The next day dawned with high skies and light clouds, bright and clear—a perfect autumn scene in Jiangzuo.
Qi Ying had a rest day today and, as promised, took Shen Xiling out for an autumn excursion.
Speaking of this, Qingji Mountain was originally a famous scenic spot in Jiankang City. In autumn it also had the magnificent sight of red maples covering the entire mountain, making it naturally a good place for autumn outings.
However, autumn outings on rest days were rare. If they spent all their time just wandering around their own back mountain, it would inevitably lose some interest. So Qi Ying still chose to go far rather than near, deliberately taking Shen Xiling to Qixia Mountain in the suburbs to admire the maple leaves. Qixia Mountain was originally called She Mountain and was one of the world-famous places for viewing maples. Every autumn, the red maples covering the mountains dyed all the forests, just like evening clouds settling down—a spectacular sight.
This should have been something to be happy about, but Shen Xiling currently found it deeply distressing.
All because Qi Ying wanted to test her horsemanship.
She had originally thought that this trip to Qixia Mountain would be by carriage, and at most she would ride his horse briefly once they arrived to make a show of it. Who could have imagined he would be so heartless this time, not even bringing a carriage, traveling directly by horseback there and back?
…This was practically asking for her life.
Naturally, Shen Xiling shook her head repeatedly upon hearing this and tried to persuade Qi Ying to change his mind. However, Second Young Master Qi was not so easily swayed. While calmly listening to her soft, gentle pleading, he remained unmoved and had Bai Song lead her horse out from the stable.
The horse was a birthday gift he had given her last year. It was said to be of a very precious breed—completely black and glossy, with a well-proportioned and beautiful form, long and strong legs that weren’t overly tall, and a gentle temperament, making it quite suitable for her to ride.
Although this gift was precious, she really couldn’t appreciate such kindness. Aside from those few days around her birthday when she rode it a few times—half out of novelty, half under compulsion—she hadn’t led it out for exercise in all the months since. This horse wasn’t as favored as Xue Tuan’er, and hadn’t even received a name from its female owner. It was only later when its male owner couldn’t bear to see this that it finally got a name: Benxiao.
Although this horse wasn’t favored by Shen Xiling, she quite liked the name Benxiao. Not for any other reason, but because Qi Ying’s mount was called Zhuri, also a black horse, different only in being much larger and stronger than hers. Zhuri and Benxiao—when read together, there was always a complementary charm that pleased her greatly.
However, such a good name couldn’t offset her fear and resistance to horseback riding. Even at the moment of departure, she didn’t give up and still tried to convince Qi Ying to let her take a carriage to Qixia Mountain. She racked her brains to find reasons, even pretending to say: “I actually quite want to ride a horse there, but it wouldn’t be proper to have no one by my side on the journey. If I ride a horse, I’ll naturally be fine, but what about Shuipei and the others…”
Before she finished speaking, she turned her head and saw Shuipei leading a horse out from the other side of the stable, then very smoothly mounting the horse without needing anyone’s help.
Shen Xiling: “…?”
When had Sister Shuipei developed such skills? Clearly when she accompanied her in practicing horseback riding last year, she still seemed quite unfamiliar with riding!
Little did she know that Shuipei could originally ride horses. Last year she had deliberately pretended not to know how to encourage Shen Xiling’s already very fragile confidence. Only now was she showing some of her real abilities.
Shen Xiling was left speechless by this scene. Seeing the little girl’s surprised and dejected appearance, a trace of amusement flashed in Qi Ying’s eyes. He then nodded and went along with her words: “Since you quite want to ride a horse there, and your maid doesn’t seem to need your worry, let’s do it this way.”
Thus the matter was settled with finality.
Until they set off down the mountain, the little girl kept a long face.
Qi Ying could naturally see that she wanted to take a carriage, but he couldn’t compromise on this matter. He was already busy, and it was rare for him to find time to take her out. Once he wasn’t personally supervising by her side, she would absolutely not ride horses properly. If he had someone drive a carriage along today, she would inevitably think about riding in the carriage the entire way. Then there would be acting cute and throwing tantrums, and even he couldn’t withstand that, ultimately giving up halfway.
He actually wasn’t as cold-hearted as she thought—he was always particularly soft-hearted toward her. Of course, he couldn’t let her discover this, or else nothing he said to her in the future would count.
So Qi Ying deliberately put on a stern face and told Shen Xiling in an indisputable tone: “Mount your horse.”
When he wasn’t smiling, he really looked quite severe. At that moment, Shen Xiling couldn’t even tell if he was angry, so she gave up the thought of pleading with him further. Knowing she couldn’t escape this matter today, she adjusted the veil on her head, pursed her lips, and stepped on the stirrup.
Shuipei, who was attending nearby, couldn’t help covering her mouth and secretly laughing when she saw her young miss being so obedient in front of the young master. She thought that when they returned today, she would definitely tell Fengshang and Zijun every detail to console them for not being able to come along today.
Actually, it wasn’t unfair that they couldn’t come along—who told them they couldn’t ride horses? Even Qing Zhu, who couldn’t ride horses, wasn’t able to follow the young master today. Today only Bai Song accompanied the young master.
Just as Shuipei was feeling rather proud, she suddenly heard her young miss cry out in alarm. Looking up, she saw that Benxiao was acting frisky.
This really couldn’t be blamed on the horse.
Consider that Benxiao was originally a thousand-li horse of extremely precious breeding, said to be capable of traveling a thousand li in a night. But ever since being given as a gift by Qi Ying to Shen Xiling, it had spent its days grazing in the stable with no chance to stretch its legs for a good run. Today, finally getting out of the stable, it was naturally somewhat excited. Seeing its female owner about to mount, it became even more pleased, its front hooves couldn’t help but paw the ground, even snorting, desperately proving how capable and spirited it was.
