“A’Meng going meatless is more credible than you absent from meat.”
At Wei Lian’s command, the palace workers pulled the majestic chestnut horse with beautiful hair.
Not exactly pulled, more like dragged.
Dragging the horse against its will with all of their strength.
The chestnut horse’s front hooves pressed against the ground. It resisted the palace workers’ pulling, snorting through its nose and emitting fierce neighs from time to time, eyes showing its reluctance to be tamed.
Judging from its appearance, it was really a precious horse, capable of galloping over long distances.
Wei Lian ordered, “Be gentle and don’t scare the little fellow.”
The palace workers: “...” Little fellow?!
Don’t you know that if we don’t put this much force, it can kill a group of us with one hoof!
The horse stared at the young man who spoke softly. The emotion in its eyes became more and more restless.
As a fierce horse that had not been subdued by anyone in the entire grassland, it itself also possessed a certain intelligence.
It was originally a wild horse galloping freely on the grassland. It was caught by the people of Chen Empire because it fell into a trap and now it was given to the Qin Empire as a tribute.
It did not grow up wearing a saddle or a bit, it was not bound by a rope, nor fed on feed.
Why would it surrender to mankind when its hatred hadn’t been calmed the moment it was caught. Neither whip nor blade would make it bow its head.
The human in front of it was no exception.
The chestnut horse stood proudly. Even if it was shackled and restrained by others, it held its head high, an arrogance that considered itself unexcelled in the world.
“Arrogant, presumptuous, and unyielding.” Wei Lian was very satisfied. “All my favourite temperaments.”
“Stand down.” Wei Lian ordered, “And close the door.”
“Understood.” The palace workers saluted and closed Yangshou House’s big door.
Leaving Wei Lian and Ji Yue inside, as well as a dog and a horse.
The chestnut horse began to feel uneasy.
Its fierce nature meant it would not yield to human beings, but it did not mean it was not afraid of pain.
During its time in the hands of the people of Chu, it had taken enough whips and even soldering irons.
It did not know what method of torture these humans would use.
Unexpectedly, the young man did not show any instruments of torture, he just said one command—
“Close the door and let A’Meng out.”
The mastiff dog, who originally had no sense of presence from lying lazily on the mat, immediately opened its eyes wide and rushed over with lightning speed.
This startled the horse as its animal instincts had already made it run wildly from the incoming danger.
As an animal, the chestnut horse knew which being it could not provoke. The mastiff was fierce and could go toe to toe with lions or tigers. Make it fight against a horse? That was too tough of a job for the poor horse.
This was the law of nature—survival of the strongest, an instinctive fear rose in the horse that it could not resist.
A’Meng chased after the horse and barked loudly, “Woof, woof, woof!”
The chestnut horse ran madly ahead and whinnied in extreme distress, “Neigh—!”
A horse and a dog in Yangshou House, running from east to west and from west to east.
Always on the move and never stopping for a rest.
This development was very dramatic.
A man taming a horse turned into a show of a dog taming a horse.
Wei Lian and Ji Yue stood side by side and watched the two animals running and chasing around.
Ji Yue commented after a long time, “Wei Lian, you are quite a talented individual.”
Wei Lian replied modestly, “It’s nothing.”
In this way, as long as A’Meng was present, the chestnut horse would be as obedient as he wanted it to be. It would not stand if he wanted it to sit, and it would move at his command.
The only thing Wei Lian needed to ‘learn’ was to ride a horse.
Learning how to ride a horse in three days was not difficult since the most difficult part in this whole situation was to subdue the fierce horse. If the chestnut horse was well-behaved, it would be much easier to get on the horse and run one round.
“I have not learned to ride a horse yet.” Wei Lian said, tilting his head, “Teach me tomorrow?”
And I will make you understand how truly talented I am. He added inside.
Wei Lian is indeed a genius.
