hand, the training of the Imperial Guard was lax, if they were defeated, it would be a loss of face for the Taixue of the Song Dynasty.

  The crowd was still discussing and had not yet come to a decision, but Guo Bao Yi was already in high spirits, loudly saying: "The Southern Dynasty boasts of having an abundance of talented people, and shamelessly claims to be China. Is it really the case that they can't even find two people who can shoot willows?"

  As soon as his voice fell, someone in the crowd shouted loudly: "He's just a slave of Khitan, and he dares to be arrogant in China, speaking nonsense!" Guo Bao's face turned iron-blue instantly. Since the Han Chang rebellion, Liao had imposed strong restrictions and discrimination on Han generals and officials to prevent them from regaining power.

  Guo Baoyi looked up and gazed into the crowd, only to see someone walking out slowly from the middle, picking up a hard bow from beside the venue, drawing it twice, saying: "I, Kang De's descendant, am just an ordinary man in Bianjing City. Today, I don't like your arrogant attitude, so I'll play with you." After finishing speaking, he put down the bow, tucked up the hem of his long gown and tied it around his waist, making a courtesy to Zhao Xingde.

  Zhao Xingde hurriedly returned the courtesy, carefully sizing up this person. He was no more than thirty years old, with a straight figure, sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes, and had an air of calmness about him.

  Yelü Daishi saw Kang De's descendant take out a dark, heavy ring and put it on his right thumb. He knew that this person must be an expert in archery, and he secretly blamed Guo Baoyi for causing trouble, but at this time, the situation had already become critical, involving the prestige of the Great Liao Kingdom. So, he calmed himself down, took a strong bow, stood on the white line, and both sides agreed to use thirty arrows as the limit, with the one who shot down more willow leaves being declared the winner.

  The arrow flew in the gentle breeze, and for the first time, Zhao Xingde felt a concerned gaze from the crowd in the distance, so he raised his head and smiled towards that direction, nodding slightly. A faint blush appeared on Li Ruoxue's face. Zhao Xingde imitated the style of the Kangxi Emperor, tying the hem of his long gown at his waist and tightening all the loose sleeves and pant legs, making his movements much more agile, and his figure appeared slender and straight.

  Guo Bao Yi let out a cold hum, drew his bow and shot an arrow. The first to shoot was him, but unfortunately, the arrow only grazed a willow leaf and flew past. A loud booing sound erupted from the crowd, but he remained calm and unmoved. Next, Zhao Xing De and Ye Lu Da Shi's first arrows also missed their mark. Kang De Yi walked up to the shooting position, without seeing him make any preparations to calm his mind, he drew his longbow and slowly released it. Before everyone could see clearly, an arrow shot out with a whooshing sound. The arrow seemed to have grazed the edge of a willow leaf and flew past, barely missing its mark. A loud sigh erupted from the crowd.

  The second round of archery, Guo Bao Yi was much more cautious, several times opening the bow and putting it down again, his eyes fixed tightly on the willow branch not far away that kept swaying in the wind. The crowd was dissatisfied with his hesitation, constantly booing him, and someone even loudly ridiculed him. He ignored all of this, his face becoming even more calm and serene. Finally, when the willow branch stopped swaying for a moment, he raised his bow and shot an arrow that flew straight through the small leaves, the huge force tearing the leaf handle from the soft willow branch and nailing it to the tree trunk behind with a loud "thud".

  The entire arena fell silent as Zhao Xingde took the stage amidst great anticipation. He carefully adjusted his breathing and heartbeat, slowly drawing back the large bowstring. Among the four people present, only he used a three-stone hard bow, while the other three used bows between two stones or two-and-a-half stones. This was not because he relied on brute force, but rather because he was accustomed to using a three-stone bow.

  With a calm and steady heart, he drew back the bowstring to its fullest extent. After his arms stabilized, he released the arrow with his right hand. However, just as the arrow flew out, a sudden gust of wind blew by, causing the willow leaves to turn slightly, their surface sliced open by the sharp arrowhead. The arrow then thudded into the tree trunk behind.

  According to the rules, such an arrow did not count as a hit. The crowd erupted in another massive sigh, but some people also shouted encouragement. Earlier, when Zhao Xingde took the stage, Li Ruoxue had watched with rapt attention, only now exhaling a breath.

  Yelü Daishi's face was stern, and he too, like Guo Baoyi, raised his large bow several times before putting it down. Finally, taking advantage of the gentle wind, he shot an arrow that hit the willow leaf. After Kang De'er took the field, he stood solemnly for a while, waiting for the wind direction to be suitable, then with one swift motion, he drew his bow and released the arrow, also hitting the willow leaf. Instantly, a huge cheer erupted from the crowd.

