Allure of a Country Maiden-Chapter 246 - 244

Di Shaowei was also startled by Shangguan Xuanyi’s speed. Indeed! How could the girl misunderstand? That horse is not sick! The horse is as cunning as someone else!

He had underestimated his opponent! If he hadn’t been half a beat slow in his reaction, he wouldn’t have fallen so far behind!

But no matter what, he would never admit that his horsemanship was inferior to others.

Di Shaowei tapped his horse lightly, grumbling in his heart, "Horse, oh horse, run faster! If you can’t be the first, at least strive for the second place!"

Shangguan Xuanhao, Shangguan Xuanjun, and Di Shaowei rode their horses in tandem, each of them desperately trying to overtake the others.

The ladies in the crowd, seeing the handsome figures receding in the distance, covered their mouths to suppress their screams.

"The Sixth Prince is really amazing! Despite riding such a sick horse, he still manages to leave others far behind!"

"What sick horse! I just saw that the horse’s eyes are sparkling!"

Xiao’er was speechless, the horse’s reflexes were even quicker than its eyes, it probably fully opened its eyes only after running quite far, she must have clairvoyance to be able to see its eyes sparkle.

"I always knew the horse chosen by the Sixth Prince couldn’t be bad! It turns out the horse was deceiving in appearance! The Sixth Prince indeed has an insightful eye, he could even see pearls in the dust."

Xiao’er: But I was the one who selected that horse! You’re praising the wrong person, Miss.

"The Sixth Prince never used to participate in this horse race before. I knew if he did, he’d be the one to win. Wasn’t I right!"

"The Sixth Prince is simply the epitome of both literary and martial arts, the best in the world!"

...

The girls in the field were all full of praises for Shangguan Xuanyi.

Xiao’er couldn’t help but sigh, good looks do have their advantages, they attract so many admirers!

Even she had to admit, Shangguan Xuanyi was the most handsome in the entire Imperial Capital.

If one has both good looks and abilities, they will undoubtedly win in the crowd of women, standing here for so long, she had yet to hear anyone praise anyone else even once.

After waiting for a while, Shangguan Xuanyi appeared before everyone’s eyes, holding the flag in one hand and the horse reins in the other, about a meter behind Di Shaowei and the others.

Nearing the finish line, Shangguan Xuanyi thrust the flag forcefully into the designated spot! He pulled the reins, the black horse neighed, its front hooves lifted high, stopping just before the guardrail.

At once, cheering and screaming arose from the crowd.

Shangguan Xuanyi jumped off the horse smoothly, handed it to Xiao Fuzi, and walked towards Xiao’er.

The girls around them screamed even louder.

Around her, the cheers of "Sixth Prince" left Xiao’er’s ears buzzing.

"Phew~"

"Phew~"

...Di Shaowei and the others also came to a stop,

Di Shaowei was second, Shangguan Xuanjun third, Shangguan Xuanhao fourth...

Shangguan Xuanhao dropped the reins and hurriedly ran towards Xiao’er.

As Shangguan Xuanyi reached Xiao’er, he said, "Handkerchief."

"Oh!" Xiao’er quickly handed him the handkerchief she held.

"Sixth Prince, use mine, it’s clean and has been scented."

"Sixth Prince, use mine instead!

..."

The women around began offering him their handkerchiefs.

Shangguan Xuanyi accepted Xiao’er’s handkerchief and wiped off his sweat.

The other girls drew back their handkerchiefs in disappointment.

Everyone was green with envy towards Xiao’er! novelbuddy.cσ๓

Though Xiao’er was prettier and excelled in the Four Arts, these women still didn’t think she was suitable for Shangguan Xuanyi!

They thought this was a mismatch of status!

Yet, in these women’s hearts, besides themselves, it seemed nobody else was good enough for Shangguan Xuanyi.

While these women harbored objections to Xiao’er marrying Shangguan Xuanyi, they dared not show it in front of him.

"Girl, do you have any horse treats? Give me a couple!" Shangguan Xuanhao also came running over at that point.

"No more, I’m going to race!" Xiao’er waved at the two of them.

"Be careful, don’t run too fast!" Shangguan Xuanyi cautioned.

Xiao’er chose to ignore him. She was in a race, and if she didn’t run fast, how could she win!

"Sixth Brother, do you have any horse treats?" Shangguan Xuanhao remembered Xiao’er had given him a whole bottle before.

Shangguan Xuanyi tossed a bottle to Shangguan Xuanhao and went to find a good spot to watch his sweetheart.

Upon opening the bottle, Shangguan Xuanhao discovered it was empty. Cursing, he went to track down Shangguan Xuanyi again.

Xiao’er sat astride a languid white horse, waiting at the starting line with ten other women.

"Tsk, what kind of horse did you pick? It looks like it is on the verge of falling ill," said a woman dressed in red attire riding a date-red tall horse, shaking her head.

"A good horse, better than yours," Xiao’er glanced at the red-dressed woman and her horse. She hadn’t seen them before and didn’t know who they were.

"Such an overstatement!" The red-dressed woman turned her head away, ignoring Xiao’er.

"Rui’an County Principal, aren’t you used to seeing horses? Your choice has me in awe," Chu Die disdainfully glanced at Xiao’er’s horse.

"Even those who’ve never seen horses wouldn’t pick such a sickly one. Only a blind person would go for a horse like this!" commented Wen Jing sarcastically.

"Not merely blind, but shameless, publicly accepting a personal gift from a man! Furthermore, do you think by choosing a horse that looks as ill as the one the Sixth Prince has, you can claim first place like him?" Princess Ling’er, frustrated from the fact that the Sixth Prince hadn’t accepted her handkerchief and hadn’t even glanced at her, took her anger out on Xiao’er.

"Considering we are in broad daylight, it can’t be a personal gift, it’s a public one! Plus, I helped the Sixth Prince choose his horse! He rode the horse I picked to get first place, tell me, who is it that’s blind?" Xiao’er pacified her own horse with a light touch of her hand.

"What standing do you have to compare yourself with the Sixth Prince?! I wondered why the Sixth Prince would make such a poor choice, picking a sick looking horse, turns out it was your doing! Luckily the Sixth Prince is remarkable, he still won first place, otherwise you would be the one responsible for his humiliation! Moreover, a person of your status getting engaged to the Sixth Prince has already caused him considerable embarrassment!"

Who in the Imperial Capital wouldn’t say it’s like a jade white cabbage being ravaged by a wild pig!

"Princess, you said I am the one engaged to the Sixth Prince, what status do you suggest I possess? Was the last sentence you made meant to imply that the emperor has embarrassed the Sixth Prince?"

"Don’t twist my words, when did I say such a thing!"

"Didn’t the princess just say that a person of my status getting engaged to the Sixth Prince is causing him great embarrassment? And I was indeed bestowed by the emperor!"

"That wasn’t my intention! Don’t make things up!"

"Good to hear that. Next time, Princess better think before she speaks. If you ask me, it was wise of the emperor not to decree the Princess’s engagement to the Sixth Prince. Otherwise, with the Princess’s simple-mindedness, the Sixth Prince would lose face wherever he goes!"

The red-dressed woman couldn’t help laughing at this. She found Rui’an County Principal quite interesting.