A person of noble character needed to learn the six arts: etiquette, music, archery, horsemanship, calligraphy as well as literacy, and mathematics. A scholar could not be too delicate, they also needed to master the art of riding and archery. Any Chu Empire’s princes that are over the age of twelve and are taller than a horse’s back would be sent to an imperial horse course to study the way of horsemanship. A group of princes competed for fame, all aimed to outperform the other and thus, catching their father’s eye.
Wei Lian pursued a low-key life, did not want to get involved in the struggle between his mentally challenged brothers, and had no intention of becoming a target who attracted envy, so he never participated in the competition for glory.
At that time, he focused only on the schoolwork assigned by Shifu. He practised martial arts, the art of healing, and military strategies secretly, while being a mediocre student who merely went through the motions in front of imperial tutors.
Yan Fei once mentioned how he failed to live up to her expectations, how he did not strive for even the smallest glory under her care. That was the only comment. Since essentially, she did not want her adopted son to be excellent enough to overshadow her own son.
When Wei Lian was twelve years old, he listened to the teacher teaching equestrian arts and explaining the essentials of riding with his group of brothers of a similar age. He read his medical book late into the night and slept through the day’s lesson. He did not hear a single word from his teacher.
The teacher was so angry that he woke Wei Lian and quizzed him. Wei Lian was completely clueless and was blank throughout the whole thing.
His other siblings began to quietly laugh at him, beginning to show off their own clear understanding on the essentials of horsemanship.
The teacher praised them and gave him a hard look. “I will personally demonstrate it once before everyone has their turn.”
After the teacher went around the field on horseback, he dismounted and the first one he called was Wei Lian, “Qi Gongzi, you are up first.”
Wei Lian attempted as he was told, hurled himself onto the horse, picked up the rope, and galloped away naturally and smoothly.
His posture was more graceful and fluent than the teacher.
At the end, the teacher was stunned into wide eyes and mouth. Did he learn it just by watching it once?
Then it was the other princes’ turn to attempt riding. They had the main aspects drilled into their memories but did not have the courage to even get on the horse. They didn’t even have the slightest clue on where to put their hands and feet.
The teacher: “...”
Wei Lian did not expect this would happen.
He really did want to keep a low profile.
However, he was selected as first…and did not expect his siblings to ride a horse on their first try. Thus, making him stand out specially.
This was a miscalculation on his part.
To sum up, Wei Lian said he had never learned how to ride a horse, which was not a lie.
It only took him a single read through to learn it, after all.
He was looking forward to Ji Yue teaching him how to ride a horse.
Ji Yue replied, “All right.”
In A’Meng’s home, the dog and the chestnut horse were still in their battle.
One was relentless in its chase, and the other was relentless in getting away. A never-ending vicious cycle.
A’Meng’s instruction was only to scare the chestnut horse, so he just kept chasing after it and would not suddenly change course and go for the horse’s neck.
The horse was a fine steed. So if they continued like this, they would run until the end of time, with no end to be seen.
The chestnut horse was not tired from its physical capability, but mentally, it was having a breakdown.
After all, if an ordinary person was chased by a tiger, even if the person had spare strength, the person’s soul would still be close to frightened out of their body.
Wei Lian finally showed mercy, “Stop.”
A’Meng slowed down before stopping its chase.
It was not listening to Wei Lian.
But it understood that its master would want him to listen to Wei Lian.
Moreover, Wei Lian’s body was stained with its master’s scent, which slightly dissipate A’Meng’s hostility.
Seeing that A’Meng stopped, the chestnut horse suddenly pressed its hooves to the ground and made a complete stop, not daring to move a single muscle.
A’Meng was still eyeing the horse like its prey, as if it would pounce on the horse at any given point.
The chestnut horse shivered before kneeling on its forelegs, laying its entire body on the ground as a sign of submission.
The horse understood thoroughly. The dog listened to the man.
It agreed to be gentle so stop scaring it!
