Chapter 578 - Abduction
The herd of horses, which had been chased by Little Black until they almost wanted to vomit blood, very quickly regained their senses after eating the sugar cubes. A few of the horses were able to keep up with the white horse’s pace. Although they weren’t as smart as the white horse, they were still considered top quality specimens. Furthermore, they at least knew that Yu Xiaocao had something they wanted to have and yearned for. Every single one of them that originally had arrogant expressions now all revealed gentled looks.
“Think about it. If you go back with me, I’ll have the humans take good care of you all. For example, you’ll all be able to eat one piece of this sugar candy every day.” Yu Xiaocao hugged every single horse’s neck and then rubbed them. She was setting the stage for the future.
The white horse had a face full of disdain. Those horses who had been tamed had all forgotten what it was like to gallop free without any restraints. Submitting to humans was losing their face. It had no desire to become one of those horses! It had no desire to submit and wasn’t someone who would be moved by wealth or honor. However...once its thoughts had been translated over to Xiaocao through the little divine stone, she could tell that its eyes had never left the embroidered pouch by her waist. Its words would have been more persuasive if it wasn’t staring at her goodies.
Xiaocao hugged the white horse’s neck and continued her persuasions, “If you come with me to the stud farm, I promise that no one will try to tame you, unless you want it. I can also promise that you will all at least be able to eat one meal with the fodder that I have just given you. You will all have a lot of freedom and can come and go as you please on the prairie. Furthermore, you won’t have to worry about humans coming after you, trying to catch you anymore. The people at the farm will also keep you safe. At night, there’s even a warm stable to s.h.i.+eld you all from rain and wind. That way, you don’t need to be exposed to the elements like you are in the fields and forage for food in bad weather!”
There were some terms that the horses didn’t understand. However, Xiaocao had the little divine stone translate everything for her, so her ideas and explanations were fully transmitted to the horses. The little divine stone, who had been suddenly pulled into working for her, had once again morphed into a pocket-sized horse. It jumped and ran around the wild horses. In this form, it didn’t even reach the height of the horses’ knees but still frolicked around as if it wasn’t afraid of being stepped on.
It was quite obvious that the other five to six horses were starting to be tempted by her offer. Only the head stallion, the white horse, was still a bit hesitant. On one hand was the dignity of the horse race, but, on the other hand, there was the temptation of delicious foods to eat. The horse battled between these two factors and couldn’t come to a decision.
Yu Xiaocao patted its neck in a comforting manner and smiled as she looked into the distance at that figure that was speeding over. She lightly sighed and said, “There’s no need for you to make a decision today. You can go back and think about it. I’ll be at the farm in the future. If you want to eat sugar cubes or fodder, you can go and find me. My companion is here and it’s getting dark, so I need to go!”
As she spoke, she took out the last piece of rock candy from her pouch and stuffed it into the white horse’s mouth. The white horse could sense that there was another human approaching and became a bit uneasy. The other horses, on the other hand, seemed to be quite calm. Perhaps it was because they had only interacted with Xiaocao and had a decent impression of humans in their hearts now, so they weren’t as skittish anymore.
However, after a few seconds, the smell of a wolf came by again. Although the white horse knew that this little human girl had raised that black wolf as a pet, it wasn’t willing to gamble with its or the other horses’ lives. It used its neck to rub against Xiaocao and then began to run farther away.
Before Fierce Wind could stop completely, Zhu Junyang leapt off of his horse and bolted towards that slender figure. In the next moment, Xiaocao had been tightly embraced into his warm and st.u.r.dy chest. She grinned and was about to return the hug when she discovered that her b.u.t.t had been hit a few times.
“Ahhh——” Xiaocao screeched in alarm. It wasn’t because her b.u.t.t hurt a lot nor was she trying to gain sympathy from him. It was because the attack had come too suddenly and she was feeling embarra.s.sed by the process.
Zhu Junyang had been startled by her scream and thought that he had hit her too hard by accident. He hurriedly bent over to take a look at her bottom. However, could a virtuous maiden’s b.u.t.t be checked by just anyone? Yu Xiaocao quickly used her hands to hide her b.u.t.t and retreated a few steps. She looked at him warily and shouted, “Stop! What are you trying to do? Are you going to do something perverted?”
Zhu Junyang noticed that she was quite nimble in her retreat, so it looked like there was nothing wrong with her b.u.t.t. He immediately became angry and huffed a few times before he began scolding her again, “You’re still okay scolding this prince, ah? Do you know just how worried I was when I saw you in the middle of that wild horse herd? Do you know just how close you were to being trampled into a meat paste by those stampeding horses? Do you know just how this prince has felt for this past half day while looking for you? Hitting you on the b.u.t.t a few times is just a light punishment! Tell me! Are you wrong or not? Will you do this again in the future?”
“Alright ah! I admit that I was too impetuous this time. Next time, I won"t dare!” Yu Xiaocao was very apologetic. After all, when the wild herd had run off at that moment, there was a split second when she thought that she was going to lose her life under their hooves! Fortunately, it wasn’t the time for her to die yet. After traveling around a bit with the wild horse herd, she managed to make it out alive and well.
Zhu Junyang saw that the little la.s.s’s shoulders were slumped and her head down, as if she was truly regretful of her previous actions. His heart immediately softened but he didn’t let his words show that he had already excused her, “Hmph! If you’re ever this impetuous again, then it won’t just be a matter of getting hit on the b.u.t.t a few times! Do you know how we punish the servants who make a mistake in the residence ah?”
