The Second Master of the Red Chamber

The horse drove to the front gate of the horse farm. Zhao Sheng jumped off the horse and said to the people who came to meet him, "Is everything ready? The second master and the girls will be here soon."

"Everything has been cleaned up according to Brother Zhao's instructions. There won't be any horse manure on the roads of the whole manor. It will definitely not disturb the Second Master and the ladies in the mansion.

The dozen or so tenant households at the back were also notified one by one that, except for women and children, no men were allowed to go out today.

By the way, it’s rare for Second Master and the girls to come out for fun, so if they want something to eat or play, we can go and prepare it…”

Zhao Sheng said: "No need to make any special preparations, just stay here, I will notify you if the Second Master needs anything."

"Yes……"

Soon after he finished speaking, several cavalrymen with silver saddles and silver armor appeared on the yellow mud road.

Behind them, a number of BMW cars were slowly moving forward with the sound of their wheels squeaking over the yellow mud.

Seeing this scene, dozens of people outside the wooden gate, except Jia Lian's personal guards who were also wearing armor, all knelt in the road to greet them.

It is Jia Lian’s rule that personal guards do not kneel.

The duty of the personal guards is to protect his safety. Since it is to protect his safety, they must always maintain sufficient vision and vigilance and not be distracted by distractions.

Another thing is that Jia Lian said that all his personal guards were his brothers. Since they were brothers, they naturally did not need to kneel to him all the time.

Perhaps it was because Jia Lian gave his personal guards enough honors that the servants in the Ning and Rong mansions, as well as the grooms in this horse farm, all longed to become Jia Lian's personal guards.

Some smart ones had already started trying to find connections yesterday.

Because according to the precedent that Jia Lian expanded his personal guards by fifty after he was conferred the title of Marquis last time, it is very likely that Jia Lian will also expand his personal guards after being conferred the title of Duke this time!

……

"Wow, this hillside is so huge, it's probably more than ten times bigger than the peony garden in the Grand View Garden!"

The carriage team drove along the dirt road and stopped at the foot of a green hillside.

The girls who had been chattering and talking for a long time got off the car one by one. Then Shi Xiangyun, who talked the most and the loudest, took a step with her short legs, stepped on the grass and rushed towards the hillside. Then her exclamations were heard by everyone.

Daiyu and Xiangyun are of similar age, and Xiangyun is the one who cares the least about Daiyu's identity, so the two of them often argue with each other.

Seeing Xiangyun making so much noise, she wanted to roll over on the grass, so she curled her lips and said, "She is a daughter of a noble family, but she looks so useless."

Everyone smiled silently, and then appreciated the natural scenery of the vast sky, the vast land, the light clouds and the gentle breeze.

At this moment, Jia Lian said a few words to Ping'er, then turned around and saw Daiyu and others, as well as more than ten maids including Qingwen, scattered on the hillside. The green grass and summer flowers reflected their youthful faces and bodies. It was truly a beautiful picture of the rising sun.

"This slope is our main venue for today's activities. Whether it's your lunch or poetry club, it will all be held here."

Jia Lian walked up to the crowd and said so.

All the girls nodded, and then Tanchun sighed, "Brother Lian, this is a really good place, surrounded by mountains and rivers, it really is a paradise."

"By the way, how big is this place?"

Tanchun looked at the fields at the foot of the hill and the stream winding away into the distance and asked the question.

"It's not that big, just over 2,000 acres in total."

At this time, Xiangyun ran back, panting a little, and said, "This hill is too big, I'm too lazy to run over. Brother Lian, what's on the other side of the hill?"

"Behind the slope is where we came from, and it is also the main part of the horse farm. My personal soldiers usually train there. Of course, since it is a horse farm, it is natural to raise horses."

Not counting ordinary guards, Jia Lian had more than sixty personal soldiers. Since the East Cross Courtyard martial arts training ground was only a small space, it was naturally not enough for training.

Moreover, Jia Lian required all his personal guards to be proficient in the use of muskets. It was impossible for them to train all day long at home, so they could only come here to train.

