Tiger Owl

Chapter 9 Fireflies Battle the Bright Moon

The servants brought over two wooden platforms, one of which had a bow and arrows on it.

On another wooden table were two names written on them: Cai Yan on the right and Gan Ning on the left. There was also a basket of small flags on the table.

Yang Biao said with a smile, "Everyone can start throwing the lottery!"

Everyone stepped forward, took a small flag from the bamboo basket, and placed it in front of their names. This was called "fangcai," which means placing a bet.

Of course, this was Yang Biao's residence, the topic was set by Yang Biao, and the prize was also set by Yang Biao.

Each small flag represents one tael of silver, and the side with more flags wins the prize money.

Almost everyone placed their flags under Cai Yan's name. At this moment, a young woman in a green dress appeared. She picked up a flag but placed it under Gan Ning's name.

She turned back and gave Gan Ning a playful look, which immediately made Gan Ning feel a sense of goodwill towards her; this young lady Xu had a kind heart.

Cao Pi and Jia Xu also placed their banners under Gan Ning's name. He only had three banners, while Cai Yan had more than a hundred banners under her name.

At this moment, Yang Biao came out, smiling and saying, "Looks like I'm going to suffer a big loss today. I'll save every tael of silver I can!"

He placed the flag under Gan Ning's name.

One hundred and fourteen to four, it's really one-sided. This is a gathering of aristocratic families, and social status is ingrained in their bones.

The steward brought over a bag of silver, 114 taels, which was the winner's prize.

Yang Biao pointed to the flagpole in the distance outside the gate and said, "Use the flagpole as your target, and the one with the better archery skills will win!"

Outside the gate of the Yang residence was a square, filled with the carriages of the guests.

At the other end of the square stood a flagpole, on which flew the red flag with a black dragon.

From the courtyard of the mansion, one can see the top of the flagpole.

"I'll come first!"

Cai Yan strode forward.

"Wait!" Gan Ning called out to him.

He stepped forward and said coldly, "This is a matter between the two of us, and there should be a wager between us!"

"How do you want to gamble?" Cai Yan asked proudly.

"If I lose, you can have my head!"

There was an uproar around them. Liu Xian said urgently, "General Cai, don't gamble your life with him. He's not worthy!"

Cai Yan hesitated and remained silent. Gan Ning laughed and said, "This Prefect Liu has already said that my life is not as valuable as yours. If you lose, you don't have to give me your life. You just need to kneel down and kowtow to me three times. How about it, General who values ​​his life?"

Cai Yan was furious and glared at Gan Ning, saying, "Don't even think about humiliating me! If I lose, I'll chop these hands off for you!"

"It's a deal, General Cai, please!"

Cai Yan stepped forward, picked up the bow, drew an arrow, nocked it, pulled the bowstring taut, and shot the arrow. The arrow traced an arc and, 'thud!', struck the flagpole a hundred paces away. The guests immediately erupted in cheers and applause.

"Excellent archery! No wonder you are the divine archer of Jingzhou!"

Cai Yan placed the bow triumphantly on the wooden platform, glanced disdainfully at Gan Ning, and curled her lips into a mocking sneer.

Gan Ning smiled faintly, slowly walked forward, casually picked up the bow and pulled hard. 'Crack!' The bow snapped instantly, and everyone gasped in surprise.

Gan Ning said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I used a little too much force!"

Yang Biao chuckled, "This is an eight-dou bow, commonly used by generals. It seems I underestimated General Gan!"

He immediately ordered his men, "Bring all the bows!"

His subordinate turned and ran off. Cai Yan, standing nearby, looked rather grim. He had already lost in terms of strength; if Gan Ning also hit his target, he would lose this contest of archery skill.

He couldn't help but feel uneasy. What if he lost? Wouldn't he lose his hand?
At this moment, a handsome young man stepped forward and said to Cai Yan, "Why should General Cai take this kind of desperate man seriously? No one will take that bet seriously!"

Cai Yan was deeply grateful and quickly bowed, saying, "Thank you, Third Young Master!"

