Chapter 330 Defiant?

Chapter 330: Not Convinced?

Cheng Ge walked to the designated archery training area. The personal guard who had escorted him there signaled for everyone to halt their drills.

Glancing at Cheng Ge beside him, the guard called out loudly to the soldiers practicing:

"Everyone, this is Instructor Cheng. From today onward, he will be your new archery instructor!"

The moment these words were spoken, the training ground fell dead silent, followed by a wave of barely muffled murmurs.

The soldiers exchanged bewildered looks, disbelief plastered all over their faces. The General's Wife teaching them archery? This... was this even right?

Someone couldn't help whispering to a companion: "The new instructor? Wasn't it supposed to be Qianhu Han?"

"Yeah, Qianhu Han's archery is superb, and he's Old General Han's son. Wasn't he supposed to be a lock for the job?"

Just as the murmurs of doubt began to rise, a slightly agitated voice cut through the crowd.

"What the hell are you all yapping about!" An old soldier with a scar across his face glared at those around him.

Lowering his voice but unable to hide his reverence, he said: "In the last city defense battle, if not for the General's Wife's three arrows turning the tide, who knows where we'd all be right now."

His gaze swept over the new recruits, and he snorted: "With archery skills that godlike, let alone being a mere archery instructor, she'd be more than qualified to be the head archery trainer for the whole damn army!

Qianhu Han's archery is decent, but has any of you seen him nail one arrow with another from a hundred paces out and instantly kill the enemy commander?"

These words were like throwing water on a grease fire, instantly setting the crowd off.

Many soldiers who hadn't been on the front lines or were too far away at the time now learned the specific details of that legendary battle for the first time.

The looks directed at Cheng Ge shifted instantly from disbelief and contempt to shock and fervor.

However, at that moment, a discordant voice rang out with a sarcastic edge.

"All that sweet talk—who knows if it's even true? Battlefields are chaotic. Maybe it was luck, or maybe someone else made the shot and the credit got slapped on someone else?

A woman, not happy to sit pretty in the back chambers, comes running into this man's world to play with weapons and play instructor. What kind of nonsense is that?"

Everyone turned to look. A dark-skinned officer stood not far away—it was none other than Han Meng, the Qianhu Han they'd been talking about earlier.

Beside him stood several subordinates with equally hostile expressions.

Han Meng looked Cheng Ge up and down, his gaze sweeping over his seemingly slender frame and the veiled hat covering his face, a sneer curling at the corner of his lips.

Cheng Ge froze mid-step, blinking a few times like he hadn't quite processed what he'd just heard.

Cheng Ge: A woman? Is he talking about me? Who the hell started that rumor this time!?!

Damn! No wonder that Zhao Cheng had been calling him the General's Wife!

Han Meng's words did hit a nerve of doubt in a lot of people.

He'd been commanding the rear support during the battle and hadn't witnessed Cheng Ge's miraculous three arrows firsthand.

Besides the few soldiers who had been near the city tower or at the very front lines, the vast majority had only heard the story passed around from comrade to comrade, talked up like it was some kind of divine miracle.

But one thing was indisputable: the Northern Di's legendary sharpshooter Urkhan had indeed taken an arrow straight through the skull, and the fierce general Wuliji had also caught an arrow to the chest and been forced to retreat.

But... could the one who pulled off something like that really be this slender figure standing right here, this General's Wife who looked like a stiff breeze could knock her over?

The crowd looked at Cheng Ge again, their eyes sweeping over his veil-covered face and those skinny-looking shoulders.

The excitement the old soldier had stirred up slowly fizzled out, replaced by all kinds of shady speculation and doubt.

Especially when someone whispered that they'd heard the bow used that night was a Kaiyuan Bow—that's when the doubt really hit its peak.

A Kaiyuan Bow! That thing was a standard heavy bow that took serious arm strength just to draw all the way back.

Let alone nailing three precise shots in a row at a moment like that.

Any man strong enough to draw a Kaiyuan Bow would have to be built like a brick shithouse.

With the General's Wife's... this kinda frail frame, could she really have done it?

For a moment, all kinds of thoughts were swirling around the training ground.

Maybe the rumors really were blown out of proportion? Could it be that General Cui had deliberately handed the credit to his wife to make her look good?

Han Meng watched the crowd's expressions shift, his confidence growing by the second. The sneer on his face got even more pronounced.

He'd been training in martial arts since he was a kid, putting in over twenty years of hard work on his archery. In this camp, aside from a few old generals, he figured nobody could outshoot him.

When the last archery instructor got wounded and had to retire, Han Meng had been eyeing this position for a long time. He'd greased palms and pulled strings, dead sure it was his—just waiting for the order to drop.

Never in his wildest dreams did he think someone would come out of nowhere and snatch it away—a woman who had nothing going for her but her connection to the general!

Just because she was one of Cui Ji's people, she could just waltz in and take a position others had been dying for?

How could that not piss him off! When the hell had this camp become so unfair!

He stared at Cheng Ge, his eyes sharp as a knife, dripping with open provocation as he raised his voice:

"Instructor Cheng, since you've walked into this training ground and taken this instructor's spot, you can't just rely on rumors to win anyone over.

I ain't the best shot around, but I'd like to test a few rounds of archery against the instructor, so the brothers can see what real sharpshooting actually looks like! So, Instructor, you got the guts to show us?"

The moment these words left his mouth, the entire training ground fell completely silent.

All eyes focused on Cheng Ge. The air felt like it was frozen solid, thick with tension.

This was a straight-up challenge. If Cheng Ge didn't dare accept, then this archery instructor gig would be a joke from day one—nobody would ever respect him.

Cheng Ge barely managed to snap out of his shock at being called a woman, still not fully able to wrap his head around what the guy had said.

He looked up at him, not answering right away, opening his mouth to let the venom fly.

But the words died in his throat as he forced them back down. He was still a fugitive; it wasn't wise to draw attention.

Although this place was far from the capital and Yuanzhou, if someone with ill intent exploited it, it would cause trouble.

As for this woman's identity... well... it was harmless enough, and it conveniently helped conceal his true identity. Cheng Ge began frantically brainwashing himself.

Han Zhen saw his hesitation and thought it was a sign of guilt, pressing his advantage:

"An archery instructor relies on real skill, not on a husband's power, and certainly not on some hearsay battlefield legends.

This is a military camp. If you're going to teach, you need to show skills that make the brothers genuinely respect you."

His words were highly inflammatory, immediately rousing some of those who harbored doubts or were his own subordinates to join in the jeering.

"Qianhu Han is right!"

"Put up or shut up!"

"Talk is cheap!"

The training ground instantly crackled with tension, all eyes fixed on Cheng Ge.

They wanted to see how this out-of-nowhere instructor would handle such a direct challenge.

The personal guard escorting Cheng Ge's face darkened, about to speak, but Cheng Ge raised a hand slightly to stop him.

The sheer veil of her hat stirred, though no wind blew, as she took a single, deliberate step forward, facing Han Meng and all the doubting soldiers.

Her voice filtered through the gauze, utterly placid, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears.

"Qianhu Han, you make a fair point."

She tilted her head slightly, as if glancing at the various bows and targets set up at the edge of the field.

"In the army, it's skill that does the talking. So, Qianhu Han, how do you want to run this?"