Chapter 96 Regret is useless, there's no cure.
Lu Zhaoying's eyes were fixed on the training field, and she didn't notice Zhao Xian's tone. When asked, she pointed and said, "That black horse with a few white hairs on its hind hooves, Mother, do you think the person on its back looks like my husband?"
After waiting for a while without Zhao Xian's reply, Lu Zhaoying turned around and saw her mother-in-law looking at her with a smile, her expression quite intriguing.
Lu Zhaoying blushed instantly when she was looked at like that.
Zhao Xian, the second daughter-in-law, was shy, so she didn't tease her much. "Did Heng'er tell you that he would be participating in the martial arts examination?"
Lu Zhaoying shook her head. "No, he only said that he begged my mother to bring me to the autumn hunt."
That brat didn't let a word slip.
She really keeps her mouth shut.
Zhao Xian's gaze fell on the back of the horse that Lu Zhaoying had just pointed to. Although Jiang Heng was tall, he was still a boy, and he usually wore a red ribbon to tie his hair, making him even easier to recognize.
There were only forty people participating in the martial arts examination. The vast flat land seemed extremely empty with just these few people.
The Second-Class Imperial Guards were fourth-rank military officers who were directly transferred to the Imperial Palace to take up their posts.
The palace was much closer to home than the city's guard post.
It's likely that Jiang Heng's casual remark about being transferred wasn't just a complaint.
Although only forty people participated in the military examination, only ten were ultimately promoted to the second-class Imperial Guard.
He should rely on his own abilities to earn it; it remains to be seen whether Jiang Heng has the capability.
At least half of those who were able to participate in the martial arts examination this time had some connection with officials in the court, since those selected to serve the emperor were of high status.
Each family will do its best to cultivate the next generation; those who let their children become spoiled brats are, after all, a minority.
If you want to train your child, you must hire a master. Those born with superhuman strength are few and far between. Because the martial arts they learn from their masters are different, the people on the field can be said to be using all kinds of martial arts.
"Is my sister seeing things? That man looks like the Emperor's sister-in-law's nephew."
The princess's voice was languid, as if she had mentioned it unintentionally.
The Empress sat upright on the phoenix throne. "Yes, my nephew has been practicing Han family boxing since childhood and also wants to serve His Majesty."
A minister's wife flattered him, saying, "Young Master Han has just passed the imperial examination and become a Jinshi. Look at his archery, he hits the target every time. He is truly a man of both literary and martial talents."
Some ladies glanced at their own daughters, while others' eyes fell on Cui Tingyue, who was standing next to the Empress.
Although the Empress's nephew participated in the military examination, he still had to be able to have the last laugh. Lady You did not blindly follow suit and flatter him.
Everyone watched the archery competition intently. They were all people who rarely went out, and even those who loved to travel rarely saw such a competition.
It soon quieted down again.
Jiang Heng was quite good at archery, hitting the target nine times out of nine in both mounted and foot archery, and won first place in the archery competition.
Han Mu missed the target with one arrow during mounted archery, ranking second.
"Minister Jiang, your youngest son is quite remarkable; he's a promising young man." The Emperor's "quite remarkable" was a compliment.
Jiang Liangxu bowed, "I am honored by Your Majesty's praise. This child's only redeeming quality is his archery accuracy."
The minister beside him laughed and said, "Lord Jiang is too modest. You call this a 'point-pointer'? What should we call the others?"
Jiang Liangxu wasn't being modest; Jiang Heng's only skill was archery, but he didn't say anything more.
The second tier of the stands was similar. Zhao Xian explained, but no one believed her. Everyone just thought she was being modest, after all, her son was superior to the Empress's nephew.
Until the equestrian competition begins.
After archery came horseback riding. Watching the people on horseback perform all sorts of dangerous stunts, strangers felt relaxed and just watched as if it were a show. But if someone in the family or someone they knew participated, their heart would race.
Controlling a horse is no joke; those wildly galloping horses can be quite frightening to watch.
Lu Zhaoying: "Ah—"
Jiang Heng was easy to recognize, especially since he had won first place in archery, which made him the center of attention. He almost fell off his horse, which startled Lu Zhaoying.
Zhao Xian quickly took her hand and found that Lu Zhaoying's hand was ice cold, which showed that she was quite frightened at that moment.
"Mother." Her voice was tinged with sobs.
Zhao Xian was also startled. Horse riding skills include horse control as an assessment skill. Falling off a horse can easily result in serious injury, even if it doesn't kill you. Fortunately, he was unharmed. "It's alright, it's alright. Look, he turned the situation around."
In this match, Jiang Heng only ranked tenth. Although he controlled the horse, his attacks were not impressive enough.
