Chapter 87 Not Afraid
Before she turned fourteen, Xiao Yuxuan was called Ye Zhaodi, the eldest daughter of an ordinary family in the capital.
Not long after she was adopted, her adoptive parents had a younger brother.
Her adoptive parents tried several times to sell her to a brothel for money. Her younger brother, who was three years younger than her, was an even worse troublemaker. He treated her like a slave. She had to cook, clean, and do laundry at home, and it was common for her to go hungry.
When she was eight years old, her adoptive parents went back to their hometown to visit relatives. Her younger brother tricked her into going to the roof to retrieve a kite, but he maliciously kicked the ladder over, leaving her on the roof for a day and a night.
The height of the roof was far too dangerous for an eight-year-old child. She stepped on a broken tile and fell, shattering into pieces in an instant. But she was so hungry and cold that she gritted her teeth and jumped off the roof, eventually falling and losing consciousness.
She initially thought it was just a trivial matter, as far worse things had happened before.
However, for some reason, many times in the middle of the night, she would dream that she was still squatting on that rooftop—
The winter night was bitterly cold, and the moonlight, like silver frost, spread out. She huddled on the roof, hugging her arms, so cold that she could no longer feel her fingers. Her ears began to ring, and hunger replaced a burning pain in her stomach.
She looked down at the height of more than ten feet below the eaves. The bluestone ground was tinged with a cold white in the moonlight, blurring her vision.
The eight-year-old girl vaguely thought, since she was either going to starve to death, freeze to death, or fall to her death, what was she hesitating for?
She's long been used to this kind of life, hasn't she?
"I did have some bad experiences when I was young, so I've always been afraid of heights. But now I should get rid of those past experiences. I'm grateful to Her Highness the Princess for bestowing me a foal, so I thought I'd like to learn how to ride a horse."
Xiao Yuxuan was unwilling to say more, and Qi Jun naturally didn't press her for details.
He nodded and beckoned the groom to bring the horse closer.
"Have you named her?"
"This humble woman wishes to call her Xueyun," Xiao Yuxuan said with a smile, stroking the white horse's mane.
The girl's eyes sparkled, as if she was already imagining the free and unrestrained feeling of galloping on horseback in the future.
Want to try riding a horse?
Qi Jun stroked Xue Yun's mane on the other side, gazing into Xiao Yuxuan's bright eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips.
“But…” she hesitated.
"With me here, I will make sure you don't fall."
Qi Jun's voice was steady and powerful, just like his reliable character. No one would overlook his abilities or think he was a frivolous man because of his handsome appearance.
On the contrary, such a prodigy, born into nobility, should have grown up with such a majestic and imposing appearance.
Xiao Yuxuan didn't know how she got into the stirrups; she just felt a lightness around her waist and found herself sitting on the horse's back.
She dared not look at the ground beneath her feet, and could only tremble as she looked far into the distance, so far that she had no time to see the Crown Prince's expression.
Qi Jun stood beside the horse, which was only as tall as him. Compared to the Akhal-Teke horse, which was almost half a person taller, he could easily subdue Xue Yun.
However, he still slightly raised his hand, carefully protecting Xiao Yuxuan's side, while maintaining a proper distance between them.
Before coming, he specifically consulted the heir of the Marquis of Yu, who had several sisters. After hearing the whole story, the heir told him without hesitation:
"Girls of this age all love to dress up, and they are also delicate and afraid of pain. Your Highness just needs to make sure she doesn't fall, and everything else is simple."
But how can you learn to ride a horse without falling?
This is also why few noble ladies in the capital knew how to ride horses.
Of the six arts of a gentleman, very few women practiced the Imperial Way, partly because they were afraid of getting hurt and leaving scars, and partly because they were afraid of pain and hardship.
The heir apparent of the Marquis of Yu had obviously thought of this as well, and felt a headache for the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, how about a different way of compensating? For example, gold and silver jewelry, clothes and ornaments, aren't these things that young girls like? Why bother with something as trivial and troublesome as teaching them to ride horses?"
Horse riding is not a skill that can be mastered overnight; it requires long-term practice and guidance. Not to mention whether the Crown Prince can find the time to teach regularly, it's questionable whether the Xiao family's daughter can even persevere in learning it.
“I don’t think she would like those mundane things. Horse riding is simple, and I believe she will learn it quickly.”
"Why would Your Highness be so concerned about a girl like this? I'm afraid it's not just because you're grateful that she saved Princess Min-young, is it?"
The heir of the Marquis of Yu was used to being a womanizer, and he quickly got carried away with thoughts of romance and poetry, his tone inevitably sarcastic.
Qi Jun's eyebrows twitched slightly, his gaze remained fixed, and his tone was calm and indifferent:
"No, my aunt wanted to adopt her as her goddaughter. I just took care of her out of love for her. I had no other intentions."
As the crown prince, he wouldn't stoop to harboring malicious intentions towards a child.
"Your Highness, I...I'm a little scared..."
The problem didn't arise overnight; her fear of heights was a long-standing issue. Her impulsive decision had quickly cooled, and Xiao Yuxuan felt a pang of regret. She was already in her thirties, how could she act so impulsively, like a fourteen-year-old girl, jumping on a horse without a second thought?
"No, I want to go down..."
Qi Jun didn't force her. Taking this step was already a big step forward for someone like Xiao Yuxuan who was afraid of heights.
His intention today was not to have Xiao Yuxuan mount the horse, but to teach her some basic knowledge about horses.
He reached out his hand to the girl on horseback, who was biting her lower lip in fright, his rough palm facing upwards in an invitation.
"Xueyun and I are not very familiar with each other yet. Help me down so I don't lose my balance later."
Xiao Yuxuan's first reaction was to refuse.
The Crown Prince is so noble, and there are countless eyes and ears at the horse track. If someone seizes on this and makes a big deal out of it, she worries that the Crown Prince will be implicated.
However, the next second, Qi Minying rode her horse galloping from not far away. She had rediscovered the joy of riding and was having so much fun that she forgot herself.
Xueyun was startled by Tayue's sudden approach, and suddenly reared up and galloped forward.
Xiao Yuxuan's reins were suddenly pulled, and she fell forward uncontrollably.
Her heart pounded wildly, and an immense fear gripped her.
The more panicked she became, the more she wanted to calm down. She tried to step on the stirrups, mimicking the movements of the horse riders she had seen before, and ordered Xueyun to stop. However, her feet hovered in the air for a few moments without touching the stirrups, and instead, she kicked off her boots.
The view from above, the jolting and speed of the horse beneath her, the emptiness of her feet not touching the ground—any one of these things made her break out in a cold sweat.
"Sister Yuxuan!"
Startled by this turn of events, Qi Minying froze on the spot, not even bothering to take a stool, and stumbled off her horse, nearly tripping over herself.
In the blink of an eye, Qi Jun rushed forward, grabbed the reins with his long arm, and then flipped over to pull Xiao Yuxuan, who was trembling on the horse, down from her back and held her tightly in his arms.
"Good child, with me here, there is nothing to fear."
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