Chapter 50: Take responsibility! Yinzhen was suddenly questioned by her...
Yinzhen paused, struck by her sudden question. His once proud demeanor instantly retracted. Though his back remained straight, his shoulders visibly tensed. He cleared his throat uncomfortably, turning to look at Qi Buchen as he said, "Nonsense! When did I ever think..."
But when his eyes met Qi Buchen's, he found that he was looking at him with a teasing expression. He immediately realized that he had been fooled. His tense body relaxed and he complained with a mixture of anger and grievance, "You really are... getting bolder and bolder!"
After saying this, he still felt a bit angry and simply pulled the reins closer to Qi Buchen. Because Fu Jin was a beginner and was nervous about getting too close to others, he always kept about a meter away from Fu Jin, walking side by side with her.
As expected, when Qi Buchen saw him coming over, he couldn't help but get nervous. His hands, which were originally loosely pulling the reins, tightened their grip even more, and he shouted to stop him: "Hey, don't come over here, I'm not good at it, I'm going to bump into you again. Hey, hey, really, I'm going to bump into you, I'm going to bump into you!"
She was really nervous. Seeing that Yinzhen had no intention of stopping, she pulled with her hand involuntarily. The horse under her crotch let out a soft cry and stopped its already slow pace. It stood there, wagging its tail without moving.
Meanwhile, Yinzhen had gotten close enough to her. Seeing her somewhat panicked expression, the corners of his mouth curled up in amusement. He then extended a finger and gently poked Qi Buchen's temples, angrily saying, "Humph! Are you scared now? I'll let you tease me!"
Qi Buchen's head tilted involuntarily. She raised her hand to cover the place where she was poked and looked at Yinzhen in disbelief: "Are you childish?"
Upon hearing this, Yinzhen lowered his upturned lip line and pouted imperceptibly: "Childish?" He reached out and snatched the reins from Qi Buchen's hand, deliberately showing a nasty smile, "Then I'll show you what childish means!"
He lightly kicked Qi Buchen's horse's belly with his left foot, then squeezed the belly of the horse under him with a little more force. The two horses received the signal and started running with their hooves.
"Ahhh!" Qi Buchen screamed twice at the bottom of his throat, and hurriedly pressed his whole body forward according to Yinzhen's instructions in the past few days, half-hugging the horse's neck and not daring to open his eyes.
Yinzhen was half a step ahead of Qi Buchen, holding her reins in his hand, guiding the two horses in the right direction. As he led them to a trot, he kept looking back at Qi Buchen. Seeing her embarrassment, he couldn't help but laugh heartily. But seeing that she still didn't dare to look up, he couldn't help but shout, "It's not going fast. Open your eyes and see."
Qi Buchen had been learning horseback riding quite well recently, her form and posture were perfect, so it was perfectly fine for her to trot. But no matter what Yinzhen said, she didn't dare to ride, and just rode at a leisurely pace. Yinzhen's actions weren't purely a prank; he also wanted to help Qi Buchen overcome her fear.
Qi Buchen carefully opened her tightly closed eyes a crack, and saw the horse's mane gently fluttering as it ran. She shifted her gaze to either side, noticing the grass retreating, though not at a fast pace. After adjusting to the speed of the retreating grass for a moment, Yinzhen called out again, and she cautiously raised her head, feeling the breeze brushing against her face. After adjusting to the speed for a moment more, she slowly straightened her back, but not straightening it. She maintained a slightly forward lean, ready to drop down and hug the horse's neck if things went wrong.
Yinzhen was satisfied that she finally stood up. While maintaining the horse's trot speed, he soothed her to relax.
After constant adaptation, Qi Buchen's back gradually straightened up and his body became more and more relaxed. Only then did Yinzhen slow down his horse a little and handed the reins back to Qi Buchen: "Look, is it okay? Now, try running on your own. Don't be afraid, I'm right here. If you fall, I'll catch you."
Qi Buchen clearly understood his intention behind this, but that didn't mean she should burst into tears of gratitude. Carefully taking the reins, she glared at Yinzhen and said, "Stay away from me."
There was a hint of imperceptible nervousness in her voice. Although she had adapted to the speed, she was still subconsciously worried that they would collide with someone so close to her.
Yinzhen understood her subtext and laughed, "Okay, I'll stay away from you right away." He pulled the reins, and the horse deviated slightly from its direction. After just a few steps, it was parallel to Qi Buchen more than a meter away.
