The Splendid Brocade of the Painting Physician – Chapter 46

Chapter 46: Pitch-Pot

The pitch-pot game was set up diagonally across from the Elegant Poetry Pavilion. It was also a spacious hall with private rooms on all sides. Guests filled the hall, creating a lively atmosphere with constant applause.

“Young Master Li scored a Through the Ear!”

Suddenly, a loud shout came from the hall, immediately followed by a wave of applause and cheers. Fenghuang pulled Xiao Jinyu’s hand and quickly followed the sound, finding a private room to settle in.

The two saw that the Young Master Li who was playing pitch-pot was none other than Li Mi, who had spoken up for Xiao Jinyu on the street that day!

Pitch-pot originated in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It was initially a throwing game played by scholar-officials during banquets and also a form of etiquette. At first, it was simply a substitute for archery with simple rules. After the Qin and Han dynasties, some people innovatively set up screens for blind throws or played with their backs to the target. During the Wei and Jin periods, people further modified the pot by adding two ears on its sides, resulting in many new terms for pitch-pot techniques, such as “Leaning on the Ear” （almost hitting the ear）, “Through the Ear” （throwing the arrow through the ear of the pot）, “Reversed Ear” （arrowhead facing up, arrow tail falling into the ear of the pot）, “Consecutive Hits” （hitting the target with the second arrow in a row）, and “Full Pot” （hitting the target with every arrow）.

At this moment, the arrow Li Mi threw hit the ear of the iron pot precisely.

“Excellent!” Seeing the situation on the field, Fenghuang also cheered excitedly.

His shout immediately attracted Li Mi’s attention from across the room.

“Well, well, this is a fate that can’t be broken no matter how hard we try. We meet this Young Lady again!”

Li Mi was looking at Xiao Jinyu, who was sitting leisurely in the opposite private room, sipping tea. At this time, Xiao Jinyu was not disguised. Instead, she wore a black veil to cover her face and had changed from her usual white standing collar robe to a black, long robe with narrow sleeves. She appeared somewhat cold and mysterious.

Cui Heng, who heard his words, couldn’t help but look up and glance at the opposite room!

At this glance, his expression changed drastically, as if he had seen a long-lost acquaintance. He was so excited that he almost stepped forward and rushed towards the other side!

Fortunately, Li Mi grabbed him and held him back!

“Third Young Master, why do you look like you’ve lost your soul every time you see her?” Li Mi teased.

Cui Heng came back to his senses and muttered to himself, “Right! I’m being delusional. She died a long time ago. It’s impossible for her to still be alive. And even if she were alive, she couldn’t be this young…”

“You know, every time we meet this Young Lady, something thrilling and interesting happens. I wonder if there will be anything exciting today?”

As Li Mi spoke, his face was full of anticipation. Seeing the young boy across the room looking at the iron pot with longing, he threw down the arrows in his hand and said, “Let’s stop here for today! I’m not playing anymore. Let the child play! Looking at the child’s face, he looks a lot like someone I know, but I just can’t remember who it is right now!”

The hall fell silent for a moment, and then the Director of Archery asked, “Anyone else want to play?”

“Me, me!” Fenghuang immediately responded.

Xiao Jinyu glanced at him and nodded with a smile.

“Oh, it’s a young boy!”

“A young boy is even better! Maybe he’s even more skilled!”

“Isn’t this young boy the one who was riding the horse earlier? His horsemanship was exceptional! Why is he here playing pitch-pot now?”

Amidst the surprised gasps of the crowd, Fenghuang picked up an arrow and casually flicked his wrist. The arrow drew an arc in the air and landed precisely in the ear of the pot. When the crowd saw it clearly, they were stunned to find that the arrowhead was facing up, with the tail end inserted into the pot!

“It’s a Reversed Ear! He actually hit a Reversed Ear on his first try!” someone exclaimed in astonishment.

Li Mi was also slightly taken aback, and he crossed his arms with interest, leaning forward to watch!

Immediately after, another voice rang out in the hall: “Consecutive Hits!”

Cheers erupted!

Finally, the young boy turned his back, grabbed several arrows, and tossed them into the air. As everyone held their breath, all the arrows landed in the iron pot!

“Full Pot!”

“This kid, his pitch-pot skills are even better than his horsemanship. I’m betting on him today! One thousand taels!”

“Yeah! I thought that Young Master Li was already impressive, but I didn’t expect someone even more skilled to show up! I’m placing a bet too, one thousand taels!”

The young boy picked up an arrow, ready to throw again, but suddenly stopped!

“What’s wrong? Why did he stop?” someone asked worriedly.

The young boy pulled the black-clad youth who was sitting behind him, sipping tea, and placed the arrows in “his” hand!

“Qing Gege, you play too! It’s fun!” Fenghuang said.

Xiao Jinyu wanted to refuse, but seeing Fenghuang looking at her with pleading eyes, he whispered mysteriously, “We can win money. I’ve found out the rules here. If we help Apricot Blossom and Misty Rain Tower win money today, I can get a commission… Qing Gege, please help me!”

“Then… I’ll give it a try!”

It wasn’t just about getting a commission. People gather for profit, and disperse for profit. Whether it was for fame or fortune, having one more friend and one less enemy was always a good thing.

Xiao Jinyu understood Fenghuang’s intentions and smiled slightly. She followed Fenghuang to the pitch-pot field. The Director of Archery brought a tray filled with arrows and presented it to Xiao Jinyu, allowing her to choose!

“Why did they change players? Who is this?”

“Yeah! Wasn’t the young boy doing well? Can this person even play?”

