My father Zhao Kuangyin

Whether it was intentional or unintentional on the part of his father, or perhaps it was simply that members of the imperial family should sit together, when the palace servants brought the prayer mats, they were placed next to his third uncle.

Emperor Taizong of Song, the god of donkey carts, how could he have the honor of sitting with him?

It was an honor, but in reality, it was tinged with resentment and a touch of fear.

Emperor Taizong's virtue was comparable to Sima Yi's oath at the Luo River. From the front, it was nothing special, but from the back, it was a completely different story.

"But I misjudged him; Rixin has grown taller and stronger lately, he looks quite different!"

When Zhao Guangyi spoke, he did not look at Zhao Dezhao, but smiled at those around him.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Liu Ao, the judge of Kaifeng, immediately responded.

"Erlang has been dragging his son-in-law to Yingchun Garden whenever he has something to do, whether he has something to do or not. He is really practicing asceticism."

In the left column, Wang Shenqi, upon hearing this, gave Zhao Dezhao a deep look.

The so-called "son-in-law" was his eldest son, who was caught in a whirlpool without even realizing it, and yet he couldn't say anything about it, causing his father a lot of trouble.

Zhao Dezhao is now truly the one who has the support of the people.

Zhao Defang, though standing right next to him, felt utterly empty and quite depressed.

But just as he was about to raise his glass, his good second brother gently interrupted him.

"You haven't even reached adulthood yet, why are you drinking wine?"

Although this was not a major event, the ministers noticed it and each had their own thoughts.

Zhao Kuangyin felt the atmosphere was a bit cold, so he started a target shooting competition held once a year at each banquet.

"Which of you will go first to shoot today?"

The emperor spoke, and before anyone could respond, the imperial guards set up a target two hundred paces away from the banquet and brought out bows and arrows.

No horses?

Upon seeing this, Zhao Dezhao's mind went blank.

But when he looked at Shi, Wang, and the other generals, he saw that many of them had gray hair, and he immediately understood.

Foot archery and mounted archery are two completely different concepts.

As you get older, you accumulate some injuries from the past, making strenuous exercise unsuitable.

Of course, this is definitely good for him.

Even if he was exceptionally talented and had greatly improved his horsemanship, how could he possibly compete with the generals who had spent most of their lives training on horseback?

Three arrows instead of ten arrows—it's as if a special favor was given to someone.

"Your Majesty goes first, and I follow closely behind," Shi Shouxin said, putting down his cup and rising to laugh loudly.

"Very well! Bring me my bow."

Zhao Kuangyin was in high spirits. Upon being recommended by Shi Shouxin, he immediately stood up, rolled up his sleeves, and strode towards the banquet.

"As usual, if one person fires three shots and hits the target in a row, I will reward him."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Kuangyin stood up and drew his bow.

"call out!"

After firing an arrow, Zhao Kuangyin didn't even look at it before firing another one without pausing.

But perhaps because the sun in the sky was too intense and dazzling, coupled with his drunken state, Emperor Taizu of Song, who was usually infallible, missed both of his shots in a row...

The banquet fell completely silent, and no one spoke for a moment.

However, in those few moments, while Zhao Defang was still deliberating and hesitating, Zhao Dezhao looked over and, without a moment's hesitation, slowly got up.

"Father is drunk, so I'll shoot him in his place!"

Upon seeing this, Zhao Defang was slightly taken aback. He was about to reach out to summon them when it was too late.

As for the emperor, Zhao Kuangyin was indeed in a difficult position.

Admittedly, the sun was dazzling, and he was indeed drunk, but who was he?

The Emperor of the Song Dynasty, the Son of Heaven on horseback, repeatedly missed his target when shooting from a mere hundred paces.

Am I really getting old?

Before Zhao Kuangyin could calm down, Zhao Dezhao walked silently to his side.

After a while, Zhao Kuangyin recovered his senses. After careful consideration, he decided not to fire the last shot and turned to smile at everyone.

"I was drunk, so what happened just now doesn't count. You may pretend you didn't see it. Let Rixin take my place as the first leader."

None of the officials dared to disagree, and they all tried to defend the emperor.

However, beyond the debate, there was more sighing.

It should be noted that in the spring of the fourth year of the Jianlong reign, the Emperor held an archery banquet at the Golden Phoenix Garden and shot seven arrows in a row, hitting the target every time.

Upon hearing of this, Fu Yanqing hurriedly presented a fine horse to the capital to offer his congratulations.

