After the whole family was swept away, I lay down flat

Chapter 101 Wilderness Ride
Haitang only stayed in the carriage for one day.

From the second day on, she couldn't stand the bumpy carriage, so she simply changed into the riding clothes she had prepared in advance early in the morning, quickly climbed onto her pony, and prepared to follow her second uncle and brother. On his way.

Ma was too anxious to get into the carriage, so he pulled her reins and cursed: "Are you seeking death?! What kind of horse is there if you don't have a carriage?! You don't even look at how tall you are! What if you fall off the horse?" What to do?!”

Haitang grabbed the reins of her horse tightly and refused to let go: "I don't want to ride in a car! I almost fainted after riding for a whole day yesterday! What's wrong with riding a horse? I have been practicing riding for more than a year. Skills are not practiced in vain, how could they fall off so easily? I don’t have to ride very fast, I just need to follow the convoy slowly, which is much more comfortable than riding in a car."

It’s not like Mr. Ma has never ridden a horse. How could he not know that riding a horse is more comfortable than riding a car?But this is not a family outing for an autumn outing in the city, they are on their way.Nowadays, the weather is getting colder day by day, and the north wind is so strong. There is wilderness all around, and sand and rocks are flying from time to time. Riding a horse requires wind and sand, and it is easy to freeze. If there is a cold wind, it will be troublesome.In the wilderness, where can I get medicine?No matter how bumpy the car is, at least it's warm and there's no need to blow wind and eat sand. It's really uncomfortable, so just put on a few more layers of quilts.

Ma insisted on pulling her granddaughter into the car, but Haitang refused, and the grandfather and grandson were in a stalemate.

The Hai family did not travel alone. They were accompanied by two caravans and a team of escorts. They brought more guards and the road was relatively safe.The Hai family only needs to provide official protection and convenience to the travelers, and then they can rely on their protection, without having to hire additional bodyguards, which is easier.Now everyone has had breakfast, got out on horseback and got into the car, ready to set off.The stalemate between the ancestors and grandsons of the Hai family will inevitably affect everyone's schedule.

Hai Xiya then came over to persuade his wife: "Just let your child ride the horse for a while. If she feels uncomfortable, she will naturally give up and go back to the car. She has never suffered, so you can force her into the car." , she won’t be convinced either.”

Ma reluctantly got into the car, but couldn't help but lift the car curtain and said to Haitang: "When the wind gets strong and blows you off the horse, let's see if you can still be stubborn!"

Haitang suppressed her laughter and steered the horse to walk to her brother Haijiao.

Haijiao looked at his sister and took the initiative to ride his horse to the north to shield his sister from the wind and sand.But he wasn't as worried as his grandmother.The brother and sister have always gone out of the city to practice riding together in recent months, and he is very aware of his sister's level.If it weren't for the fact that his sister was not as tall as him and rode a pony, sometimes he wouldn't even dare to say that he was definitely better at riding a horse than his sister.When he was still his sister's age, he had already started practicing riding and shooting, but not only could he not ride as fast as his sister now, but his endurance was also much worse than hers.If at that time he had been as good as his sister is today, neither his grandfather nor his cousin would have thought that he was not a soldier and should concentrate on studying literature and preparing for the imperial examination.

The team set off not long after.It was quite windy and sandy today, but the sun was still quite warm.A group of people were riding horses and carriages in the wilderness. The surroundings were empty and the views were vast. It was easy to feel heroic.

Numerous verses about deserts and frontier fortresses popped up in Haitang's mind. Just as she was about to memorize a few verses, she heard three elders, Xie Wenzai, Cao Gengyun and Lu Bainian, who were riding in a carriage not far ahead, starting to couplets on the spot.Compared with Haitang who chose to memorize poems, these three scholars were much more creative and chose to compose poems themselves.They picked a rhyme, and then they linked it up one sentence at a time, and anyone who couldn't catch it would be punished.The content of the punishment is usually a piece of meat and a glass of wine in the lunch or dinner of the day, all of which are temporarily put on the account until the punishment is finished.

