Chapter 37: Chu Xingchen stood behind her, covering her hands with his own as he guided her archery practice.
Thus, after Su Yingxue diligently practiced for the duration of an incense stick, she remained consistently unable to hit the target when Mr. Liu came to inspect their progress.
In contrast, although Chu Xingchen had practiced fewer arrows than her, he showed remarkable improvement, already capable of reliably hitting the target—albeit with his accuracy progressing only from the tenth ring to around the fifth or sixth ring, still lacking precision.
For his current age, Chu Xingchen’s results were not outstanding. Princes of the Da Sheng Kingdom his age had long mastered the ability to shoot through a willow leaf at a hundred paces and pierce the bullseye with their eyes closed.
But with Su Yingxue—the hopeless case—as comparison, Mr. Liu suddenly developed a particular fondness for Chu Xingchen as his student. After all, you see, if an ordinary crane is placed among a flock of cranes, hardly anyone would notice that mediocre bird.
But suddenly, if that crane lands beside a hen, it instantly stands out from the flock.
Unfortunately, Su Yingxue was that hen. With her as a foil, Chu Xingchen appeared to Mr. Liu as nothing short of an archery prodigy.
Sure enough, after the inspection, Mr. Liu appointed Chu Xingchen as an assistant instructor to supervise Su Yingxue’s archery practice during training sessions.
After Mr. Liu departed, Chu Xingchen obediently stood not far behind Su Yingxue, joining Qiushuang in observing her archery practice.
Even though Chu Xingchen had concealed his true skill and performed averagely on purpose, he never expected that these intentionally off-target shots would satisfy Mr. Liu so greatly.
Later, as Chu Xingchen stood behind Su Yingxue watching her shoot, he understood Mr. Liu’s frustration. Su Yingxue truly had no talent for archery. As the most noble Eldest Princess of Da Sheng Guo Du, having been born with a silver spoon in her mouth—such a pampered jewel—her hands, kept soft and smooth from years of never doing manual work, were as pure and tender as milk, yet also exceedingly weak.
Military bows were generally designed for men’s arm strength—larger and heavier. Su Yingxue’s arm strength was too feeble; she lacked the power to fully draw the bowstring. Consequently, her arrows flew with weak, unsteady force, naturally affecting both accuracy and impact, preventing them from reaching the target.
Chu Xingchen, already highly skilled in mounted archery, recognized that even if she continued practicing this way for several more months, she would make little progress.
With cool, detached eyes and an impassive expression, Chu Xingchen watched as the woman repeated her motions incessantly.
Dressed in vibrant riding attire, Yingxue carried a touch of radiance under the warm winter sun. Her delicate features, already elegant, seemed coated in a soft, warm glow under the sunlight, reminiscent of a celestial maiden from ancient texts—so beautiful she seemed almost otherworldly.
For a moment, even Chu Xingchen was slightly captivated. He had never thought Su Yingxue would be someone willing to work diligently and endure hardship. She had always favored luxury and comfort, an entitled daughter of heaven who could not bear suffering.
Chu Xingchen had assumed Su Yingxue’s interest in archery and horsemanship was merely a fleeting whim.
Seeing her exert such effort yet still produce such poor archery, he finally could not help but sigh softly.
After all, Su Yingxue had rushed into the Inner Service Directorate to save him when he was nearly beaten half to death by its officers. Chu Xingchen told himself to consider this as repaying a favor—he never owed anyone anything.
“Your Highness, if you trust me, I have a method to help you improve,” Chu Xingchen said softly.
“Oh?” Su Yingxue turned to look at him, her eyes filled with skeptical curiosity. “Does Younger Brother have some clever trick to help this Elder Sister improve her archery slightly?”
“Your Highness, there is a method, though it might somewhat offend Your Highness. I wonder if you’d be willing to try?” Chu Xingchen gazed calmly into Su Yingxue’s eyes as he spoke gently.
“This Palace is willing. Speak freely.” Upon hearing this, Su Yingxue’s eyes brightened. She had originally planned to familiarize herself quickly and take the entrance exam for Juxian Elegant Lodge as soon as possible, yet now she was stuck making no progress in mere equestrian archery. “This Palace pardons you from any offense.”
“Your Highness, pardon my offense.” Chu Xingchen spoke mildly, then bowed respectfully before moving to stand a short distance behind Su Yingxue. In a soft voice, he instructed, “Your Highness, draw the bow, nock the arrow and aim, then maintain the posture.”
Chu Xingchen’s voice was hoarse yet stern. Hearing this, Su Yingxue took an arrow, mustered all her strength, drew the bow and aimed at the target ahead. She merely maintained this position without releasing the arrow.
Seeing this, Chu Xingchen stood behind her, placing one hand over hers on the bowstring while the other gripped her hand that held the drawn bow. Though Chu Xingchen was a few years younger than her, his palms were broad and warm.
Those hands were covered with thick calluses—countless dirty and exhausting tasks during his long years as a Hostage Prince had left them full of cracks and rough patches.
The coarse texture seemed like a silent accusation of the mistreatment he had suffered from the people of Dasheng. For a moment, Su Yingxue was stunned. Compared to her own soft, fair, delicate and smooth hands, Chu Xingchen’s didn’t even resemble those befitting a prince.
Even the hands of her palace maid, Qiushuang, were more delicate and smooth than Chu Xingchen’s.
Just how much suffering had he endured in the Dasheng palace? Su Yingxue was momentarily lost in thought. In that dazed instant, Chu Xingchen had already covered her hands with his, pulling the bowstring she hadn’t fully drawn.
His palms were warm against hers, making Zhang Susu so nervous her hands grew sweaty. For a moment, she forgot about shooting the arrow, instead turning her head to look at the young man standing behind her.
Chu Xingchen, with his ink-black hair and snow-white complexion, appeared as coldly handsome as a celestial being descended to earth, his riding attire fluttering. Standing behind her, his arms encircled her yet touched nowhere except where their hands met.
Covering her hands with his, Chu Xingchen guided her hands to apply force, leading her to find and aim at the bullseye.
His voice hoarse, he said softly, “Your Highness, align your eye, the arrow, and the bullseye in a straight line while aiming.”
Chu Xingchen’s words fell clearly behind her ear—he was so close to Su Yingxue that his warm, distinct breath tickled the nape of her neck.
Such proximity made Su Yingxue momentarily flustered, her consciousness seeming to drift. What is this situation? Su Yingxue felt somewhat at a loss, even failing to focus on what he said afterward.
“Your Highness, you may shoot now.” Chu Xingchen whispered several times, but seeing her still somewhat dazed and unresponsive, he had no choice but to raise his voice and repeat the instruction.
This sudden increase in volume finally brought her back to awareness.
As promised, she released the arrow in her hand. This time, the arrow flew faster than any she had shot before, heading straight for the target and landing squarely in the sixth ring.