Chapter 28: Preparations (Part One) Secretly improving the crossbow... What the System said about Chen Su and Tang Ying having a big argument outside the palace was not baseless.

Both of them are respectable people. Given Tang Ying's official position and Chen Su's status in the literary world, they would never do anything like publicly falling out. However, this time, Tang Ying's actions happened to hit Chen Su's sore spot. He himself always spoke carefully in front of His Majesty, fearing that he would solidify Yun Ge'er's reputation as a child prodigy, but Tang Ying was very good, it's like he was afraid that Yun Ge'er wouldn't bring benefits to the Prime Minister's Residence.

In the palace, Chen Su could still hold back. After leaving the palace gate, Chen Su finally couldn't maintain his peaceful facade and cursed at Tang Ying.

Tang Ying cared about his reputation. He didn't like to cause trouble outside, and he didn't want His Majesty to think that he was at odds with Chen Su. Tang Ying conceded, "How many things can't be said in private, but have to be made a fuss about at the palace gate? You are so impatient, what good is it for Song Yunzhi?"

"Even if I am bad, I am much better than you. Ask yourself, does Yun Ge'er have any relationship with you? You are not related to him by blood or marriage. This official, as his teacher, has not yet spoken, but you shamelessly agreed to this errand for him. Tang Ying, oh Tang Ying, you really are someone who won't get up early without benefit!"

Tang Ying originally gave Chen Su some face because of Chen Su's position in His Majesty's heart. Now that Chen Su was so disrespectful, Tang Ying was not prepared to continue entanglement with him. He shook his sleeves, full of arrogance: "Things have come to this point, I advise Lord Chen to hurry back and prepare, otherwise the child will lose face in the future, and the entire Imperial Academy will be despised."

This was also the reason why Tang Ying dared to agree. Chen Su valued the Imperial Academy, and he also valued Song Yunzhi. He would not allow his disciple's reputation to be ruined. And Song Yunzhi's good reputation would undoubtedly be beneficial to the Prime Minister's Residence. Anyway, he was not in a hurry. The one who really needed to be anxious was the person in front of him who was furious.

Tang Ying left leisurely, leaving Chen Su with unabated hatred. He hated people like Tang Ying the most in his life, those who are calculating and scheming villains! If it weren't for Yun Ge'er's father marrying a girl from the Tang family, and he didn't want to break them up, Chen Su would have directly recognized Song Yu as his godson, and then adopted Yun Ge'er, completely cutting off ties with the Prime Minister's Residence!

After suffering such a big loss outside, when he returned to the Imperial Academy, Chen Su had to consider how to tell his disciple about this bad news.

When Song Yunzhi was called over by his Teacher, he had already guessed what Teacher was going to say. When Teacher mentioned this matter, he was even more annoyed than him, looking as if he had been schemed against by a villain, which made Song Yunzhi feel that the little bit of displeasure in his heart suddenly disappeared.

It was as if someone was angry for him, and his own grievances immediately lessened a lot.

Chen Su finished explaining the previous events, and found that his young disciple was surprisingly calm this time, neither yelling nor worrying. Chen Su was worried that he was scared, and quickly comforted him: "Actually, His Majesty just wants you to show up, he won't deliberately make things difficult for you."

Chen Su had already thought it through. If his young disciple was really scared, then he would inform His Majesty. At worst, he could just set the questions in advance. Chen Su usually doesn't like to cheat, but there's no other way. Isn't this for Yun Ge'er? It's just this one exception, and it won't happen again in the future.

Song Yunzhi didn't expect that Teacher would do this for him. But if he were to confess to His Majesty that he didn't know anything, even if His Majesty had the best temper, he would inevitably blame his Teacher. It was because he didn't want to offend His Majesty that he agreed to this errand. If he turned around and offended His Majesty because of this errand, it was not necessary.

But Song Yunzhi was still very moved, so he threw himself into his Teacher's arms. Chen Su was almost overwhelmed and didn't catch him, scolding: "What are you doing? You're so old and still so clingy?"

Song Yunzhi raised his head and rubbed against him, acting coquettishly: "I know Teacher is good to me. There's no need to leak the questions in advance this time. After all, those Northern Barbarian envoys are not fools. If they temporarily add extra tests, it's useless to prepare. If Teacher loves me, how about assigning less homework?"

He has too many things to learn every day...

