Yao Lin demonstrated spear techniques while Yao Zhenhu stood outside the main hall’s threshold watching. Prince Hui’s wheelchair was stopped inside the threshold, with Qing Ai standing behind it.

When Yao Huang glanced over, the first thing she noticed was actually Qing Ai’s face, even paler than Prince Hui’s—it definitely hadn’t been like this before.

At this moment, Yao Lin cleanly finished his demonstration and put away his spear, making way for his mother and sister.

Luo Jinhua followed her daughter by a step, feeling as if the sky were collapsing. Having their son show off his martial skills in front of their son-in-law whose legs were crippled—only the Yao family’s foolish tiger could do such a thing.

If the prince became displeased and directly punished her husband, Luo Jinhua would bitterly say he deserved it. But she feared the prince would endure it here, then take it out on her daughter later!

Yao Zhenhu hadn’t noticed the fury in his wife’s eyes at all. He turned to inquire of his son-in-law: “What does Your Highness think?”

He was merely a centurion who’d had no opportunity to meet Prince Hui before this marriage. But Prince Hui’s excellent martial skills learned from a master and his various military achievements had long spread throughout the military camp. Yao Zhenhu sincerely sought his son-in-law’s instruction, hoping it could help his son’s skills advance further and win a good ranking in next year’s military examination.

At these words, Qing Ai’s already pale face turned an additional shade of green. The princess was beautiful enough that even occasional tactlessness didn’t inspire anger, but Yao Zhenhu with his hulking appearance—the things he said and did all poked at the prince’s wounds. Could the prince endure this?

Zhao Sui’s gaze swept across the princess and her mother emerging from the west wing, settling on the hand Yao Lin used to grip his spear. He said: “Lingyun possesses extraordinary strength and skilled spearwork. Only your footwork is slightly insufficient. If you could promptly pivot after thrusting your spear, you would have greater odds of victory in martial contests.”

Lingyun was Yao Lin’s courtesy name. Being only two years older than Yao Huang at nineteen, Zhao Sui offered guidance in the tone of an elder brother.

Yao Lin exclaimed: “Your Highness has a sharp eye! Every time I spar with Li Tingwang, I lose because he gets ahead of me in the moment when I’m withdrawing my spear!”

Luo Jinhua’s eyelid twitched.

Zhao Sui didn’t know who Li Tingwang was and had no interest in finding out. He continued instructing Yao Lin on how to improve his footwork.

Yao Huang understood—her brother lost in agility. He needed to train the reaction speed of his head and various body parts.

Yao Zhenhu, hearing the prince speak so accurately, also wanted to request the prince’s guidance for himself.

Luo Jinhua gave him no chance to speak again. She blocked her husband and signaled their daughter with her eyes.

Yao Huang timely suggested returning to the manor. If their family had a large residence, they could invite Prince Hui to rest in a guest room. Since they didn’t, they could only leave early.

After the couple boarded the carriage, Luo Jinhua breathed a sigh of relief, but inside the carriage Yao Huang began to grow nervous.

Unlike when they came, the carriage interior now carried a trace of alcohol.

Yao Huang knew it was her father’s favorite strong liquor that he’d hidden in the room to keep her brother from stealing it—the Wangxian Restaurant’s fine brew that he only bought one jar of per year. Yao Huang had once dipped her chopsticks in a single drop out of curiosity, and that one drop had burned her chest like fire. Yet her pale-faced prince husband had drained a large bowl in one breath!

Alcohol’s effects came on gradually. It had been two or three quarters of an hour since finishing the meal…

Yao Huang stealthily glanced toward Prince Hui.

The prince leaned back in his wheelchair with eyes closed. His pale, handsome face showed no flush from drinking.

Yao Huang relaxed, then looked at that comfortable wheelchair crafted from rosewood with some envy.

The wheelchair body was spacious. If the prince moved to the very edge, another person could squeeze in beside him.

Below the wheelchair was a footrest, and below that was a platform about two feet long where another person could sit. The backrest wasn’t vertical but curved at an angle suitable for leaning—if not for the four wheels below, this wheelchair at first glance would be an extremely comfortable reclining chair. After a satisfying meal, during a long journey, leaning back like this would certainly be more comfortable than sitting upright with a straight back as she was.

Suddenly, Prince Hui opened his eyes.

Yao Huang guiltily lowered her head.

Zhao Sui: “Water.”

The Yao family’s buns tasted excellent, just a bit too salty. The cooks at Prince Hui’s manor had received the physician’s instructions—for this past year, flavors had been kept very mild.

