Fortunately, the lass looked thin but she had a good constitution. However, the snow and temperatures of the north couldn't be taken lightly. In comparison, the capital's winters were much warmer!
"I know! You're nagging like a little old lady!" Yu Xiaocao chased him out of the room. Resignedly, she put on layer after layer of clothes to keep out the cold. If she let Zhu Junyang continue talking, she would have to go out wrapped in a blanket!
Zhu Junyang had black lines on his forehead, 'Is there an old lady as handsome as me? This lass is really heartless.'
"Ah! It's so cold!" As soon as she came out, a piercing cold wind with flying snowflakes came at her small face. Yu Xiaocao wrinkled her face; she wasn’t used to the extreme cold of the north!
Zhu Junyang took off her snowcap and added a thick mink scarf, leaving only two big eyes exposed. The snow outside was just below the calves. Zhu Junyang had the advantage of height, so walking in the snow wasn't much effort. However, with Yu Xiaocao's present height, which hadn't reached 1.6 meters, it was a tragedy for her small short legs.
She tried to pull one foot out of the snow, took another arduous step, and then pulled out her back foot. From the courtyard to the front door, which was only the short distance of a few meters, she walked for more than ten minutes and her whole body was sweating!
Zhu Junyang turned back and saw that the lass was far behind him. Her figure tottered with every step. He couldn't help from turning back, walking towards her, and squatting in front of her, gently saying, "Climb on!"
Yu Xiaocao stared at the broad and strong figure in front of her and pursed her lips, trying to stop the corners of her mouth from rising. These few years, under her subtle influence, Royal Prince Yang, this cold stone man, had gradually developed towards the direction of a caring guy, the overwhelming power of a doting boyfriend! She liked it! She had made the decision! She must seize this man of the century and not allow any others to have any chance!
"Come on! Don't worry, I won't let you fall!" Seeing that Yu Xiaocao hadn't moved in a long time, Zhu Junyang looked back at the lass, who was stupefied behind him, and soothed her.
All of a sudden, the lass, who had been standing still, rushed at him. The target wasn't his back. Instead, she held onto his handsome face and gave him a hard kiss. A sweet sound entered his heart, "Jun Yangyang, I now see your good side more frequently. If you continue on like this, I will get addicted and not be able to quit!"
Zhu Junyang stood up and caught the lass in front of him. He lowered his head and kissed the lass's big eyes, which were the only things exposed. His soft and moist lips were in a charming gentle smile, "I will always treat you well, only you! You don't have to quit because as long as you turn, you will see me beside you, never far away!"
Yu Xiaocao sniffled and her eyes heated up, "What do I do? I have an urge to cry. Jun Yangyang, what you said is so touching? Where did you learn how to please girls?"
“In this world, you're the only one worthy of my flattery! Don't cry, the tears will turn into ice as soon as they come out!" Zhu Junyang gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes with warm fingers and preciously landed a hot kiss there.
He bent down and held the lass in his arms like a princess. If he let her continue on like this, he didn't know if they would get to the new stables before dark!
It was not a bad thing to have a tall and strong boyfriend! She was wrapped up like a ball. Adding in her bodyweight, she must've weighed at least ninety to a hundred pounds. However, in his arms, it was as if he was holding a baby, free and relaxed. Zhu Junyang walked steadily and rapidly in the snow.
Soon they were at the new stables. Yu Xiaocao was afraid that his imposing manner would cause the wild horses uneasiness, so she let Zhu Junyang put her down not far away. When she got to the stable, she looked back and saw the figure standing upright in the snow, with his eyes focused on her the entire time.
"Don't just stand there, find a place to avoid the snow and wind! Come pick me up in half an hour. Don't worry, with Snow Scar there, the other wild horses won't hurt me!" Yu Xiaocao put her hands up to her mouth and shouted at him.
Zhu Junyang knew that if he didn't leave, the lass wouldn't enter the stables. He waved in her direction and turned away in the storm. He strode in the direction that had a thatched pavilion nearby for the guards on duty.
In the stables, the lead white horse heard the familiar voice and soothed the horses that were startled by the sound. It walked towards Xiaocao with elegant steps. It tilted its head and looked at Xiaocao, trying to find the familiar smell from her thick clothing.
Yu Xiaocao patted its head and walked into the stable. A wall with flues for space heating was set up in the new stable the second day the storm began. Therefore, although the doors of the stable were open, it was still warm and comfortable inside.
"How is it? Snow Scar, are you used to living here? Is there enough fodder to eat every day?" Yu Xiaocao inspected several stalls, said hello to a few familiar wild horses, and then started chatting with the white horse.
