Although Li Chengqian said he would not dominate the audience, his status naturally attracted much attention.
Even though Li Tai felt unhappy, there was nothing he could do about it.
"Everyone, our Tang Dynasty relied on military force to establish the country. Both civil servants and military generals can ride horses. We must not weaken the reputation of our ancestors. Although I was born fat and unable to ride a horse, I yearn for it in my heart and specially organize this horse racing meeting. I hope you will
Take the lead bravely and win the first place." Li Tai said loudly.
Regardless of whether they were sincere or not, everyone looked eager to give it a try.
"Two royal brothers, I can't let the younger one go. The royal face must be won by the two royal brothers." Li Tai said to Li Chengqian and Li Ke with a smile.
Li Ke smiled and said: "I am not good at equestrian skills, so I won't show off my ugliness."
He has the blood of two dynasties and his status is very noble, but this is where he is embarrassed.
The Tang Dynasty conquered the world of the Sui Dynasty. Except for the former Sui Dynasty's surviving ministers, the later upstarts naturally did not want a person with the blood of the former Sui Dynasty to be the emperor.
Li Ke knew very well that if he wanted to compete for the throne, he had to endure it first and not show off. This is why he took the initiative to apply for vassal status as soon as he reached the age.
If he wins the horse race, it will be too popular. If he loses, he will be embarrassed, so he naturally does not want to participate.
"Although this Jockey Club is organized by my younger brother, it also represents the royal family. If we brothers don't show up, we may lose the royal family's face." Li Tai said with some worry.
He didn't care whether Li Ke ended up or not. He was afraid that Li Chengqian would also refuse, so he used words to block Li Chengqian in advance.
Li Chengqian smiled lightly and said: "Although I know that my equestrian skills are not as good as those of the Lord's disciples, I can't lose the royal dignity, so I naturally want to participate."
"Then it's up to the emperor brother." Li Tai said with a smile when he saw Li Chengqian agreeing to end it.
"I'm going to change my clothes first." After Li Chengqian finished speaking, he stood up and left.
Li Tai looked back at Han Wen and saw Han Wen nodding his head with a smile on his face and chatting with Li Ke.
Li Chengqian changed his clothes and came to the stable. Someone immediately took his horse out.
Li Chengqian did not go to the racecourse immediately, but waited on the spot.
"Your Highness, the race is about to start. Your Highness should go to the racecourse as soon as possible." Seeing Li Chengqian standing still, the steward of the racecourse proactively reminded him.
Li Chengqian waved his hand and said, "I understand."
However, after Li Chengqian finished speaking, he still had no intention of moving.
At this moment, Lin Xuan came over holding his horse.
Li Chengqian smiled and said: "Zi Chu."
"Your Highness." Lin Xuan saluted and handed the horse to Li Chengqian.
Li Chengqian handed the horse rope to Lin Xuan and took Lin Xuan's horse.
When the racecourse manager saw this, his expression changed, but he couldn't say anything.
After Lin Xuan and the others left, the racecourse manager quickly reported the incident to Han Wen.
Han Wen's face darkened when he heard Lin Xuan and Li Chengqian changing horses.
Did Li Chengqian notice something, or did he already know their plan?
Han Wen did not dare to delay, so he walked up to the stand and said to Li Tai: "Your Highness, I have something to report."
Li Tai frowned slightly and said to Li Ke: "Brother Emperor, I will come as soon as I go."
"The emperor's brother does what he wants." Li Ke said.
Li Tai and Han Wen came to a deserted place and asked: "The game is about to start. Why are you looking for me at this time?"
"Your Highness, the prince and Lin Xuan exchanged horses." Han Wen said with an ugly expression.
"What?"
Li Tai's expression changed and he said, "Didn't you tell me that nothing will go wrong? What should we do now?"
He thought that his plan had been known to Li Chengqian, and if Li Chengqian told Li Shimin about it, he would be finished.
"Your Majesty, don't panic. I think Lin Xuan must have noticed something, but there is no evidence. Otherwise, if the prince had told your majesty directly about it, why would he have come to race?" Han Wen said.
