"Young Master Lu is so impressive."
As the Song family's young master was about to throw, Lu Chen tossed another arrow. Now, each of them had two arrows left. There were eight red and eight blue arrows in the pot, a perfect tie. The outcome would be decided by the remaining two arrows.
The Song family's young master snorted, turned around, and without even looking, tossed his arrows over his shoulder, both landing precisely in the pot.
If Lu Chen were to throw his arrows directly, he would still be slightly inferior.
To win, Lu Chen could only do the same, turning his back and throwing.
"No one has ever beaten me in a game of *touhu*."
"Amazing!" Cheers erupted, deafening everyone. The Song family's young master looked at the pot, then at Lu Chen, in disbelief. Not only had he thrown with his back turned, but he had also used his red arrow to knock out one of the blue ones. Now, there were ten red arrows and nine blue arrows in the pot.
The winner was clear.
"Lu Chen, you cheated," the Song family's young master finally managed to blurt out. "You knocked out my arrow."
"Young Master Song, the rules did not specify that," Zhao Ruiqing said. "Therefore, Lu Chen did not cheat."
"Song Chi, don't make a fuss," Rui Ning chimed in.
"My cousin is right. When the rules were set, it wasn't forbidden to use one's own arrow to knock out an opponent's. So, Young Master Lu wins this round," Li Ruyi added. "It was a close call, and both young masters performed admirably. Everyone enjoyed watching."
Both were good, but you were just a little behind Lu Chen.
Song Chi gritted his teeth. He had thrown ten arrows first, and he should have won. Yet, everyone here was siding with Lu Chen, which infuriated him.
Zhao Ruiqing handed the pair of jade pendants to Lu Chen. To everyone's surprise, Lu Chen walked over to Qi Zhenzhen with the pendants. "I was unable to give you a wedding gift when you married Young Master Gu. Consider these jade pendants my belated present to you both."
The scene fell silent.
Before the prize was revealed, Zhao Ruiqing had mentioned that it was said that if lovers each wore one, they would be happy together forever. What did Lu Chen mean by giving them to Qi Zhenzhen, who was already married? Even if he said it was for her and her husband, it still felt strange.
Because of Lu Chen's words, all eyes turned to Qi Zhenzhen.
Qi Zhenzhen was annoyed. Why was this man insisting on crossing her? Hadn't she made her feelings clear before? She had explicitly stated she wanted nothing to do with him. If he had married Qi Mingzhu, she would have called him brother-in-law. Now that his relationship with Qi Mingzhu was over, he was even less relevant to her.
"Young Master Lu and I are not close at all. What reason would there be for me to accept a gift from him?" Qi Zhenzhen said slowly, word by word.
Lu Chen's expression remained unchanged. He maintained his gentle, jade-like demeanor, his raised hand not retracting, showing his stubbornness.
"Young Master Lu performed exceptionally well just now. I saw it clearly. How could he use martial arts for a mere game of *touhu*?" Qi Zhenzhen added.
Lu Chen knows martial arts?
The gazes of the crowd turned subtle as they looked at Lu Chen. They were well acquainted with Song Chi and knew he didn't practice martial arts.
They had been admiring Lu Chen moments ago, but now they felt his victory was somewhat unfair.
*Touhu* was a common game among noblemen. Even with a prize, one wouldn't resort to using martial arts, would they? Moreover, after winning the prize, Lu Chen was openly presenting it to Miss Qi, who had recently married. Was he intentionally trying to cause the Duke of Protectorate's mansion to misunderstand Miss Qi? It was rumored that Young Master Gu had been assigned a task and had left on a journey. Was Lu Chen brazenly trying to steal his wife?