After saving the Empress, I became the top scholar in the imperial examination.

First, a layer of dust settled on her face, then her face was roughly wiped clean. Zhu Cuiwei was a little dazed, her eyes were watery, and her nose was rubbed red.

"Once I recover from my injuries... I'll know martial arts," the woman said calmly, taking a breath.

pity.

She waited for a long time, but the other party didn't react.

The man under the bed was squatting on the floor, intently fiddling with something, and didn't hear her defiant words.

The woman turned her head and stared expressionlessly at the crack in the ceiling.

Ms. Ning said that her son is very obedient, filial, well-behaved, capable, and even knows many characters. He is promising!

Originally, he planned to arrange for the other party to be a lucrative steward in the Prince's mansion after he returned home, and out of respect for Ning Shi, he asked the steward to turn a blind eye.

But now...

"I'll guard the gate..." she thought vengefully.

At that moment, the drunken boy uttered a strange, rhythmic "Clang clang clang clang!"

He stood up, his face flushed, and held up something in his hand.

"Cui Cui, look at this!"

What?

Zhu Cuiwei disliked drunkards and glanced at them with disdain.

Huh?

After glancing at it, her eyelids twitched, and she slowly frowned.

A bow.

A rather strange bow.

She was skilled in archery and horsemanship from a young age, and had seen all kinds of bows in the Liang army since childhood, including small bows, large bows, and open bows.

My favorite bow is the open bow, but I don't have strong arms and can only draw a bow weighing about 30 jin. Archers in the army can often draw a strong bow weighing 40 jin or even 60 jin. If they are skilled in the army, they can even draw a small bow weighing 80 jin.

But the bow that the boy presented to her as a treasure was somewhat different.

The bow itself is made of wood, probably mulberry wood, and the bowstring looks like cow tendon; I wonder if it contains any silk.

However, the bow has disc-like objects at both ends, making it quite peculiar in design. The bow itself is rather small and should not be considered a strong bow, at most drawing it to six liters, which is about sixty pounds.

But in rural farming families, having an ancestral bow that can draw about 60 pounds is indeed quite good, something to be proud of.

"bow?"

"Hmm!" Ning Nan made a bow-drawing gesture, gripped the string with his fingers, and began to draw the bow.

A sickening "rolling" sound rang out, and the discs at both ends of the bow began to rotate.

"Don't break your hand," the woman said sarcastically.

Every year, there are many new recruits in the military camp who overestimate their abilities when drawing a bow. Their necks turn red, but they keep drawing the bow, eventually injuring their muscles and bones, and sometimes they never recover.

In her opinion, although this young man was about the same age as her, his arm strength and power generation skills were unlikely to surpass hers.

"It would be good if you could pull it open halfway." The woman slightly curled the corners of her mouth, waiting to see the joke.

When she was little, the archery teacher her elder brother hired for her laughed at her in this way, giving her a small taste of how her teacher felt back then.

Ning Nan, reeking of alcohol, held a bow in his left hand, pulled the string with his right, bent his right arm, and pulled back.

The modern composite bow, made from ancient materials, bares its fangs like a wild beast, its large mouth first resembling a crescent moon, then a waning crescent.

The pulleys at both ends turned gently and easily, and in just a few breaths, the bow was fully drawn.

ready.

"Buzz!"

Ning Nan loosened his grip, and beautiful string music filled the room, startling the woman.

Logically speaking, the bowstring should not be released without a bowstring, but Ning Nan couldn't resist.

"Hey! My horse gallops like the wind, my bowstring twangs like thunder!"

The young man, reeking of alcohol, swayed his head and recited a very fitting poem, then laughed heartily and kissed the bow in his hand.

This bow was his masterpiece.

"Don't tell my mom, okay?"

Ning Nan, with his back arched, was completely unaware that the woman on the bed had frozen in her gaze.

He squatted down and pushed the empty wooden box back under his mother's bed.

"What did you just say?"

"Ah—" Ning Nan looked up, his eyes slightly red, meeting the gaze of the woman on the bed. "Don't tell my mom?"

"No, the previous line, that line of poetry."

Which sentence?

Ning Nan's eyes were blank.

He stayed up all night watching over Miss Zhu and didn't sleep. He also worked on the farm all day today and just drank a bowl of wine. The alcohol is kicking in, and he's speaking entirely on instinct. He has a big job to do later, so he's subconsciously blanking out his mind and forgetting everything he can forget.

Zhu Cuiwei was speechless. "Go wash your face and sober up."

"cut."

Ning Nan shook his head, pursed his lips, tucked the white cloth bag he got from Li Dahei under his arm, slung his bow over his shoulder, and went out the door. "Don't tell my mom, okay!" he repeatedly warned.

He hadn't forgotten about that.

...A year ago, I made this composite bow and took Sanzhuang and Erlai up the mountain to hunt. In just a few hours, the three of them brought back a wild boar.

As the villagers gathered to watch, Erlaizi boasted that his father would come to slaughter the pig, and he would be the master slayer, with everyone who saw it getting a share. Sanzhuang patted his chest and said, "Big brother's archery skills are divine, but I carried the wild boar back myself." The three of them shocked the entire village, and their bow was also put away by their mother.

"Sooner or later, some wild boar in the mountains will snatch it away!" The woman wiped away her tears and carefully hid the bow under her bed.

The sound of rushing water came from outside. Zhu Cuiwei saw through the window that the boy was scooping well water to sober up.

"Just say it."

Zhu Cuiwei withdrew her gaze, which held a mixture of relief and disdain.

But in an instant, the image of the young man drawing his bow like a full moon flashed into my mind again.

She was conflicted, wondering if she had misjudged the bow, or if it was only capable of pulling a bow weighing thirty pounds instead of sixty pounds.

Otherwise, why could this person pull it apart so effortlessly, in just a few quick movements?

Even among the best soldiers, she had never seen a bow drawn like that.

Zhu Cuiwei's face showed struggle, and she seemed somewhat incredulous.

Having made up his mind, he planned to ask Ning Shi directly about the bow when she came to feed him, and especially about the poem the boy was reciting.

"The bowstring twangs like thunder..." Was this line of poetry also written by Ning's deceased husband?

If that's true, then my Great Liang has truly lost a brilliant talent!

The woman stared at the mottled ceiling, looking somewhat conflicted, and slowly sighed.

……

The sun sank into the embrace of the mountains, the night sky was tinged with darkness, and the crescent moon hung quietly on the horizon, emitting a faint glow.

Li Yanting's backyard was built of bricks and stones, and the courtyard wall was quite high, except for one place where it was a little low.

Not far from the backyard, a bamboo grove stretches out, lush and verdant.

Deep in the bamboo forest, there sits a small hill.

Ning Nan lay on the hillside, surrounded by the fresh scent of soil. He had a steamed bun in his mouth, but he wasn't chewing. His head was tilted to the side, pressed against the ground, and he had fallen into a deep sleep.

The bow is no longer with me.

"I'm going to sleep for a bit, you keep an eye on me." After saying this to Sanzhuang, his eyelids were drooping, and he was so sleepy that he couldn't even bite into a steamed bun.

San Zhuang lay down next to him, arms crossed, propped on the ground, his eyes fixed on the backyard of the reading seed's family.

He had a steamed bun in his mouth, and his eyes revealed a fierce look.

"Don't worry, big brother, I've got your back!"

Two hours later, Sanzhuang's snoring woke Ningnan.