"The Prince need not rush to reject us. As I have clearly stated in the letter I presented, forming an alliance with your esteemed country would be more beneficial than harmful to Wei in countering external threats," spoke the Crown Prince.
The King of Liang laughed heartily, showing no interest in an alliance and directly asking about the issues with Ye Country.
"As everyone knows, among the five countries, Ye has the weakest military strength. How can I, as the King of Liang, believe that Ye has the ability to resist Wei if a war were to break out?"
The King of Liang's concerns were indeed as Yuan had predicted.
"In the past five years, we have been vigorously strengthening our military forces in Ye. We have made significant progress, as seen in the recent battle at the Xushan border. Our army captured two princes from Wei and took ten thousand prisoners. This is enough to demonstrate that our kingdom has the power to fight against Wei."
"Speaking of your battle at Xushan, Ye deployed two hundred thousand troops against Wei's one hundred thousand. In the end, your army almost suffered a complete defeat. Even if you won in the end, it was only a narrow victory."
"If Ye had achieved a resounding victory over Wei, we wouldn't be here today, and what Your Majesty desires is precisely this outcome."
In this grand hall, the two highest-ranking individuals from both countries engaged in a heated debate until the King of Liang fell silent.
Internally, the King of Liang started to hesitate. What the other side said was true—neither an opponent nor an ally should be overly powerful. Moreover, the fact that Ye achieved a narrow victory at Xushan proved that their military strength was not to be underestimated.
Among the prominent figures in the hall, a tall man noticed the King's wavering and, unnoticed by others, cast a glance towards the fierce-looking general who had been mocking Wei earlier.
Understanding the signal, the general stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, regardless of whether Ye has the ability to fight, we happen to have a general here who has battled against Wei. Why not let her demonstrate her skills and let us see if she is truly exceptional?"
This proposal delighted the King of Liang, who turned to Gong Xiaohua and said, "Very well, General, what do you think?"
"I would be honored to demonstrate," replied the general.
"Permission granted."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Then the general taunted Gong Xiaohua, saying, "Hahaha, little girl, don't cry for your father and mother later."
"Clueless fool," whispered someone in a corner of the grand hall, unseen by anyone.
However, the words were overheard by the person standing beside him, none other than the usually silent and reticent personal guard, Jiang Yan, who mocked the formidable Liang general.
In a voice audible only to the two of them, he asked, "Do you, Sir Jiang, not believe that General Lu can win?"
"The reason I failed the last mission was primarily due to her. In a one-on-one fight, it's impossible to determine the victor," replied Jiang Yan.
Ah, this Jiang guard was one of the top experts in the palace. Even he couldn't be sure if he could defeat that young girl, which meant General Lu was in danger.
Back in the grand hall, everyone began to step back, and Qin Chuyuan reminded Xiaohua, "Be careful, prioritize your own safety."
"Understood."
"General, please," Xiaohua said to the opposing general.
The general did not hold back and chose to launch an aggressive attack.
With his left fist clenched and a fierce aura, it seemed as if he wanted to shatter everything before him.
Unfortunately, his fist was caught by the other party's hand.
The Martial General widened his eyes as he looked at Gong Xiaohua, then glanced at the hand that caught his punch, shocked and incredulous.
Although he only used seventy percent of his strength in that punch, there were few people in Liang Country who could catch his seventy percent strength, let alone with just one hand, and especially not a delicate young lady.
"You?! How is this possible?"
He increased his strength to its full extent, but the other party remained unmoved.
The people around them were also dumbfounded by this scene. Who would have thought that a seemingly delicate young lady could directly confront a towering man much taller than her, with a much stronger physique, and match his strength head-on? It was simply unbelievable.
"Now it's my turn to make a move."
With a swift movement, Gong Xiaohua flashed to the left side of the Martial General, her right fist clenched as she struck towards his waist. The Martial General reacted, attempting to dodge by sidestepping, but he was a step too slow. Gong Xiaohua's blow shook his body, causing him to stagger several steps to the right before regaining his balance.
"Come again."
The Martial General had initially planned to rely on his own strength to defeat his opponent, but unfortunately, her strength was no weaker than his.
She was even more agile and nimble, with unique and lightning-fast punches that were as fierce as a lion or a tiger. Each punch carried immense power, and he couldn't land a hit on her. Instead, he was constantly being pressed and attacked by her.
Feeling frustrated, his moves became increasingly chaotic.
Before long, he found himself in a disadvantageous position, and the outcome was clear to everyone present.
King of Liang felt a fire burning within him as he witnessed this humiliation. The slap in the face had come so quickly, and it was truly a case of being unsuccessful in success and overdoing it in failure.
"That's enough." King of Liang didn't want to watch any further; it was truly embarrassing.