Snow Scar was still unfamiliar with its name, but it saw that, when the human girl was talking, she looked in its direction. After a few times, it recognized the designation she had given it, just like that dark little guy was called 'Black Whirlwind'.
The white horse didn't reject its new name and followed the girl, swishing its tail. It looked at her examining its herd members that were too sick to stand up, listening to her nagging like a chatterbox.
"Hiss——" Snow Scar gave a low sound and the little divine stone helped to translate, [It asked if you can cure its herd members!]
"No problem! It's just a common spasmodic hernia. It's caused by the cold or drinking a lot of cold water after running and sweating." From her medicine box, Yu Xiaocao took out the herbs she needed, ground them into powder, and mixed the powder with warm water that had mystic water added in before pouring the resulting mixture down the throat of the sick horse.
The sick horse, that was so thin that it seemed like it was only bone, acted as if it knew that she was curing it. It was very cooperative when she opened its mouth for examination and didn’t fuss when she poured the bitter medicine.
"Alright! If there is nothing unexpected, you should be able to jump around tomorrow! Snow Scar, let all the sick horses go into one area. It will take too much time for me to go check them one by one!" She didn't care if the white horse understood or not. After all, there was a translator named the little divine stone, so she didn’t need to worry.
Little Divine Stone thought resentfully, ‘I'm a divine stone. I don't know how to speak horse, ok?’ However, it still could convey the meaning of Xiaocao's words through mind to mind contact.
Xiaocao cleaned an empty stable and brought over the wild horse that had just drunk the medicine. Soon Snow Scar came with a dozen horses to join her. Fortunately, the sick horses all had common diseases that were caused by cold weather, gastrointestinal diseases, or injuries.
She examined more than a dozen horses and gave them medicine according to their symptoms. Some of them were cooperative, while some of them, at most, restlessly turned under the pressure of their leader, and some of the younger horses refused to open their mouths faced with the bitter medicine. Xiaocao spent a lot of strength, even coaxed and cheated, and gave them some sugar cubes. She finally poured the medicine down their throats after working up a full body of sweat.
"Ok! Let them stay here and I will let some people bring specialized feed over. Snow Scar, you're in charge of supervising the other horses so they don't come over to steal food!" Yu Xiaocao took water from the water trough to wash her hands. After thinking about it, she added a drop of mystic-stone water to all the water troughs.
The white horse, who had been following her around, noticed the spirit energy of the porcelain bottle in her hand and immediately became restless. Intuition told it that even a drop of that liquid was better for its body than a sugar cube.
Noticing its covetous gaze, Xiaocao took out a sugar cube, dripped a drop of mystic-stone water onto it, and rewarded it to Snow Scar. She believed that as long as they made unremitting efforts, the horse herd headed by the white horse would gradually be assimilated, adding strong reinforcements to their horse farm.
"No! Only one drop today!" Yu Xiaocao saw that Snow Scar was still coveting the mystic-stone water in hand and refused firmly. "I'll come again tomorrow to assess the recovery of the other horses. If anything goes wrong, go over to the courtyard over there to find me! If you don't know the way you can have Black Whirlwind take you!"
Although it didn't want to see the big fellow who always stole its nightly snack, Black Whirlwind and Snow Scar still gradually became familiar with each other. The white horse also knew which stable Black Whirlwind was in, so Xiaocao said it like this!
"You and your herd can settle down here without any worries. None of the staff at the stud farm will harm you!" Yu Xiaocao told the white horse not to harm the staff of the horse farm as she was walking out. After all, there were people who came to deliver feed and water every day, as well as those who cleaned the stables.
After coming out, she looked up to see a tall and straight figure standing in the wind and snow, like a god standing between heaven and earth. The white horse also noticed Zhu Junyang's scent. It looked up at him once and then calmly returned to the stable. That human's scent, although powerful, wasn't threatening. What's more, the scent coming from him was the same as that of the human girl, so he shouldn't be a bad person!
Zhu Junyang didn't know that he benefited from the lass and was given a good person card by the white horse. He only had eyes for his lass. She was walking against the snow and wind, which was blowing harder and harder, to come towards him.
Zhu Junyang went up and helped the lass to tighten the clothes wrapped around her body. He picked her up again and quickly went back. Their speed going back was obviously faster than the way coming out! This was because Zhu Junyang found out that Xiaocao’s face was as cold as ice when he was helping her wear her snowcap earlier.
The sooner they got back, the less his lass would have to endure in the cold. He didn't know if those maids were ready with the ginger soup to expel the cold, whether the kang bed was heated up hot enough… Zhu Junyang rotated his inner energy and lightened his body without a trace of effort. Xiaocao buried her face in his chest and put her arms around the man's neck. The curve of her smile couldn't be hidden…
