A Figure on Jade Steps in the Wind and Snow 66

Chapter 66: The Bet

This seemed to be a competition without any suspense—even if Shen Zhishu gave Jiang Yu half the distance, the noble in the capital who had never touched spring water could not compare to the warrior who fought for her life on the battlefield every day.

So Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow, “Is Your Highness serious?”

“Don’t you believe me?” Jiang Yu blinked. “Just compete. I’m willing to accept my loss.”

“Alright,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “If Your Highness loses, don’t cry then.”

Jiang Yu’s light gaze came over from the corners of her eyes, and her thin chin was wrapped in the white fox fur collar. She was quiet for a while and then asked softly, “Are we just competing? Is there no bet?”

“What bet does Your Highness want?”

“Let me think…” Jiang Yu turned her head to the side and shifted her gaze to the distant birch forest.

Shen Zhishu sat on horseback without a word. After waiting for two cups of tea’s time, she heard Jiang Yu say calmly, “One hundred thousand taels of silver.”

“One hundred thousand taels of silver for such a competition?” Shen Zhishu smiled. “This bet is a bit too harsh. Besides, I don’t think Your Highness is short of silver, so there’s no need to extort it from me.”

“Can’t the General come up with one hundred thousand taels?”

“Not really. The reward from your Imperial Sister is much more than that,” Shen Zhishu said. “It’s just that betting money is boring. Let’s do something new.”

“Then what does the General think is interesting?”

Shen Zhishu thought for a moment and smiled, “Hey, does Your Highness know what we bet on in the military camp?”

“What?”

“The loser will be a servant for a day and run errands for the winner,” Shen Zhishu raised an eyebrow and asked. “What does Your Highness think of this bet?”

Jiang Yu held the reins and turned her head to meet her gaze, saying with a blank expression, “It is indeed novel.”

“Then will Your Highness bet?”

“I’ll bet.”

As her voice fell, a gust of wind and a clear “Giddy-up” suddenly passed by her side. By the time Shen Zhishu realized what had happened, Jiang Yu had already shot out, leaving only a back view.

Shen Zhishu: …!

She pulled on the reins, silently counted to ten, and also shot out.

And she soon realized—her prediction was wrong.

Jiang Yu’s horsemanship was very good.

Although the distance between the two of them was gradually shrinking, and Shen Zhishu was whipping her horse and chasing after her, she could not catch up with Jiang Yu’s shadow no matter what.

The two of them entered the woods almost at the same time—they were only a few feet apart. Jiang Yu was in front, and Shen Zhishu was behind.

After she had pulled on the reins and stopped, Jiang Yu was panting heavily. She calmed herself down for a few breaths, straightened up, and said in a light tone, “The General has lost.”

Without waiting for Shen Zhishu to answer, she said very quickly, “Is this not lifting a stone to smash one’s own foot?”

Shen Zhishu: …

Shen Zhishu answered irrelevantly, panting and smiling, “Your Highness has lied to me again. Your skills are clearly on par with mine, yet you shamelessly asked me to give you a handicap. Forget it, I’m willing to accept my loss. I’ll be a horse and cow for Your Highness for a day. But Your Highness, where did you learn such martial arts? There are only a handful of people in the capital whose horsemanship can match mine.”

“You guess.”

“I guess Jiang Wuya is a natural talent.”

“Almost.”

“Hmm?”

“I learned it in my dream.”

Shen Zhishu looked at her with a half-smile, “What position do I have to sleep in to have such a dream? I also want to learn a martial art without pain.”

Jiang Yu: “It’s alright. He who is near vermilion is stained red, and he who is near ink is stained black. The General sleeps with me every day, so I suppose it’s not difficult to have such a dream like me.”

Shen Zhishu: …

Shen Zhishu let out a long sigh with feigned regret, “I can’t today. I’ve never seen a servant sleep in the same bed with their master.”

“Why not?” Jiang Yu said with a blank expression. “Lantiao has slept in the same bed with me.”

“Oh?” Shen Zhishu said in surprise. “When did that happen?”

“When I hadn’t moved out of the palace yet, Lantiao would often sleep by my side, in case I was sleeping and… another person suddenly appeared in the bed.”

Shen Zhishu pulled on the reins and turned her horse around, riding through the woods side by side with Jiang Yu, “Your Highness has really been wronged all these years, but fortunately, it’s all over now. Alright, since I am Your Highness’s servant today, I will listen to Your Highness in everything and sleep with Your Highness for one night.”

“Just one night? You’re not sleeping with me tomorrow?”

“Not tomorrow.”

“Can we have this bet every day, and then I’ll win against you every day?”

“That’s not how it works,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “Why would Your Highness be able to win against me every day? Am I that useless? Today, it was originally that I fell for Your Highness’s trick—who would have thought that Your Highness’s previous show of weakness was to trick me? If we do it again, I will definitely consider it carefully and will not easily agree to Your Highness’s request.”

