Chapter 66 Part 1: Famous Reputation
Another extra~~, enjoy ^^. I really don’t understand the exaggeration of the sentences sometimes. No one dares to contend with her due to her skill? In the entire city? Puh-leeze, then don’t that city has really bad soldiers and males? Or this strictly applies to only females in a certain age group *rolls eyes*
The matter of Jiang Li getting the top position in Ming Yi Hall’s examination spread very quickly throughout Yanjing. Naturally it would also be transmitted to Ming Hong Jin’s ears.
At this moment, Chengxuan envoy’s residence was quiet. Inside the house, Meng Hong Jin was lying on her side while sobbing softly. Mother Meng embraced her with distress and said: “My child, don’t cry anymore. This is just three tests, aren’t there three more that are not yet tested? The situation is not yet at the end of the line.”
“Shameful!” Meng You De, Meng Hong Jin’s father whose complexion was truly ugly at this point, said: “Making a wager with someone who has a card up her sleeve and now you’ve lost a crushing defeat. I lost face as your father! Really a useless thing!”
Hearing him, Meng Hong Jin felt so upset that she couldn’t stop her cry even more.
Mother Meng saw her daughter crying so broken-heartedly and her grievance soared. She said at once: “How could you blame Hong Jin in this matter? Didn’t that Jiang Li just return to Yanjing? Staying in the nunnery for eight years, everyone thought that her belly is empty1 , who could have guessed that she would suddenly win? Could you foresee it?”
Meng You De was blocked, he truly was incapable to foresee such a consequence. Precisely because of this, when he found out that his daughter set up a bet with Jiang Li, he merely reprimanded her lightly with a few sentences of being impulsive and nothing else. That was because Meng You De was confident that Jiang Li would definitely lose.
As a result, reality ruthlessly gave him a slap on the face. Recalling the way his colleagues looked at him with ridicule during court today, Meng You De felt very irritable.
Mother Meng opened her mouth once again: “When I think about it, there’s something wrong with this matter. Did that Jiang Li probably use any trick? Jiang Yuan Bai’s position in court is extremely important, perhaps he bribed the examiner this time? Otherwise, how could my Jin-er lose to her?”
“That’s right.” Meng Hong Jin said while sniffling: “I’ve been studying with the sisters in Ming Yi Hall for five to six years. Jiang Li has just arrived in less than ten days. Is it possible for her to be studying in a place similar to Ming Yi Hall while she was in the nunnery which enabled her to advance her learning?”
Listening to both his wife and daughter saying the same thing, Meng You De immediately pondered about it. In the dark, nowadays he relied on the Right Minister and was the Right Minister’s person. Jiang Yuan Bai and the Right Minister never mixed together, so he could be considered the Jiang family’s enemy. Jiang Li’s outstanding result in the examination was really strange. It would be wonderful if he could catch the evidence of Jiang Yuan Bai and Ming Yi Hall’s examiner colluding together. What the current emperor most disliked was someone tampering with the literary officials. If he could resolutely strike Jiang Yuan Bai using this, he could be considered as doing a great service.
It’s a blessing in disguise, Meng You De was unexpectedly somewhat excited. He picked his robe up and draped it on his shoulder and said: “I’m going out for a while.” Then left in a hurry.
Seeing his father leave, Meng Hong Jin felt even more wronged. Mother Meng comforted her: “What are you afraid of? Aren’t there still three more tests? Tomorrow the three tests begin, guqin, riding, archery. Your archery skill is excellent, even if there’s a teacher in the nunnery, there shouldn’t be anyone who teaches riding and archery. Then Jiang Li would certainly lose under your hand.”
In Ming Yi Hall, Meng Hong Jin was the rare few ladies who were very interested in riding and archery. She originally had a violent nature, but it turned out to be right for the quality required for riding and archery. At that time, her one handed riding shocked everybody in Yanjing, her shooting was also accurate and comparable to a man. In Ming Yi Hall, or perhaps in the entire Yanjing, with regards to riding and shooting, no one dared to contend with her.