"You said only one bowl was poisoned. I couldn't tell which one, but I could pour them all out. If I didn't drink from any of the twelve bowls, no one could poison me to death."
Shen Ling'er blinked.
"Then wasn't the test pointless?"
"Then tell me, was I poisoned or not?"
Shen Ling'er's expression changed for an instant.
The change was subtle. A trace of curiosity showed through her innocent facade, but it was quickly covered by an even stronger interest.
"Your Highness is clever."
"Not clever. I'm just hard to kill. Live long enough and you see every trick in the book."
Shen Ling'er tilted her head and looked at him, circling twice with a finger pressed to her chin.
"Then I'll ask you another question. What does Your Highness think my grandfather fears most?"
"You."
"..."
"Elder Shen fears you most. The entire Imperial Medical Bureau fears you most. You're the examiner here, not Elder Shen.
"When Elder Shen told me to come and pass the test that day, what he really meant was for me to deal with you. He'd only nod his approval if you found it interesting."
Shen Ling'er fell silent for two seconds.
Then she smiled. This smile was different from all her previous ones, with an added something that even she hadn't noticed.
"Your Highness passed."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
"You're not going to put me through a few more rounds?"
Shen Ling'er stacked the twelve empty bowls one by one without looking up.
"There'll be plenty of chances to put you through the wringer. No need to rush today."
Gu Moran shuddered. He couldn't shake the feeling that he'd jumped into an even bigger pit.
The next day, at the drill grounds in the north of the city.
This was Murong Xue's condition: ride an unbroken horse from the north of the city to the south without falling off along the way.
An unbroken horse was a wild horse that had never been tamed.
According to the customs of the Northern Territory, a man who wanted to marry the princess had to prove himself on horseback.
Gu Moran stood at the edge of the drill grounds, looking at the black wild horse in the middle. The beast pawed the ground with all four hooves, white vapor spurted from its nostrils, and its eyes were as red as if they'd been filled with blood.
Murong Xue sat in the stands with her legs crossed, her cheek propped on one hand as she sharpened a blade with the other. Her long, silvery-white hair shimmered dazzlingly in the sunlight.
"What was it you people from the Central Plains call this again?"
"A lone rider traveling a thousand miles?"
"No, we call this-courting death."
Batuer stood nearby, a gloating smile on her lips.
"Third Highness, in the Northern Territory, our rule is that if you can't stay on the horse, you're not worthy."
"What if I get killed riding it? Would that make me worthy or not?"
"If you get killed riding it, that means heaven has come to collect you."
Gu Moran looked at the irritable wild horse, then at the notification that had appeared on the system panel.
[The host is advised to use the Northern Territory Secret Horse-Taming Technique. Key step: place your palm over the blood vessel at the base of the horse's neck and maintain pressure for thirty breaths to briefly calm the horse. This method has been passed down through generations of nomadic peoples in the Northern Territory. It has an approximately 60% success rate on unbroken horses.]
Sixty percent.
The odds of a roll of the dice.
He took off his outer robe. He still had bandages wrapped around him that hadn't all been removed, and the wounds he'd gotten from Lin Zhenshan hadn't fully healed.
The moment he swung himself onto its back, the wild horse exploded.
Its front hooves shot into the air, and its whole body sprang up like a spring. Gu Moran nearly bit his tongue in half.
He clamped his legs tightly around the horse's belly, grabbed its mane with one hand, and reached toward the base of its neck with the other.
Found it.
Its pulse thumped like a drum. He pressed his whole palm against it and pushed down with all his strength.
One breath, two breaths, three breaths.
The wild horse didn't stop its frenzy. It kept bucking.
Ten breaths, fifteen breaths, twenty breaths.
The rhythm of its hooves began to change, from wild, frenzied kicking to regular jolts.
Thirty breaths.
The wild horse snorted, landed on all four hooves, and turned two circles on the spot. It actually calmed down.
In the stands, Murong Xue's hand stopped sharpening her blade.
"Hey."
Batuer's expression changed too.
"How does he know that move? That's a horse-taming technique passed down by our tribe's elders!"
Murong Xue jumped down from the stands and hurried to the horse in three quick strides, looking up at the man on its back, covered in blood and wrapped in bandages.
Her eyes lit up.
"Who taught you that?"
"I learned it in a dream."
"Liar."
"Your Highness, I'm already on the horse. Why do you care who taught me?"
Murong Xue stared at him for three seconds, then grabbed the mane, vaulted onto the horse, and sat behind Gu Moran.
"Go on, from the north of the city to the south. You ride, I'll watch."
"Why did you get on?"
"It only counts with the weight of two people. Anyone can ride alone."
"Then could you at least put that blade down? It's digging into my lower back."
"That's the scabbard."
"...The scabbard digs in too."
The chestnut horse set off from the north of the city and passed through three main streets. Along the way, people hurried to make way.
Someone recognized the Third Prince and shouted.
"What's the Third Highness up to this time?"
"Riding a horse!"
"What's with the bandages?"
"The Grand Commandant did it!"
They reached the south of the city.
By the time he reined in the horse, his legs were trembling so badly that he couldn't get down. Murong Xue jumped down first and pulled him off.
He landed on his backside and looked up at the silver-haired princess.
"Did I pass?"
Murong Xue drew her curved blade from its scabbard, spun it once in the sunlight, and slid it back in.
"Barely."
She turned and took two steps, then suddenly looked back.
"That horse-taming technique of yours-I'll go back and teach it to Batuer. She's practiced for eight years and still hasn't learned it."
"Her hands are too stiff."
"What about your hands?"
Gu Moran looked down at his hands, covered in bloodstains and bandages.
"My hands? They're very soft. Want to try them?"
Murong Xue snorted with laughter, revealing her little pointed canines, then turned and walked away.
He had already had the steward deliver the three thousand taels of silver to buy out her contract from the Flower-Between Pavilion.
As for the Imperial Academy, Xie Wanqing had accepted unconditionally, with no need for any additional test.
That left Su Yao.
Su Yao hadn't set a test.
Because her test wasn't before the marriage, but after it.
Among the conditions set by the Chancellor's Residence was one sentence he had read over and over: after the marriage, Su Yao could return to the Chancellor's Residence and stay for ten days each month.
That meant that for ten days out of every thirty, Su Yao wouldn't be by his side.
Those ten days were enough for Ye Qingyun to do many things.
Gu Moran sat by the street in the south of the city, with hardly a spot on his body unscathed. There was still a swollen lump on the back of his head from that blow the Grand Commandant had given him.
A new notification appeared on the system panel.
[Countdown to the arrival of the son of destiny, Ye Qingyun, in the capital: 21 days.]