Both parties stopped, and the Martial General no longer had the arrogance he had at the beginning. He knelt on the ground, asking for punishment from King of Liang. "I have lost, Your Majesty. Please punish me."
"You disgraceful fool, go down and receive your punishment."
"Yes."
"As the saying goes, a good general must not only excel in martial arts but also be proficient in archery, tactics, and more." King of Liang laughed.
"I wonder if General Gong would like to have a friendly competition?"
"Of course, it's possible. However, if I win, it proves that the military strength of my country, Wei, still has some resistance against Liang. I hope King of Liang will think carefully about the alliance."
"If you can defeat me in both archery and tactics, I promise to form an alliance with your country."
"A gentleman keeps his word, but it's hard to catch up to a galloping horse."
"Very well, prepare the targets."
Everyone moved to the martial arts arena in the palace.
"I am the Third Prince of Liang Country, skilled in archery. Please enlighten me."
"Third Prince, please."
"Today, let's try a different kind of competition, shall we?" the Third Prince suggested.
"I'm all ears."
"People will throw sandbags into the air, and we'll shoot the sandbags. We'll have one quarter of an hour, and whoever shoots the most wins. How about that?"
"No problem."
"Good, bring the sandbags."
"Yes."
Onlookers watched as the two competitors on the field hesitated to shoot at the target, instead instructing soldiers to bring out some sandbags.
"What is the Third Prince doing?"
"I don't know, but the Third Prince's archery skills are unrivaled. He's sure to win. Let's wait and see."
"Your Highness, everything is ready." A soldier reported on the field.
"Good."
"You might not have encountered this kind of game before, General, so allow me to demonstrate it for you first." The Third Prince turned to Gong Xiaohua.
"Please, Prince."
"Let the competition begin."
The sound of a gong rang out, signaling the start of the competition.
The crowd watched as soldiers continuously launched sandbags into the air, while the Third Prince shot arrows into the sky. Sometimes he shot one arrow, sometimes two, and at times three, four, or even five arrows simultaneously, hitting almost every target without fail.
The spectators were thrilled, and cheers erupted from the ground.
"Amazing!"
"Well done!"
King of Liang, pleased with his son's archery skills, said, "My son has improved his archery once again."
"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Liang Country will gain another formidable general."
"With such extraordinary talent in Liang, Gong Xiaohua faces a difficult challenge," Lord Shi expressed his concerns.
Even the Crown Prince and Qin Chuyuan furrowed their brows in astonishment. They had never seen anyone with such exceptional archery skills in Ye.
An hour had passed, and the archery ceased. A soldier immediately stepped forward to report.
"An hour has passed. A total of two hundred sandbags were launched, and the Third Prince hit one hundred and ninety-nine of them, only missing one."
"Hahaha, excellent!" King of Liang exclaimed happily.
"General, please go ahead." The Third Prince received praise and eagerly invited his opponent to compete.
"Very well."
Gong Xiaohua stepped onto the field. Shooting at targets in the air was a training exercise for future special forces in later generations and was even more demanding than shooting sandbags.
The weather was fine today, with no interference from wind, making target shooting easier. Gong Xiaohua carried the quiver on her back, took up the bow and arrow, and finally untied the strap on her left hand, covering her eyes.
This action surprised everyone.
"Is she crazy, covering her eyes to shoot the sandbags?"
"What is Gong Xiaohua doing?"
Before the crowd could voice their doubts, the competition had already begun.
At the beginning, there was still some interval between sandbag launches, but when the opponent realized that Gong Xiaohua hit every single one, they increased the speed. However, despite their attempts to cheat, Gong Xiaohua continued to hit every target without pause. Multiple sandbags were launched simultaneously.
"This is outrageous! It's clearly cheating," Lord Shi angrily exclaimed. It was evident to keen observers that the speed of sandbag launches was significantly faster than in the previous round.
However, no matter how the opponent cheated, all the spectators could see was a red-clad woman with her eyes covered, swiftly moving and turning in the field, shooting arrows one after another—two, three, four, five—so fast that it seemed like there were multiple images of her.
The people present fell silent, utterly astonished by this scene. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a divine technique.
"The hour is up."
The scorekeeper stepped forward and reported, "An hour has passed, and a total of two hundred and sixty sandbags were launched, all hit, all hit."
The scorekeeper cautiously looked at the Third Prince and the King of Liang, afraid to continue speaking.
"How many were hit? Tell me," the Third Prince asked loudly.
"Two hundred and sixty hits, no missed targets."
Upon hearing the number of hits, the Third Prince stared at Gong Xiaohua in shock, finding it hard to believe.
The spectators, too, were unable to find words to describe their feelings. All they knew was that what they had witnessed today had shattered their previous understanding of archery.
