This is not only a place where the Daqian court kept horses, but also a vast wilderness and dense woodland used for hunting and cross-country hunting.
Yan Wulu, Gu Beiju and others came here together.
The two of them even had to arrive one step ahead of other martial arts test takers.
After all, these southern horses owned by young men from middle- and lower-class families have natural shortcomings compared to the horses owned by Yan Wulu and Gu Beiju.
Gu Beiju bowed slightly to Yan Wulu and left.
As the main examiner in charge of this third stage of the assessment, he is already heading to the main stage.
Yan Wulu responded politely.
Horses galloping.
Exam candidates gather together.
Because of Zhang Zheng, the little tricks of the Jinling family did not really block many poor candidates.
The examiners will "randomly" group all the martial arts candidates.
As Yan Wulu expected, almost every group has been specially adjusted.
For a top aristocratic family in Jinling like Qin Chechu, his group was almost specially set up for him to win first place.
As for Ren Yi and Xia Jingjing, who had always achieved impressive results and challenged the authority of the family, they were specially separated and put into two groups where strong people gathered.
A group of thirty people participate in equestrian cross-country competition in order to compete for points. It can be said that there are almost no rules.
Small teamwork is commonplace.
Yan Wulu seemed to have very average luck this time.
He was in a group with Xia Jingjing, a group of equestrian experts recommended by many Jinling families.
Yan Wulu didn't think it was a big deal about this result.
Come to think of it, I am from the North after all. Although I am not from a poor family, in the eyes of these Jinling families, I am still a country gentry and a military general and a reckless man.
Gu Beiju seemed to have just learned about this grouping, and cast a very apologetic look at Yan Wulu.
He even came here specifically to say that someone else had tampered with it and changed his original grouping of Yan Wulu... Thinking about it, it might have been someone from Jin Wang Zhao Lingcheng.
Gu Beiju also said that he could temporarily exchange one of the people in the group between Yan Wulu and Qin Chechu.
In that group, except for Qin Chechu, the rest were all guys with extremely poor riding skills. It was easy to get the top two places.
But Yan Wulu refused.
"There is no need to resort to such obvious means for Wu Lu."
Yan Wulu said, he looked at the group where Xia Jingjing was, that is, the group he was in, and then continued -
"...Besides, aren't this group also a group of guys with mediocre riding skills?"
When Gu Beiju heard this, he was shocked for a moment.
After a moment, Gu Beiju came to his senses and felt that he was indeed the man he had chosen. He was indeed extraordinary!
These people are all famous equestrian masters in Jinling City. As disciples of aristocratic families, they were recommended by the aristocratic families.
But in Yan Wulu's eyes, it can only be called "mediocre riding skills".
Gu Beiju felt that Yan Wulu was not talking big words.
He admired and admired this person more and more in his heart, stepped back slightly, bowed his hands, and said -
"Then I wish the crown prince success in the future!"
…
The forest farm is vast, and it is considered complete when you reach the end point from here.
Among them, there are a total of ninety-nine and eighty-one forking roads, like a maze.
Each person will receive a map with the points marked on it, as well as the starting and ending points.
There are ten points in total in the venue. Only the first martial arts test taker to reach the point can obtain it, and those who come after will be invalid.
The first one to finish the race will get ten extra points.
second, five points;
Third, three points.
During the competition, the points are marked with a round wooden sign. Having it means you have the points. After passing the finish line, they will be settled uniformly.
…
At the beginning of the second round of competition.
Ten groups are performed in sequence.
Yan Wulu is in the seventh group.
The first group has already started, and there are a large number of cavalry taking care of them along the way. They only care about safety and convey the real situation.
…
The Zhenbei Cavalry Guard suddenly came to report.
Yan Wulu communicated with the cavalry guards about the previous matters related to the City Defense Department.
The City Defense Department under King Jin was involved in a major incident that has not been exposed yet.
Originally, Yan Wulu had noticed this a long time ago, but he was not sure, so he specifically asked the mounted guards around him to send manpower to pay attention. Now, he has repeatedly confirmed it several times.
Before he came to participate in the martial arts competition, he had once again captured the opponent's form.
Yan Wulu has asked Zhang Chunhua to lead people to take action.
Moreover, now the mounted guard came to report - he had successfully succeeded.
Yan Wulu had a slight smile on his face.
He knew that all he needed now was a suitable opportunity to completely capture the City Defense Department.
While Yan Wulu was thinking about the affairs of the City Defense Department, Princess Zhao Lingrui of Taiping and Qin Jing, the daughter of Prime Minister Qin, came to the garden racecourse with a group of female cavalry guards.
