Inside the Huitong Guesthouse, the deputy envoy stood in the room with his head bowed, not daring to make a sound.
On the soft couch in the outer room, Gong Linjue had just finished bathing and changed into fresh clothes. His uneven hair was tied up high with a slightly narrow white jade crown, and his entire being exuded a forbidding aura that warned strangers to stay away.
"Has the horse been taken away?" Gong Linjue's gaze was cold and gloomy, his voice deep.
The deputy envoy nodded tremblingly. "Song Jinzhao's maid couldn't lead it away; it was the soldiers outside who helped."
"Please do not be angry, Your Highness. It is just a horse. We can find another one when we return."
Gong Linjue's eyes turned sinister as he looked at the deputy envoy.
"If a blood-sweating steed were that easy to find, I wouldn't be this heartbroken."
"I didn't expect this Song Jinzhao to be so formidable. No wonder the spies in Xining City were all defeated by her."
The deputy envoy voiced his comfort, "No matter how formidable she is, she is still a woman. She cannot lead troops into battle, so Your Highness need not take it to heart."
The broken strands of hair falling over his forehead grew more annoying the more he looked at them. Gong Linjue decisively reached out and pushed them back to the top of his head.
"If pushed to a desperate situation, it wouldn't be surprising for the Dongzhao Kingdom to send a woman to the battlefield."
The deputy envoy replied, "No matter how formidable Song Jinzhao is, she doesn't understand military tactics. If she really goes to the battlefield, with a thousand men attacking her alone, are we afraid she can't be killed?"
Gong Linjue closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Have the people from the Court of Agricultural Review been bribed?"
The deputy envoy lowered his head with a troubled expression.
"For some unknown reason, the Dongzhao court has added many more soldiers to patrol outside the Huitong Guesthouse day and night. As soon as our people go out, they are followed, making it impossible to contact the officials from the Court of Agricultural Review."
Gong Linjue's brows furrowed tightly. Everything was going wrong, which only fueled the fire in his heart.
"Their guard is so high. It seems we can only make our move after we leave the capital."
The deputy envoy looked up. "For now, I'm afraid this is the only way. However, it won't delay our schedule. After we get the potatoes and return, it will be just in time for spring planting. That will be the perfect time to plant them."
The image of being defeated by Song Jinzhao reappeared in his mind. Gong Linjue closed his eyes and waved his hand to dismiss the man.
The deputy envoy turned and went out, closing the door behind him.
A cold wind blew through the corridor, making the scalp exposed outside his hat feel chilly.
He had thought they could celebrate their success tonight. Who knew a Song Jinzhao would pop up and beat the Prince until he wet himself in terror? This was a massive loss.
The morning sun slowly shone on the roof of the stables.
The blood-sweating steed, having not slept all night, pressed tightly against the corner of the wall, looking much more haggard.
On the straw mat outside the fence, Xuetuan opened its tiger eyes.
As soon as it stood up, all the horses in the stable began to neigh frantically, louder than the crowing of roosters, almost tearing the roof off.
The servant responsible for feeding the fodder hurried out of the room, pulling up his belt.
Seeing that Xuetuan was awake, he didn't dare to go inside and could only stop outside to watch.
Even though this beast was as obedient as a cat in front of its master, it was still extremely fierce to everyone else.
If anyone was given any respect, it was only the few managers who had a bit of standing.
Hearing the commotion, Qingshuang walked over from the inner courtyard.
Xuetuan looked up at her, then climbed up from the haystack, walked with a cat-like gait to the fence, and tilted its head to signal her to open the gate.
Qingshuang stretched her neck and glanced at the blood-sweating steed in the stable.
With haggard eyes and half-drooping eyelids, it looked nothing like the extraordinarily majestic and arrogant creature from yesterday.
"Everything has its vanquisher. The County Princess truly has her ways."
Saying that, she let Xuetuan out and patted its head.
