Chapter 474 Teaching
Jiang Huan was leisurely riding her flying cloud when she suddenly heard steady footsteps behind her.
As soon as she turned around, Huo Lin had already walked to the side of the horse and gently held the reins.
"Why did you stop chasing her?" He looked up at her, his gaze sweeping over her cheeks, which were slightly flushed from exercise.
"I can't catch up." Jiang Huan sighed, patting the horse's neck in frustration. "Feiyun is a good horse, it's a waste of its talent to follow me. It's only been running for a short while and it's already panting like this, and its legs are sore."
Huo Lin smiled slightly: "It's normal to feel a bit rusty."
He loosened the reins and reached out to gently support her arm. "Want to get down and walk around?"
Jiang Huan nodded, using the momentum to land lightly, then her legs went weak and she almost lost her balance.
Huo Lin quickly grabbed her arm and chuckled, "Really that tired?"
"It's all because of your daughter!" Jiang Huan steadied herself and said irritably, "That little brat insisted that I smelled nice last night, and wouldn't let go of me, making a fuss all night. She woke up again before dawn this morning, whispering in my ear, 'Mommy, the sun is already up, why aren't you up yet? My eyelids are still drooping.'"
[Oh? I was reviewing memorials in the Imperial Study until late last night; so that's what happened.]
[Fine, the wet nurse has to take him away tonight.]
Hearing his inner thoughts, Jiang Huan couldn't help but smile and looked up at him.
"Will His Majesty personally teach me how to ride a horse?"
"My empress, of course I must teach her." Huo Lin said, helping her back onto the horse. His fingers inadvertently brushed against her waist, causing Jiang Huan to tremble slightly.
A hint of a smile flashed in his eyes, but he pretended to be serious and said, "Hold on tight."
"Straighten your back." Huo Lin walked beside her, his voice steady. "Yes, relax your wrists, don't grip the reins too tightly. Riding a horse is like controlling a person; you have to be flexible."
Jiang Huan adjusted her position as instructed and indeed felt more stable sitting down.
She turned to look at him and suddenly asked, "When you were learning to ride a horse as a child, did you ever fall off?"
Huo Lin paused slightly: "I fell. When I was eight years old, I was riding a wild horse and was thrown off three times."
"Three times?" Jiang Huan's eyes widened. "And then?"
"And then? The men of the Huo family, once they fall, they get up."
Huo Lin spoke calmly, as if he were talking about someone else, "The fourth time I mounted the horse, it submitted."
Jiang Huan tilted her head and imagined a little boy with a stern face, his baby fat still lingering, rolling off the horse's back again and again, falling and getting covered in dirt, then climbing back on again and again, finally managing to ride steadily, and then pretending to be mature as he touched the horse's neck and said it wasn't difficult.
She couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"What are you laughing at?" Huo Lin raised an eyebrow.
Jiang Huan pursed her lips, her eyes curving into crescents, "I just feel that the Emperor must have been very stubborn when he was young, like a little stubborn donkey."
Huo Lin glanced at her, but didn't reply, though his ears turned slightly red.
[What's with the stubbornness? That's resilience.]
Jiang Huan was overjoyed. She deliberately spurred the horse's flanks to make Fei Yun trot, then turned to him and called out, "Can you keep up?"
Huo Lin followed calmly beside him, his breathing perfectly steady.
"I can walk faster than you."
The wind blew Jiang Huan's hair, a few strands brushing against his cheek. Huo Lin paused slightly and looked up at her.
Jiang Huan sat on her horse with her back straight, her eyes bright, and a sly smile on her lips. She seemed to glow in the autumn sunlight.
Jiang Huan noticed his gaze and looked down at him: "What's wrong?"
Huo Lin looked away and said indifferently, "It's nothing. Hold on tight, I'll take you for a ride."
As he spoke, he placed one hand on Jiang Huan's waist and the other hand on the saddle. With a nimble leap, he landed steadily on the horse behind Jiang Huan.
Feiyun snorted softly, adjusting to the increased weight.
Huo Lin's arm went around her side and he gripped the reins again, pulling Jiang Huan into his embrace.
Jiang Huan felt the warmth from his chest, and her heart skipped a beat. She teased, "Teacher, is this also part of the curriculum?"
"No, this is my personal reason." Huo Lin's voice was right next to her ear, his breath brushing against her earlobe. "Sit tight and lean against me."
He gently spurred the horse's flanks, and Feiyun understood, taking a trot towards the maple forest deep within the horse farm.
Because they were riding together, the two were very close, and their bodies inevitably bumped slightly as the horses rose and fell.
Huo Lin controlled the horse's speed, his arm firmly wrapped around her, both in control and in protection.
"Are you scared?" he asked, his voice lower and softer as he got closer.
Jiang Huan was initially a little stiff, but she quickly relaxed under his presence and shook her head.
"With you here, I'm not afraid."
Huo Lin's eyes flickered slightly.
The way she said those words sounded wonderful.
The two chatted and laughed all the way to a clearing in the woods.
Huo Lin nimbly dismounted, then turned around, reached out to Jiang Huan, and steadily helped her down from the horse.
The sunlight here is just right, casting warm dappled patterns through layers of leaves, and the air is filled with the fresh scent of earth and grass.
In the distance, you could still faintly hear Ayina and Mingzhu laughing and talking, but here, it was as if the noise of the world had been cut off, with only the rustling of the wind through the treetops and the occasional bird call.
Huo Lin took a water pouch from the leather bag next to the saddle, uncorked it, tasted a small sip himself, and then handed it to her.
"It's warm, drink it slowly."
Jiang Huan took the water and sipped the lukewarm water, her gaze unconsciously following him.
He was calmly tying the reins of two horses to a small tree nearby. His dark hair was tied up with a simple jade crown, with a few strands falling in front of his forehead. His profile appeared much softer in the light and shadow.
At this moment, he was not the emperor sitting high in the hall, ruling the world, but just an ordinary man accompanying his wife on a horseback ride on an autumn afternoon.
"Huo Lin," she called softly, her voice unconsciously softening.
"Hmm?" He tied the reins, turned to look at her, and his gaze fell on her bright eyes.
“It’s nothing,” Jiang Huan walked up to him, looked up, and smiled. “I just think the weather is really nice today.”
Huo Lin looked down at her, his gaze lingering on her bright smile for a moment, then reached out and gently brushed away a stray strand of hair from her forehead with his fingertips.
"Yes, it's very good," he replied softly, the warmth of his fingertips seeping through his skin, carrying an indescribable tenderness.
It's been such a long, long time since I've had this quiet time alone with her.
It really is wonderful.
But just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats, so out of place in this peaceful afternoon, came from afar and broke the tranquility of the woods.
The traveler, looking travel-worn, spotted Huo Lin at a glance, reined in his horse, and dismounted.
"Your Majesty, there's been some progress on the matter you asked me to keep an eye on."
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