The horse was frightened to the point that its four limbs were weak.
Wei Lian stood up, walked over and gently stroked its head. “Good horse, remember to listen to my words.”
The chestnut horse: “...” It dared not disobey.
“Look how nice this horse’s reddish brown coat is.” Wei Lian stroked the horse’s beautiful mane that was fiery red. “It compliments the golden-furred dog with the lion's mane.”
A’Meng: “???”
Dog with golden lion’s mane, are you talking about this one?
Wei Lian continued, “I will call you Xiao Hong小紅 Little red. then.”
The chestnut horse looked as if it had been humiliated but it also did not dare to resist.
Although it did not understand human language, it got the feeling that Xiao Hong was not a majestic sounding name…
A’Meng was gloating aside.
Holy, there is actually someone who is worse at naming than his master.
It even felt a trace of sympathy for the horse.
It was finally not the only one who had a taste of the horror under Wei Lian’s gentle mask.
When the duo left Yangshou House, two capitalised words were written across Ji Yue’s face—greatly admiring.
Wei Lian could be very resourceful, making full use of A’Meng.
His incessant worrying was in vain.
“I will return back to Zhongling Palace tonight.” Wei Lian suddenly brought up.
Ji Yue was startled, “Why?”
He subconsciously began to review all his actions, trying to figure out what he had done to cause Wei Lian to be unhappy.
Otherwise, why would they be sleeping in separate beds!
He could take a hit, he could shed his blood, but he would not sleep in separate beds!
It was natural to want to be lovey-dovey soon after the first taste of love. Not seeing one’s beloved for a moment seemed like three years of separation.
“If I was to stay with you, how could I ride tomorrow?” Wei Lian replied lightly.
Ji Yue was stunned and immediately responded, “...We will not touch you tonight.”
Wei Lian rejected bitterly, “I do not believe you.”
From what he saw, Ji Yue was someone who had a taste of the rich bone marrow, and was longing for its savoury flavour. That was why the older man tossed and turned him so many times.
Which caused the aches in his body.
“Why didn’t you…clean me last night?” Wei Lian was fuming at the thought of the shame he experienced when cleaning himself this morning during his bath.
Didn’t Ji Yue know that he could get sick if the stuff was left inside!
The other man was simply a beast.
Ji Yue explained himself, “I did clean for you.”
Wei Lian smiled. “Who are you trying to lie to?” If you did, then why was there so much left?!
Ji Yue was speechless for a moment before whispering in guilt, “It was just…I could not hold back after you were clean, so…after we finished, it was just about the time the morning court starts, we then…did not have time to clean you again.”
Wei Lian was baffled.
Just hearing the explanation, he felt that it was even more justified to call the other a beast.
Ji Yue studied his expression and hurriedly promised, “We really won’t touch you tonight.”
Wei Lian ridiculed, “A’Meng going meatless吃素 It’s a pun. Because ‘meat’ is a slang for nsfw related things in Chinese. is more credible than you absent from meat.”
The probability of A’Meng going meatless was as impossible as raining blood or the sun coming up from the west.
Ji Yue said without hesitation, “Then we will have the worker to prepare a bowl of cabbage for A’Meng tomorrow.”
Wei Lian replied coldly, “A’Meng will bite if it hears you say that.”
Ji Yue pulled on the other’s sleeve. “Wei Xiao Lian—”
Wei Lian remained unmoved. “Scram.”
“Your Majesty.” A female with a voice like a yellow oriole suddenly called out.
Both of them paused and looked ahead together.
They saw Princess Chonghua standing in front of them in a peach-red dress, appearing completely like a naive, lively, and very charming young girl.
It was very different from her composed and delicate appearance last night.
This…because she saw how Ji Yue was not interested in her last night, she decided to change her approach?
Wei Lian surveyed the surrounding scenery and determined that this was the only way to Yangxin Palace Hall, which was very far away from Ningyue Tower where the Yan Empire’s envoys were staying.
