The incident happened in a flash. Seeing Ye Xi's mistake and Yi Yuan suddenly jumping down, the on - lookers in the competition were all confused.
After all, Ye Xi was not their wife or child, so naturally they didn't care. Moreover, all the items for the Qingyun Competition were prepared by the people sent from the palace, and they were inspected by the most upright Grand Tutor Cao and the so - called iron - faced Imperial Censor Su Zhongjie. No one associated Ye Xi's injury with any foul play.
Knowing that sealing the curse was more important, Yi Yuan took a deep breath to suppress his anger. He replied coldly,
"It's nothing. Let's continue."
Mian Xiao had quickly examined the arrow. Under the pretext of helping the palace servants tidy up, he quietly hid the arrow.
He gave Yi Yuan a look, and then the two of them left from the side following the retreating Ye Xi.
The young ladies of the next group neatly entered the arena from the other side. The three of them retreated to the elegant private room at the back and carefully treated Ye Xi's wound on her hand.
"Your Highness,"
Mian Xiao briefly reported his discovery just now,
"I've checked. There's a very inconspicuous thin groove on the arrow, as if it once held an extremely thin and sharp iron sheet. But I don't know where it fell, and I couldn't find it in such a hurry."
Yi Yuan carefully applied medicine to Ye Xi while his eyes were sharp,
"You surely won't find it. Now everyone's attention is on the competition. It's a good time for you to investigate.
"Find out who prepared the arrow, who has handled it, whether anyone has replaced it midway, etc. The more detailed, the better. Don't be too scrupulous. Since we jumped down just now, the mastermind behind this already knows his plot has succeeded. Just don't affect the equestrian competition."
"Yes."
Mian Xiao took the order and left.
Yi Yuan blew gently on Ye Xi's wound out of pity. While carefully applying medicine, he said,
"Does it hurt a lot? Although it's only the left hand that's injured, your equestrian skills are not as proficient as your archery. You must be careful in the next competition."
The wound felt a bit itchy after Yi Yuan's gentle blowing. Ye Xi's eyes curved as she said,
"Okay. The obstacles in the equestrian field are not too difficult, and it's right under your nose. Don't worry too much."
"You were also under my nose when you were archery..."
"Miss Ye."
Yi Yuan's unfinished words were interrupted. Shen Zhou walked in through the side door. He directly bypassed Yi Yuan and walked towards Ye Xi,
"I saw something seemed wrong with you just now. Are you injured?"
"Indeed."
Yi Yuan immediately changed his sitting position and blocked Shen Zhou right in front of him.
He deliberately picked up Ye Xi's injured hand. The next moment, his warm lips landed on Ye Xi's finger, making her tremble.
Yi Yuan stared straight at Shen Zhou and smiled wickedly,
"She was calculated by a villain and got a cut. She needs my kiss to get better."
On Shen Zhou's charming and evil face, various expressions changed. The hurt in his eyes was almost uncontrollable.
Ye Xi's cheeks instantly turned red. Fortunately, she hadn't taken off her veil for fear that someone might suddenly come, so no one could see her blushing face. While still feeling shy, she heard Yi Yuan's inner thoughts—
【Ah, bitter, bitter... Pfft, I tasted the wound medicine just now.】
【I should have applied the medicine in a smaller area. I can still taste it even though I avoided it so far.】
"Pfft—"
This was so different from Yi Yuan's usual cold, aloof, and calm image that Ye Xi couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Seeing both of them looking at her, especially the hurt look in Shen Zhou's peach - blossom eyes like a puppy that had lost its favorite bone. Ye Xi quickly held back her laughter, coughed lightly, and put on a serious look,
"It's all a small matter. Thank you for your concern, Young Master Shen. I'm fine now."
Then she started to shoo them away,
"Lingyan can help me bandage the rest. You two should go back. This is the resting room for the young ladies. It's inappropriate for A Yuan to be here in the first place. It's even more inappropriate for you, Young Master Shen, to appear here without any relatives."
"A Yuan, please go and tell Sai Xing and Jiang Ning for me. They can't get in and must be extremely anxious."
Yi Yuan kissed Ye Xi's delicate hand again and said with a beaming smile,
"Okay."
Shen Zhou's peach - blossom eyes were so dim that there was not a single glimmer of light. His beautiful lips were almost pursed into a straight line.
His Yingying was distancing herself from him.
His Yingying had now fallen in love with another man...
"Alright then. I won't disturb Miss Ye anymore."
After taking a deep look at the intimate couple, Shen Zhou turned around and left.
A smile curled up on Yi Yuan's lips. After giving Ye Xi some more instructions, he reluctantly left.
As soon as the two of them left one after another, a woman in a peach - red palace dress also quietly left through the back door of the private room.
Soon the archery competition in the front was over. The young ladies from each family came back chatting and laughing to take a short rest before the upcoming equestrian competition.
Ye Xi didn't see the competitions of other groups, but from the discussions of these young ladies, she could tell that Qiao Yan, in a red dress and with a long bow, dominated the field and won full - house applause.
"Miss Ye,"
Qiao Yan took a bold step and sat beside Ye Xi.
"What happened to you just now? With your archery skills, that last arrow shouldn't have ended up like that."
"I was a bit exhausted after shooting so many arrows."
Ye Xi replied with a smile, quietly hiding the bandaged wound to temporarily conceal her injury.
"I see."
Qiao Yan didn't suspect a thing.
"I was wondering. You suddenly missed the target and shot so far off. But you're really good. Except for the young lady from the Wei family, no one else in the other groups I've seen can compare to you."
"Her mother is from a military family, so it's no wonder she has such skills. But you, I heard your archery skills are self - taught and you've never even touched a bow before. You stunned everyone as soon as you appeared on the stage. You're really amazing. Even my elder brother said he wants to invite you to dinner."
"Exactly,"
Liu Mengxian also came over and sincerely praised,
"I kept hearing the applause during the competition, but I couldn't look closely because I was in the middle of the competition. Later, when I got off the stage and heard others' praises, I really regretted it. Since I didn't shoot well anyway, I might as well have watched your performance attentively."
Unexpectedly, although Liu Mengxian looked like a proper and dignified young lady from a noble family on the surface, she was actually a funny person. Everyone burst into laughter.
Ye Xi modestly said a few words and then praised Qiao Yan.
As they were chatting animatedly, some other young ladies who had no prejudice against Ye Xi's appearance gradually gathered around, and the atmosphere quickly became lively.
There were also those who always envied and looked down on Ye Xi. They formed small groups and whispered sarcastic remarks.
But they didn't dare to really go up and talk nonsense.
After all, there was still the example of Cao Wei, and the emperor and the concubines were still sitting outside. Moreover, beside Ye Xi were Qiao Yan, a noble young lady from the Changming Marquis Mansion who was unruly, and Liu Mengxian, a well - known and exemplary legitimate daughter from a noble and upright family. No one was really stupid enough to go up and cause trouble.
In the seemingly lively and peaceful atmosphere, the melodious bell rang again.
Since it was the first time the women's equestrian competition was added, the venue was not too difficult. It was chosen on a large flat grassland behind the Xiangheng Palace. Flags were inserted at the starting point and the end point, and there were obstacles in the middle. The competition started after crossing a thin and shallow ditch in front, and the contestants had to go around the flags twice back and forth to complete the race.
After the archery competition just now, Qiao Yan and Ye Xi were grouped together.
The two of them stood side by side on their horses, looking valiant.
At the sound of a tinkling copper bell, the jujube - red steed rushed out like an arrow, cutting through the air and making their skirts flutter.