“You are!” Long Qi said. “Wasn’t that just proven in the last contest?”

“Mm.” Yu Jingfeng nodded as well. “You couldn’t even tell the three birds apart, let alone tell pork from mutton.”

“I…” Long Shiyi frowned and sat down. “From now on I’ll earn more money and eat more meat!”

“I want to eat too.” Gong Xing’er hooked her arm through Long Shiyi’s.

Long Shiyi turned back to meet Gong Xing’er’s gaze, his expression brightening a little.

His mood lifted the atmosphere on the scene considerably.

Long Yi took two steps outward, then turned back and waved a hand. “Xinyue, you set the challenge.”

“It’s definitely going to be Xinyue setting the challenge,” Xiao Yingtao murmured.

“You’re all so skilled, and we can’t let Jiu’er take part — that would be too unfair a match.”

Gong Xinyue turned to look at Feng Jiu’er and asked, “Jiu’er, what do you think would be a suitable contest?”

“Pick whatever you’re best at,” Feng Jiu’er replied.

Gong Xinyue blinked, looked away, and turned to Long Yi.

“Then let’s do archery. Brother Long Yi, what do you think?”

“Sure.” Long Yi nodded.

The servants set up a target on an open patch of ground nearby and brought two bows for Long Yi and Gong Xinyue.

“How should we score it?” Long Yi asked.

“By points, of course,” said Xiao Yingtao, once again acting as referee. “Ten arrows each, whoever scores more wins.”

“Good.” Long Yi nodded.

“Mm.” Gong Xinyue nodded as well.

“Alright, let the contest begin.” Xiao Yingtao waved a hand.

Long Yi picked up an arrow and glanced sideways at Gong Xinyue beside him.

Gong Xinyue also picked up an arrow and looked back at him.

They both nodded at the same time, drew their bows, and let the arrows fly.

One, two, three — all bullseyes.

Four, five, six — still bullseyes.

By the seventh and eighth arrows, the tension in the air was mounting.

Unexpectedly, even the ninth arrow from both of them landed dead center, without the slightest deviation.

“My sister’s archery is amazing, isn’t it!” Gong Xing’er jumped up happily.

Long Yi, as the head of the Feilong Shi’er Qi, was expected to be skilled — no one found that surprising.

But for Gong Xinyue to match him was truly no small feat.

“Sister Xinyue is amazing! Long Yi’s amazing too!” Yue Qinchun shouted.

“But the last arrow is going to be so hard — there’s no spot left.” Shen Rong’er grew anxious as well.

“Long Yi’s side is fine, but Xinyue really can’t find a good spot,” Duan Liuyang said, brow furrowed, rubbing her fists together.

“Come on, Xinyue! We can’t lose.” Xiao Yingtao shouted.

Long Yi watched Gong Xinyue for a long moment before releasing his final arrow.

With a thwack, it was, without question, another bullseye.

This time, Gong Xinyue didn’t shoot almost simultaneously with Long Yi as she had before.

She stared unblinking at the target, her hands trembling slightly.

In a friendly contest like this, winning or losing didn’t really matter — the wedding procession would go smoothly regardless — it would just be a little less impressive if she lost.

“Sister, you can do it!” Gong Xing’er shouted.

“Sister Xinyue, you can do it!”

“Xinyue, you’ve got this!”

“Go for it!”

Everyone’s cheering only made Gong Xinyue’s hands tremble even more.

But she still couldn’t find the right spot, and didn’t dare release the arrow carelessly.

Suddenly, a warm, large hand covered the hand Gong Xinyue used to draw the bowstring.

The next moment, another hand gripped the hand holding her bow, and a warm body pressed against her back.

Gong Xinyue took a deep breath and turned her head.

“Focus,” said the man, his voice deep and magnetic.

Gong Xinyue came back to her senses and looked ahead again, at the target now nearly full of arrows in the center.

She tried to steady her nerves and stop herself from overthinking.

“This spot — do you see it?” Long Yi adjusted the angle and asked softly.

Gong Xinyue looked carefully and furrowed her brow.

“Brother Long Yi, is it this spot?”

“Yes.” Long Yi nodded.

“This spot… will it work?” Gong Xinyue looked uncertain.

“It’ll work.” Long Yi released the person in his arms. “Go ahead and try it with confidence.”

“Mm.” Gong Xinyue nodded again, closed her eyes, then opened them.

She stopped overthinking, adjusted to the best position, and released the arrow.

Thwack! The arrow left the string and landed firmly in the red zone.

Gong Xinyue almost couldn’t believe her own eyes; she was stunned for a moment before it registered.

She dropped the bow, turned, and grabbed Long Yi’s hand.

“Brother Long Yi, you’re amazing! I really didn’t think that spot would work — thank you!”

Gong Xinyue had become the head of her stronghold at a young age, shouldering responsibilities beyond her years.

Like a mountain pressing down on her, she had had no choice but to bear it silently.

Gradually, the innocent, carefree girl she once was had been worn away without a trace.

Even Gong Xing’er hadn’t seen her sister look this relaxed and joyful in a long, long time — let alone anyone else.

Long Yi’s lips curved slightly. He looked down at his hand, now held by hers, and scratched the back of his head with his other hand.

“It’s, it’s nothing.”

Only then did Gong Xinyue realize what she’d done. She quickly let go of Long Yi, turned around, and didn’t dare look back.

“Yay, yay, yay! Sister did it!” Gong Xing’er ran forward and bumped into Gong Xinyue.

Gong Xinyue, a little embarrassed, hadn’t been paying attention.

She lost her footing for a moment and stumbled backward two steps.

Long Yi, quick to react, reached out with his long arm and caught her, holding her steady against him.

Gong Xing’er’s little “assist” had brought the two, who had just separated, even closer together.

Feng Jiu’er let out a soft snort of laughter.

She really wanted to ask: Xing’er, are you sure that wasn’t on purpose?

“Sorry! Sorry!” Gong Xinyue immediately straightened up the moment she turned back.

Long Yi released her and scratched his head again. “It’s fine.”

Gong Xinyue’s face was redder than a ripe apple as she turned away.

“Xing’er, don’t be so careless.”

“Sorry, sister!” Gong Xing’er stood where she was, covering her mouth, laughing.

“I bet Xing’er did that on purpose,” Xiao Yingtao said, also delighted.

“I didn’t,” Gong Xing’er said, turning to look at Xiao Yingtao.

Xiao Yingtao raised an eyebrow, her gaze falling on the distant target.

“Both of them got all bullseyes — how do we score this round?”

“If Brother Long Yi hadn’t helped me, I wouldn’t have scored this well,” Gong Xinyue said, stating the truth.

“But the fact is, it’s a tie,” Xiao Yingtao said, composing herself. “How about we just ask the bride for her opinion?”

“Let’s go, it’s almost the auspicious hour.” Qiao Mu stood up.

With the bride having spoken, no one dared to raise any more objections.

“Let’s go!”

“Come on!”

“Sending off the bride!”

“Will there be good food where you’re headed?”

“Are we riding in carriages?”

“How’s the wedding feast preparation going? Plenty of meat?”

“Are there a lot of guests?”

“Don’t we look good in these outfits?”

“…”

Feng Jiang took Qiao Mu’s hand and stepped out through the courtyard gate.

Close behind, pairs of men and women followed, except for Feng Jiu’er’s rather unusual pairing.

On the way back with the bride, three more carriages loaded with dowry had joined the procession.

The men escorting the bride rode on horseback, while the women accompanying her rode in the carriages.

The procession moved forward, grand and mighty — a truly impressive sight!