Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Wei Ci opened the book to read it, his lips were briefly raised and his deep black pupils shone with joy. He passed the book to Feng Zhen who was sitting closest to him. Feng Zhen was leaning on his arms as if he didn’t have a spine, he desperately wished to lean his entire body on the other person.
Wei Ci used the bamboo scripts to poke at him, all the peoples’ attention was diverted towards Feng Zhen. Feng Zhen then secretly scolded Wei Ci for being so cunning. Accepting the book, he opened it and read, then his eyebrows raised briefly. Although he didn’t have the gift of foresight, from Jiang Pengji and Wei Ci’s attitudes, they could work out what happened.
“Is there trouble at the horse ranches in the North borders?”
Feng Zhen was ignorant about the infection affecting the horses, but after reading the contents of the letter, he vaguely found this surprisingly similar.
Yang Si said, “What – the horse ranches at the North borders are in trouble?”
After he stopped speaking, he looked at Wei Ci suspiciously. He suddenly remembered this fellow had used this trick before.
The masses were worried about Princess An Yina’s death and how the three tribes in the North borders could use this as an excuse to attack the politically unstable Dongqing.
Yang Si got hold of the letter in Feng Zhen’s hands and looked through the contents quickly. The more he read, the more he became increasingly confused.
“The superiors only mentioned the horse ranches in the North borders are heavily guarded, there is no other news. Why do you conclude that the horse ranches are in trouble? Perhaps the north borders have decided to go to war and in order to prevent spies from infiltrating, they are increasing the patrols around the north borders. Notably, the horse ranches are the lifelines of their lifeline. Unless you black hearted people purposely added something to the feed of the warhorses?”
The north borders were too reliant on their cavalry, the proportion of their troops on foot to those mounted on warhorses was 1: 2 or even higher. They truly wished for their entire army to be a cavalry.
If cavalry does not have mighty warhorses, can they still be considered cavalry?
The horse ranches in the north borders were deemed as an important resource for their war strategy. If something happened, the military strength of the cavalry would be diminished. This didn’t mean that the cavalry didn’t have military prowess on the ground. However, the cavalry of the north borders was more adept at fighting on horses. Without their warhorses, when the army from the North borders crosses swords with those of Dongqing’s, they would have no chance of winning. They may even be at a disadvantage due to Dongqing’s impenetrable defences.
It wasn’t that Yang Si was blind to sensing that something was amiss, it’s just that he cannot believe that such a coincidence exists in the world.
Recently, the north borders had been sharpening their blades with intent to conquer Dongqing. Shortly after that, this incident occurred at the horse ranches where the warhorses were infected. Isn’t that bizarre.
Jiang Pengji smiled and said, “Jing Rong must be joking, the horse ranches in the north borderlines are heavily guarded. If I had the ability to poison the horse feed, why didn’t I just hire someone to assassinate the King? This matter is but a deduction of mine. Whether it is true or not, we will just have to wait and see.”
Yang Si knitted his brows. He recalled Wei Ci’s previous attitude and he feels this incident isn’t so simple. He is dying from the suspense, yet Jiang Pengji and Wei Ci who have similar temperaments both refuse to oblige him. Their habit of hiding secrets provokes him to anger and he wished he could beat them up.
Yang Si laughed then said, “District magistrate Liu is very confident, seems like the horses in the North borders are really in trouble.”
During the time they were discussing this, the letter had been passed around to everyone in the room. They felt Yang Si’s point of view was more convincing. The North borders watch over their horse stables vigilantly, so this might be a scheme to prevent other countries from spying on them. As for the issues at the horse stables, what is the likelihood of it happening? It still seems like things are not so coincidental – just when the north borders wanted to dispatch troops to the south, their cavalry was rendered useless.
Only, this world doesn’t lack in coincidences.
The king was infuriated and rejected Tu Liba’s suggestion to kill off the mother horses. Instead, he remained hopeful, thinking that the vet could keep the horse infection under control. Yet in the end, there are reports of warhorses dying every day. The pregnant horses were dying batches after batches. The atmosphere in the North borderline’s imperial family became more stagnant with each passing day. Previously it was said the incubation time of this horse infection was related to the health of the host’s body. Pregnant horses and calves were the most susceptible. So naturally, the first to succumb to the infection were the pregnant horses and the young calves.
Even in the North borders where riches abounded, they were appalled by such a large-scale horse infection. The horse stables weren’t only the lifeline of the army in the North borders, they were also a crucial part of their financial income. For every pregnant horse or foal they lose, the deficit will grow. Only half a month had passed. The number of mother horses which died had reached the frightening number of 2500. Many young foals were also gravely injured and dying.
Eventually, the King of the North borders cannot bear it anymore. He decided to follow the “wise” Tu Liba’s suggestion; kill all the horses in contact with the infected horses.
Except, it is too late.
Other than the horses in the stables being affected, the ordinary horses on farms and at homes also showed signs of infection. Hearing this news, the King of the North, someone used to commotion and upheaval, was stunned on the spot.
“Reporting –”
Multiple troubles come together. There’s no worst, only worse.
“My King, sickly horses have been found amongst the warhorses!”
“Wha, What –”
Anger surged and his face was in shock. He slapped the table and arose, who knows if his actions were too rough. His vision was clouded in darkness and no light could be seen. All the officials were paralysed with fear and they all went forward to support their king’s strong body as he looked like he was about to collapse in shock and disappointment.
If the horse infection had been limited to those horses at the stables, the North borders could have prevented the news from spreading. However, the vectors of infection are insects and the unsuspecting people never noticed these small beings, which are colourless and cannot be sensed by humans, carried the source of the horse infection. When the horses on common farms had the same infection, the news could no longer be covered up at all.
Chongzhou and the North borderlines shared a border, so Liu She received the news first.
“Warhorses…Numerous of them dying from an infection?”
Liu She was surprised beyond words.
The secret informant responded, “Yes, this news cannot be hidden anymore. The number of horses dying daily is increasing rapidly. It is observed that warhorses who are sickly are doomed to die. Their likelihood of dying is very high. Within Chongzhou, there are also many warhorses, should we implement some preventive measures?”
If this infection affecting the horses reaches the borders of Chongzhou, they would be helpless. The horse ranches occupied broad and vast lands in the North borders, where they rear countless war horses. But the warhorses within Dongqing are mostly supplied by Changzhou.
Changzhou is under the rule of the Mengs. It is unknown what triggered them but in recent years, they kept finding fault with Liu She and kept opposing him. In Dongqing, if you wished to possess warhorses, you could not offend the Mengs.
Thus, Liu She, who had offended the Mengs, won’t be able to obtain warhorses from Changzhou. All the warhorses in Chongzhou originate from the North borders.
If these precious warhorses also die from infection, in future they can only rely on their legs to go to war.
Liu She replied thoughtfully, “Naturally we must, we cannot allow these sick horses to enter our borders. About this issue… send a secret letter to inform Lanting.”
A large herd of horses from the North borderline have died, this is good news for Dongqing.
Liu She is a magistrate of Chongzhou. If the North borderlines went to war against Dongqing, they will target Chongzhou first. It would be expected that he will be under stress. Now with the ancestors’ blessings, bloodshed has befallen the North borderlines. Liu She felt he could laugh uncontrollably all night under his blanket.
Notably, have the unfortunate events at the North borderline ended? No – not yet!