Song Yunzhi pretended to howl, but Chen Su had already covered his mouth in disgust.

Less homework, how is that possible? Logically speaking, the homework he gave was impossible for normal children to finish, but Yun Ge'er could not only finish it on time, but also remember everything. It shows that Tang Ying was not lying. This child's learning ability is there, and it is far better than ordinary children. But learning fast does not equal self-discipline. This child has many strange ideas in his head. If no one is watching and he is not pressed to study, who knows where this little bit of cleverness will be put.

Instead of letting him cause trouble freely, it's better to let him vent his energy on studying.

Chen Su selected several books on poetry and rhythm from the bookshelf, intending to teach him how to write poems these days. Actually, Chen Su wanted to teach him before, but this child has no talent in poetry. Chen Su really can't stand the bad poems he wrote. Now it's different. If he doesn't learn, he will lose face and offend His Majesty. Chen Su had to endure the urge to beat the child and revise his bad poems word by word.

The process was extremely painful, not only for Chen Su, but also for Song Yunzhi.

He really has no poetic talent. Even if the System gave him the talent for writing poetry, he wouldn't be able to write amazing poems. For example, now, after Teacher taught him, he searched his brain and remembered the allusions, but when he put pen to paper, he still felt that he had nowhere to start.

Difficult--

The master and apprentice tortured each other again. When it was time to part, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

Another day has finally passed.

Song Yunzhi felt that the poetry exchanges between literati at this time were simply sick, very sick! If there's something to say, why can't it be said directly, instead of writing these flowery poems. Writing poems is fine, but there are so many rules, it's too unfriendly to him.

Dragging his heavy steps back, he happened to hear He Yanting announce that the Imperial Academy would hold a Mounted Archery competition in a few days.

This kind of thing has nothing to do with He Yanting and Jiang Yixing. Neither of them is good at Mounted Archery. The only one in the room who is good at it is Sui Chunsheng. But he has always been low-key and unremarkable in the Imperial College. Except for beating Wang Chengtái before, he doesn't participate in anything else. But Jiang Yixing knew that Sui Chunsheng liked Mounted Archery, so he put down his book and asked, "Chun Sheng, will you participate?"

Sui Chunsheng said coldly: "No."

If he went, his family would definitely be even more unhappy.

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a childish voice: "I'll go."

Uh...? Sui Chunsheng lifted the quilt and sat up, looking at Song Yunzhi in surprise: "You?"

Song Yunzhi sighed, kicked off his shoes and sat on the head of the bed, leaning on He Yanting, sullenly: "His Majesty in the palace specifically asked me to go."

Sui Chunsheng, who was about to mock Song Yunzhi's whimsical idea, swallowed his words. Thinking about it, he understood. The Imperial Academy has accepted a six-year-old child prodigy. How rare is that? Shouldn't they show off in front of those people from the Northern Barbarians and Yan State?

After thinking it through, Sui Chunsheng felt bored again, but He Yanting and Jiang Yixing were very interested and surrounded Song Yunzhi, chattering non-stop. What they were most worried about was that Yun Ge'er couldn't even fully draw a bow, so how could he hit the target? In the Mounted Archery competition, there are not only fixed targets, but also moving targets. If Yun Ge'er didn't hit any of them, he's afraid that he would make a fool of himself.

Song Yunzhi was also troubled by this. He propped his right hand on his cheek and said worriedly: "I'm also thinking about this. It would be great if I could find a bow that is easy to draw."

"Easy to draw is not enough, it also needs to have a long enough range." Jiang Yixing added calmly, "But where can we find such a good bow?"

Sui Chunsheng, who was dozing on the bed, tilted his head and pretended to be profound: "I do know of one thing."

The three people who were discussing were all stunned, and then quickly surrounded Sui Chunsheng's bed.

Sui Chunsheng turned his head and pretended to be cold.

Song Yunzhi didn't stand on ceremony with him anymore. He climbed onto the bed and directly pressed down on him like Mount Tai: "Speak quickly!"

Sui Chunsheng saw him stepping on the floor with his socks and then rolling on his quilt, and immediately became furious: "Get down."

Song Yunzhi refused. Knowing that Sui Chunsheng would not hit a child, Song Yunzhi's courage increased day by day. He hugged Sui Chunsheng and suddenly became obedient: "Tell me, and I will never annoy you again."

