After a few suffocating seconds of waiting, Charlotte waved the flag. Almost the moment the small flag reached its lowest point, Duke Hill and his "hurricane" rushed out like an arrow, surpassing the young men's half head. This is the ultimate manifestation of experience and skills. Through the previous warm-up and garland sing, Xia Shu also had the most basic understanding of the state and habits of "gravel". As long as the rider's instructions are not problematic, mature horses can keep up with the rhythm of their companions around them. The combination of the young man and the old horse fell to the end without surprise, but at least it was not dropped too much during the departure stage.

The first two hundred meters down the slope, the riders accelerated very quickly, and they all galloped like the wind at first glance. Duke Hill was only one to two positions ahead of the others, and Xia Shu was only half a position away from the previous rider. However, when it arrived on the flat ground, the horse's own ability began to appear. Duke Hill, who was bowing like shrimp, gradually pulled his eldest son away more than ten meters away. Although the "gravel" was very dedicated, its last "advantage" with Xia Shu was still increasing. If it was just a competition of speed, they would not have the chance to turn the tables.

On the verdant grass, the petals on the wreath were slightly moved with the wind. When the fierce horses carried their riders to rush, the petals and even the wreath began to tremble along the rhythm of the horse's hooves. In the sun, the knights controlled the reins with one hand and drew their swords out of the sheath. The leading man was already a tiger's body leaning against the horse's back, and his long arms stretched forward with his sword. His thick eyebrows were slightly frowned, his eyes narrowed slightly, and the focus of his attention was already on the small wreath in front. The moment the sharp sword tip touched the wreath, his wrist trembled, and his heart thought that the light wreath would obediently put on the sword body, but it just stumbled backwards and dropped a few delicate petals.

Looking at the clean and empty sword body, Duke Hill looked behind him with incredible eyes. The garland lying quietly on the grass suddenly became extremely dazzling. Looking at the other riders, who were unwilling to slow down before reaching the small flag, either poked the tip of the sword in vain to slap the silt mud or just cut the empty knife. His eldest son Robert Hill, also known as Charlotte's father, even fell off the horse due to improper force. Fortunately, he was not injured by his mount and climbed quickly after landing.

It seemed that there was no big problem. The riders behind had to change their strategies. They slowed down so that they could pick up the garland in a stable position to take advantage of this opportunity. The Prussian prince, who was originally at the bottom, caught up with the horse. He neither slowed down nor changed his riding posture. Until the garland was close, he used his waist to balance the stirrups, put his upper body on the shoulder, and poked out with his right hand. The shaking tip of the sword penetrated into the garland like a spiral spitting a letter. When he turned around and raised his sword, the garland had steadily slid to the point where the sword bead was!

Since the rules do not limit the timing and number of attempts for riders to pick up the wreath with their swords, Duke Hill and others can also try again when they bypass the small flag. With the previous lessons, most of them chose to slow down, that is, in addition to the necessary slowdown and acceleration when turning around at the small flag, they also need to perform a second reduction and acceleration, and those riders who chose to slow down from the beginning also reduced acceleration twice. How is the short-range explosive power of a purebred horse?

It was strong, and it was also very fatal to lose several seconds in the short schedule of more than 1,000 meters. Moreover, Xia Shu's weight was at least 15 kilograms lighter than the burly men of the Hill family. After suddenly surpassing those arrogant and domineering pure-blooded horses, "Shali" also seemed to be rejuvenated, running wildly. The weakest "Shalishu" combination achieved an amazing counterattack, and eventually won the victory with less than one position.

At the end, Xia Shu raised his sword proudly, letting the garland of victory bathe in the gorgeous sunlight, but he did not get the praise he deserved from Charlotte. At this moment, she was obviously more concerned about her father who accidentally fell off the horse, the Royal Brigadier General, the current commander of the armored cruiser "Hog", Robert Hill. In fact, riders fell off horses like crew members fell into the water, are common situations that are difficult to avoid. Sometimes they are just irrelevant little thoughts.

In addition, sometimes it is enough to take people's lives. Previously, when Natsuki saw that Brigadier Hill stood up quickly and was able to take the initiative to avoid the riders behind, he did not stop the competition. Many riders, including Duke Hill, did not withdraw from the middle. At this time, Brigadier Hill returned to the horse's back, but did not ride on his own, but was taken care of by another rider. Judging from his head hanging down, his condition did not seem to be very good.

