Chapter 253 Horse Racing
It turned out that the princess had sent someone to the No. 1 Garden in the World to deliver a message to Qianhuan.
The eunuch who delivered the message bowed to Qianhuan and then said in his shrill voice, "County Lady Jingrou, the Ninth Princess has given an oral order that today the women of Dayuan Country will compete with the women of Canglang Country in horseback riding. Let County Lady Jingrou also represent the women of Dayuan Country to participate in the competition."
In fact, these were all good things done by Zhao Yanran. After leaving the inn yesterday, Zhao Yanran also went to the palace.
She suggested to the Ninth Princess that Princess Jingrou should participate in the competition, "Princess, this matter was originally caused by the drinking contest between Princess Jingrou and the Princess of Canglang Country. She can't drink as much as the other one, so she has to make some efforts in the horse riding contest."
The Ninth Princess was a little hesitant at the time, "But, what if Princess Jingrou doesn't know how to ride a horse, and we lose at Dayuan?"
"Don't worry, Princess Nine. Yanran had the honor of riding a horse with the county lady in the suburbs of Beijing. The county lady is an excellent horseman and can definitely compete."
"Okay, then tomorrow the princess will send someone to tell her to enter the palace and participate in the competition."
Qianhuan dared not disobey the princess's order, so she had to agree, "Please wait a moment, eunuch. I will go to the backyard to change my clothes first, and then follow you into the palace."
"Okay, I will wait for County Lady Jingrou here."
After Qianhuan changed into a clean and neat pair of pants, she followed the eunuch who delivered the message to the palace to participate in the competition.
A lot of people had gathered at the Royal Stables at this time, and the people from the Canglang Country had already arrived.
Dayuan sent Situ Jing, Qian Huan, and Princess Ning Jia to compete.
Although Princess Ning Jia disliked Qian Huan, today's competition concerned the reputation of the women of their Dayuan Kingdom. Princess Ning Jia could only cooperate with them temporarily and win the competition first.
At the racecourse, the women from the Canglang Nation who were competing were running on their horses to warm up. Qianhuan paid a little attention to these three people.
Princess Qi Jiaqing of the Canglang Kingdom is the best rider among the three, followed by the woman in yellow clothes, and the worst is the woman in green clothes.
On the Dayuan side, Situ Jing was the best rider among the three. She walked over to the two and asked, "How are your riding skills?"
Princess Ning Jia was full of confidence. "I practice horse riding regularly, and I am considered one of the best among these women."
Situ Jing looked at Qianhuan again. Qianhuan already knew that she was drunk yesterday and Situ Jing stood up for Dayuan's woman, so she had a good impression of her.
She said matter-of-factly, "Ms. Situ, I have only learned horse riding for less than a year, but my horse riding skills should be better than Princess Ning Jia's."
When Princess Ningjia heard this, she immediately became angry. "Princess Jingrou, I have been learning horse riding since I was ten years old. You have only learned it for half a year. How dare you say you are better than me?"
Situ Jing said, "You two should stop arguing. Before the competition, we can run a lap in the venue. The three of us will run a lap first, and then we will know our respective levels."
Princess Ningjia snorted at Qianhuan, "Okay, I'm going to make you admit defeat sincerely later."
The three of them each chose a horse, then they all mounted the horses and started running from the same starting line.
After running a lap, Princess Ning Jia was indeed the last one among the three. With the facts before her, Princess Ning Jia could only shut up.
The groom of the stable came over and said, "Ladies, please take all the horse slaves down and feed them some horse feed. Once they are full, we can officially start the race."
Situ Jing waved her hand, "Okay, you can take it."
Situ Jing then said to the two of them, "The best rider in Canglang Country is their princess, so I will compete with her. The next best is the woman in yellow clothes, Princess Jingrou, you will deal with her; Princess Ningjia will compete with the woman in green clothes."
Princess Ning Jia also thought that this arrangement was quite reasonable. She nodded in agreement and said, "Okay, let's do as Miss Situ said."
