Facing the reporters' eager barrage of questions, Xingyun Liuge smiled lightly and answered with complete composure, "My next target is the UAE Derby~"
The moment those words left her mouth, everyone present was stunned.
Voices immediately erupted from all sides.
"The UAE Derby? Not the Satsuki Sho?"
"Exactly! Why not the Satsuki Sho? With Miss Xingyun's ability, she'd absolutely be one of the strongest contenders for the Classic Triple Crown!"
"She might even follow in the Emperor's footsteps—an undefeated Triple Crown, a whole new legend!"
"Right, right! It's not that overseas expeditions are bad. Of course they're wonderful—they're every horse girl's dream. But for a Japanese horse girl, surely the Classic Triple Crown is the broader, brighter stage?"
They all wanted Xingyun Liuge to run in the Classic races and begin her legend with the Satsuki Sho.
After all, who could possibly resist the lure of an undefeated Triple Crown?
It was not as if they had all been instantly conquered by the sheer dominance Xingyun Liuge displayed, of course. It was simply that her strength would make Central's races far more exciting—and give them far, far more stories to write.
If Xingyun Liuge went straight onto the overseas circuit, they would lose their chance to compete fairly for coverage. All the best reporting opportunities would be carved up by people with ties to the JRA, and they themselves might not even get the scraps.
Xingyun Liuge listened patiently to all their attempts to persuade her. Throughout the whole exchange, she said nothing. She merely smiled.
At last, after one round of persuasion after another, someone finally asked the question that struck the heart of the matter.
"Miss Xingyun, why are you not competing for the Classic series at all, and instead going straight overseas?"
Hearing that, Xingyun Liuge looked even more pleased.
But she still did not say much. She simply lifted a slender white finger to her lips, tilted her head gently, and mused, "Yes, why indeed? I've been wondering about that myself."
The reporters all looked at one another, bewildered. None of them could make sense of what this brilliant young horse girl was really getting at.
What else could it be?
Why, naturally—it was medicine called peace.
The story went back several days.
The moment she returned to Kasamatsu Tracen, Xingyun Liuge was summoned to meet Rudolf Symbol. The Emperor seemed to be in quite a hurry, and explained her purpose in the simplest terms possible:
Originally, I wanted to send you along the Wakaba Stakes route to reach the UAE. Who would have thought you'd go straight to Hong Kong instead—and secure your UAE Derby ticket there…
So now what are we supposed to do about the Wakaba Stakes?
Rudolf Symbol's feelings were intensely conflicted.
On the one hand, she wanted Central's horse girls to witness Xingyun Liuge's brilliance on the track with their own eyes, so that she could use the girl's performance as leverage in negotiations with the Central Racing Association over what should come next.
But on the other hand, she worried that the stubborn old men in that association would dig in their heels and display their usual contrarian rigidity.
If Xingyun Liuge first won glory overseas, and only afterward the Central Racing Association began making moves to revise race regulations, then the outside world would see it as a result of Xingyun Liuge's efforts to fight her way into the Classic series. People would cheer for her.
But those old men might just as easily interpret it as Xingyun Liuge trying to force their hand through public pressure—and respond by refusing to cooperate at all.
Rudolf Symbol found the whole thing deeply frustrating.
She did not want to talk to Xingyun Liuge in terms of racing isn't just about sportsmanship, it's also about human politics.
Rudolf Symbol had always believed this:
Horse girls should only have to pour themselves out on the racetrack. All the politics and maneuvering ought to be handled by Central Tracen's student council.
But Xingyun Liuge's sudden appearance had shattered that vision and forced Rudolf Symbol to realize something.
She had indeed worked hard to improve the studying, living, and training conditions of horse girls—but everything she had accomplished was still confined to the tiny patch of land called Central. If she truly wished to be an emperor, then she ought to lift her eyes and look beyond that narrow territory, so that local horse girls might also enjoy the benefits of her efforts.
Rudolf Symbol felt genuinely ashamed of herself over that.
And precisely because of that, she did not feel she had the right—nor the face—to ask Xingyun Liuge to accommodate her plans.
Even though those plans would have benefited both Xingyun Liuge and Oguri Cap by paving the way toward the Japanese Derby, how could she, as the Emperor, possibly try to claim credit using a goal she had not yet achieved?
Xingyun Liuge, however, saw at once how conflicted Rudolf Symbol was feeling.
"So," she said lightly, "you didn't expect me to go and win the Hong Kong Gold Cup first, and claim the honor of overseas glory before anyone else did. And now you're worried that the resulting public reaction might crash straight into the Central Racing Association, is that it?"
She leaned forward slightly so she could look up at Rudolf Symbol more easily, clasped her hands behind her back, and continued in a bright, cheerful tone,
"It's fine, you know. There'd be no issue even if we concealed that whole overseas campaign. After all, it was Miss Rudolf who got me the Wakaba Stakes qualification. Naturally, I know how to repay a favor."
As she said it, Xingyun Liuge straightened up, narrowed her eyes, and broke into a smile so radiant it was almost unfair.
At that exact moment, a gentle spring breeze drifted by, stirring her silver-white hair into motion.
The bright spring sunlight danced across the bridge of her nose. It was as though heaven and earth themselves had been polished into brilliance by that open, guileless smile.
Rudolf Symbol simply stared.
For a brief instant, she felt as though she were looking at something even brighter than the sun.
And really, was that smile itself not a kind of light?
It was warm and vivid, full of life stronger than sunlight and yet infinitely gentler, carrying with it a sweetness like honey and an irresistible sense of goodness. It made one's fingertips itch, made one want, without thinking… to draw a little closer.
Only after a moment did Rudolf Symbol realize she had been staring.
She gave a small cough to cover the lapse.
At that moment, only one thought remained in her heart:
How wonderful. She really is so considerate.
But Xingyun Liuge herself was thinking something entirely different.
As far as she was concerned, announcing her overseas victory during the name-calling phase would have been terribly boring. It would lack impact. It would not surprise anyone.
The best way to reveal the truth was obvious: let the reporters dig it up themselves.
Why would the winner of the Wakaba Stakes refuse to run in the Satsuki Sho, and instead go to the UAE Derby?
Why would she abandon the chance to fight for the Classic Triple Crown?
Curiosity would drive the reporters into action. They would dig deeper and deeper, uncover the truth piece by piece—and at some point, someone would inevitably decide that an overseas champion being barred from the Classic series is very strange indeed.
And then the momentum would begin.
Because those dear reporter friends would soon discover:
Huh? Why is there another outstanding horse girl named Oguri Cap who also can't run in the Classic series?
Was Central deliberately suppressing Kasamatsu horse girls?
Or was it simply suppressing gray-haired horse girls?
Conspiracy theories would spread like wildfire.
And that—
That was Xingyun Liuge's gift to the JRA.
But the best part was that, technically, she had done nothing at all.
Everything would be dug up by the reporters themselves.
She and Oguri Cap would simply remain the innocent victims in the middle of it all.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
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