Chapter 69 I will definitely give you the best of everything...
Li Pan was the first person to ride the horses out of the small horse farm.
He was tall, and even his own horse was a head taller than ordinary horses. Now, the horses in this small horse farm looked out of place, extremely small, and even a little comical.
But looking at Lou Xueying sitting in front of him, the horse was just right for her.
Fortunately, the horse wasn't thin and could support the weight of the two people.
Li Pan swaggered out of the hunting camp with Lou Xueying on a chestnut horse. Many people saw him and showed expressions that were no longer surprised.
But then again, wasn't Marquis Wu'an supposed to have caught a cold and be unable to participate in the hunt? How come he's riding a pony with his wife so soon? Has his cold gotten better?
The morning breeze, carrying the fresh scent of grass and trees, wafted towards them. The horses' hooves pounded rapidly on the damp, firm earth and scattered fallen leaves. The shadows of the trees receded beside them, their deep greens and pale yellows flowing like ribbons.
Lou Xueying's body was tense, and she occasionally let out a short scream. Whenever she thought she was about to crash into a tree and half-closed her eyes in fright, the horse beneath her would be controlled by Li Pan and brush past the tree trunk, leaving only a few shallow scratches on her clothes.
Lou Xueying said angrily, "You're deliberately scaring me!"
Li Pan: "The fact that you still have time to talk to me means you're no longer afraid."
Lou Xueying: "Slow down! I...I'm feeling the jolting."
"Because you haven't gotten used to the horse's running speed yet, you need to move with it to maintain stability. If you don't move, you're more likely to get injured." Li Pan touched her thighs and back, not to tease her, but to earnestly guide and correct her movements. "Carefully feel the horse's movements, and sway your body along with it..."
Lou Xueying frowned and began to try to relax her tense body, feeling the rhythm of the horse running beneath her. With Li Pan's help, her originally stiff limbs gradually relaxed, and the uneasy fear gradually turned into a novel excitement after she confirmed that she was safe.
She couldn't help but let go of one hand, raise it, and touch the branches that brushed past her.
The branch lashed through her hand, stinging slightly, but the constant gentle breeze carried away the fleeting pain. She had never felt anything like it before, as if she could cast aside all the annoying things in the mundane world and only have the pure, genuine natural world left.
The forest came to an end, and a wide valley suddenly appeared before them. The stream in the valley was clear, wider and longer than the one they had seen yesterday. The banks were lined with flat, dense grass, which, though slightly yellowed, rustled in the wind, like music and a gentle call.
Li Pan laughed and said, "They're calling you."
Lou Xueying glanced at him sideways.
Li Pan tightened the reins and said, "Hold on tight."
Lou Xueying: "What are you going to do—"
Before he could finish speaking, Li Pan flicked his whip and charged off.
Without the trees to obstruct her view, Lou Xueying plummeted straight down the high hillside. She had just let out a scream when a mouthful of cold wind rushed into her mouth.
She immediately shut her mouth, only to feel the wind around her suddenly become fierce, even her sleeves and skirts billowed up, filled with the rushing wind, making a whooshing sound.
The previously clear and powerful sound of hooves had now become a rapid drumbeat, thumping and pounding against her heart. Her heart was practically beating with the horse's movements. She looked up, and the blue sky, white clouds, distant mountains, grasslands, and streams all rushed into her vision. She felt as if she had been lifted into the air, all sense of restraint vanished. Leaning against Li Pan's chest, she loosened the reins, raised her arms, and tried to embrace the flowing, free, whistling wind.
Li Pan had been observing her. Seeing her eyes shining brightly, a smile appeared on his lips. He then asked her loudly, "Do you like it?"
“I like it!” she answered loudly.
What do you like?
"I love horseback riding!"
"What else do you like?"
"I like Lord Marquis!"
"Who is the Marquis?"
"It's Li Pan!"
She turned her head, her stray hairs tousled by the wind, clinging to her eyelashes. Yet she stared intently at him. Blue sky, white clouds, distant mountains, meadows, streams—so many beautiful sights in the world, but now, reflected in her eyes, only he was there.
"It's Li Shitou!" she added loudly, a light and bright smile on her face.
"Whoa—"
Li Pan pulled on the reins, and the chestnut horse stopped by the stream in the valley.
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her impatiently.
It was too far from the camp and there was no one around. Lou Xueying twisted her body, clung to his shoulders, and looked up to kiss him.
With the reins loosened, the chestnut horse, having nothing to do, began to look down for some tasty grass.
The grass in autumn is no longer tender. The chestnut horse picks and chooses, walking a few steps, then lowering its head to eat a few bites, then walking a few more steps.
The two bodies were forced to sway, their teeth occasionally colliding, and even their lips and tongues sometimes misaligned, brushing here and there, but neither of them showed any intention of stopping.
Compared to before, Li Pan was much more forceful this time. He twisted her neck with one hand, his palm pressed against her taut neck and her rapidly beating pulse, while his other hand, like an iron clamp, tightly encircled her waist, pressing her even closer to him. He pressed his lips hard against hers, brutally stealing all her breath away.
