Chapter 22: Chapter 22 Lie Huo Lie Huo arrogantly raised its head, looking disdainfully at the Third Prince, the Fifth Prince, and the others. "Lie Huo, can I touch you?" the Third Prince said, carefully extending his hand to try to touch Lie Huo. Lie Huo turned away and gave the Third Prince an indifferent look. "Third Brother, Lie Huo doesn't want you to touch it," the Fifth Prince said gleefully. The Third Prince wasn't upset by this. He turned to the Fifth Prince and said, "Then Fifth Brother, why don't you give it a try and see if Lie Huo lets you touch it?" The Fifth Prince immediately smiled at Lie Huo, his tone ingratiating: "Lie Huo, can I touch you?" Lie Huo sneezed directly at the Fifth Prince, giving him a look that seemed to say, "Don't touch me, get as far away as possible." The Third Prince laughed immediately, "Fifth Brother, Lie Huo won't let you touch it either." The Fifth Prince shrugged and said, "If it doesn't want to be touched, then it doesn't." The Sixth Prince chimed in from the side, "Lie Huo only lets Father touch it. Third Brother, Fifth Brother, you should give up." "I remember Second Brother once wanted to ride Lie Huo and even asked Father for this favor. Father agreed, but Lie Huo just wouldn't let Second Brother ride it," said the Third Prince, "Second Brother got on Lie Huo but was thrown off immediately." "Second Brother wanted to tame Lie Huo, but Lie Huo ignored him," the Fifth Prince laughed with a hint of ambiguity. The Ninth Prince had just arrived at the riding grounds and heard the Third and Fifth Princes talking about his brother. Naturally, he wasn't happy and immediately snapped back. "At least my brother managed to get on Lie Huo, whereas Third Brother and Fifth Brother, you can't even touch its hair." "Oh, Ninth Brother, you seem spirited. Are you not in pain anymore?" the Third Prince taunted unceremoniously, "It seems General Qin was easy on you after all." The Ninth Prince's face immediately darkened, and he glared fiercely at the Third Prince. "Ninth Brother, do you still have the strength to ride a horse?" the Fifth Prince pretended to be concerned, "Looking at you, I'm afraid you'll fall apart when riding later." "Fifth Brother, you're wrong. Ninth Brother is the mighty and formidable Second Brother's sibling, how could he not ride?" the Third Prince said with a smile, "Ninth Brother, isn't that right?" The Ninth Prince snorted coldly, "No need for Third Brother and Fifth Brother to worry." Meanwhile, the Third Prince and Ninth Prince were bickering. Over there, Zhao Yao and the Eighth Prince were feeding their horses. Zhao Yao's horse was a black stallion, but its four legs were white, making it very beautiful. Zhao Yao named it Hei Yu. Hei Yu was a mare, gentle in temperament, and very fond of Zhao Yao, her young master. Whenever she saw Zhao Yao, she was very affectionate, frequently nuzzling and licking Zhao Yao's face, much to Lie Huo's jealousy. Lie Huo was friends with Lingyun, and through Lingyun, knew about Zhao Yao and also knew Zhao Yao could understand their speech. It saw Zhao Yao and Lingyun were friends but never saw Zhao Yao coming to play with it, which made it very angry. Did it think it was unworthy of being his friend? 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶 Everyone who saw it wanted to please and get close to it, but Zhao Yao, seeing it, kept his distance—why was that? Lie Huo made a rather discontented sound to attract Zhao Yao's attention, but Zhao Yao didn't give it a single glance. Hei Yu glanced at the disgruntled Lie Huo and whispered to Zhao Yao: [Yao Yao, why don't you go see Master Lie Huo?] Lie Huo was the most noble horse in the Imperial Palace stables, naturally the king. All the horses in the stable respected and submitted to it. "It's Father's horse, not to be provoked." Of course, Zhao Yao also wanted to get close to Lie Huo, after all, Lie Huo was the best warhorse in the Great Zhou. "I'm afraid Father will spank me." Second Brother once desired Lie Huo, hoping Father would grant him Lie Huo. Father said as long as Second Brother could tame Lie Huo, he would give it to him, but Second Brother failed to tame it. Aside from Father, Lie Huo doesn't give face to anyone. If he approached Lie Huo and Lie Huo got close to him and even let him ride, wouldn't he then be more impressive than Second Brother? This kind of thing must not happen, he didn't want to steal the limelight, so he deliberately kept his distance from Lie Huo. [Yao Yao, Master Lie Huo seems to like you very much.] Zhao Yao grinned and said, "I'm so adorable, who wouldn't like me?" [Yao Yao, do you want to go to Yangzhou?] "Ah, I haven't thought about going to