The racetrack was very large, enough for six people to line up side by side at the track entrance.

The entire track was circular, with the starting point also serving as the finish line. At the finish line stood a neat row of archery targets, already bristling with arrows stuck at various angles. More arrows had fallen to the ground. Young attendants responsible for recording wrote down each result.

The six female students taking the examination each had a horse. These horses were all brought by Superior Charioteer Commander Kong Liu. Each group used fresh horses, all with very gentle temperaments. This was to ensure the safety of the noble ladies. After all, spirited horses were difficult to tame. If these female students fell, it would be no small matter.

Jiang Li’s horse was dark brown. Looking as unremarkable as its appearance suggested, it was lowering its head to nibble at the grass. Jiang Li couldn’t help but reach out to stroke the horse’s neck. This reminded her of when she and Xue Zhao used to race horses in Tongxiang.

This action, in others’ eyes, only seemed puzzling. Someone said, “What is Second Miss Jiang doing? Does she not know how to ride and think she can become familiar with the horse this way?”

“What nonsense. These horses are all from the light cavalry unit. Familiar or not, it’s all the same. But Second Miss Jiang might truly be a layperson. Look at her movements—very awkward indeed.”

Jiang Li couldn’t hear the outside discussions. She only gently stroked the horse’s head. That horse remained dull and showed no greater affection toward Jiang Li because of it.

Jiang Youyao, on the side, seeing this scene, felt disdainful inside, assuming Jiang Li fundamentally didn’t understand horsemanship. She busied herself preparing her quiver.

Jiang Yu’e also stared at Jiang Li. Seeing that this time Jiang Li no longer appeared as skilled as in previous instances, she breathed a sigh of relief inside. If Jiang Li stole the spotlight again in horseback riding and archery, Jiang Yu’e would probably be jealous enough to wish she could destroy her immediately.

A burly man holding a bronze hammer struck the large drum on the examination grounds hard. With a “clang,” everyone began preparing to mount their horses.

Meng Hongjin was the fastest to mount. She placed one foot on the stirrup, flipped her body, and everyone only saw a flash of red before she was already seated firmly on the horse. People couldn’t help but cheer and call out praise.

Most of Yanjing City’s noble ladies were delicate and not very skilled at horseback riding and archery. Very few could accomplish what Meng Hongjin did. Therefore, everyone naturally didn’t spare their praise for Meng Hongjin’s beautiful movement. Seeing outsiders cast admiring gazes at her, Meng Hongjin felt proud, and even the gloom from recent days caused by Jiang Li surpassing her dissipated considerably.

The second to mount was Jiang Yu’e. Her movements weren’t as crisp and decisive as Meng Hongjin’s—much more proper—but because of her small and pitiful appearance, even her mounting movements aroused people’s sympathy.

Next was Nie Xiaoshuang. She and Zhu Xin’er mounted at roughly the same time. The two should have had a good relationship normally. Their mounting movements were also similar. Though not particularly distinctive, they made no mistakes either.

Then came Jiang Youyao. Jiang Youyao flashed a smile before flipping onto her horse. Because her appearance was too outstanding, her smile like a blooming flower, no one actually noticed her mounting movement. However, young gentlemen were quite taken by this display, all staring with fixed eyes.

Kong Liu looked upon this with disdain, muttering to Zheng Huchen beside him, “Embroidered pillow.”

Zheng Huchen made no sound. Ji Heng on the side leaned against his chair back, absentmindedly watching these noble ladies’ movements.

Last was Jiang Li.

Kong Liu suddenly became alert, sitting much straighter. Ji Heng glanced at him, his gaze extremely cold.

“I wonder if Jiang Li knows how to mount a horse. Are there horses at nunneries?” Just as Ye Shijie was thinking this, he saw Jiang Li unhurriedly lift her foot onto the stirrup, grasp the reins, and lightly leap onto the horse’s back.

Very smooth and natural. She wasn’t as passionate and decisive as Meng Hongjin, nor pitiful like Jiang Yu’e, and she certainly didn’t “smile sweetly” before mounting like Jiang Youyao. She simply calmly pulled up the reins, sitting quietly on horseback. Very ordinary, like eating or drinking water.

Liu Xu was somewhat dazed.

Since getting to know Jiang Li, she knew Jiang Li was a calm and composed person who was never seen flustered or anxious. But she hadn’t expected that even a simple mounting movement could be done so gently. It wasn’t as stunning as Meng Hongjin’s, yet exceptionally comfortable. Thinking again, it seemed very fitting for Jiang Li’s temperament. Jiang Li should be just like this.