"Wow, they raise horses here. How many are there?"

Jia Lian looked at Xiangyun, who was full of amazement and had a great talent for supporting roles, and could not help but reach out and rub her hair again, then glanced at the grass.

Qingwen, who was very discerning, immediately took out a handkerchief that she had prepared long ago from her sleeve and spread it on the ground.

Seeing Jia Lian sitting on the ground, the other maids followed suit, took out handkerchiefs and asked their girls to sit on them.

"I have war horses here for me and my personal soldiers to use. There are about a hundred of them."

"Wow, so many!"

"A lot? I think it's not enough. I was planning to buy another batch."

There were actually horses raised in the Rongguo Mansion. There were about ten horses in the Nanyuan Ma Peng in front of the Rongxi Hall.

But those are just very ordinary horses and can only be used for travel.

Since Jia Lian inherited the title, he began to replace his guards' horses with larger and more powerful ones.

Just like his previous white horse, he had already eliminated it. But he liked white very much, so he chose a white horse with even whiter mane.

As for the more than one hundred horses, it was not a lot for him. Among them, the emperor had rewarded him with twenty or thirty horses in the past few years.

"Speaking of horses, except for Baoyu, none of you probably know how to ride a horse. Do you want to learn later?"

Most of the girls frowned when they heard this. After all, riding a horse was a rough job that didn't seem suitable for ladies like them.

Of course, there are also those who are eager to try.

No other elder is as open-minded as Jia Lian, who supports them in everything they do. And it just so happens that they are out to play today and there are no other elders around, so how can they not let off some steam for once?

At this time, Xiangyun suddenly raised her hand: "I can ride a horse! Last year, when we went to the temple fair, my cousin and I sneaked out to ride a horse once..."

Then, Xiangyun told the story of how she took advantage of the adults' inattention last year and persuaded her little cousin to spend hundreds of dollars to learn how to ride a horse.

Because she described it so vividly and described in detail the wonderful feeling of riding on a tall horse, it really aroused the interest of many people.

However, Jia Lian poured a bucket of cold water on her.

"You are not riding a horse, at most you are sitting on a horse. If no one holds the reins for you, would you dare to gallop on the horse?"

Xiangyun was initially dissatisfied when she heard this, but when she thought about it, in front of a general like Jia Lian who was known to be an expert in horse racing, her skills were indeed not even child's play.

But Jia Lian continued, "If we really talk about being able to ride a horse, it's not your turn among you. She can barely be considered one."

Seeing Jia Lian pointing at Xue Baoqin, everyone suddenly understood.

It is often heard that Baoqin traveled to many places with her father when she was a child, so it is not too strange that she could ride a horse.

Baoqin saw that Jia Lian was using her to suppress Xiangyun, and hurriedly said, "I can't say I can ride well, but at that time I often followed my father on the road. In some places, the roads were difficult and the ride was very bumpy, so I could only ride a horse. Slowly, I learned a little bit."

Everyone was impressed when they heard this, and some envied Baoqin's childhood.

The girls were really relaxed in front of Jia Lian. They said whatever they wanted and immediately asked Jia Lian to teach them how to ride horses.

So Jia Lian had no choice but to order someone to bring a group of more docile ponies over.

Learning to ride a horse is actually not difficult, especially under the guidance of teachers who are proficient in horse riding like Jia Lian and the Aqi sisters. In addition, Jia Baoyu was also very eager to help share the teaching work at this time, so Yingchun and others quickly learned to ride horses.

The girls learned it, and a few brave maids, with Jia Lian's permission, took the extra ponies to practice.

Perhaps riding a horse really is about courage. After a while, some maids dared to ride horses in the fields.

This undoubtedly made the young ladies who were still cautious feel a little embarrassed.

Jia Lian also let them practice on their own. After all, they were all docile little ponies, and the terrain here was not dangerous at all. The most they would do was fall into the mud.

He asked Aqi to help keep an eye on things while he rode his horse towards the beautiful Daiyu on the hillside.

