The next day, Xia Shu rose early, and while the owners of the castle were still resting, he searched for the stables alone. The Hill family rose in the Victorian era and belonged to the emerging aristocrats in England. Such families often had a wealthy economic foundation. The clean and spacious stable raised thirty or forty fat and strong horses with bright fur, which made people feel comfortable to watch. Because the horses were arranged in the morning, the grooms were busy early in the morning, pulling out the horses that had finished their meals out of the horse's house and combed and cleaned them with brushes.

Xia Shu looked around and walked to a slim-faced groom of about seventeen or eighteen years old, took out a pound-and-a-half gold coin from his pocket, and let it flip it between his fingers as if nothing had happened, and casually said, "This is a good horse."

Although the visit of the German prince and princess to Hill Manor could not bring supreme glory to the family, no one in the manor would have misunderstood the VIP. The young groom bowed his favor very restrainedly: "I am honored to meet you, the noble Prussian prince."

Natsuki nodded with a kind expression: "You must be very familiar with the horses here, right?"

"Yeah, I've been here for almost three years," replied the young groom quickly, and half curious and half complimented: "Your Highness is fluent in English, and..."

"And the accent is a bit strange?" Xia Shu smiled. It seemed that it was difficult for him to get rid of the flavor accent formed by the basic English education of the Celestial Dynasty.

The young groom smiled and touched his head: "Uh, it sounds like some Irish accents, but it's not as irritating as they are."

Half a pound of gold coins stopped on Xia Shu's thumb cover. He bounced lightly, and the golden coin fell into the arms of the young groom. He was surprised. Xia Shu said disapprovingly: "Please introduce some of these horses to me. His Highness asked me to choose the best one to see if it can surpass his best knight."

The young groom did not dare to accept this "expensive" tip, and felt that giving it back to the other party was a very rude behavior, so he stood there with embarrassment.

At this time, Xia Shu had already stepped towards the horse house and left a low voice saying: "Of course, you can also recommend a not-so-excellent horse to me so that your riders can win without any suspense."

The young groom hesitated for a while and finally made up his mind to take the tip that was equivalent to his week's wages, then put down the horse-haired brush in his hand and followed quickly.

After drinking the fragrant and delicious morning tea, the men of the Hill family appeared in bright and gorgeous riding outfits at the racecourse of the manor. This place is not like a regular race course. All routes are bounded within a wooden fence. Except for a small piece of field used for warm-up practice, there are fences, and a large area of ​​flat and green grass that can be used to gallop.

A family that serves as a glorious tradition in the Royal Navy may not be obsessed with the boating project. The Hills' preferences and investment in horses are not only taken into account social factors, but also reflects their preferences for horses and racing horses. This is what the Summer Tree can draw a conclusion by looking at the configuration in the stables.

It was probably thought that the naval uniform was not suitable for riding. The burly Duke Hill wore a dark rider outfit. This was the first time that Xia Shu saw him wearing clothes other than military uniforms. He rode his horse straight to Xia Shu, glanced at the horse under the crotch of the Prussian prince, and said in a tepid tone: "Your Highness has a unique vision of choosing a horse."

There are many high-quality British purebred horses in the stables of Hill Manor. They are famous for their medium and short distance sprinting speeds, creating and maintaining a world record of speeds of various distances within 5,000 meters. They are recognized as one of the best riding horse breeds. Xia Shu chose a twelve-year-old Arabian horse. This horse is gentle, smart, with outstanding endurance and sprinting speed, but it is inferior to British purebred horses. Moreover, this age is already middle-aged for horses. Although it has the advantages of maturity and stability, its explosive power and physical fitness have decreased significantly compared to those of young horses.

Xia Shu also looked at the Duke's horse with a slanted eye. He indeed chose the six-year-old maroon purebred horse named "Hurricane". After receiving a tip of half a pound, the young groom in the stable cautiously avoided the topics he thought were secrets of the family, but he still told Xia Shu all the well-known things, such as which owner loved which horse and which horse had a glorious record.

"Hurricane" is the most popular horse that Duke Hill now. It is strong and sturdy and extremely exciting. It has performed many outstandingly in the social exchanges between British princes and nobles, and has earned a lot of face for the Duke. The white Arabian horse selected by Xia Shu has a unique name, "Sand Gravel". It was once the Duke's favorite mount. When he was less than half a year old, the Duke brought it back to England from the distant Middle East. In the past, when he went out to hunt, Duke Hill always wore a white horse, showing his elegant nature.