Laypeople watching for excitement naturally couldn’t discern anything. They only knew that Second Miss Jiang wasn’t completely ignorant about horsemanship—at least she knew how to mount. Experts saw the craft. Kong Liu, however, noticed something and whispered to Zheng Huchen, “Second Miss Jiang is not bad.”

Zheng Huchen frowned slightly.

Jiang Li had already mounted her horse. The quiver was heavy, strapped to her back. She pulled up the reins. The summer wind brushed against her face, very warm, just like Xue Huaiyuan’s instructions and Xue Zhao’s laughing words.

Suddenly, there was a glimmer of tears in Jiang Li’s eyes.

However, that glimmer quickly vanished because the starting drum had already sounded. With a “whoosh,” six horses simultaneously galloped forward!

Calling it galloping was perhaps an exaggeration. Nie Xiaoshuang and Zhu Xin’er were practically trotting. They barely even used their whips, only carefully maintaining the posture of “running.” Kong Liu wiped his face, his tone full of disappointment, saying, “What a waste of my good horses.”

Jiang Youyao and Jiang Yu’e were better than these two. At least their whip-wielding movements were quite dashing. However, the horsemanship they displayed on horseback was all very simple, more focused on looking beautiful. They made people notice the riders rather than the horses.

Zheng Huchen also shook his head secretly, clearly very dissatisfied with these young ladies’ fooling around. But there was no helping it. Horseback riding and archery had never been Mingyi Hall’s strong suit. Or rather, very few young ladies were willing to endure hardship to learn skills that were almost never used in daily life.

Throughout the entire examination grounds, Meng Hongjin was in the lead.

She was like a ball of fire. Her fire-red riding attire made her look proud and beautiful, outlining her graceful figure—clearly a heart-stirring young maiden. As the horse jolted, her long hair rose and fell behind her, even more like a beautiful painting. Although Meng Hongjin’s appearance couldn’t compare to Jiang Youyao’s, on horseback, Meng Hongjin was indeed more eye-catching than Jiang Youyao.

“Miss Meng is very impressive,” someone said. “At least in horseback riding and archery, no one can compare to her.”

“What about Second Miss Jiang?” The person beside teased, “In the previous four categories, didn’t Second Miss Jiang make late comebacks and turn defeat into victory?”

“Look, Second Miss Jiang is currently falling behind,” the first speaker replied. “Moreover, Second Miss Jiang seems to lack drive. To surpass Miss Meng who’s charging ahead should be impossible.”

On the examination grounds, Jiang Li’s dark brown horse was also running.

Seemingly unexpectedly, yet upon reflection perhaps as expected, Jiang Li’s horse riding wasn’t as awkward as imagined. She should have ridden before. However, compared to her first place in the upper three categories and the stunning “Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute” in qin music, her horsemanship appeared quite mediocre.

She didn’t display any techniques on horseback. One couldn’t tell how good her horse-riding skills were. However, one thing could probably prove she was indeed seriously racing—because after Meng Hongjin, Jiang Li was second.

This wasn’t hard to understand. Nie Xiaoshuang and Zhu Xin’er were somewhat afraid of racing horses, all their movements very cautious. Jiang Youyao and Jiang Yu’e were busier displaying their beauty and charm. In comparison, only Jiang Li and Meng Hongjin were seriously competing.

The distance between Jiang Li and Meng Hongjin wasn’t very far. Roughly, Jiang Li only needed to whip her horse a bit harder and she should be able to overtake Meng Hongjin. Yet Jiang Li seemed to have no intention of exerting force, even riding so leisurely that it seemed relaxed.

Kong Liu anxiously scratched his head. “What’s wrong with Second Miss Jiang? Just a bit more effort and she could overtake the Meng girl. Why won’t she move? Ah, this is killing me.”

Zheng Huchen: “Calm down a bit…”

“I can’t calm down. Tell me, isn’t this infuriating? She could clearly overtake…”

With a “snap,” someone beside them closed a fan.

Kong Liu’s body stiffened. He immediately fell silent. Turning his head, he saw Ji Heng hadn’t even looked at him, his tone cool as he said, “Too noisy.”

Kong Liu spoke no more.

