Chapter 505 Wood Shooting

The three kids stayed up all night and had to find some food to fill their stomachs. When they saw that it was almost time, they set out to the Imperial Garden to participate in the competition.

It was the fifth day of November and the sun was shining brightly.

There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, and I'm afraid it will melt away in a few days.

The New Year is approaching, but there has not been a good snowfall in the capital until now.

It has been a few sparse snowfalls, and it was very refreshing.

When the three kids came to the Imperial Garden, they found that there were already many people waiting there.

They surrounded several venues and practiced the wooden shooting that they would compete in later.

But when the three kids entered the venue, everyone cast unfriendly eyes on them without exception.

Of course, they were mainly staring at Princess Ankang.

Whether it was the princes and princesses or the concubines, they all had similar expressions.

In the past, if there were some unpleasant words, they would know to sneer at Princess Ankang behind her back.

Now they didn't say anything, but just stared at Princess Ankang with hatred, as if eating her alive was not enough to relieve their anger.

This scene really frightened the three little ones. They didn't expect that this group of people would be so united today.

"Meow!"

Li Xuan opened his mouth carelessly and meowed softly, and the various eyes focused on Princess Ankang scattered in an instant.

Princess Ankang also felt the pressure relieved, not as uncomfortable as before.

And those who were originally staring at Princess Ankang all moved their eyes away at this time. For some reason, they subconsciously felt a panic, either their hearts were beating violently or they missed a few beats, anyway, they were very uncomfortable.

Li Xuan snorted coldly and didn't take these jumping clowns to heart.

His ghostly howling was just not able to achieve accurate sound transmission now. If it was just a large-scale killing, then there would be no need for such precise control.

Just now Li Xuan also gave them a warning, otherwise with his current ability, at least half of the people in the entire Imperial Garden would have been stupid now.

Those who know the goods have also realized that the cat's cry just now is wrong.

"Third brother, the cat in Ankang..."

The Ninth Princess said to the Third Prince beside her with a serious face.

"I'm afraid it is also the top one among the rare and precious animals. I don't know when it fell into her hands."

The Third Prince's expression was not much better.

In the previous Cuju game at the Chongyang Banquet, it was this cat that shot him directly into Fengliu's eyes, and he lost an adult in front of the nobles of the entire capital.

Although he fainted quickly at that time, thinking about it now, he couldn't help but feel a trembling of hands and feet, and felt ashamed.

After this incident, even the Eighth Prince rarely laughed at him in front of him.

But the more this happened, the more the Eighth Prince saw him with an expression that wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, which hurt the Third Prince's heart more deeply.

"Third brother, don't think about it anymore."

"The past is over!"

The Ninth Princess silently held the Third Prince's trembling right hand tightly and comforted him.

As one of the spectators who witnessed it, the Ninth Princess could imagine how much pressure the Third Prince was under.

The Third Prince could still appear in front of everyone, which actually showed that he had mustered up great courage.

"Don't worry, I'm fine."

The Third Prince forced a smile and didn't dare to look at Princess Ankang any more.

The three little ones found a corner by themselves and found that stoves were lit in several pavilions in the Imperial Garden.

However, none of the concubines who arrived first sat in the pavilion. They were all waiting outside in a disciplined manner, obviously waiting for their backbone to arrive.

The three little ones had already been mentally prepared for such treatment when they came to the Imperial Garden today.

After all, those who could come here were probably all the masters whose monthly allowances were reduced.

As for those whose monthly allowances were increased, they were probably not worthy of entering this place.

"Really, everyone is not short of money, but they care so much about money."

"It's really strange!"

Princess Ankang shook her head, saying that she couldn't understand.

In her opinion, money is enough to spend.

Take the three little ones as an example, they don't spend much money every day.

The supplies in Jingyang Palace and the piles of silver bills in Emperor Li Xuan's Honggu Ring are not just piled there, and it is unknown when they can be used.

But what Princess Ankang doesn't know is that not everyone has lived a hard life like Jingyang Palace.

Most of the people here are born noble, and many things they take for granted in their daily lives are piled up with vast wealth, which has not yet been recognized by them.

The concept of money of these concubines and princes and princesses is not normal. After all, who would count how many grains of rice they eat in a day and then study how much this grain of rice is worth?

