Chapter 40

"So that is how it is. My eldest brother understands now." Xue Jin'an watched with satisfaction as the First Prince quickly adjusted his expression, recovering the exact same arc of his smile as before, then turned his gaze to the remaining two princes, repeating his stereotypical expressions of concern.

The Fourth Prince felt an inexplicable sense of restraint and respect toward the First Prince, much like a junior being questioned by a distant and formal elder. When the conversation ended, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

As it happened, all the princes present had quite sharp hearing. While the Eighth Prince had only just begun his martial training and possessed little actual combat prowess, he was naturally gifted at reading the room. This meant that the Fourth Prince was the only one who managed to be both physically inept and completely oblivious to the atmosphere.

Consequently, everyone present felt the sigh of relief the Fourth Prince exhaled.

The Third Prince folded his arms and let out a silent "Huh."

The Fifth Prince turned his head away immediately, nearly bursting into laughter on the spot.

The Eighth Prince, who had only just begun to learn how to keep his expressions in check, had his composure shattered. His facial features lost all control, and the very strands of his hair pointed toward the Fourth Prince seemed filled with complexity.

Even Xue Jin'an could not help but glance over. Always somewhat lacking in his understanding of human emotions, he could still clearly perceive the Fourth Prince’s "forced performance."

Having survived a round of high-intensity "relative socializing," the Fourth Prince was patting his chest, satisfied and catching his breath. Because of this, he was a step slow in noticing the subtle shift in the atmosphere. Having been reprimanded by the Emperor before for speaking without reading the room, he became immediately nervous, looked up, and asked cautiously, "Did I say something wrong again?"

"No." Despite suffering two consecutive setbacks, the First Prince’s voice, intentionally lowered, still sounded gentle, seemingly no different from before.

However, Xue Jin'an precisely tracked the position of the corners of his mouth; they had dipped by three and a half pixels, nearly reaching the point of a standard, mechanical smile.

But the First Prince quickly readjusted. When he began his routine dialogue with the Eighth Prince, the arc of his smile rose again, missing the original position by only half a pixel.

The First Prince and the Third Prince had barely spoken two sentences before the Third Prince grew impatient. He reached up to scratch his neck, unsure if it was from having lain on the ground earlier or if the newly changed clothes were chafing his skin, but he felt an itch all over, and his skin was slightly reddened.

With an irritable expression, he kicked the fence. "You two keep talking. I’m going to go ride."

With that, he headed straight for the "Black Clouds Treading on Snow." He had been fond of the horse when it was still a foal, and now that he saw it fully grown, his desire to ride it was uncontrollable.

The First Prince immediately ignored the Eighth Prince, hastily ended the conversation, and followed close behind. Consort De had worked hard to train this horse into its current state and cherished it dearly; he could not let anyone else meddle with it.

"Little Three!" The Third Prince’s pace was too fast, and the First Prince, in his attempt to call him back, inevitably raised his voice. That once soft and gentle tone suddenly became grating and harsh—the unpleasant quality every youth experiences during their voice-breaking phase—causing the Third Prince to stop in his tracks.

Even Xue Jin'an could not help but cover his ears, finally understanding what it meant to have one's "ears suffer a miscarriage."

The First Prince cleared his throat, lowering his voice until it regained its gentle warmth. "The Heir of Prince An heard we were going on the autumn hunt and sent me a fine steed. They say it is a Ferghana horse—"

"A Ferghana horse? Take me to see it!" The Third Prince’s interest was piqued, and he interrupted impatiently.

"This way. You all should come and take a look as well." The First Prince led the Third Prince inward, the Eighth Prince followed his third brother’s footsteps, and the Fourth and Fifth followed behind.

Xue Jin'an walked at the end of the line. He clearly saw the First Prince’s personal eunuch directing people to lead the "Black Clouds Treading on Snow" away and hide it so the Third Prince would not see it again, while simultaneously ordering the other horses outside to be driven back to the stables—both to prevent any accidental collision with the noble princes and to make it easier for them to inspect and choose their own mounts.

The horses were in their most energetic state, and having just been brought out, they were naturally unwilling to return. The young eunuchs spread horse grass in the troughs to attract their attention, successfully driving most of the horses back into the stables.

Incidentally, whether the personal eunuch was simply caught up in his authority or did it on purpose, upon seeing the young eunuch from the Imperial Stables who had finished his guiding duty and was resting on the fence, he took the ledger from his hands and assigned him the task of spreading the grass.

The young eunuch from the Imperial Stables hesitated, seemingly wanting to explain something, but after glancing in the direction the princes had left, he closed his mouth and said nothing, silently going to the warehouse to fetch grass and get to work.

He was looking at me, Xue Jin'an thought with absolute certainty, and he withdrew his gaze, lost in thought.

The Third Prince noticed the commotion and said with dissatisfaction, "That’s enough. It’s their nature; if they want to be outside, let them stay outside. With only these few, even if they went mad, they couldn't do anything to us."

"But if something were to happen..." The First Prince wore a pained and hesitant expression.

The Third Prince scoffed. "I said it, so if anything happens, I will take the responsibility. I won't let you be put in a difficult position, Eldest Brother."

"Little Three, you’re belittling me with those words," the First Prince said helplessly.

In the end, due to the Third Prince’s insistence, the horses that hadn't been driven back remained on the field, roaming freely.

All the dissatisfaction in the Third Prince’s heart vanished the moment he saw the Ferghana horse. He immediately demanded that someone untie the reins and open the stable door so he could ride it.

