Surviving in the General's Mansion - Chapter 100

“By the end of that meal, I couldn’t taste a thing…”

“Hahahahaha! Wasn’t that just a matchmaking dinner?”

Xiao Yaqing manually closed Xia Heng’s fallen jaw.

“Be that as it may, aren’t you laughing a little too loudly?”

“No! Hahaha, Mu Yan! Hahahaha!”

Tears of laughter streamed down Xia Heng’s face. She moved the “mathematics” homework she had been marking farther away.

One had to admit Aunt and Uncle Xiao were truly fearless!

At the hunting grounds, Xiao Yaqing had finally reunited with Dongfang Wei. They had spoken, and she had even given the male lead medicine.

Her parents immediately undermined everything by arranging a matchmaking dinner for their daughter.

“How heartless can they be? They’ve stripped every bamboo shoot from the mountain!”

Xiao Yaqing did not know whether to laugh or cry.

She had known something was wrong. Since when did her parents invite colleagues home for dinner?

No wonder the moment they asked her to sit, she sensed something strange.

“Then what did you say?”

After finally finishing her laughter, Xia Heng remembered to show concern for her sworn sister.

“I told my mother I’m busy lately and have no time for this sort of thing…”

“Would Aunt Xiao believe an excuse like that?” Xia Heng asked skeptically.

Could parents truly be dismissed so easily?

“…She didn’t. Then I told her I’m secretly looking for a physician for Guangji, and no one can know about it.

“What we plan to plant next year is top secret too. If it succeeds, it’ll allow the people of Huaxia to fill their stomachs, so absolutely no one can know.

“Only then did she stop talking.

“But I don’t think she has completely abandoned the idea. At least she has stopped mentioning it for now.”

Xiao Yaqing slumped on Xia Heng’s bed and stared blankly ahead. This was too difficult. Truly!

“Ah, at our age in ancient times, we already count as leftover women, don’t we?

“Look at Chuqing. She’s engaged at sixteen and only waiting for Mo Bai’s life to settle before they marry.”

Xia Heng looked sympathetically at Xiao Yaqing. She understood.

Aunt Yang from the Washing Workshop now introduced potential husbands whenever she saw Xia Heng. Xia Heng had no idea where a woman confined to the mansion found so many eligible young men.

“Fortunately, I have work to do. Otherwise, I really would have to sit at home waiting to marry.”

Xiao Yaqing shuddered.

“So research that hand cream properly. And take good care of your potatoes and chili peppers.

“The data from this first trial planting is extremely important. We’ll need to give it to the estate workers and farmers as a reference!”

Xia Heng drew her feet together and raised the fingers of her right hand to her temple.

“Yes, President Xiao! I guarantee the mission will be accomplished!”

Xiao Yaqing laughed and scolded her.

“You’re never serious!

“All right. Didn’t I say I would teach you to ride last time?

“I brought Little Red over today. Come on! Let’s try!”

“All right!”

There was an open area behind the General’s Mansion where the Personal Guard practiced boxing and exercised the horses.

Xiao Yaqing led Little Red from the mansion stable into the clearing.

“Even if you’ve never ridden, you’ve watched other people, haven’t you? Come on. Put your foot in the stirrup and mount!

“I’ll lead the horse around once so you can adjust first.”

Only when she truly had to mount did Xia Heng realize how tall Xiao Yaqing’s “Little Red” was. The horse’s back was nearly level with her eyes.

She climbed onto it using a posture rather like scrambling over a wall as a child.

Xiao Yaqing’s expression gradually grew complicated.

“…Forget it. Mounting without anyone’s help is already impressive!

“Sit properly. These are the reins. Hold them like this…”

Cang Chuli stood some distance away holding Zhuxiao’s reins. Beside him, Mo Qing and Mo Bai watched curiously.

“Miss Xiao is teaching Miss Ah Heng to ride? That mounting posture is rather…” Mo Qing began.

“Getting up at all was already good enough. Miss Ah Heng isn’t tall!”

Hearing Mo Bai’s response, Mo Qing nodded in agreement.

“Mm, true. Ah, she’s moving!”

Xiao Yaqing led the horse and instructed Xia Heng.

“Sit straight. Don’t stiffen. Sit straight and relax!”

“How am I supposed to sit straight if I relax?” Xia Heng protested.

Seriously. Would relaxing not make her slouch? Did this woman possess no common sense?

“You… Use your waist and abdomen. You don’t need to clamp your shoulders and back so tightly!”