Although Jiang Li’s failure to overtake Meng Hongjin made Kong Liu anxious, more people worried for Jiang Li breathed sighs of relief. For instance Liu Xu, for instance Ye Shijie, for instance Jiang Jingrui. Jiang Li should know how to ride horses. Seeing her riding very steadily, she wouldn’t encounter problems. Today was also the last two categories. Once horseback riding and archery passed, as long as Jiang Li maintained this level, the wager with Meng Hongjin meant Meng Hongjin would lose. She also wouldn’t be expelled from Mingyi Hall. A mutually satisfactory outcome.

Jiang Li didn’t know about everyone’s thoughts. The reason she kept some distance from Meng Hongjin was simply to see what Meng Hongjin planned to do. Perhaps having died once, her sense for conspiracies was particularly keen. Early this morning, she had noticed Meng Hongjin’s abnormality. Thinking it over, Meng Hongjin probably planned to tamper with something, or perhaps had already tampered with something. Jiang Li didn’t yet know. All she could do was try to stay as far from Meng Hongjin as possible. If Meng Hongjin hadn’t yet succeeded, she would inevitably deliberately approach her.

Sure enough, after running for about one incense stick’s time, Meng Hongjin gradually slowed down. Jiang Li remained alert and also slowed her pace, still maintaining the same distance from Meng Hongjin as at the start. This made the situation on the field somewhat strange. Even Jiang Youyao and the others, who had fallen behind, caught up, almost running neck and neck with them.

“What’s going on?” The spectators couldn’t understand. “Are the horses from the Superior Charioteer Commander not good? Did they not feed them this morning?”

“Bullshit!” Kong Liu, hearing this, didn’t care that he was still seated as a judge at the examination grounds. He turned and shouted across the crowd, “I added night grass several times last night. How could they be hungry?”

“Then they must be too full to run?” The crowd laughed.

Kong Liu was truly too angry to speak. Turning, he saw Ji Heng had somehow raised his eyelids and was staring at several parallel backs on the racetrack, looking thoughtful.

Kong Liu’s heart skipped a beat, vaguely realizing something.

Even with Jiang Li slowing her pace, she was gradually almost the same distance as Meng Hongjin. Meng Hongjin looked like she had charged too hard at the start and was now somewhat fatigued, which was why she had slowed.

At this moment, they had already reached the latter half of the racetrack, nearing the archery targets.

Precisely because of this, a section of the racetrack passage became extremely narrow. Both Jiang Li and Meng Hongjin were about to pass through that entrance.

Jiang Li held the reins with one hand while reaching back with the other to touch her quiver, pulling out an arrow and preparing to draw her bow and shoot. Horseback archery was most difficult precisely because when shooting arrows on horseback, both hands had to hold the bow and arrow, making it impossible to grip the reins and even harder to control the horse beneath. Many noble ladies, when shooting arrows, still kept one hand on the reins, making it even more impossible to aim accurately, shooting haphazardly. Either they didn’t dare release the reins and simply gave up shooting at targets. Even those bolder ones who released the reins with both hands to grasp bow and arrow did so for extremely short periods, quickly shooting the arrow before grasping the reins again.

Aiming already required some time. Being so flustered and hurried, how could they hit the target? Therefore, in horseback archery up to now, not a single bullseye had been hit.

Yet Jiang Li released the reins with both hands, grasping bow and arrow, aiming at the archery target.

“Such courage.” Zheng Huchen rarely praised.

Surrounding people gasped in waves of surprise. “She’s really not afraid. Look how long she’s released the reins—she’s the longest so far, right?”

“Of course. Look how steadily her horse is controlled. She sits firmly. I think Second Miss Jiang is also a horsemanship expert. The person isn’t panicked at all.”

Jiang Li riding and shooting arrows indeed showed not a trace of panic in her expression, even deserving to be called carefree and composed. Such urgent matters, done by her, somehow became much slower, easing the urgency in people’s hearts.

Her horse-riding movements were very steady. Her legs tightly gripped the stirrups. The hands holding bow and arrow were also very steady. Although Second Miss Jiang’s body couldn’t compare to her former health, these days she had worked hard at recuperation and had improved considerably.

Her gaze fixed tightly on the bullseye. In Jiang Li’s eyes, the archery target had become a jumping wild rabbit, a yellow fox, or a flying bird, just as she had done countless times hunting with Xue Zhao.

Aim, shoot!

With a “whoosh,” the arrow left her hand, urgently cutting through the air with a whistling wind.

Then, that red-marked arrow was seen steadily hitting the bullseye!

Direct hit!

The examination grounds fell silent for an instant. Everyone couldn’t believe their eyes.

Kong Liu slapped his thigh and shouted, “Beautiful!”

Before he finished speaking, he saw Jiang Li quickly draw another arrow, aiming at the bullseye and shooting!

