[History of the Sui Dynasty Palace] [96]

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Chapter Ninety-Six: A Narrow Path Leads to a Quarrel, Enemies Meet with Joy, A Flying Rope Falls, Heroes Achieve Good Things Through a Frenzy. Several fine horses galloped out from the mountain corner. On the lead horse rode a young hero. Clad in brocade robes and silver armor, he held a precious bow in his hand, his face tilted back as he gazed at the sky.
He saw a gyrfalcon, its wings tucked in, circling in the air. The young man turned and smiled at his four retainers behind him, saying, "Watch, I'll shoot it down!" With that, he drew a wolf-tooth arrow, nocked it, and looked up to see the gyrfalcon already flying towards the eastern edge of the forest. The young man spurred his horse forward, arched his back, drew his bow, and released the arrow. With a thud, the arrow soared into the air with tremendous speed. The gyrfalcon, however, was clever. Seeing the arrow approaching, it spread its left wing and flicked it, deflecting the wolf-tooth arrow more than ten feet away, where it fell to the ground with a whoosh. The young man's guards cried out in alarm, and the young man himself was furious. "That beast is quite something! It managed to deflect my arrows!" he exclaimed, drawing three arrows. "I'll unleash a barrage of arrows and give it three shots. Let's see if it can withstand that now!"
He aimed at the sky and fired three arrows in quick succession. The gyrfalcon, seemingly possessed by magic, somersaulted in mid-air, deflecting the first arrow with its left wing and the second with its right. The third arrow came in quick succession, and no matter how agile the gyrfalcon was, it couldn't dodge it.
An arrow struck its right leg, and it nearly fell to the side. With a flap of its wings, it flew into the forest, arrows still in its wake. The young man exclaimed in surprise, "That beast is truly remarkable! It can even escape with arrows in its wake!" He spurred his horse and gave chase. The four guards retrieved the three fallen arrows and joined the pursuit. The young man emerged from the forest but could no longer see the gyrfalcon. He was utterly disheartened. The young man's retainers caught up with him, and he asked them, "Where has that beast gone?" One retainer replied, "It took an arrow from you, young master; it probably couldn't have gone far." Another retainer said, "Don't let it fall from the arrow; we can search the forest again." The young man nodded in agreement and they split up to search the forest. However, after much searching, they still couldn't find it. Frustrated, they had no choice but to leave the forest.
As they rounded the bend in the mountain, just as they were about to turn, they suddenly heard the sound of horse bells coming from the bend. The young man reined in his horse and said, "Someone's coming! The road is narrow; let's wait until they come out before we go in." As he spoke, the bells grew closer, and in a short while, five riders emerged from the bend—five women. The women on the first four horses were all dressed in military attire, while the last horse carried a beautiful and alluring heroine. Clad in fine golden armor, with a sword at her waist and a carved bow on her back, a pear blossom spear lay across her saddle, its shaft piercing a dead gyrfalcon, blood gushing from it. The young man and his retainer recognized it as the same gyrfalcon from before; how had it ended up in their hands?
Just then, the five horses galloped away. One of the retainers called out, "Slow down! Return our gyrfalcon!" The heroine on the lead horse turned her horse around, feigning anger, and said, "Who took your gyrfalcon?" The retainer replied, "The one on your spear is ours!" A woman retorted, "Bah! Don't make false accusations. Our princess shot it down with an arrow! How can you say it's yours?" The retainer sneered, "It was clearly our young master who shot it down! You took it, and now you're denying it!" The heroine on horseback frowned slightly. Standing upright, she shouted, "You audacious scoundrel, stop your nonsense! If you could shoot it down, how did it end up in my hands?" The servant replied, "Our young master shot three arrows in succession. The third arrow struck the gyrfalcon in the leg, and it escaped with the arrow in its body. We couldn't catch it, and now you've taken it!" The heroine sneered, "Easy words indeed! Shooting three arrows and only hitting one is already shameful. And now you want to say that when I shot it down, what arrow was stuck in the gyrfalcon's leg?"
Hearing this, the young hero couldn't hold back any longer. He said, "The gyrfalcon was hit by my arrow first. Now that you've taken it, I don't care for it. You can have it, but you should at least be polite. How can you mock others like this!" The heroine blushed slightly and said to the young man, "It's not like we forced you. I shot it down myself. If you don't believe me, take it and see. It has an arrow in its throat; the wound is proof." With that, she threw the gyrfalcon over.
Just then, the boy caught the gyrfalcon. Looking at it closely, he saw an arrow wound in the gyrfalcon's neck.
