Chapter 215: Another Encounter with Jiang Yu
Translator: DragonRider
Ling Zhang gave Snowflake a bath. The delighted horse swished its tail and splashed water all over him.
“Well, I wish you nothing but happiness.” Ling Zhang looked at it resignedly.
He spent the next two days learning riding skills from Yuwen Tong, and then the day for the horse race came.
Early in the morning, Yuwen Jin, Zhao Jiusi and the others came over to his residence.
“Brother Zhang, are you ready?”
Yuwen Jin, Zhao Jiusi and the others were finally allowed to change out of student’s uniform of the Imperial College. In light riding outfits, they all looked a lot more youthful, expectation and excitement washing over their faces.
On top of this, all of them brought their respective favorite horses with them. Ling Zhang flicked a glance at their mounts and found that his Snowflake was the prettiest.
“Wow, Brother Zhang, your horse is gorgeous!” Yuwen Jin exclaimed.
“This is Snowflake,” said Ling Zhang.
Zhao Jiusi and all the others gathered around, but Snowflake didn’t like it when people crowded around it. It looked rather impatient, as if on the verge of losing its temper. Ling Zhang soothed it and told Yuwen Jin and others not to get too close to it lest Snowflake get angry and kick them.
“This horse is so individual, and it’s of such great presence as well. Where did you get it, Brother Zhang?” Yuwen Jin had backed off a few steps, but his eyes were still fixed on Snowflake, as if glued to it.
Ling Zhang gave a cough and replied, “Yuwen Tong found me this horse.”
Yuwen Jin huffed indignantly, “My cousin is so partial. I’m his cousin, and I’m participating the horse race as well. Why didn’t he get me a horse like this?!”
Ji Feng gave him a dirty look. “Don’t you have a horse of your own already?”
Yuwen Jin was just deliberately saying this with affected jealousy and wasn’t really angry with his cousin. Ling Zhang, who was fully aware of this, gave a smile and made no remarks.
“You’ve been on leave for several days. Do you know that His Majesty will be present in the racetrack?” asked Ji Feng. Though believing that Ling Zhang was probably aware of this, he still reminded him.
Ling Zhang gave a bob of his head. “I do. Yuwen Tong told me about it.”
“By the way, where’s my cousin? His Majesty must have requested his presence on an occasion like this, I suppose?” Yuwen Jin inquired.
“He’s gone to the imperial palace and will depart with His Majesty. I’ll go with you guys,” replied Ling Zhang.
“Then let’s move,” said Yuwen Jin in excitement. He couldn’t wait to see how fast Snowflake could run.
Ling Zhang could tell what he was thinking, and it was indeed high time to get going, so he departed with Yuwen Jin and the others, followed by Wang Dashan, Liu Yi, Xie Shi and Miao Shiba.
It was on horseback that this group of people exited the city. On their way, Ji Feng asked Ling Zhang, “You haven’t gone to the Imperial College to attend class for several days. Did anything happen?”
“I was worried that my defeat would be too humiliating, so I practiced riding for two days,” replied Ling Zhang.
On hearing this, all others observed that Ling Zhang was too cunning. Ji Feng said, “I would have asked for leave as well had I known beforehand this was doable.”
“You could’ve reminded us, Brother Zhang,” Yuwen Jin complained.
“I’d have got myself several more rivals had I reminded you, wouldn’t I?” Ling Zhang joked.
“You’re indeed a wily old fox,” others chortled.
After they finished laughing, Ling Zhang replied honestly, “I’m a terrible rider. These two days’ practice was nothing but a frantic last-minute effort. I still cannot hold a candle to any of you.”
“Haha. There’s no need for you to worry about that. Xun Huo’s riding skills are definitely poorer than yours,” said Ji Feng, pointing at Xun Huo.
Xun Huo, with a rather embarrassed countenance, said, “I’m not good at riding.”
Ling Zhang flicked a few glances at him. He could tell that Xun Huo was somewhat nervous on horseback, which was a stark contrast with others’ unhurried bearing.
