Chapter 573. Bait (1/2)
The herd of horses bunched together and took off like the wind. Their long manes and tails billowed in the wind and they galloped off, one after another, sweeping off into the distance. They moved as one large group as they fled quickly. It was a moving sight that was both powerful and beautiful at the same time and also incredibly majestic.
The flawlessly white head horse stampeded off with its long hair flying gloriously in the air. It made a magnificent figure as it arced through the air like a homing pigeon and gracefully swept away like a petrel. It easily took the lead position of the herd as the group thundered away on the grassy valley.
“Zhu Junyang, you scared off all of the horses!!” Yu Xiaocao pouted and angrily glared at the offender as she cried out indignantly.
Zhu Junyang stretched out a long arm and brought the little lass, who was full of anger, from Little Red to ride in front of him. They headed in the direction where the horses fled as he laughed, “Little lass, do you truly believe that we would easily be able to capture that head stallion today?”
“Why wouldn’t we be able to?” Yu Xiaocao rubbed at the sugar lumps in her embroidered pouch. She had her golden finger ah! She was quite sure that the horse wouldn’t be able to resist taking the bait. Even if the head stallion was smart enough to resist the lure, that didn’t mean the other wild horses in the herd would be able to.
Zhu Junyang pinched her small nose and chuckled, “For something like this, shouldn’t we go back and discuss it first? After all, taming and capturing a wild horse isn’t something that happens in a day. You need to give me some time to prepare…”
Yu Xiaocao silently digested his words. She realized that he was afraid that other people would start suspecting her if this had happened and felt a bit ashamed. Now that she thought more about this, she had been quite lucky these past few years. She hadn’t encountered any people who noticed anything and tried to investigate more into her. Otherwise, she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to keep her secret for this long.
In the last two years, she hadn’t needed to keep a low profile. With the emperor in front and Zhu Junyang behind keeping her safe, she had become more and more blatant in her usage of her golden finger. Perhaps, during a time when she was unaware, trouble had already come knocking but had been pushed or scared away by a certain someone! After all, Royal Prince Yang’s prestige and reputation were quite effective in the capital!
“Alright then! You can go back and think of a good idea while I come up with a few different types of bait to see if we can lure that white horse over. When the moment comes, I’m sure the trap we set will be impossible for it to come out of!” As she spoke, the little lass became excited and exhilarated again. Her intuition told her that the white stallion was absolutely a superior quality animal, on par with Fierce Wind. The stud farm required such a good specimen!
The two of them galloped in the front while Little Red easily kept up with them from behind. Before long, they arrived at a set of buildings on the stud farm. These buildings had a special little courtyard built into it that had been prepared to allow them a place to rest. Although it was a simple dwelling, it was quite clean and comfy. The rooms even had a bunch of kang beds in them, and, in the winter, they would definitely keep the dwelling warm and give it a sense of home.
The hundred or so soldiers from the firearms camps that Zhu Junyang brought along had already been situated in the barracks in the back. Head Steward Liu and Hou Xiaoliang had already gone into the small courtyard residence and ordered the servants there to stow away their luggage and do some cleaning. Yu Xiaocao’s four personal maidservants were currently busying away in making the meal.
“Young Miss, you’ve come back? There was a little horse outside that was hanging around for a long time and had just been led away by one of the trainers here. The little horse doesn’t seem to be afraid of people and it kept trying to stick its face into this servant’s pouch ah! How did it know that this servant keeps snacks in my pouch?”
As soon as Yingchun saw that her mistress had come back, she came forward and chattered away in welcome. Every time she came out with the young miss, she was always able to encounter interesting and novel things. Thus, whenever there was a trip to be had, she was always very energetic and diligent as she was afraid of being left behind. Wutong, on the other hand, carefully glanced at her young miss and discovered that nothing seemed to be amiss. Only then did she let out a quiet sigh in relief.
However, how could her tiny movement escape Zhu Junyang’s keen senses? He raised his eyebrows——his little lass’s maids were getting harder and harder to fool as time went on! However, he was confident in his ability to steal a few affections here and there away from these guardian devils.
“A little horse?” Yu Xiaocao couldn’t help but laugh as she asked, “Was it a black little horse? Not very tall but seems very smart ah?”
“That’s right ah! Young Miss, you’ve also encountered this horse before?” Yingchun looked behind Xiaocao and saw a red horse that she hadn’t seen for some time. She smiled, “Little Red? It’s been a long time! Young Miss, will Little Red be able to come back with us this time?”
Little Red also perked up her ears as if she was very interested in this topic. Although the lands here were full of lush, green grass and she could gallop to her heart's content, she still preferred to stay by her master’s side. Her master always gave her delicious foods to eat every day, not like these people, who only gave that little black thing preferential treatment. If she wanted to eat something good, she even needed to steal from him. Such a downgrade!
Yu Xiaocao stroked Little Red’s neck and fed her a soothing pill as she said, “Mhm, when we go back, Little Red will naturally come with us! The little horse you saw earlier is Little Red’s son. Isn’t he quite handsome ah?”
She had a proud and happy expression on her face. Little Red had been raised by her since she was young. If in her past life she had taken her pets to be her sons, then Little Red was her daughter now. Thus, her daughter’s son was her grandson ah! Although she was a bit young to become a grandmother, she was still quite proud of the fact that her grandson was so handsome and lively!
“Little Red’s son ah! Aiya, if I had known earlier, I wouldn't have let that horse trainer take him away. Wasn’t all of the horse fodder we brought along for his sake ah?” Yingchun exclaimed in exasperation and was a bit regretful that she hadn’t spent more time with the little fellow.