Chapter 77 Polo: “Still need training.”

Chapter 77: Polo: "Still Needs Training."

In the end, Tian Qin couldn't escape the fate of going to the summer resort alone with Xie Tanwei.

No matter how many tricks she played, evading him was impossible.

Xian Qiu was the Clan Matriarch, needing social engagements, appearances, dignity, and freedom; while she was the pastime he kept by his side, an accessory under his control, like a toy—rewarded when pleased, punished when displeased. She didn't need dignity or status; she belonged solely to him.

So wherever he wanted to go, she had to follow.

The Xie clan's summer estate was near the pier, facing the sea. The estate had endless, soft grasslands, perfect for horseback riding. The air carried a salty, fishy sea breeze. Climbing high for a distant view, one could see masted ships hauling goods out to sea. Lying on a bamboo mat to sleep at night, the sound of waves crashing drifted into her dreams.

This place was far from the capital, much farther than the hot spring estate they visited last time. Even with the horses' stamina, it took two days and one night, including a long ferry crossing.

Tian Qin got seasick. The bumpy carriage ride left her exhausted and pale as paper. She clutched her chest, bent over and vomited, her hair tousled by the midsummer sea breeze.

Xie Tanwei kindly patted her back and handed her a handkerchief, supporting her waist lest she faint from weakness while teasing her lightly, "This is quite unseemly of you, little sister. Still needs training."

"You..."

Tian Qin's head pounded as if pricked by needles. She had no strength to argue with him, stumbling as she walked under the gaze of the estate's servants who had come to greet them.

Xie Tanwei gave a helpless smile, scooped her up in his arms, and said, "Stumbling like that, I'll carry you."

Tian Qin's face instantly flushed crimson. In broad daylight, what was the meaning of this? Moreover, they were nominally brother-in-law and sister-in-law. But before she could refuse, he'd already lifted her. She weakly kicked her embroidered shoes and struggled, "Put me down!"

Xie Tanwei ignored her, carrying her steadily and gently into the estate.

Along the way, tenants, herders, fishermen, pearl divers, and estate overseers all bowed: "Welcome, Clan Lord!"

Tian Qin, subjected to all sorts of stares, felt mortified, as if she were wearing nothing at all. But Xie Tanwei remained perfectly at ease, unhurried, displaying the easy poise of a master, occasionally stopping to talk with the overseer.

She couldn't bear the embarrassment. Burying her head deep into his chest, she used his cloak as a cover, her vision dark, pretending nothing was happening, enduring this ordeal.

Until Xie Tanwei breathed into her ear, "Tian'er, we're here."

Tian Qin suddenly snapped back to reality; she was so mortified she almost lost her soul. She scrambled out from under his cloak. He had carried her all the way to the room, and she was still wrapped in his arms.

She stumbled to get away, her feet touching the ground. She kept her distance, only murmuring "Mm."

Xie Tanwei reached out to touch her, but she avoided him. He shrugged with a self-deprecating smile so faint it was almost inaudible, "Use me and throw me away?"

Tian Qin's cheeks burned like fire.

Xie Tanwei leaned down, his jaw softened by the sunlight, his handsome features now very close to her, forehead to forehead. She could even smell the aloeswood scent from his body warmth, the prominent Adam's apple in his throat.

Tian Qin was cornered, her eyes fixed downward. His calm openness met her panicked fluster. Worst of all, the Love Gu inside her stirred restlessly, enjoying the trouble.

He seemed about to kiss her, but didn't.

In the end, he only pinched her nose in a playful punishment, said, "Naughty," and strode away.

Tian Qin collapsed limply where she stood, weak. Zhaolu and Wan Cui quickly supported her. Nanny Chen said with concern, "The journey was too hard on miss. You don't handle travel well, and after two or three days, you've lost some weight."

Tian Qin's eyes were bloodshot. She stared intently in the direction Xie Tanwei had left, her emotions complicated.

She felt as if she'd been hit by frost, utterly exhausted. She didn't even have time to examine the room's furnishings before lying down on the canopy bed to rest. Only after sleeping for an hour did the dizziness and nausea from the boat gradually fade.

At noon, the kitchen sent a lavish meal of fish soup and soup noodles, made from freshly caught sea fish. The aroma was completely different from land-based food.

Tian Qin had no appetite. She forced down a few bites.

Zhaolu and Wan Cui, new to this place, were full of curiosity and had good appetites. They devoured everything Tian Qin left behind.

In the afternoon, Tian Qin continued to hide in her room, trying to slack off, but Xie Tanwei called her to the meadow.

At the hot spring estate, he had already taught her how to ride. Now he wanted to teach her horseback polo, with him guiding her personally.

The meadow stretched out, green and endless. Every blade of grass was trimmed to the same height, soft as cotton, long soaked by the salty sea breeze, the soil was loose, so lying down you couldn't feel the hardness of the ground.

Nearby, a few wealthy-looking young men stood under fluttering colored flags, selecting horses and joking with each other.

Tian Qin hesitated and shrank back, "Brother-in-law, I'm a slow learner. I've forgotten all the riding you taught me. I think I'd better skip it—you guys go ahead."

She wanted to back out, but Xie Tanwei lazily grasped her wrist, his tone calm but laced with suggestive coercion, "Want to go back? We can go to the bed."

Tian Qin shuddered, glaring at him incredulously, her face flushing with anger and disbelief, "What are you saying!"

He shrugged indifferently, flicked her smooth chin, and lowered his voice, "I thought you'd prefer the polo field."