The two of them made a special trip to watch this martial arts exercise.
Princess Taiping Zhao Lingrui is a martial artist.
As for Qin Jing, she never pays attention to these things. Thinking about it, she may be here mainly for her brother Qin Chechu.
...Of course, it is not ruled out that Zhao Lingrui stalked her and asked her to come with him.
When Qin Jing saw Yan Wulu, she was stunned for a moment, waved slightly to greet each other, and then went to find Qin Chechu.
Yan Wulu responded with corresponding courtesy.
Then Yan Wulu was suddenly called out by Zhao Lingrui.
It was the "Female Overlord of Jinling" who was shunned by everyone, in full public view, and was now calling a man to come over.
For a moment, those Jinling gentlemen felt both surprised and envious.
I was surprised that someone could actually get into Zhao Lingrui's eyes. She was the feared "Female Overlord of Jinling"!
I am envious that someone can actually fall into Zhao Lingrui's eyes. She is the most beautiful Princess Taiping!
Yan Wulu rode over.
Zhao Lingrui was outside the racecourse fence and approached on horseback, "When did you have such a good relationship with Sister Qin Jing?"
Zhao Lingrui said vigilantly and suspiciously: "...Sister Qin Jing, usually she doesn't take the initiative to say hello to others easily, and she's still a man."
When Yan Wulu heard this, a black line seemed to fall down his forehead.
He didn't know why Qin Jing wanted to say hello to him?
It can't be just because he looks like her, right?
"Forget it, Sister Qin Jing won't steal a man from me anyway." Zhao Lingrui turned around and said. "...Remember to advance."
"...This princess has always been the first in everything! I don't want my future prince-in-law to participate in the martial arts competition, only to be eliminated after just one or two rounds."
"The princess has something to say, Wu Lu should do his best."
Yan Wulu was very polite. He suddenly looked at Zhao Lingrui's pair of beautiful peach blossom eyes and said, "...Your Highness the Princess, can you temporarily give Wulu something... personal belongings?"
Yan Wulu thought carefully about his words.
Zhao Lingrui felt very strange when he heard this.
Temporary gift?
Your belongings?
But she didn't think much about it. For Zhao Lingrui, using her brain was always a troublesome thing.
"Currently, this is the only one I have that is more convenient."
As Zhao Lingrui spoke, she took out a silk sleeve handkerchief that was as bright red as blood agate from the sleeve of her riding uniform. It looked like it was worth a lot of money.
She threw it to Yan Wulu.
Yan Wulu took it and tied the sleeve handkerchief to his left wrist, "In this way, this bright red sleeve handkerchief will definitely be the first to cross the line."
Zhao Lingrui seemed to understand the meaning of Yan Wulu's words at once.
She couldn't help but feel curious and said -
"Be the first to cross the line? Are you so confident in yourself? I think your group is all riding masters."
"Wulu is not confident in himself, but confident in Her Highness the Princess."
Yan Wulu replied.
"...Her Royal Highness the Princess is number one in everything, so this pocket handkerchief will definitely be able to bring this honor and luck to Wulu."
Zhao Lingrui seemed to understand what the other party really meant, and couldn't help but blush a little, but when she thought about it later, she always felt that she had been... deceived by the other party?
This guy...does he just want his own sleeve handkerchief?
And I made up such a lame excuse...
However, Zhao Lingrui liked this reason very much.
…
In the distance, the game has already started in the seventh group.
The seventh group of martial arts test takers were in place one after another.
Zhao Lingrui also noticed that the martial arts competition was about to begin, and she asked Yan Wulu to pass.
Yan Wulu drove his horse forward unhurriedly. When all the examinees arrived at the designated position, the commander in charge sounded a gong and drum, and the sound resounded through the sky.
For a moment, horses galloped, sand and rocks flew, and the sky was filled with smoke and dust.
After a few breaths, all the horses galloped away...
No, there is another person!
When everyone looked around, they discovered that the person who was still there was none other than the Crown Prince of Zhenbei, Yan Wulu.
Yan Wulu was wearing a dark riding outfit.
He was currently sitting on the black cloud horse, still methodically tying a bright red sleeve handkerchief on his left wrist.
Everyone was surprised.
Gu Beiju, who was on the subjective stage, even felt that the Prince of Zhenbei had suddenly lost his mind. Didn't he know that under this competition mechanism, every second was extremely precious?
And the player who is in front is more likely to get the most points.
Zhao Lingrui, who was outside the court, looked shocked when he saw this.
However, she did think that Yan Wulu was quite interesting and charming.
Of course, if he ran away in the end, she would instantly feel that he was a fool.
