Chapter 181: Treading on Water, White-hoofed Shadow! (2/2)

Thus, being reinstated was a joyous occasion in itself, equivalent of an ordinary civilian rising to the position of a noble or minister.

“Hahaha, if not for you, how could I have possibly returned to the royal court, lest be said, be reinstated in both the Bureau of Military Personnel and the Bureau of Punishments?”

King Song didn’t bother hiding the fondness and admiration in his gaze. If not for Wang Chong’s timely warning allowing him to notice the peculiarity in Consort Taizhen’s matter, he, along with many officials of the royal court, would have most likely been demoted and exiled.

Wang Chong might only be fifteen, but he was the true meritorious subject behind King Song as to his escape from this crisis and his reinstatement.

And toward meritorious subjects, King Song would never be stingy in his bestowments.

“Wang Chong, you’ve done me a great favor this time. Tell me, what kind of rewards do you want? No matter your request, I’ll accede to it.’

In a happy mood, King Song spoke magnanimously.

“Your Highness, thank you for your generosity. However, I’ve nothing that I desire at the moment.”

Wang Chong shook his head. It was not in his character to demand rewards for his contribution.

“Hahaha. Even though you don’t want it, I insist on the matter. Men, bring me the ‘White-hoofed Shadow’!”

King Song suddenly shouted.

“White-hoofed Shadow?”

Before Wang Chong could register what was said, he heard the faint neighing of a horse from the stable near the courtyard. It sounded a little immature, and there was a slight metallic edge to it. Just through its call, Wang Chong could already tell that it was different from ordinary horses.

“A colt!”

Wang Chong was both surprised and delighted. He immediately understood what King Song wanted to gift him. It was probably a colt, and it seemed to be a breed of war steed at that.

The importance of a good steed on the battlefield wouldn’t pale to that of a Wootz steel sword.

Neighhhh!

A huge cloud of dust rose in the courtyard. Amidst the dust, a dashing colt with lush indigo fur galloped over.

As it galloped over, the first thing that instantaneously caught Wang Chong’s eye was its white hoofs. They made it look as though the colt was galloping in the air, granting it an air of nobility.

Wang Chong immediately fell in love with this colt.

The young colt stopped inside the courtyard. It was led by a stableman whose body was completely concealed from head to toe in a manner such that only his eyes were visible.

“This is an imperial steed raised in the palace. It’s a crossbreed between the Snow Steed of the great snowy mountains and the White-hoofed Shadow of the Central Plains. There is a very limited number of them, and the experts of the royal palace have been grooming them carefully. It takes a lot of effort for even a single colt to be successfully groomed.”

“This kind of imperial steed is different from regular horses in the sense that it possesses intelligence. It’ll acknowledge anyone who feeds it for an entire month as its owner, and it would, in turn, serve him loyally for life. Thus, when the stablemen in the palace fed them, their bodies and faces had to be carefully concealed to prevent the colts from seeing their appearances.”

King Song explained.

“Once the White-hoofed Shadow grows up, it’ll gain incomparable strength along with having lightning quick movements. However, this steed isn’t just an ordinary White-hoofed Shadow. Men!”

King Song beckoned to the men outside.

Soon, two guards of the King Song Residence carried a massive metal bowl over. The metal plate was filled with a chi deep of water.

Clearly, they had prepared this tool beforehand.

The stableman led the colt to the massive bowl of water, and in the very next instant, right before Wang Chong’s shocked gaze, the colt stepped forward and stood on the surface of the water.

Tiny, round ripples formed around its hooves, adding a stroke of gallantry to it.

“How is this possible?”

Wang Chong was dumbstruck.

The onlooking Wang family members were also equally shocked. This colt was definitely of high quality, but no one expected it to be able to stand on water as though it was solid land.

This was completely inconceivable.

“This is the White-hoofed Steed that the royal palace raised. It’s capable of treading water to cross rivers. It only gained this ability after several generations of cross-breeding by the experts within the royal palace. Perhaps, you might discover even more incredible feats it is capable of in the future. How about it, do you like my present?”

King Song flung his sleeves gleefully.

“I like it, I really do!”

Wang Chong hurriedly nodded his head. You must be jesting! He would be a fool if he rejected such a top-quality steed! Such a good steed definitely numbered in only a handful throughout the entire world.

Back then, when Wang Chong became the Grand Marshal of the Central Plains, all of these gallant steeds had already died out.

Thus, despite his noble position, Wang Chong remained unfated with this kind of top-quality steeds.

As such, Wang Chong was truly overjoyed by his gift.

A colt is a young horse.

The White-hoofed Shadow is actually a real horse in history. (Taken from Baidu, though I don’t think it can float on water)

There are Six Great Horses in China’s history, and it’s one of them.

The White-hoofed Shadow was ridden on by Li Shimin (Taizong) and Xue Rengao.

Generally, many people think that it’s called White-hoofed Shadow because of its white hoofs and black body. (I’m not too sure why the story described this steed as having purple fur, but it did state that it was a cross-breed.)

Actually, there’s another interpretation to its name.

In hanyupinyin, it’s is Baiti Wu.

A scholar once analyzed the matter and felt that Baiti might be an adaptation of the word ‘bota’ from the Turk.

Bota has the meaning of a young Khan in reference to the greatness of the steed.

Thus, it could also be called Bota Shadow.