Chapter 4
At the attendant’s announcement, Yuhe’s expression changed abruptly.
In both her first life and this one, Yuhe was terrified of the Qiangrong princess.
Even now that she was Murong Jin’s favorite secondary consort, Murong Zhu remained someone she dared not offend.
After all, Murong Zhu’s mother had been killed by Murong Jin’s mother.
Even though Murong Jin was now the exalted young lord, Murong Zhu had never shown her elder brother the slightest deference.
To avoid crossing paths with her, Yuhe leaped to her feet and hurried out through the side door.
Before leaving, she did not forget to glance back at me with a smile.
Her meaning was clear: the princess’s torment was about to begin.
After all, Yuhe had not seen the Snow Dragon colt in the stable.
She assumed I must have killed it.
The princess strode in. After sweeping her gaze around and failing to spot the colt, her expression darkened at once.
“Where is the stable slave?”
The attendants immediately seized me and threw me down before her.
Murong Zhu looked down at me. “Are you from Southern Tang?”
I lowered my head. “Yes.”
“Where is my Snow Dragon colt?”
“I released it into the wild,” I replied.
Murong Zhu’s eyes flew wide.
“You let it go?”
She had never imagined that a slave could be so bold. Her voice trembled with rage.
“I paid six thousand taels of silver for that colt, and you set it free? Who gave you the nerve?”
The attendants looked at me with pity.
They all believed I was as good as dead.
Yet when I raised my head, my face was perfectly calm. “Please come with me, Princess.”
Perhaps she had never seen a slave remain so composed after committing such a grave offense.
Murong Zhu actually followed me out into the grasslands.
“Princess, the Snow Dragon was sired by a wild horse. Its untamed nature makes it impossible to keep in a stable. Confined there, it would refuse all food and water and die within two weeks.”
“The only way to keep it alive was to release it.”
Murong Zhu laughed in fury. “So I spent six thousand taels of silver just for you to set it free? Did you decide you would not live long in this life, so you might as well bank some merit for the next?”
Before she finished speaking, I put two fingers to my lips and let out a long whistle.
Moments later, a snow-white horse appeared at the edge of our vision.
The princess froze.
It was her Snow Dragon colt.
The colt galloped straight toward me. When it reached us, I swung onto its back.
“Hyah!”
I rode three circuits around the pasture, issuing commands as I went. The Snow Dragon obeyed every one perfectly.
Murong Zhu’s eyes widened with each lap.
When the third circuit ended, I reined in before her, dismounted, and bowed respectfully.
“The horse has been trained and is ready for the princess to ride.”
The way Murong Zhu looked at me had changed completely.
“Who were you in Southern Tang?”
“My name is Chu Yusu.”
Murong Zhu narrowed her eyes. “A princess, then.”
Our imperial grandfather, who had devoted his life to agriculture, had named every royal child after a kind of grain.
That was why Murong Zhu recognized my royal blood the moment she heard my name.
“You seem to ride well,” she said coolly. “Do you dare race me?”
“At your command.”
A quarter of an hour later, we dismounted, both drenched in sweat.
Murong Zhu panted, “You actually beat me.”
I wiped the sweat from my brow. “Your horsemanship is superb, Princess Murong. I won only with great difficulty.”
Murong Zhu fell silent for a moment, then laughed.
“In all sixteen tribes of the Western Regions, you are the only person who has ever dared defeat me.”
“Bring the Snow Dragon here tomorrow and wait for me.”