The teapot was in the cabinet opposite. The upper two levels of the cabinet had small drawers holding handkerchiefs, towels, combs, mirrors and such. The bottom level was over a foot high, containing one teapot, one water pitcher, and two matching sets of small bowls.

No matter how steadily the prince’s manor carriage moved, there was still some swaying. To avoid spilling water, Yao Huang lifted her skirt and knelt before the cabinet, one hand lifting the jade-toned white glazed small water pitcher, the other steadily gripping a bowl of the same color and material.

She stared intently at the water flowing from the spout and the bowl’s surface, not noticing that both sleeves had slipped down a bit, revealing a pair of wrists more supple than white porcelain.

Yao Huang hadn’t drunk wine during the meal, but she naturally had a rosy, healthy complexion. Before leaving the west wing she’d washed her face, easily bringing to mind pink-petaled peonies blooming after rain clears.

The water poured, Yao Huang returned the pitcher to the cabinet, carefully stood up, and bent forward to present it to Prince Hui.

She wore a bright red jacket. When standing, the long skirt’s waistband tightly conformed to her body, concealing the spring scenery within without any possibility of leakage. But now Prince Hui sat low—when Yao Huang bent at the waist, a slight gap appeared between the skirt waistband and her skin.

Zhao Sui accepted the small bowl without looking sideways, draining it in two or three gulps.

Yao Huang: “More?”

Zhao Sui: “Mm.”

Yao Huang poured him another bowl. The bowl’s rim wasn’t even as large as her palm—one bowl truly couldn’t quench thirst.

Once the prince had drunk his fill, Yao Huang changed to a different small bowl and herself drank two bowls consecutively.

Returning to the side seat, Yao Huang glanced at Prince Hui. Seeing his eyes were open, she asked quietly: “Does Your Highness usually drink wine?”

Zhao Sui: “No.”

Yao Huang’s heart instantly leaped, her eyes showing a trace of panic: “Then when my father pressed wine on you, were you angry?”

Zhao Sui looked at her: “Usually I don’t drink. During social occasions I’ll have a cup or two.”

Yao Huang: “…Your Highness has quite good alcohol tolerance. You didn’t get drunk even from Wangxian Restaurant’s strongest liquor.”

Zhao Sui: “Passable.”

The conversation box opened, Yao Huang grew bolder: “What does Your Highness think of my father, mother, and brother? If there’s anything displeasing, I’ll remind them to change.”

Zhao Sui: “Nothing.”

Yao Huang: “Meaning you weren’t angry at all at our house?”

Zhao Sui tacitly agreed and closed his eyes again.

This signaled declining further chat. Yao Huang sensibly closed her mouth. Unable to nap, she turned and secretly lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.

They’d just left Longevity Lane. The surroundings were still commoner residences with four or five-year-old children running from their homes, chasing and playing.

From the selection ceremony to awaiting marriage, Yao Huang had spent nearly three months confined indoors. She’d long been stifled. Tilting her head, she asked Prince Hui who was resting with closed eyes: “Your Highness, may I truly leave the manor freely?”

Zhao Sui gave a light acknowledgment.

Yao Huang: “Will censors impeach me for being insufficiently dignified and damaging the imperial family’s dignity?”

Zhao Sui: “As long as you don’t abuse your position to bully others or violate laws, censors won’t interfere—they have no authority to.”

Yao Huang: “Will the Emperor, Empress, or Consort Du interfere?”

Zhao Sui opened his eyes and looked at her a few more times: “What will you do when leaving the manor?”

Yao Huang thought for a moment and listed them one by one: “Visit shops and temple fairs, listen to storytelling at teahouses and opera at theaters, return home to see my parents, go outside the city on nice days to enjoy spring and visit mountains… Oh, and I also want to ride horses. Does Your Highness’s manor have spare horses for me to use, or must I buy my own?”

Zhao Sui: “You can ride horses?”

Yao Huang’s face warmed slightly: “I can ride mules. But riding mules and riding horses aren’t too different, right?”

Zhao Sui: “…How is your riding skill?”

Yao Huang: “Not bad? When racing with my brother to see who’s faster, he rarely beats me.”

The family’s two mules were raised to about the same strength, but her brother weighed several dozen jin more than her. The mule carrying him would naturally be slower.

Zhao Sui understood and said: “The manor has several horses. If you like any, use them. If you don’t like any, have Steward Guo find a few more. The activities you just mentioned are also acceptable. Just don’t be too outrageous in word or deed, giving people something to use against you. Father Emperor and Mother Empress won’t interfere. If you’re truly worried, you can reduce the frequency of outings—don’t go too often.”

