Chapter 68 So he came to accompany his wife on horseback. ...
That night, Lou Xueying barely slept a wink, and the next day, she didn't even want to go out.
Li Pan replied, "Since you're already here, why not leave? This is like throwing the baby out with the bathwater, which is absolutely unacceptable. Now that you know the emperor doesn't intend to kill me, what do you have to be afraid of?"
Lou Xueying was still angry: "I don't want to see him."
“Who said we were going to see him? Let’s do our thing,” Li Pan said. “The autumn hunt isn’t paid for by us, it’s paid for by the emperor. We suffered a loss last night for nothing. You staying in the house is saving him money!”
Lou Xueying glanced at him: "You don't even call His Majesty anymore."
Li Pan: "He is the emperor and I am his subject. It is my duty and respect to call him Your Majesty. But even a clay figure has some temper. I have done nothing wrong, so why should he fabricate faults against me to tarnish my reputation?" He paused for a moment, then added, "Of course, I only say such things behind his back. When he is in front of me, I still have to call him Your Majesty."
After saying that, he couldn't help but grind his teeth.
I feel so frustrated and annoyed.
Lou Xueying: "I never expected him to act so insidiously."
What a despicable move! She didn't want to divorce Li Pan, so he tried to force them to. Lou Xueying couldn't even imagine what she would do if she pushed open the door and actually saw Li Pan rolling around with another woman.
However, given Li Pan's ability to kick the door open, such a thing probably won't happen.
Li Pan scoffed, "We haven't done anything wrong, so why should we stay indoors? Let's go out and find out what happened last night."
Lou Xueying took a deep breath and stood up with him.
Li Pan found Lord Wei playing horseback with his youngest daughter at a small horse farm next to the hunting grounds.
When Lord Wei saw Li Pan standing to one side, seemingly wanting to say something, he handed his daughter to his wife and came over.
"Lord Wei," Li Pan said with a smile, "didn't you go hunting yesterday? Why aren't you going today?"
"I'm getting old, and after a long day of running around, my back aches and I can't run anymore. I haven't hunted anything yet, so I might as well stay here and play with the children," said Lord Wei. "Did you call me here for something, Lord Marquis?"
"Nothing much," Li Pan said. "It's just that I left early last night. Did anything unusual happen after I left? I'm afraid everyone else knows, but I don't."
As soon as he mentioned leaving the table, Lord Wei remembered Lou Xueying asking him about Li Pan's whereabouts the night before. Looking at Lou Xueying standing next to Li Pan, he pondered for a moment and tentatively asked, "Where did the Marquis go last night? It seemed like the Madam was looking for you."
Li Pan: "I'm going to relieve myself."
Lord Wei: "I went to relieve myself not long after the Marquis left, but I didn't see him."
Li Pan: "Perhaps we're not on the same path."
Lord Wei: "Did the Marquis hear anything?"
"Oh?" Li Pan raised an eyebrow. "What noise did Lord Wei hear?"
Lord Wei said, "I didn't hear clearly either. I only heard that yesterday there was a waterside pavilion next to the garden, and something in it collapsed, making quite a noise."
Li Pan clapped his hands: "I knew it! Something must have been going on last night!"
He turned to Lou Xueying and said, "See, I already said there was a sound, but you insisted you didn't hear it."
Lou Xueying sighed: "Alright, you still have better hearing."
"So you heard it too, Lord Marquis?" Lord Wei said. "But I later heard that it was due to years of disrepair that the door to the waterside pavilion collapsed."
Li Pan: "Who managed the waterside pavilion? How could it have fallen into disrepair over the years? Has His Majesty not held anyone accountable?"
"It's just a waterside pavilion with a collapsed door. Such a trivial matter shouldn't warrant His Majesty's personal investigation. Someone else will take care of it," said Lord Wei.
“That’s true,” Li Pan said. “I thought something big had happened, but I didn’t want to go back to check. I was also curious, so I came to ask today.”
Lord Wei: "Sigh, the Marquis has worried for nothing."
Li Pan smiled and said, "If nothing bad has happened, then it's a good thing."
As the two were chatting, Lord Wei suddenly opened his eyes wide, rushed out in one stride, and caught his youngest daughter who was about to fall off her horse.
Madam Wei scolded him: "I can't ride a horse. You put her on the horse by yourself. How can I control a person and a horse?"
Lord Wei: "Isn't it the Marquis who's looking for me? Alright, alright, I'll be right back."
He helped his daughter up, gave her a few more instructions, and had just turned back when he heard Li Pan say, "Lord Wei, please go ahead. I have finished asking my questions and will not disturb you any longer."
Lord Wei: "Alright, then please take care, my lord."
He went back to ride horses with his daughter, but Li Pan hadn't left yet. He crossed his arms and said to Lou Xueying, "It seems someone made a mistake last night and felt ashamed, so they suppressed the matter again."
Lou Xueying twitched the corner of her mouth.
Li Pan: "Since this matter is not directly related to us, we don't need to worry about it."
Lou Xueying: "So?"
Li Pan: "So...would you like to ride a horse?"
"Huh?" Lou Xueying didn't react for a moment. "Why ride a horse?"
Li Pan: "Didn't we agree that since we're already here, we should have as much fun as possible? I thought we'd have to deal with what happened last night first, but it turns out we don't need to. So let's just have fun!"
Lou Xueying was surprised: "How come you actually have the mood to play?"