Poor its gentle and weak female owner—she was already quite afraid of it, and now, having just stepped on the stirrup and not yet seated on its back, she was frightened pale by its excited prancing in place. Her hand loosened on the reins and she nearly fell.
Fortunately, its male owner was standing close by. Seeing the situation was wrong, he quickly caught the female owner in his arms, preventing what could have been a small disaster.
Shen Xiling was so frightened her soul nearly left her body, her heart pounding. Leaning back in Qi Ying’s embrace, she clutched his sleeve and refused to mount the horse again, leaving Qi Ying not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Seeing she was truly frightened, he had no choice but to make a concession: “I’ll hold the reins for you. It’ll be fine.”
These words carried some comfort, and his expression was gentle, which helped steady Shen Xiling’s heart somewhat.
She looked at him, then at Benxiao, pursed her lips, and nodded rather reluctantly, then turned to look at him, asking him to help her mount.
Qi Ying nodded.
Shen Xiling’s heart settled a bit more. Taking a deep breath, she stepped on the stirrup again. Benxiao was still excited, but the reins were firmly held by Qi Ying, so it couldn’t move and only let out a cheerful whinny.
This sound also startled Shen Xiling, thinking the horse was about to go wild again. Frightened, she nearly fell again, but this time Qi Ying gently supported her waist, and she used the leverage to finally sit on the horse’s back.
The warmth of his palm faintly penetrated through her dress and skirt to her body, leaving a vague sensation that made Shen Xiling’s face flush red. Fortunately, the veil shielded her, so not everyone could see.
Then she saw Qi Ying offering her the reins. She thought for a moment, didn’t take them, and asked instead: “Didn’t Young Master just say you would hold the horse for me?”
Qi Ying raised his eyebrows.
He had indeed said that, but he meant he would hold the horse while she mounted to keep it from moving, not that he would continue holding it after she was mounted.
Shen Xiling also knew his original meaning, but she deliberately misinterpreted his words, hoping he would hold the horse for her a while longer. It wasn’t entirely because she wanted to act cute with him, but because she was truly somewhat frightened. She hadn’t ridden a horse for many days, and Benxiao seemed quite energetic today—she was afraid of falling off.
Qi Ying didn’t answer immediately. Seeing the situation, Bai Song stepped forward, intending to take the reins from Qi Ying’s hands: “Young Master, let me do it.”
After he spoke, Qi Ying sighed and shook his head: “Never mind. You hold Zhuri for me instead.”
Bai Song respectfully agreed, then went to the other side to hold Zhuri and his own horse, following behind the two. He watched the young master personally holding the horse for Shen Xiling, the two occasionally exchanging a few words. The young master, usually so reserved and serious, only showed more smiles when with her. And Shen Xiling was much the same—the child who once curled in a corner of the carriage, face full of deathly stillness as she guarded her mother’s body, now had light and vitality in her eyes.
Just being together, they brought a gentle joy to those watching.
Bai Song lowered his head and smiled, thinking that “doing a good deed daily” was really quite a nice phrase.
By the time they reached Qixia Mountain, it was nearly noon. If Shen Xiling hadn’t worried that Qi Ying was getting too tired halfway and volunteered to ride the horse herself, they might have arrived even later.
Qixia Mountain had been famous for its scenic beauty since ancient times, especially in autumn when red leaves covered the mountains like rosy clouds and fire, making it seem like entering a fairyland when viewed from afar. It was much larger than Qingji Mountain, with three peaks and facing the great river to the north. Therefore, after entering the mountain, one felt the sensation of two seasons, with frequently changing weather between clear and rainy.
Their luck was fairly good when entering the mountain—they didn’t encounter rain. But autumn mountains were often misty, making the stone paths underfoot particularly slippery. Naturally, this wasn’t suitable for continued horseback riding, so they had to proceed on foot into the mountains.
The two men dismounted first. Bai Song went to help Shuipei, and Qi Ying naturally went to help Shen Xiling.
He held Benxiao’s reins with one hand and extended the other to her. She placed her jade-white small hand in his palm. However, since she rarely practiced normally, she had forgotten most of the essentials of dismounting. With her hand in his palm for quite some time, she couldn’t figure out how to use his strength to dismount.
Qi Ying was quite helpless. She was such a clever person—she learned accounting immediately, and remembered most poetry and books well. How was horseback riding so difficult for her to learn? He had taught her hand-in-hand for three years, yet now she had even forgotten how to dismount and returned all the knowledge to him.
Today’s autumn outing—he didn’t want to dampen her spirits, but in his heart he was determined to make her start learning from scratch another day. This would prevent her body from being so weak and falling ill from time to time, which worried people.
Qi Ying sighed and simply let go of her hand, opening both arms slightly toward her. Shen Xiling was stunned, and only after a long moment realized he was going to lift her down from the horse.
Under her veil, her face turned as red as if she had applied the most vivid rouge, and her heart beat even more frantically—more nervous than when she nearly fell from Benxiao’s back this morning. Afraid he would notice something, she secretly took a breath and pretended to act as if nothing was wrong, sitting sideways and then reaching out to lightly hold onto his shoulder and neck. His hands naturally embraced her waist, and with a gentle effort, he lifted her entire person up.
Author’s Note: Falling into the strange state of not wanting to advance the plot and just wanting to let them continue dating (don’t hit me, I’ll advance the plot tomorrow)