After being forced into a marriage with a wealthy family, the virtuous wife caused a huge uproar.

After attending the morning court session, Gu Ce spent an hour handling official business at the government office, but he remained restless.

During the morning court session, the crown prince glanced at him several times. He didn't pay attention at the time, but now, looking back, he felt that something was amiss.

"Zhong Sheng, go and find out where the Crown Prince is today," Gu Ce instructed.

Zhong Sheng accepted the order and left. He returned three quarters of an hour later: "Your Highness, His Highness the Crown Prince has left the city."

"Do you know what you're going out of the city for?" Gu Ce frowned.

"I heard that he invited several young masters and the heir of Prince Xuan to the royal racecourse."

"What?" Gu Ce suddenly stood up.

Today, the Lady has been invited by Princess Jinyang to the racecourse. The Crown Prince has also chosen to go today.

Was it a coincidence or intentional?

If the Crown Prince changes his focus and sets his sights on his wife, Rong will be in danger.

The crown prince, relying on being the only heir of the royal family, acted erratically and without any moral compass.

He gathered a large number of people around him, and if he randomly ordered one of them to make things difficult for Rong Shi, Rong Shi would be unable to resist.

"Zhong Sheng, prepare the horses, let's go to the racetrack." Gu Ce tossed down the folding book and strode out of the government office.

Racecourse.

Rong Yingluo and Chen Ying are already in place.

Young men and women gathered around to watch the two women run the martial arts test.

The Southern Xia Kingdom was located in the south. Its horses were not as strong as those of the Northern Cang Kingdom, and its soldiers were not as powerful as those of the Western Jin Kingdom. This was determined by its geographical location, and it could only rely on hard work later on.

Therefore, the military examination held every three years in the Southern Xia Kingdom has very strict requirements.

Marathon running is just one of them.

As long as one passes the examination, one can become a military officer, and in the army, one would at least be a captain.

But very few people can pass each time.

On the battlefield, these military scholars suffered losses every year, resulting in the Southern Xia Kingdom never lacking civil officials, but lacking vanguards who could charge into battle and generals who could fight.

"Young Madam Gu, please be careful." Princess Jinyang solemnly instructed before they set off.

Rong Yingluo simply nodded, her eyes fixed intently ahead.

Yuwen Yi, holding the flag, waved it forcefully: "Let's go!"

The fence blocking the horse's head was raised.

Two specially selected steeds, at their master's command, shot off from the starting line like arrows.

This time, Rong Yingluo chose a pure white stallion, which kicked up a cloud of mud with each hoofbeat.

Chen Ying's dark horse performance was equally impressive.

The contrast between the white and black outfits drew everyone's attention.

Princess Jinyang, Yu Qiannian, and Fang Yuening immediately mounted their horses. They could ride around the arena, following the figures of the two competitors and observing their route.

Just then, three fast horses came rushing towards them from outside the racetrack.

It was Gu Ce who led Zhong Sheng and An Yi in and rushed in.

Just then, Yinghong finished giving instructions to Lingfeng and the other three, and they were about to go check on the young lady's current situation.

"Yinghong, where is your young lady?" Gu Ce stopped his horse immediately when he saw the maid.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has gone too far. He's making Miss and his guards compete in a horse race, and they're over there right now." Yinghong pointed in the direction where the Crown Prince and his entourage were.

Gu Ce looked in the direction she was pointing, and his brow twitched. That was a common venue for martial arts tests.

This place was also used for training by some military officers, but no woman ever dared to challenge that route.

That damned prince.

Gu Ce flicked the reins and headed in that direction.

Zhong Sheng bent down, scooped Yinghong up onto his horse, and chased after her.

Yinghong took this opportunity to quickly and briefly explain to Gu Ce what had happened after they came in.

Gu Ce had just run up when he saw Rong Yingluo's back as she rushed out.

He was still too late.