This girl actually brought a small stool and sat on the hillside by herself to enjoy the scenery!

"What are you here for?"

"I also want to ask you, everyone is studying hard, what are you doing here alone?"

"What I do is none of your business."

Jia Lian didn't care that Daiyu always kept strangers away. He looked Daiyu up and down and suddenly said, "Are you not making up stories here by yourself in order to get ahead of everyone else later?"

Jia Lian's surprised expression immediately made Daiyu blush with embarrassment, because she was looking down at the scenery in front of her from a high position, and she was indeed silently choosing words and sentences.

It was okay that she had occasionally lost to Baochai in the past, but today was the first day after Baochai revealed the identity of her rival. This was a silent battle, and she had to win.

Daiyu could not lie at all. Her expression immediately made Jia Lian see through everything, so he could not help laughing.

His smile really annoyed Daiyu: "Go away, you are so annoying. I don't need you here. If you have time, why don't you go and teach your sister Baochai how to ride a horse? I think she likes to learn this nonsense!"

Jia Lian also looked back. He originally didn't want to learn, but he couldn't resist the persuasion of Xiangyun and others. At this time, Baochai was riding steadily on the back of a pony and moving forward slowly.

"She has learned almost everything. Now it's your turn." Jia Lian dismounted and walked towards Daiyu.

Daiyu seemed to sense something and immediately screamed, "What are you doing? Go away, don't touch me!"

As he spoke, he dodged and raised his fist towards Jia Lian.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain. She was as gentle as a beauty lamp, and Jia Lian picked her up effortlessly, then turned around and put her on the horse's back.

Needless to say, Daiyu didn't dare to move.

Jia Lian originally really wanted to teach Daiyu how to ride a horse. After all, it is always good to have many skills. Who says that Lin Daiyu can only write poems and play the piano but can't ride a horse?

However, seeing that Daiyu really seemed to have no interest in riding, an idea came to his mind, so he patted the horse's back, held the reins with one hand, and actually jumped up and hugged Daiyu from behind.

Daiyu's face turned really red now.

She originally thought that it would be like when she was nine years old, when Jia Lian carried her onto the horse and led her by the reins, but she never expected that Jia Lian would also get on the horse.

But it seems reasonable when you think about it.

At the time, she was just a cousin, so naturally she couldn't go beyond the rules of etiquette.

Now that I have been officially with him for more than a year, even the old lady has let me sit at the same table as her daughter-in-law...

"Go down, they will laugh at you..."

Daiyu advised in a low voice, fearing that her voice would be too loud and attract the attention of the people below.

How could she know that Jia Lian had been the focus of most people from beginning to end, so their every move had long been discovered.

When they saw Jia Lian hugging her, someone had already quietly pulled the sleeves of the people around them, reminding them to turn around and watch the show.

In response to Daiyu's shyness, Jia Lian adopted the same attitude he had towards Qingwen: "You are my wife, so what's wrong with me hugging my own wife?"

As he said this, he squeezed the horse's crotch and headed down the slope.

Daiyu was no longer in the mood to speak. She sat on the horse carefully, feeling the horse's increasingly faster speed...

The horse used by Jia Lian was the strongest among the group of "young people" sent by Zhao Sheng, so he didn't have to worry about it not being able to bear the weight of him and Daiyu.

With one hand around Daiyu's petite and soft waist, he felt extremely happy both physically and mentally, so he started riding his horse and galloped towards the country path with Daiyu.

The fast speed and the whistling wind forced Daiyu to lean tightly in Jia Lian's arms to find a sense of security.

She was terribly embarrassed, but there was nothing she could do.

When the horse galloped past those people, she could vaguely see that they were smiling, but because the horse was going too fast, they flashed by before she could see clearly.

I suddenly felt relieved: Forget it, let them laugh if they want to, it’s not like they haven’t made fun of me before anyway!

She no longer cared about it and immediately felt the thrill of speeding.

The feeling was completely different from when she was sitting on the horse and Jia Lian was walking in front of her holding the reins.

