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

Chapter 726 Tips
Haitang rode her horse directly to Xiao Shitou and began to teach him various horse riding tips. She also followed Ma Changnian to learn the tricks of shooting arrows in various irregular postures while riding on horseback.

Jin Jiashu followed on horseback and could only listen along. It was hard to say how much he learned, but he was anxious to talk to Haitang alone again. However, he never found a chance and could only worry secretly in his heart.

It was not until lunch time that they found a tea stand in a nearby village. While Ma Changnian went to get hot water to soak the soup noodles he brought from home and Xiao Shitou ran to feed his beloved horse, Jin Jiashu finally squeezed to Haitang's side and explained in a low voice: "Don't be angry, sister Hai, I... I was just afraid that you guys had just arrived in the capital and didn't know the people there, and Grandpa Hai and Grandma Hai would listen to others and easily arrange a marriage for you, which would ruin your life. That's why I said I could help find out. I don't mean to interfere in your marriage. If you are unhappy, I... I will never say such things in front of Grandma Hai again, okay?"

Haitang glanced at Jin Jiashu and felt that she had a lot to complain about. "Even if you can really go to Beijing, you have only just arrived there. You may not have many opportunities to appear in front of people, let alone make friends outside. My grandfather went to Beijing to be an official. He can socialize with people openly. Why do you think that the person you found for me is reliable, and that grandpa and grandma will definitely believe what others say and rashly decide my marriage, ruining my life?"

Jin Jiashu was speechless.

Haitang continued, "Also, do you think you can do whatever you want once you enter the capital? You can get information if you want to? Do you think that the little gold and silver in your hands can do a lot of things, or do you think that Mammy and the others are willing to help you with everything? You'd better be content! If you really arrive in the capital, you will be meat on the chopping board of others, and your life and death, honor and disgrace will be in the hands of others. It's better to be free than in Chang'an! If you do something privately, the news may spread immediately. There are countless people with ulterior motives watching you in secret, waiting to do bad things to you!
"Don't think your aunt will protect you. For her and the people behind her, nothing is more important than her son. If what you do is harmful to her son, she will definitely protect her son first. You are just her nephew. Do you expect others to treat you as their own son and let you do whatever you want?!"

Jin Jiashu lowered his head and remained silent. He knew Haitang was giving him a good warning, and he also knew that he shouldn't trust his "aunt" too much. No matter how much he missed her, she would definitely value the Eighth Prince a hundred times more than him. No one and nothing could prevent the Eighth Prince from succeeding to the throne as the new king. All obstacles in his way must be removed, even if that was his half-brother!

Jin Jiashu clearly realized this, so he felt that going to Beijing would hopefully give him a better future. He had clearly made up his mind a long time ago, so why couldn't he help but brag in front of Haitang?

No... He didn't really want to find out about Haitang's marriage partner. He offered to help because he was afraid that the Hai family would decide on Haitang's marriage without his knowledge, and he would be too late to stop it. If the Hai family elders really asked him to find out, he would definitely find out something inappropriate and stop Haitang from marrying into another family...

Jin Jiashu looked up at Haitang with a look of shame on his face: "Sister Hai, I was wrong. Thanks to you for reminding me, otherwise I would have made a mistake! Don't worry, I will definitely act cautiously and will never give anyone a chance to criticize me."

Seeing that he listened to her advice, Haitang relaxed her expression a little: "Don't think I'm being rude. Actually... if you don't go to the capital, and wait for the elders in the capital to arrange everything before notifying you to go to the capital, that would be the safest thing to do. Why do you have to take that risk? If something happens, you might not even be able to save your life, so why bother?!"

Jin Jiashu said seriously, "If I obey the elders' arrangements in everything, even if I have great potential in the future, I will not have the confidence to disobey the elders' orders, because everything I have is given by others. Only when I help out with my real ability and make contributions, and let the elders know that I am not a puppet at the mercy of others, can I...put forward my request to the elders and get what I want."

Haitang blinked: "What do you want?" Jin Jiashu looked at her and whispered: "I...actually I don't want much. I don't expect to have a high position, fame, wealth and power. I just hope to have a decent reputation, a comfortable little house, and marry a girl I like. I don't want to be involved in court struggles, nor do I pursue wealth and fame. A simple and stable life is what I want most. My aunt is looking forward to my passing the imperial examination and becoming an official in the court in the future, or even holding power, like the current Sun family, but not as angry as the Sun family. I know my aunt means well, but that is really not the life I want. In life, if you don't get what you want, and you can't get what you want, and everything is not going well, then even if you have more wealth, what's the point?"

He lowered his voice a little: "Sister Hai, do you think what I said is right?"

Haitang looked away: "You are right, but if you really want to say these words to your aunt, you'd better think carefully in advance. What do you really want? After making a choice, will you really not regret it?"

Jin Jiashu pursed his lips and said, "I won't regret it. I have thought it through clearly. I know what I want most. In this world, there are always some things that you can't have both."

Haitang remained silent. Her eyes were fixed on her little cousin who was playing with his beloved horse not far away. She then turned to look at Ma Changnian who was talking to the owner of the tea stall, but she didn't look at Jin Jiashu.

Jin Jiashu hesitated for a moment, then said, "Don't worry, Sister Hai, I will explain it clearly to my aunt and will not let her misunderstand or implicate irrelevant people. Even if my aunt is really angry with me and withdraws her care and love for me from now on, it will only be my own business."

Haitang couldn't help but turn around and glared at him: "Is this really just your business?! If it was really an unrelated person, how could you implicate him?!"

Jin Jiashu was stunned for a moment, and had a vague guess in his heart. He was about to ask, but Ma Changnian came over with a teapot at this time: "Sister and Master Jin, drink some tea to moisten your throat first, the soup cake will be ready soon."

Haitang said, "Put the tea down, we can pour it ourselves. Go call Xiao Shitou over, tell him to stop playing with the horse and have lunch quickly. Otherwise, it will be late and we will have to go home. Will he continue to ride horses?"

Ma Changnian left in response. Just as Jin Jiashu was about to speak, Haitang glared at him: "Brother Jin, you'd better stop talking. This is not the place to talk, and now is not the time to talk. You should go home first and think about what you want to do. Don't make a decision on impulse, regret it later, and blame yourself and others. You won't be able to live a good life!"

(End of this chapter)