Chapter Twenty

  Because I had the Emperor Kangxi's permission, whenever I had some free time, I would go to get a horse and find a quiet place where a skilled military officer would teach me how to ride. He said he didn't dare let me use any honorifics when addressing him, so I agreed to call him by his name, Niman. When I saw him, I couldn't help but think of my sister and that person. Thinking about that person probably wouldn't be so respectful, fearful, and restrained. As I thought about it, I looked at Niman and couldn't help but sigh. Niman was stared at by me for a moment, and then he let out a sigh, his movements becoming even more awkward. His speech wasn't very smooth either. Not to mention how well he could teach me.

  One teaches as if walking on thin ice, one learns with great boredom. In the midst of utter dullness, I finally got to ride a horse alone, slowly and leisurely. Several times I wanted to urge it on by clamping my legs together and raising the whip, but Ni Ma stopped me every time, nagging that my strength was insufficient, I wasn't familiar with the horse's temperament, and couldn't be impatient. So I just rode slowly and leisurely!

  I actually suspect that Ni Man never intended to teach me properly, or was afraid of getting hurt and couldn't bear the responsibility, so he just dragged things out with me until the day I returned to Beijing, when everything would naturally be fine.

  The sun gradually sets in the west, and I am still riding my horse wandering on the grassland. Ni Man has urged me several times, seeing that I always pretend not to hear, can only follow me, slightly falling behind by half a horse's head, accompanying me by the side of the horse.

  As I was strolling, I suddenly saw two horses galloping towards me from afar. It seemed to be the big black horse of the 13th brother. I quickly reined in my horse. Before long, they had approached, and indeed it was the 13th brother, with the 4th brother by his side. Both were wearing tight-fitting riding attire, with leather belts around their waists and quivers hanging from their saddles, with white-feathered arrows slanting out of them. The only difference was that the 4th brother wore a cyan-blue outfit, looking slender and refined, exuding an air of elegance, while the 13th brother wore a white outfit with silver trim, making his stature appear even more majestic.

  Niman saw the person clearly, and hurriedly jumped off his horse to pay respects. I was too lazy to jump up and down, so I just waited until they approached and restrained their horses before leaning forward slightly on my horse. The thirteenth prince Niman waved his hand for him to get up, and hastily asked me: "Have you learned it?"

  I made an effort to speak: "All I've learned is how not to fall off the horse." Shisan glanced at Nieman and said, "You go back first!" Nieman looked up at me, saw that I had no objection, and then bowed his head and rode away slowly. After watching him leave, I complained, "He's not teaching me how to ride a horse at all! He's just coaxing a child!" Shisan laughed and said, "Don't compare yourself to children, there are many who can ride better than you!" I thought about it and realized that these Mongolians and Manchurians were born to ride horses, they wouldn't even know how to walk before sitting on their father's horseback. I smiled and sighed, saying nothing more.

  Thirteen thought for a moment and said, "I'm hungry now, I need to go back and have dinner. However, tonight is free, if you're available, I can teach you." After hearing this, I was overjoyed, clapped my hands together, and just as I was about to shout "Great!", I didn't expect that my sudden movement would loosen the reins again, causing the horse to spin around in place. I was shocked, closed my eyes, and let out a cry of surprise. Only when I felt the horse stop moving did I open my eyes to see Thirteen reining in the horse for me. He handed the reins back to me, looked at me once more, and sighed to Fourth Brother, "Looks like I have a long and difficult road ahead of me!" Fourth Brother's mouth twitched into a half-smile as he glanced at me with a mixture of amusement and sympathy, but said nothing, only looking at Thirteen with pity.

  In the evening, I casually ate something, hastily rinsed my mouth, and reminded Yuxiang and Yutan a few words before hurrying to the agreed location. When I arrived, I saw that there was no one around, and only then did I realize that I had rushed over so early. So I spread out my cloak on the grass, lay down, gazed up at the starry sky, and patiently waited.

  I was dazed for a moment, feeling like someone was watching me from above. I quickly opened my eyes to find the Fourth Brother standing in front of me. I hastily picked up my cloak and stood up, greeting him while subconsciously glancing around. The Fourth Brother said, "The Crown Prince has summoned Thirteen on some business, and he asked me to come over." I hurriedly said, "Then I'll take my leave, we can continue another day." He calmly replied, "Do you think I'm not capable of teaching you?" I hastily shook my head, saying, "No, it's not that." He indifferently said, "Then let's get on the horses!" As I pondered why the Fourth Brother was so carefree, simply because Thirteen had asked him to, I also took in the two horses he had brought.

  He pointed to a slightly smaller horse and said, "This is the one that Thirteen specially picked out. It's very gentle, I'll ride the mare later, it will follow on its own." After finishing speaking, he mounted the larger horse. I also quickly got on the small horse, he was walking slowly in front, saying: "Let's take a slow walk around first, you and the horse get familiar with each other. By the way, I'll tell you what to pay attention to when we start galloping later." I hastily agreed.

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  It's not that the Fourth Prince taught badly, in fact he taught very well and I made rapid progress, able to ride a small horse alongside its mother at a slow trot by evening. However, whenever I'm with him, I always feel uneasy all over, thinking about his future as Yongzheng and his ruthless methods of doing things, it's all so oppressive.

