Fields of Gold

That black creature...he wasn’t sure whether it was a dog or wolf, was currently circling around the feudal princess in a flattering manner. It looked like it really wanted to jump on her to wash her face with its tongue but it didn't dare to. Even dogs had become more aware in this age. The young bodyguard thought that he had actually seen joy, fawning, and a desire to toady in the animal’s eyes...

“Little Black, if you dare to lick this prince’s future wife, this prince will skin you from head to toe and feed your flesh to the dogs. Do you believe me or not?” Zhu Junyang’s voice sounded icy cold like a sharp sword and seemed to penetrate Little Black’s thick fur.

Little Black shrunk its neck back in a cowardly manner and its ears drooped down as it ran to its master to hide behind her. Unfortunately, its master was too small and delicate. No matter how hard it tried, it was unable to hide its large and bulky figure completely behind her. Little Black surreptitiously raised its eyes and looked to glance at the ‘human’ it considered to be an apex predator. In its heart, it knew that it couldn’t offend this human in the future.

As for Little White, it glared at its pathetic brother and raised its head high to arrogantly walk through the circle of bodyguards to get to Yu Xiaocao. It endured the pressure of Zhu Junyang’s stare and shoved its shaggy and furry giant head towards Xiaocao. It was acting like it did when it was young, proudly begging for pets.

Xiaocao hugged its neck and stroked its head a few times. Little White pretended to look displeased but its eyes betrayed its pleasure. The master smelled incredibly good and it really wanted to jump on her. However, its master was truly too small and weak. If it leapt on her, she would probably break in two. What to do? Such a dilemma!

Little White effortlessly placed its giant chin on his master’s shoulders and then rubbed its furry wolf face against its master’s delicate little face. It enjoyed the feeling of his master caressing it. Furthermore, it even sent a provoking glance at Royal Prince Yang, who had a glowering expression on his face. ‘Little human, if you want to fight with this wolf king for a human, you’re still a bit too naive for this!’

It had been a long time since Yu Xiaocao last saw Little Black and Little White. She hugged their two necks and enjoyed being with them for a bit. The bodyguards all watched their new master with their hearts in their throats. She was quite careless in front of these two wolves that were even taller than her. She’d pet one head and then pull on the other’s ears. She even jumped onto the back of the black wolf and had the creature move forward a few steps.

All of the bodyguards were quite astonished by this. Were these animals actually wolves? They clearly looked like wolves but why were they even more docile than most dogs? That wasn’t right. Although these two animals were quite gentle around the Yu Family, they had clearly been baring their fangs at them, the bodyguards, earlier! However, from the looks of things, these two creatures should be the pets of their new master because their attitude to the new master was even more intimate and loving than they were towards the other Yu Family members.

Ai! This truly a sign that the person their old master had his eye on was a special one. She was such a small and young girl yet she was able to train vicious and cruel wolves to a point where they were more docile and gentle than lambs. No wonder she was also able to the tame the ‘ruthless beast’ that was Royal Prince Yang.

All of these bodyguards had been personally handpicked by Royal Prince Yang from his own ranks of bodyguards. He had sent them over to guard the Yu Family’s new residence. The vast majority of them had grown up with their old master and some of them were even trained by Royal Prince Yang and had endured his crazy ‘training’ sessions.

They had all experienced what their old master was like whenever he lost control of himself. Furthermore, they were responsible for risking their lives when he was insane to subdue him. Naturally, they weren’t his match. They were often injured during these fights and had to recuperate for a while after their old master calmed down. 

However, ever since their old master became acquainted with the new master, it seemed like his personality had undergone a vast change and he hadn’t exploded since. They never had to risk themselves to stop him and no longer got injured heavily. Although the ones who were sent to the Yu Residence were a bit reluctant in their hearts, their fellow colleagues, who had been left behind, were quite envious of them.   

By following their new master, their lives not only became much more secure but their new master was also very generous. Every time she gave the maidservants something new to eat, they would also get a portion. Their days had passed by in quite a leisurely and comfortable manner. Uh...it hadn’t been too long but they all had to loosen their belts and punch a new hole in them…

However, it wasn’t as if they didn’t have a conscience. They didn’t forget their old master after gaining a new one. Furthermore, the royal prince had said that once they had trained some new guards for the Yu Residence, then they could follow their new master as a part of her dowry when she married over. At that time, the royal prince was planning on having his own separate household and they would go with him as the new household would also need bodyguards to protect them...Uh! Something didn’t seem quite right. How come they suddenly felt like they, who were unrivaled martial experts except compared to the prince, were now like those two wolves romping around their new master?

“Little Black, Little White? Are you two...planning on heading to the capital with us?” Yu Xiaocao looked at the wolves with a bit of astonishment. Didn’t these two value their freedom, which was why they didn’t like to be cooped up in the residence? Why did they suddenly want to come with her to the capital?   

Yu Xiaocao felt a bit uncomfortable when she saw the two pairs of eyes staring at her with clear persistence. In Dongshan Village, she was still able to fool the villagers by saying that they had a mix of wolf and dog blood. Furthermore, these two had grown up in the village and were quite gentle. No accidents had occurred.

However, in the capital, it was a different story. Anyone they bumped into on the streets could be the relative of the imperial family or some member of a high and noble family. If they weren’t careful and harmed someone, then she wasn’t sure she could bear the consequences! That being said, although these two were quite gentle usually, it really depended on who they interacted with. If they were around someone strange and they were provoked, she couldn't guarantee they wouldn’t bite. Even if they didn't bite down, it was likely they would scare the offender until he peed his pants.