  In the first twenty arrows, Guo Baoyi shot down eight willow leaves, Zhao Xingde shot down six, Yelü Dashi shot down nine, and Kang De'er also shot down nine. At this time, the wind suddenly stopped, the willow branches hung quietly motionless, and the four people's hit rate of shooting willows all improved, but until the last two rounds, Zhao Xingde and Kang De'er still fell behind by one arrow.

  Guo Bao Yi took the stage again, shooting down a willow leaf. Zhao Xing De shot an arrow, but it barely grazed the edge of the branch and flew out, still far from the willow leaf. The crowd let out another huge sigh, Li Ruo Xue's eyes were filled with worry, while Zhao Xing De was expressionless, walking away with his bow and arrow. Next, Ye Lü Da Shi and Kang De Yi both shot arrows that hit their mark.

  The last arrow, Guo Baoyi waited for a long time as usual before shooting an arrow, steadily pinning a willow leaf to the trunk of the tree. He walked past Zhao Xingde with a hint of mockery on his face.

  Zhao Xingde, however, seemed to be in a trance-like state, picked up his bow, nocked an arrow, drew but did not release. If he could hit the center of the willow branch with precision, with the force of his three-stone bow, he would be able to snap the willow branch into two pieces. But even if there was a slight deviation, the soft and supple willow branch would slip away, just like it did earlier.

  Zhao Xingde took a deep breath, and suddenly the entire world seemed to transform into a single willow branch swaying gently in front of him. His whole body tensed up, as if merging with the curved bow, while the taut bowstring seemed about to shoot out an arrow at any moment. Finally, as the wind subsided and his breathing changed, Zhao Xingde felt that his aiming energy had reached its limit. He couldn't tell whether it was an illusion or not, but the willow branch hanging quietly in the distance seemed to have transformed from a thin line into something as thick as a pillar. Due to his intense concentration, he could hardly hear the sound of the bowstring, and his gaze followed the arrow as it shot forward like lightning.

  Everyone held their breath, and Li Ruoxue's heart almost stopped beating. The arrow flew with a strong gust of wind, almost rudely piercing the middle of the willow branch. Before the crowd could even sigh, they saw that the willow branch was cut into two segments by the arrow, with the lower segment falling to the ground with seven or eight leaves, while only a bare willow branch remained hanging in mid-air.

  Zhao Xingde let out a relaxed breath and put down his bow and arrow. For a moment, everyone forgot how to react, Li Ruoxue covered her mouth, almost shouting out in excitement. Guo Baoyi and Yelü Daishi looked at Zhao Xingde with disbelieving eyes, the Liao country's shooting willow game was just that, but the willow branch was soft and tough, it wasn't so easy to be shot off, otherwise they would have done it long ago. Kang De'er looked at Zhao Xingde, a smile appearing on his face.

  "Long live the Great Song!" "Great Song!" "Great Song!"

  At last, the crowd that had been silent for a moment suddenly burst out, with cheers and applause thundering like thunder, as if it were not Qingming but the Lantern Festival. Many people were desperately telling those around them how they had predicted this, while more people squeezed in to get a closer look at Zhao Xingde, who was being cheered on by the Taixue scholars. Crown Prince Zhao Ke stood far outside the crowd, gazing at Zhao Xingde, who was being tossed into the air amidst cheers, with an admiring smile: "A man of both literary and military talent, such a hero! I must have him." Meanwhile, Guo Baoyi and Yelu Dashizhen slunk away in embarrassment.

  After a long time, Zhao Xingde finally squeezed out of the cheering crowd and returned to Li's camp, only to find that only his master, Chuang Bu Zhi, was still there. The Li family had several womenfolk, and the scene was chaotic again, so they left first. Looking at Zhao Xingde's face full of disappointment, Chuang Bu Zhi smiled and asked warmly: "Yuanshi, Wen Shu brother values your character and talent, and intends to marry his beloved daughter to you, what do you think?"

  Zhao Xingde heard this, and was immediately stunned, like a wooden chicken. After a moment, he came to his senses, overjoyed in his heart, and with one bow, fell to the ground, saying loudly: "I sought it but could not get it, student thanks teacher for completing it." Xu Bu laughed loudly, stroking his beard, extremely pleased that this beautiful thing had been accomplished.

  In a cattle cart returning to the city, Li Ruoxu was discussing the matter of shooting willows just now with a flying color, Li Ruoxue seemed to be too excited and nervous earlier, her heartbeat was too severe, so she felt some pain now, she gently pressed her chest, thinking about it again, a hint of sweetness appeared on her heart.