NABC Chapter 152 A Woman's Kindness?
Chapter 152 A Woman's Kindness?
With the arrows exhausted, Shen Qing landed gracefully unharmed. At this point, the outcome was already clear.
The referee was the first to react, closing his gaping mouth, banging the gong loudly, and announcing: "Second match, Shen Qingxi wins!"
The piercing sound of the gong snapped the audience out of their shock, and thunderous applause erupted instantly.
A young man in the front row stared at Shen Qing without turning his head, but excitedly grabbed his companion and shook him vigorously, "What a hot little lady, I want to marry her... Waaah..."
His companion quickly covered his mouth to stop his loose tongue and looked around. Fortunately, with the surrounding exclamations and everyone's attention focused on Shen Qingxi on the field, no one paid attention to them, and they breathed a sigh of relief.
The atmosphere was completely hyped up, and everyone was eagerly waiting for the next competition, wanting to see what new tricks Shen San Niangzi could come up with.
Listening to his colleagues' whispered speculations and those who came to ask for advice, Shen Che sighed helplessly. He could never have predicted what kind of trouble his third sister could cause.
"The third match is a ring duel!"
Simply put, it's a one-on-one duel, and Shen Qing was naturally the first to step onto the stage as the champion.
As for the order of challengers...
"Everyone, cheer up! I admit that Shen San Niangzi is skilled in archery and agility, but when it comes to hard-hitting, visceral combat, we still have a chance of winning."
“Absolutely, absolutely,” one man said, bending his arm, his muscles bulging. “These past ten years of training haven’t been for nothing!”
"How about we draw lots?" Zhao Kuan suggested.
It did appear to be fair and just, and Li Ang and the others had no objections.
"You guys go ahead and draw, I'll go first!" With that, Zhao Jia nimbly flipped and jumped onto the stage.
"Mrs. Shen, I have a fist technique with thirty-six variations. Please teach me!"
"ah--"
"Snapped--"
Before anyone could see how Shen Qing made his move, Zhao Jia flew off the stage in an arc, and then lay sprawled on the ground.
The scene fell silent for a moment, followed by bursts of laughter from many people in the stands.
Emperor Yongxi's eye twitched, feeling inexplicably ashamed. Was he really going to select these kinds of people for the Imperial Guard? He suddenly felt worried about the safety of the capital and himself.
"That's enough for now. Madam Shen, you don't need to continue. The rest of you, please continue."
"promise."
Shen Qing clasped his hands together and bowed to the high platform.
"Ah~ that's all?" The onlookers were still unsatisfied, feeling a sense of emptiness as if their emotions had been placed on a high platform with nowhere to land.
"Let's go, let's go! Who wants to watch a bunch of thugs fighting and killing?"
Most of the onlookers in the stands had dispersed, leaving Li Ang and the others standing there, staring at each other in an extremely awkward situation.
"Ahem~" the referee coughed lightly, "Continue, continue."
……
"Breaking news!" the casino's waiter shouted.
"In this Imperial Guard competition, Lady Shen is number one!"
The gamblers gasped, "What about the second one? What about the second one?"
Even if you don't bet on the first one, you can still make a profit if you bet on the second one.
"Is it Tang Zhou, Li Ang, or Zhao Kuan?"
"It's Zhao... Jia!" The servant deliberately dragged out his words, watching with a wicked sense of amusement as many people's emotions fluctuated wildly.
"Zhao Jia narrowly lost to Shen San Niangzi by one move, ranking second. However, since Shen San Niangzi did not join the Jinwu Guard, Zhao Jia can be considered the first in this batch."
As for Zhao Jia becoming the second-place winner in the most prestigious imperial guard competition in Xuan State history, that's another story.
Upon hearing the outcome, Shen Qing said to Wen Ying, "This incident teaches us that comprehensive strength is very important, and it's unacceptable to specialize in only one subject."
……
Tang Zhou was selected in third place and was given a three-day rest after the competition. However, he seemed a little absent-minded in the face of the congratulations from his comrades and left the camp in a hurry.
With a sorrowful expression, he arrived at a secluded alley in the city, and hesitated to proceed through the dilapidated wooden door, his heart heavy.
"crunch~"
Before Tang Zhou could muster the courage to knock, the door opened first.
"My...my lord..." Tang Zhou was terribly flustered, "This subordinate is incompetent..."
"Enough. The master is here and knows you have truly done your best. Lady Shen is no ordinary person; it is not your fault."
"Thank you, sir!" Tang Zhou's ashen face regained its vitality. "Then my wife..."
"Husband!"
A woman in a simple dress and hairpin quickly walked out of the door and rushed towards Tang Zhou.
"My lady!" Tang Zhou quickly supported the woman with one hand and protected her protruding belly with the other, clearly indicating that she was six months pregnant.
"Take your wife back."
"Thank you, sir!"
Tang Zhou hurriedly pulled his wife away. Only after they had gone a long way did the woman dare to sob softly, "Husband, I almost thought I would never see you again."
Killing Shen Qingxi means death, not killing Shen Qingxi also means death. He was prepared to die in the competition, but who would have thought that Shen Qingxi would be so powerful that he couldn't kill her, he really couldn't kill her!
Tang Zhou also sighed, "I also thought he would never come back, if it weren't for..."
At this point, Tang Zhou suddenly paused. Could this be the purpose of Shen San Niangzi's high-profile actions? To protect those of them who had no choice but to accept their fate as worthless as grass?
My feelings were incredibly complicated.
Meanwhile, in the alley—
“Master, it seems that Madam Shen did this intentionally.”
"So in the end, she was just a woman, and her weakness was her compassion."
Qin Zheng Hall —
"Your Majesty, Lady Shen is indeed a talented general, but she may not be a great commander."
"What brilliant ideas do you have, my dear minister?"
"Why not gather more military officers and have a contest of military strategy with Lady Shen?"
"Granted."
Wang Mao's lips curled slightly. As the saying goes, "A merciful general cannot command an army." He had already prepared a huge pit for Shen Qingxi to jump into.