Upon closer inspection of its abdomen, he saw another arrow wound on its right leg—the very wound he himself had shot. He then threw the gyrfalcon at the heroine, saying, "Go and see where this arrow wound on your right leg came from. Then you'll know we weren't just teasing you." The heroine caught the gyrfalcon and indeed saw the wound on its right leg. She laughed, "So what?" Then she added, "Since you shot it first, we'll return it to you!" The servants on the other side said, "We were going to return it, but if our young master hadn't shot it, you wouldn't have been able to shoot it down!"
The heroine, who had originally intended to throw it back, became angry upon hearing the servants' words.
He couldn't help but shout angrily, "Your archery is excellent! You should have hit the bird's vitals long ago! How could you only hit its right leg, letting it escape with the arrow still in its mouth? You're shameless enough to spout such nonsense!" The servant laughed, "Don't boast so much and look down on others. If you're truly capable, dare to compete with our young master in archery?" A woman said, "Forget it, forget it! You shot three arrows and only hit the target once, yet you still don't know your own shortcomings and want to compete with our princess!" The young man roared, "You lowly servant, how dare you speak such nonsense!" The heroine, seeing the young man scolding her... The servants, overcome with rage, blurted out, "You scoundrel, how dare you insult us!" The guards, hearing this, all shouted, "Outrageous! You woman, what is your name, daring to insult our young master!"
A woman on the other side said, "Let me tell you, you'll regret this!
My princess is Princess Yong'an of the Great Xia Kingdom, Dou Xianniang. You dogs, where are you from, daring to act so wildly!" The young man, hearing that the heroine on horseback was Dou Xianniang, secretly thought, "Her reputation is well-deserved." The guards on the other side then shouted loudly, "Listen carefully, sit tight on your horses, don't be frightened off. Our young master is Luo Cheng, the son of Luo Yi, the Grand General of Youzhou!" Upon hearing that the young man on horseback was Luo Yi's son, Xianniang carefully examined him. She saw that Luo Cheng was handsome, with bright eyes and clear eyebrows, red lips and white teeth, his heroic bearing dazzling, and her heart began to flutter. Luo Cheng was also sizing up Xian Niang. She was like a distant mountain painted with emerald green, strangely captivating; her eyes were like autumn waters, their surface shimmering with exceptional clarity; her delicate cheeks and fair, snow-white skin left him mesmerized. Xian Niang, feeling deeply embarrassed by his gaze, lowered her head, turned her horse, and tried to leave. The servants laughed, "Hearing of your fame, young master, they've fled? They dare not compete in archery?" Xian Niang, however, was not intimidated. She reined in her horse, saying, "Afraid of you? Let's compete!" The servants asked, "After the contest, what will we wager?" Xian Niang replied, "You decide!" The servants, with a lecherous grin, said, "If we win, you will marry our young master." Luo Cheng hurriedly shouted, "You audacious dog! How dare you speak such nonsense! Princess, please don't be angry!"
Hearing the servants' words, Xian Niang blushed deeply. She was about to lash out, but seeing Luo Cheng apologize, she had no choice but to hold back. Another servant said, "We can hang the gyrfalcon on a tree, two hundred paces away, and each of us can shoot an arrow. Whoever hits the gyrfalcon's eye wins and takes it back. If both hit, we can decide the winner. Does that sound good?" Luo Cheng and Xian Niang both thought it was a good idea and agreed. He hung the gyrfalcon on a large poplar tree, and the servant asked, "Who wants to shoot first?" Xian Niang said, "Please let your young master shoot first!" Luo Cheng didn't refuse, so he stood two hundred paces away, drew his bow, and shot an arrow. The servant cheered, and the arrow, without missing a beat, hit the gyrfalcon's eye perfectly, piercing through it. The servant secretly admired him. The servants said, "Our young master has already hit the bird's eye. Now it's your turn to shoot!"
Xianniang drew her carved bow from her back, took an arrow, spurred her horse, nocked the arrow, and released it two hundred paces from the poplar tree. Suddenly, cheers erupted from both sides. Xianniang's arrow had deflected Luo Cheng's earlier shot, while hers had pierced the bird's eye.
Luo Cheng blurted out, "Princess, your archery is divine! I am no match for you! I concede defeat!"