Direct hit!

Jiang Li didn’t pause, drawing another from her quiver.

Still a direct hit!

In a brief moment, Jiang Li fired three shots in succession, all direct hits!

Silence became uproar. Uproar became cheering.

Jiang Jingrui murmured, “Good heavens…”

This wasn’t qin music. This was horseback riding and archery. The Imperial Academy also taught horseback riding and archery. Jiang Jingrui had learned it and knew its difficulty. Precisely because of this, seeing Jiang Li’s three bullseyes felt inconceivable.

Was this luck? This absolutely wasn’t luck!

Kong Liu watched in stunned amazement. Soon after, he was there overturning tables and kicking stools, sighing long and short.

Zheng Huchen asked him, “What are you doing?”

“Damn, didn’t you see?” Kong Liu pointed at Jiang Li. “Three bullseyes! My light cavalry unit doesn’t even have many with such good aim! Damn, why is she the Chief Minister’s daughter? If she were a man, no, if she were a woman from an ordinary family, I’d absolutely have to recruit her into the cavalry!”

Zheng Huchen: “…Shut up!”

When Ji Shuran saw Jiang Li hit three bullseyes, she nearly failed to conceal her ugly expression. She knew that with Jiang Li’s three arrows, Meng Hongjin’s earlier glory was completely overshadowed, not to mention Jiang Youyao, who wasn’t skilled at horseback riding and archery to begin with. Everyone else in this group seemed to have become Jiang Li’s foil.

She furrowed her brows and said to Jiang Yuanbai, “Where did Li’er learn this horseback riding and archery? I see that Jingrui and Jingyou in our mansion have special martial arts teachers, yet they’re not as outstanding as Li’er. Could that nunnery teach so many things? Since Li’er returned, it’s as if she knows everything.”

Yet she subtly made Jiang Yuanbai suspicious again.

“Sister-in-law, that’s because Li girl has been intelligent since childhood. People say that even if orchid seeds grow in the mountains, the flowers that bloom are still orchids…” Second Branch’s Lu Shi was about to jab at Ji Shuran a few times when she suddenly cried out in alarm.

Everyone looked toward the racetrack.

In the somewhat narrow passage, Jiang Li was in front, Meng Hongjin behind. Jiang Li had hit three arrows. Meng Hongjin also planned to shoot, but just as Meng Hongjin barely touched the quiver on her back, the horse beneath Jiang Li suddenly neighed loudly, rearing up!

“Not good!” Kong Liu immediately stood up.

The dark brown horse beneath Jiang Li had encountered an incident. No one knew what happened, but it suddenly began running wildly.

Meng Hongjin was so frightened that she stopped reaching for arrows and immediately reined in her horse.

The field suddenly erupted.

In the past racetrack examinations, there had been students with poor riding skills who fell from horses, but they were only minor scrapes. Horse panic had never occurred because these horses were all transferred from the light cavalry unit, with very gentle temperaments—not difficult-to-tame spirited horses. Such horses, unless something happened, would never suddenly go mad. Yet the horse beneath Jiang Li truly was going mad before everyone’s eyes, with no one touching it and no external force affecting it.

What was going on?

“Quickly save her!” Zheng Huchen immediately ordered the surrounding soldiers.

“Heavens.” Liu Xu immediately covered her mouth, rushing to the front of the platform, tears about to fall. She couldn’t enter the racetrack and could only worry for Jiang Li.

Ye Shijie also hadn’t anticipated such a sudden incident. They couldn’t do anything from outside the field. Watching Jiang Li continuously racing wildly with the horse, his heart was jumping wildly, thumping up and down. Immediately after, he saw the dark brown horse suddenly toss its head, throwing Jiang Li from its back.

“Jiang Li!” Jiang Jingrui shouted.

The next moment, Jiang Li was seen clutching the reins with both hands, half her body flying outside the horse, leaning sideways against the horse’s body, almost being dragged forward by the horse.

But she hadn’t fallen.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

“She knows horse-controlling techniques?” Kong Liu exclaimed, instinctively looking toward Ji Heng.

Ji Heng propped his chin with his hand, staring at the thrilling scene of one person and one horse, neither confirming nor denying.

Meng Hongjin, following behind Jiang Li, had originally expected to see Jiang Li thrown flat on the ground. She hadn’t expected Jiang Li would barely manage to hold onto the horse and fly sideways like this, narrowly avoiding disaster.

