Chapter 51 - A Fine Steed

The trees on Bianjing’s streets swayed in the wind during the middle of summer. The flowers were abundant and splendid like embroidered brocade.

Mu Huai was working outside. Wearing a cyan shirt embroidered with geese and reeds, on his waist hung the xie die that Rong Xi had personally crafted for him. When he strode towards the luxurious carriage, he attracted the eyes of the madams and young ladies passing by. The bystanders all let out a sigh, what a handsome and fair young noble.

Strong brows, bewitching eyes, and handsome. It was just that the air around him was a little intimidating, making him seem a little unfriendly. However, all aristocrats were like this. When the crow was still guessing his identity, he had already sat inside the carriage and ordered the driver to set off.

They didn’t realize that there were some guards in plain clothes surrounding the carriage. They were constantly monitoring the movements in their surroundings, protecting Mu Huai in secret. Just now, Mu Huai had gone to the stables, and now he was going towards Fengqiu Street to pick up Yin Cheng who was currently in the army barracks. He was planning on going to the stables along with Yin Cheng.

When the group of people had arrived at the stables, the Left and Right Horse Stewards were already waiting to greet them. After Mu Huai and Yin Cheng had gotten off the carriage, Mu Huai had the two stewards take them to look at the new warhorses Great Qi had raised this year.

The warhorses in the stables each had their own use. As such, the words left, right, thousand, up, or forever, would be written on their bodies to differentiate them. This way, with just a glance, one would know which person would be in charge of which horses and what they would be used for.

The Left Horse Steward led over a handsome chestnut-colored horse and respectfully addressed Mu Huai, “Your Highness, this one is the sturdiest of this year’s horses. It’s a descendant of the horses from Kingdom Gu, and was raised in Great Qi.”

Mu Huai and Yin Cheng glanced at each other and then walked towards the horse. Observing the horse, he still felt that it looked quite average and didn’t look like a particularly outstanding horse.

A horse was the foundation of a soldier’s armory, the greatest support for a country.

In his past life, when he had attacked Kingdom Jin and Kingdom Ye, those two countries were both located south and was not considered very far from Great Qi. Only when he thought about attacking Kingdom Yan did he suffer heavy losses due to lacking in horsefeed. At that time, he realized how vital horses were for Great Qi’s military campaigns.

Today, when he came to the stables and looked at these warhorses, each one was slimmer than the next. Moreover, they didn’t seem energetic at all, looking very dopey. Forget about fighting wars, even having these horses run a few dozen kilometers would be difficult. Currently, Great Qi has a large number of foot soldiers, but few cavalries. In addition, only the higher-ranking soldiers or generals can be equipped with a horse.

Yin Cheng saw that Mu Huai’s face had darkened and persuaded, “The environment of Qi is not as ideal as Kingdom Gu or Kingdom Yan who have their own plains. The north is indeed more suitable than the south to raise horses. The grass there is fresh and abundant, and the water is plentiful. The horses can also run around on the plains, making them naturally more robust and sturdier. Since Your Highness is going to Kingdom Gu to purchase horses, you might as well relax. Every country has their own specialty products. The treasures that my Great Qi has naturally exceeds Kingdom Gu.”

Mu Huai heard Yin Cheng’s advice and replied in a low voice, “En, that sounds quite logical.”

Following, he sat on the horse and after cleanly pulling on the reins, he cracked his whip somewhat angrily.

The horses were useless, what are they going to use to fight?

With these thoughts in his head, Mu Huai had already galloped a couple rounds around the course, looking very heroic and refreshing.

The horse huffed a little, and he tightly pulled the reins, making the horse rear up. When the metal hooves landed on the ground once again, Mu Huai loosened the reins and recalled what Yin Cheng just said.

Even if he bought Kingdom Gu’s foals this time, if there wasn’t a suitable place to raise them, this horse would not end up being a good one. Although the stables occupied a sizeable amount of land, it still was lacking in the appropriate conditions for horses to grow.

However, the suggestion to purchase foals from Kingdom Gu was a good one. No matter how they tried to breed Great Qi’s native horses, they were still an inferior breed. Kingdom Gu’s horses were purebred and were more outstanding than Great Qi’s native ones from the moment they were born.

Mu Huai cracked his whip again, “Go.”

The chestnut horse once again began to gallop. Mu Huai looked at the scenery from the corner of his eyes and secretly thought, after he finished purchasing the horses from Kingdom Gu, he should also move the location of the stables.

******

Kingdom Gu’s base camp.

In the summer, the grasslands stretched beyond the horizon, the skies were blue, and the clouds flowed along like brocade.

A golden eagle screeched as it languidly flew through the sky.

Tuoba Yu wore a purple robe with a jade belt around his waist and leather boots on his feet. The youth raised his head and looked at the golden eagle in the sky. His hair was worn in the usual style of Kingdom Gu’s young aristocratic nobles, half up and half down. Under the bright rays of the sun, specks of amber could be seen in his brown pupils.

