At the other end of the lawn, Gu Heng saw from afar the carriage he had sent to pick up Qin Zhao. He said to the people around him, "Proceed as planned. Just scare him, don't let anything really happen. Understand?"
There were four or five teenagers around him, one of whom was riding a horse and looked at him teasingly: "Brother Heng, why are you so afraid of him?"
"I'm not afraid!" Gu Heng retorted, "He's the top candidate chosen by the prefect, and he's going to take the provincial exam in August. If anything happens to him, my father will kill me."
"A nerd..."
The young man snorted, raised his eyes and looked over there, just in time to see Qin Zhao leading Jing Li out of the carriage.
Jing Li wore his favorite pomegranate-red coat today, which accentuated his fair complexion and slender waist. He was obediently led by Qin Zhao, but his gaze was curiously gazing at the horses grazing by the roadside, his eyes bright and eager to try.
The young men on this side of the lawn were all mesmerized.
Only Gu Heng said vaguely: "He...his husband is really very handsome..."
Qin Zhao quickly led Jing Li to the lawn. He glanced at everyone and finally stopped at Gu Heng. "Didn't you say we were coming to the racecourse today?"
"Is that so?" Gu Heng had been scolded by Qin Zhao for a few days, and he felt scared when he heard him say that. He forced himself not to show his fear in front of his friends, "Today's weather is good, suitable for horse racing, so... so..."
Jing Li didn't want to pay attention to Gu Heng. He looked up and asked the boy on the horse: "Do you want to compete?"
The boy's face instantly turned red, and he stammered, "Competition... competition, yes, we have to compete."
"Okay, then we won't keep you any longer. Let's get started." There were spectator seats all around the racecourse. Jing Li pulled Qin Zhao's sleeve and said, "That's a perfect spot. Let's go watch from there."
After saying that, he pulled Qin Zhao to the spectator seats, leaving several teenagers looking at each other in bewilderment.
The person Jing Li questioned was none other than Zhou Qi, the young master of the Zhou family who had organized the party. He watched Jing Li's back as he left and said to his companions, "Why don't you get on your horses? What are you dawdling for?"
Everyone: “…”
The rules of formal mounted archery are that the contestants ride their horses around a track and shoot arrows at targets fixed beside the track.
Within a quarter of an hour, the number of laps run and the number of targets hit are added together to determine the final score.
Jing Li asked, "What if we run slowly and just aim for the number of targets we hit?"
"It's not that easy," Qin Zhao said. "Each quiver only holds nine arrows, and there are a fixed number of targets on the field, and they're unevenly distributed. If you're too slow, they'll all be snatched up before you even reach them."
"Besides, even if all nine arrows hit the target, it's only a 90% chance. In the end, speed still determines the winner."
"But blindly pursuing speed isn't a good idea. Horse racing rules state that if more than three arrows miss the target, the person will be disqualified."
"This is so difficult..." Jing Li held the small fish tank and looked at the group of teenagers preparing on the sidelines. "I wonder who came up with such a perverted method."
Qin Zhao smiled. "In the early years, the northern nomadic tribes frequently invaded the border. They were skilled in horseback riding and archery, and the armies sent by the imperial court suffered greatly. The late emperor therefore implemented this horse racing rule, urging the people to strengthen their horseback riding and archery skills in case of emergency."
Jing Li asked, "So, what's the gameplay of horse racing? Do you bet on who will win?"
"Yes, do you want to try it?"
"Uh-huh!"
Off the field, several young men had already put on their protective gear. At the sound of drums from the servants waiting outside, they all galloped out on their horses, raising a cloud of dust.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
