The sound pierced through the clouds, sharp and high-pitched with a touch of exhilarating upward movement.
In that instant, the white horse, which the three men had been unable to pull, suddenly broke free of the reins in the hands of the groom. The enormous impact sent all three men flying. Immediately afterward, the blindfolded white horse accurately located the source of the sound and galloped resolutely toward it.
The woman, dressed in a dazzling red dress, rode towards the white horse. Without any saddle or reins to gain leverage, she easily jumped up by grabbing the horse's mane and landed steadily on its back.
Jin Shu laughed and removed the blindfold from Xiao Bai's face, then affectionately patted its neck.
"Little White, are you ready? Let's go!!"
Another high-pitched and melodious whistle rang out, and the more than one hundred ponies standing outside the stable instantly became excited. One rushed forward, followed by the remaining two, three... a hundred spirited horses followed and charged out of the soldiers' defensive line, chasing after Jin Shu riding on her back at breakneck speed.
At that moment, hundreds of horses galloped, and the vast frozen earth trembled.
Although it was just a small horse, it already possessed extremely powerful explosive force. The soldiers did not dare to take a single step forward, because if any foolish person managed to sneak into the herd, their final fate would be to be trampled into the mud!
Jin Shu gripped the horse's belly tightly with her legs, leaned forward and hugged Xiao Bai's neck, her face beaming with an unprecedented laugh.
She laughed, a laugh that made flowers bloom and the Milky Way pale in comparison. An unprecedented vitality burst forth from her, a power called belief that was enough to break through all barriers.
"A stable can't hold a good horse, Little White. Come on, I'll take you to conquer the world!"
Jin Shu led Xiao Bai straight towards the camp. As the white smoke gradually disappeared into the distance, the soldiers, still immersed in the magnificent scene of hundreds of horses galloping, looked at each other, their legs going weak.
By the time Mu Han, who was at the front of the group, received the message, almost a quarter of an hour had passed since Jin Shu left with the hundred horses.
"What should we do, Your Majesty? We must send cavalry to pursue them as soon as possible!"
Mu Han's face was expressionless. From the moment he heard the news, his silence was frightening to those around him.
Everyone was waiting for his reply, but no one dared to speak up again.
After a long while, the man suddenly let out a bitter laugh, a laugh that seemed to be mocking something, leaving the others completely clueless as to what he was really thinking.
"No need to chase after them."
"Not chase them?! Your Majesty, those are over a hundred fine ponies! Are we just going to stand by and watch that woman steal our horses?!"
This time, his trusted confidants could no longer sit still.
This batch of foals is far superior to this batch of adult horses in terms of both patience and explosive power.
Although it's unclear why only this batch of foals has grown up so well, the progress of their offspring is ultimately a good thing for them.
But now, this whole batch has been taken away!
"Your Majesty, we can't hesitate any longer! Let's chase after them! Before those horses grow up, they certainly can't outrun our big horses!"
“I said no, and that means no! At their speed, they would have disappeared long ago. What are you going to use to chase them?”
Moreover, I'm willing to accept defeat.
"What? What do you mean, 'a bet's a bet'? Your Majesty, that woman from the Central Plains is truly a menace!! We shouldn't have let her into the stables, we shouldn't have let her come into contact with our horses!"
His confidants were heartbroken and filled with regret.
Mu Han simply turned his horse around calmly and continued forward.
"It's alright, horses can reproduce and be raised again."
Once a person leaves, they can never be brought back.
——
The Great Zhou garrison camp, which originally consisted of only a dozen or so tent areas, has now expanded into a sizable war preparedness zone.
A high wall surrounded everything inside. On the watchtower, which was more than five meters high, the soldiers on guard saw a plume of white smoke rushing toward the camp from afar.
As the alarm sounded, the soldiers who were cooking and preparing meals in the camp immediately went on high alert, grabbing their weapons and guarding behind the gates of the wall, creating a tense atmosphere.
The Right Chancellor also received the news of the foreign invasion immediately and climbed the watchtower. At this time, the white smoke was already approaching. The Right Chancellor, whose eyesight was failing, really thought it was a foreign invasion and was about to order the arrows to be fired. However, Zhou Yinghuai, who was standing next to him, saw the red-clad figure at the head of the group and hurriedly covered the words that the Right Chancellor was about to say.
"No! No! It's not an invasion by foreign enemies, it seems to be Miss Jin!"
He stared intently, and the doubt and anticipation on his face suddenly turned into ecstatic joy.
"It's Miss Jin!! Your Excellency, Miss Jin is back!! Our leader is back!!"
The Right Chancellor finally recognized that the woman in red was indeed Jin Shu. He recalled the contents of the letter, and a look of joy appeared on his usually calm and serious face. He then exclaimed loudly.
"It's not an enemy! It's Miss Jin returning!! Quick, open the city gates! Welcome Miss Jin back to the city!!"
The gate of the wall was slowly lowered, and around the wall was a newly dug moat. As the first snow melted, the previously dry riverbed was slowly filled with snowmelt from the mountains.
Jin Shu stepped onto the lowered bridge and, with a hundred fine horses behind her, slowly walked into the city gate.
More than half a year has passed, and the changes here have been earth-shattering.
The Right Chancellor stood guard at the city gate, watching the girl ride in on horseback, his eyes brimming with uncontrollable tears.
"Miss Jin, I'm so sorry you've had to go through all this trouble!"
Jin Shu finally survived the half-year-long winter in the northern frontier. She left alone, leaving everyone in the camp behind her.
When they arrived, they were greeted by a massive army, with nearly ten thousand soldiers lining the road.
“These horses…”
"Is the horse ranch I asked you to build completed?"
The right-hand man nodded repeatedly.
"It's all ready. Inside the walls, the largest area is the horse farm!"
In the past six months, the two have only exchanged letters a few times, and each time the letters were delivered in person by someone from Mongolia. No matter what was said in the letters, others could always understand them.
Fortunately, before leaving, Jin Shu taught Zhou Yinghuai a code, which was based on the number and order of horizontal and vertical circles, and could be translated into different words.
Using this code, within six months, the Right Chancellor sent people to build walls, dig moats, and accurately locate the route when the ice and snow melted, and then effortlessly filled the moat with water.
In addition, Jin Shu encouraged him to take in the laborers who had fled from the Da Zhou coal mine and train them into soldiers. In just half a year, the army of a thousand men expanded to ten thousand men, all of whom were young and strong laborers who were not only hardworking but also extremely loyal.
Just as Jin Shuxin said, those suffering from famine and hardship can be recruited with just a bowl of hot porridge.
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