88: Chapter 74 Imperial Archery 88: Chapter 74 Imperial Archery The Zither Music Inspection came to a close amid the crowd’s sighs and murmurs.
No matter how one spun it, Jiang Li’s rendition of “Hu Jia Eighteen Beats” that day became the talk of Yanjing City.
The doubts about her achieving three levels of examination dissipated for a moment.
Moreover, the zither skills Jiang Li displayed had many people reassessing the bet between Miss Jiang the Second and the daughter of the Meng Family, and in the betting houses, some people even began to back Jiang Li for the win.
These changes were gradual but pervasive.
Overnight, it seemed everyone had reached a consensus: Jiang Li was no worse than any other noble lady in Yanjing.
This was naturally a favorable turn for Jiang Li, but not for everyone else.
Not to mention the other female students of Mingyi Hall whom Jiang Li had outshone, Meng Hongjin, the other party in the bet, was also filled with restlessness.
In the Meng Family residence, Meng Youde had not yet returned, and Mother Meng sat in the hall, heaving sighs of despair.
Meng Hongjin locked herself in her boudoir, overturning her desk in a tantrum, her face revealing irritation.
Yet, upon closer inspection, one could detect a trace of panic within that irritation.
Unconsciously, matters had reached this state.
Reflecting on it, Meng Hongjin still felt it was all like a dream.
She couldn’t fathom how what had seemed a certainty had transformed into the current scenario.
She had heard from the servants’ private conversations that in the major betting houses, people were starting to bet on Jiang Li.
What did this indicate?
It suggested, at least in the eyes of the public, that it was possible for her to lose to Jiang Li.
It wasn’t just outsiders who thought so; even Meng Hongjin’s initial confidence had long since evaporated.
Meng Hongjin understood that she had probably been deceived by Jiang Li.
The pretense of knowing nothing, of complete ignorance, was just a ruse Jiang Li conjured up to blind her.
Jiang Li had probably harbored the intention to humiliate her from the start, setting a trap and goading her into the bet.
In truth, Jiang Li knew everything.
However, the words were already out there, and the whole of Yanjing City knew of her bet with Jiang Li.
Now it was too late to retract the bet.
An attendant tried to comfort her, “Miss shouldn’t worry too much.
Tomorrow is the Imperial Archery event, your strongest suit.
As long as you take the lead in these two events, Miss Jiang won’t be the first.”
“If she’s not the first, I’ve still lost,” Meng Hongjin retorted coldly.
According to the terms Jiang Li set in their bet: if she wasn’t at the very bottom of Mingyi Hall, I must kneel and apologize to her.
If Jiang Li outperforms me, I must kneel at the gates of the Imperial College to offer my apologies.
And if she is not only better than me but also the top scorer in the entire Inspection Field, I must strip off my outer garment at the gates of the Imperial College and apologize to her!
Three bets, each more malicious than the last.
Now Jiang Li had been first in the first four events, certainly not last, and had even outdone herself.
Even if she managed to come first in the two Imperial Archery events, at most, Jiang Li didn’t win the overall top spot.
According to the bet, Meng Hongjin would still have to kneel at the gates of the Imperial College and apologize to Jiang Li.
Meng Hongjin simply couldn’t accept ending up in such a predicament.
If she didn’t want her reputation ruined, she would have to find an excuse to weasel out of the bet, but then, wouldn’t she become the laughingstock of the entire Yanjing City?
She could not let such a thing happen!
Suddenly, a sinister idea that had earlier crossed Meng Hongjin’s mind resurfaced.
In the Imperial Archery Field, blades and arrows do not discriminate.
There had been girls who got thrown off their horses during the Inspection and sustained injuries, though not severe—merely shocked and needing a few days of rest at home to recover.
But what if Jiang Li were to be unlucky, thrown from her horse on the Inspection Field?
Putting aside a fatal broken neck, even broken legs leaving her disabled for life would suffice, or perhaps if a jagged rock slashed her face, disfiguring her—wouldn’t that also be fortunate?
And as for archery, if someone were to “mistakenly” shoot during the chaos and Jiang Li got hurt by another’s arrow, that too would be a welcome turn of events.
In this way, Jiang Li would be unable to show her face before others for a while, and no one would bring up the bet again—with her incapacitated, who would care about the wager?
The more Meng Hongjin thought about it, the more excited she became.
Imagining Jiang Li’s unbearable suffering, she inadvertently burst into laughter.
She was naturally skilled at Imperial Archery, and tampering with it would be as easy as turning over her hand.
The maid in the room, seeing Meng Hongjin’s somewhat ferocious smile, felt a chill and involuntarily bowed her head, not daring to look at her mistress any longer.