"Oh, Lord Gu, what brings you here too?" Yuwen Yi smiled in a way that was quite irritating. "You don't know, your wife is a true genius. On her very first day of learning to ride a horse, she won first place in the women's competition. In all my years of life, this is the first time I've ever seen such an extraordinary woman."

Before Yuwen Yi could finish speaking, Gu Ce had already ridden his horse and chased after him.

Unable to enter the track, he, like Princess Jinyang and the others, watched Rong Yingluo's figure from the inner circle.

Rong Yingluo gripped the reins, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

She had never run before and didn't know what lay ahead, so she could only rely on intense concentration to cope with any unexpected events.

Chen Ying had run this route before, but he didn't dare to be careless. His master had said that he had made arrangements on the horse track and would force Madam Gu into the most difficult section of the track.

She will take the easiest path. If she can just run the whole course steadily, she will win.

The racecourse has rules: those who come here to race are responsible for any injuries or deaths, regardless of the circumstances. The racecourse can provide doctors, but they are not responsible for whether the person is dead or alive.

A fence appeared ahead, and it was much taller than when they had competed with the girls earlier.

Rong Yingluo's eyes narrowed. Just as she was about to reach the fence, she lashed out with her whip, but missed striking the horse.

Horses are intelligent animals; they understand their master's meaning as soon as they hear the crack of the whip. Only in the most urgent situations will a whip be actually applied to a horse.

When the horse was still a foot away from the fence, it raised its front hooves high and then pushed off with its hind legs, successfully crossing the first obstacle.

As the horse rose and fell, Rong Yingluo shifted her body, and as soon as the horse landed, she sat back down steadily.

At the same time, Chen Ying also crossed the fence.

The two were moving at the same pace, and Rong Yingluo, who considered herself quite good at choosing horses, urged them to continue forward.

She wants to surpass Chen Ying.

Both were male horses, and they were standing very close to each other, demonstrating a peculiar competitive spirit among animals.

"Giddy up!" Rong Yinglu urged. The white horse seemed to understand her thoughts and indeed sped up, overtaking the black horse a few breaths later.

Chen Ying wasn't in a hurry; the outcome would only become clear at the fork in the road ahead.

Seeing that Chen Ying hadn't caught up, Rong Yingluo felt a little puzzled, but it didn't stop her from looking ahead.

Since Chen Ying has fallen behind, she shouldn't be blamed for resorting to underhanded tactics.

There was still some distance to go before the next fence. Rong Yingluo bent down, quickly took out a small paper packet from her bosom, and then crushed it with her hand.

The powder drifted in the wind, reaching a height exactly equal to that of a horse's head.

Chen Ying's horse could breathe, but the person could not.

Chen Ying saw Rong Yingluo lying down, but didn't know what she was doing. Besides, both of them were focused on what was in front of them, so these small movements went unnoticed.

The second fence was approaching, and Rong Yingluo easily crossed it once again.

She swayed several times before finally settling down.

She did it on purpose, of course, to make the prince and the others think that it was really her first day learning to ride a horse, and that she was just naturally gifted.

"Your Highness, now that Gu Ce has arrived, what should we do?" Yuwen Tai asked with some concern.

"What are you afraid of? This competition is governed by a written contract. If Rong wants to withdraw halfway, she'll have to see if I allow it." Yuwen Yi's face twisted into a ferocious expression.

He hated Gu Ce to the core.

He was repeatedly rejected after being courted; he's shameless.

He's even become his father's dog. Today, he'll make Rong Shi die in front of him, so that he'll never be able to marry again and will never inherit the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion.

Of all the officials in the court, none dared to disrespect him like this.

The Duchess and Master Gu are the most sensible, it's a pity that the Duke is not in the capital.

Rong Yingluo crossed five fences in succession and arrived at the first fork in the road.

She didn't know which one to choose, and was about to pick one randomly when she heard a loud shout: "Run the middle one!"

Why does it sound so much like my husband's voice?

But before she could react, flames suddenly erupted at the intersections on the left and in the middle, forcing the horse to run into the rightmost path.

"Damn Crown Prince," Gu Ce cursed under his breath.