NOVPUBShe looked down at the beautiful clothes she had just changed him into, a strong sense of self-doubt welling up inside her.
It was one thing to lose to his wife.
But what had she lost to that Mr. Zhou?
It surely couldn’t be because she couldn’t drive a carriage, could it?
...
Li Nuo had actually seen Phoenix just now.
However, the carriage had already started, so he didn’t greet her.
To tell the truth, Phoenix’s allure wasn’t as strong as Zhou Yu’s for him.
At the very least, Zhou Yu could drive a carriage, which he did both quickly and steadily—Li Nuo hardly felt any bumps compared to Housekeeper Wu, creating a stark contrast.
It would be fine if Phoenix could fight, but unfortunately, she couldn’t.
How could she protect him if she couldn’t even protect herself?
A woman with no sense of security—better to have less to do with her, and to avoid any idle gossip.
This was the first time Housekeeper Wu and Li Nuo were in the carriage together. Housekeeper Wu had been puzzled at first as to why they had let that young man Zhou drive, but not long after the carriage started moving, he perceived the difference.
He looked at the figure sitting outside the carriage, expressing his surprise, "This young man’s driving skills are somewhat impressive..."
Li Nuo glanced at him; this was just the tip of the iceberg.
In the streets of Chang’an City, it wasn’t Zhou Yu’s time to showcase his driving skills yet.
He had much more to learn.
Zhou Yu drove quickly and steadily, and before Li Nuo could even take it in, they had arrived at the Yunmeng Academy’s Horse Field.
As a student of Yunmeng Academy, Zhou Yu didn’t need to pay to enter the Horse Field.
He seemed to be very familiar with the people there—in following Zhou Yu, they didn’t even charge Li Nuo.
Once at the Horse Riding training ground, Zhou Yu still chose the horse he had used yesterday.
However, he didn’t choose the same carriage as yesterday because that one had been damaged by his wife.
While Horse Riding largely tested a person’s driving skills, the same person driving different horses and carriages would perform differently.
Before the official start of Horse Riding, there would always be a period of time to allow the driver to familiarize themselves with the carriage and the course.
The books say that the most masterful drivers could merge with their carriage and horse, no longer limited by them.
Zhou Yu was clearly not yet at this level.
Li Nuo watched him take a lap, and compared to yesterday’s run, there was a decline. 𝔫𝖔𝖛𝖕𝔲𝔟.𝔠𝖔𝖒
The Chasing Water Curves, passing the King’s table, and Dancing Crossroads sections posed no problem, but the bells of Ming and Luan were clearly more chaotic, and the final Chasing left’s arrow barely hit the edge of the target.
Zhou Yu jumped down from the carriage, somewhat ashamed, saying, "I’m not very familiar with this carriage yet, Brother Li has seen something amusing."
Li Nuo comforted him, "It’s very normal, there’s nothing amusing about it. Practice a few more rounds and you’ll become familiar. In the Imperial Examination, there are also three opportunities to familiarize yourself with the carriage and horse."
Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "The truly formidable ones in Horse Riding never experience this kind of situation. My father was a top scholar in Horse Riding, and when he took the Horse Riding test, he passed it on the first go..."
At these words, Li Nuo’s eyebrows raised slightly, and he asked, "Your father?"
Zhou Yu nodded, "Brother Li is right, my Horse Riding skills are still far behind, nowhere near my father’s in his prime."
Li Nuo’s mind was already considering other ideas.
Zhou Yu’s Horse Riding was indeed strong, but it had not yet reached the level recognized by the Law Code.
He wondered if he could train him in half a year’s time.
Perhaps, there could be a chance to test his father, the Minister of Transportation.
However, this idea might not come to fruition.
No matter how high the talent, if not practiced for a long time, it will regress.
According to Li Nuo’s understanding, the Law Code recruited based on current ability, not peak performance.
Even if Zhou Yu’s father had stronger Horse Riding talent, he definitely wouldn’t be as good as when he was younger.
It’s not like he could take a Standard Fifth Rank Minister of Transportation to the Horse Field for daily training; the hope had to be pinned on Zhou Yu for the time being.
In the short time of their conversation, Housekeeper Wu had already driven through the Five Imperial checkpoints once.
The result was that Zhou Yu had to change carriages again.
When leaving, they also had to compensate the Horse Field for the damage.
Once again, he proved to Li Nuo that Martial Arts and driving skills were really completely unrelated.
Li Nuo also selected a carriage and chose another course, leisurely driving along the track to familiarize himself with the conditions.
The first subject, Ming and Luan, was a bumpy straight road.
Although there were no curves, the ground was in poor condition, making it hard to avoid jolts.
Only if one was extremely familiar with the road conditions and the carriage, and if the mind was sharp, to calculate the optimal path while moving at high speed.
Such ability, without three to five years of practice, was simply unachievable.
Even for Zhou Yu, this subject was a weak spot.
Let alone those poor family students who only began to learn about Horse Riding upon entering the academy, years of diligent practice could only ensure they wouldn’t be left too far behind in this subject.
The second subject, Chasing Water Curves, though with many bends, had a fairly smooth surface and was somewhat easier than the first obstacle.
The third subject, passing the King’s table, and the fourth subject, Dancing Crossroads, also weren’t very difficult, with the emphasis on being accurate while also maintaining speed.
Time was also a crucial standard in evaluating the Horse Riding performance.
The last subject, Chasing left, was a combination of Shooting and Horse Riding—it was one of the more challenging subjects in the Five Imperial.
In this subject, most students would choose to sacrifice speed to achieve accuracy.
Moving too slowly might only result in a lower grade.
If the arrows missed the mark, one would fail Horse Riding—and unless their performance in the other subjects was first-class, they would have no chance at becoming an Advanced Scholar.
The Imperial Examination was indeed cruel.
Those who made it into the exam were all extraordinary; any minor mistake could lead to elimination.