The First Prince raised a hand to stop him, advising, "This horse is truly wild and untamable. It has been here for half a day and has already kicked the other horses out of the stable, occupying the entire space alone. No one dares to get close to feed it; usually, we only give it half the amount of grass so it doesn't have as much energy... With such a fierce temperament, I fear it would be unwise for you to force yourself onto it."

The Third Prince was not afraid in the slightest. On the contrary, his eyes grew brighter the more he heard, and he became even more interested. "Good! I like them fierce!"

As he spoke, he prepared to train the horse.

"Wait!" The First Prince called for someone to bring over the usual training tools. "At least take something with you."

The Third Prince had intended to say he didn't need anything and would train the horse bare-handed, but when he opened his mouth, he changed his mind and asked for a saber.

He tested the weight of the saber, swung it a few times, adjusted the position and size of his arm guards, and then leaped into the air.

Everyone thought the Third Prince wanted the saber to train the horse, but no one expected him to use it to cut the reins and set the horse free.

Because the horse was disobedient, the trainer had kept the reins very short so it couldn't cause trouble, and knowing the Third Prince was going to force a training session, they hadn't dared to untie them, intending to let him train it within the stable.

Although the Third Prince would surely be unhappy, the method was safe! They assumed the Third Prince was just trying to experience life and didn't take it too seriously. As for the Third Prince potentially punishing them if he got angry, the First Prince was right there, and this was Consort De’s stable; surely the First Prince would not let anything happen here.

The eunuchs thought it through well, yet while they knew the Third Prince was reckless, they never imagined he could be reckless to this extent. It was one thing for a fourteen-year-old to want to train a half-grown wild horse, but he actually wanted to perform a high-difficulty training act that ordinary trainers wouldn't even dare to dream of.

The Third Prince leaped from the roof of the stable onto the horse's back, and with a backhand strike, he severed the reins. The startled horse let out a long neigh and crashed through the stable, charging out.

Hooves thundered and neighs echoed as the man and horse engaged in a fierce struggle. The horse kicked, bucked, and jumped, finally rearing up on its hind legs to try and throw him off.

With the reins cut, the Third Prince had no point of leverage, so he clamped his legs tightly against the horse's belly and grabbed its mane. As soon as the horse's front hooves touched the ground again, he used the saber like a whip and struck the horse’s hindquarters hard.

After another round of galloping and struggling, the Third Prince leaned flat against the horse's back, clutching its neck to control its direction. After several attempts, the Ferghana horse finally grew submissive, and amid the Third Prince's hearty laughter, it began to run fast and steady.

"Giddy up!" Once the horse was trained, the Third Prince didn't stop; instead, he accelerated even more. The Ferghana horse lived up to its name, turning into a white blur as it reached top speed. It had already run several yards before the afterimage where it had stood finally faded away.

The First Prince helplessly called for someone to follow and keep an eye on him, then turned to bring Xue Jin'an and the others to choose their horses.

In ancient times, horses were like vehicles, and fierce horses were like luxury cars; few men could refuse that, even if it were just a foal.

However, Xue Jin'an had already learned how to train a horse by watching the Third Prince just now. As previously noted, his human brain made him bored with repeating things he had already learned, so he had no interest in looking at or choosing a fierce horse. After noticing a gaze lingering on him, he chose a random horse and separated from the others.

The Fifth Prince caught sight of this, quietly slowed his pace, and stopped on the pretext of feeling unwell and needing a rest. In front of the others, he took out a black pill and pressed it under his tongue; his mouth was now filled with a bitter taste.

In truth, the Fifth Prince’s claim of feeling unwell wasn't entirely an excuse, but he hadn't taken it seriously. If one who wasn't sick kept taking medicine to fake an illness, they would eventually make themselves ill.

He didn't want to take it, or rather, he had never wanted to, but... The Fifth Prince's expression turned slightly sinister at this thought, causing the inexperienced stable-hand nearby to shrink his shoulders in fear.

The Fifth Prince found a spot with an excellent view, folded his arms, and stared at Xue Jin'an with composure, making no attempt to hide his intentions.

The Fifth Prince had failed in every confrontation with Xue Jin'an, and he had finally realized that Xue Jin'an was a block of wood. If you tried to be sarcastic with him, he could make you die of anger and then bring you back to life; you would never gain any advantage.

It was better to be direct. With Xue Jin'an’s personality, even if he knew he was being spied on, he wouldn't have much of a reaction. If you asked him a question, he might even answer you.

The Fifth Prince’s strategy could be summarized as: using magic to defeat magic!

Xue Jin'an, who had indeed felt his gaze and successfully deduced his intent through character model simulation, thought: "."

He truly had no intention of holding the Fifth Prince accountable. To him, there was nothing he couldn't listen to or look at right now. If there were, he could manually shut the Fifth Prince down, or if necessary, he could use physical means to format his brain so he would never remember today’s events again.

As for why he didn't just format him using scientific means—the Fifth Prince even had a password for his Bluetooth connection, let alone anything else. Perhaps he could open an application and download a universal key to try.

Oh, his magic power was too low, and he couldn't open the application yet? Then never mind.

Xue Jin'an quietly watched the horse in front of him eat. It had to be said, although this horse was still a foal, its appetite was quite substantial. Three mouthfuls of grass at a time; the long trough, which should have been for a whole stable of horses, was being depleted as it finished half the fodder of the two horses next to it in a short while.

Soon, Xue Jin'an heard a weak heartbeat. A young eunuch carrying a bucket came over to add more feed. The frantically eating horse suddenly stopped mid-chew, looked up at the two people in front of it, its large, dark eyes on either side of its face looking slightly moist.