She was waiting here with purpose.
“Oh, what an unexpected coincidence. Chonghua was just here to admire the flowers and would never expect to meet your Majesty here.” Princess Chonghua was like an innocent girl with surprise in her eyes. “This must be fate!”
Wei Lian looked coldly, completely unamused, as if he was looking at a mentally challenged person.
Hello! He was also present at his full height.
Why wasn’t he included in the fateful greeting?
Ji Yue did not want to acknowledge her at all, but Princess Chonghua continued, as if she was talking for two, “Since this is Chonghua’s first time in the Qin Empire, I was wondering if I could have the pleasure of your Majesty showing this one around?”
How could a man dare to refuse an invitation from a beautiful lady?
From a decade of nothing but praise, Princess Chonghua was a firm believer that everyone would grovel at her feet from her beautiful charm.
Even if…she was not as beautiful as that man, men always look for the next fresh thing. It was normal to abandon the old and seek the new, she did not believe that she could not steal the Emperor away.
It was not her wish to come to the Qin Empire to make peace. The Qin Emperor's cruelty was notorious around the world. Before her trip, she even cried and threatened to hang herself, begging her father not to send her away.
But her father, who showered her with nothing but love, was very firm this time.
The pampering she earned was because of her value from the start.
Beauty was her value.
Princess Chonghua was fully against this, but the moment she saw the relaxed and outstandingly handsome young Emperor in the hall, her resistance crumbled and now she was perfectly happy to be with the Emperor.
She had never met such a good-looking man in the Yan Empire.
The man also possessed supreme power.
What was more rare was that there were none of those three thousand beauties in the harem for this Emperor, there was only one in the back palace—an unruly male pet.
Although that male pet is also an empire’s prince…in this era, even if love between men was becoming more popular, becoming a pet was still looked down upon.
She must not miss this opportunity.
This man was a must-have for her.
At present, Princess Chonghua was waiting for Ji Yue’s reply with anxiety and expectation.
Then, Wei Lian suddenly put the back of his hand against his forehead and leaned weakly into Ji Yue’s arms. “Your Majesty, this subject’s body is not feeling well.”
Ji Yue immediately grabbed and steadied the man, asking nervously, “Where are you feeling unwell?”
Wei Lian replied in a low voice, “This subject served your Majesty all night. Now this subject’s legs are weak from walking all day.”
Ji Yue: “...”
All right, we understood, you are faking it.
Wei Lian and him were walking very smoothly all day.
He wanted to laugh, but he held back.
He would not ruin Wei Lian’s plan.
Without saying anything, Ji Yue picked Wei Lian up.
Princess Chonghua: “!!!”
“Make way.” Ji Yue raised his eyes and pulled out his indifferent manner.
As if he was not the same person who was speaking with the younger man just earlier.
Princess Chonghua bit her lips, moved aside in great grievance, and watched the Qin Emperor walk away with the young man in white in his arms. She clenched her handkerchief in rage.
She fiercely kept this record in her heart, mulling over Wei Lian’s name.
When the duo was out of the Princess’s sight, Ji Yue did not put the younger man down.
Wei Lian reminded, “All right, you can put me down.”
Ji Yue refused, “Not putting you down.”
Wei Lian just told him to ‘scram’ as well.
Of course he was not going to let the younger man go once he was in his arms.
“Why use such childish means?” Ji Yue asked with amusement.
He was sure that Wei Lian could think of a hundred more clever ways to deal with Princess Chonghua.
“There is no way.” Wei Lian replied lazily, “If I don’t retaliate against someone who covets after my man, I will be angry.”
“Since I don’t want to be angry, I can only pass the anger to her.”
»Look now nice this horse’s reddish brown coat is.« how nice
Maybe they should stop pampering their daughters and stop using them as objects and teach them more useful stuff lol
Thx for the ch (ㅅ˘ㅂ˘)