Han Mu was in first place.
In the weightlifting competition, Jiang Heng did not stand out much, and did not even make it into the top ten.
Han Mu remains among the top performers.
The last competition was close combat. The previous three competitions were ranked according to individual scores, but this last one was a draw, with the winners advancing to the next match and continuing to fight.
Ten people were selected from forty, but these ten are not necessarily the final chosen ones.
In the four competitions, the top ten will receive different scores, and the ten selected for the martial arts examination are the ten with the best overall performance.
Aside from archery, Jiang Heng's performance in other areas was not very good. He was still young and not a naturally strong person, so he was at a disadvantage in terms of strength.
Even in the last event, close combat, he won through skill, and his ranking was decent, in the middle. However, due to his poor riding skills and load-bearing performance, it is still unknown whether he will be selected.
After the four events were completed, everyone stood below the stands, waiting for the Emperor to speak. Although injuries were inevitable from the fighting, not a single person fell.
Until the officials presented the final list to the emperor.
After reading it, the Emperor only said one word: "Summon."
The eunuch beside him picked up the list and announced in a loud voice: "By imperial decree, the top ten winners of this martial arts examination—Han Mu, Qu Yanghua, He Jun, Yan Haobo, and Jiang Heng—are all to be promoted to second-class imperial guards and granted swords."
"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty."
Hearing Jiang Heng's name as the last one, Zhao Xian breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't matter that he was last; as long as he was selected, that was fine.
Compared to her, Lu Zhaoying reacted more strongly; her face was still pale, but the smile on her lips was already barely contained.
Zhao Xian reached out and gently pinched her cheek. As for the outcome, it was a close call, but ultimately without serious harm.
The most outstanding one this time was Han Mu. It is said that he ranked first in the second class in the last imperial examination, right behind the third-ranked scholar. At that time, some people privately speculated that the emperor might not have liked the empress's family, which is why he did not select Han Mu to enter the first class, which was a real pity.
However, this time the champion of the martial arts examination truly deserved his title.
After the martial arts training and the martial arts examination were completed, it was already past noon. The autumn hunt was in the afternoon, and during that time, some people went back to the palace to eat and others to rest.
Zhao Xian and Lu Zhaoying picked up Jiang Heng and returned to the palace.
Jiang Heng was fine outside, grinning foolishly with a bruised face. But as soon as he entered the house, he closed the door, leaving the maids outside, and then grimaced and howled, "Ouch, ouch, ouch, it hurts so much!"
Zhao Xian: "..."
Lu Zhaoying was stunned for a moment, then reached out to pull at Jiang Heng's clothes, her face full of worry, "Where are you hurt? Let me see quickly."
Jiang Heng grimaced, "They all went all out, leaving me with internal injuries. Ouch, don't touch them, it hurts."
What he said was frightening, and Lu Zhaoying didn't dare to touch him. "I...I'll go and fetch the imperial physician."
"Don't go, there's no need to call the imperial physician. Just apply some medicine and massage it in."
"My husband is in so much pain, is it alright not to call the imperial physician?"
Jiang Heng's face contorted in pain, but he still managed to assure Lu Zhaoying, "It'll be fine, trust me."
Lu Zhaoying turned to look at Zhao Xian, her eyes pleading, waiting for her to make a decision.
Zhao Xian sighed, "Two idiots." "Peony, go and fetch the imperial physician."
No sooner had he given the order than there was a knock on the door, and Jiang Liangxu's voice came through: "Open the door."
Jiang Heng entered the room and shut the door to the maids. Lu Zhaoying got up to open the door, "Father."
It was discovered that Jiang Liangxu was followed by a person in official robes, who was carrying a square box.
Upon seeing the person, Zhao Xian immediately realized that Jiang Liangxu had invited him, and said with a smile, "Head of the Department of Medicine, please come in. I need to trouble you to take a look at this child's injury."
The head of the Imperial Medical Academy was invited in, and Zhao Xian retreated to the outer room, where she then heard the sounds of a pig being slaughtered.
Zhao Xian glanced at the person sitting down next to her, and kicked his shoe with her toe, "Did you know he came to the autumn hunt?"
Jiang Liangxu raised an eyebrow. "Madam, please guess."
Now that they knew, Zhao Xian kicked again, and this time Jiang Liangxu dodged.
Zhao Xian immediately grabbed his waist and whispered through gritted teeth, "Were you and your sons mute in your past lives?"
The eldest brother used to be a quiet, reserved person, but things have improved considerably since then.
The second son seems talkative, but think about the three years he was exiled in the book—he managed to keep it a secret.