“It’s something he was born with, and he once made an effort to overcome it. Previously he couldn’t even ride. It’s a great improvement that he is now capable of staying on horseback,” Zhao Turui also said.
Ling Zhang reminded him, “Then you need to be cautious during the horse race, Xun Huo. Try not to get too close to those people.”
All riders would be galloping fast during the race, and there was a high risk that an uncontrollable situation would come up. If Xun Huo’s horse crashed into any of those people’s, things would definitely get very tricky.
Xun Huo inclined his head. “I know. Ji Feng and others also told me to take it easy. Actually, I’ll get nervous when they pick up speed, and I won’t dare approach them.”
“Given the situation you’re in, I’m sure they’ll only let you take part in the first round. Keep your safety in mind. Nobody would blame you even if you leisurely trotted your horse across the finishing line,” said Ji Feng.
“But His Majesty will be watching the race. It he rides too slow, wouldn’t he be accused of being disrespectful to the game?” asked Yuwen Jin.
After hearing this, Xun Huo got somewhat nervous. “Then what should I do?”
Ling Zhang thought for a few moments and replied, “It’s okay. Just do as much as your strength permits. Given your situation, I think it’ll be very easy to tell whether you’re deliberately being disrespectful to the game or not, and His Majesty would probably see the truth as well.”
After all, given the situation of Xun Huo, he would be more nervous than anybody else when the race started. People couldn’t fake this kind of reaction, and the emperor would know what kind of state Xun Huo was actually in as long as he was not blind.
“Ling Zhang’s got a point. You just have to focus on the race. Don’t think too much,” said Zhao Jiusi.
Xun Huo nodded, growing more composed.
“By the way, there’s yet another thing,” Ji Feng suddenly informed Ling Zhang. “Jiang Yu is a participant of today’s horse race as well.”
During the past two days, Ling Zhang had been occupied learning riding skills from Yuwen Tong and had almost forgotten this person named Jiang Yu. “Jiang family’s trouble is over?”
Ji Feng answered, “How could it be? Jiang Yu’s father is staying at home introspecting about his faults. Jiang family also proclaimed that they wouldn’t be receiving any guests anytime soon, that they needed some time for introspection. Officials of the Xiang City haven’t been escorted into the capital city yet. Everybody is waiting for them to be escorted here, so it’s been fairly quiet during the past few days. But Jiang Changfeng is His Majesty’s uncle after all. His Majesty invited Jiang Changfeng to this horse race. Naturally Jiang Yu has to come. If he manages to rank among the top three, he’d be able to find favor with His Majesty again and slightly alley His Majesty’s displeasure with Jiang family.”
“Then I won’t let Jiang Yu win,” Yuwen Jin said immediately.
Ling Zhang looked at him resignedly. “I suggest you think twice. What if any member of Jiang family impeaches your father in the imperial court once again?”
“I’m afraid of that. Jiang Changfeng didn’t have his way the last time he impeached my father. This time around, the chance of His Majesty believing him would definitely be even slimmer if he tries again, given the mistake Jiang family made,” replied Yuwen Jin.
But Ling Zhang wouldn’t draw a conclusion with such certainty. Yuwen Tong had once told him that the emperor was a big fan of checks and balances and also had a very suspicious mind. It was true that the emperor had disbelieved Jiang Changfeng’s accusation and rejected his request the last time, but he might agree with Jiang Changfeng this time.
After all, this time Jiang Yu’s father had been dismissed from his position, which could be regarded as a heavy blow to Jiang family. As long as the emperor still relied heavily on Jiang family’s service and had to take into consideration his uncle’s respectability, he would try to avoid making any decisions that would undermine Jiang family’s reputation further.
Of course these were only Ling Zhang’s conjectures. As regards what the emperor’s actual thoughts were, he, a humble commoner, really couldn’t guess them.
“Anyway, just do what you’re supposed to do in the race. No tricks,” said Ling Zhang.
Yuwen Jin casually undertook that he would, but the look on his face unmistakably suggested otherwise.
Ling Zhang slightly shook his head, believing that he had to keep a closer eye on Yuwen Jin in the horse race.
