Chapter 599. Boiling Frog Syndrome (2/2)
The cold night breeze blew past and she shivered from the drop in temperature. She shook her shoulders a bit. During the tenth month in the north, many areas already had some snow falling. The stud farm had been built in a sheltered area in the north, so it took longer for winter to arrive there. However, the evening winds were still quite cold.
At this moment, a cloak that held the warmth of another had been gently placed on her shoulders and a familiar aura enveloped her from behind. She let the heat sink in and relax her.
“It has already left, so we should head back!” As soon as Xiaocao left her room, Zhu Junyang sensed it. He knew what the little lass was thinking about. In order not to startle that white stallion, he kept his aura back and followed the little lass from far behind, protecting her silently.
Zhu Junyang had seen the little black colt bravely protecting its master and his impression of Fierce Wind’s descendant had gone up a few notches. A young foal who dared to attack a lead stallion meant that it was very courageous and loyal, which spoke volumes about its future. The stud farm desperately needed a horse like it to become its leader. Perhaps this little fellow was destined for that position.
When the grooms heard the ruckus, they once again added more fodder into the colt’s stall. Yu Xiaocao also added some special food for Black Whirlwind. The little black colt was so happy that it was temporarily comforted about the previous insult and joyfully ate its midnight snack. Its small tail swished back and forth excitedly, which showed just how happy it was feeling at the moment.
Yu Xiaocao, who had been escorted back to her small courtyard by Zhu Junyang, naturally didn’t know that when the white stallion left, it had stopped by the direction she had pointed in to take a look. At the outermost part of the stud farm, it saw the new large and clean stables. Each stall was filled with plenty of feed, just as the little human girl had said. There were no guards or other humans guarding the area and it knew it didn’t have to worry about any traps or sinister plots.
It suddenly thought of the coming long and hard winter as well as the weaker and older members in its herd. Every winter, there would always be a few members of its herd that would end up dying from the harshness of the winter climate here. That was survival of the fittest. However, as the head stallion, it also felt grief and sadness at the death of its members. If there was such a shelter like this in the past, perhaps those herd members who had died in the past might be alive today. What was more important between life and freedom? The white horse now felt a bit conflicted…
Four nights after they came back from their autumn hunting, the icy cold northern wind blew around in the area for an entire night. Frosty chilliness enveloped the entire farm. In the beginning, snowflakes as bright as stars floated slowly to the ground and then the chill wind, which felt as sharp as a knife, began to reign, forcing people to cover up their extremities.
Yu Xiaocao curled up on the warm and cozy kang bed. She had nothing to do now and decided to do her best to make an embroidered pouch so that she could exchange the extremely ugly and faded one that still hung on that fellow’s, Zhu Junyang’s, waist.
Wutong, who was also on the kang bed, was currently dexterously sewing a set of clothing made out of ferret fur pets for her young miss. Winter came early to the north and they didn’t prepare enough clothing to handle the cold. Thus, it was necessary for them to quickly craft some suitable clothing to help their mistress stay warm in the rapidly dropping temperatures. Out of all of the maidservants, Wutong wasn’t the best at handicrafts but her skills at needlework were among the top. If she hadn’t been selected by the young miss to become a personal maidservant, it was likely that she would have been recruited into the General’s Residence’s embroidery and sewing section.
Yingchun was currently on the kang bed spinning some thread. She asked her mistress out of puzzlement, “Young Miss, why are you telling us to spin such thick threads? What do you need to make with it ah?” If these thick threads were used to weave cloth, then how thick would the fabric end up becoming? Were they going to knit blankets?
Chunhua and Qiushi, who were currently whittling bamboo into needles on the side, glanced at the thick bamboo needles they made. They were also quite curious about their young miss’s plans.
“Once it’s all ready, you will all find out!” Yu Xiaocao smiled mysteriously and continued to work on her embroidery. She had already finished sewing the pouch. She turned it over a few times, inspecting her work. It looked like the seams in this pouch turned out quite straight, so she was quite pleased. The hardest part, however, was to embroider a design on top.
She had picked out the most simple embroidery pattern out of all of the ones Wutong had prepared for her——a few stalks of bamboo with leaves coming off of them. In actuality, a mischievous idea had popped up into her mind. She kind of wanted to embroider a cute and adorable cartoon figure on top. Would the cold and solemn Royal Prince Yang truly dare to hang such a pouch on his waist then?
At this time, a gust of cold wind preceded the person who had lifted the thick door curtain to come in. A tall and sturdy figure quickly stepped in. He sat next to Xiaocao and looked at the drawing that she was currently sketching out. It was a peculiar little dog that seemed oddly adorable.
Although it was merely a sketch, it was easy to tell what she was drawing. It had a small body, perked up ears, bright eyes, and there was even a scarf around its neck. From the slightly arrogant positioning, he could tell that it was somewhat related to Little White.
“What are you drawing? Looks pretty interesting!” It was the first time that Zhu Junyang had seen something so...abstract and cute. He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
Yu Xiaocao stifled a giggle, “This is the design I’m preparing to embroider on the pouch. Since you like it, I feel relieved.”
As soon as Zhu Junyang heard this, the expression froze on his face. He glanced at the other patterns on the paper and picked the simplest bamboo sketch and squeezed out a somewhat unnatural smile, “That design looks too complicated, just how long will you have to sew to finish? This prince doesn’t want you to work so hard, how about you choose something simpler instead ah?”