Meng Hongjin immediately felt disappointed inside. In her sleeve, she still had a small pen-tube-like object. This was a trinket her elder brother had found for her the year before last. The brush-thin pen shaft had a protruding mechanism at the bottom. With just a press, tiny silver needles would shoot out from inside.

Meng Hongjin had coated the silver needles with poison. In the narrow passage, just as Jiang Li finished shooting three arrows, Meng Hongjin borrowed the pretense of drawing arrows, using her sleeve to conceal herself as she quietly pressed the mechanism.

The silver needle from the mechanism viciously shot into the horse’s hindquarters. The horse, startled and injured, would naturally go mad. This way, Jiang Li would definitely be thrown by the panicked horse—who knew if she might lose an arm or leg? Those silver needles were also extremely tiny, difficult to trace afterward. Even if truly discovered, who would know she had done it?

Previously, when Meng Hongjin had watched Jiang Li display no horsemanship techniques, she assumed Jiang Li only knew the most basic riding. But what she never expected was that when Jiang Li’s horse went mad, not only was Jiang Li not thrown off, she even displayed her skills before everyone’s eyes. Such movements were not those of someone who didn’t understand horse-controlling techniques!

She had been deceived by Jiang Li!

Meng Hongjin was both shocked and furious.

Meanwhile, people coming to intercept Jiang Li hurried over. Jiang Yuanbai was extremely nervous. But a maddened horse was too terrifying. The only option was to strike off the horse’s head with one blow, but Jiang Li would also be injured when the horse fell. Or else use qinggong to move swiftly and take Jiang Li away together, but these were all men—if Jiang Li were held in someone’s arms, it would inevitably invite criticism.

While they deliberated, the dark brown horse quickened its pace again. Everyone cried out in alarm as Jiang Li’s grip faltered on one hand, the reins slipping away—only one hand remained grasping the reins!

Meng Hongjin’s heart filled with great joy. Jiang Youyao and Jiang Yu’e were also delighted beyond expectation. Jiang Li was finished!

But before they could laugh aloud, they saw Jiang Li suddenly raise her hand and grab the horse’s mane!

The dark brown horse’s neck hurt. It neighed loudly again, half its body rearing up. Then Jiang Li seized the opportunity, leaning back, flipping along with the momentum, and with a stride, sat back on the horse’s back!

She had regained her position!

This extremely dangerous scene occurred in just a few breaths, making watchers feel as if their throats were being choked, too tense to speak. Only when Jiang Li sat back on the horse did they breathe a sigh of relief.

“This girl…” Zheng Huchen was speechless. Ordinary women, even the men they knew, rarely had such courage. Setting aside that Jiang Li’s horse-controlling technique was more superb than imagined, more importantly was her calm composure in the face of danger, her ease when Mount Tai collapsed before her yet her expression remained unchanged. This was why she could do well whether in horseback riding and archery or anything else.

She truly didn’t seem like a young lady from an official family. And she was only fifteen years old.

Just as they barely caught their breath, waves of alarmed cries erupted around them. Zheng Huchen looked carefully and this time truly had nothing to say.

After Jiang Li sat back on the horse, not only did she not try to rendezvous with the intercepting people, she instead took advantage of the situation to grasp the already maddened dark brown horse and charged toward the finish line.

She actually still wanted to complete this competition, relying on this crazed black horse!

Too absurd! Too impulsive! Too… damn thrilling!

Jiang Li prostrated herself on the horse’s back. Her blue-green garment in the wind resembled a jade-green lightning bolt. Clearly a fresh, elegant, gentle color, yet it was full of vitality like green bamboo after rain. It was hard to believe such a delicate body could contain such enormous courage, that gentle stream water could sweep up the hardest stones.

“Look, look quickly…” Kong Liu excitedly grabbed Ji Heng’s sleeve.

Ji Heng stared at his sleeve corner and said calmly, “I see it.”

Following behind, Meng Hongjin was greatly alarmed. She hadn’t expected Jiang Li to be so fortunate—the maddened horse hadn’t thrown her off, and Jiang Li had even rushed ahead of her. This couldn’t continue. Meng Hongjin panicked for a moment. Seeing everyone around cheering for Jiang Li, who still cared about her?

This was horseback riding and archery! Her specialty! If she lost even horseback riding and archery to Jiang Li, she would be nothing!

Meng Hongjin suddenly exerted force, fiercely raising her riding whip, closely pursuing Jiang Li.