Time flies like an arrow. Looking back on those days, the old folks were astonished to find that it had been almost ten years since the official archer was born. Time really flies!

"The sun in the Great Song Dynasty is blazing, which is a good thing! Not to mention Your Majesty, even I, who only had a few sips, almost couldn't distinguish the cups and plates!"

"During the banquet, the Emperor drank the most wine; to be fair, he naturally cannot be counted!"

At this moment, Zhao Dezhao finally understood what it meant to have great Confucian scholars debating the classics.

This wasn't the first time such an unexpected situation had occurred. The ministers probably already had prepared their arguments in mind. They would have one set of explanations for hitting the target once, another for hitting it twice, and yet another for hitting it three times, and another for missing it altogether.

In short, we must not let the atmosphere become dull or spoil the official's mood.

As for Erlang doing it in place of his father, well, he did.

There are at least fifty or sixty banquets a year, with a small one every few days and a large one every month. These are opportunities to reward both new and old civil and military officials, and to bestow favors upon them.

People still need hobbies to relieve boredom. Apart from his fondness for banquets, archery, and drinking, the official had no other bad habits.

It must be understood that this was an emperor who rose to power during the Five Dynasties period; it is no exaggeration to say that he was pure and virtuous.

Naturally, his actions were driven by his own conscience. Zhao Dezhao's substitution of Zhao Dezhao for the archery had the greatest impact on the Prefect of Kaifeng, so much so that even after Zhao Kuangyin returned to power, he still kept a close eye on his good nephew.

Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Pu were already paying attention to him, and this action allowed Pu and others to take in the whole scene and ponder it secretly.

On the other hand, Zhao Dezhao was not exactly relaxed either. With a group of national leaders watching and him having volunteered, he was under immense pressure.

He had no choice; it would be best to remain indifferent and live a peaceful life, but the situation was such that he had no choice.

If Zhao Guizhou, who is not favored by anyone, does not take advantage of the banquet to show his talent and make people invest in him, even getting a wife and achieving a political marriage is uncertain.

Searching through thousands of years of history books, it is truly unbelievable that someone with his circumstances would have difficulty finding a wife; it is a fantasy and extremely rare in the world.

Zhao Dezhao gathered his thoughts, took a deep breath, held his breath and focused his mind, staring straight at that touch of crimson, his thumb gripping the bow arm tightly, and slowly drew the string.

Take a deep breath... breathe... take it slow...

Beads of sweat trickled down his cheeks, along his jawline, clinging to his short beard, and hung down.

"call out!"

At that moment, a shout rang out, and the arched arm spun around like a crescent moon, blowing away the tangible sweat.

"Bang!" The arrowhead sank firmly into the target, standing upright amidst the crimson, the shaft and fletching still trembling and bending from the excessive force.

"Hit! Erlang shot right in the middle!"

The Imperial Guards standing beside the target shouted loudly.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Guangyi's cup trembled slightly. To avoid being noticed, he took a sip and then naturally poured another cup.

"Erlang's archery skills have indeed improved considerably!" Shi Shouxin offered his congratulations.

Grand Tutor Wang Pu, who was secretly aligned with Zhao Dezhao, also followed suit, smiling broadly.

"The demeanor of Erlang when drawing his bow was reminiscent of that of an official."

"It was just one shot. As the gods have suggested, there's nothing to brag about. If he had missed, I would have had a lot to say about him."

That being said, Zhao Kuangyin's drinking posture suddenly became much more unrestrained, clearly indicating that he was enjoying it immensely.

How to put it? When one's children and grandchildren achieve success or make great contributions, the feeling of being a biological parent who bears the primary responsibility is novel and indescribable, even more intoxicating than wine.

This must have been the first time Zhao Kuangyin had tasted this flavor in over twenty years; it was quite subtle.

In layman's terms, it should be a source of comfort for the old father.

Before Zhao Kuangyin could recover from the shock, he heard the soldiers shouting.

"Hit! It's a perfect hit again!"

Under the bright sunlight, Zhao Erlang, whose skills were on fire, did not pause for a moment and nocked an arrow and drew his bow again.

This time, however, he felt less pressure and gained a sense of pride and confidence, striding forward with his arms outstretched like a full moon.

"call out!"

The third arrow was fired firmly, aiming directly at the midpoint between the two previous arrows, one above and one below.

When the soldiers cheered and took down the last arrow, the mark resembled a "three" or a "sun".