Hehe, Song Yunzhi has said this many times. Every time Wang Chengtái threatened him and he needed someone to fill the scene, he would make a promise to Sui Chunsheng. But without Wang Chengtái, he would still annoy him as always.

There is not a single true word in this little brat's mouth!

The next day happened to be a Ten-day Break. Song Yunzhi asked He Yanting to go back and give a message to his father. He himself followed Sui Chunsheng to the General's Residence. When Song Yunzhi saw the General's Residence outside, it was also magnificent. He thought that there must be a lot of people in the residence, but when he went in, he found that it was empty, and there were few servants.

After a long time, Sui Chunsheng's grandmother learned that the child prodigy of the Imperial Academy had come to visit, and she came to meet the guest.

The old lady is now in her sixties, with a head full of silver hair. Seeing that Song Yunzhi was so young, she couldn't help but praise him for being young and promising, so much so that Song Yunzhi was a little embarrassed.

The old lady was in a good mood. She talked for a while, and then specifically instructed Sui Chunsheng to entertain him well, and asked the kitchen to prepare a few more dishes.

Song Yunzhi felt that the old lady was overly enthusiastic. After she said she was tired and went to rest, Sui Chunsheng explained. He hadn't made any friends since he went to the Imperial Academy. Although he had Jiang Yixing, Jiang Yixing was introverted and never came to visit. Therefore, in the eyes of the old lady, Song Yunzhi, a classmate who came to visit for the first time, was very precious. It proved that her grandson was really studying hard in the Imperial Academy, otherwise how could he make friends with a child prodigy?

Currently the only real masters of General's Residence is only the old Madam and Sui Chunsheng. Most of the men in the Sui family had died on the battlefield. Now the only male members left were Sui Chunsheng and his father, who was still guarding the frontier. The only female member left was the old lady. Sui Chunsheng's mother had passed away many years ago. There were no children in the family for many years. The old lady watched this only grandson closely, not allowing him to follow the old path of his uncles.

Enough men of their Sui Family had sacrificed, they absolutely could not keep adding to it endlessly. Abandoning martial arts and pursuing literature was not only the intention of the Sui Family, but also the intention of Sui Chunsheng's maternal grandfather's family. The elders on both sides were worried about his safety and future. They used the grace of birth and upbringing to threaten him. Sui Chunsheng had to patiently spend time in the Imperial Academy. Although he was not cut out for studying, who cared?

Before long, Sui Chunsheng finally led Song Yunzhi to open his father's warehouse.

A strong crossbow was placed in the hall. It occupied a lot of space and was huge.

Song Yunzhi exclaimed in shock. He was shocked by the weapons in this room. It was a child's nature to want to touch everything he saw. But every weapon here was so big, even the knives hanging on the wall were longer than his body, and they were heavy. If you got close, you could still see the chilling light.

Sui Chunsheng patted the strong crossbow: "This is a large crossbow with an extremely long range, but the firing speed is slow. It often takes several people to shoot an arrow. It is generally used for chariot warfare."

Song Yunzhi blinked, confused: "What does this have to do with the Mounted Archery competition?"

Sui Chunsheng walked to the weapon rack and took out a Repeating Crossbow: "This is a Repeating Crossbow. Although it is still too big for you, it is already the smallest crossbow. The advantage of the Repeating Crossbow is that it is light and shoots fast. One person can use it, but the range is not far, and the power is smaller than the former. It is a weapon for defending the city."

Song Yunzhi listened to him comparing two completely different crossbows, and he understood a little: "Then is there a crossbow that is both light and has a long range?"

Sui Chunsheng handed him the Repeating Crossbow: "That depends on your ability. You can take these crossbows apart and see. If you can make the kind you mentioned, I'll have to thank you."

Song Yunzhi held the crossbow and looked down, asking, "Can I take this back first?"

Sui Chunsheng didn't care: "As you wish."

Song Yunzhi held his hand, very moved, and began to draw a pie: "If this is successful, I will give you the credit."

Sui Chunsheng looked down at this shorty: "...Heh."

Who cares?

Song Yunzhi brought back a lot of things from the Sui Family. After returning home, he didn't even have time to take them apart before he was called over by Tang Ying.

Tang Yi was originally wondering why his father suddenly started paying attention to Yun Ge'er. After learning the truth from his son, Tang Yi was also angered like Chen Su.

