Chapter 598 - Thief (1/2)
The experienced hunters in this area were all good at skinning and processing fur pelts, especially Old Man Jin. He was famous not only in the village but also in town for crafting the best fur pelts. Zhu Junyang and the other hunters had gotten so many furs. If they didn’t handle them now, they would start to stink on the way home.
Thus, they spent a few more days at the nameless village. On the return journey back to the farm, they had an additional two large carts filled full of furs. The merchants they had encountered on the road all asked them where they had gotten these furs when they saw the piles of top-notch pelts.
When they got back to the stud farm, Steward Yan came over to greet his master and excitedly reported, “Master, the guards have seen a white stallion leading a herd of horses in the vicinity of the farm when they are patrolling. This servant followed your orders and made sure no one went to disturb them. From time to time, we also put out some top-notch fodder in the areas they tend to appear. Those wild horses seem to be more trusting of our farm and don’t always flee when we let the other horses out. There was one night when that white stallion appeared in the farm and was slyly eating Black Whirlwind’s special food ah!”
Ever since Xiaocao arrived at the stud farm, she had personally compounded Little Red’s child’s, Black Whirlwind, feed. Not only was the nutrition well balanced, but she also added a high concentration of mystic-stone water to it. That way, the feed would alter its body. There were quite a number of horses at the farm but there were very few horses who had the bloodlines of superior quality horses.
The foreign tribes only sold their mediocre and inferior horses to the Great Ming Dynasty. Thus, the probability of encountering a divine steed was about the same as a meat pie falling out of the sky! Therefore, they could only use the horses they had to breed better steeds. Out of all of the foals in the farm, Black Whirlwind was the best out of all of them and also the one with the most promise. Xiaocao planned on altering it and five other foals using the mystic-stone water. That way, they would become the hope of the stud farm.
The little fellow Black Whirlwind had absolute freedom on the farm. The small courtyard residence that Xiaocao and the others lived in almost always had its gates wide open for it. In addition, Yingchun especially liked the little horse and would always give it some rock candy that contained mystic-stone water in it. Thus, the little fellow frequently didn’t rest in its own stable and instead shamelessly lodged at the small courtyard.
Since it had its own stable, there was no one there to fight for food. Thus, the grooms taking care of it would often add some superior fodder in its manger as a midnight snack. However, who would have expected that, for a few nights in a row, when the little fellow strolled back, it found out that its food manger was completely empty. It was quite displeased by this. Was someone secretly eating its food? Or were the humans shorting it on its midnight snack?
In the middle of the night, Black Whirlwind ran over to where the grooms lodged and made a fuss. Only after it was given a midnight snack did it calm down. After the grooms had been disturbed for a few nights in the row, they started to wonder. At first, they thought that the little fellow was having a growth spurt and needed more food. However, even after they added more fodder to his manger, it still continued to pester them. Thus, they felt that there was something fishy about this and began to stake out the little fellow’s stable at night. That’s when they discovered the wild white stallion coming over to steal the little foal’s food. They reported these matters to Steward Yan.
After hearing Steward Yan’s report. Zhu Junyang surrept.i.tiously glanced at Xiaocao, who was organizing the fur pelts at the side, and then commanded the steward, “No need to do anything with that horse for now! How’s the progress on the new horse stables going?”
“The construction on the new stables is already done. After letting it air out for a few days, it’ll be ready to house horses! Master, the people that you’ve instructed me to find to help out with raising the horses are already here. They are currently being trained by Old Zhang!”
Old Zhang was the groom who was the most experienced at raising horses. In the past, he had been caught by some foreign tribes and forced to raise their horses for over twenty years. Recently, the Great Ming Dynasty’s troops had won a series of victories and reclaimed a lot of their lost land. Thus, he was finally able to go home. When he found out that a n.o.ble from the capital was planning on establis.h.i.+ng a horse breeding farm, he recommended himself to work there. Now, he was one of the small leaders here and had helped Steward Yan quite a bit.
“Make sure the new stables get cleaned. Tomorrow night, you can fill all of the feed troughs with some good quality fodder and there’s no need to send anyone to keep a watch over it…” Zhu Junyang had heard the promise that the little la.s.s had given to the white stallion, so he instructed his subordinates to go through with her plan.
Steward Yan paused for a moment in surprise but very quickly understood what his master was trying to do, “Is the plan...for the new stables to serve the wild horses?”
Zhu Junyang nodded slightly and waved a hand in dismissal at Steward Yan. The little la.s.s and her maidservants had already finished organizing the fur pelts. Right now, the young maiden had a bit of exhaustion visible on the face. Her usually bright and lively eyes seemed a bit unfocused, as if she was unconsciously relaxing.
Although this was supposed to be a leisurely hunting trip, they had still been camping out in the vast wilderness and had spent over twenty-some days out in the open. Even a strong and st.u.r.dy man wouldn’t be able endure for so long, let alone a weak and delicate little maiden. These past few days had surprised him. She was the only one in their group who had no martial arts training. However, no matter where they were, whether traveling on the road or going into the mountains, she never complained about being exhausted. In terms of strength and energy, she had more than the average weak and delicate little maiden.
“Tired?” Zhu Junyang walked to Xiaocao and bent over to stroke the little la.s.s’s thinned out face. He gently said, “If you’re tired, go rest now. No need to make yourself endure any longer.”