Chapter 65: Neck and Neck

Ji Shulan was so furious that she wanted to retort.

Yet, when she remembered that Prince Xuan's birth mother, Consort Jing, had already passed away, she realized she could not use that to suppress Ji Hua.

Thinking hard and failing to come up with a better counterargument, Ji Shulan could only bite her lip.

"You simply don't understand! Anyway, I know Prince Xuan will definitely win. Prince Xuan is the most formidable one! It's not that the Crown Prince isn't capable, but at the critical moment, he simply doesn't have Prince Xuan's composure!"

The two sisters bickered back and forth. To the ears of others, it merely sounded like they were cheering for their respective fiancés, and no one thought anything was amiss.

After all, these were the pillars of their future lives. Naturally, each hoped her own pillar would win.

"Imperial Elder Brother must sit tight later on. After all, a second-rate horse cannot compare to a top-tier one. If it suddenly throws a tantrum and bucks during the run, it wouldn't be good if it threw Imperial Elder Brother off."

Prince Xuan said with a hidden knife in his smile, throwing sarcastic remarks at Ling Yuzhao.

Ling Yuzhao remained expressionless. He glanced at the black horse between Ling Mohexuan's legs and retorted in kind.

"If Imperial Younger Brother has the time to worry about me, you'd be better off adapting properly to this second-rate horse. It would also be wise to mind your tongue, since Imperial Younger Brother only has eyes for top-tier horses."

"Yet all things possess a spirit. Since you hold this black horse in such low regard, what if it plays some tricks midway? Imperial Younger Brother might just end up losing face terribly in front of so many people!"

While the two men engaged in a battle of wits, two grooms had finished inspecting both horses.

One of them, a man with heavy whiskers, calmly patted the nostrils of the two horses as if offering an affectionate caress.

Immediately afterward, he respectfully handed the reins to the two men and quietly stepped back.

"Prepare!"

A servant standing beside a giant bronze gong shouted at the top of his lungs.

In an instant, in both the women's and men's spectator areas, countless pairs of eyes turned simultaneously toward Ling Yuzhao and Ling Mohexuan at the starting line, filled with intense anticipation.

"Run!"

Following the loud shout of the servant holding the mallet, accompanied by a resounding clang of the bronze gong, the two horses on the field let out neighs as Ling Yuzhao and Ling Mohexuan swung their whips down.

Like arrows released from a bow, they bolted forward at high speed.

True to being meticulously chosen horses, they ran with incredible swiftness!

One black and one red, the two horses ran neck and neck, while soft urges could be heard from time to time from the riders on their backs.

The crowds in both the women's and men's areas erupted with excitement.

"Good! Faster, faster, faster!"

"Heavens, they're actually neck and neck! As expected of imperial princes, truly formidable."

"Those two horses really are running at the speed of top-tier steeds. His Highness the Crown Prince was right—horse racing is about the rider, and the horses mustn't overshadow them. If anyone else were riding those horses, they certainly wouldn't run this fast!"

"Isn't that so? Whatever His Highness the Crown Prince says is right!"

These were the discussions in the men's section.

Meanwhile, on the other side, in the women's section, Ji Shulan's eyes were fixed intently on the two horses galloping across the field as she muttered incessantly under her breath.

"Fall, fall, fall!"

Unfortunately, events on the field did not unfold as Ji Shulan hoped. Both horses ran steadily, neither giving an inch to the other as they vied for the lead.

At times Ling Yuzhao took the lead, and at other times Ling Mohexuan pulled ahead, but overall they maintained a neck-and-neck pace.

Anxiety gripped Ji Shulan's heart.

How could this be?

This was completely different from her past life. Although she was not a particularly observant person, she vaguely remembered that their contest had been decided very quickly, without dragging on for this long.

Watching as Ling Yuzhao and Ling Mohexuan crossed the starting line once more—this lap was the final one. If Ling Yuzhao still did not fall off...

Ji Shulan's heart sank. If Ling Yuzhao failed to tumble from his horse as she had anticipated, her predictions would be proven wrong, and Prince Xuan would no longer trust her.

That wasn't even the main point. The crucial issue was that the situation differed entirely from what had happened in her past life.

If things were different this time, what about the next?

Had her own memory failed her, or had something caused the circumstances to change today?

If so, wouldn't her hope of staging a comeback by relying on the memories of her past life vanish completely?

At this moment, no one else was as panicked as Ji Shulan. Her heart leaped to her throat as she continued to mutter, "Impossible, impossible..."

Most people had their attention focused entirely on the two galloping horses and the two proud sons of heaven upon them, so no one noticed Ji Shulan's abnormality.

However, Ji Hua kept her gaze fixed on Ji Shulan every single second. Naturally, she caught the muttering and a faint smile touched the corner of her lips.

Just wait and see; this was only the beginning!

The two riders on the field had already completed half a lap and were approaching the sprint. But right at that moment, an unexpected event occurred!

"Whew—"

A whistle sounded from an unknown direction.

Most people were so immersed in the passion of watching the race that they missed it, but Ji Hua's brow furrowed.

For the moment the whistle sounded, the bay horse Ling Yuzhao was riding abruptly slowed its pace and finally came to a complete halt right in the middle of the final stretch.

Stopping was one thing, but it began spinning around in circles on the spot.

A commotion erupted across the spectator areas.

"What is happening? Why has His Highness the Crown Prince's horse stopped running?"

"Stop running? His Highness is about to fall off! Someone hurry and go control that horse!"

As soon as someone suggested it, others reacted immediately.

The grooms wore nervous expressions as they rushed forward to catch him. If His Highness the Crown Prince were to fall from his horse, ten heads wouldn't be enough for them to lose!

Before the grooms could get close, however, Ling Yuzhao roared, "Stay back! This Prince can control it!"

His brow was tightly locked, and his expression was solemn.

Assuming the Crown Prince merely wished to save face, the grooms dared not approach. Though worried he might be thrown, they were equally afraid of injuring his pride, and in the end, they retreated silently.

At this moment, Ling Mohexuan, currently taking the lead, seized a moment to glance back at the beleaguered Crown Prince, a cold sneer forming on his lips.

He then turned his head back to look at the finish line, which was only a few dozen paces away, a triumphant gleam finally surfacing in the depths of his eyes.

He was almost there!

This time, he had won!

And what awaited Ling Yuzhao was not only utter humiliation, but also...

"Screech—"

A bird's cry suddenly descended from overhead, interrupting Ling Mohexuan's train of thought.

Frowning, Ling Mohexuan looked up to see an unidentified bird soaring across the high sky.

Dismissing it, he continued to dig his heels into the horse's flanks and galloped forward. What he failed to notice, however, was that the moment the black horse beneath him heard that bird call, its eyes bloodshot almost instantly.

The black horse's eyes turned crimson. Seeing that the finish line was merely a dozen paces away, the black horse suddenly let out a shrill neigh, rearing up on its hind legs with its front hooves thrashing high into the air, its body nearly stretching into a straight line.

Caught completely off guard, Ling Mohexuan was thrown directly from the horse's back. Utterly unprepared and panicked, he crashed heavily onto the ground.

"Ugh!"

His back slammed violently against the earth, knocking the wind out of him and setting off a fit of violent coughing.