So light and exciting!

Slowly, Daiyu began to prop up her body, which had been leaning tightly against Jia Lian's chest from the beginning, and used her body and mind to feel the sensation of riding a horse at full speed.

At the foot of the hill, the other girls saw Jia Lian running with Daiyu, and they were all happy, envious, and a little worried.

"My second brother is riding so fast, what if he falls?"

"Yes, it's probably not a big deal for Brother Lian to fall down since he's thick-skinned, but if Sister Lin falls down, what will happen?"

No one was interested in learning how to ride a horse because they felt that even if they learned it for their entire lives, they would never be able to ride a horse as well as Jia Lian.

Jia Baoyu, who was patiently teaching Tanchun how to control a horse, turned around and saw this scene. He felt that the sky seemed to be gloomy, and he felt extremely sad and remorseful.

After a while, Jia Lian brought Daiyu back. Daiyu's face was flushed and sweat could be vaguely seen on her forehead.

Facing the scrutiny and teasing looks from the sisters, Daiyu's face turned even redder. She tried to explain, "I said I didn't want to learn, but he forced me to do it. How could there be such a person?"

After saying that, he jumped off the horse and walked quickly to the side.

At this moment, Daiyu seemed unusually agile.

Jia Lian looked at the girls who were full of envy and said with a smile: "If any of you want to experience it, you can come up and I will take you around like Lin girl did."

A few of them were eager to try it out after hearing this, but then they thought that they were girls after all, and how could they sit in the arms of an adult man so openly.

Even Yingchun, Jia Lian's biological sister, felt embarrassed about this.

Seeing their intention and concerns, Jia Lian gave another suggestion: "Of course, if you are embarrassed, you can ask your sister Aqi.

To be honest, I am far inferior to her in terms of horse riding skills."

"Really?"

The girls immediately looked at Aqi, who had been acting as a caregiver, with surprise and admiration.

Aqi just smiled at this. Although she was usually not talkative, she was still willing to make friends with these cute girls in front of her.

Ah Qin said a little aggrievedly: "His horsemanship is not bad either..."

"You can also look for her. Her horsemanship is just a little worse than mine."

Seeing that Jia Lian was so confident in Aqi and her sisters' riding skills, Xiangyun and Tanchun became impolite and immediately stepped forward to curry favor with the two sisters.

There was no way; they wanted too much to feel the sensation of galloping through the fields, and they didn't dare to indulge themselves if they were alone.

"Sworn brother..."

Just as Jia Lian was thinking about whether he should take Baochai with him for a round under the pretext of not favoring one over the other.

If Baochai's plump body was held in her arms while riding a horse, it would definitely feel different from Daiyu's, and it would definitely feel more full...

Looking at Zhen Yuhuan riding towards him, Jia Lian asked, "Do you want me to take you?"

"May I……"

Zhen Yuhuan grumbled, and when she noticed someone seemed to be paying attention, she immediately changed her tone and said, "Forget it, I just want to try riding it by myself, but I'm afraid it's not safe. Can you stay with me to protect me, brother?"

Jia Lian nodded. He also noticed that Zhen Yuhuan was riding the horse alone and was surprisingly steady. He didn't know if she had learned it before.

"You go ahead, don't go too fast. I'll follow behind and watch you."

Seeing Jia Lian making way, Zhen Yuhuan said "hmm", then called out "gift" in a tender voice, then waved the reins and controlled the horse to trot forward.

Jia Lian was originally nonchalant, thinking that given Zhen Yuhuan's riding style, there would be no big problem as long as she didn't ride too fast.

Unexpectedly, the next second, the horse under Zhen Yuhuan neighed, raised its front hooves, and leaped into the wheat field in panic. It galloped at the same time, jumping its body desperately, as if trying to throw the person off its back.

This scene shocked not only Jia Lian, but even the other people who saw it from afar.

"Brother, save me..."

Zhen Yuhuan only had time to turn around and shout before she grabbed the reins tightly and was dragged into the wheat field by the horse. (End of this chapter)