It is said that they have played this way several times on the way from Suzhou to Guazhou and from Guazhou to Suzhou.When Xie Wenzai first arrived in Guazhou, he stopped drinking meat for half a month, and Cao Gengyun also stopped drinking alcohol for a month. In order to get two more glasses of wine from his old friend, the latter spent a lot of effort, and they are still like this to this day. A reserved joke that was often mentioned when exiling old friends corresponded.

Haitang wanted to maintain his character, so naturally he couldn't get involved. However, Haijiao was called over by his teachers in the middle of the journey. As a way of testing, he was asked to join in and say a few words.Haijiao has been away from poetry for more than twenty years. Even though he has been reviewing his homework in the past year or so, when he really wants to write poetry, it still feels difficult and he racks his brains to manage it. When he stops to eat at noon, I was already wilted, and I couldn't feel any appetite. I just felt that my mind was full of common words and phrases from various frontier poems.Haitang snickered secretly, added a few more pieces of dried meat to her brother, and gave him a handful of walnut kernels freshly dried this year to refresh his brain.

During the afternoon trip, Haitang continued to stay on the horse.She didn't complain about hard work from beginning to end, she was chatting and laughing with the others, she didn't let her horse run around, and she showed no signs of falling behind.From time to time, Ma would lift the car curtain and stare at her, and lost his temper when he saw her like this.

However, when they stayed at the large car shop in Gaotaisuo at night, Ma specially called his granddaughter into the house. After careful inspection, he found that her legs had not been scratched and her palms had not been strangled by the reins. That’s all.

Aunt Cui brought hot water and asked Haitang to wash up. Haitang went happily.Ma finally took out the clothes her granddaughter was wearing today and took a closer look at her equipment. The expression on her face finally softened.

The granddaughter was fully prepared. Not only did she make new autumn and winter riding clothes, but she also sewed calfskin inside the pants to prevent the fine skin and tender flesh on her thighs from being abraded.In addition, she also made sheepskin gloves to protect her delicate little hands very well.As for other hats and gauze scarves that can block wind and sand, there is no need to mention them.In Suzhou, these are common equipment, and Ma is no stranger to them.

She originally planned to let her granddaughter travel in a carriage like her, so she did not prepare these things for Haitang. Unexpectedly, the child was quite well prepared, and she didn't know where she learned them.

Mr. Ma complained to Aunt Cui that her granddaughter was too young and had big ideas. Aunt Cui smiled and said, "Tangtang has been smart and thoughtful since she was a child. Isn't this a good thing? I saw that she was always pestering Wang Baihu's family in the past few days. When my daughter-in-law spoke, I originally thought she was saying goodbye to the master who was learning to whip, but now I think about it, she must be asking for advice on what to wear for a long journey on horseback."

Ma agreed with Aunt Cui's guess: "Wang Chengfu's wife's aunt's shop is the most complete of these things for riding horses. Her family often does business with women and children. If Tangtang wants to make something custom-made, she must go to his shop. I don’t know how much it cost.”

Aunt Cui smiled and said: "What's the point? Sister, I can afford it myself. These things are not expensive. In fact, if I didn't know how to ride a horse, I wouldn't be willing to stay in the car all day, it would be so confusing! "

Why doesn't Mr. Ma feel the same way?I just felt in my heart that it was too shameful for the female relatives of an official family to be exposed in public.If it was just her family going out to play in the city, or running for her life when the army came, it would be fine for her to ride a horse.It’s just that now, there are so many people from the caravan and the escort agency traveling with us. When we are riding around outside, we have to show our faces in front of so many strange men...

Ma thought for a while, looked at each other with Aunt Cui, sighed in unison, and gave up this option.

Even though she has lived in the border town for so many years and has acquired the tough aura of many border town women, she is still the daughter of an official family who has lived in the inner house since she was a child!
(End of this chapter)