Because of this recent ordeal, Jiang Youyao, Jiang Yu’e and the others who had fallen behind also caught up. Seeing Meng Hongjin suddenly exert force, they were unwilling to show weakness. Seeing it was the last stretch of road, they all raised whips to urge their horses, each displaying their abilities.

At this moment, this group’s examination finally truly had a life-or-death atmosphere. However, most heart-stopping was still Jiang Li. The dark brown horse was an animal, not a person. In pain, it would only try more violently to throw Jiang Li off. Yet no matter how the black horse shook, Jiang Li’s hands grasping the reins were steady, as if aside from the maddened horse, everything remained unchanged from the beginning.

Including her composure.

Nearing the last stretch of road, a row of archery targets appeared before them again. Jiang Li prostrated on the horse’s back, one hand tightly pulling the reins, the other beginning to reach back toward her quiver.

“Look! She still wants to shoot at targets!”

“Good heavens, does she not value her life!”

Earlier, Jiang Li’s three miraculous hits were the only ones achieved at today’s examination grounds. She truly had no need to continue shooting arrows here. Moreover, with the black horse already maddened, using both hands to draw the bow and shoot arrows was much more dangerous than before!

“This girl has spirit,” Kong Liu praised. “I admire her!”

No one cared whether he admired Jiang Li or not. Meng Hongjin, closely following Jiang Li, seeing this scene, her heart suddenly contracted. She suddenly remembered that earlier, at the midpoint shooting, she had been busy using the mechanism to plot against Jiang Li and hadn’t shot arrows. Before that, Jiang Li had shot three arrows, all direct hits. Until now, Jiang Li already had three arrows hitting bullseyes, while she had nothing.

If at the finish line she didn’t have more than three arrows hitting bullseyes, she would lose to Jiang Li. Too late!

Meng Hongjin couldn’t think much. She immediately drew an arrow from her quiver and shot it toward the target at the finish line!

At this moment, Jiang Li suddenly curved her lips in a smile, also immediately drawing her bow and shooting, closely following, shooting the arrow in her hand!

Jiang Li’s arrows were marked red, Meng Hongjin’s marked blue. By unfortunate coincidence, both arrows shot toward the same bullseye, one after another, one blue one red, drawn out particularly slowly in the air.

Perhaps Jiang Li drew her bow with more strength, or perhaps Meng Hongjin was too panicked. In any case, between the two arrows, though Jiang Li’s was shot later, it caught up with Meng Hongjin’s arrow in mid-air. That arrow feather carried the arrow shaft, causing Jiang Li’s arrow to collide with Meng Hongjin’s arrow.

A light touch, yet seeming not to touch at all. Jiang Li’s arrow swiftly continued toward the bullseye. Meng Hongjin’s arrow, however, deflected in a subtle direction from the collision, yet also gained new force from the red arrow’s impact, shooting toward another direction—

“Your Highness Princess!” Someone cried out in panic.

Enormous uproar suddenly erupted.

Meng Hongjin instinctively looked and saw in the direction closest to the examination grounds’ finish line, beside Prince Cheng, Princess Yongning covering her shoulder with blood flowing out.

That was… Meng Hongjin felt somewhat dazed.

“Outrageous! Seize her!” Princess Yongning shrieked.

“Is it me?” Meng Hongjin thought confusedly. Before she could understand what had happened, Princess Yongning’s guards suddenly stepped forward and, disregarding the ongoing competition, seized her.

At the same time, Jiang Li finally passed through the finish line. With one hand embracing the dark brown horse’s mane, her other hand opened. As she passed near a locust tree, she suddenly released her grip and leaped upward!

She hung from the locust tree.

Though her posture wasn’t particularly elegant, it could be considered light and carefree.

The maddened dark brown horse charged out of the track. Someone was already intercepting it. The arrow Jiang Li shot last simultaneously with Meng Hongjin steadily landed in the bullseye, its feathers coated with red cinnabar.

She had won.

Jiang Li fell silent, then silently looked toward the other side at Princess Yongning being surrounded by people, a trace of coldness flashing through her heart.

Princess Yongning had still escaped. If only she had been a bit closer… if Meng Hongjin’s arrow had been a bit sharper, that blue arrow would have embedded not simply in Princess Yongning’s shoulder, but in Princess Yongning’s chest.

Just that little bit short.

Kong Liu finally sat down, patting his chest. He too was drenched in sweat. Zheng Huchen beside him was hardly better off. Having watched such a thrilling examination, he felt more exhausted than daily drills. However, Kong Liu was still very happy. He said to Ji Heng, “Did you see that? Second Miss Jiang is so formidable. Today truly opened eyes. This time she stole the spotlight—she must be delighted inside.”