Tian Qin blinked hard until her eyes turned red. It took a while before she tolerated his twisted behavior in public.

To outsiders, she seemed incredibly lucky. The Xie Clan Lord's attention was generously poured on her alone. And she wasn't even his wife—an extremely favored concubine, even surpassing the wife in favor.

Horseback polo was far harder than riding. A wrong move could mean falling off the horse and breaking one's neck.

Tian Qin changed into neat riding gear. Trembling, she straddled the horse. The horse occasionally snorted hot breath, making her nervous.

Fortunately, Xie Tanwei was by her side. He held the reins, his arm resting loosely behind her waist, maintaining a protective posture, neither too close nor too far.

Tian Qin was handed a polo stick. She was supposed to ride and hit the ball, but she didn't dare bend over on the unstable, moving horse to perform the dangerous action of touching the ball with the stick, afraid she would fall.

The clear, gusty wind of the meadow sprinkled onto her face, cool and refreshing, blowing through Tian Qin's riding gear, making it rustle. The wind felt utterly different from the chaos of the human world—it seemed to come from the depths of the sea.

The friends clamored to race horses with Xie Tanwei, but he ignored them, focusing on teaching Tian Qin to adjust her breathing, correct her posture, and then enjoy the sound of the stick hitting the ball, and the joy of chasing the wind on horseback.

Tian Qin was listless, learning slowly. But Xie Tanwei showed no impatience. He patiently taught every movement ten times, until Tian Qin completed all skill training and had a basic grasp of controlling the horse and ball.

Finally exhausted, Xie Tanwei held her slender waist and carefully helped her down from the horse.

The friends teased her again, saying she was so delicate she couldn't even walk.

Tian Qin's feet touched the ground, and her body, which had been floating on clouds, finally found solid ground—safe.

Xie Tanwei didn't let go. Instead, he tightened his grip, pulling her leaning body toward him. His smile was neither warm nor cold, but gentle like a breeze. He rubbed his chin on her forehead, his manner natural and intimate, stroking the girl he had trained himself, with a sense of rightful pride.

Though not fully skilled, Tian Qin had largely grasped horseback riding and polo—an ancient art among the six noble arts, akin to flower arranging, wine tasting, tea grinding, or archery—a refined pastime for the nobility. One could not need it but must know it, a symbol of refinement. Not knowing it would get you laughed at.

To her shame, although the Yu family had once been imperial relatives, Tian Qin had never been exposed to such things. She was the illegitimate child born from a chance union between Yu Yuan and a courtesan, her birth was tainted. The Yu family didn't want to acknowledge her as a daughter, let alone raise her as a noble lady.

Tian Qin was not foolish enough to think that Xie Tanwei enjoyed teaching her to cultivate her for a good marriage later.

He taught her with an ulterior motive—he didn't even care about making her better. He only enjoyed the precise sense of control, watching her progress from clumsy to competent step by step as he instructed, molding her like clay into the shape he wanted.

The path was his to set. If she deviated slightly, he would have a legitimate reason to punish her, reducing her to a spiritual dependent of his.

Several of his close friends pointed at them and exchanged knowing smiles. They all knew she was not really his sister.

Word had it she was the favorite concubine in the Xie household, not yet formally taken into the household due to her inferior background.

A family with generations of marriage ties to the Xie clan, they were invited to the mountain estate for a short stay and some fun. Tired from a game of chuiwan, they called over their lovely concubines and female kin for a banquet of drinks and banter.

Xie Tanwei had always been amiable and unpretentious in his dealings, never aloof, and could be described as approachable. He took Tian Qin by the hand and introduced her to his friends. Men and women stood together, chatting and laughing freely and with no sense of propriety at all. The one who wore a mask in the crowd, keeping everyone amused, was him—and yet, seemingly not him.

Tian Qin was the woman by Xie Tanwei’s side, so naturally she became the focus of his friends. Praises and compliments swept over her like smothering flattery, a tidal wave of adulation.

Xie Tanwei listened to their laughter, unmoved, a faint, barely perceptible smile curling at the corners of his lips. He naturally drew Tian Qin closer, immersed in this hollow flattery—he truly doted on her; she was incredibly fortunate.

“…An adult so kind—hard to find even with a lantern.”

A dissolute young heir proclaimed this loudly.

In the midst of the lively crowd, Tian Qin felt an extraordinary chill. The noise around her was garbled, and she couldn’t make sense of the chatter.

His subtle guidance always steered the conversation in a direction favorable to him, disguising an entire imprisonment as sweet tenderness. Such extraordinary favor used public opinion to choke off any chance she had of asking for help.

She finally realized where the gap between Xie Tanwei and her lay—he had grown up in an environment teeming with high-ranking elites, naturally acquiring all the qualities necessary for those in power. Being inherently intelligent and outstanding, he grasped things even faster and more deeply, and upon entering officialdom, he swiftly gained all the leverage to control others. Meanwhile, she had spent the previous decade or so in the miserable hellhole of the Yu family, worrying about making ends meet. She had fallen behind from the start, and the gap only widened until now, when she didn't stand a chance against him anymore.

Figuring that out only made her more desperate.

The only person she could rely on was him. In the crowd, she tugged lightly at his long sleeve, her lips pressed shut, silent.

After chatting with people for a while, Xie Tanwei noticed Tian Qin’s pallor. He smiled, declined the enthusiastic conversations, and led Tian Qin to a rattan chair for tea and snacks, wiped the sweat off her brow, enjoying the tranquil scenery of the seaside meadow, and resting.

Tian Qin remained under his protection, living in his shadow.