The third Prince pulled the bow however the arrow just fell besides the water pool and missed the target clearly by a feet.
Dong Jiu was elated, 'Phew... That was a close call, thank god he did not out in more strength otherwise, today might have marked as his death day.' With that he internally paatted himself on the back for his great work.
When Dong Shen rose from his seat the public started whispering
Who didn't knew that The seventh Prince was the most sought after bachelor in the Dong Empire after the crown Prince.
He was unparalleled in appearance, might, aura and talent, he was the youngest general to have fought more that ten wars and was unbeatable in chess and calligraphy.
Even great master Wu Gong said that he was talent born ones in a century.
Many officials who were wishing to make him their son in law were shocked and various ladies who had come to watch the show sitting in the ladies chambers were filled with worry and anxiety.
How can the man of their dream marry such an unremarkable women.
For once the people of the Dong Empire, whether man, women, elderly or child were one in mind and were praying fervently to make Dong Shen loose.
Dong Shen stood up his great height making all the other man to crane their necks to see him.
He went near the exquisitely made wooden table and picked up the bow, the bow was truly looking remarkable in his hands.
He checked the bow and pulled the strings casually and he was surprised that this bow was of superior quality a king amongst bow, it was finely crafted to give the archer great force and strength in his shot.
The arrows along with the bows were also very unique, he wonderd where General Han found such a wonderful treasure.
He was sure that this bow and arrow set were very expensive infact the bow alone was enough to rival wealth of a Nation as it was inlaid with precious gems and jewels some of which were hard to find not to mention how finely crafted it was it actually gave the archer an edge in any fight.
The General was truly generous in marrying his adopted daughter for taking out such a great bow.
Keeping his thoughts aside, he decided to just play along and then miss the shot by an inch just like the third prince, he will fullfill the bet as well as he won't have to marry the girl.
Although he knew that even if he did not marry this girl, the emperor would arrange another girl from another officers family, but currently he was really not interested in marrying.
Even if the Emperor was forcing his will on him he can still dilly dally the marriage by half a year but if he shot the target today he will have no choice but to marry today or maybe tomorrow by the latest.
After feeling the bow Dong Shen, pulled out an arrow from the exquisitely crafted arrow holder and pulled it along the strings.
He marveled the craftsman ship of the archery set and also the mechanism of the target where one has to look into the mirror to shoot.
General Han was truly an insightful person worthy of being promoted, this type of challenge not only encouraged young talents to learn more it also gave them great learning and insights on new ways to shoot target while also increasing the difficulty level by a hundread fold.
He will surely ask the general to incorporate this method of learning in the army ro strengthen the strength of archers.
After pulling the strings, he first saw the mirror which showed the inverted image of the fish which was swimming as per the mirror towards North.
He pulled the string for about thirty percent his goal was not to hit the target but miss it and then the arrow left the bow.
All the people watching even the princess held their breath for the time being as the arrow shot from the bow.
The women watching were dazed after seeing how heroic Dong Shen looked while pulling the bow and arrow.
Dong Shen was sure that the arrow will stop at about an inch from the target but he probably misjudged the power of the bow or maybe the God of fortune was on leave today as out of nowhere a sudden gust of wind hit the arrow while it was air borne just tilting it's head slightly.
The fish which was swimming in the South suddenly turned towards the West and before long the arrow hit her dead into the eye.
A long gasp escaped from the crowd as everyone can clearly see that the arrow hit the bullseye.
Sometimes destiny really played with people, Dong Shen was dazed, 'what?? What on earth hie can his calculation be wrong.' Although nothing can be perceived from his facial expressions as his face was still calm as still lake however his hands were tightly clasped under his robes as if he was angry.
Some sudden screams probably coming from the women's area took the people out from the shock, some clapped some sighed and some exclaimed others looked at Dong Shen with pity and some shameless people also looked at his with gloating expression.
Dong Shen could feel the eyes of people around him.
He quietly put the bow and arrow to it's original position and sat back down on his seat.
'He has misjudged! Now he was the winner and although he can refuse to marry it will not bore well with his status and reputation.'
He eyed the bow and arrow, that bow was truly remarkable, with little strength the arrow actually shot to such a distance, however he wanted to miss the mark not to win it.
General Han along with various other officers came towards the area where the Princes were sitting.
"Congratulations, Seventh Prince for shooting the target on your first attempt, you are truly a great hero of this country. " With that general han cupped his hands in front of Dong Shen.
"General praise I am afraid I am not worthy enough to take, infact general is a great war strategist to plan such a beautiful archery formation. "
"It's all for the Nation... All for the Nation. " Replied the general.
The general was truely happy Dong Shen was a perfect match for his daughter, he was a war Prince, did not have much women in his palace as well did not have any bad habits as per his knowledge.
With Dong Shen he would have fullfilled the wish of his friend to marry his daughter to a person worthy of her.
"Prince although, the challenge was solely for someone to marry my daughter, however I know this humble servants and his daughter are not worthy to be related to you, if you wish to not go on with the marriage it's not a problem, this challenge will still go on and whoever wins will also marry my daughter. "
Dong Shen was surprised and he watched the general again seeing he was sincere in his approach he had a good impression of this general.