Chapter 579: Horse Plague at the Northern Borders (VI)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Was Little White really capable of throwing Jiang Pengji off her back?

As it turned out, she would have loved to do so, but she dared not.

Animals have a far stronger sense of perception than humans, and the greater the spirituality they possess, the stronger their senses are.

When faced with the imposing Jiang Pengji, an ordinary person would feel that she had a towering presence and a formidable aura that were both difficult to fathom. But in the eyes of the animals, her aura was like an undisguised threat. It made them feel like they had run into their most fearsome natural enemy.

Even a fierce wild horse would shiver involuntarily upon meeting Jiang Pengji, nevermind horses like Little White that had grown up on a ranch.

Why did Jiang Pengji like Feng Jin’s child, Changsheng, so much?

It was because children are as perceptive as animals when they are too young to consciously understand many matters fully. Changsheng was not afraid of Jiang Pengji and enjoyed being close to her, so she liked the child.

Similarly, seeing how obedient Little White was, she couldn’t bring herself to dislike her.

Little White clearly knew the saying “those who suit their actions to the times are wise” very well. She galloped quickly and steadily, following all the instructions perfectly without making any mistakes.

Jiang Pengji went hunting on her. Initially, she thought that the prey would frighten the horse, but it turned out that she was not timid. Small prey occasionally leaped out of the bushes at her, but she remained calm. Her endurance, speed, and posture… all her qualities lived up to her impressive lineage.

Jiang Pengji rode on Little White, holding White’s reins in her hand.

She walked White while she was hunting.

White had been staying in the stables all day long because she was pregnant. What if she threw a tantrum because no one brought her outside for walks? Who could restrain her then?

After running around for one lap and finding Little White’s performance somewhat satisfactory, Jiang Pengji allowed her to stay in the VIP stable.

Jiang Pengji returned, fully loaded with the animals she’d hunted. It was the season where the animals were delicious and fat, and they would taste especially nice when barbecued.

But…

“White is pregnant, keep an eye on her,” she said to the stableman in charge of White. “If Little White is agitated, separate them.”

Nodding and bowing, the stableman hurriedly acknowledged her orders.

Led by the stableman, White reluctantly returned to the stable, turning back to look at Jiang Pengji every three steps, making her feel extremely guilty.

And so the minor incident passed. Jiang Pengji told Li Yun all about it for fun.

The construction of the Maolin District, the Chengan District, and the Jiaoping District were still in full swing. Since the districts had taken in a large number of refugees and former members who had escaped from the Tsing Yi Army and the Red Lotus Group over the past six months, as well as the prisoners of war they had captured some time back, the various construction teams had gained abundant manpower. Everyone had survived the most hectic period. The rest of the tasks just needed to be completed according to the standard operating procedure. Qiguan Rang knew that they could all finally laze around for a bit and relax a little.

Having settled the affairs of the districts properly, they returned to the Xiangyang District despite their busy schedule to take a break for one or two days.

Li Yun had been busy working in the Maolin District, but then it was decided that the Chengan District would be used for the trial of the Army Farming System, and he was transferred there to help out. The fella was extremely talented in farm work. After only six months, the reclamation and distribution of the wasteland were nearly completed.

Hearing that White was pregnant and that the stallion was a good warhorse descended from a Ferghana horse from Shalan, he could not help but feel tempted. “My Lord…”

Jiang Pengji flipped the barbecued meat over and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“When White gives birth, would you give me her foal?” Li Yun had barely opened his mouth to speak when the sharp gazes of those nearby converged on him.

What man doesn’t like a good horse?

White is clearly of fine quality. The stallion is a fierce warhorse with Ferghana lineage. How bad could the descendant of those two be?

If an army general could obtain a warhorse of fine quality and great spiritual strength, and if they could understand it well, it would be like bestowing a tiger with wings upon them, making them even more powerful on the battlefield. Such a horse was incredibly hard to find, even if one had the tens of thousands of units of gold to pay for it. Li Yun had gained the possibility of acquiring a fine horse far in advance by asking for it.

