Hua Manman shrieked in terror.
"What are you doing? Let me go!"
Li Ji set her down and gave her a shove forward.
"Get on the horse."
The push sent Hua Manman stumbling, and her face pressed right against the horse’s body.
The animal smell was so unpleasant it nearly made her throw up the jerky she had just eaten.
She covered her nose and backed away. "Didn’t I tell you? I have psychological trauma from riding horses now."
Li Ji crossed his arms and looked at her, his tone unyielding.
"That’s exactly why you have to face it and overcome it!"
Hua Manman still shook her head, saying pitifully.
"I can’t. I’m scared."
In truth, the "psychological trauma" was just an excuse.
The real reason was that she didn’t know how to ride a horse at all.
’After all, I was just an ordinary person before. Where would I have learned to ride a horse?’
’The most I ever did was pay ten yuan at a zoo to take a picture with one.’
’Now he wants me to actually ride one for real? I can only pound the ground and cry, there’s no way I can do it!’
Li Ji heard her inner thoughts.
He keenly picked up on the keywords.
Zoo, picture.
Manman had also come up with some strange new words in her thoughts before.
Li Ji had once suspected that Manman was from another world.
Now, it seemed this Lu Man before him was the same. They had both lived in another world.
No matter how much Hua Manman refused, Li Ji was as unyielding as stone, dead set on forcing her onto the horse.
At this point, everyone in the retinue had turned to look.
In their eyes, this was clearly the Regent King using his power to bully and deliberately make things difficult for the Heir of Prince Yu.
The poor Heir of Prince Yu looked like he was about to be bullied to tears.
Mr. Du stepped forward to plead on his behalf, trying to persuade the Regent King to let the Young Master off.
In the end, Li Ji only gave him a cold, two-word reply.
"Get out."
Mr. Du gave the Young Master an ’I’m sorry, I can’t help you’ look, then quietly retreated.
Li Ji looked at the Heir of Prince Yu, his attitude growing even more forceful.
"You have two choices. Either you climb onto the horse yourself, or I’ll throw you on."
’I don’t want to choose either!’ Hua Manman thought.
But he had already made it clear he wouldn’t let this go. Left with no choice, she could only brace herself and say...
"I can handle a small matter like this myself. No need to trouble the Regent Prince."
She stared at the tall steed before her, not knowing where to even begin.
The trusted aides nearby wanted to help, but with the Regent King staring them down, they could only watch obediently, not daring to meddle.
Li Ji urged her on, his face devoid of expression.
"Hurry up! Show me that one-versus-five spirit!"
Hua Manman wanted to cry but had no tears.
’What one-versus-five spirit?’
’In Arena of Valor, all I ever did was slack off and feed the enemy kills!’
She stretched out her two "paws" and shakily grabbed the saddle, trying to lift a leg to hook the stirrup. But the stirrup was too far away, and she couldn’t reach it no matter how she tried.
Seen from behind, she looked like a desperately flopping fish—both ridiculous and pitiful.
Yet Li Ji showed no intention of helping her.
He just watched her coldly.
He was the very definition of cold and ruthless.
Hua Manman struggled so much that her forehead was beaded with sweat, but she still couldn’t reach the stirrup.
Frustrated and exasperated, she decided to just give up and throw caution to the wind.
She gripped the saddle tightly and leaped up, kicking her leg out to catch the stirrup mid-air.
She had been sure she would miss and probably even face-plant right then and there.
She had even braced herself for the embarrassment.
But to her surprise, her foot caught the stirrup perfectly!
By the time she was seated stably on the horse’s back, she was still a bit dazed.
Everyone else present was also quite surprised.
Just a moment ago, they’d seen the Young Master’s clumsy and pitiful state and thought he’d forgotten how to ride. Who would have thought he’d suddenly pull off such a graceful mount?
It seemed that even though the Young Master had amnesia, he hadn’t forgotten how to ride a horse.
He must have just been briefly disoriented.
However, only Hua Manman herself knew the truth.
’I don’t know how to ride a horse at all.’
’My successfully mounting the horse just now was a complete fluke!’
’If I had to do it again, I’d definitely fail.’
Li Ji swung onto another horse and gave the order to set off.
The procession slowly started to move.
But Hua Manman sat frozen on the horse, not daring to move.
’I really don’t know how to ride!’
As Li Ji passed by her, he suddenly cracked his whip, striking the horse she was on.
The steed cried out in pain, reared up, and bolted forward with Hua Manman on its back!
Hua Manman’s face went pale with fright. She gripped the reins for dear life while cursing up a storm in her head.
’Regent King, go to hell! Aaaah!!!’
’What the hell did I ever do to you? How could you do this to me?!’
The mountain path was rugged, and the horse’s gallop was violently bumpy.
Several times, Hua Manman thought she was going to be thrown off.
But each time, she miraculously managed to keep her balance.
Later, she even figured out how to control the horse’s speed and direction.
As for how she knew?
She had no idea.
It was as if she had learned to ride a long time ago but simply didn’t remember.
Li Ji followed behind on his horse.
He watched Lu Man’s back, taking in every change in her behavior.
He had forced Lu Man to ride precisely to test her.
Based on her initial performance, she truly didn’t know how to ride.
But in just a short while, she had already mastered the skill with practiced ease.
More importantly, her riding posture was identical to Hua Manman’s.
Li Ji himself had personally taught Hua Manman how to ride.
Therefore, he knew better than anyone in the world what little habits Hua Manman had when riding.
Right now, those same little habits were appearing in Lu Man, without the slightest deviation.
And they were completely natural, with no trace of being an act.
To call it a coincidence would be too much of a stretch.
There were only two possible reasons for this situation—
Either Lu Man’s acting skills were simply too incredible.
Or Lu Man and Hua Manman were, in fact, the same person.
Li Ji couldn’t be sure which was the truth.
He would have to test her again.
When it came to Manman, he could never be too cautious.
After riding for a while, Hua Manman couldn’t take it anymore. The insides of her thighs were painfully chafed by the saddle.
She jumped off the horse and limped toward the carriage.
This time, Li Ji didn’t stop her.
Once inside the carriage, Hua Manman took off her pants and saw that the skin on her inner thighs was rubbed raw.
Fortunately, there was spare medicinal ointment in the carriage.
Jiao Gui took out the ointment and carefully applied it for the Young Master.
Hua Manman hissed in pain.
Jiao Gui said with heartfelt sympathy.
"You must not let water touch this wound. Be careful for the next few days."
Hua Manman secretly gritted her teeth.
’It’s all that Regent King’s fault. He must have nothing better to do than torment people.’
By the time the retinue arrived at the post station, it was already dusk.
Supported by servants, Hua Manman slowly got out of the carriage.
She looked up and immediately saw the Regent King standing up ahead.
When she first met him, Hua Manman had thought he was quite handsome and even felt grateful to him for saving her life.
Now, she just found his face utterly detestable!