…
Yan Wulu raised his left hand. He looked at it for a moment and seemed to feel that the bright red silk sleeve handkerchief was tied more firmly and would not fall off.
At this moment, more than ten seconds have passed since the game started.
Yan Wulu looked slightly serious, and he suddenly pinched the horse's belly.
The black cloud pony instantly galloped out like a sharp arrow.
Everyone seemed to realize that Wu Yunju was much faster than the other horses, much faster!
This is Zhu Gongqi’s fine horse carefully selected from the vast northern land.
How can these southern ponies be compared?
But even so, everyone still felt that Yan Wulu was so arrogant that he deliberately delayed his departure for more than ten seconds, which was an extremely stupid move.
…
The garden racecourse is extremely vast.
Moreover, after arriving inside, it gradually became a deep forest, and the examiner could not clearly see the specific situation of the competition.
The actual situation of the competition is communicated by the signals and flags of the following warrior cavalry, each in flag language.
Then after the examiners receive it, they will mark the positions reached by numbers 1 to 30 with corresponding numerical chess pieces on a huge sand table for everyone to watch.
Generally speaking, a game is over in as little as two quarters of an hour.
The delay of more than ten seconds does seem a bit stupid and arrogant.
…
Every martial arts examinee has a map in his hand. On this map, the starting point, the end point, ten points, and the ninety-one forks are marked.
but……
There is one thing, but it is not marked.
That's it - a trap.
This is what Gu Beiju revealed to him. The internal examiners of their Jinling Family had long ago decided to add traps to the third round of assessment competitions for the last four groups.
This is something the first six groups don’t have.
The only way to gain is to eliminate some inferior masters.
Therefore, many non-Jinling aristocratic candidates with strong riding skills are placed in the last four groups, such as Yan Wulu and Xia Jingjing in the seventh group, and Ren Yi in the eighth group.
At the same time, among the last four groups, there are also some disciples recommended by the Jinling Family, who are all riding experts, and they would have known about the existence of the trap.
Moreover, they will cooperate specifically to bring down those poor candidates here, just so that their master can safely gain fame and title in the last round of "competition".
Along the way, Yan Wulu saw that many poor martial arts test candidates from his group had fallen into traps or tripped over the ropes, almost unable to get up.
He is the seventh group, that is, the first group to encounter the existence of "trap".
Running first is a bit dangerous.
So I deliberately delayed it before, letting others step out of the trap for me, and...get the points card for me!
According to Care Bei Ju, the trap will disappear only in the last half of the journey.
Yan Wulu kept this in mind.
At the same time, thinking about the approximate intersection of the points, he rode off, hoping that those so-called "riding experts" had already obtained the points cards.
…
The sudden appearance of "traps" makes this competition far more dangerous than the previous six.
Even the equestrian masters from the Jinling family who were informed in advance fell victim to many tricks.
It is also said that those poor students who have no idea about this.
Of course the same is true for Xia Jingjing.
But fortunately, with her strength and luck, Xia Jingjing survived all the way and got three point cards.
Now as long as you ensure that you can cross the line in the top two, you will be able to advance steadily.
However, when Xia Jingjing was thinking about it, she suddenly discovered that more and more Jinling riding masters were gradually gathering around her.
As Xia Hai's only daughter, Xia Jingjing has been taught by Xia Hai for many years, and has strong martial arts skills and quick reactions.
She is also a powerful warrior herself, with strong spiritual awareness.
Before the enemy sneaks up on him, he takes action first and knocks him off his horse.
"I didn't want to do these things originally, but you are all asking for it!"
Xia Jingjing's beautiful eyes were filled with anger.
The whole person also directly pulled out the embroidered spring knife from his waist, and rode forward with the people around him, while the light of the knife flashed.
Xia Jingjing is really amazing.
But these diners specially recruited by the Jinling family are by no means ordinary people.
Two fists are no match for four hands.
After narrowly blocking an attack, Xia Jingjing was suddenly knocked off her horse by an enemy behind her.
It seems that these people still have some sense of measure. They know that this is Natsumi's only daughter after all, and they do not kill her like they did to other poor candidates before.
They dismounted and prepared to seize the score card from the opponent's hand.
Xia Jingjing fell off her horse and was short of breath for a moment. It felt like her bones were misaligned in some places.
But even so, he still vowed not to hand over his points card.
When several people were about to snatch it directly, they were suddenly interrupted.
A spear suddenly flew over and was inserted directly in front of several people, blocking the distance between them and Xia Jingjing.
Immediately afterwards, there was a sound like the light playing of a guzheng——
"Give me your points card, and I'll let you be the second best and get five points. How about that?"