“Even if you’re not in the mood, you have to force yourself to be,” Li Pan said. “You can’t do anything right now, so getting angry is pointless. You’ll only hurt yourself and suffer the consequences. You might as well find something to do—do you want to ride a horse?”
This is a small horse farm, with horses for beginners. Even though these horses are very docile, some people almost fell off because they weren't used to them. Lou Xueying frowned and said, "I can't ride a horse."
Li Pan: "Look around, who knows how to ride? Aren't they all just riding for fun? Just tell me if you want to or not."
Lou Xueying hesitated.
To be honest, seeing other noble ladies trying out horseback riding, it would be a lie to say she wasn't tempted at all. She didn't ride in her past life because she was with the Empress and the Crown Prince; she didn't ride in this life because she was on guard against Emperor Jinghui's actions.
But since Emperor Jinghui didn't tamper with this...
Seeing Lou Xueying hesitate, Li Pan took her hand without saying a word and went to find the horseman: "Pick a horse for my wife. It can't be too tall, or she won't be able to get on it, but it can't be too thin either. It should be able to carry two people."
Upon seeing that it was Marquis Wu'an, the stable boy immediately and eagerly picked out several horses: "My lord, these are all quite good, and they are very handsome. Which one would you like your wife to choose?"
Li Pan looked at Lou Xueying.
Lou Xueying was still a little reserved: "They all look pretty much the same to me... You decide what to do."
Li Pan patted the middle maroon horse and said, "This one will do."
He beckoned to Lou Xueying: "Come here, touch it, get to know it."
Lou Xueying approached and tentatively reached out to touch the horse's head, but it suddenly raised its head and snorted, startling Lou Xueying so much that she took a step back.
Li Pan smiled, took the reins, and taught her how to mount the horse.
Lou Xueying pursed her lips and, following Li Pan's instructions, grabbed the reins and mane, stepped into the stirrups, and awkwardly mounted the horse. After mounting, she nervously looked around and asked Li Pan, "Was my posture awkward just now?"
Li Pan: "Don't worry, no one will be watching you except me."
He pulled on the reins and began to lead the horse, letting her slowly circle around the riding arena.
As soon as the horse started moving, Lou Xueying began to sway from side to side, which startled her so much that she lowered her body and gripped the horse's belly tightly, almost clinging to its neck. After walking half a lap, she gradually got used to the rhythm and slowly straightened up.
Li Pan asked, "Are you still afraid?"
Lou Xueying: "It seems... alright."
Sitting on horseback, the view suddenly became much higher and farther, and the surrounding scenery felt more expansive.
They encountered Lord Wei riding a horse with his daughter.
"Oh, Lord Marquis is still here!" Lord Wei laughed. "So you've come riding with your wife."
Li Pan nodded: "She wanted to ride, so I took her for a ride."
"Only the Lady of Wu'an could receive such treatment, with the Marquis of Wu'an personally leading the horse," said Lord Wei. "But then again, how could the Lady of Wu'an not know how to ride a horse?"
Lou Xueying could only smile and say, "Lord Wei is right. I still have much to learn from the Marquis."
After they finished talking, they all went their separate ways.
After riding around once, Lou Xueying had become completely familiar with the horseback riding experience. Seeing that she was about to encounter Lord Wei on the next round, she couldn't help but ask Li Pan, "Can we change direction? Otherwise, we keep running into him."
I can't ignore it, but I don't know what to say, so it's a bit awkward.
“Changing direction is easy, but the horse ranch is only so big. Unless you and Lord Wei are at the same speed, you’ll run into each other eventually.” Li Pan pulled on the reins, stopped the horse, and laughed, “How about I take you for a ride? If you run fast, you won’t be able to catch anyone.”
"Huh? Can you run around here?" Lou Xueying looked around but didn't see a single horse running. At most, they were walking briskly, far from running.
“Not here, go outside and run.” Li Pan patted her lower back. “Move forward a bit, I’m coming up.”
Lou Xueying subconsciously did as she was told. Before she could speak, she felt a sudden warmth on her back. He had nimbly flipped onto the horse's back, his arms reaching over her shoulders to hold the reins, as if embracing her.
Lou Xueying blushed slightly.
Li Pan lightly kicked the horse's belly, and the horse quickly walked to the groom.
"I'm taking my wife out for a drive," Li Pan said casually. "We'll come back to return the horse later."
As he spoke, he pulled on the reins and turned the horse's head in a different direction.
"My lord, wait!" the stable boy hurriedly stopped him. "Horses in the stables cannot be ridden out!"
“I know, because most people here aren’t good at riding horses, and it’s easy for something to happen if they ride out,” Li Pan said. “But do you really think I’ll get into trouble?”
The horse groom was speechless.
Li Pan: "It was my own choice to ride it, it has nothing to do with you. If anything happens, I will take responsibility."
After saying that, he reached out his hand to him again: "Horsewhip."
The stable boy had no choice but to offer up the horsewhip.
Li Pan smiled, took the whip, and gently slapped the horse's rump, causing it to trot.
The horse suddenly began to lurch, and Lou Xueying instinctively held her breath, gripping the reins tightly. Her back pressed uncontrollably against Li Pan's chest.
Li Pan leaned slightly forward and whispered in her ear, "Don't be afraid, I'm here, you won't fall."
Lou Xueying: "So fast..."
"This is nothing, at this speed, we won't even bump into anyone," Li Pan said. "Later, we'll find a more open place, and I'll take you for a good horse race. Don't worry, this horse isn't anything special, it won't be very fast at all."
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