Yao Huang: “Don’t worry, Your Highness. I won’t run outside every day—just four… six or seven times a month.”

Zhao Sui fell silent.

Yao Huang: “When I’m not going out, may I invite others to visit the prince’s manor?”

Zhao Sui: “You may, but I won’t accompany you in entertaining them, including father-in-law and mother-in-law.”

Yao Huang: “Of course I wouldn’t trouble you. I won’t even let you hear a sound.”

Returning to the prince’s manor, Prince Hui went directly to the bamboo courtyard.

Yao Huang took an afternoon nap. Upon waking, she had someone summon Chief Steward Guo, who led the way to the manor’s stables.

The manor’s horse-raising courtyard was actually larger than the Yao family home. Two rows of stables lined up neatly. Each stable housed a single horse—every one with glossy coat and imposing bearing. There were eight in total.

Yao Huang: “These are all His Highness’s horses? Has he ridden every one?”

Guo Shu: “Yes, all eight were bestowed by the Emperor at various times. Chasing Wind is the oldest—bestowed by the Emperor when His Highness was thirteen. Afterward, whether learning to ride or following the Emperor outside the city to race horses and hunt in autumn, His Highness used it until age eighteen.”

“Flowing Fire, Surpassing Shadow, and Startling Mist all went to battle with His Highness—they are his beloved horses.”

Flowing Fire was a steed of complete crimson red. From a distance it looked magnificent, but up close one could see two knife scars each on its neck and belly.

Even the prince’s horse was injured—one could imagine how dangerous the battlefield was.

Surpassing Shadow’s coat was snow white. It was Prince Hui’s mount during his campaign and triumphant return journey.

Startling Mist’s coat was black as ink. A pair of bright black-and-white eyes looked toward Yao Huang and Steward Guo, as if searching for another figure.

Steward Guo’s mood grew heavy. The war with the Wu Kingdom had lasted two and a half years. The first two years, His Highness rode Startling Mist into battle. At the crucial engagement, General Cen Lianshan encountered an ambush. His Highness led troops to the rescue and ordered Startling Mist to carry the severely wounded Cen Lianshan to break through the encirclement. Afterward, His Highness was outnumbered and forced into a desperate situation by enemy troops. Preferring death to surrender, he leaped from a cliff.

Enemy soldiers searched the cliff bottom for three days, finding only a broken corpse wearing His Highness’s armor. Cen Lianshan returned with his forces to slaughter the enemy, dispatching another contingent to the cliff bottom. It was Startling Mist who found His Highness unconscious in a cave. That cave had indestructible mountain rock below. Ten feet above ground was a narrow crack—inside was barely space for one person to hide.

Had Startling Mist not continuously stamped the rock wall with its front hooves, the searching soldiers would have missed this spot.

Steward Guo didn’t tell the princess these details, but Yao Huang perceived Startling Mist’s special connection to Prince Hui from his expression.

She stood outside the fence and extended her hand toward Startling Mist.

Startling Mist actually walked over, lowering its head to blow a puff of hot air onto Yao Huang’s palm.

Yao Huang looked at Steward Guo in surprise.

Steward Guo smiled: “On the day His Highness fetched the bride, he rode Startling Mist. Startling Mist is quite intelligent—it must have recognized the princess.”

Whether by the princess’s scent or the sound of her footsteps, something had left an impression on Startling Mist.

Yao Huang stroked Startling Mist’s neck. Recalling how Startling Mist had just searched for its master with its eyes, Yao Huang felt somewhat heartbroken. The once mighty and extraordinary prince, crippled in both legs, no longer wished to leave the manor. The divine steed that had galloped the battlefield with him could only be confined to a stable—like an eagle with broken wings.

Steward Guo pointed toward the four fine horses on the other side: “His Highness hasn’t yet used these four. Does the princess see any she likes?”

Yao Huang quietly bid farewell to Startling Mist and selected a dark red steed from the other four.

She wanted to try riding in the rear garden.

Steward Guo reminded her: “I fear His Highness might hear the hoofbeats and be moved to painful memories…”

Yao Huang didn’t believe it: “If someone else riding a horse could make His Highness uncomfortable, then with Fei Quan and Qing Ai walking back and forth before him every day, wouldn’t seeing their legs make His Highness even more uncomfortable?”

