Chapter 581 - Who is More Good Looking? (1/2)
On this day, the people that Zhu Junyang brought along had a decent outcome. Altogether, they had caught six wild horses. The best horse that they had caught that day was the light buckskin colored horse that Royal Prince Yang had personally trapped.
As for Commander Liu’s group, they didn’t come back to the stud farm that day as they had traveled farther to find the other herd of wild horses. Three days later, they came back with eight proud and hard to tame wild horses. Although none of them could compare to the superior horse that their master had caught, every single one was still much better than the other specimens at the ranch.
Following that, Commander Liu and his subordinates began to tame these wild horses. Taming a wild horse wasn’t something that could occur in a day or two. Fortunately, Commander Liu and his men had learned from the experts on how to tame horses properly after they first arrived here. Other than the buckskin colored horse giving them some issues, the rest of them would only require a bit of time before they were ready.
Unexpectedly, the wildest and most arrogant buckskin colored horse was actually the one that got tamed first. Zhu Junyang was tough and unyielding and his equestrian skills were consummate. In addition, that day he was extremely worried about Xiaocao and poured his entire temper on this unlucky horse. The tricks and strategies he used on that light buckskin colored horse had left an impression on the animal. Thus, whenever the horse saw the prince, it was even more obedient and gentle than the other horses at the farm. Under the absolute suppression and power of another, what was the point of being a proud and arrogant wild horse? Could pride be eaten ah?
Yu Xiaocao, on the other hand, pitied this poor horse as she was part of the reason why it had been dominated so thoroughly by the prince. Every time she went to the stables, she would always bring some tasty snacks and special feed for it. Whenever the horse saw her, it acted like it was seeing its own mother.
However, once it saw the fiendish shadow that was inseparable from her, it immediately held its back and didn’t dare to make a loud noise. Even when Xiaocao stuffed a piece of rock candy in its mouth, the horse acted like a n.o.ble born young maiden and delicately ate the food in a refined manner.
On the days that Zhu Junyang didn't come along, it would happily circle around Xiaocao, acting spoiled and using its mouth to gently pick at her embroidered pouch full of treats. It would even use its tongue to wash Xiaocao’s face and was actually more servile and flattering to her than Little Black.
In the blink of an eye, five days had pa.s.sed and there was no news of seeing the white horse and its other compatriots. Yu Xiaocao felt a bit disheartened by this. Were her special tricks useless in front of this extremely hard to encounter divine steed? She thought for a bit and wondered if it was because she hadn’t added enough mystic-stone water to the sugar cubes at the time.
Yu Xiaocao, who wasn’t particularly good at concealing her inner thoughts, always had a hint of worry on her face due to this. Zhu Junyang didn't want her to become depressed and anxious over something that was his responsibility, so he decided to take her out for an outing to relieve some pressure. He knew his la.s.s liked the feeling of a successful hunt and the feast that came afterwards.
About a few hundred kilometers east of the stud farm, there was a mountainous area that one of the outside tribes called ‘Jinalin’, which to them meant ‘white mountain’. It was said that, on the highest peak in that range, the snow there never melted. On clear and sunny days, one could see the distant white cap of the mountain, which explained how it got its name.
The people from the outside tribes who had been hired to help train the horses at the stud farm said that there were a lot of animals in that mountain. Many hunters longed to go there. However, the fierce beasts in there were incredibly vicious. Oftentimes, during blizzards, they would descend down the mountain and hurt people. Consequently, no hunter would dare to go into the mountain on his own unless they absolutely had to make a living.
Since people very rarely entered deeply into this area, there should be a lot of valuable medicinal plants available, secondary to the plentiful prey. Wasn’t the northeast also known for housing the ‘three treasures’ ah? Other than ginseng, the mountains also had reis.h.i.+ mushrooms, manyp.r.i.c.kle, schisandra, Mongolian milkvetch, and other medicinal herbs. The little la.s.s was well-acquainted with using these herbs and also liked to come up with new pills and medicines to treat and heal people. She should be very interested in gathering wild medicinal plants, right?
As for the fierce beasts, he was confident in his own abilities to protect her completely. It was the perfect opportunity to obtain some beautiful bear and tiger pelts to be used to create a splendid mattress for the little la.s.s. He still remembered that during the Autumn Hunt, the little la.s.s was very interested in tiger pelts. She also took quite a few tiger bones back as well and used them to make some bone-strengthening medicinal wine. All of the influential officials scrambled to buy some. In fact, the capital now had a saying: ‘A thousand taels of gold may not be enough to buy the Yu Family’s medicinal wine”.
Sure enough, as soon as Zhu Junyang outlined his proposal to her, Yu Xiaocao grinned widely. Her pair of large, pure eyes shone like the stars and they curved up in joy in the shape of the crescent moon. Her glowing little face seemed to beam with happiness. At this moment, the young maiden seemed to be imbued with a halo of light that struck a person’s heart. If it weren’t for that maidservant named Wutong by her side, glaring like a fearsome tiger, Zhu Junyang would have long pulled the little la.s.s into his arms and kissed her silly.
Yu Xiaocao had no clue that the man next to her was already getting wolfish thoughts, stalking her closely. Her heart was very clear. The mountain range that Zhu Junyang was talking about was likely called the Stanovoy Range in the future. It was a famous mountain range and, in this time period, hadn’t been damaged by people. Thus, there were likely a lot of animals and rare plants to be found there.
The northeast’s ginseng was quite well-known. If she was lucky and came across some wild ginseng, she could use it with some mystic-stone water and create some medicinal wine and cuisine that could elongate a person’s life! Didn’t her maidservant Yangliu want to open a restaurant that was even more famous than Zhenxiu Restaurant? They could take an alternate route and open a restaurant that only made medicinal cuisine to nourish a person’s body.
The first floor could be the consulting area. They could hire a few famous doctors to take people’s pulses and then, after observing every guests’ const.i.tution and body condition, recommend some medicinal wines and cuisines. The teas they served to the guests would all be nouris.h.i.+ng teas and the wines would all be nouris.h.i.+ng medicinal wines. The medicinal food served there would all have the ability to nourish the body. What were the rich most afraid of? Naturally it was to die before they spent their money! There were so many rich merchants, high-ranking officials, n.o.ble families, and descendants of the imperial family in the capital. Thus, she didn’t have to worry about this new business of hers becoming popular or not!
Zhu Junyang waved his long-fingered hands in front of Yu Xiaocao a few times. She didn’t blink a single time and there was a dreamy smile on her face. She looked like she had suddenly seen a ma.s.sive mountain of gold in front of her and he thought she looked quite amusing. Just what was the little la.s.s daydreaming about again? Did his proposal prompt another money-making idea in that brain of hers?