When Qin Zheng and the others returned, the main kitchen had just started serving outside.

Although the village was not particular, the men all wanted to drink, and the women liked to gossip at the table.

Everyone spontaneously sat at different tables.

As soon as Qin Zheng and Chu Chengji appeared in everyone’s sight, several men from the village came forward to greet Chu Chengji, saying they wanted to drink with him.

He glanced at Qin Zheng. “Then I’ll go over first.”

It was a statement, but he said it as if he was seeking her consent.

The men who came to greet him realized something and turned to Qin Zheng, clasping their fists.

“Madam Strategist, rest assured, the brothers all understand. We won’t get the strategist drunk. It’s just that everyone is happy tonight, so it’s enough for the strategist to show her face at the table!”

Qin Zheng gave Chu Chengji a strange look. “…Go ahead.”

She seriously suspected that she had become a demon mother-in-law figure in the eyes of everyone in the village.

Although Chu Chengji sat down with the men who came to greet him at Lin Yao’s table, he was quiet the whole time.

The people in the village seemed to be used to his cold temperament, rarely taking the initiative to talk to him.

It was Zhao Kui who broke the ice by offering him a drink, and then a bunch of people lined up to toast him.

The people in the village usually dared not say much to him, so they naturally wouldn’t miss this rare opportunity.

Lin Yao was afraid that Chu Chengji would get drunk, so he shouted, “If each of you drinks a cup, how much does the strategist have to drink? It’s better this way: you toast yourselves and drink a cup, and the strategist only needs to take a sip.”

There were still people from other mountain heads outside the village, and tonight’s feast was just to celebrate the timely delivery of food.

After all, the people in the village had been drinking plain soup and porridge for several days, so they needed a feast to boost morale.

The troops stationed in the dark did not withdraw.

After they finished eating, they had to change shifts. They dared not drink too much and only treated it as an entertainment.

No one objected to Lin Yao’s proposal, so a group of people lined up to toast Chu Chengji.

When others came forward, he raised his cup as well. When others drank a mouthful, he only took a sip. After a dozen people toasted him, his cup had not been refilled.

Qin Zheng and Lin Zhao, sat at a table in the corner, directly facing Chu Chengji.

Because there were occasional bursts of laughter and cheers from that side, many young women in the village, both old and young, looked over.

It turned out that after three rounds of drinking, someone suggested a shooting competition.

Lin Yao also agreed and took out five pieces of silk as a prize.

Many people in the village had joined the Archer Camp and had improved their archery skills these days, so they were willing to show off.

The atmosphere was lively.

Lin Zhao laughed, “In terms of archery, no one in our village can compare to Uncle Wu. In my opinion, these five pieces of silk should be taken back by Uncle Wu to give to Auntie San!”

Qin Zheng heard Lin Zhao say this and also looked over there.

Just then, someone went to toast Chu Chengji again. Chu Chengji seemed to sense something and swept his gaze over here. His eyes met Qin Zheng’s.

Previously, when Chu Chengji was toasted, he only took a sip each time. This time, perhaps because there was only one person toasting him, Chu Chengji drank the entire cup very graciously.

When he looked up again, he found that Qin Zheng’s gaze had already passed him and landed on the archery range behind him.

There was a burst of cheers from the archery target. Wu Qing had hit the bullseye with all three arrows, obviously winning.

Someone suggested that Lin Yao’s archery skills were also good and asked him to show off.

They couldn’t let Wu Qing steal all the limelight.

Unable to refuse the enthusiastic request, Lin Yao left his seat amidst the cheers and walked towards the edge of the embankment.

Compared to Wu Qing, he looked more agile.

When his shoulder muscles tensed, even the curve outlined by the clothes exuded a sense of strength.

His features were ruggedly handsome, but his mouth always carried a hint of nonchalance.

When he pulled the bowstring, his gaze was sharp, like a hunting leopard.

Many young girls in the village looked at him, their faces flushing.

Qin Zheng thought to herself that there must be a reason why He Yunjing liked Lin Yao so much.

She withdrew her gaze and remembered the trouble caused by the Wang family’s maidservant today.

She had intended to search for He Yunjing’s figure in the crowd but coincidentally met Chu Chengji’s eyes again.

He didn’t know how long he had been looking at her, with a slight curl of his lips.

Although his face showed no emotion, Qin Zheng, who had been with him for many days, could still tell that his mood seemed not very good.

Lin Yao’s three arrows all hit the bullseye, with the arrow marks even denser than the three arrows shot by Wu Qing.

Naturally, he won this arrow shooting competition.

The men were cheering, and Wu Qing, being an elder, didn’t care about these empty praises.

Seeing Lin Yao surpass him, he seemed to feel that there was someone to carry on, and he smiled even more happily than before.

The young women and wives at the table also applauded and congratulated Lin Yao on his victory.

Lin Yao smiled, “It’s not easy for me to be generous and want to give away some cloth. If you all don’t practice archery properly, I’ll just take the cloth back and keep it hidden!”

Several men shouted, “Listen to what the village chief is saying. I remember Madam Strategist is also good at archery. Madam, how about showing us your skills?”

The people in the village all knew Chu Chengji’s temperament, so they basically didn’t hold out hope that he would agree.

There were only a few people making a fuss.

But unexpectedly, Chu Chengji actually agreed with a clear voice, “Okay.”