  At this moment, I suddenly realized that I am no longer the Zhang Xiaowen I used to be. Zhang Xiaowen was someone who liked and admired Yongzheng, believing that in the struggle for the throne, it was either you die or I live, and showing mercy to one's enemies was being cruel to oneself. Moreover, Eighth Brother and Ninth Brother also had thoughts of putting Yongzheng to death, so it wasn't wrong for Yongzheng to imprison them in the end. But now, I am resisting that outcome, and it turns out that I have truly become Maertai Ruoxi. When did this happen? In my confusion, the passing of time has changed me.

  I also carefully considered whether to take this opportunity to further improve my relationship with the Fourth Brother, in order to leave some opportunities and insurance for the future. However, after thinking about it several times, I thought of some flattering words, but when I saw his unpredictable expression, I swallowed them back. One night, I had to think about everything, and also learn how to ride a horse. Fortunately, the horse chosen by the Thirteenth was not bad, and with this period of study, otherwise it would be good if I didn't fall off, let alone ride it.

  Lying in bed at night, tossing and turning, I feel that I'm still not good enough. I thought that with three years of experience fighting in the office as a white-collar worker, plus three years of strict training in the palace, I had already become a seasoned person. But I didn't expect to encounter a truly formidable opponent, and immediately suffer a crushing defeat.

  After some thought, I could only comfort myself by saying, it's okay, don't seek to achieve anything, just avoid making mistakes. As long as I don't offend him, that's enough, and as for trying to please him, it seems I still need to temper myself for a few more years. After comforting myself, I also decided not to learn horseback riding from the Fourth Prince again. Having an unpredictable time bomb by my side is too much suffering.

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  It's always like this in the world, God is always happy to torture people. Thirteen had guaranteed with his mouth full of promises that he would definitely not stand me up. But once again, it was Fourth Brother who appeared before me. I let out a long sigh in my heart and decided to turn back and have a good talk with Thirteen.

  I smiled and said to the Fourth Prince, "I'm a bit tired today after being on duty all day, so I won't study tonight." The Fourth Prince listened, his face still cold and expressionless, but his eyes were fixed on me. I took another deep breath, bowed my head and said, "If the Fourth Prince has no other business, I'll take my leave first." After finishing speaking, I squatted down and waited for a moment, seeing that he still had no reaction, I slowly stood up, taking slow steps, trying to walk past him. After passing by him, feeling that he still had no reaction, I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, secretly rejoicing, and quickly quickened my pace to leave hastily.

  After walking for a while, I heard the sound of horseshoes behind me. Before I could even turn my head to look, I felt Fourth Brother leap through the air and jump down from his horse, grabbing hold of me with one hand. As I looked at Fourth Brother's face, which was now infinitely close to mine, I couldn't help but let out a startled cry.

  I called out to him, but he still had a calm and collected expression, gazing at me indifferently. It was as if our current pose of being pressed together was completely normal. I struggled for a bit, but couldn't break free, and instead was pulled in even closer by his strong arms. I calmed down, staring at him with wide eyes, thinking to myself, could it be that he wants to tease me?

  His icy lips were pressed against mine before I could even process what was happening. I tried to push him away with all my might, but he was too strong. He attempted to deepen the kiss several times, only to find that I had my lips tightly sealed shut, refusing to let him in. Frustrated, he lifted his head. In a split second, I instinctively reacted like those women in TV dramas who have been taken advantage of - I slapped him across the face. Unfortunately, he was no ordinary man, and my hand was caught mid-air, twisted behind my back. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he whispered against my cheek, "You've spent so many years trying to get my attention, and now that you have it, you're playing hard to get?" His cool lips brushed against my skin once more, leaving a faint mark. "Congratulations, your plan has succeeded."

  I glared at him, wanting to retort, but for a moment, I was at a loss for words. Finally, I could only shout: "Let me go!" He leaned in closer, his mouth by my ear, gently teasing me while softly saying: "If you want to follow me, I'll personally ask the Emperor for your hand." I felt my whole body weaken, my limbs going limp, my skin growing hotter, but my heart colder. Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself and started laughing softly.

  He heard my laughter and slowed down his movements, I tilted my head, put my mouth to his ear, breathed softly, and then whispered close to his ear: "Fourth Master, is it because you didn't bring a woman out, do you need to relieve your fire?"

  His body stiffened, I paused for a moment, then smiled lightly and said: "If the fourth master likes to use force, the slave has no right to object, the fourth master wants to huddle together in this wilderness also as the fourth master wishes."

  He listened, slowly straightened up, stared at my face, and I had a few cold smiles on my face, half-raised my chin, and looked at him with a "come and get it" attitude. He suddenly smiled slowly, and I felt a thrill all over my body, the cold smile was frozen on my face, he smiled while slowly lowering his head, and printed another kiss on my lips. My body leaned back, but couldn't escape, only feeling the chill from his icy lips quickly spreading to my heart. I slowly closed my eyes, thinking coldly that it's over! Really over! It turns out "fighting poison with poison" doesn't work.

  His whole heart was cool, like falling into an ice cellar at the time, he suddenly left my lips, let go of me, and got on his horse. I couldn't react for a moment, and was suddenly let go by him, and fell to the ground with a thud.

  He looked at me coldly on horseback and said, "Get on the horse!" It wasn't until then that I suddenly realized I had narrowly escaped. On one hand, I secretly thanked all the gods, and on the other hand, my legs turned soft and I climbed onto the horse with a wobbly gait. Seeing him heading in the opposite direction, not back to the camp, my heart which had just calmed down was immediately lifted up again. He said coldly from beside me, "Don't worry, you're still a stunning beauty." Only then did I feel slightly more at ease.

  He stood on one side, starting to speed up, while correcting my wrong posture. I didn't have the courage to say a word, and had to obediently force myself to learn.