Yangzhou." [Lai Qian said you want to find a bird that's been to Yangzhou.] "You mean that. I'm not thinking about going to Yangzhou, but I want to know about Yangzhou's affairs." [Yao Yao, Master Lie Huo has been to Yangzhou before, it and His Majesty once fought battles there. It knows about Yangzhou; you can ask it. Master Lie Huo, I tried my best to help you, stop glaring at me, I'm scared inside. [Master Lie Huo has accompanied His Majesty to many places before, it knows a lot, you can ask it, it will surely tell you.] "Lie Huo has been to Yangzhou before, but it hasn't been there recently," Zhao Yao shook his head and said, "I want to know about Yangzhou's current affairs, Lie Huo doesn't know about that." The Eighth Prince saw Zhao Yao muttering non-stop to his horse and walked over with a smile, "Tenth Brother, what are you talking about with Hei Yu?" "Eighth Brother, I'm bonding with Hei Yu, so it will carry me well and not throw me off," Zhao Yao said, "Hei Yu just promised me." "Then let's mount up." "Okay." Zhao Yao led Hei Yu out of the stable. When he was about to mount, Hei Yu bent its legs slightly to help Zhao Yao climb onto its back. The Eighth Prince, seeing Zhao Yao was mounted, also got on his horse. "Tenth Brother, ride beside me, don't go too fast." This way, if anything happened to Tenth Brother, he could save him in time. "Eighth Brother, I'm fine." Zhao Yao said as he let Hei Yu start running. The Eighth Prince quickly chased after him. The Fourth Prince, seeing this, also followed along. The Third Prince found simple riding practice a bit dull, so he suggested a race with stakes. The Fifth Prince and the Sixth Prince readily agreed. "Seventh Brother, Ninth Brother, will you join us?" The Seventh Prince said, "Yes." He looked challengingly at the Ninth Prince, "Ninth Brother, do you dare to compete?" In archery, the Seventh Prince wasn't as good as the Ninth Prince, but in riding skills, the Seventh Prince was not inferior to the Ninth Prince. The Ninth Prince said disdainfully, "Whoever doesn't dare is a coward." He rolled his eyes and a mischievous smile appeared on his lips, "Zhao Jing, if you lose, you have to bark like a dog, how about it?" The Seventh Prince's face turned very ugly upon hearing this, glaring angrily at the Ninth Prince, "Fine, if you lose, you have to bark twice like a dog, how about that?" "Fine." The Ninth Prince felt certain of his victory, "It's a deal then, whoever loses barks like a dog. If you lose and back out, don't blame me for being rude." "I'm afraid you'll back out and not bark like a dog." "I won't lose, just wait to bark like a dog." the Ninth Prince said as he mounted his horse, "Come on, let's race." "You're definitely going to bark like a dog." The Seventh Prince also mounted his horse, "Race on." "Seventh Brother, Ninth Brother, aren't you joining us..." The Third Prince had yet to finish speaking when the Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince had already started competing. "Third Brother, forget about those two, let's have our own race." "Alright, then the three of us will race," the Third Prince said, "Fifth Brother, if I win, give me that eunuch of yours who paints so well." "Third Brother, you've had your eye on my eunuch all along." "Your eunuch paints very well and suits me," the Third Prince smiled and said, "You know I love painting." "Third Brother, if I win, what are you going to give me as a prize?" "Name your request." "Third Brother, you're straightforward, then let's settle on that." The Fifth Prince turned to the Sixth Prince, "Sixth Brother, what prize do you want?" The Sixth Prince laughed, "Third Brother, Fifth Brother, you both know I love money. If I win, just give me money." The Sixth Prince's greatest passion was wealth. "Alright, then money it is." The Third Prince slapped his palm with a whip, "Let's start as well." The Seventh Prince and Ninth Prince were in their race, neither giving way. The Eighth Prince saw the Seventh and Ninth Princes had started competing again; he quickly led Zhao Yao to practice riding in a corner so as not to get in their way; otherwise, they would be the unlucky ones. The Fourth Prince also joined them in the corner, practicing alongside Zhao Yao. Zhao Yao rode between the Fourth and Eighth Princes. Whether it was his imagination or not, he felt the atmosphere between Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother was a bit subtle. Could it be they had a quarrel? Impossible. Though Fourth Brother always appeared cold, he never quarreled with others. As for Eighth Brother, it was even less likely he would quarrel with Fourth Brother. What was going on between Fourth Brother and Eighth Brother?