The archery tournament was just a two day event. Not many female warriors wanted to compete in the first place. With the end of the match yesterday, even less wanted to get involved with me. Many Mao women who wanted revenge joined in the tournament last minute order to defeat me. It was cute but not realistic in the first place. I made sure to get bullseyes every single time. I had coaxed Analim to join in since the participation was so low. He did a great job and matched me shot for shot at the short range targets. He faltered a bit at the mid range. No one even came close to us. I could see the others burn in jealousy. We were running away with it when I drew my blade and knocked an arrow out the air. I looked around and saw it was a Mao woman. A guard swiftly came over and dragged her off to the prison on the spot before she could even beg for mercy. That made the tournament procedures grind to a halt. The rest of the tournament would be put off for the next day. That was all fine with me. I was a big shoo-in for the overall win. Analim was pretty confident in my win as well.
I finished up my targets and waited until everyone was done. It was inevitable when they let me know that I had won the tournament. Analim was there to celebrate it with me. It was a flawless victory and probably a record for the kingdom. I was thrown a small party in our home and Wang Jing was going to throw a large banquet for all the victors of the tournaments. I was praised by both my housemates and servants. The next day, I was given a special imperial silk robe reserved for the victors. I went over to the imperial palace and saw that Mao Gengxin was standing by Wang Jing. She was tough, I gave her that. She was talking to Hua Mei, and Wang Jing was treating her very gently. I guess he was still feeling guilty about the match. That made me roll my eyes, but I decided that it would be too crass to interrupt them. He could find me himself if he really wanted to do so. There was a small group in a corner. Kun, Ming and Meng were standing and talking amongst themselves. I decided to talk to them instead. They saw the match as well as anyone and were cautious. I still managed to get along.
When Wang Jing finally called me over, he was looking content. Talking to his wife, mother and sister had a calming influence on him. I could tell that just by looking at how he held himself. They were his direct family and that was not going to change. Hua Mei's child would be coming in couple of weeks. The child would be the crowned prince or pricess of the empire. the three women lost their smiles when I arrived. "Yawen. I wanted to offer you some praise for your win in the tournament. I was just talking to Consort Mao. She told me that you visted her. She said that with one touch, she felt halway to recovery immediately. I am glad you went to reconcile." he said in a cheerful tone. "Of course, my lord. We serve at your pleasure. I do not hate noble Consort Mao. It was all to entertain you." He lost a step and his smile turned less genuine. "Yes. I shall be careful construct the games so you don't get hurt. It was very bad." he said, chiding me. I accepted it without a response. Mao Gengxin came back and paled. "Congradulations on the match, noble Consort Mao. It was really fun." I said.