Tuoba Yu stretched out his arm and blew into the bone whistle hanging around his neck. The golden eagle quickly landed on his strong bicep. The golden eagle had sharp eyes but Tuoba Yu’s gaze was even sharper, containing some cruelty. He placed the leather eyemask over the golden eagle’s head, leaving only its beak showing.

Golden eagles were a very wild species of birds of prey. If its eyes were not covered, it would become easily aggressive, injuring others. This golden eagle was given to Tuoba Yu as a present by Luolu Kehan when he had just adopted him. It had begun following him when it was just a chick.

He had personally raised this golden eagle.

The golden eagle that he was so proud of is even able to hunt wolves. There are already over a dozen wolves that had tragically died under the sharp claws of this golden eagle.

At this moment, a servant from Luolu Kehan’s tent had found Tuoba Yu and respectfully addressed him, “Heir, Kehan is looking for you.”

Tuoba Yu lightly nodded his head and entered the tent while carrying the golden eagle. Inside the tent, Luolu Kehan was currently getting it on with a charming young Gu lady. Seeing this, Tuoba Yu hurriedly shifted his gaze to the side.

Luolu Kehan’s originally happy face immediately sank and he told the girl in his arms, “Go down first.”

The young girl’s clothes were disheveled, but she immediately obeyed and hurriedly covered herself up as she escaped.

Tuoba Yu sat down at one of the low tables in the tent. A servant immediately brought over some raw meat and a knife. Tuoba Yu grasped the dagger and cut off a slice of raw meat as he fed the golden eagle.

Luolu Kehan opened his mouth at this time, “Kingdom Qi wants to purchase horses from my Kingdom Gu. Great Qi’s Crown Prince is also about to hold his grand wedding by Jinming Pond. This time, the monarch’s heir and princess will also go as well. I heard that Crown Princess Consort’s surname is Rong, the same as your original surname. Weren’t you searching for your elder sister? That Great Qi’s Crown Princess Consort also seems to be the daughter of a criminal, could it be your elder sister?”

Tuoba Yu’s expression was indifferent as he said, “This son doesn’t know.”

Although he answered Luolu Kehan this way, he had already secretly confirmed that the Crown Princess Consort of Great Qi was his older sister, Rong Xi.

A few months after Tuoba Yu had been driven out of Qi’s borders by Mu Huai, he was surprised that someone had recognized him. After returning to Kingdom Gu, he had people secretly investigate and din’t expect that the man his older sister had followed was actually the Crown Prince of Great Qi.

Every time he recalled that night and how his older sister had referred to herself as a servant, half kneeling in front of him and bowing, anger would well up in his heart.

These years, he had been able to survive in this foreign country, turning from a naive young boy to the current heir of Kehan. He had suffered countless difficulties that normal people couldn’t even imagine. In order to survive, he had once acted like a beast and drank blood. The only reason he survived was because there was a longstanding belief he held in his heart.

He wanted to find his older sister, Rong Xi, then never part ever again. He must become a strong man so that he could protect his older sister. Tuoba Yu knew that Rong Bing, his birth mother, as well as his grandmother had all passed away. In this world, other than Luolu Kehan who treated him as his heir, he only had Rong Xi left.

His original name was Rong Hui, and was Great Qi’s Minister of Ceremonies’ Rong Bing’s shuzi1. His biological father, Rong Bing, didn’t shower him with love and they could even be considered to be estranged. At that time, because of Rong Bing, his birth mother didn’t dare to show too much love towards him either. His grandmother’s body was not very good and was often bedridden.

Only his older sister, Rong Xi, treated him well. Tuoba Yu spent almost all of his time with Rong Xi. In his heart, the most important person in the world to him was Rong Xi.

Tuoba Yu remembered that when he was little, Rong Bing had once punished him with a beating due to his stubbornness. His mother didn’t dare to stand out to protect him, but Rong Xi didn’t care about the whip their father was waving around. She protected him and took the beating for him.

At that time, his grandmother often talked about his sister’s marriage. The moment he imagined his sister was going to marry someone, he would feel deeply unhappy. Tuoba Yu didn’t like other men to get close to Rong Xi. Even when Rong Xi’s personal maidservant would be closer to her, he would purposely throw a tantrum to attract Rong Xi’s attention.

At that time, he was only five or six years old. However, whenever he thought that Rong Xi would marry another man after a few years, he would feel depressed and a little jealousy. How nice it would be if if his older sister didn’t marry anyone, spoiling only him forever.

Tuoba Yu played with the dagger and unknowingly cut his finger in the process. Fresh blood slowly spilled out. The golden eagle seemed to have smelled the scent of blood from its owner’s body and raised its wings in excitement.

Tuoba Yu ignored his wound and his gaze became a little fierce as he whispered to the golden eagle, “Ssh.”

The golden eagle immediately stopped flapping its wings.

Tuoba Yu addressed Luolu Kehan at this time, “Ah Ye2, this son wants to enter Qi this time with Kingdom Gu’s merchant caravan.”

This time when he enters Qi, he would snatch his sister back no matter what.

This author wants to say: He’s her biological brother, this wolf cub is purely feeling jealousy as a family member, no improper thoughts