Li Tai calmed down and said with a ferocious expression: "Lin Xuan actually ruined my good deeds. He is simply seeking death. Since he is so loyal to the emperor and is willing to die on his behalf, then just die."
Han Wen wanted to say that even if Ma took the medicine, Lin Xuan, who was skilled in martial arts, might not be in trouble, but seeing Li Tai's face, he had to give up.
Li Tai is full of confidence in this operation. Now that Lin Xuan has interfered with it, if he were told that Lin Xuan would be fine, Li Tai would probably go crazy.
When Li Tai returned to the stands, although he forced a smile, Li Ke still noticed something unusual.
Li Ke didn't ask any more questions and said with a smile: "It's just the right time for the emperor's brother to come back. The game will start soon."
At this time, the contestants on the racecourse were already on their horses and ready to start.
This time Li Tai invited people under the age of 20. A total of more than 100 people came, but only about 50 people actually participated.
The steward of the racecourse was holding a gong, standing under the stands, and shouted: "There are three laps, the first to cross the line wins."
After speaking, he sounded the gong in his hand.
"drive!"
As the gong sounded, everyone shouted loudly, and the horses rushed out like arrows from their strings.
A lap of the racecourse is about three miles, and a run of three laps is about ten miles.
Li Chengqian's horse is a bloody horse, but it is a female horse.
Female horses are much more docile than male horses.
The contestants this time all rode good horses. Li Chengqian’s horse was not the best, so Lin Xuan was only in the middle.
The one who took the lead was actually Fang Yiai, which made the people watching in the stands feel a bit incredible.
You, the son of a civil servant, have surpassed so many sons of military generals in horse racing, what kind of trouble are you going to make?
But this is just the beginning. Ten miles is not a short distance. Some horses accelerate quickly in the early stage but lack endurance. It is hard to say whether Fang Yiai can win the championship.
Although Lin Xuan knew that there was no hope of winning the championship, the game was a game. He did not give up and tried his best to ride the horse and pursue it bravely.
Lin Xuan didn't notice anything unusual in the first lap and thought he might be overthinking.
But halfway through the second lap, Lin Xuan felt something was wrong.
Not only did the horse under his crotch not feel tired at all, but it was getting faster and faster, which was very abnormal.
The horse's speed had reached its peak before. No matter how hard Lin Xuan urged, the speed did not increase. After running for more than one lap, it should be tired and slowed down. How could it run faster and faster?
The ancients called a good horse a thousand-mile horse, which means that the horse can run a thousand miles in a day.
Maybe the legendary Red Rabbit and Lin Xuan's Lion Cong can do it, but running like this will hurt the horse.
No one would do that.
In later generations, TV often said "eight hundred miles expedited", which meant running 400 kilometers a day.
But this is not a horse that ran out. In ancient times, the imperial court would set up a post station every dozens of miles for rest and horse replacement.
Normally, if you travel 800 miles in a hurry, you have to change horses about fifteen times in the middle.
Although Lin Xuan sensed something was wrong, he did not panic.
This trick may be useful for people like Li Chengqian who have no martial arts skills.
It was completely useless to him, let alone him. Even Cheng Chumo and the others could handle this situation.
There are so many famous generals in history who died on the battlefield. Has anyone ever heard of a famous general who fell to death from his horse?
What's more, Lin Xuan also has the skills to tame animals.
Lin Xuan rode all the way to catch up, and when halfway through the third lap, Fang Yiai was the only one left in front of Lin Xuan.
People in the stands didn't know the inside story and thought Lin Xuan had held back before. Only Li Tai's eyes flashed with excitement.
"Run, run. When you finally find that the horse can't stop, I'll see how you die." Li Tai sneered in his heart.
He had tried to win over Lin Xuan many times, but Lin Xuan didn't know how to praise him. Now he was even more harmful to his good deeds. Now he suddenly felt that it would be good to get rid of Lin Xuan.