Qi Buchen's nervousness finally relaxed a bit. Gently pulling at the reins with both hands, she recalled the key points Yinzhen had taught her. From time to time, she gently squeezed the horse's belly with her legs to keep it moving at a running pace. However, since it was just the beginning, she hadn't mastered the strength well, so the horse's speed fluctuated, sometimes slow and sometimes fast. Qi Buchen's small exclamations could be heard from time to time across the grassland. Yinzhen rode leisurely and relaxed to the side, occasionally teasing her exclamations, but his eyes were fixed on Qi Buchen, ready to catch him if he fell.
Fortunately, Qi Buchen had considerable talent. She was primarily held back by a fear of difficulty. After a period of experimentation, she gradually mastered her strength, her body no longer tensed as it had at the beginning, and she slowly began to feel the comfort of riding a horse. Even after breaking through that layer of mental resistance, she tried to increase her speed, to feel even more of the swiftness.
However, this attempt was quickly stopped by Yinzhen: "Get familiar with it first, don't run so fast, otherwise you won't be able to react to any small problems."
What he said made sense, and Qi Buchen of course listened to him, so he ran at a speed slightly faster than before.
After running for a while, Yinzhen called out again: "Okay, stop and walk slowly."
Qi Buchen tilted his head and looked at him with some confusion. She hadn't had enough yet.
Yinzhen explained to her with a smile: "This is your first time running like this. If you run for a long time, the sides of your legs will be rubbed raw. It will be uncomfortable then, right? Don't blame me."
Qi Buchen then remembered this. Although she had been learning horse riding recently, she basically just practiced her posture while sitting on a very slowly moving horse. So apart from the brief stiffness after getting off the horse every day, she basically had not felt the pain of the skin on her legs being rubbed.
Of course, she didn't want to feel this kind of pain at all.
"Whoa." Qi Buchen made the classic sound of reining in a horse as seen in TV dramas, his face full of satisfaction and contentment from playing with the meme.
Yinzhen had already dismounted and walked to her side. Seeing her expression, he couldn't help laughing: "Are you so happy?" He stretched out his hand and motioned Qi Buchen to get off, "Come down and walk around to stretch your muscles." He was afraid that she would stay in one posture for too long and her body would become stiff.
Qi Buchen readily dismounted from his horse, letting him help him. He found his legs were indeed a bit stiff, so he bent down slightly and pounded them, then stood up and chuckled, "You don't understand."
Yinzhen sneered and did not respond. He didn't understand? What was there for him not to understand? If he hadn't taken into consideration that Fu Jin was shy, he would have had to talk to her about how she said with a straight face "I don't like horse racing" a few days ago.
"Where are we going?" Qi Buchen looked around and found that it was all the same vast grassland. To be honest, after more than ten days of looking at the beautiful scenery, she was a little tired of it. However, compared to the small and dim tent, she still chose to wander around the grassland.
Yinzhen didn't specify a destination. He had been teaching his wife how to ride a horse recently, and basically just followed her wherever she went. So he pointed in a random direction and said, "Go that way."
The two walked side by side, their horses on either side, and further out were the eunuchs, guards, and the like. Those who couldn't ride, like Baozhu, were left behind, struggling to catch up.
"Let's have someone teach Baozhu and the others later." Qi Buchen said, "otherwise they won't be able to keep up even if they run."
If she had always ridden at a leisurely pace, it wouldn't have mattered if Baozhu and the others didn't learn how to ride, as they could always keep up on foot. But now that he'd experienced the joy of horse racing, Qi Buchen certainly wouldn't be as leisurely as before. Baozhu and the others wouldn't be able to learn how to ride, as they couldn't make him wait for them. Qi Buchen wasn't used to having eunuchs serve him closely, let alone guards, so it was imperative for Baozhu and the others to learn how to ride, as it would be another skill.
Of course Yinzhen would not object. He nodded and said, "It doesn't matter if they really can't learn it. Just let them drive the carriage and follow you when you go out. They can also bring more things." He didn't have much hope for the intelligence of the maids brought by the concubines from their homes.
But when Qi Buchen heard what he said, his eyes suddenly became dull and he was stunned.
Yinzhen took two steps and realized that the people around him were not following him. He turned around and saw Fu Jin in a daze: "What's wrong?"
Qi Buchen showed an expression that seemed to be both crying and laughing: "Can you still drive a carriage out?"