Lou Xueying couldn't help but let out a soft sob, and the passion she had felt while riding the horse surged even more violently within her, making her body burning hot. Her breath was too thin, and her consciousness gradually blurred. His rough fingertips caressed her delicate skin, bringing a slight tingling and stinging sensation, but she couldn't help but press her hand tightly against his, lingering on his equally burning warmth.
At this moment, the sounds of the wind, the water, and the snorting of horses seemed distant and indistinct, as if separated by a thick veil. All they could hear were each other's frantic breathing and heartbeats.
After an unknown amount of time, this seemingly endless kiss finally came to a slow end as she approached her limit of dizziness.
Her lips were glistening, her cheeks flushed, and for a moment she dared not look directly into Li Pan's sharp, naked gaze. She slowly lowered her head and straightened herself.
Li Pan's heavy breathing sprayed against her ear, but his arms around her waist did not loosen in the slightest. He bent down slightly, rested his chin on the crook of her neck, and kissed her slender neck again and again, like a dragonfly skimming the water.
"Shushu," he called out in a hoarse voice.
Lou Xueying's eyelashes trembled slightly.
“I want to take you back to the Northwest,” Li Pan said. “Back in the Northwest, we can have faster horses and wider plains. The people there may be rough, but they are honest and simple, and there is not as much intrigue as in the capital.”
Lou Xueying: "Okay."
Li Pan kissed her again and said, "Life in the Northwest may not be as prosperous and bustling as in the capital, but I will definitely give you the best of everything."
Lou Xueying: "Okay."
Under a clear blue sky, they sometimes galloped through the valleys, sometimes ran hand in hand along the streams, and sometimes lay on the messy grass, looking up at the drifting clouds in the blue sky.
Lou Xueying felt a peace she had never known before. She closed her eyes, letting in a hundred breaths and hearing all the sounds of nature. Even though it was pitch black, she could almost see the chestnut horse gently swishing its tail, bowing its head to drink water by the stream, and occasionally a mountain bird would fly across the sky, spreading its wings and emitting a clear cry.
As she lay on the grass, the fine blades of grass pricked her skin through her clothes, yet she was no longer afraid of any insects that might appear.
Lou Xueying gradually fell asleep.
She hadn't slept a wink last night, and when she finally woke up from her deep sleep, she had no idea what day it was.
She was still not fully awake, but she instinctively sat up, glanced at the outer robe Li Pan was wearing, and looked around in confusion.
"Li Pan?" she called softly.
"I'm here," came his reply from behind.
Lou Xueying turned around and saw Li Pan sitting behind her, resting his chin on his hand and smiling at her: "Awake?"
Lou Xueying: "What time is it?"
Li Pan: "It's probably around the end of the Wei hour or the beginning of the Shen hour."
"So late?" Lou Xueying was taken aback, waking up completely. "I slept for so long?"
“Anyway, there’s nothing else to do, so I might as well sleep as long as I want,” Li Pan said. “But you can only sleep for another hour at most before I have to wake you up, otherwise it will get colder and colder here.”
Lou Xueying saw a package wrapped in a handkerchief in front of him, stared at it longingly, and asked, "What's that?"
"While you were sleeping, I went and picked some wild fruit. I tested it; it's edible and not poisonous," Li Pan said with a smile. "Are you hungry?"
Lou Xueying nodded quickly.
Li Pan then sat down next to her with the package in hand, opened the handkerchief, and inside were several washed mountain fruits.
Lou Xueying picked one up. Although it didn't look very appealing, it was quite juicy, with a slightly sour and sweet taste. It had a unique flavor when she ate it.
She ate several in one go, and when only the last one was left, she suddenly remembered to ask Li Pan, "Have you eaten yet?"
“Of course I’ve eaten it. If I hadn’t eaten it, how would I know it was safe to eat and not poisonous?” Li Pan said.
"I mean, are you full?" Lou Xueying said. "I'm full. If you're not, you can have this."
Li Pan grinned: "Our Marquis's mansion has fallen so low that we have to be polite to each other even when we're eating wild fruit."
He leaned closer, ran his tongue over her lips, and then said, "I'm full. It was delicious."
Lou Xueying: "..."
She lowered her head, took a bite of the mountain fruit, holding half in her mouth and leaving the other half sticking out, and raised her chin at Li Pan.
Li Pan raised an eyebrow, about to open his mouth to take it, but saw her turn her head and stuff the mountain fruit into her mouth and chew it herself.
Li Pan couldn't help but poke her chubby cheeks.
Lou Xueying mumbled, "Didn't you say you were full? I won't give you any more."
Li Pan poked her again and said with a grin, "You look like a squirrel."
Lou Xueying glared at him. In all her life, she had been compared to flowers and jade, but this was the first time someone had compared her to a squirrel. How unromantic!
So she stuffed the remaining half of the mountain fruit into Li Pan's mouth.
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