This young master's voice was quite loud; everyone could hear it clearly. Gan Ning was surprised. Who was this young man? How could he be so arrogant!
Jia Xu whispered behind Gan Ning, "That's Gongzi Zhi, the lord's third son, who has always been at odds with his elder brother."

Gan Ning nodded. So this handsome young man was Cao Zhi, who looked to be only eleven or twelve years old. How could he be competing for the emperor's favor at such a young age?

However, Cao Zhi was hailed as a child prodigy, so it was normal for him to be precocious. Gan Ning glanced at Cao Pi and saw that Cao Pi was looking at his younger brother with a gloomy gaze.

Logically, since Cao Pi came to the Yang residence on behalf of his father, Cao Zhi should not have come as well. However, Cao Zhi did appear, and we don't know what his motive was. But one thing is certain: Cao Pi was very unhappy about his brother's presence.

Furthermore, Cao Zhi must have known that he was brought in by his elder brother, so his deliberate act of comforting Cai Yan was clearly a ploy to undermine his brother.

Despite his young age, he's quite cunning.

Gan Ning asked, "Have those brothers always been undermining each other?"

Jia Xu smiled faintly, "Where there are brothers, there may not be brothers, but where there are brothers, there will surely be brothers!"

Gan Ning nodded secretly. It seemed that Cao Cao preferred Cao Zhi, which was why Cao Zhi became arrogant because of Cao Cao's favor.

At this moment, a servant brought over three bows and placed them on the wooden platform. Gan Ning stepped forward, picked up one of them, and asked, "Grand Commandant, is this a two-stone bow?"

Yang Biao stroked his beard and said, "That's right. The other two are a one-stone bow and a one-and-a-half-stone bow. General Gan can choose one of them."

Gan Ning picked up the two stone bows, strained his arms, and pulled hard. "Crack!" The two stone bows broke once again.

Everyone was stunned; this man's strength was incredible! Yang Biao was also dumbfounded, and after a long while, he said with a wry smile, "I don't have a heavier bow in my mansion!"

"I have a hard bow on my carriage!"

Cao Pi suddenly spoke up and ordered his men, "Go and fetch it quickly!"

His men rushed off.

Cai Yan's face had turned extremely ugly. He had realized that Gan Ning could easily shoot arrows with a two-stone bow, but he deliberately broke it, clearly to humiliate him.

He gritted his teeth and slowly tightened his grip on the sword hilt. No matter what the final outcome, he was determined to kill this man with his own hands someday.

Before long, his men brought a bow and handed it to Cao Pi.

Cao Pi stepped forward, placed the bow on the wooden platform, and looked at Gan Ning, saying, "This is Lü Bu's bow, a three-stone bow, which my father bestowed upon me. If you can win today, I will give this bow to you!"

Gan Ning picked up the bow, and a sense of familiarity welled up within him; it was actually Lü Bu's bow.

Gan Ning pulled off his headscarf and tied his hair up high, letting it fall like a ponytail down his back, restoring his image as a free-spirited thief. Coupled with his tall and strong physique, he exuded the bold and dashing temperament of a young man.

Xu Xiaoniangzi's eyes lit up. All the young men she had ever seen were well-behaved and proper, but she had never seen such a dashing and unrestrained man.

Sun Shangxiang, however, was still bothered by the rumor that Gan Ning had taken three hundred wives as concubines. She pouted and said, "Anyone can pretend. You need real skills!"

Gan Ning slung his quiver over his shoulder, swung it behind him, drew out two arrows, put one in his mouth, and nocked the other on his bow. He drew the bowstring taut, released his fingers, and the arrow shot out powerfully, as fast as lightning. It struck Cai Yan's arrow precisely, splitting it in two.

Gan Ning took the arrow out of his mouth again and shot it once more. The rope was suddenly snapped, and the flag at the top of the flagpole fell down.

"Good archery!"

Cao Pi cheered loudly, and Yang Biao stroked his beard and laughed, "His archery skills are comparable to Lü Bu's shooting of the halberd at the gate!"