“I think she’s a bit disappointed,” Ji Heng said lightly.

“Disappointed?” Kong Liu was puzzled. “Disappointed about what? She’s first place. The six arts are all compared now. She’s first in everything. What’s there to be disappointed about?”

“Using a borrowed knife to kill failed, naturally she’s disappointed.” Ji Heng smiled faintly, standing up. “Today’s play wasn’t bad either, just didn’t see blood—a bit simple. Watch again another day.”

He brushed his sleeves and left.

“Really a pervert,” Kong Liu muttered, remembering something before calling out, “You haven’t judged yet!”

Ji Heng just swaggered off like that. However, today’s horseback riding and archery was originally even easier to judge than qin music because the contrast was too stark. Whether Ji Heng participated or not had little significance. Anyone could see that Second Miss Jiang’s horseback riding and archery skills were consummate.

But that Miss Meng was truly unlucky. Poor archery aside, she had even shot Imperial Concubine Dowager Liu’s most beloved Princess Yongning. A scar on a woman’s body was no trivial matter. Never mind Princess Yongning—even an ordinary official family young lady wouldn’t let it go. To put it mildly, it was an accident. To put it seriously, it was attempting to harm imperial relatives.

Meng Hongjin’s face was ashen, trembling with fear. Now she also understood how serious the matter was. She couldn’t help struggling while saying, “It wasn’t me! I didn’t try to harm the Princess. It was… it was Jiang Li! Jiang Li harmed me!”

Someone in the crowd said disdainfully, “How can Miss Meng only speak lies? The arrow in Her Highness the Princess is marked blue—it’s her arrow. She still wants to implicate Second Miss Jiang. How ridiculous.”

The arrows all had markings. The arrow that hit Princess Yongning was blue, naturally Meng Hongjin’s arrow. Jiang Li’s arrow colliding with Meng Hongjin’s arrow happened too quickly. From such a distance, no one saw clearly. Even if Meng Hongjin said it herself, probably no one would believe it. First, how could Jiang Li’s archery be that precise? Second, for no reason, why would Jiang Li want to harm Princess Yongning?

Liu Xu jogged over, pulling Jiang Li’s hand with some lingering fear, saying, “You really scared me to death. Earlier when the horse was startled, why did you keep running forward? It’s just a competition—how is it worth exchanging your life for?”

“Aren’t I fine?” Jiang Li smiled to comfort her, though inside she felt quite regretful. At the last moment, she had deliberately deflected Meng Hongjin’s arrow, hoping she could injure Princess Yongning. Unfortunately, she fell short by one move.

“Meng Hongjin is in big trouble this time…” Liu Xu said in a low voice. “Looking at Princess Yongning’s demeanor, I’m afraid this won’t be resolved easily.”

Jiang Li sneered inwardly. Princess Yongning had always been high and mighty, not regarding those of lower status as human. Even though Meng Youde was an Announcer, in Princess Yongning’s eyes, he was beneath notice. However, Jiang Li didn’t sympathize with Meng Hongjin at all. Although she didn’t know exactly what Meng Hongjin had done, the dark brown horse she rode going mad definitely couldn’t be unrelated to Meng Hongjin. Jiang Li clearly remembered that the moment before the black horse went mad, Meng Hongjin was right behind her.

To want her life for the sake of a competition—Meng Hongjin was truly ruthless. Now offending the equally ruthless Princess Yongning could be considered her just deserts.

“Speaking of which, she really got off easy,” Liu Xu also didn’t sympathize with Meng Hongjin. Instead she said, “Now that she’s been troubled by Princess Yongning, the wager with you can only end like this.”

“Who said it should end like this?” Jiang Li asked back. “After she handles the lawsuit with Princess Yongning, she’ll naturally still have to come fulfill the wager with me. I’m waiting.”

Liu Xu was astonished. She had always seen Jiang Li as someone with a magnanimous temperament who didn’t like to quarrel with others. She thought Jiang Li was completely different from the rumors—so tolerant. This was the first time seeing Jiang Li’s aggressive appearance. After her astonishment, she couldn’t help but laugh, saying, “It should be this way. How could a wager won through hard work just be forgotten like this? Even the gambling house proprietors in Yanjing City would feel indignant on your behalf. Regardless of the outcome, Meng Hongjin still must honor the wager. I’ll testify for you.”

Jiang Li smiled and nodded.