"Why not?" Yinzhen asked subconsciously, then suddenly realized, "You always thought it was impossible?"
Looking at Qi Buchen's aggrieved pout, he couldn't help laughing. How could his silly wife be so cute?
Qi Buchen was really aggrieved: "Except for the Emperor, I didn't see anyone else driving a carriage, so I thought..."
Yinzhen finally managed to suppress his laughter and explained, "Men naturally can't drive carriages. Mongolian women have been riding horses since childhood. As for the women who came from the capital, there weren't many. The Emperor's concubines, the Crown Prince's second and third brothers' concubines, and even a few others. Apart from you, has anyone else ever traveled this far?"
Qi Buchen thought about it and found that it was true. The female relatives who came out this time basically had no status and usually did not dare to go far. At most, they would take people to walk around the camp twice. For such a distance, they definitely did not need a carriage.
"Besides." Yinzhen squinted at her. "Didn't you say you wanted to learn horse riding? On the way here, who was it that kept saying the carriage made him dizzy? You don't think that just because the carriage is running here, it won't be bumpy, right?"
Qi Buchen looked around subconsciously. Although the ground looked very flat at first glance, when the carriage really ran, it was so smooth and refreshing.
She sighed in frustration and grumbled in retort, "I didn't say I was going to ride in a carriage here. Can't I just walk slowly?"
"Okay, of course." Yinzhen had already learned to do this without any instruction, and at this moment he didn't want to argue with his wife about such meaningless topics. "I'll have someone prepare the carriage when we go back today, okay?"
He acted like he was doing everything for you, which made Qi Buchen feel embarrassed. "Forget it. The carriage is so slow. It's better to ride a horse. At least your view won't be blocked."
Yinzhen had expected this outcome. He smiled secretly, pleased with himself for being increasingly adept at guessing Fu Jin's thoughts. "Are you thirsty? Let's find a place and wait for them to catch up."
"Okay." Qi Buchen followed him, not looking at the road, but looking around. He asked, "I heard that the emperor used to hunt when he toured the frontier. Why didn't he do it this time?"
In fact, since they had settled here, aside from the first two days of feasting and drinking, when there were some fighting competitions to liven things up, they had been completely left alone. Kangxi spent the entire day running around with a group of princes and ministers. Of the princes, only Yinzhen and the crown prince were allowed to follow them; the others were left to entertain themselves.
For example, Yinzhen always accompanied her to learn horse riding. As for Yinzhi and the others, when they occasionally met, they were always surrounded by a group of people, and Qi Buchen did not take the initiative to find out what they were doing.
Yinzhen held his horse with one hand and put the other hand behind his back, looking like a little old man. Unlike Qi Buchen, he did not look around, but kept paying attention to the road under his feet. Hearing Fu Jin's question, he replied: "It's not that there is no work, it's just that it hasn't started yet. However, it is indeed much later than before, because this time..."
He first frowned slightly and looked west, then tilted his head and explained in a slightly lowered voice, "I heard that Galdan is causing trouble again. This time, the emperor has summoned the generals from Heilongjiang to come to the court. I guess we have to wait until they arrive before we start."
The Third Expedition to Galdan? Qi Buchen's eyes lit up. She knew about this major event, but she had no memory of the specific time. She wondered how many expeditions had been carried out so far. However, this matter clearly involved the politics of the previous dynasty, so she didn't ask further questions. Instead, she asked something else: "So, will the hunting grounds be around here?"
Yinzhen shook his head. "No, what's there to hunt here? How many prey can you see at a glance?"
Qi Buchen blinked and said hesitantly, "I thought..." She stretched out her hand and tapped in the air, "The prey will be released when the time comes."
Yinzhen was stunned at first, but then he understood what she meant. He put on a face that didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He stopped to face her, reached out and poked her forehead three times. "You, you, what are you thinking about all day long? In your heart, is the emperor the one who deceives you?"
After being poked repeatedly, Qi Buchen covered his forehead with his hand to stop him from poking again, protesting, "That's too much! You're responsible for the holes in my face!"
Then he defended himself: "I didn't say anything about the Emperor, I just felt that those people working under him were used to fooling people."
Yinzhen ignored her explanation, but bent down slightly and looked at Qi Buchen with a smile.
"I'm responsible."
"Come, let me see if there's any holes."
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Author's words: Yinzhen: Wife, come here quickly! [啪啪啪床.jpg] I promise to be responsible for you!
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