Lady Meilin is seduced by her green tea brother-in-law everyday-Chapter 333: A has been.

The afternoon air at the Royal courts stables and racing track smelled like strawberries and sunflower oil. This was because there was a field of strawberries behind the racing track which belonged to the Jun family. There was also a sunflower field over the hill which was owned by the Grand Emperor.

All these scents assaulted Mei Mei’s nostrils but all she smelled was the musk of horses and all she heard was the distant thunder of hooves as riders raced for glory in preparation for the Vermillion Derby.

It felt like a lifetime since Mei Mei last took the reigns of a horse to train for a competition. She felt like an invader in this sacred place. Once, her images had been everywhere on these grounds, her name was spoken with reverence. But now, no pictures of her remained, except on the wall of former champions.

She had left abruptly. No farewell. No retirement party. No interviews. No passing the reigns to a successor. Just silence. Some papers had claimed that she left because she was too old to keep up with the younger racers.

It had not helped that she came in second in the last Vermillion Derby she raced. Claims had been made that she was bitter and jealous.

Now, at twenty nine, Mei Mei had returned not as the legend she once was but, as a relic.

"You are not that old." C4 said and sighed.

Mei Mei also sighed. She was twenty nine and most of her competitors were in their late teens and early twenties. As for those that were older than her, they were familiar faces and regular names in the horse racing community.

"Must you wear your age like a hat?" C4 asked her.

Mei Mei pursed her lips as some of the younger trainers passed by her, eyeing her with a cocktail of curiosity and mockery.

"I almost thought you were a ghost." Xu Ren, a seventeen year old rising star with two Vermillion championship cups laughed. "I know management is looking for cleaners but I never thought that someone like you would take on such a job. What advise do you have for me old timer?"

C4 decided to share information on the young woman with Mei Mei. "She is Xu Ren a two time winner of the Vermillion Derby. She also took second place in last year’s Dubai cup. She is a young noble woman, the daughter of an Earl. She had a stable full of imported and noble breeds of horses whose bloodline is superior and a mouth that never stops running."

Mei Mei did not respond to Xu Ren. She did not want to have a conversation with someone whose mouth never stopped running. She had come to train, not argue.

"Don’t ignore me." Xu Ren stomped her foot and shouted.

Mei Mei walked away and found the area of the stables where the Jun family horses were kept. The caretakers were excited to see her. One even cried when he heard that she planned to take up racing again.

She chose a strong filly which one of them recommended and got to work, going at it alone. She started slowly, ignoring the jeers and judgement of others. Determined to prove herself, she rode at full speed, misjudged a turn and was thrown hard on the ground, injuring a rib.

Xu Ren sniggered as she recorded a video of the moment. Sneering, she muttered, "She dares to come back....dream on!"

Xu Ren was joined by other horse riders. Some were jockeys, others show jumpers. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"When I heard that she was coming back, I thought that it was a joke but it looks it is serious."

"Does it mean that she is joining professional racing again?"

"She is my idol...I can’t believe that I will get to compete against my idol."

"That rib has got to be on fire. I remember falling off a horse in the same exact position and I cracked three ribs. We have got to praise her for the determination she is showing. Just look at her getting right back to riding."

Someone snorted. "She is faking it because she knows that she is being watched. She is a has been so let’s not pretend that she was not the queen of drama and press when she ruled the tracks."

"This is what privilege buys you." A frustrated person shouted. "She left and now she just gets to waltz back in and a red carpet is rolled out...."

"Woohoo!----go Meilin." Three girls screamed.

So many people were saying so many things but Xu Ren barely heard them. All she cared about was the glory which she had achieved in the last three years. Whether it was Jun Meilin or any other rider in the empire, they could not take it from her.

Wei Yao, another rider who started from humble beginnings and worked her way up smiled. She decided to give the patriarch of the Tao family a call, because she competed for their noble horse. She had a feeling that the Vermillion Derby was going to be shaken up.

At the same time, she wondered if Jun Meilin knew what she had signed up for. The competition had changed while she was away. It was much more fierce and there was a lot more sabotaging in the shadows.

Sometimes, people were not racing for glory, they were racing for their lives.

Mei Mei did not know what those watching her were thinking and when she finished her training, she got into her car and went to the space camp.

It amazed her to find her father in her office with a frown on his face and doctor.

"Dad!" She looked around. "Not that I am not happy to see you but what are you doing here?"

"You are back in the horse racing game so someone needs to be around to keep an eye on your business. Your mother and I will be taking turns until we find you the right manager for your camp." He stood up and walked towards her.

He pushed her to sit down and gestured for the doctor to begin looking at her rib. "I wanted to bring an entire hospital here but your mother knew that you would not agree because you don’t want people thinking that you are weak."

"I am okay." Mei Mei mumbled.

The doctor pressed on the reddish area around her right upper ribs and she winced. He scanned the area with a small portal x-ray after putting on his smart glasses.

"It is not broken, but it is bruised." he declared.