In their view, those luxurious and extravagant daily food, clothing, housing and transportation are just the most basic things that they can get if they want and should get.

As for how many Daxing people this money is enough to benefit, it is impossible for them to appear in their consciousness.

Li Xuan looked at the nobles in the yard who dared to be angry but not to speak, and felt happy instead.

But he changed his mind and couldn't help sighing again and again.

As a dynasty with a history of a thousand years, Daxing was far more corrupt than Li Xuan could imagine.

The ruling class aristocrats at the top of the dynasty had already adapted to the life of exploiting the lower-class people, and this was just Li Xuan's experience in the capital.

If we go outside the capital, I'm afraid the situation will be even worse.

Even if the Daxing Dynasty did not have the current dispute between Emperor Yongyuan and Prince Zheng, I am afraid that sooner or later more violent conflicts would break out.

Without reshuffling the cards, the situation of dynasty fragmentation cannot be solved at all.

At that time, it will be seen whether Daxing can be saved.

"It's just such a mess, and they're fighting over each other."

"How ridiculous!"

While Li Xuan was thinking wildly, more and more people gathered in the Imperial Garden.

After several princes and princesses who were friends with Princess Ankang arrived, they came to say hello one after another.

"Ankang, you are so cruel."

"Even the myna's monthly routine is not spared."

As soon as the eighth prince arrived, he cried endlessly to Princess Ankang.

The fifth prince, seventh prince and Princess Yuanan on the side also looked at Princess Ankang with dull expressions.

It seems that the reduction of monthly schedules will have a big impact on them.

"Hehe~"

Princess Ankang smiled innocently, thinking she was being praised.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ankang, you have made many people hold grudges this time."

"A few of us are fine, we just lack pocket money, but others are in dire straits."

The Eighth Prince said, lowering his voice mysteriously, and the attention of the people next to him was immediately attracted to him.

"Do you remember the last competition that asked us to go out of the palace to do business?"

"Aren't there many people who have lost money and have to pay back the principal slowly on a monthly basis?"

"It's fine now. After asking Ankang to reduce the monthly payment, I won't be able to pay off this debt for the rest of my life."

"Those unlucky ones now have to find a way to solve their monthly problems by themselves. Some people even wanted to go to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to collect money, but they were blocked by General Manager Zhao."

"Their princes and princesses are acting like fools. It's so frustrating~"

The eighth prince said gloatingly.

Li Xuan, who was shrinking in Princess Ankang's arms, only remembered this incident when he heard this.

When Emperor Yongyuan started the Monopoly game, his intention was actually very obvious, which was to attract some sponsorship for the empty treasury.

Result, boy.

These princes and princesses actually gave Emperor Yongyuan eye drops, and even if they didn't make any money, they lost all their capital.

If a child is not sensible, are not even adults sensible?

The mothers, concubines and their families of the princes, princesses and their families did not say anything about this matter, so they just let their children hand in a blank paper.

It is already obvious what this means.

"Your Majesty, do you want any money?"

He didn't even make up the principal of ten thousand taels. With such an insincere reply, how could Emperor Yongyuan not be impatient.

Li Xuan thought for a while and suddenly realized something.

"That's right. Those princes and princesses exchanged their monthly bills for money. Isn't it just Emperor Yongyuan who used the money to repay his debts?"

"It's indeed a big mistake!"

It seems that Emperor Yongyuan cut the expenditure of the royal private treasury not only to solve practical problems, but also to give himself a sigh of relief.

"Then today's game..."

Li Xuan raised his head and looked at the resentful people in the distance, fearing that they would still have a good show to watch today.

After a while, almost everyone had arrived.

At this time, Zhao Feng also arrived belatedly.

When Zhao Feng came to the stage, the old god looked around and then slowly said:

"Ladies and gentlemen, Your Highnesses."

"We will compete in wood shooting today."

“Without further ado, let’s start the drawing competition now.”

Zhao Feng took out the lottery he had prepared a long time ago, obviously also wanting to make a quick decision.

All the princes and princesses went up to draw lots. When it was the eighth prince's turn, he couldn't help but ask Zhao Feng:

"Manager Zhao, we haven't talked about today's competition rules and prizes yet."

"We just started in such a confused way?"

"The prize for this month's competition can't just be the restoration of the previous monthly routine, right?"