“Then I’ll return the favor and give you a handicap as well, and we’ll be even,” Jiang Yu said. “We’ll play Go tomorrow, and I’ll give you a two-stone handicap.”

“Even if Your Highness gives me a five-stone handicap, I still can’t win,” Shen Zhishu pouted. “My skills in Go are mediocre, and I can only barely beat Xie Jin.”

“I’m also mediocre…”

“Stop,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “I won’t believe you anymore. You said you ‘knew a little’ about riding a horse before, but you ended up running almost faster than me; now you’re saying ‘mediocre,’ I’m afraid you’ll win ten out of ten games? Not to mention that Your Highness used to go to the pavilion every night to play chess with yourself for half an hour. With you practicing every day, it would be strange if I could win… be careful of the snow on your head!”

As her voice fell, Shen Zhishu suddenly pulled Jiang Yu to the side. Jiang Yu almost lost her balance on the horse and was pulled onto Shen Zhishu’s horse by her.

In an instant, a large clump of snow fell on the empty horse’s back with a thud. The horse was startled and was held back by Shen Zhishu, who pulled on the reins.

Jiang Yu was thus unexpectedly pulled in front of Shen Zhishu, her back against Shen Zhishu’s chest.

The scent of cedar was strong and sharp.

Shen Zhishu’s action just now was purely subconscious, so it was not until now that she realized what she had done. She was stunned for a moment, and then she hurriedly explained:

“I saw that the snow was about to fall just now, and my hands were faster than my brain. I’ve startled Your Highness, please don’t blame me.”

Jiang Yu narrowed her eyes very lightly on horseback.

She did not turn her head, but looked straight ahead, her back rising and falling with a very small amplitude, and the not-so-strong north wind blew away the stray hairs on her forehead.

“Why is the General being so polite again,” she asked faintly.

Shen Zhishu straightened up and stared at Jiang Yu’s light green cloak, “I was afraid that Your Highness would be startled, so I apologized in advance. It’s not a pleasantry.”

Jiang Yu did not answer this question, nor did she get off the horse. She shrank forward a little and separated herself from Shen Zhishu by a hair’s breadth.

She suddenly picked up the previous topic, “Speaking of the bet just now… if we don’t bet on chess, then how about we bet on something simple?”

“What should we bet on?” Shen Zhishu suddenly came back to her senses.

“Let’s bet… what Lantiao is doing at this moment.”

Shen Zhishu said firmly, “I’m not betting.”

“Why?” Jiang Yu asked.

Shen Zhishu pouted, “Your attendant is definitely more familiar with you.”

“Then…” Jiang Yu thought for a while. “Let’s bet on what Hongli is doing at this moment.”

Shen Zhishu still said firmly, “I’m not betting.”

“Why? This is your attendant.”

“You already know her name, but I don’t,” Shen Zhishu smiled. “I’m completely in the dark about the situation of the attendants in my manor. I’m not sure if you’re more familiar with them.”

Jiang Yu turned her head and glanced at her, “You don’t recognize people, and you seem quite proud of it?”

“No, you’re slandering me again,” Shen Zhishu said. “It’s really that I’m too stupid, and I’m willing but not able. Oh, I know, I can send all the attendants in my manor to serve you, and then transfer Lantiao and Rongju to serve me. Then I’ll remember my attendants’ names, right?”

Jiang Yu: …

Jiang Yu said in a faint voice, “It’s not impossible. I’ll talk to Lantiao and Rongju when I go back to my manor.”

Shen Zhishu waved her hand, “Just kidding, Lantiao and Rongju will definitely not be willing to leave you.”

Jiang Yu continued the previous topic, “Then… let’s bet on what General Xie is doing now, that should be fine, right?”

Shen Zhishu still said “no.”

“Why?”

“Xie Jin has been a little neurotic recently, and her words are all over the place. I’m not sure if she’s possessed by a ghost, and I can’t guess what’s in her head at all,” Shen Zhishu pulled on the reins and turned her horse around. “The last time I saw her, she was talking a lot of nonsense, and in the end, she was gossiping about my relationship with you. I said we were friends, and she said, what friends, girlfriends?”

Jiang Yu’s voice had no fluctuation, “And then?”

“And then I gave her a punch. I said, don’t insult the pure friendship between me and Her Highness Huai’an.”

Jiang Yu was quiet for a moment and suddenly said, “A pure friendship that has had rain and clouds twice?”

“Your Highness, please don’t say that again,” Shen Zhishu said seriously. “I know Your Highness is just joking, but that’s how rumors start. Besides, this is not like at home. Be careful of the walls having—”

Shen Zhishu paused halfway through her sentence, and she gripped the reins tightly, stopping her horse.

Jiang Yu was a little puzzled, “What—”

“Your Highness, don’t make a sound,” Shen Zhishu’s slightly deep voice sounded low in her ear. “There’s someone.”