“It won’t be easy for Jiang Yu to win the race. There are a lot of people who can ride better than him. Besides, students of the Oriental Rite Academy are also participating,” commented Ji Feng.
Indeed, students of the Oriental Rite Academy were not bad either. During these years, the situation in the Imperial College were rather messy, while the Oriental Rite Academy, on the contrary, was at the crest of a wave, so it was hard to say which side would be the final winner of this horse race.
The group of people exited the city, heading directly for the hunting ground in the western suburbs.
The hunting ground in the western suburbs covered a vast area which was more than enough for a horse race. By convention, this was approximately the time for hunting. Yuwen Tong told Ling Zhang that since the diplomatic corps of the Wan Kingdom, though having stayed for quite a few days, still hadn’t left yet, the emperor had invited them to attend this year’s hunting.
The very thought of the diplomatic corps of the Wan Kingdom brought a frown to Ling Zhang’s face. Yuwen Tong had always believed that those people had chosen to stay for ulterior motives. On the day when the two of them had arrived in the capital city, those people had tried to make mischief at the banquet in the imperial palace. There was no telling whether they would play any other tricks. But strangely enough, those people hadn’t made any particular move after that. It was just that the King Duan and the King Hui took Shan Congwen to tour around the city every couple of days, as if it was to do some sightseeing that Shan Congwen was still lingering.
“Pooh, speak of the devil and he appears. Since when did we become so prophetic?” Yuwen Jin’s voice was suddenly heard.
At first Ling Zhang was confused, and then, looking in the direction Yuwen Jin was gazing, he found that Jiang Yu and his followers were right ahead of them. They were riding slower than them, and the distance between them was closing.
“Jiang Yu is not with his grandfather. This is so surprising,” said Ji Feng.
Seeing the puzzlement on Ling Zhang’s face, Zhao Jiusi explained, “On all previous similar occasions, he went to the field with his grandfather – with His Majesty, to be precise. Never once did he go with students like us.”
“Solely because he’s kin to the emperor and believes he’s a cut above us,” observed Yuwen Jin.
At this time they approached Jiang Yu and his followers, who had also noticed Ling Zhang and the others. All their faces were familiar – faces of those who always stayed by Jiang Yu’s side in the Imperial College. Zuo Yuanping was among them.
Jiang Yu glanced across Ling Zhang’s horse and then took his eyes off it.
“Oh, Childe Jiang, why are you condescending to travel with students like us today?” Yuwen Jin asked.
Ling Zhang, “…”
‘Yuwen Jin’s such a busybody. Will he never cease to make trouble until we’re in one?’
Unsurprisingly, someone on Jiang Yu’s side immediately huffed, “Yuwen Jin, I suggest you stop poking your nose into other people’s business!”
“Jiang Yu can travel with anybody he feels like to travel with. You’re in no position to lay comment on him.”
Yuwen Jin crossed his arms across his chest and said, “I’m just worried that Childe Jiang is doomed to sustain a defeat without making a fancy appearance.”
Ling Zhang placed a hand on his forehead. This remark was so provocative.
“Cut that bullshit, Yuwen Jin. Jiang Yu’s victory in today’s game is certain. You, on the other hand, should think about how to make your defeat seem less humiliating, lest you burst into tears and run back home to your dad to seek comfort.”
“He has a tough cousin, doesn’t he? Maybe it’ll be his cousin that he runs back to.”
“Haha…”
People on the opposite side sneered at him with heavy sarcasm. Yuwen Jin, infuriated as usual, forgot he was still on horseback, and intended to hurtle over to fight them.
Ling Zhang on Snowflake moved forward and said, “Save your breath if you have real skills. We’ll see who’s better in the racetrack.”
Then he turned to Yuwen Jin. “Let’s go. There’s no point wasting time here.”
It was after hearing these words that Yuwen Jin forbore from charging up to fight them, but before leaving, he had another few rounds of a verbal duel with those people.
Jiang Yu, on horseback, eyes cold, watched as they left. Eventually, with a flinty face, he spurred his steed and rode into the hunting ground with his followers.
