Zhao Ming smiled smugly with satisfaction, then casually grabbed a handful of arrows and handed them to Fu Tinghan, “You try.”

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

He aimed at the copper pot, reached out and threw, but the arrow grazed the pot’s mouth and landed outside.

Fu Tinghan wasn’t discouraged, but rather adjusted the angle with interest and continued throwing. The arrow flew past the pot’s mouth and fell behind it.

Zhao Ming consoled him, “It’s just that you didn’t control the force well. The angle and accuracy aren’t bad—just reduce the strength a bit.”

Fu Tinghan thought the same way, so he reduced his strength a little and threw the third arrow. The arrow grazed the front of the pot’s mouth and fell down.

Zhao Ming: …

Fu Tinghan refused to give up. Holding the arrows in his hand, he threw them out one by one, calmly and unhurriedly. By such coincidence, not a single one hit the target—all grazed the pot’s mouth, missing by just a hair’s breadth.

One arrow even spun around the pot’s mouth, but perhaps the angle was still slightly off, so after spinning once, it still fell backward out of the pot’s mouth.

Nearby people crowded over to watch the spectacle. There were many who couldn’t hit the target, but he was the only one who took so many arrows yet couldn’t hit even once.

Zhao Hanzhang blinked her eyes, rolled up her sleeves and said, “Let me, let me.”

A guard immediately fawned over her and picked up all the arrows scattered on the ground and handed them to Zhao Hanzhang.

Zhao Hanzhang took one, compared it, then lightly tossed it out. The arrow drew a beautiful arc in mid-air and fell into the pot’s mouth.

Zhao Ming raised his eyebrows.

Zhao Hanzhang was also delighted. She took another one, compared it, then threw it out. It entered the pot’s mouth again. The crowd burst into cheers, and someone stirred up excitement, “County Lady, it only counts if you throw ten!”

Fu Tinghan looked at Zhao Hanzhang beside him, who seemed to be glowing, and couldn’t help but smile. He simply turned around, took the arrows the guard was holding, and handed them to her one by one.

Zhao Hanzhang held an arrow and thought for a moment, then closed one eye and aimed at the right ear. Her hand moved lightly, the arrow flew out and inserted directly into the pot’s right ear.

The crowd quieted for a moment, then immediately burst into even louder cheers.

Fu Tinghan smiled as he handed her arrows. Zhao Hanzhang took them one by one and threw them forward. Each one hit its mark—the pot’s mouth, the left and right ears. By the end, she seemed to no longer need to aim or measure. As soon as an arrow reached her hand, she threw it out.

The last arrow squeezed into the right ear. Zhao Hanzhang finally stopped, but the enthusiasm of the surrounding people was at its peak, clamoring for Zhao Hanzhang to do it again.

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand and said with a smile, “Today is your festival. This is for you to play. Now I’ll step aside and watch you play.”

Upon hearing this, the young men and boys became wildly ambitious. They immediately rolled up their sleeves to step forward and show off. The young ladies were not to be outdone either, squeezing into the crowd to line up.

A gentleman who tried to cut in line was unceremoniously pushed out by them, “Aren’t you ashamed? A fine man actually cutting in line—go to the back!”

Zhao Hanzhang heard this and looked over. The young man who was looked at blushed, raised his sleeve to cover his face, and headed to the back.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and moved aside. The young ladies immediately shrieked and crowded forward, wanting to stand where she had stood.

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

Zhao Hanzhang was momentarily stunned. Seeing her excitedly hugging the arrows on the table, she couldn’t help feeling conflicted. She remembered that officials in the yamen could participate in pot-throwing as a demonstration, but couldn’t receive rewards.

After all, they had to maintain order these two days and also make fair judgments. If the referees participated in the competition, it would be somewhat unfair to the contestants.

Zhao Hanzhang had already been squeezed out. Fu Tinghan raised his hand to virtually embrace her shoulders, preventing people from bumping into her.

Seeing her looking at Fan Ying with a conflicted expression, he smiled and said, “They’re just playing around. They won’t receive prizes and break the rules.”

Fan Ying’s reverence for Zhao Hanzhang was known throughout the county yamen. She was always the first to support Zhao Hanzhang’s policies and executed them fully. Even Fu Tinghan, who had helped Zhao Hanzhang formulate policies, couldn’t compare to her.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at the excited Fan Ying, nodded slightly, and invited Zhao Ming to the next competition point, “Uncle, we’ve set up many competitions. There’s even one comparing embroidery and needlework. Would you like to try?”

Zhao Ming glanced at her, “Shouldn’t you be the one trying that competition?”

Though he said this, Zhao Ming still graciously went to look at those competition points. Their arrival excited the young ladies sitting there competing. The hands holding needles trembled.

This area was comparing threading needles—whoever threaded needles fastest and most would win. Over there, they were even comparing grinding soybean powder.

Zhao Hanzhang had placed three large millstones there. Within the regulated time, three people would simultaneously grind soybean powder. Whoever ground the most and finest would receive the reward.

Zhao Ming nodded. These projects were basically related to people’s livelihood. Zhao Hanzhang had indeed been very thoughtful.

Zhu Chuan and others were also in the crowd watching the excitement. Originally, they disdained coming to watch this kind of common people’s competition, but outside was truly too lively. Plus, Zhu Chuan was very interested in this and enthusiastically invited them, so the young masters came along.

As soon as they arrived, they happened to encounter Zhao Ming throwing pots. Before they could speak, they witnessed Fu Tinghan’s complete failure to hit a single arrow. Before they could mock him, they saw Zhao Hanzhang hit every single arrow.

So the young masters fell silent. Even Zhu Chuan was extremely surprised, “Lady Zhao is that good at pot-throwing?”

One young master said leisurely, “She’s someone who could repel rebel troops. I heard that before resolving Xiping County’s crisis, she also fought a great battle with Shi Le outside the fortress, repelling Shi Le’s five thousand elite troops.”

The Zhao clan young master following them silently thought to himself: There weren’t five thousand people, nor were they elite.

However, he nodded seriously, saying solemnly to everyone who looked over, “That’s right. At that time, she fought Shi Le alone, not falling behind at all. She even killed quite a few Xiongnu and Jie barbarian soldiers, which temporarily frightened them away and allowed our fortress to catch our breath. At that time, her battle robe was dyed red with blood—she looked like a demon.”

So Zhao Hanzhang’s reputation as a female demon—not a single Zhao clan member was innocent in spreading it.

Successfully making Zhao Hanzhang appear more fierce and commanding in the young masters’ hearts, the Zhao clan young master successfully retired.

He looked left and right, saw Zhao Kuan and others with expressionless faces acting as referees in the distance, and immediately pulled Zhu Chuan and the others over, “My clan brother is over there. Let’s go see.”

Zhao Kuan’s stall featured riddles. Those who guessed correctly received rewards.

But many who gathered around couldn’t read, so Zhao Kuan needed to help read the riddles aloud, then they would guess the answers.

Although the activity had only been open for less than half an hour, he had already become numb, with little expression on his face. He mechanically recited these riddles over and over again, successfully discouraging many people.

Seeing his clan brothers and so many young masters come over, his face still showed little expression.

—