Charlotte had already rushed to his father. Looking at the slender back of Red Rose, Xia Shu suddenly felt relieved when she won with wisdom. He turned to look at Louise, and all he got was a comforting expression with helplessness.

Duke Hill rode his horse to Xia Shu and said in a muffled voice: "Your Highness, you won this game!"

From the duke's eyes, Xia Shu saw an indescribable indifference. His attitude towards this failure was obviously not convinced. Perhaps in his opinion, only humble people would win with cleverness. The real king should speak with strength. This is exactly the British Empire's mentality when dealing with foreign affairs. According to their way of thinking, Xia Shu had to mobilize many people to transport his ace mount from Germany to win this prize. Only by building a fleet comparable to the British Navy in number can Germany be qualified to compete with the British Navy.

The British are sometimes really stunning!

"I said that as long as you win, you can choose a horse in my stable and bring it back to Germany. Just choose it. Even if you win my 'hurricane', I promise to serve it with both hands."

Xia Shu looked up at Duke Hill. This guy was very experienced in some aspects, and in some aspects, he was very moderate. He didn't understand whether he really couldn't see his thoughts or pretended not to know. He did not respond, but subconsciously turned to look at Charlotte in the distance. It was this action that made Duke Hill's breath suddenly become heavier. Xia Shu felt the sharp momentum of being angry without facing it, but he was no longer the once weak lamb.

The people are so bad. In a coalition system such as the Second German Empire, a coalition system composed of multiple kingdoms, principalities, princes and free cities, the complexity of national politics is far beyond ordinary people's imagination. Growing in the center of power of this huge empire, what kind of scenes and formations of Xia Shu have never seen, how could he be frightened by the anger of a duke? The backlash of self-esteem just wiped out Xia Shu's hesitation a few seconds ago. He firmly chose Charlotte's favorite foal "Tulip".

"What?" Duke Hill widened his eyes when he heard the horse's name be heard.

Xia Shu looked at him without any concession: "I only want 'tulips'."

Duke Hill frowned. If he put aside his qualities, age, etc., he might pounce on him and fight Xia Shu.

Recalling the extremely unpleasant episodes of the joint exercise of Keel Military Harbor Festival last year and the "advice" that Prince George did not speak in person, Natsuki was also furious, and this emotion was reflected on his face with a contemptuous expression.

After a moment of confrontation, the more sophisticated mentality and more concerned parties made concessions. He said: "I have given that horse to Charlotte. Since His Highness the Prince's Highness, as long as she is willing to give it up, I can give her another one."

Xia Shu's answer was extremely neat: "Okay."

"Tulip" is not the maroon horse Charlotte is riding now, but the crystallization of it and another purebred horse. The beautiful little foal is only four months old and has not yet reached the stage of riding training. Xia Shu learned from the young groom in the stable that Charlotte had a special liking for this little foal, and "Tulip" was the name she gave it.

Because of Robert Hill's horse crash, the "international" horse racing ended in a hurry. Charlotte directly accompanied his father to the castle. Duke Hill asked his second son Notting Hill to accompany the prince of Prussia and the princess to visit the castle, and he hid himself in the face of important matters. Before lunch, Xia Shu and Louise went to visit Brigadier General Hill. After the doctor's diagnosis, the unlucky boy had to rest for a while after the pelvic injury, and it was not sure whether it would leave any sequelae. Although this accident should be attributed to his poor riding skills and temporary negligence, Xia Shu could still feel that the attitude of the Hill family toward him changed from being cautious to stay away from him, and even breeding a hostile mentality.

What others think, Xia Shu doesn't care much. If Charlotte was like her family, he would rationally and decisively give up this love that made people feel good at the beginning, and "Tulip" would definitely not be taken away. However, this pure, intelligent, playful British girl was unexpectedly strong. She neither cried nor resentful. Her expression returned to the frost-like coldness, but the look of looking at Xia Shu had a kind of loss of tolerance. Under the touch of this look, Xia Shu temporarily put down her too strong self-esteem. He solemnly expressed regret and apologies to Brigadier General Hill. The middle-aged man was very generous in language, but the indifference in his eyes was completely different from his daughter.

Unexpectedly, the atmosphere of lunch that day was very dull, but Xia Shu still gained a lot of harvest. Duke Hill solicited Charlotte's opinions in person. This British girl with a look and figure similar to that of "Hagwarts Magic Academy's fourth-year student Hermione Jane Granger" carefully considered it and decided to give "tulips" to Xia Shu as the winner's prize.
Chapter completed!