Xianniang, hearing this, felt a little bored. The
servants then said, "Our young master is an invincible spearman. Does your princess dare to challenge him?" The servants said, "Here we go again, boasting! How shameless!" Xianniang stopped them, saying, "Stop talking nonsense! Shut up!" Seeing Xianniang's amazing archery skills, Luo Cheng assumed her martial arts were also formidable and wanted to test his skills. Xianniang was also well aware of the Luo family's renowned spear technique, and wanted to take this opportunity to compete with Luo Cheng.
Without a word, she held the pear blossom spear across the saddle, gave Luo Cheng a flirtatious look, and Luo Cheng was overjoyed. He took the Tilu spear from his servant and, smiling from his horse, said, "Please, Princess, release your horse!" Xianniang spurred her silver-maned horse forward, raised her pear blossom spear, and thrust it towards Luo Cheng's face. Luo Cheng lightly parried, deflecting the spear, and then thrust his spear back at Xianniang's horse's head. Xianniang circled her horse's head, sweeping her spear horizontally towards Luo Cheng's ribs. Luo Cheng raised his spear to block, and the two exchanged blows, their spears like two divine dragons, entangled in a fierce battle. After fifty or sixty rounds, Xianniang was no match for Luo Cheng.
In truth, Luo Cheng already knew that Xianniang was no match for him, and only used half his strength.
Even then, Xianniang still felt she couldn't win, so she feinted with her spear, turned her horse, and fled. Luo Cheng deliberately teased her, spurring his horse to chase after her, shouting, "Princess, don't run! I'll catch you off guard!" Seeing him approaching, Xian Niang was secretly delighted and took out a red lasso from her bosom, hiding it in her hand. After fleeing for a while, she looked back and saw Luo Cheng on horseback close behind. Xian Niang slowed her horse, and soon he was close. Xian Niang gracefully tilted her waist, raised her slender hand, and shouted sweetly, "Get off your horse now!" Luo Cheng, caught up in the chase, suddenly saw a red light rushing towards his chest and cried out in alarm! He quickly turned to the side, and the lasso hooked onto his left shoulder. Xian Niang seized the opportunity and pulled, causing Luo Cheng to fall from his horse.
Just as Xian Niang was feeling triumphant, Luo Cheng, having fallen to the ground, grabbed the lasso with both hands and pulled hard. Caught off guard, Xian Niang was also pulled off her horse. Luo Cheng was quite the actor. Seeing that Xian Niang hadn't let go of the lasso, he pulled hard again, causing Xian Niang to stumble and fall. She landed squarely on top of Luo Cheng, falling into his arms. Xian Niang blushed crimson and quickly scrambled to her feet. Luo Cheng, smiling, stood up and said, "Princess's red brocade lasso is truly powerful! Not only did it make me fall, but it also tricked the princess herself." Xian Niang thought to herself: "Don't be so presumptuous! It was you who tricked me, what does the red brocade lasso have to do with it!" She said no more, brushed the dust off herself, and prepared to mount her horse. Luo Cheng, flustered, asked, "Is the princess leaving?" Xian Niang asked in surprise, "The martial arts competition is over, the winner is decided, why aren't you leaving?" Luo Cheng replied, "I don't want to be separated from the princess!" Hearing this, Xian Niang's heart pounded wildly. She couldn't scold him, nor could she speak; her cheeks flushed red, she lowered her head, and couldn't utter a word. Luo Cheng stepped closer and said, "If the princess does not reject me, I wish to marry her." Xian Niang, hearing this, grew increasingly bored. Seeing Xian Niang's shy silence, Luo Cheng pressed closer, saying, "If only the princess nods in approval, it will be considered as consent." Xian Niang loved Luo Cheng, but could not agree to the marriage privately. So she said seriously to Luo Cheng, "Sir, you have asked me about this matter, and I cannot consent privately. If you are truly interested in me, you may send a matchmaker to my father to propose marriage." Luo Cheng hesitated for a long time before saying, "What if your father does not agree?" Xian Niang thought to herself: This is indeed what I expected; my father might not agree. But losing such a perfect husband would be unbearable. After a moment's hesitation, she asked, "Young master, are you acquainted with Yang Yichen?" Luo Cheng replied, "We are old friends." Xianniang blurted out, "That's wonderful! Yichen is coming to Leshou soon. My father greatly admires him. If you, young master, could ask him to be your matchmaker, it would surely..." Xianniang trailed off. At that moment, Luo Cheng's retainers and Xianniang's attendants arrived together. Xianniang and Luo Cheng hurriedly mounted their horses, exchanged a knowing smile, and understood each other perfectly. Truly: A meeting of minds, two heroes, a pair of affectionate lovers.
To find out what happens next, please read the next chapter.

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