As the Princes and other young masters from the prominent families reached The Han mansion, they were shocked after seeing the setup of the archery challenge.
After looking at the raised platform and the fish which was swimming in circles in the stone tub from the reflection of the mirror, the young masters all felt the itch to try the archery just for the fun of the challenge.
However seeing that they have to marry the not so desirable daughter of general Han they all decided to just sit down.
They have also heard that this girl was not the biological daughter of general Han but adopted by him when he was situated in Quanzhou.
Although General Han was giving a huge dowry it was not worth it to make her the main consort, maybe a concubine or a side wife would have been fine.
But General Han had denied marrying his daughter as a concubine or second wife.
Dong Shen was sitting on a stone bench situated beside the lotus pond where he could easily see all the festivities of the mansion, while sipping his tea, he has already heard what the people were talking about.
He knew the emperor and the Prince wanted to make a fool out of him, into marrying the unsightly young women of Han manor, however he was not a fool in not knowing what was going on inside the capital.
In fact he was privy to the deep secrets of the palace as well as the officials, hence when the Princes asked him for this challenged his subordinates had already filled him in the details about this championship.
The winner has to marry the talentless daughter of the general.
He was really not Interested in marrying any women, but the Emperor and the Crown Prince were relentless trying to send all kinds of women in his manor either to spy on him or make him the laughing stock of the Nation.
Sometimes he even doubted that they saw these things as a form of entertainment hence whenever he came back home he will have to tread through their stupid schemes time and again.
Also now that he was back in capital he has to watch his front, back and sides all the time.
Soon the Competition started, the aim that was the fish was a moving figure that too in water and also it was difficult to aim at it from this far away.
The problem was that one has to look at the mirror and the reflection after calculating the speed of the fish one has to precisely shoot the eye of the fish.
Another issue was that the mirror always inverted whatever image it showed that means if the fish was swimming anticlockwise it would appear to be swimming clockwise inside the mirror.
But the nature of the fish was not certain she was not particularly moving in a circle as the fish was Alive she was moving at will hence it was extremely difficult to get an arrow in its eye.
Very soon the line of young masters wanting to shoot the fish increased.
Young nobles from low ranking noble families as well as some declining families were eager to win.
Although the girl was not pleasing to the eye but the dowry that the general prepared was enough to marry a princess and everyone wanted this money for themselves.
However even if the archers were good they were not good enough to shoot the moving fish after looking at its reflection in the mirror.
Soon the line of young man's started thinning out.
"Seventh brother why don't you also try with your talent in archery this challenge is like a breez to you. " Spoke the nosy third Prince.
'Breeze or not does he looks like a fool to you to shoot the fish in the eye while knowing what awaited him after winning the challenge. '
"When my elder brothere are still in the line, how can your younger brother overstep the boundaries, I would go after you, after all It would not be filial to not give way to my elder brothers. The crown prince who was quietly watching the show and sipping his tea, pursed his lips.
'This Seventh brother of his was always like this, appearing filial but digging holes for them, sure he has such a glib toungue.'
Anyway he can just miss the target if he wants, but also he has to make sure to make it closer to the fish so as to not to lose his reputation.
"Sure, if this Lord participates than Seventh brother also have to give his best performance." Spoke the crown Prince.
"You have my word eldest brother, I will follow you after third brother. "
With this he smoothly pulled over third Prince into the muddy water.
Dong Shen smirked slightly and started sipping his tea as if enjoying the show.
'Were they fools if they can miss the target, he can do it ten times better than them for sure. '
The third prince's face looked as if he was constipated, this brother of his was surely dragging everyone down with him.
'Heh let him be happy for now, soon he will not know where to cry. '
Thought the third Prince complacently even of he missed the target hasn't Emperor father has already written the degree, when the time comes they will make Dong Shen the good Samaritan, who will save the reputation of General Han and his daughter by marrying her. This was the story they have already planned for Dong Shen in case he intentionally tried to miss the target and backdown on his word to marry the girl. '
When the Crown Prince rose, people started whispering, 'why is the Crown Prince participating, how can he give the position of his wife to someone so easily. '
"Huh, are you joking, he is already married with one crown Princess two side consorts as well, the whole eastern courtyard is filled with beauties. "
"Isn't General Han's conditions clear that he will only marry his daughter as a main wife, otherwise the winner will be considered as disqualified. "
General Han also stood up seemingly to talk the crown Prince from stopping but the crown Prince said to Dong Shen.
"See Seventh brother I am not qualified to participate in this challenge, hence I really apologize for not being able to follow my younger brother's wishes. "
"It's alright Crown Prince, after all you don't deserve a less than qualified wife. "
The third Prince however was not so lucky as he had concubines but no main wife, obviously he was engaged and was soon planning his wedding.
Third Prince picked up the bow and arrow from the table, after looking at it carefully he realized that the bow and arrow were made of fine quality gold inlaid with gems and rubies it was truely finely crafted not only that but surprising the bow was not much heavey and easy to handle if one has a strong martial arts base.
'Where on the earth did the general found such a remarkable bow, it was truely a collectible treasure.'
If the general would have given this bow as reward he would have considered giving it a fair shot but alas he was not interested in his daughter.'