“Oh.”

Xia Heng lowered her hunched shoulders slightly.

Why did this feel so much more frightening than when she rode Zhuxiao last time?

Perhaps by that point, she had already been too terrified to feel additional fear.

“Don’t daydream. Watch where you’re going!”

Seeing that Xia Heng was about to leave the clearing, Xiao Yaqing hurriedly reminded her.

“Turn!”

“Brother Horse, right. Go right!”

Xiao Yaqing immediately lost her temper.

“Why don’t you thank him while you’re at it? See whether he answers, ‘You’re welcome’!

“Pull a little harder on the right rein!”

Xia Heng could not help muttering, “Brother Horse, your owner has a terrible temper. She’s so fierce!”

Xiao Yaqing led the horse without expression.

“Little Red is female.”

“Huh? Really? A mare can grow this tall? I thought naming a stallion Little Red was some peculiar hobby of yours.”

Xiao Yaqing no longer wanted to answer her. She led the horse around the clearing once.

“All right. You’ve found the feeling now, haven’t you?” Xiao Yaqing asked.

“Hmm. How should I put it?”

“Enough. Don’t answer. Little Red is extremely gentle. Ride her by yourself now and use the method I just taught you,” Xiao Yaqing said.

“Huh? By myself?”

“The first time I learned to ride, my instructor led me around once and then made me control the horse myself. Don’t worry. You can do it!”

Only then did Xia Heng nod.

They were both modern women. If her sister could do it, then she certainly could too!

But she soon understood the disparity between human beings.

“Don’t squeeze with your feet! Use your thighs! Stop squeezing with your feet!”

Xia Heng rode Little Red so fast she nearly left afterimages behind.

“Horse! Broth—er! Slow… down! Ah! Aaaah!”

Xiao Yaqing shouted as well.

“She’s female! Female! Stop shouting and listen to me! Loosen your feet! Stop squeezing the horse’s belly!”

“Sister! Horse! Save! Me! Aaaah!”

“I swear, you absolute lao-liu! Loosen your legs! Loosen them!”

At last, Xia Heng heard Xiao Yaqing’s instructions.

She was still afraid to comply.

But she also understood Little Red was running so fast because Xia Heng was nervous and clamping her calves too tightly.

Summoning all her courage, she gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, and kicked both legs outward.

Mo Qing, Mo Bai, and Xiao Yaqing, all preparing to hurry forward, watched as the woman spread both legs on the galloping horse in a posture resembling a full split.

All three fell silent.

Little Red carried Xia Heng past them once again.

“Whoa! Aaaah! Whoa! I! Spread! Them! Sister! Horse! Aaaah!”

*You spread them, and I split apart inside.*

Xiao Yaqing had come to teach her horseback riding. Why was Xia Heng performing acrobatics?

At the same time, she was terribly anxious. Little Red was running so quickly. How could they stop her?

Xia Heng struggled to steady herself. This posture was extremely unfavorable for maintaining balance.

Yet Little Red did not seem to have slowed at all!

Just as she had no idea what to do, Cang Chuli charged into the clearing on Zhuxiao.

Zhuxiao cut across the center of the open ground and quickly caught up with Little Red.

Cang Chuli gathered his energy and leaped directly onto the horse behind Xia Heng.

“Aaaah! Aaaah!”

Xia Heng was still screaming in terror.

“Silence!”

Cang Chuli seized the reins from behind her. He leaned back and exerted a little force with his hands.

“Whoa!”

Little Red’s forelegs rose into the air. She neighed, took another two steps, and finally stopped.

Xia Heng gulped air. All that screaming had made her throat ache.

Xiao Yaqing hurried forward and helped her down.

She had intended to comfort Xia Heng, but then she remembered that acrobatic display.

She truly had no idea where to begin.

Zhuxiao followed them over. Cang Chuli dismounted and walked to his side.

He looked at Xia Heng, hesitated, and spent a long moment choosing his words. Then he glanced at Xiao Yaqing.

“The next time you want to learn horseback riding… perhaps ask the groom, Mo Qing, or Mo Bai…”

Xiao Yaqing narrowed her eyes at him. Why did those words sound slightly wrong?

But Xia Heng had yet to recover, so Xiao Yaqing could only spare the man for now.

Cang Chuli mounted Zhuxiao and left.

After calming herself for quite some time, Xia Heng wiped her forehead.

“Big Sis Xiao! Putting the screaming aside, I rode rather well just now, didn’t I?”

“Get lost!”