How regrettable is it that I let Li Yun seize the opportunity by not speaking up first?

Jiang Pengji smiled and said, “Sure, if you like it, just take it with you.”

“Thank you, my lord!”

Li Yun was so happy that his cheeks were red, though one couldn’t tell if it was because of the wine or his happiness.

A group of people barbecuing in the government office was so strange and unsightly.

It was Yang Si’s first time in Xiangyang District, and definitely, his first time participating in such a gathering.

Well, it was also the first time that he used a glass baking tray that was incredibly hard and costly to find outside to barbecue meat, and he felt that the value of each piece of meat had increased qualitatively.

Half-squinting, his gaze swept past Jiang Pengji’s subordinates, and his brows furrowed slightly.

By right, the situation at the northern borders can be considered dire. Why aren’t these people nervous at all, but instead happily eating away at the barbecue?

It was especially so for Feng Zhen, who wore old clothes and was so drunk that his eyes were cloudy. He leaned against Wei Ci as if he had drunk so much that his bones had turned soft.

Wei Ci sighed but didn’t push Feng Zhen away as he felt that it was bad to do so.

After being roughly done with the barbecue, Qiguan Rang they all exchanged glances, then pushed Feng Jin out.

He bowed and said, “My lord, according to the news from Chongzhou, the northern kingdom has gathered their troops and horses, how should we deal with the situation?”

The strategists came back from the other three districts not just to attend a barbecue, but also to discuss countermeasures.

Jiang Pengji chewed the meat in her mouth a few times before swallowing it.

She said rather carefreely, “Counter their attack according to the situation, what else can we do?”

Everyone was speechless.

Feng Jin sighed and couldn’t help but jokingly complained, “My Lord, don’t kid me, I’m being serious.”

“I am also being very serious. We are having a barbecue gathering, why talk about such annoying matters.” Jiang Pengji said nonchalantly.

Yang Si and Feng Zhen subconsciously frowned.

So unreliable?

Wei Ci smiled and smoothed things over. “Our lord here has already come up with a countermeasure, it is indeed not something suitable to be said on such an occasion, and it would spoil everyone’s mood.”

Feng Jin secretly shot Wei Ci a look, and the latter’s expression was as natural as if Jiang Pengji really had come up with a countermeasure.

Jiang Pengji said, “I am waiting for the news. If what I heard is true, everyone can have a good time this year without needing to worry about the northern kingdom being a threat. They won’t need to find trouble with us the next year, after two years, we will take the initiative to find trouble with them! Get back to eating and drinking, it’s more important to enjoy yourselves.”

Yang Si secretly glanced at Wei Ci. He always felt that Wei Ci had come to some tacit agreement with their lord.

“What news is Magistrate Liu waiting for?”

Yang Si had yet to agree to serve Jiang Pengji, and he addressed her differently from the others.

“The news from the ranches in the northern kingdom.” Jiang Pengji had just finished speaking when a messenger came in. He went down on one knee, holding up a roll of bamboo slips with both hands. She smiled, not the slightest bit of unhappiness on her face, and said, “I’ll take a look to see if it’s good news or bad news.”

Spreading the roll open, the contents of the letter made the corners of her lips curl up.

Wei Ci asked, “Is it good or bad?”

“Of course it’s good,” Jiang Pengji said. “Now, the northern kingdom can’t go around stirring shit.”

While it was true that the butterfly effect had caused many things to change, some iconic events were still happening as scheduled.

Shalan was thousands of miles away from the northern kingdom, and even further away from the hinterland of the Central Plains. They chose the best Ferghana horses from their home country and sold them to the northern kingdom, but how were they to know that the horses were infected with the horse plague on the way there? Moreover, the horse plague had an incubation period. A few horses died along the way, but the horse dealers did not realize that something was wrong, and simply assumed that the horses were not accustomed to the foreign weather and environment, how were they to know that the horses had been infected?

Upon arriving at the northern kingdom, the horse dealers sold the surviving Ferghana horses for a high price, and that caused a lot of trouble for the largest ranches in the northern kingdom!

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