Zhao Feng smiled slightly: "Of course there are other prizes, please be patient, Your Highness, I will definitely not let you down when the time comes."

Zhao Feng avoided answering and continued to lie.

Only Li Xuan knew clearly that Emperor Yongyuan's prize was not planned in advance at all, but would be changed at short notice.

When Princess Ankang wins, she gets one set of prizes, and when others win the game, they get another set of prizes.

The eldest prince may have felt this deeply.

After the draw was over, Zhao Feng immediately arranged for someone to set up the venue.

Anyway, it's just a wooden shot, so it doesn't take much space and can be spread out directly on the stage.

There are more people participating, and the winner will be decided directly in a points match. The person with the highest score wins.

Each player throws the wooden ball five times, and then the scores are ranked to determine the final score.

If there is a tie, there will be an extra match.

Their previous drawing of lots only determined the order of appearance, so it would not have much impact. After all, they would calculate the points themselves and there would be no duel.

Princess Ankang is relatively low in the order, but she can also see how others play.

The first ones to come on stage were Little Douding and other older princes and princesses.

Most people use the method of rolling wooden balls to hit those bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars, which can better control the trajectory.

Of course, there are also some reckless people who directly hit it with wooden balls. The noise is quite loud, but the accuracy is not good, and there may even be situations where the bamboo-shaped wooden pillars will roll around a few times and then stand up again after being hit. .

If the bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillar does not fall, no points will be counted.

And there is a high probability that it will hit the black bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillar other than the target, and points will be deducted instead.

Several people took turns to fight, and some unlucky people with negative total scores appeared.

The strange and interesting situations on the stage also made Princess Ankang and others laugh.

Compared with the seriousness of others, this group of strange combinations that seemed strange to outsiders were much more relaxed.

The Eighth Prince and others did not react much to the reduction of the monthly allowance.

Their mothers all had extraordinary family backgrounds, and the monthly allowance was at most an extra in their daily expenses.

Some people did not care about money at all, and only focused on studying what they were interested in.

And they were all sensible, and they knew that this matter was probably not related to Princess Ankang.

There has never been anyone in the palace who is too stupid.

It’s just that some people did not dare to vent their anger on Emperor Yongyuan, so they had to find trouble with Princess Ankang.

After being wronged, the anger in my heart always needs to be vented on someone who is unlucky, right?

Princess Ankang and the others were enjoying the game, and it was the turn of the Eighth Prince to play soon.

The Eighth Prince was the first among them, and he immediately rolled up his sleeves and confidently played.

"It's time to show real skills."

After the Eighth Prince played, he took the wooden ball and threw it lightly towards the target without even aiming.

The wooden ball hit the top of a red bamboo-shaped wooden pillar, directly knocking over the center of gravity and falling down.

That's not all, the wooden ball continued to bounce, passed the black bamboo-shaped wooden pillar next to it, and then knocked down a red bamboo-shaped wooden pillar, which was actually killing two birds with one stone.

At this scene, even Li Xuan, who was dozing in Princess Ankang's arms, couldn't help but open one eye.

With his own perception of the environment, he could know everything about what was happening around him even without using his naked eyes.

This move of the Eighth Prince was really clever, which surprised Li Xuan.

"This kid always has some tricks up his sleeve."

As long as it's about eating, drinking and having fun, there's almost nothing that the Eighth Prince is not proficient in.

Even in the wooden shooting, the Eighth Prince has a special skill that is different from ordinary people.

"If you knock down two at a time, you can really get full marks."

In the wooden shooting game, there are a total of fifteen bamboo shoot-shaped wooden pillars for scoring, of which only ten red ones are for extra points, and the other five black ones will be deducted if they are knocked down.

Up to now, except for a few princes and princesses with good cultivation, not many people have used five chances to get full five points.

But the Eighth Prince broke this situation directly as soon as he made a move.

After five shots, the Eighth Prince used the method of killing two birds with one stone to steadily get full marks of ten points, leading the way.

Seeing the Eighth Prince proudly stepping down with a turtle step, Li Xuan couldn't help but smile slightly and closed his eyes again.

"I'm afraid that Emperor Yongyuan also calculated that the old Eighth Prince had arranged the so-called additional match to add insurance for Ankang."