Liang Ping and Du Mao finally caught up. When they arrived at the finish line and dismounted, they saw He Yan happily drinking water to quench her thirst while Ma Damei stood to the side, lost in thought.

This scene didn’t look like Ma Damei had won.

Both men thought simultaneously – surely not? Even Ma Damei couldn’t beat He Yan?

Liang Ping walked to Ma Damei’s side, but before he could speak, Ma Damei volunteered: “I lost.”

Did he lose?

Liang Ping was astounded, “How is that possible? How could you lose to him?”

Ma Damei was their best instructor in mounted archery. If even he couldn’t beat He Yan, it meant no one in the entire Liangzhou Guard was better at horsemanship than He Yan. Why was He Yan even here to learn mounted archery? He could be his instructor.

“Did that kid use some trick?” Du Mao asked in a low voice. “Did he fool you?” He was still angry about He Yan using the riding crop to strip away all his arrows. Look at that – was this something a recruit should be capable of?

Ma Damei glared at him, “I was simply outmatched, alright?” He walked to He Yan’s side and said, “Little one, I have something to ask you.”

“Instructor wants to ask what I said to your horse at the end that made it stop acting wild and listen to me instead?” He Yan tightened her water pouch. “If that’s what the Instructor wants to ask, please don’t bother. It’s a family secret that can’t be shared.” She winked at Ma Damei, then turned to Liang Ping: “Instructor Liang, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head off now. I still need to train at the practice grounds.”

Liang Ping waved his hand – fine, out of sight, out of mind.

Du Mao watched her leave, bewildered. “She runs this whole course and still has the energy to go train at the practice grounds? What kind of person is she?”

“Someone different from you and me,” Liang Ping answered irritably.

…

“I’ve made the Governor look foolish.” Shen Han was somewhat embarrassed. All his instructors had been defeated by He Yan, even when using underhanded tactics – three people working together couldn’t beat her. It was rather inexcusable.

“It’s fine, you did well,” Xiao Jue lowered his eyes to drink tea. “The point wasn’t to compete in mounted archery, but to test the person. Now we have our answer.”

“Governor still thinks there’s something wrong with him?” Shen Han asked.

“Yes.”

“Because He Yan is too outstanding?” If that was the reason, it was just suspicion without evidence.

“His final horse-taming technique came from the barbarian tribes.” Xiao Jue set down his teacup.

“Barbarian tribes?” Shen Han stood up abruptly.

The barbarian tribes included the Western Qiang, Southern Man, and now the people of Wutuo. Years ago, General Flying Swan had put down the Western Qiang rebellion, and Xiao Jue himself had driven back the Southern Man invasion. Now the Wutuo people were stirring trouble. The barbarian tribes and Great Wei had always been like fire and water – even now, relations with the Western Qiang and Southern Man remained delicate and required vigilance.

“Could she be a barbarian?”

“Not necessarily.” Xiao Jue shook his head. “Did you bring the military registry?”

Shen Han presented the registry, “He Yan’s entry is here.”

“Since this person is suspicious, we can’t startle the snake in the grass. Watch his every move carefully.”

“Governor means to…”

“Cast a long line to catch big fish – we need to find who’s behind this.” He answered unhurriedly.

After Shen Han left, Xiao Jue looked through the military registry, lingering on He Yan’s page for a long time. After a moment, he called out: “Flying Slave.”

Someone appeared silently behind him like a shadow, softly saying: “Young Master.”

“Have someone investigate whether the Gate Captain He family in the capital has a son called He Yan.”

Flying Slave accepted the order and was about to leave when Xiao Jue called him back.

“Also investigate whether the He family has any secret dealings with Xu Jingfu.”

…

When He Yan returned to the practice grounds, a large group who had been eagerly waiting surrounded her.

“How was it? How was it? What happened?”

“Why don’t we see the instructors? Did you win or did they win?”

He Yan smiled and said only two words: “It’s a secret.”

This answer clearly couldn’t satisfy everyone’s curiosity, but He Yan’s mouth was sealed tight – they couldn’t pry anything out of her. The crowd dispersed disappointedly, left to their speculation and discussion.

“He must have won, right? He Yan doesn’t look like someone who lost.” These were the believers.

“If he won, why not just say it openly? Not saying means he lost and is too embarrassed!” These were the doubters.

“You can argue all you want but won’t get an answer. If He Yan won’t say, just ask the instructors!” These were the rational thinkers.

So when the instructors arrived, everyone swarmed them. The instructors were initially confused, but when they heard the questions about the competition results, they all looked at He Yan. They thought this kid was quite considerate, knowing to leave the instructors some face by not revealing everything. The instructors waved their hands: “Stop asking! Disperse!”

Still, no answer was given.

When He Yan went to bed that night, Little Wheat was still fixated on the result, asking: “Brother He, so what happened in the end?”

“The result isn’t important,” He Yan patted Little Wheat’s head. “What’s important is that I need to sleep now.”

She turned to face the wall, showing the back of her head to Little Wheat. Unable to get an answer, Little Wheat gave up.

He Yan couldn’t sleep, her mind dwelling on the day’s events at the riding ground. No matter how she looked at it, three instructors suddenly coming to compete with her in mounted archery was too strange. Their coordinated effort against her would have overwhelmed any ordinary recruit. Yet they didn’t seem to consider whether she could handle such a test – it didn’t feel like a challenge match, but more like… an examination or verification of something.

Her final taming of Ma Damei’s horse used a technique she had learned from a barbarian prisoner during her military service. That prisoner had been their dedicated horse trainer, with almost magical horse-taming skills that had caused them much trouble. After He Yan captured him, his fear of death led him to write down his tribe’s precious horse-taming techniques and give them to her.

However, those techniques were too complex, and He Yan had only learned the basics. Even so, it was enough to control ordinary horses. Without this knowledge, she definitely couldn’t have beaten Ma Damei today.

But if this was truly a test, only the Chief Instructor or Xiao Jue could command the Liangzhou Guard instructors. If it was Xiao Jue, what was his purpose? Was he already selecting people for the Nine Banners Camp, hence hurriedly ordering the instructors to test whether she had the qualifications and abilities?

Was that it? He Yan vaguely felt she might be thinking in the wrong direction, but couldn’t find any other explanation. After pondering for a while, she decided to stop thinking about it. What comes will come – the important thing was that she hadn’t lost this round.