At this time, Jiang Youyao and the others also dismounted and walked back to their families. As soon as Jiang Youyao saw Ji Shuran, still shaken, she called out “Mother.”

Jiang Youyao didn’t know what had happened. Originally seeing Jiang Li’s horse startle, she had secretly rejoiced. Who knew calamity would live a thousand years—Jiang Li actually wasn’t thrown to death and even made a spectacular showing at the track with superior archery. Even Meng Hongjin, who had previously been best at horseback riding and archery, couldn’t compare to her. And then there was Meng Hongjin inexplicably shooting and injuring Princess Yongning. Watching Meng Hongjin being detained by Princess Yongning’s people, Jiang Youyao felt an inexplicable wave of fear.

“Mother—” Her gaze at Ji Shuran contained anger and terror. Meng Hongjin was someone who opposed Jiang Li. How had Meng Hongjin inexplicably also landed in prison?

Ji Shuran was also very angry inside. Since yesterday, when she accidentally saw the look in Meng Hongjin’s eyes when she looked at Jiang Li, she had vaguely guessed Meng Hongjin would make a move against Jiang Li. Needless to say, today Jiang Li’s horse suddenly going mad was definitely Meng Hongjin’s doing. But the outcome was that Jiang Li was completely unharmed while Meng Hongjin had ruined herself.

Although unclear how Jiang Li had accomplished this, today’s events made Ji Shuran reassess Jiang Li anew. One thing after another—from Jiang Li’s greatly changed temperament after returning to Yanjing, and her suddenly appearing qin music and horseback riding and archery skills—all made Ji Shuran feel both strange and dangerous.

If previously Ji Shuran had still planned to use others’ hands to remove Jiang Li, this thorn in her eye, now the threat Jiang Li posed to Ji Shuran suddenly intensified greatly, making Ji Shuran think that even if she had to act personally, she must make Jiang Li disappear from before her eyes as soon as possible.

She couldn’t wait any longer.

On the examination platform, rankings were being announced. The crowd, however, was already in chaos because of Princess Yongning’s injury. No one paid attention to the names being recited.

But even without listening, probably everyone knew that today’s first place was Jiang Li.

Jiang Li herself also had no mind for those announcing rankings on the examination platform. Her gaze crossed the crowd and landed on Shen Yurun, who was not far from Prince Cheng, maintaining a subtle distance from Princess Yongning.

Princess Yongning was being protected by guards, attended closely by maids as she left the examination grounds to treat her wound. Jiang Li estimated that although that arrow hadn’t taken Princess Yongning’s life, it wouldn’t be so light as just a graze. Probably she would still need to recuperate for a month or so. Whether it would leave a scar was also hard to say. This was precisely why Princess Yongning was so furiously angry.

But at this moment, besides fury, Princess Yongning’s gaze also lingered faintly on Shen Yurun, appearing quite pitiful and fragile.

Jiang Li had never seen Princess Yongning like this. In her final memories, Princess Yongning had a cheerfully triumphant smile, a vicious and cruel face. This tender and charming appearance—she seemed to have become another person entirely.

Jiang Li looked again at Shen Yurun. Shen Yurun slightly dodged Princess Yongning’s gaze, yet also cast concerned looks at the critical moment when Princess Yongning was about to lose her temper. Thus the pampered princess’s anger immediately died down, instantly becoming as tender and affectionate as before.

Jiang Li felt nauseated watching this. She couldn’t help but sneer coldly inside. Shen Yurun truly had good fortune with women—even Princess Yongning was entranced by him to the point of losing her soul.

However, having been married to Shen Yurun for three years, she also understood that when Shen Yurun wanted to “love” someone, no one would doubt his sincerity. Very few could resist.

Jiang Li wasn’t surprised at all that Princess Yongning would fall. However, watching this pair of true adulterers exchange flirtatious glances before her eyes, Jiang Li still felt anger and disgust.

She quickly turned her head away, afraid that if she looked one more moment, she wouldn’t be able to conceal the bone-deep hatred in her eyes.

Now still wasn’t the time. Without complete certainty, wait a bit longer, wait a bit longer…

In the small alley outside the racetrack, two people were walking toward the depths. The person in front wore vivid red garments. Even just his back view was filled with elegance.

“Wenji.” The person walking in front spoke. His voice was like a galaxy spread across the night sky, slightly cool like a dream. He said, “Do Princess Yongning and the Jiang family have enmity?”

Wenji paused before saying, “This subordinate doesn’t know.”

The person in front didn’t pause, still leisurely walking forward. After a long while, a voice came.

“I don’t know either.”