Flowers Bloom from Battlefield

Jun Hua smiled at the other party. The person who stood up was about 17 years old with a tall built. He looked powerful and his youthful face was full of determination. She didn’t recognize him or even know why he chose her, but since it’s his choice, don’t blame her for teaching him a lesson.

”That guy is called Lan Rou, a cousin of Lan Ping. They have some relations, but it’s still quite far,” Yan whispered.

Lan Rou? It looks like the Lan family was itching to teach her a lesson. Have they already forgotten the incident where she beat up the 7 assassins in a short time?

”You can even challenge people from outside school?”

Ming Hui thought for a while. ”You can, as long as the person is in this hall and accepts the challenge.”

Jun Hua turned to Lan Rou. ”I don’t want to bully a little kid like you.”

Jun Hua’s words startled the people in the hall. They have just realized that Jun Min was indeed an arrogant person. But if they thought deeply about what he had done in some of the occasions before, he did have the right to be arrogant.

Lan Rou’s face flushed red in anger. He felt deeply insulted. With his huge built, how could a kid like Jun Min call him little kid? By built alone, he was far ahead and even by age, he was older than the boy by 3 years. How could he possibly accept getting insulted like this?

”Are you afraid?” Lan Rou said in agitation. His cousin was a talented general and he too was trained in martial arts since young. There was no way he could be beaten by such a little kid. That was what he believed.

Jun Hua raised her eyebrow. ”Don’t say that I don’t remind you.”

With that, Jun Hua stood up and walked towards the stage. The people in the hall, especially the students’ parents were all looking with interest. They have heard about the boy’s prowess and how at such a young age he became a general. Now finally, there was a chance to witness his ability.

Fan Ying was also among the audience. He came to support his sister who fortunately did well. Looking at that figure coming towards the stage, he recalled his own fight and a bitter smile showed on his face. That Lan Rou was truly looking for a beating. He was not even a soldier and never actually stepped on the battlefield. But he dared to challenge Jun Min. If it was not looking for a beating, what is it?

Lan Rou stared at the boy in front of him. Jun Hua’s built was indeed smaller compared to her peers. She was considered short especially in front of someone as tall as Lan Rou.

”Why do I feel like watching a showdown between a giant and an ant?” Fan Lanying said in an amused tone. She waited on her chair excitedly.

Jun Hua raised her head slightly. ”What are we competing on?”

”Can you do archery?”

”Sure.”

”Let’s compete in archery, then. Strike the arrow towards the target while on top of horse.”

”No problem.”

Jun Hua lazily answered. Lan Rou could clearly feel that Jun Min was not taking him seriously and it made him incensed. Lan Rou took the bow and mounted his horse. He looked tauntingly towards Jun Hua who was still standing leisurely.

”You can start first.” Jun Hua said.

”I won’t be courteous then,” Lan Rou answered.

There were only six targets prepared: three for Jun Min and the other three for Lan Rou. Pacing his horse, Lan Rou aimed for the target. The locations of each target varied and he could choose which one he wanted to hit. There was one at the left, another one at the right, and the last one at the front.

Quickly, he fired his arrow one by one and each of them landed on the center of the target perfectly.

”Your Highness Ming Kui, this person’s skill is quite good,” one of the first prince’s attendants said in a low voice.

Ming Kui studied Lan Rou. He had heard about the Lan family and their loyalty towards the imperial family. Nevertheless, he was aware that those people were only looking for strong backing. They could not compare their fighting prowess with the other two families. Aside from their big number of soldiers, their skills were not that good.

”It’s just average coming from a military family,” Ming Kui said calmly. ”The standards of the Lan family had been decreasing as of late.”

”Your Highness, he doesn’t catch your attention?”

”No, his skill is not good enough.”

The attendant stared at the young man on the stage. This degree was not good enough? Just how high were the standards the first prince was searching for?

Ming Kui looked on the stage while pondering. If he truly wanted someone who has high skills in martial arts, he needed to look for Nanglong or Jun family. Both of these families were truly talented and their offspring were exceptional. Unfortunately, given that their relationship with the emperor was only lukewarm, they wouldn’t want to bother themselves with the fight for the throne.

Since he could not find a good support in terms of military power, Ming Kui was looking for highly intelligent officials. He was aware that he was not really favored by his father because his father was only looking at his second brother, Ming Gong. He couldn’t understand why his father didn’t just crown that man to be the crown prince, but it gave him hope that he still had some chance for the throne.

On the other side, Ming Gong was looking at the arena with disdainful eyes.

”That low talent and he already hoped to match with a general? What a joke!” He scoffed.

”Your Highness Prince Ming Gong, isn’t he really good?”

”What do you know? Compared to his brother, Lan Ping, he is nothing. I don’t need useless people like him,” Ming Gong said sharply. He used sharp tone as usual because he knew that his father favored him and someday he would become the emperor. To lower himself and scout for untalented people like this? It’s not in his agenda.

On the stage, Jun Hua watched the gleeful Lan Rou with calm eyes. In her eyes, this kind of performance was only a child’s play.

”Jun Min, it’s your turn!” Lan Rou said with confidence. With the three of his arrows going straight to the target, he believed that Jun Min would not be able to beat him.

Jun Hua picked up the bow and mounted a horse. Unlike Lan Rou, she put the three arrows on her bow and as she urged the horse to move, three arrows were fired almost at the same time towards the three targets. The three arrows went straight to the targets at the same time, despite the difference in location.

Jun Hua put her bow down and glared at Lan Rou. ”Have you finished talking?”