The Double
Chapter 94 - 94 74 Imperial Archery_7

94: Chapter 74 Imperial Archery_7 94: Chapter 74 Imperial Archery_7 Jiang Li’s heart also filled with astonishment.

What was Jih Heng doing here?

Yesterday, as the examiner for the zither music, he had already been quite surprising, but could it be that he wanted to meddle again today?

The puzzled look was clearly not just on Jiang Li’s face.

In the spectator’s seats, Prince Cheng also furrowed his brow and said, “What does the imperial brother intend by having Duke Su come here today?”

Prince Cheng was very wary of Duke Su.

Everyone knew that Emperor Hongxiao trusted Jih Heng deeply.

Prince Cheng had tried to gain Jih Heng’s favor, but Jih Heng was not one to be swayed by persuasion or deterrence, and his tactics were formidable.

After several setbacks, Prince Cheng stopped provoking Jih Heng but always kept a watchful eye, lest Jih Heng managing affairs for Emperor Hongxiao led to his own untimely demise.

Princess Yongning did not respond to Prince Cheng’s comment.

Her thoughts had already drifted to Shen Yurong, who was not far away.

Yesterday afternoon, after the zither music inspection had concluded, Shen Yurong had arranged to meet her, but then he had excused himself.

Princess Yongning could see his avoidance, knowing that Shen Yurong’s mind was troubled by the remembrance of the deceased Xue Fangfei after hearing the female students play the zither.

Considering this, Princess Yongning was even more infuriated.

Xue Fangfei was dead; could she not surpass a dead person?

She must marry Shen Yurong as soon as possible.

If Shen Yurong intended to play the devoted lover mourning Xue Fangfei for three years, she could not wait that long.

She would bring this up with her mother, Empress Dowager Liu, after the inspection was over, Princess Yongning thought secretly.

On this end, Jiang Li was staring blankly at the slip of paper in her hand.

Six people in total; besides Meng Hongjin, Jiang Yue, and Jiang Youyao, there were also two noble girls from Mingyi Hall, Nie Xiaoshuang and Zhu Xiner.

These two appeared to be delicately raised official’s daughters with not-so-pleasant temperaments.

Compared to Jiang Li, they seemed to have a much better relationship with Jiang Youyao.

Jiang Li wasn’t surprised, as most noble girls in Yanjing City preferred Jiang Youyao over her.

But it was the last group that worried Jiang Li.

Unnoticed in a corner, Meng Hongjin cast another quick glance at Jiang Li, her eyes filled with barely concealed gloating and spite, which twisted her expression.

Once people walked by, Meng Hongjin averted her gaze but gripped her drawing tube tightly in secret.

Even heaven seemed to be on her side, placing her and Jiang Li in the same group, and coincidentally with Jiang Youyao and Jiang Yue, who didn’t get along with Jiang Li.

With this arrangement, making Jiang Li suffer was as easy as flipping one’s hand.

Meng Hongjin’s palms trembled slightly; this was her first time resorting to such measures.

Strangely, although she was scared, Meng Hongjin’s resolve was firm.

She knew if she didn’t do this, she would have to kneel before Jiang Li tomorrow and apologize in front of everyone at the Imperial College.

If that happened, her reputation would be ruined!

It was a fight for survival, a contest more brutal than any inspection at Mingyi Hall, and she was destined to be the ultimate winner.

The examination began.

The Inspection Field was vast.

Five students from each group would mount their horses and start at the same time, racing towards the finish line.

It wasn’t about who arrived first, but about the students’ ability to manage their horses.

After all, the key to “Imperial Archery” was control, not speed.

Near the finish line, there would be a row of targets where each would shoot arrows that bore their personal mark, so there would be no mistaking whose was whose.

This was the “archery” part.

Shooting at targets while galloping on horseback made it even harder to hit them.

For this year’s Mingyi Hall examination, it was already considered a good result if several young ladies managed to hit the targets without their arrows falling outside, let alone hitting the bullseye.

The first group started.

Jiang Li carefully watched, for she knew some of the rules of the Mingyi Hall inspection from her past association with Xiao Deyin, but she did not know the finer details.

Today, it was her turn to perform, and it was different from when she used to watch others.

Jiang Li intended to observe more closely, so she wouldn’t make any errors once it was her turn.

Thinking of Xiao Deyin, Jiang Li had not seen her today; however, this was the Imperial Archery inspection, and Xiao Deyin truly had no need to come.

Jiang Yuyan and Liu Xu were in the second group.

The first group performed quite quickly.

Although the Inspection Field was large, the female students in the first group were not very good at archery.

They rode their horses at a slow pace and let the arrows fly carelessly, with none hitting the target, and their horsemanship was unremarkable.

However, after they dismounted, they did not seem disappointed; it appeared that as long as they could mount and dismount well, they were already quite satisfied.

The women of Northern Yan, after all, did not advocate the wielding of weapons.

Even though daughters of the martial families were admirable, when it came to themselves, they shied away from the hardship.

Jiang Li watched and roughly gauged the archery level at the Mingyi Hall Inspection.

The second group, including Liu Xu and Jiang Yuyan, performed better than the first.

At least the horse riders “ran” for real this time and tried to vie for the position of the first to reach the finish line.

Liu Xu turned out to be the best archer in this group because her arrows did not fall outside the target but were slantedly inserted at its edge.

She was indeed the best in this group.

After dismounting, Liu Xu was still breathing lightly as if a little weary, but her face showed excitement as she said to Jiang Li, “Combining archery and horsemanship this year is really difficult.

I can hardly imagine how those cavalry in the army train to hit the center of the target from horseback—it’s something extraordinary…”

“You are the best in this group,” Jiang Li said, congratulating her with a smile.

“I’ve never excelled at archery, and today was just good luck.

I didn’t expect to do very well,” Liu Xu replied.

“But watch out for yourself; this time you’re with Meng Hongjin in one group.

Many people are waiting to see how you’ll do.

Be sure to take it easy and not to be hasty.”

“I’m not in a rush,” Jiang Li said with a smile.

Upon reflection, Liu Xu realized it was true.

Ever since she first met Jiang Li, she had never actually seen her in a hurry.

Jiang Li’s demeanor was always mild and gentle, calm and collected.

Perhaps this competition did not weigh heavily in her heart.

She was reassured.

Jiang Li continued to carefully watch the upcoming matches.

It seemed that perhaps the first two groups accidentally included students who were poor at archery, as the subsequent two groups were not so bad.

There were several ladies who even performed a few graceful maneuvers on horseback, quite eye-catching.

The targets set up in the field gradually filled up with arrows, some falling outside but some getting closer to the bulls-eye.

The competition grew more intense.

Soon, one shichen later, it was the last group’s turn.

It was Jiang Li’s turn to enter the field.