Fields of Gold

Black Whirlwind pitifully ran towards its master as it whined and cried in a spoiled manner. Xiaocao stifled her desire to laugh and stuffed a rock candy into the little fellow’s mouth to sooth its bruised little ego.

The head stallion sensitively could tell that there was spiritual energy that was coming off of the sugar lump. It hurriedly raised its head and followed the smell over. Under the light of the moon, a familiar figure was dressed entirely in white and her body seemed to emit a white glow like an immortal. The white stallion wasn’t able to appreciate the looks of a small human girl as its entire attention was taken up by the rock candy that the little black colt was currently chewing on in pleasure.

The head stallion gracefully headed over in the direction of Xiaocao. Little Black Whirlwind could sense the wildness on the other horse and thought that it was going to try to harm its master, so it advanced a couple steps forward. It used its small and weak body to block Xiaocao from the older horse.

It was this fellow again! The white horse lowered its head to glance at the tiny Black Whirlwind and its eyes were full of disdain. If it wanted to harm this human little girl, did the little foal really think it could stop it? It gently used its foreleg to push the little fellow away and stopped in front of Xiaocao. Its large mouth beelined for that familiar embroidered pouch.

At this time, a black colored little figure swiftly rushed over in an attempt to smash into the white stallion's head. The white horse backed up a step and avoided the little exploding bomb’s figure.

‘Hissssss——You’re not allowed to harm my master!!’ Although Black Whirlwind had a small figure, the noise it made was both loud and trumpeting, ‘Where is everyone? Where are the grooms? Where are the guards? Did everyone die in their sleep? There’s a bad horse here bullying my master. People come here and help ah!’

When she saw little Black Whirlwind making a heroic stance, trying to protect her from this intruder, Yu Xiaocao didn’t know whether she should laugh or feel touched by the little foal’s protectiveness. She stepped forward, bent down, and gently hugged the little fellow’s slightly trembling body. She stroked the foal’s soft and downy fur to comfort it and smiled, “Don’t worry, don’t be scared. It won’t harm us!”

Although Black Whirlwind was still quite young, its intelligence was already at around a five year old human child’s. It was able to understand the vast majority of what its master was saying. ‘What the? The master recognizes this scoundrel of a thief that had been stealing my midnight snacks?’ Black Whirlwind swiveled its head around to look at Xiaocao doubtfully.

“However, Black Whirlwind is so brave. I’ll reward you with a piece of sugar candy!” Yu Xiaocao took out a piece of rock sugar, placed it in her palm and was about to feed it to the little black foal.

Suddenly, a large head butted over and a warm tongue curled around the rock candy, stealing it from her hand. The white stallion closed its eyes in pleasure as it chewed on the sugar. It also silently complained that the amount of spiritual energy within the candy seemed to be less compared to the ones the little girl gave to him before. Not enough to satisfy its craving!

Black Whirlwind was infuriated by this! Not only did this interloper steal its midnight snack but it also blatantly stole its rock candy. This meant war! Black Whirlwind, whose head was filled with rage, seemed to go mad as it rushed towards the white stallion. It began to kick and bite at the other horse and was making quite a ruckus.

However, that white horse seemed to disregard the little fellow, who only reached the height of its knees. It sidled a bit to avoid the foal’s attack and then just let the younger horse pummel it. That little bit of strength was only a tickle to it. The most important thing was to swindle a few more pieces of candy over!

“Black Whirlwind, there’s still candy here, come back!” Yu Xiaocao was a bit afraid that the little fellow might be stomped upon by the white stallion. She hurriedly called it back and fished out another piece of candy. She avoided the white stallion’s open mouth and stuffed the rock candy into the little fellow’s mouth.

After chewing a bit on the sweet candy, Black Whirlwind’s reason gradually came back and it cooled its temper. It glared angrily at the white stallion and raised its head arrogantly as if it was trying to say, ‘See ah?! The master still likes me the most!’

The white horse cast a resentful glance at Xiaocao and stretched out its mouth to snatch at Xiaocao’s embroidered pouch. Xiaocao dodged it and tried to entice it, “See ah? The treatment at this farm is quite good. If you decide to stay here, every day you'll get a piece of candy! How’s that? Do you want to think it through?”

The white stallion momentarily stopped its attempts to steal food and then pretended to not have heard a single word as it resumed its attacks towards her embroidered pouch. Yu Xiaocao noticed that it was pretending and felt a bit helpless. However, since she had already said she wanted to say, there was no need to press on. She was sure that, like a frog being gradually boiled in a pot of water, the white stallion and the other wild horses would soon be enticed and captured by the farm’s benefits.

She shoved another piece of candy into the white stallion’s mouth and patted its neck as she smiled, “Alright, you ate some food and got a few candy pieces too. Quickly go back to where you need to go, ok? Oh right, in the future, if you encounter any storms or nasty weather, remember that there’s a new set of buildings over there that can shelter you. We especially prepared that for you and your herd! There won’t be any people there to bother you. Trust me, even if you come to live at the farm, you will still have plenty of freedom. However, there is one thing I need to mention. If you want to find some wives here, you need to pick first from the horses here!”

After successfully getting another piece of candy, the white stallion was finally satisfied and stopped its attempts at stealing more. It knew that there was a limit on how much spiritual energy it could eat in one day. If it ate too much, it would end up being harmful instead of beneficial. It reluctantly glanced at the human little girl again before it finally turned away to leave.

Yu Xiaocao quietly watched as that snow white horse, who didn’t have a single flaw on its body, gracefully treaded away under the gentle glow of the moon. She felt as if the horse had just come out of a storybook. It was so stunning that a person couldn’t bear to take their eyes away.

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?”