Qianhua disagreed, "Miss Situ, the Canglang people have been learning to ride horses since they were young. I think if we go to the competition according to Miss Situ's arrangement, it will be difficult for us to win against the Canglang people."
Situ Jing humbly asked, "Then I wonder if County Lady Jingrou has any better ideas?"
"I think Princess Ningjia should compete with the Princess of Canglang Country first, and Miss Situ..."
Before Qianhuan could finish her opinion, Princess Ningjia interrupted her in dissatisfaction.
"Princess Jingrou, what do you mean? Are you deliberately trying to make me look bad? You know that I'm the worst rider among the three of us, yet you let me compete with the best rider, the Princess of Canglang? How can you be so vicious?"
Situ Jing was also puzzled, but she felt that County Lady Jingrou was not the kind of person who would talk nonsense.
She asked patiently, "County Lady Jingrou, I don't quite understand. You're letting County Lady Ningjia face off against the Princess of the Canglang Nation. This is a losing game. How can you let us win the game with this arrangement?"
Qianhuan said calmly, "Miss Situ and Princess, please be patient and listen to me."
Situ Jing didn't say anything. She motioned Qianhuan to continue.
"Although Princess Ningjia is bound to lose against the Princess of the Canglang Country, Miss Situ is the best rider among the three of us. If we were to face the woman in yellow, we would have a great chance of winning. And if I were to face the woman in green, I would have a better chance of winning. We lose one round, win two, and in the end we will still win. If we follow Miss Situ's arrangement, I'm afraid none of us will have a chance of winning."
In fact, Qianhuan arranged today's match based on the story of Tian Ji's horse racing. The horsemanship of Dayuan's team is slightly worse. If they want to have a chance to win, they have to let their lower horses face the enemy's upper horses, the upper horses face the middle horses, and the middle horses face the lower horses. They can lose one round but win two.
After hearing this, Situ Jing was suddenly enlightened. "Great, it's really great. County Lady Jingrou's arrangement really opened my eyes."
Situ Jing looked at Princess Ning Jia and said, "Princess, if we follow Princess Jing Rou's arrangement, we have a greater chance of winning the game, but we will have to let you lose the first game. Do you have any objection?"
Although Princess Ning Jia knew that she was bound to lose, she nodded in agreement as long as Dayuan could win. She didn't want them to kowtow to the woman from the Canglang Country and admit their mistakes after they lost.
After the horses were full, they were led out by the grooms again and the competition officially began.
The emperor, the empress, and a group of ministers and princes were all sitting in the audience seats. The emperor spoke to preside over the situation, "Now, I declare that the equestrian competition officially begins."
The princess of the Canglang Kingdom came out first on horseback and said, "I am the first one to come. Who will your Dayuan Kingdom send to compete with me?"
Princess Ningjia stepped forward and said, "This princess will compete with you."
The princess of Canglang Kingdom didn't take Princess Ning Jia seriously at all.
The two men were riding on tall horses. When the eunuch blew the whistle, they immediately raised their whips and rushed out.
The people of Dayuan were shouting from below, "Come on, Princess, come on..."
However, the difference in riding skills between the two was so great that the Princess of Canglang Country ran far ahead, leaving Princess Ningjia behind.
Princess Ningjia kept whipping the horse, hoping that she would not lose so badly.
The princess of Canglang Country reached the finish line, while Princess Ningjia still had a long distance to the finish line. However, Princess Ningjia managed to finish the whole course with patience.
After losing the first game, the people of Dayuan felt a little upset, but the people of Canglang looked very proud.
The princess of Canglang said contemptuously, "Princess Ningjia, I'm grateful for your help. We Canglang women have grown up on horseback since we were young, so it's normal for us to win against you. Princess, there's no need to be too sad."
Princess Ning Jia retorted, "Princess of the Canglang Kingdom, you only won one round from me. There are still two rounds to go. It is still unknown who will win or lose. Princess, there is no need to be too happy too soon."