Guessing Under Cover

Shooting means guessing, and fu means covering.

Shefu is a game of guessing games with the game covered up.

When the new emperor entered the Zhang Household residence, he once asked Zhang Xuezhou the question of "which foot should enter with?" Zhang Xuezhou initially thought the emperor was deliberately making things difficult for him, but now he realizes that it was probably because the new emperor liked archery.

The new emperor was fond of archery, so even though Zhang Xuezhou wasn't particularly skilled at it, he had to pretend to be good at it.

After all, everyone's skill level in these kinds of guessing games is about the same, so even if you guess randomly, you still have a chance of getting it right.

Sang Hongyang was a close attendant to the new emperor, and Zhang Xuezhou hoped that Sang Hongyang would speak well of him when the opportunity arose.

"Brother Dongfang, you are truly skilled at archery!"

Upon hearing Zhang Xuezhou's self-recommendation, Sang Hongyang couldn't help but feel a bit curious.

"Back then, I was unbeatable in the archery game in Hibiscus City. Only my cousin could fight me for three hundred rounds," Zhang Xuezhou said. "If His Majesty needs someone to play archery, you should suggest that he call me to guess. I certainly won't embarrass you."

"If your shooting accuracy is high, I'll definitely recommend you!"

Sang Hongyang nodded repeatedly.

Recommendations were very popular in the imperial court. If someone's talent in a certain area was discovered, the recommender would also be rewarded.

As long as Zhang Xuezhou's archery skills please the new emperor, he will be treated differently as the recommender.

Having met Zhang Xuezhou multiple times, he still believed in Zhang Xuezhou's character.

If Zhang Xuezhou were to joke about something like this, not only would he lose face, Zhang Xuezhou himself would also come out worse off.

"Among us, Guo Sheren is the best at archery; look, he's inviting people over there to shoot him again!"

Sang Hongyang and Han Yan were the new emperor's study companions, but they also had playmates.

Guo Sheren was the new emperor's playmate. If the new emperor wanted to find someone to have some normal fun, Guo Sheren would be the first choice.

This was a very playful person; Sang Hongyang had heard the new emperor praise him more than once.

The new emperor also needed a balance between work and rest. His companions were on the work side, while Guo Sheren was on the rest side.

Compared to the discomfort caused by labor, leisure is clearly more enjoyable for both body and mind.

Has he been promoted to a higher rank in the Censorate?

Zhang Xuezhou looked over and saw that Guo Sheren was also elegant and handsome. Even though he was dressed in ordinary clothes, it could not hide his youthful vigor.

At this moment, Guo Sheren was carrying a wooden box and going around inviting people to shoot him.

The other person had some loose silver in his left palm and a string of coins wrapped around his waist, clearly for betting.

"Besides those who have been granted titles in the past, His Majesty has not yet bestowed any additional official titles upon those who have served as Attendants-in-Ordinary," Sang Hongyang said. "Guo Sheren should be qualified, but His Majesty is afraid of being reprimanded by the Empress Dowager for indulging in frivolous pursuits, so he has not yet granted Guo Sheren the title of Attendant-in-Ordinary. He will certainly be rewarded in the future."

"Playing well is truly wonderful!"

Talent is one thing, being likable is another.

In reality, there are many talented people who can only bury themselves in hard work, while others who flatter and please their superiors get promoted.

The former creates tangible economic benefits, while the latter provides psychological and emotional value to those in high positions.

Zhang Xuezhou did not like the latter, but he acknowledged its necessity.

If one doesn't painstakingly demonstrate their talent, then the only option is to take the latter shortcut.

People like Zhang Xuezhou can't even perform normal official duties. He has to work twelve days and then rest twelve days, and one rotation takes almost half a month.

It's undoubtedly difficult to expect him to achieve any political accomplishments.

"I'm actually good at flattering people to get ahead!"

He had figured out his way out and, guided by Sang Hongyang, approached Guo Sheren, who was inviting people to shoot him in the camp.

At this time, Guo Sheren had found a target to shoot together with, a young man dressed in blue.

How many leaves are in my wooden box?

Guo Sheren had hidden leaves in the wooden box. As long as the box wasn't opened and searched, other methods could be used at will.

One hides, the other guesses—this is the first round.

In the second round, the roles of guessing and hiding will be reversed, and a winner will be determined.

This undoubtedly involves an element of luck.

"I saw the leaves you just grabbed and quickly counted the number of leaves you hid. This time it's not hard to guess, twelve leaves," the young man in blue said cautiously.

"Li Yannian, open the wooden box and count it yourself," Guo Sheren said with a smile.

"I'm going to make you guess what leaves are in a bit, but... how come there are nine leaves?"

The young man in blue was cautious yet confident, but after opening the wooden box and counting the items, his face was filled with disbelief.

"Leaves piled together aren't so easy to count," Guo Sheren laughed. "Now it's your turn to hide them. You can make me guess what's hidden, the number, the location, and the shape—no problem at all!"

"Then you try to guess! I don't believe you can guess right every time!"

Li Yannian grabbed the wooden box, but instead of looking for any items, he directly used Guo Sheren's leaves.

He turned his back to Guo Sheren, performed a series of actions, and then locked the wooden box, leaving Guo Sheren to guess.

"Since it's a guessing game, I'll just guess!"

Guo Sheren took the wooden box, shook it slightly, and casually gave the result.

"Are you really sure it's eleven leaves and you're not going to change it?" Li Yannian asked.

"Just eleven leaves," Guo Sheren nodded. "You must have added two more leaves to the base of my leaves!"

"I'll come hang out with you again when I have money!"

The wooden box was not opened for verification, and Li Yannian gave Guo Sheren twenty and a half taels of silver in a sullen manner.

"How did you guess that I added two leaves, just by shaking the wooden box like that?" Li Yannian asked, puzzled.

"Yes," said Guo Sheren happily, taking the half-ounce coin, "You can tell just by the sound!"

"Next time, let's use a basin to guess, and no shaking the basin is allowed," Li Yannian said.

"Fine," Guo Sheren replied nonchalantly, "You gave me this wooden box last time, just don't give me the basin next time!"

The outcome of the match between the two was decided very quickly with each shot.

Zhang Xuezhou and his group had only just arrived nearby when Guo Sheren and Li Yannian's shooting contest had already ended.

"So, isn't his shooting skill high?" Sang Hongyang said with envy, "If I had that skill, I could win a lot of money."

"That's really high!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

Perhaps it was because he was more skilled than other young people, or perhaps Zhang Xuezhou was also very skillful, but he managed to see that Guo Sheren had used some techniques.

The other party deliberately let Li Yannian see the number of leaves when he quickly glanced at them, and then hid the leaves under his nose even faster. This caused Li Yannian to clearly see the number, but his answer was wrong.

Guo Sheren's guess about the number of leaves Li Yannian possessed likely involved counting by sound, or perhaps Guo Sheren had the ability to discern minute weights; either way, such an ability required exceptional talent.

With his skillful hands and keen ability to discern subtle details, it's no surprise that Guo Sheren was a highly skilled archer.

As long as Guo Sheren doesn't try any tricks in front of a great cultivator, this approach is almost guaranteed to work on people of the same age.

"Do you want to play with him?" Sang Hongyang asked.

"It's fine to have some fun!"

Zhang Xuezhou nodded.

He could barely make out Guo Sheren's techniques, which almost put him in an invincible position.

As for how to prevent Guo Sheren from guessing what he had hidden, that would require some thought.