Hearing the doubts from the crowd, Fenghuang announced loudly, “Everyone, remember, my Qing Gege’s surname is Xiao, given name Jinyu, a member of the Lanling Xiao Clan. My Qing Gege is very skilled…”

“Xiao, Jinyu? Isn’t that the Young Lady who tied those assassins to the trees yesterday?”

“She’s also the Young Lady who wanted to return to the Xiao family to acknowledge her ancestry a month ago!”

“Is she the Young Lady who was chased by assassins sent by the Xiao Clan’s Mistress for a month?”

“Yes, that’s her!”

“So it’s her!”

“But can a Young Lady really play pitch-pot?”

✿✿✿

The noise in the hall suddenly became somewhat chaotic. Some people began to doubt and retreat, while others became curious and eager to see what would happen. Li Mi became even more interested and quickly pulled Cui Heng up to watch the excitement.

“Young Lady, may I ask, what are you planning to throw?”

Amidst the indistinct and mixed voices, a clear male voice suddenly asked loudly.

Xiao Jinyu followed the sound and saw that the person asking the question was none other than Li Mi.

“Since we’ve already reached Full Pot, I’ll go back to First Hit,” she replied.

“First Hit? What’s that?” someone asked, puzzled.

Xiao Jinyu had once seen a book in her Xie Clan’s collection, which recorded that a famous scholar and Confucian, Sima Guang, had revised the 《rules of pitch-pot》, establishing “First Hit” as the first arrow entering the pot, the second arrow as “Consecutive Hits”, and the last arrow entering the pot as “Final Hit”. If the thrown arrow bounced out and then fell back into the pot, it would be considered returning to First Hit, known as “Agile Arrow”!

Clearly, this way of playing had not been seen here before!

Xiao Jinyu smiled and said, “That is, to make all the arrows in the pot bounce out, leaving only my arrow in the pot!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent. Li Mi was even more curious and incredulous, staring blankly for a long while!

“How is that possible? This Young Lady, she’s really arrogant, boasting here!”

“Exactly, is the Young Lady making this up just to gain fame?”

“I don’t believe it. I’m not betting on her to win this round!”

“I don’t believe it either. I’ll bet one thousand taels on her to lose!”

Sighs and shakes of heads filled the air. Seeing the obvious mockery and disbelief on their faces, Fenghuang couldn’t help but feel angry. Just as he was about to say something, Li Mi suddenly shouted, “Alright, I’ll believe the Young Lady this time. Two thousand taels, I bet she wins!”

After saying that, he urged Cui Heng beside him, “Third Young Master, come on, it’s time to win some money!”

Before Cui Heng could answer, Li Mi had already shouted on his behalf, “And this Third Young Master Cui, also bets two thousand taels, on her to win!”

Cui Heng helplessly glared at him, but he didn’t deny it. He even smiled and bowed slightly to Xiao Jinyu in greeting.

Some guests around them sneered, “Are these two Young Masters fools?”

“Exactly, but they are from prestigious noble families. They have a lot of money and can afford to lose!”

“The way you put it, it’s like I can’t afford to lose!”

“It’s not that you can’t afford to lose, but when we can win, why should we lose?”

The sneers and ridicule from the crowd didn’t make Li Mi nervous at all. Instead, he seemed even more excited. And at this moment, another voice rang out, shouting, “Wait, there’s us too. We’ll bet five thousand taels, five thousand taels on this Young Lady to win!”

“Who are you?” someone asked.

The person who shouted hesitated for a moment, then said unhappily, “It’s none of your business who we are. We’re from the Number One private room. We want to place a bet! Our Master, Master Gao!”

Hearing the word “Gao”, Xiao Jinyu couldn’t help but turn her head and look towards a slightly elevated private room. She saw a man in black attire sitting sideways behind a screen, just like her, with a veiled hat covering his face, calmly sipping tea as if nothing concerned him.

“Another big fool has come!” someone sneered.

“Young Lady, please begin,” the Director of Archery said with a smile.

Xiao Jinyu picked up a wooden arrow and slowly raised her hand…

“Found her, she’s here, Seventh Uncle, she’s here!” Just as everyone craned their necks, waiting for this crucial moment, a young lady suddenly rushed into the field. A thin maid followed closely behind her, trotting to keep up.

Just as the two were about to run up to Xiao Jinyu, they suddenly heard a “whoosh” sound. An arrow flew through the air in a long arc and landed precisely in the iron pot. At the same time, all the other arrows in the pot burst out like water spray, bouncing out and falling to the ground.

In the end, everyone’s eyes were fixed on the single arrow standing firmly in the iron pot!

Li Mi was so happy that he couldn’t close his mouth, and his eyes shone even brighter as he looked at Xiao Jinyu.

“She hit it! She really hit it!”

The guard in the Number One private room was stunned for a moment, then overwhelmed with joy. He quickly hugged the black-clad man’s leg and cried, “My Prince, you scared me to death. Five thousand taels! If we had lost, even if you sold me, we wouldn’t be able to repay it!”

“But, luckily she won, she won. So we won five thousand taels, right?”

“It should be ten thousand taels!” The black-clad man replied rarely. The guard was so surprised and happy that he almost fainted, sighing, “My God of Fortune!”

Some were happy, and naturally, some were sad. The previous scorn and ridicule were now replaced by regret and disappointment. Some even slammed the table to vent their frustration!

Xiao Ruoling looked at Xiao Jinyu with tears in her eyes, her lips trembling for a long time before she finally asked, “Are you… alright?”

“I’m fine,” Xiao Jinyu replied, looking past her shoulder to see Xiao Xian also arriving in his wheelchair.

Seeing her safe and sound, Xiao Xian’s eyes revealed a sense of relief and joy, as if he had found something precious that he had lost.

And at this moment, a long scream suddenly came from the Dream Journey Pavilion…