"Your Highness the Crown Prince flatters me," Ji Feiyu bowed to him and then stood up gracefully.
The Crown Prince said, "Let's go. The carriage is ready."
Ji Feiyu then followed the Crown Prince out of the palace.
Zhan Shan watched all this from outside and quietly tailed them.
The place the Crown Prince took Ji Feiyu to was a shooting range. All the women on the range, practicing archery with bows in hand, were dressed in short, strong outfits.
Ji Feiyu looked at them curiously, thinking they were really valiant and heroic.
Seeing the sparkle in Ji Feiyu's eyes, the Crown Prince led her to an open practice area and said, "This is the women's shooting range. Every year in Beihan, excellent women are selected to join the women's archery team. They practice archery here together. Do you want to have a try?"
Ji Feiyu nodded. The Crown Prince then took a woman's bow from the wooden rack beside and handed it to Ji Feiyu, saying, "The bows here are not as hard to draw as ordinary ones. Hold it here..." Ji Feiyu reached out to take it. Although this bow was lighter than an ordinary one, she still felt a heavy weight on her hand as soon as the Crown Prince let go.
Seeing her arm sink, the Crown Prince smiled. He held the bow for her with one hand, put an arrow on the string with the other, and guided Ji Feiyu's hands to aim at the bullseye.
He stood closely behind Ji Feiyu, and a strong masculine aura came from his body. If it were some young girl who admired him in this situation, she would surely blush, feel her heart pounding, and faint happily in his arms. But Ji Feiyu didn't like being so close to someone. She even wondered if she was being taken advantage of.
She really wanted to elbow him hard in the back, just like she did to the Second Prince before...
Just as she was distracted, he suddenly let go, and an arrow flew off the string. Ji Feiyu only felt a strong rebound force, and then saw the arrow hit the bullseye right in the center.
The women at other target positions all shouted excitedly. It seemed that the Crown Prince was quite popular in Beihan.
The Crown Prince looked at Ji Feiyu proudly, then let go of her and handed her another arrow. Ji Feiyu took it. She thought it was necessary to hide her skills in this situation, so she started shooting randomly.
The first arrow flew past the adjacent target; the second one was aimed at the sky and then disappeared without a trace; the third one hit a woman's target beside; the fourth one had just been raised towards the sky. Before she could level it and shoot, it was bounced off by the bowstring, shot straight up into the sky, and then fell back down...
Seeing this, the Crown Prince couldn't help but pull Ji Feiyu. As a result, she didn't stand steady and sat down on the ground when she stepped back. The arrow firmly inserted into the mud where they had just stood. Everyone gasped, except the Crown Prince, who stood aside, looking at her amusedly. "You woman, I really shouldn't have brought you here. It's okay if you didn't hit a single bullseye, but what if you got hurt?"
Ji Feiyu pressed her hands into the mud and looked at him rather aggrievedly. Then she saw the Crown Prince stretch out his broad palm to her.
The Crown Prince didn't mean to laugh at her. His eyes were full of doting. Ji Feiyu wondered why he was looking at her like this. Seeing the others whispering around, she knew she was in a difficult situation. She had no choice but to hand her dirty hand to him and let him pull her up.
After pulling her up, the Crown Prince picked up the bow she had thrown on the ground.
"Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince, for saving my life," Ji Feiyu whispered her thanks in a very gentle voice.
He looked at Ji Feiyu in surprise, just because of that moment of gentleness.
Before he could react, Ji Feiyu bowed to him and left unhappily with mud stains on her body.
The Crown Prince didn't react until she had walked far away. Then he chased after her and said, "Why are you unhappy? It's still okay for a first - time shooter. Don't be discouraged."
Ji Feiyu said, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, don't try to console me. I'm good at the four arts of the scholar, but archery and hunting are out of the question."
The Crown Prince said, "Tomorrow, I'll take you horse - riding."
Ji Feiyu got on the carriage again. When they were leaving the women's shooting range, she seemed to see Zhan Shan's figure flash by on the street corner. She couldn't help feeling a little happy. Had they discovered that the one was an imposter?
...
The next day, the Crown Prince really came to take her horse - riding.
They went to the Kota Grassland.
In the daytime, under the blue sky, the Kota Grassland stretched as far as the eye could see. The green and yellow colors were intermingled, fresh and gorgeous. If you weren't in it, you would really think it was a magnificent and boundless mural.
The Crown Prince led a fine horse for her and helped her onto the horse. Seeing the Crown Prince get on another horse, Ji Feiyu thought he would lead her horse like the Second Prince did. But unexpectedly, the Crown Prince just rode his horse a few steps and didn't seem to want to take her reins. Ji Feiyu then asked, "Your Highness the Crown Prince, are you letting me run freely here?"
"Why not?" The Crown Prince held the reins of his horse and looked at her curiously.
"Aren't you afraid I'll run away?"
The Crown Prince said, "Oh, I see. I didn't just come here for horse - riding today. I also want to teach you the hunting technique, the encirclement technique. I've arranged riders to wait at the four directions of this grassland. No matter which direction you run, as long as I signal their positions with a whistle, they only need to send out three people to catch you. If you don't believe it, we can give it a try."
So it wasn't just pure horse - riding. It was archery yesterday and the encirclement technique today. It seemed that the Crown Prince's purpose was still to teach her hunting. Ji Feiyu suddenly lost interest. But was the encirclement technique he mentioned really so magical? Couldn't she escape no matter how she ran?
So she said, "In that case, why don't I have a try?" After saying that, she whipped the horse and galloped away.
The Kota Grassland was really suitable for horse - riding. As soon as Ji Feiyu started running, she felt like she was running in a mural. The scenery in front of her was really beautiful. The sky was so pure blue, and the view was so broad. There was really no obstacle when she ran.
The Crown Prince followed her all the way behind. At first, Ji Feiyu ran straight ahead. After a while, she started changing directions. Seeing this, the Crown Prince blew two short whistles. Then Ji Feiyu started running randomly and aimlessly on the Kota Grassland.
The Crown Prince followed behind her. Every time she changed directions, he would blow a whistle. The whistles were different for different directions.
After running for a while, Ji Feiyu actually heard the hoofbeats of other people besides her and the Crown Prince. It was really amazing! After running for a while longer, Ji Feiyu was surrounded by the three people who had rushed over. They tried two or three more times, and each time it ended with Ji Feiyu being surrounded.
Ji Feiyu finally understood why the Crown Prince dared to let her run around freely. It turned out that he had made preparations in advance.
Ji Feiyu breathed in the fresh air on the grassland and looked at the broad scenery that she couldn't usually see. She was still quite happy. Although she was the "prey" being surrounded, at least her activity range wasn't restricted to a courtyard anymore.