Jiang Liangxu endured the pain and said with a forced smile, "Madam, please calm down. The matter of the autumn hunt should not be spread, after all, it concerns the safety of His Majesty. The fewer people who know, the better."
"Hmph!" Zhao Xian let go of his hand and glared at him.
The howling inside the house continued. After a short while, Chief Chen came out of the house and said, "Lord Jiang, Madam Jiang, your son is fine. The bruises on his body have dissipated and he is alright. His lungs and bones were not damaged. He just needs to rest for a few days."
Jiang Liangxu nodded: "Thank you."
After instructing the servants to see Chief Chen off, the couple glanced at Jiang Heng but didn't linger; the young couple were simply too affectionate.
Meanwhile, Cui Tingyue brought Xiyu to Han Mu's residence. She was ordered to deliver medicine to Han Mu.
When they arrived, they saw Lin Nianzang coming out of Han Mu's courtyard.
The two bumped into each other.
"Miss Lin."
"Sister Cui has also come to see Brother Han, please."
Seeing her familiar tone and attitude, Cui Tingyue nodded slightly, took the medicine, and went inside.
There were servants guarding the courtyard. When they saw Cui Tingyue, their eyes lit up, and they turned and went into the house to deliver a message. After a short while, the servants came out again and said with a smile, "Miss Cui, my young master invites you in."
Cui Tingyue was ordered to deliver medicine. She intended to hand it over to a servant and leave, but the servant saw her and went in to deliver a message without waiting for her to explain her purpose.
Therefore, the only option was to go inside and personally hand the medicine to Han Mu.
The attendant reached out to stop Xiyu, who was about to follow, and said, "My young master is injured. The imperial physician said it is not convenient for too many people to disturb him. Please wait here for a moment, young lady."
Xi Yu looked at Cui Tingyue, "Miss."
Cui Tingyue: "Just wait for me at the door, I'll be out soon."
The room smelled of wound medicine. Cui Tingyue looked down at the medicine bottle in her hand and remembered that the Empress had said that this seemed to be wound medicine as well.
Cui Tingyue stood behind the screen and called out, "Young Master Han, I am Cui Tingyue, here to deliver medicine to you on the orders of Her Majesty the Empress."
"Come in."
Going around the screen, it was midday, and the sunlight was shining in, making the room the brightest it could be.
As soon as Cui Tingyue entered, she saw Han Mu sitting by the window, wearing only an undergarment, with his left sleeve rolled up above his elbow, and obvious bruises on his raised left arm.
While watching the game, I could only feel that they were fighting desperately. Looking at those bruises, I was afraid that every punch landed on the flesh.
Cui Tingyue pursed her lips, took two steps forward, and since there was no table for her to put the medicine on, she had to hold it up and said, "Her Majesty the Empress was worried about you and asked me to bring you wound medicine."
Han Mu paused for a moment before withdrawing his outstretched hand, and said apologetically, "I have medicine on my hand. Please put it on the table over there, Miss Cui. Thank you."
Just as she put the medicine down, Cui Tingyue turned around and almost bumped into Han Mu, not knowing when he had gotten up and walked over.
Han Mu seemed to have made up his mind, "My aunt likes you very much, I..."
Cui Tingyue smiled and said, "I also like Her Majesty the Empress and want to stay by her side to serve her."
As if she hadn't noticed Han Mu's stunned expression, Cui Tingyue continued, "I haven't yet congratulated Young Master Han on winning the martial arts championship. All the ladies say that Young Master Han is truly a man of both literary and martial talents, and I'm afraid no one will ever achieve what he has. Congratulations."
He not only passed the imperial examination in the spring and became a Jinshi, but he was also able to participate in the military examination. Among all the scholars, he was unique.
In the past, no one would remember the top two finishers in the imperial examinations, but this time it's different, simply because Han Mu is unique.
"I hope I can pass the palace's female official assessment next February, and perhaps then I can work with Young Master Han again." As she spoke, Cui Tingyue looked up at the person in front of her, her eyes crinkling with longing.
Hearing her praise, Han Mu felt a lump in his throat. He opened his mouth and met her gaze, saying, "You will definitely succeed, young lady."
"Then I can accept your kind words, young master." Cui Tingyue curtsied. "The medicine has been delivered. I should report back to Her Majesty the Empress. I will not disturb you any longer. Young Master Han, please rest well."
As Cui Tingyue emerged from Han Mu's courtyard, her expression remained unchanged, her smile poised and elegant.
She wasn't unaware of Han Mu's regret, but just because he regretted it, did she have to regret it too?
Aunt Qi'an helped her find some books; she should go back and memorize them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com