How could his father be so shameless? He wholeheartedly wanted to push this child to a high position, but did he ever think that Yun Ge'er is only six years old now?

In fact, it was precisely because Tang Ying thought that a six-year-old child prodigy was more valuable that he was impatient to let Song Yunzhi come forward. Song Yunzhi was related to his face in front of His Majesty, so this time, Tang Ying did not speak sarcastically, nor did he pretend to be indifferent. Instead, he asked Song Yunzhi about his studies in the Imperial Academy with a kind attitude.

Song Yunzhi was a little scared by his questioning. He was not the kind of person who was good at socializing, especially in front of people he hated. He couldn't pretend at all, and his answers were very stiff throughout.

But Tang Ying didn't care. After asking, he also said that he had prepared a good horse for Song Yunzhi. Although it was not as good as the Wang Family's and His Majesty's Akhal-Teke, it was also strong enough. If Song Yunzhi needed it for Mounted Archery, he could take it away immediately, and he would be able to surpass others in the future.

Song Yunzhi really had a soft spot for such tall horses, but when Tang Ying really prepared a horse for him, he didn't want it anymore. Song Yunzhi politely declined, saying that Teacher had already prepared it for him.

Tang Ying smiled: "It seems that your Teacher is indeed very caring for you. That's good. Your Teacher's connections are enough to benefit you for the rest of your life."

Song Yunzhi only felt that he hated talking to Prime Minister Tang even more.

After finally finishing the conversation, Song Yunzhi also met Tang Yuyao, who had come to Tang Ying's place to curry favor. When enemies meet, there will inevitably be a small quarrel.

After he left, Tang Yuyao still didn't forget to ask why he came here. Recently, his grandfather's attitude towards him was not as good as before. Tang Yuyao was afraid that even Song Yunzhi would be able to compare him in the end. Then what status would he have in the Prime Minister's Residence?

Song Yunzhi didn't care about these messy things. After he went back, he comforted his father, explained a few words to his wife, and then began to concentrate on dismantling the crossbow.

This is the most important thing at the moment.

He Yanting watched from the side, dazzled. How could such a small crossbow have such complex parts inside? The amazing thing is that after Yun Ge'er took them apart, he could actually put them back together intact.

He Yanting was stunned. Was Yun Ge'er's hand too flexible?

Song Yunzhi also realized that he seemed to have good hands-on ability. He remembered that the System once said that one of his talents was hands-on ability. In the past, Song Yunzhi didn't fully understand, but now he understood. After these things were disassembled, his mind completely remembered them, and he even understood the principles without a teacher.

While Song Yunzhi was working day and night to make crossbows, he didn't forget to write poems and practice calligraphy to cope with the examinations.

Chen Su also finally discovered that his disciple's handwriting had improved rapidly. He attributed it to Yun Ge'er having innate wisdom. He was not an ordinary child, so naturally he could not be judged by the standards of ordinary children.

As for writing poetry, this child really had no talent at all. After hard training, it was still mediocre. We'll see at that time. This child is still capable of adapting to circumstances. In addition, Chen Su also felt that this child was tinkering with other things, always mysterious, and wouldn't tell him when asked. Chen Su knew that when he was done, he would naturally take it out proudly, so there was no need to rush.

In fact, even Sui Chunsheng, who often provided materials to Yun Ge'er, didn't know if he had made it or not. Yun Ge'er was usually carefree, but this time, when it came to serious matters, he kept it very tight. Sui Chunsheng could only wait for the arrival of the Mounted Archery competition. The candidates for the Imperial Academy's Mounted Archery competition had been decided, and Song Yunzhi and Wang Chengtái were among them.

Wang Chengtái didn't know the inside story and always laughed at Song Yunzhi for overestimating himself.

Song Yunzhi didn't quarrel with him this time. A truly powerful person doesn't bother with barking dogs! He, Song Yunzhi, would soon blind Wang Chengtái's dog eyes with his strength!

In early August, His Majesty finally led the two envoys who were reluctant to leave to the Imperial Academy to watch the competition.

Sui Chunsheng saw that Song Yunzhi still covered that thing and refused to show it, and was so angry that he pulled Yun Ge'er's hair: "Why can't you show us first?"

Song Yunzhi refused to admit defeat and bumped back. He just wanted to hide it, and he wanted to be the finale!