The Procession on Horseback
As Mo Qingkuang listened to Wang Yu's words, a smile spread across Wang Yu's face even more: "Very well, very well, Young Master Mo is magnanimous, and I admire you."
"The time is almost up. Let me help you onto the horse!" Saying this, Wang Yu grabbed Mo Qingkuang and approached the most majestic imperial horse. He reached out to hold the reins of the horse and was about to help Mo Qingkuang onto it.
Seeing this, the onlookers were even more astonished. The esteemed top scorer in the literary examination willingly assisted the top scorer in the martial examination to mount a horse, especially on such an occasion as the procession.
Mo Qingkuang remained clear-headed throughout, maintaining vigilance towards Wang Yu's strange behaviour. Wang Hua was a traitorous spy, and Mo Qingkuang was a hero of the empire. Thus, Wang Yu could never befriend Mo Qingkuang, and his odd actions likely had ulterior motives.
Nevertheless, Mo Qingkuang did not openly confront Wang Yu at the moment, carefully inspecting the horse and saddle to ensure nothing was amiss. With Wang Yu's assistance, he mounted the horse.
"The auspicious time has arrived. The top scorers of the new examination, proceed with the procession on horseback!" announced the eunuch standing outside the gate with a sharp voice.
The top three literary examination and martial examination winners mounted their horses, and the crowd cheered, clearing a path for them to proceed.
"Young Master Mo, you are a hero with outstanding literary talent. You should lead the way," Wang Yu said as he mounted his horse, respectfully bowing to Mo Qingkuang.
His words puzzled the crowd further. According to the usual protocol of the procession, the top scholars and martial examination winners should proceed side by side. Was Wang Yu willingly falling behind Mo Qingkuang?
Mo Qingkuang smiled and did not refuse, urging his horse to take the lead once again.
The tradition of the horseback procession had a long history, allowing the common people of the capital to see the young talents of the current examination. It also provided an opportunity for these young talents to gain fame and potentially secure marriage proposals from high-ranking officials or wealthy families.
As the procession reached the residential area, the doors and windows of the houses were already open, with beautifully dressed young ladies seizing the chance to choose the most outstanding husband from the candidates passing by.
"Look, isn't the first one leading the procession Martial Examination Champion Kuang Qing? I heard Kuang Qing is dark-skinned and straightforward-looking. How come he looks like a noble gentleman?" someone asked from a balcony.
"Oh sister, you are so uninformed. Kuang Qing is just his alias, and his previous appearance was also a disguise! This is his true appearance, his real name is Mo Qingkuang, and he is the young master of the largest family in Tiannan City," another woman immediately explained.
"Indeed handsome! I heard that he even composed 'Love for the Lotus' last night, surpassing Wang Yu, the grandson of the prime minister, and the literary champion. Who wouldn't like such a husband who excels in both literary and martial arts, and has such good looks?"
"Sisters, I'll make the first move!" The woman exclaimed coquettishly, tossing her embroidered ball down and heading straight towards Mo Qingkuang.
"Sister, are you crazy?" Suddenly, the maid beside the woman exclaimed in shock.
"What do you mean?" The woman glared at the maid discontentedly, then looked at Mo Qingkuang who had already caught the embroidered ball, curiously examining it, and quickly flashed her sweetest smile.
"Sister, Young Master Mo is indeed outstanding, but have you not heard about Young Master Mo and Ninth Princess..." The maid urgently interrupted.
The woman was suddenly taken aback by the words, feeling a sharp gaze cutting into her. She looked closely and saw a graceful, veiled girl behind Mo Qingkuang, staring coldly at her.
In an instant, the woman broke out in a cold sweat, momentarily forgetting that the martial examination runner-up was Ninth Princess!
Some of the other girls who witnessed the scene couldn't help but feel a sense of schadenfreude, while others felt helpless.
Mo Qingkuang's reputation had long been circulating among this group of noble girls, almost every one of whom had him as their ideal target.
However, how many girls in this circle didn't recognize the Ninth Princess? If they were told to compete with Ninth Princess for a man, where would they have a chance of winning?
Just by observing the Ninth Princess's reaction to Mo Qingkuang catching the embroidered ball, how could they not understand that the rumours about the Ninth Princess and Mo Qingkuang were not unfounded?
Girls were sensitive, and when they looked at the procession, apart from the top three in the literary examination, who followed Wang Yu's lead and walked at the back, the top three in the martial examination were almost neck and neck.
Looking at the costumes of the two, which were similar in color, style, and even had some subtle patterns that seemed to be connected, it was clearly a couple's outfit!
This wasn't a horseback procession; it was clearly a large-scale display of affection!
Under the icy gaze of the Ninth Princess, many young ladies from less prestigious backgrounds could only reluctantly give up their fantasies about Mo Qingkuang and turn to see if there were suitable suitors among the other literary examination top scorers.
Unfortunately, apart from Mo Qingkuang, the other two top scorers in the martial examination were also women. Of course, there were still some with wealthy backgrounds or fiery temperaments who were not afraid of the Ninth Princess's presence.
One by one, embroidered balls were still being thrown towards Mo Qingkuang under the Ninth Princess's furious glare.
"Han Yan'er, it's a pity. Today, you're down here, not up there. Otherwise, who could resist your embroidered ball?" Watching the infuriated Han Yan, Gu Hongyi lightly kicked her horse's belly and teased her.
Her words almost choked Han Yan, and when she looked at Mo Qingkuang again, she saw that he had no self-awareness at all. He didn't even turn to look at her expression, but instead looked around at the girls on the balcony with a bewildered look.
Instead of discarding the embroidered balls, he accepted them all, fearing they might fall, and somehow found a ribbon to string them all together, hanging them on his back.
Mo Qingkuang's actions nearly made Han Yan explode with anger!
Even more angry were the spectators on the roadside.
There was an unwritten rule during the horseback procession. If a person's embroidered ball wasn't caught by the person on horseback and fell to the ground, the common people would use the address on the embroidered ball to visit their home. They could even receive a considerable sum of money as 'hush money.'
After all, the personal information of the noble families' young ladies were secrets that could not be revealed to outsiders. Therefore, there was the concept of 'hush money' for such leaked information.
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