Yu Xiaocao smacked her lips and couldn't make up her mind. These two had grown up with her and had been fed mystic-stone water their whole lives. When they saw that their master was hesitating, they acted as if they were abandoned puppies and drooped down in dismay.

Little Black thought, ‘Wah wahhhh….Master, this one doesn’t want to be abandoned in the mountains. This one wants to go with you and celebrate the New Years. This one wants to look around the capital and see what it’s like. Wah wahhhh, don’t abandon Little Black. Little Black will be obedient!’

The normally arrogant and proud Little White, on the other hand, had a tinge of sadness in its thoughts, ‘Did the master get a new pet in the capital so our status in her heart has decreased? That’s not okay, we absolutely cannot let someone new take over our places in the master’s heart. Even if the master doesn’t bring us, we still need to follow her sneakily from behind. We need to find out who dared to take our places. We’re willing to fight to the death to maintain our places!’

Zhu Junyang frowned as he eyed the little white wolf and he didn’t miss the dejection in the wolf’s eyes. Although he had the ability to read minds, it didn’t extend to reading the thoughts of animals. However, he could clearly tell that his little lass was conflicted over this.

“If you can’t bear to not bring them, then bring them along! Later on, just say that they are new animals that this prince brought over from the western hemisphere. Wouldn’t that work? What are you working yourself up for?” He squeezed through the two animals and lightly patted the little lass’s head as he helped her make the decision.  Little Black eyes’ glittered with joy as it looked at the prince, ‘You’re so good! Brother, Little Black will invite you to eat wild pheasant…’

Little White stared at the hand that Zhu Junyang was using to stroke its master's head for a long time with its deep green eyes as it thought, ‘This person has ulterior motives for the master. Should I bite off his hand? Or should I bite it off? I should bite it off…’

Zhu Junyang raised an eyebrow at the wolf, ‘Do you want to try? Will you be able to bite my hand off or will this prince pull all of your teeth out first?’

Little White weighed the ability of the man in front of him and then felt a bit depressed. A wise person needed to submit to the circumstances. Right now it couldn’t win in a fight against this human, so it was better to lie low for now. 

”Thus, the carriage train to the capital had added on two large dog-like animals. Little White was pretty good as it was steady and escorted Xiaocao’s carriage from either the left or right side. Yingchun was quite interested in Little White and asked, “Young Miss, is Little White really a wolf ah? Are there truly white wolves? It looks so pretty ah and this servant wants to be like you, Young Miss, and pet it. However, it looks really arrogant and proud! If this servant tries to touch him, will it bite me?”  

“If you try, won’t you find out?” Wutong had relaxed a bit when she found out these two vicious looking animals had been raised since young by the young miss and that they wouldn’t harm people. However, she still couldn’t bear to like them. Yingchun was the one with more courage than sense. Other people did their best to avoid such fierce beasts yet this girl was trying to get closer. If one accidentally provoked them, then getting bitten on the hand or foot would be considered a light consequence!

Yingchun slightly raised the window curtain and looked at the Little White who had an expression that clearly said, ‘strangers are not allowed’. She then looked at Little Black, who was trotting in the front next to one of the bodyguards, and swallowed before she said, “Forget it. This servant will first try getting close with Little Black first ah…”

With these two around, the rations of the carriage train had improved perceptively. On the way there, they had crossed over many wild fields or small forests. Although these areas didn’t have any large animals, there was still quite a bit of small game to be had. Sometimes, during lunch, these two would disappear into the wild thickets and not be seen.

Before long, the bodyguards were supplied with a decent amount of wild pheasants, wild hares, and other small game. Sometimes, the two wolves would even bring back a wild goat or roe deer back! Yu Xiaocao had taken out some spices for roasting for the group, so everyone from the Yu Family to the bodyguards and maidservants were able to eat handsomely. Thus, they all agreed that having the two wolves along was good.

Like this, Little Black and Little White became familiar with the bodyguards. The horses in the group also no longer spooked at the sight of these two wolves and now saw them as ‘large dogs’. By the time they got to the capital, the bodyguards were good buddies with Little Black. Little Black had an easy-going personality and got along well with people. Thus, everyone would be able to pet its head from time to time.

On the whole journey, the two of them continued to hunt every day. The game that they couldn’t finish were all thrown onto a separate cart to store. It was the middle of winter, so the meat wouldn’t spoil when kept outside. By the time they reached the gates of the capital, they had a whole cart full of game!

When their carriage train was about to go through the city gates, they were, as expected, stopped by the city guards. There was nothing they could do. After all, it was very hard to miss these two large wolves.

The officials in charge of guarding the capital had recognized Yu Xiaocao and Royal Prince Yang when they saw them. One of them eyed the two of them in embarrassment, who were well-regarded by the emperor, and stammered, “Royal Prince, Feudal Princess, fierce beasts are not allowed in the capital...if they harmed anyone there, this one can’t take the responsibility.”

Yingchun had a bold personality and walked forward with the little roe deer in her arms as she scolded, “What kind of eyes do you have to see fierce beasts following us to the capital?”

The guard official looked towards Little Black and Little White, which made it obvious what he was referring to. Yingchun snorted and stated, “Are your eyes half blind? These are clearly a new type of dog that were brought over from the western hemisphere. How are they now vicious beasts? Little Black…”

Little Black, who was currently in the middle of acting cute and playing with the people around, heard someone call its name. It scampered over and used its damp and large eyes to regard the guard official, who had a nervous expression on his face, with curiosity. Then it looked towards Yingchun as if it was asking, ‘Master’s maidservant, what did you call me over for?’

“Little Black, he claims that you are a fierce and vicious animal who will harm people. Tell him, will you bite people ah?” Yingchun was on the younger side so when she spoke she had a bit of a childish air.