The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

The two men bent their bows and nocked arrows again, and each shot a third arrow. This time Sima Pei's guards shouted:"His Royal Highness King Langya has won! His Royal Highness King Langya has won!"

Sima Shao and Sima Pei ran over to take a look and also laughed. Sima Shao's third arrow shot down the first two arrows, but the third arrow missed the target a little. Sima Pei also shot down the first two arrows, and the third arrow also hit the bullseye.

"Standing and shooting, His Royal Highness King Langya wins!"Sima Sui's guards shouted in unison.

Next, the two men led dozens of guards to the racecourse not far away. Sima Shao ordered:"You are five hundred steps from north to south, every fifty steps. Insert an arrow into the ground. A total of ten arrows will be inserted at the end. The ten arrows must be in a line."

"Prince, how do you compete with this?"A guard asked. Sima Shao said:"This competition is quite special. Starting from the starting point, a person rides in front to pick up arrows on the ground. The other man started chasing from thirty paces behind the starting point. As long as the person behind catches up, the person in front will lose. Whoever picks up more arrows in the end wins"

"Brother, for the sake of fairness, let's play rock, scissors, and paper. Whoever wins will chase after him, and whoever loses will ride in front and draw an arrow. How about that?"Sima Pei suggested

"Okay, Brother Wang, this is a good idea."After Sima Shao finished speaking, the two brothers began to stretch out their right hands and played the"Guess the Ding Shell" game that children and adults alike like to play. In the first round, Sima Shao's punch, Sima Pei's cloth, Sima Shao loses.

In the second round, Sima Shao's punch and Sima Pe's scissors win.

In the third round, Sima Shao's scissors and Sima Pe's cloth, Sima Shao wins.

"What do you think, brother Wang, you can ride your horse and chase me first!"After Sima Shao finished speaking, he flew up on his horse at the starting point. Sima Pei also mounted his horse thirty steps behind the starting point. A guard of Sima Shao stood next to Sima Shao, and a guard of Sima Pei stood next to Sima Pei.. One of the two guards shouted"Run!"", and the other shouted at the same time,"Chase!"

Sima Shao galloped ahead on his horse, pulling out the arrows stuck in the ground with his right hand. Sima Pei followed closely behind. After the first round, Sima Shao pulled out five arrows on horseback, but Sima Pei was not able to catch up. In the second game, Sima Pei rode in front and drew arrows, while Sima Shao chased after him. As a result, Sima Pei pulled out six arrows, and Sima Shao did not catch up. Sima Pei won. Two out of three games were won, and the third game was the deciding game. , Sima Shao was chasing behind, and Sima Pei was riding in front to draw arrows. Sima Pei pulled out seven arrows, but when he was about to cross the finish line, Sima Shao's horse touched Sima Pei's horse's butt. The guards on both sides laughed loudly. Sima Rao didn't see the smile. The guards shouted:"His Royal Highness has won! His Royal Highness has won!"

"I lost?"Sima Pei held seven arrows in his hand and said with a smile. Sima Shao smiled and said nothing. One of Sima Pei's guards whispered in his ear. Sima Pei became embarrassed:"Brother Wang is still awesome! Brother Wang's skills are not good, so he is willing to be defeated!"

The teapot and tea were already placed on the table beside the racecourse. The brothers took off the arrow pot and bow, handed them to the guards around them, and began to drink tea. While drinking tea, Sima Shao asked:"Brother Wang, Did those five cooks follow you back?"

"No. He probably followed me for more than a month, and then he disappeared."Sima Pei said. Sima Shao felt that there was something wrong and continued to ask:"Is it because the salary you gave is not much, or is it?"

"neither. The pay for the five of them was more than the soldiers who killed the enemy at the front. The food they eat is much better than the soldiers who kill the enemy on the battlefield."Sima Pei added

"The origins of these five people are unknown. They don't have any purpose, right? Sima Shao asked. Sima Pei thought for a while and said,"I'm also surprised. The food is so delicious and I treat them well, but I became a deserter halfway. It seems to be a bit suspicious.""

"Okay, Brother Wang, let’s not talk about this anymore. Sima Shao patted Sima Pei on the shoulder and said,"Today you come to my house for dinner, and we two brothers can have a nice talk." Let’s make an appointment in ten days to go hunting together in Zhongshan, northeast of Jiankang!"

"good idea!"Sima Pei said happily:"Since my father ascended the throne as King Jin, there have been more and more affairs. I led the army on the Northern Expedition and it took three months to go back and forth. There was no time to go hunting at all. Going to Zhongshan is just a good time to make up for it, and come back and have dinner at my house."

The Prince's Mansion and Langya Prince's Mansion are both located in the eastern suburbs of Jiankang City. The Prince's Mansion and Langya Prince's Mansion are relatively far away from Sima Yi's Xiyang Prince's Mansion and Sima Zong's Nandun Prince's Mansion. On the lintel of the Prince's Mansion, there are The lintels of Prince Langya's Mansion are all written by Director Wang.

After breakfast, Sima Shao was sitting in his study, watching the"Book of Changes" attentively. An attendant came in and reported:"Your Highness, Prince Langya is waiting for you outside. There were dozens of people outside the mansion, all riding horses, holding swords, and carrying bows and arrows."

"Okay, Brother Wang finally has time! Sima Shao ordered:"Gather our men and horses immediately, take the bows and arrows needed for hunting, lead the horses and line up to assemble outside the gate of the mansion!""

Sima Shao led dozens of guards and rode out of the Prince's Mansion. When Sima Pei saw it, he quickly got off his horse and saluted:"See Brother Wang! How are you these days?!"

"All is well! Sima Shao dismounted and said,"Brother Wang, let's set off!""

"OK!"Then the brothers got on their horses and drove away along a road heading northeast. In less than half an hour, the hunting team arrived at the foot of Zhongshan Mountain

"Good guy! Look, everyone, purple clouds are lingering on the top of the mountain, like a fairyland. Are there gods living on the mountain?"A guard next to Sima Shao couldn't help but sigh a few times because it was his first time coming to Zhongshan. Another guard also said:"No! Sima

Shao saw dozens of guards very happy and said:"This Zhongshan Mountain looks like a dragon's pan. Although the mountain is not high, it is a place where tigers and dragons sit on top of the pan." The main road we came from just now leads northeast to Jingkou. To the west of Zhongshan is Houhu, which is where our navy is stationed."

"I remember when Zhuge Liang came here and saw that Zhongshan Mountain was often surrounded by purple clouds, he sighed,"Zhongshan Mountain is full of dragons and tigers, and this is the residence of the emperor."’"Not to be outdone, Sima Pei talked about what he knew about Zhong Shan. As the group talked, they dismounted and prepared to go up the mountain.

The hillsides are covered with dense woods, the trees are so thick with leaves that you can barely see the sky. After walking for a while up the mountain, Sima Shao said:"Tie the horses to the tree, leave a few people to watch the horses, and the rest will walk inside together to see if they can encounter prey."