Sun Shangxiang covered her mouth and widened her eyes. This archery skill was amazing, comparable to her elder brother's. It seemed that this Jin Fan bandit was really quite capable.

Lady Xu clapped her hands with delight; General Gan's head was now safe.

But apart from them, none of the guests in the courtyard uttered a sound. At this moment, everyone's eyes were on Cai Yan.

Looking at Cai Yan again, his face was ashen, and his eyes were filled with despair.

Gan Ning stepped forward and said with a faint smile, "If General Cai values ​​his life, he doesn't need to have his hand chopped off; just kowtow to me three times!"

Cai Yan's face flushed red, and with a roar, she drew her sword to chop at her own wrist.

Cao Pi shouted urgently, "Wait!"

He hurriedly said to Gan Ning, "Today is a celebratory banquet at the Grand Commandant's residence, and it is not appropriate to shed blood. Please, General Gan, do me the favor of canceling this bet!"

Gan Ning smiled and said, "Thank you for the gift of the bow, Second Young Master. Since you have spoken, this bet is cancelled!"

Cai Yan certainly didn't want to have her hand chopped off. She bowed to Cao Pi and said, "I will remember your great kindness, Second Prince!"

He didn't dare meet Gan Ning's gaze, turned around, lowered his head, and hurried away.
At this moment, Cao Zhi suddenly said coldly, "I wonder who brought this mere commoner here. How can he be compared to General Cai, a scholar-general skilled in both literature and martial arts?"

Everyone echoed, "Young Master Zhi is right, how can fireflies compete with the bright moon?"

Gan Ning raised an eyebrow, his sharp gaze fixed on Cao Zhi, and said coldly, "I always thought that a tiger father would not have a dog son, but today I realize I was wrong. Cao Cao is a peerless hero with an outstanding reputation, yet he gave birth to a fool like you who doesn't know what's good for him and is arrogant and ignorant. Do you think that just because you are a member of the aristocratic family, you can look down on the heroes of the world? With your arrogant attitude, you still want to compete with your brother for the heir? You are not worthy!"

Cao Zhi's face turned bright red from the scolding, and he pointed at Gan Ning, trembling all over, "You, you bastard!"

Gan Ning gently shook his head. "I pity you. I can even see the day when you fail to seize the throne and your body is left to rot in the wilderness. But, for the sake of Lord Cao, I will save you this once!"

He turned to Yang Biao and said, "Please, Grand Commandant, bestow ink upon me!"

Yang Biao's expression was truly complicated. He waved his hand, and the butler immediately brought over pen and ink.

Gan Ning picked up his pen and wrote a poem on the paper with flowing, elegant strokes.

Boil beans and make soup,
Filter the beans to make juice.

The stalks burned beneath the pot.
The beans wept in the pot.

We are all born from the same root.
Why are we so eager to destroy each other?
After finishing writing, he put down his pen and said to Cao Zhi in a low voice, "I'm giving you this life-saving poem. You'll need it on that day!"

He then bowed to Yang Biao and said, "Thank you for the silver, Grand Commandant!"

He then clasped his hands in thanks to Cao Pi, saying, "Thank you for your kindness, young master. I will surely repay you in the future!"

"Thank you, Mr. Jia!"

Gan Ning accepted the silver, picked up his bow, and strode away.

The courtyard was completely silent as more than a hundred people watched Gan Ning's departing figure with complicated expressions.

Cao Zhi looked at the poem, his face turning red and white in turns, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Gan Ning had just reached the gate when he felt someone chasing him. He turned around and saw the young woman in the green dress running up to him.

"this is for you!"

Xu Xiaoniangzi stuffed a small note into Gan Ning's hand, then turned and ran away with a blush on her face.

Gan Ning chuckled to himself. The eighth-grade girl had started writing notes. He opened the note, which had two words on it: 'Xu Wei'.

"Miss Xu, until we meet again!"

Gan Ning smiled and waved to Xu Wei, then strode away without looking back.

(End of this chapter)