Besides, what was there to be pained about riding horses? Even with crippled legs, one could still ride. The wheelchair was crafted precisely so His Highness could move about freely and not be confined to bed. Compared to the slow wheelchair that required someone to push, horses that could walk and run would only make His Highness’s tours of the garden more pleasant.

At least the Prince Hui that Yao Huang had encountered these three days wasn’t so fragile and particular. Otherwise, when she’d mentioned riding horses in the carriage, Prince Hui should have flown into a rage and thrown her out.

Yao Huang: “Bring Startling Mist too. His Highness’s mount—how can it always be cooped up inside a fence?”

Today she’d just bring Startling Mist to test His Highness’s attitude. If he truly didn’t mind, next time she went outside the city to ride, she’d bring all eight horses out and let them run freely.

Steward Guo: “…”

Why did this princess from a modest household have even more imposing manner than Consort Du, the Emperor’s most favored? When Consort Du came to visit His Highness, she never interfered with a single blade of grass or tree in the manor.

Steward Guo truly didn’t want the princess to take this risk. After all, what deep feelings could a couple married only three days have? Once the princess received a scolding, the manor that had just gained a bit of liveliness would sink into an even more deathly atmosphere.

But he didn’t dare firmly dissuade her either. Before the wedding, His Highness had instructed that henceforth all manor affairs would be decided by the princess.

Having no choice, Steward Guo personally led Startling Mist and followed behind the princess.

Reaching the rear garden, Yao Huang found Steward Guo too slow. She had him release Startling Mist and let it follow behind her at a slow run.

Startling Mist was very obedient. When passing the bamboo courtyard, though it clearly sensed its master’s presence, it only tilted its head to gaze into the depths of the bamboo grove without any intention of abandoning Yao Huang.

Yao Huang had just breathed a sigh of relief when Startling Mist suddenly raised its head and called out toward the bamboo courtyard—a neigh that, combined with its intelligent eyes, conveyed a kind of longing that Yao Huang could discern. It seemed more mournful than her, a newlywed wife who would only see her husband six times per month.

The neigh startled birds from the bamboo grove and caused Fei Quan, lying on the heated platform in the gatehouse, to spring up like a carp, while Qing Ai sitting on a stone bench in the courtyard nearly slid off onto the ground.

In the west chamber study, Zhao Sui looked toward the window.

By the time Fei Quan rushed to the bamboo grove’s edge, Yao Huang had already run off with Startling Mist. Though she believed Prince Hui wouldn’t mind hoofbeats, that cry from Startling Mist had been too sudden—Yao Huang instinctively chose to flee.

Fei Quan looked at Steward Guo who’d come running at the sound: “What happened?”

Steward Guo explained with a headache.

Fei Quan said urgently: “Why didn’t you stop the princess?”

Steward Guo was more concerned with His Highness’s attitude and looked toward the bamboo courtyard interior.

Qing Ai shook his head—meaning His Highness hadn’t summoned him for questions.

Steward Guo’s heart stirred. He pointed ahead: “I’ll go chase after the princess!”

He ran so fast his feet seemed oiled. Fei Quan bit his lip. After such an incident, should he report it or not?

Because it was the third day after the wedding, Prince Hui still came to Ming’an Hall at dusk.

During meals, Qing Ai and the others would withdraw outside the door, leaving only the prince and princess in the main hall.

Prince Hui was impeccable. Yao Huang proactively explained: “Your Highness, I selected a horse and took it to the rear garden to try riding a circuit. Did I disturb you?”

Zhao Sui: “You did not. But why bring Startling Mist along?”

Yao Huang: “…So you heard?”

Zhao Sui tacitly confirmed.

Yao Huang then described Startling Mist’s expression at the stables: “I thought it just wanted to run outside. I didn’t expect it missed Your Highness so much. When it suddenly cried out, I nearly fell from my horse.”

Zhao Sui: “…Have Eunuch Cao select a young eunuch for you. When you ride in the future, have him accompany you as a precaution.”

Yao Huang: “Which young eunuch would dare ride horses in the rear garden? I’m afraid one cough from you would scare him into falling off, and I’d have to help him up.”

Zhao Sui picked up a dish with his chopsticks.

Yao Huang watched him finish eating, then smiled: “Was Your Highness just now worried about me?”

Zhao Sui: “Falling from a horse is no small matter.”

Yao Huang: “Then accompany me riding once, Your Highness. With you there, the people and horses in our manor won’t be so startled. Plus you can personally see my riding skills.”

Under the eaves, Qing Ai with his ears pricked went weak in the knees!

After a long moment, he heard His Highness’s voice: “Very well.”