Chapter 96: Chapter 96: The Grand Mounted Archery Ceremony, A Woman General’s Bearing
The Grand Mounted Archery Competition officially began.
The event was scheduled for two days, starting with an enclosed hunt.
Participants galloped through the mountain forests, hunting birds of prey and wild beasts. The winner would be determined by the number of animals they hunted.
Different prey—such as rabbits, wild pheasants, falcons, deer, wild boars, and even large cats—were scored differently. However, the grand prize, worth the most points, was a specially marked beast to be released at a random time.
Unlike the men, the women faced fewer restrictions. They were free to form teams, as long as the group did not exceed ten people.
Mrs. Qiao gave her some instructions. "Don’t rush to the front every time something happens, and don’t even think about taking first place. I want you to come back in one piece, exactly as you left. Do you hear me?"
Ji Qingwu smiled and replied, "I know, Mom. I’m a grown woman. I’ll be careful."
Mrs. Qiao continued to nag worriedly, "Yes, you’ve grown up, but you’re also a mother yourself. Think about Jiu Jiu. Don’t do anything reckless."
Ji Qingwu had to promise repeatedly that she wouldn’t get hurt before Mrs. Qiao finally let her go.
She picked up her custom-made bow and sleeve crossbow. Bracing one hand on the side railing, she tensed her core and vaulted sideways over it, landing beautifully on her feet.
Her unrestrained, graceful movement drew gasps of admiration from several people nearby.
Ji Qingwu could feel gazes from the high platform converging on her.
Gripping the saddle, she leaped up. Her slender legs swung over the pommel in midair, and she mounted the horse with clean, decisive movements, her posture both light and powerful.
Ji Qingwu didn’t look back toward the high platform. Instead, she looked down at her own deep red riding attire.
The riding habit fit her as if it had been tailor-made.
It created a smooth silhouette that highlighted her slender back and slim waist. The waist was cinched perfectly—an inch tighter and it would have been restrictive, an inch looser and it would have been baggy.
With her long, straight legs in the stirrups and her long hair tied up high, Ji Qingwu looked valiant and formidable. It was a far cry from her usual delicate appearance; she had the air of a female general on the battlefield.
Just then, someone rode over on a horse and commanded, "You’ll be in my group."
Ji Qingwu, reining in her horse, turned her head to look.
Princess Qingyun had ridden over at some point on a small, bay-red pony. She asked imperiously, "Fifth Cousin, I see you’re all alone. Have you found a team yet?"
The Princess was followed by several young ladies from noble families. Ji Qingwu recognized their faces—she had likely seen them all before—but she couldn’t tell which family each belonged to.
Besides, most of these noble young ladies looked down on her. She had no intention of approaching them just to be snubbed.
Princess Qingyun lifted her chin, saying as if bestowing a great favor, "I recall your archery is quite good. You can join my team."
’I don’t want to be restricted by them,’ Ji Qingwu thought. ’Besides, we’ve had our disagreements in the past. I’d probably just end up getting pushed around.’
So she made a casual excuse. "Your Highness, my archery is decent, but my riding skills aren’t the best. Plus, I’m used to being on my own and was just planning to take a leisurely stroll through the woods."
A woman in bright blue robes snorted. "How ungrateful! Princess, let’s go. Don’t waste your time on her."
They had only wanted to recruit Ji Qingwu because her archery was decent, hoping she could hunt more game and help the Princess make a good showing.
This time, Princess Consort Wei and the other imperial concubines had also formed teams and joined the hunt. The Empress Dowager and Wei Liru were at odds, so Princess Qingyun wanted to win some glory for her mother.
If she hadn’t felt it was necessary, Princess Qingyun never would have condescended to approach Ji Qingwu with a friendly offer.
To be so bluntly rejected by Ji Qingwu was not what she expected. She held her head high, gave a delicate huff, and galloped away.
Ji Qingwu watched them ride off into the distance, a slight smile playing on her lips.
’Ever since the day I saw that riding habit and decided to participate, I’ve been training especially hard.’
She touched the unhealed blisters and newly formed calluses on her palm. ’Why should I do all the hard work just for someone else to take the credit?’
’As long as I enjoy myself, that’s all that matters.’
Supervising guards were stationed along the path to give directions, and Ji Qingwu easily found the enclosed grounds for the hunt.
The hunting grounds for the men and women were separate, as was the ferocity of the animals within them. The area was divided into eight sections, and after a moment’s thought, Ji Qingwu headed toward the southeastern section, which no one else had chosen.
’Since I’m alone, I don’t plan on hunting any large beasts,’ she decided. ’Catching a few wild rabbits, pheasants, and fawns will be enough.’
Within three hours, she had hunted six rabbits, three pheasants, and one deer. Her arrows were marked, so the guards would come by later to collect her kills for scoring.
Ji Qingwu had no intention of competing for a top rank. Content with her haul, she decided to quit while she was ahead and rode her horse leisurely deeper into the forest.
Sunlight filtered down through the gaps in the leaves. The sound of her horse’s hooves treading over fallen leaves and soft earth was especially soothing. In this restrictive world, she had found a momentary place where she could finally breathe freely.
But this sense of peace didn’t last long.
As luck would have it, she ran into a group on horseback approaching from another direction.
Ji Qingwu took a closer look and saw they were familiar faces.
Princess Qingyun still wore her typical expression of looking down her nose at everyone. "Fifth Cousin," she asked, "have you managed to shoot any prey?"
She didn’t really need to ask. Squinting, she could see that Ji Qingwu’s quiver was more than half empty, meaning she must have a significant number of kills. In contrast, their entire group combined had only managed to hunt two pheasants.
Just a moment ago, they had run into Princess Consort Wei, who had a large haul and had even smilingly asked if Qingyun wanted her to share some.
Princess Qingyun had spiritedly refused. She was determined to hunt her own prey and outshine Wei Liru.
But Ji Qingwu was staring at the ground to the southwest, and didn’t answer her.
"The Princess asked you a question! Why don’t you answer?" the woman in the bright blue robes snapped.
Ji Qingwu pressed her index finger to her lips. "Shh," she whispered. "Don’t talk for a moment."
’I’ve found something on the ground. These look like animal tracks and droppings.’
Ji Qingwu was the first to dismount. She moved closer to the tracks to examine them carefully. ’A large, carnivorous beast,’ she deduced. ’And it left not long ago.’
’It could very well be the specially marked beast the supervising guards mentioned—the one released at a random time.’
’But why would a beast like that appear in the restricted zone for the women’s hunt...?’
Ji Qingwu straightened up. "Judging by the depth of these tracks, the animal is quite large," she said. "And from the smell and color of the droppings, it’s likely a young male. We should leave, quickly."
As soon as she said this, the other women gave her strange looks.
The woman in bright blue robes said with disdain, "You got that close just to look at it? Aren’t you disgusted by how filthy that stuff is?"
Princess Qingyun went a step further, covering her nose and mouth with her sleeve, her expression displeased. ’This country-raised fifth cousin is just unbearably crude,’ she thought.
Ji Qingwu then remembered. ’Ah, right. The noble ladies of the Capital City are disgusted by things like animal droppings.’
’But as a physician, I’m long past being bothered by such things.’
’Many precious medicines are made from animal droppings. These ladies have probably ingested, used, or applied them without a second thought.’
After her brief moment of disgust, Princess Qingyun’s interest was piqued by Ji Qingwu’s analysis of a large beast.
"Let’s follow the tracks," she said excitedly. "We’ll go and face that beast!"
’So she wants to go deeper into the forest to hunt the grand prize.’
Ji Qingwu opened her mouth to speak, but then hesitated.
