Lady Meilin is seduced by her green tea brother-in-law everyday-Chapter 344: The Vermillion Derby.

The days passed quickly and Mei Mei trained like her life depended on it until the day of the Vermillion Derby race arrived.

The Vermillion Derby was not just any race. It was a lavish noble spectacle--a three hour ordeal of grit, grace and speed madness. The course twisted through a hill, leapt over hedges, splashed through a stream, swept by Chi Lian’s beach, rotated through the royal courts and ended with a final sprint on the tracks of the stables.

It was designed to test speed, strategy, stamina, greatness and the bond between horse and rider. It was a national affair that was televised live like the Olympics.

So, thousands were packed in the grandstands. All the private boxes for nobles, royals and foreign dignitaries were occupied.

Emperor Junjie, dashing in his ink black royal racing outfit waved politely at the crowds. He looked nothing like a man in mourning for his dead wife.

In fact, none of the royals appeared to be in mourning even though they were wearing black. They were all shopping from the various food stalls on the grounds.

The press went wild when Junjie squatted down and handed each of his daughters a skewer of roasted chicken.

Princess Rize was jumping up and down in childish excitement as her husband chose spiced oat cakes from a Huaqi cakes stall.

Their children were covering their faces because they were feeling embarrassed.

Jun’s, Chi’s and other nobles were mixed in with the royals. Pop music was playing. Viscount Huang, the beautiful Daosi, Prince Long Feng, Chi Zimo and some of the uncles from the Jun family were dancing pretentiously, trying to look cool.

They knew the cameras were watching but they were not camera conscious. The Vermillion Derby was a fun day. They were there to have fun!

Women were comparing riding outfits, discussing where they acquired their boots, hats and other accessories from. Even riding crops were being compared. A lot of them have riding crops that glittered with jewels.

Rose was the only one that used the same riding crop every year. It was a slipper shaped riding crop with two shiny diamonds on the large end.

This year, she was not waving it around because her biological mother, an American princess that married a Russian oligarch was in the audience. She had come for the derby with her husband and their children and grandchildren.

Every time their eyes met, her mother turned away.

Rose’s grandparents from the Jun and Chi family were doing their best to distract her.

Chi Lian and Muyang had not yet arrived and everyone was hoping they would reach soon to give Rose the reassurance she needed.

Meanwhile, Mei Mei stood in the paddock, helmet smug, boots polished. Thunder Muyang was pawing the quiet with energetic fury that he longed to unleash. The stallion’s coat shimmered liquid star studded silver, his dark eyes which carried a wildness of the grassland locked on the starting gates.

Around them, fifty five other riders adjusted their outfits, whispered to the horses or said some last minute prayers.

The wind rustled by, lifting the edges of Mei Mei’s super horse cape which an image of Thunder Muyang, hooves raised high.

Somewhere down the paddocks, Xu Ren glared in Mei Mei’s direction. Her parents had paid a lot of money to keep her in the race. She had almost been disqualified for the needle incident.

It was the Jun’s that stepped in and stopped her from being thrown out of the race. Lady Chi had made it clear that she wanted Xu Ren to lose the race and eat the dust left by her daughter’s horse.

Xu Ren shivered and told herself to focus. She was a two time winner of the Vermillion Derby. She was just as good as Jun Meilin and she would prove herself.

"Check your saddles for needles." Someone shouted.

Many riders looked at Xu Ren. She clenched her jaw. She hated all of the riders now. They had taken advantage of her mistake to whisper about her, mock her and claim she had cheated in the last races.

They acted as if they didn’t also sabotage other riders!

Xu Ren was determined to win again today and prove that she was the best.

The trumpets sounded and all the riders and their horses moved to the starting line. Those that had not yet mounted their horses did so.

The second trumpets sounded and Junjie picked up a red flag and dropped it. The gates clanged open.

Thunder Jun exploded from the gate like a bullet on a revenge mission. Mei Mei hang on thighs digging into the stallion with all her might. She leaned low, whispering cues to the horse.

She had sound blockers in her ears as she did not want to be distracted by cheers from the crowd and unnecessary noise. If there was something she needed to know, C4 would tell her.

They cleared the hedges with ease and Thunder Jun amazed the crowd by jumping over two hedged in one unnatural leap.

They raced up hill, weaving through a serpentine trail that led to the sunflower fields, a part of which had been turned into sticky mud and puddles. By this time, ten riders had already dropped out.

Mei Mei and Thunder Jun had trained for two days in the muddy corn field of the Jun family in E city. For them, passing through the sticky mud was like a graceful dance. The stallion emerged mostly clean and continued on, keeping first place.

A cheer that Mei Mei could not hear rose from the crowd.

Chi Lian and Muyang had already arrived, having reached just as the race started. She was eating caramel popcorn while Muyang nervously bit his fingers.

Jingzhe and Madam Feng were also nervous. This was their first derby and they could not even enjoy it because they wanted Mei Mei to win desperately.

Mingzhu was with Princess Yue and his Prince Long Wu Ping. Prince Long Feng had insisted that the two families sit next to each other.

Mingzhu was eating ice cream and putting flowers in her hair when she was not supporting her mother. She alternated between Princess Yue’s arms, Jingzhe’s arms, Muyang’s arms and other relatives close by.

Hour two of the race started and the endurance test started. The course moved to the shallow end of the lake. It used to a stream but some changes had been made this year.

In the water were barrels which the horses had to dodge

Thunder Muyang swam like an eel, dodging barrels, dancing over others and swimming with powerful strokes. Behind them Xu Ren was focused, determined to keep up and further back, two riders and their horses sunk.