“I don’t know!” Yu Xiaocao was like a student who had made a mistake and was being scolded by her teacher. She stood there obediently and listened.
“Their pants get pulled down and they get hit with a plank in front of everyone!!” Zhu Junyang was trying to scare her. However, the image of the little la.s.s with her bottom bare suddenly came to his mind. His nose heated up and he almost had a nose bleed right then and there.
Yu Xiaocao wrinkled her nose and raised her head to look at him accusingly, “Are you sure you want everyone to see your future wife’s bare b.u.t.t ah?”
“Uhhh...of course I don’t!” Zhu Junyang suddenly felt like he was someone who had just crushed his own toe with his own rock. He hurriedly stated, “This prince will only have the two of us in private while we pull down your pants and hit your b.u.t.t!”
“Such a pervert!!” Yu Xiaocao glared at him fiercely and turned around to bury her head into Little White’s fur in an attempt to make him angry. Earlier, when Little White saw that his master"s b.u.t.t was being hit, he had already made preparations to attack. Even though the man was very familiar with the master, he was still alert to any problems. Little White was clearly very loyal and was obviously much more reliable than Little Black, who was stupidly watching everything.
When Little Black saw that his master had her face buried in his brother’s fur and was stroking him, he felt quite envious and also came over to join in on the fun. He threw himself onto his master and Little White. Although this fellow was a bit foolish sometimes, he still knew that when he was playing that he needed to put most of his weight on Little White and not Xiaocao. Now sandwiched between the two, Xiaocao could feel their fur tickling her and her silvery laughter echoed out and filled the air.
Zhu Junyang pushed aside Little Black but he didn’t try to do the same with Little White because earlier, when he was. .h.i.tting the little la.s.s’s b.u.t.t, there was a split second where he felt that if he was ‘violent’ towards Xiaocao, Little White would have tried to bite him.
After dragging the la.s.s off of Little White, he pointed at the white horse, who was standing not too far from them and said, “That wild horse seems to be observing us right now! Did you have any gains after staying with the horse herd for half a day?”
“Of course, I gained quite a lot! The fact that the head stallion even allowed me to ride him is the most obvious gain! However, if we want to tame him, we still need a bit more time and work! When we get back, gather all of the employees at the stud farm together to have a meeting. You need to tell them that if they see any wild horses getting closer to the farm, they are absolutely not allowed to make a big fuss or try to catch them. They should just pretend that they’re not there.”
Yu Xiaocao didn’t think there was anything wrong with her ordering Zhu Junyang, the head of the stud farm, around. This particular habit of hers had been allowed by this man for a long time. Royal Prince Yang, who usually seemed quite cold and aloof, was very obedient and accommodating in front of his la.s.s. Even the extremely important horse farm and the subsequent cavalry unit was behind him in importance compared to his la.s.s.
When the emperor found out later, he couldn"t help but make fun of the prince. The emperor quipped that while other heroes had a weakness for the charms of a beautiful woman, Zhu Junyang was a hero who had a weakness for the tears of a silly little la.s.s! At most, Xiaocao could be considered a delicately pretty young maiden. Compared to some of the other young maidens in the capital, who were immensely talented and had stunning good looks, Xiaocao was, at most, a common appetizer.
However, who would have thought that his cousin would be unhappy by this comparison? In fact, the prince even rudely interrupted him and expressed that he just liked this type of appetizer paired with his meal. Thus, he didn’t need the emperor worrying about them!
Zhu Junyang didn’t have anything against Yu Xiaocao’s proposed idea and plan. He only asked her out of curiosity, “What’s the reasoning behind all of this?”
“The wild horses in the herd are all, for the most part, free horses. They’re very similar to free people. Without a reason, why would any person sell themselves to become a servant and, thus, the property of someone else? Anyone in that circ.u.mstance would resist. Horses are the same! By using special horse feed and the sugar cubes as bait, we can lure them into the stud farm. As long as the ranch allows them enough freedom, these horses will soon find out that living at the stud farm doesn’t mean that we will deprive them of their independence and dignity. As time goes on, they will realize that the horse farm and the humans there aren’t as scary or horrible as they thought. Thus, they will gradually become intimate with the place.”
She paused for a moment before continuing, “Perhaps the ones in this generation will never be able to be ridden or tamed by any of us. However, their descendants will be born at the farm and grow up there. They will feel a sense of belonging then. At that time, these descendants won’t leave the farm even if we tried to make them go!”
Zhu Junyang wasn’t a slow or stupid person. In fact, he was thinking even further ahead in the future, “Quite brilliant ah! At that time, when the wild horses spend time with the mares on the farm, wouldn"t that mean we have a good supply of strong stallions for the stock, ah? This truly solves our problem of finding good quality horseflesh to introduce to the bloodlines here! Such an incredibly awesome idea!! Just where do you get these ideas of yours ah? Such a great plan and stratagem for the future of the stud farm, as expected of someone this prince likes!”
“Hmph! Just who was the one hitting me earlier and also stated that I needed to be punished, ah?” Yu Xiaocao crossed her arms around her chest and she jutted out her face. If she had a tail, it likely would have been perked up into the air.
Zhu Junyang walked over, and before she could react, he attacked her b.u.t.t again. However, this time, he didn’t hit her b.u.t.t and instead started ma.s.saging it! The feeling of her soft and bouncy b.u.t.t against his hand made him feel quite delighted! He remembered to placate the little la.s.s by saying, “This prince was only worried about your safety! Although the stud farm is important, you are still the most important thing in my life. There’s nothing in the world that will be able to displace you from the position in my heart!”