Chapter 40: Chapter 40 Father Teaches Horse Riding and
Archery__l
Translator: 549690339
After wandering in the streets, Wei Mingting led the Wei Family to the military training ground.
The training ground was where the soldiers trained. Usually, outsiders were not allowed in, even members of the military prefecture’s family were not an exception.
But recently, all the soldiers had been holding the front line. Their usual training spots had been moved to a place closer to the east city gate, so now the training ground was empty and only defended by a few guards at the entrance.
Wei Mingting brought his children here, intending to take advantage of this rare day off to teach them horse-riding.
Among the children, only the eldest son knew how to ride a horse, while the others hadn’t been taught yet due to Wei Mingting’s tight schedule.
Wei Mingting planned to let his two daughters try riding. Conveniently , he and his eldest son could each teach one. Wei Mingting chose to instruct Wei Ruo, leaving Wei Qingwan’s training to his eldest son.
As for the younger son, Wei Yilin, he was supervised by their mother in learning to ride a small pony.
Normally, Wei Yilin was as mischievous as a monkey at home, but with Wei Mingting present today, he became much more well-behaved, not daring to show any signs of his usual temper or stubbornness.
Wei Mingting led his own mount, Scythe, to Wei Ruo and asked, “Ruoruo, do
you dare to try?”
Wei Ruo nodded, expressing her excitement. She had been here for such a long time and hadn’t ridden a horse yet!
“I’ll teach you then. This is the stirrup where you place your feet, this is the saddle, and this is the reins…” Wei Mingting meticulously explained the essentials of horse riding to Wei Ruo.
Wei RUO listened attentively. When Wei Mingting was finished and told her to try, she didn’t hesitate. She quickly stepped on the stirrup and seated herself on the saddle in one swift motion.
Her actions were neat and effortless, carrying out the entire process smoothly, without any hesitation or fear.
Wei Mingting was still thinking whether to fetch a stool for his daughter to
step on, but Wei Ruo was already on the horse.
Reacting to the speed of her action, Wei Mingting laughed, “Ruoruo, you are more decisive than your elder brother. I recall that your elder brother hesitated for quite a while when he first learned to ride a horse.”
Wei Yichen who was instructing Wei Qingwan on the side laughed back in protest hearing his father making fun of him, “Father, how could you tell Ruoruo about such things? What about my dignity as the elder brother?” Wei Mingting replied, “Dignity must be earned by oneself, it’s not something I cover up for you.”
Wei Yichen quickly responded, “Alright, alright, it’s my negligence. Ruoruo is better! Our Ruoruo is a dashing heroine, extraordinary in comparison to men.
Listening to Wei Yichen’s flattering words, the praised Wei Ruo didn’t feel anything. On the other hand, Wei Qingwan, who was by Wei Yichen’s side, lowered her head in disappointment.
Wei Yichen turned and saw the saddened look on Wei Qingwan.
“Wanwan, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” he promptly asked her.
‘■Nothing… I just feel a little too clumsy compared to sister, who is able to quickly grasp the essence of horse riding…” she muttered.
“Wanwan, don’t think that way. You have your own strengths and abilities. There are many aspects in which you excel that Ruoruo doesn’t. For instance, the pastries you make are remarkably delicious, your embroidery, calligraphy, and poetry are excellent. All of these are things that Ruoruo can’t compete with. You don’t need to be the best in everything. It’s too tiring,” Wei Yichen comforted her.
“Mm.” Wei Qingwan softly replied.
“Alright, let big brother continue to teach you,” Wei Yichen said, patiently going back to explaining the intricacies of horse riding to Wei Qingwan. just as Wei Yichen had said a few sentences to Wei Qingwan, he saw Wei Ruo god galloping on the horse, running around in circles on the grass training ground.
Wei Ruo laughed freely and boldly on horseback, displaying no signs of fear even though it was her first time riding.
Watching his daughter’s carefree behavior, Wei Mingting felt somewhat relieved and remarked, “I didn’t expect Ruoruo to be the most like me. If she were a boy, she might even have joined me in the battlefield.
Wei Yilin’s mother also noticed the relieved expression on her husband’s face when he looked at their daughter and couldn’t help but feel happy.
Ruoruo was indeed their biological daughter and had traces of her father in her.
At this thought, her expression toward Wei Ruo softened considerably. Since the last incident, her attitude towards Wei Ruo had cooled a lot. However, today’s event brought about a subtle change in her feelings.
After a while of horse riding, Wei Mingting fetched a bow and arrow for Wei Ruo to try out.
-Archery is different from horse riding, it’s a bit harder. You can try and if you can’t do it, there’s no need to force yourself,” Wei Mingting offered upfront.
initially, Wei Mingting only planned to teach his daughters horse riding today, not intending for them to try archery as it might be too challenging for girls. But Wei Ruo’s impressive horse-riding performance prompted Wei Mingting to change his mind.
Wei Mingting demonstrated to Wei Ruo how to nock an arrow, draw the bow, and shoot.
Wei Mingting seemed to be a born warrior, a natural soldier. The moment he held a bow and arrow in his hands, his aura changed, emitting an indescribable gravitas rooted in power. His taut muscles seemed capable of exerting limitless strength.
The arrows he shot confirmed this. Each one hit the bull’s-eye.
He handed the bow to Wei Ruo, saying, “Ruoruo, you should also try.”
“Alright.” Wei Ruo took the bow and, imitating Wei Mingting’s earlier actions, she took an arrow from the quiver and nocked it onto the bow string.
Wei Ruo caught on quickly, grasping the basics of archery and successfully shooting the arrow.
But her precision and strength were limited.
Strength-wise, while Wei Mingting could draw the bow into a “full moon shape, Wei Ruo could only achieve a “crescent”.
As for precision, let alone hitting the bull’s-eye, she was unable to hit the target at all. Of her ten arrows, only two landed on the target.
Watching Wei Mingting shoot with great accuracy had made it seem easy, but only when she tried it herself did she realize that knocking an arrow and hitting a target accurately was not something anyone could easily achieve. Wei Ruo frowned at the bow and arrow in her hand, wondering why the blasted arrow wouldn’t obey her.
Wei Mingting saw his daughter’s reaction and laughed, “Ruoruo, don’t worry. Take your time. Considering this is your first try, you have done extremely well.”
Wei Mingting wasn’t comforting Wei Ruo, he genuinely thought she did well. Not to mention girls, even boys on their first attempt wouldn’t necessarily have Wei Ruo’s learning speed.
Not far from them, Wei Qingwan who was still learning to ride with Wei Yichen saw the tender expression on Wei Mingting’s face when he looked at Wei Ruo. After thinking for a moment, Wei Qingwan turned to Wei Yichen and said, “Big brother, I also want to try archery.”
“Sure, let’s go,” replied Wei Yichen, taking her there without understanding her thoughts.
The purpose of today was just to bring their siblings to play at the training ground after all. Whether they learned something new or not wasn’t important, as long as they had fun.
Wei Yichen and Wei Qingwan arrived at Wei Mingting’s side. After explaining the situation, Wei Mingting ordered his subordinates to bring another bow.
After receiving the bow, Wei Qingwan, emulating what she had seen Wei Mingting demonstrating earlier, prepared to draw the bow..
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l