As for his former golden partner, Duke Hill seemed to have tenderness in his deep eyes. He said to Natsuki: "'Shali' is docile by nature and understands people very well. He can cooperate well with the rider after running a few laps."

Before Duke Hill came to the racetrack, Xia Shu had been riding this white Arabian horse for more than half an hour. It was indeed very human. From its clear and simple eyes, Xia Shu also saw an instinct of longing for challenges. Unfortunately, the years were ruthless. No matter how "talking about young madness" it was difficult to beat the young thoroughbred horse in speed. Therefore, when the Duke made this reasonable suggestion, Xia Shu still rode his horse and stopped. He replied in a slightly sour tone: "The rider and the horse need enough tacit understanding to exert 100% ability. This tacit understanding must be formed through long-term interaction."

This sentence was said before, making Duke Hill feel that it would be impossible to win if he wins. He asked back: "How can your highness think it can be considered a fair competition?"

Xia Shu looked at a large area of ​​flat natural grass between the two hills, and a small red and white flag was planted on the hillside on the north side. According to the description of the young groom, the riders of the Hill family usually race horses here, with a round of about 1,500 meters, which is exactly the sprint distance that purebred horses are good at.

Although the conversation with the groom gave Xia Shu a solution, he still pretended to be thinking hard: "It's better... we need to use a little difficulty to pick up the garland on the ground with a sword during the horse racing process. The garland will not fall and return to the finish line before it can be considered complete. What does the Duke think?"

Duke Hill thought for a while: "Okay, Your Highness the Prince is not familiar with our horses, we are not familiar with Your Highness's competition rules. It is fair to offset the two."

Since the other party had promised, Xia Shu didn't talk much. He looked around and finally saw Charlotte and Louise. The Hill family rose wore a heroic red rider outfit today. Because of the ponytail, the face looked more three-dimensional. Louise also showed her youthful and beautiful and energetic temperament in her slim peacock blue riding outfit. Xia Shu left the duke and rode the horse to them. Although he recognized that Charlotte was riding a maroon Trekna horse with elegant appearance and light gait, he still asked politely: "Does Miss Hill want to participate in today's horse racing?"

Charlotte, who appeared on the screen with light makeup, raised his mouth and made a regret: "No, I'll cheer you next to you."

Xia Shu laughed: "So, can you bother the ladies and help us with a little favor?"

Charlotte blinked his eyes and waited for Xia Shu's later words with Louise.

"Today's game requires some garlands, it doesn't have to be big, just pass through the fist." Natsuki gestured with her hands.

In the spring season, colorful flowers are everywhere on the grass. Charlotte replied easily: "Although they cannot be guaranteed to be very good, they should meet your requirements. Your Highness, Princess, let's pick flowers together?"

Louise answered with a bright smile.

The two young and beautiful ladies chose a place with lush wild flowers to weave garlands, and the Xia Tree rode on the grass on "gravel". From time to time, he leaned down and approached the horse's neck while talking. Half an hour later, the ladies brought ten garlands, and the Xia Tree brought them to Duke Hill with them. The Duke seemed disdainful of these crude gadgets, and he nodded slightly to express his approval, and the Duke's servant

He also brought a bunch of long swords. Xia Shu picked out one casually, tried the weight and feel, put it on his belt, and then ran to the hillside with the small flag in its horse, and placed the garlands more than thirty meters away from the small flag. By the time he returned to the starting point, nine riders, including Duke Hill and his two sons, were already in place. The sunny men rode outfits and swords in a row, looking quite majestic.

"Can you make another small request?" Xia Shu rode his horse and stopped in front of the duke.

Duke Hill loosened the reins with his right hand and made a "please give me a promise".

Xia Shu drove his horse to the servant who was in charge of issuing the order, asked him to issue the order flag, and then came to Charlotte.

"If Miss Hill can raise the flag and order, my chances of winning this game will be greatly increased."

"Is there any connection?" Although Charlotte said disdain, he did not hesitate at all when he took over the flag from Xia Shu.
Chapter completed!