"Good job. I'll reward you with twenty catties of the freshly slaughtered sheep from the estate this morning."
Xuetuan proudly turned its head away, as if to say twenty catties wasn't enough; it wanted to eat the whole sheep.
Seeing Xuetuan being led away and disappearing from sight, the blood-sweating steed cowering in the corner immediately collapsed to the ground.
After trembling in fear all night, it was already exhausted beyond measure. It closed its eyes and fell into a deep sleep.
After breakfast, just as Song Jinzhao walked to the stable door, the blood-sweating steed, which had been sleeping soundly, suddenly opened its eyes and scrambled up from the ground, looking as alert as if facing a formidable enemy.
Song Jinzhao gently curled her lips and instructed Qingshuang, "Take some people to the horse market and pick out a hundred of the best mares. Send them to the farm on the estate to be raised. They need to be suitable for breeding, ideally between five and twelve years old."
Such an excellent bloodline had to be widely propagated. If they couldn't find female blood-sweating steeds, they would find the best of other breeds.
When the breeding season arrived, they would mate, and a year later, the foals would be born.
Fushun ran over from the front hall to report, "County Princess, the Duke of Qing and Commander Fan are here."
Song Jinzhao frowned slightly.
What were they doing here?
Walking into the front hall, she found Chu Liuyun and Fan Guanshan strolling around the room with their hands behind their backs.
Seeing Song Jinzhao enter, Chu Liuyun hastily cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, County Princess, for coming to my rescue at the birthday banquet yesterday. My mother knew I was coming today and prepared some thank-you gifts for you. Please accept them."
Last night, after Chu Liuyun returned home, the Duchess of Zhenguo noticed the injuries on his face and asked about them.
Only then did she learn that her son's hands had almost been crippled by Gong Linjue. In a fit of rage, she cursed Gong Linjue to the thin air for a full half-hour before the Duke of Zhenguo managed to calm her down.
Knowing this morning that Chu Liuyun was coming to express his gratitude, she hurriedly prepared several chests of gifts for him to bring along.
The combined value of the three chests was already comparable to the two chests of items rewarded by the Emperor yesterday.
"Since they are gifts of gratitude, I shall accept them." Song Jinzhao raised her hand, gesturing for the servants to carry the chests away.
"Why did Commander Fan come with the Duke of Qing? Does the Emperor have any orders?"
As a close minister to the Emperor, although she had interacted with Fan Guanshan during the previous assassination incident, they were merely acquaintances who nodded to each other since then, and he had never visited the County Princess's manor.
Fan Guanshan stood with his toes pointing outward, shaking his head while his eyes sparkled.
"The Emperor didn't send me. Has Gong Linjue's blood-sweating steed been brought to the County Princess's manor?"
Song Jinzhao paused slightly. "Yes, it has been brought back."
Fan Guanshan said with an excited expression, "I've never ridden a blood-sweating steed before. Could the County Princess take me to see it?"
Song Jinzhao gave a knowing smile and said calmly, "Of course, but you can only look at it. It hasn't slept all night and can't be ridden right now."
"Huh? Did the County Princess train it all night?" Fan Guanshan asked curiously.
Worried that Song Jinzhao had used forceful methods and was too eager for success, Chu Liuyun couldn't help but offer some advice.
"A good horse is hard to tame, especially a blood-sweating steed."
"If you want to completely tame it, you have to spend time rebuilding affection and mutual understanding with it. You can't rush it."
Song Jinzhao pointed to her own eyes and said, "Do I look like I stayed up all night?"
"A good horse is indeed hard to tame, but even the fiercest horse is afraid of a tiger. I had Xuetuan guard the stable all night. It didn't dare to sleep and has pretty much yielded."
Chu Liuyun and Fan Guanshan froze at the same time. Using a tiger to wear down a horse—how could anyone come up with such a method?
Seeing Song Jinzhao walking out, Chu Liuyun and Fan Guanshan hurriedly followed.