The scene became even more lively. Chu Chengji pulled the bow and shot arrows.

Except for the men in the village, the women had basically never seen this before and were all staring at him.

Qin Zheng was also somewhat surprised that Chu Chengji would accept such an invitation.

But as he got up from his seat and walked, the ink robe billowed in the night wind, making him look like a bamboo in the wind, not just “elegant.”

When he arrived at the archery range, Lin Yao handed him the bow and arrows, laughing, “Rare, rare! Brother Cheng is actually giving face tonight!”

Chu Chengji smiled faintly but didn’t speak, as if he was just itching to try his skills.

He took the bow and arrow, looked at the target a hundred steps away, and pulled the bowstring.

He was about the same height as Lin Yao, but he looked thinner, wearing a loose Confucian robe, which made him look even leaner.

Although his posture was decent, many people still thought that his chances of winning against Lin Yao were not great.

The women sitting with Qin Zheng smiled and said, “Who would have thought that the Strategist also knows archery? Truly a man of many talents. In the past, if you had gone to the capital, he might have become the top scholar in both civil and military exams!”

This was flattery.

If Qin Zheng was once a guest in the village, then now, she and Chu Chengji had gradually become the ones in power.

Qin Zheng just smiled faintly at the woman’s words and didn’t respond, continuing to focus her gaze on the archery range.

Seeing Qin Zheng focused on watching Chu Chengji shoot arrows, the woman didn’t say much more, realizing that it was not appropriate to continue.

Others who saw the woman trying to flatter Qin Zheng and hitting a soft nail secretly rolled their eyes.

Anyone with a bit of intelligence knew the current situation. Praising Chu Chengji was not appropriate, and praising Lin Yao was also not suitable.

Not to mention Lin Yao’s delegation of power, the people in the village now regarded Chu Chengji’s orders as seriously as his.

Just at this table, not only was Qin Zheng present, but Lin Zhao was also there. If they praised, they couldn’t just praise one person.

Lin Zhao was carefree and didn’t take these things seriously, but Qin Zheng had to stand out in such situations, which was also why she was indifferent to the woman’s flattery.

On the other side, Chu Chengji had obviously aimed at the target.

When his slender eyes narrowed, not even a glint of fire could penetrate his eyes.

“Whoosh!”

He fired that arrow, hitting the bullseye directly, causing the feathers at the back of the arrow to tremble lightly, eliciting a gasp from the crowd.

The man next to him said, ” Strategist archery skills are also outstanding. However, the three arrows shot by the village chief just now were already squeezed together. Even if Strategist hits all three arrows in the bullseye, he can only tie with the village chief.”

At this moment, Chu Chengji’s bowstring happened to be on the second arrow. However, his gaze was not on the red circle on the target, but on the tail of the arrow he had shot earlier.

“Whoosh!”

After the second arrow was shot, the sharp arrowhead broke through the tail of the previous arrow and once again firmly pierced the bullseye.

The onlookers gasped in amazement.

The man who had spoken earlier was dumbfounded, “He… he can shoot arrows like this?”

It’s hard to hit the bullseye from a hundred steps away, let alone aiming at the tiny tail of an arrow?

Lin Yao shouted, “Excellent!”

Wu Qing also looked at Chu Chengji with admiration.

Although he had seen Chu Chengji use arrows before, it was against people, not with an arrow target as a scale.

He had never shown off like this.

Although Wu Qing was famous for his archery skills in the village, at this moment, he had to admit that if he were to shoot at an arrow tail, he probably wouldn’t have such accuracy.

There was still a third arrow, and everyone held their breath and watched.

Chu Chengji’s fingers, hooked on the tail of the arrow, loosened, and the sharp arrow left the string with a crisp sound, once again breaking the tail of the previous arrow into two halves and then firmly hitting the bullseye again.

After a long silence, accompanied by Lin Yao’s another “excellent,” there was a thunderous applause outside the arena.

The children at the table were even more excited, shouting, “Strategist’s archery is the best! Better than the village chief and Uncle Wu!”

Lin Zhao stared, shaking Qin Zheng’s arm and asking, “No, how did your husband do it? He hit the same point with three arrows?”

Qin Zheng was not familiar with martial arts.

She had only seen such scenes in novels and TV shows before.

Now, seeing it with her own eyes, and it was someone she liked, she couldn’t remain calm in her heart.

But seeing many young girls staring at Chu Chengji, their cheeks flushed, she felt a subtle emotion rising in her heart.

Qin Zheng didn’t like this feeling very much, but she still appeared calm and gentle on the surface, “Practice makes perfect.”

Lin Zhao seemed to be inspired by these words and began to rub his hands, “I will refine my archery skills every day from now on!”

Lin Yao had some attributes similar to Lin Zhao in certain aspects.

Even though Chu Chengji had won against him, he didn’t feel embarrassed at all. Instead, his face was full of joy after the competition, “Strategist won. These five pieces of silk will belong to Strategist Cheng!”

Chu Chengji’s expression remained extremely calm, his gaze just sweeping past Qin Zheng’s table almost imperceptibly.

At this moment, everyone’s attention was drawn to that side.

Naturally, Qin Zheng was also looking over there. When Chu Chengji’s gaze swept over, it coincided with Qin Zheng’s gaze.