Chapter 55: Kicking Snowy Hooves

  Liu Ze was astonished to find that the horse's sprinting speed was at least twice as fast as a northern horse, with an estimated weight of about one ton, two to three times that of a northern horse. Despite its large size and rapid speed, there was no feeling of bumpiness on this horse's back, whether climbing or jumping, it was stable as usual, even seven-foot-high obstacles could be cleared in one leap. In just the time it took to burn an incense stick, Liu Ze had already circled around the edge of the valley and returned.

  Just as he jumped off the horse, Zhang Fei was heard arguing there: "Second brother, don't compete with me anymore. Look at this horse and my skin tone, they match perfectly, it's simply a heavenly pair! If I didn't ride this horse, it would be unreasonable. Second brother, if you want to ride, you should ride a red horse, that suits you, right? - Big brother, you're back just in time, come and judge for us, am I and this black horse not a perfect match made in heaven?"

  Liu Ze looked at him, then looked at Guan Yu. Originally, Guan Yu had a red face, and now it was even redder. However, he was not good with words, and facing Zhang Fei's aggressive momentum, he could only choose to remain silent. But Liu Ze could see that he also had a deep affection for the precious horse. Ah, which hero in the world does not love precious horses? Liu Ze smiled and said: "Indeed, it is not an ordinary match, a heavenly match made in heaven, even if they fell into a pile of coal, no one could tell them apart."

  Zhang Fei grinned and laughed loudly: "Since big brother has said so, it seems that this Black Whirlwind horse will not be separated from me, old Zhang, for the rest of its life!"

  Guan Yu's expression was slightly despondent, but Liu Ze had already spoken out, so he naturally didn't have anything to say. "Since my third brother has a predestined relationship with Wutou, how can I, as the second brother, cut in and steal his love? This Wutou will be yours, third brother."

  Zhang Fei was overjoyed and mounted his horse, saying "Thank you, Second Brother!" Before he had even finished speaking, he was already dozens of yards away.

  Guan Yu smiled bitterly and shook his head. Liu Ze walked up to him, handing over the reins in his hand, saying: "Second brother, you try riding this white horse."

  Guan Yu was taken aback and hastily said: "Big brother, this won't do."

  Liu Ze said with a smile: "You and I are brothers, why be so polite? Since ancient times, good horses have been paired with heroes. Since Yun Chang likes it so much, this horse should belong to Yun Chang."

  Guan Yu wiped the sweat from his brow and said: "Since this is something that Big Brother loves so much, how could Little Brother bear to part with it? Absolutely not."

  "You and I are like three brothers, inseparable. Although the third brother is a bit rough around the edges, Yunchang still asks you to be patient with him, but this horse Yunchang must insist on accepting."

  Although Liu Ze yielded a hundred times, Guan Yu firmly declined to accept. He ordered someone to bring over another horse with a bay-colored coat and said, "You two don't have to fight over it. This bay horse may not be comparable to those two thousand-li divine steeds, but it is also a top-quality sweat-blooded precious horse that can run a hundred li in one breath."

  Guan Yu took the reins one step ahead and said: "Third brother is right, this sorrel horse is just suitable for someone with a red face, wonderful!"

  Liu Ze could only give up and said, "Second brother, today let's consider it a debt that big brother owes you. Sooner or later, big brother will repay you with a thousand-mile horse." Liu Ze thought of Lü Bu's Red Hare Horse, but did not know that more than ten years later this Red Hare Horse would become Guan Yu's mount.

  Ling Xian let out a sigh and said, "Alas, originally there were three of these divine steeds. Last year, in order to bribe the Governor of Liangzhou to send troops to assist us, we specially gave one of the red divine steeds to the Governor of Liangzhou. However, that Governor of Liangzhou accepted the bribe but did not send any troops to assist us."

  Liu Ze thought to himself, "The Governor of Liangzhou is just a local official. Without the Emperor's edict, he wouldn't dare to deploy troops even if he had ten thousand times more courage." However, these officials have big appetites and would not let such a fat piece of meat slip away from them. Liu Ze pondered for a moment, then his heart skipped a beat as he said, "Is that red horse the one with a coat as red as charcoal, called 'Chi Tu'?"

  Ling Xian shook his head and said, "This horse is as red as hot coals, with not a single white hair on its body. However, it's not called 'Red Hare' but rather 'Flame Colt'."

  Liu Ze felt a slight disappointment, but soon he thought that this horse was sent to the Governor of Liangzhou. Although Dong Zhuo is not yet the Governor of Liangzhou, in the following years, after he became the Governor of Liangzhou, it's possible that the horse would belong to him. As for the name "Red Hare", it's also possible that this Flame Horse was renamed after arriving in West Liang. It seems likely that Red Hare is a descendant of the Sweat Blood Horse. Thinking that Lü Bu was known as the number one in the world, his great bravery was largely due to the credit of Red Hare, and today he himself obtained two divine horses that can rival Red Hare, looking forward to the future, his heart was surging with excitement.

  Wu Anguo reported the beheading of the Xiongnu captives, with a total of 576 Xiongnu prisoners being executed on the spot. Today's battle resulted in over 1,200 Xiongnu people being killed, more than 300 horses escaped, and over 1,000 warhorses were captured, as well as countless weapons, grain, and supplies. Pan Feng reported that our army suffered 36 deaths, 27 serious injuries, and nearly 100 minor injuries. Those seriously injured have been treated and are no longer in danger, while the lightly wounded have been bandaged. Liu Ze felt a heavy heart and ordered that the 36 deceased be buried properly. He also asked to let the people of Dayuan help bury the beheaded Xiongnu and the dead people of Dayuan.

  After finishing these tasks, the sky was getting late, Liu Ze ordered the troops to camp on the spot, burying pots and cooking rice. He specially ordered the troops not to disturb the people of Dayuan. Although these many things were complicated and had gone through a day of fierce battle, people and horses were exhausted, but several months of marching had long been familiar, and handling them was in order.

  Liu Ze and Guan Yu Zhang Fei lived in the same tent, Pan Feng and Jia Xu lived together, Wu An Guo was responsible for tonight's vigilance work, checking the sentry posts. Setting up four sentry posts and three hidden sentries when camping has always been emphasized by Liu Ze, this is like tonight, in a relatively safe moment, the sentry posts and hidden sentries cannot be careless at all.

  Thanking Lian Xian for his good intentions to provide dinner, Liu Ze and others had a simple meal with the soldiers and were preparing to go to bed when the patrol outside came in to report that General Lian Xian was seeking an audience. It was now the second watch of the night, and Liu Ze was puzzled as to what this late-night visit could be about.

  Zhang Fei burst out laughing and said: "Could it be that the order was given by Elder Brother to send a beauty over?"

  "Third brother is not trustworthy, open your mouth and a river will flow! Please ask the commander to come in!" Liu Ze ordered the patrol soldier to ask the commander to come in first.

  Not only did Leng come in, but also four Da Yan girls behind him, young and beautiful, with slender figures. Zhang Fei took one look and was delighted, covering his mouth to stifle a laugh towards Liu Ze, seemingly saying, "See, I told you so?"

  Liu Ze slightly furrowed his brow and said: "Director General, what does this mean?"

  He first bowed his hands and said: "The divine envoy has condescended to reside in this humble place, we are truly uneasy at heart. Now I present four young girls, please accept them with a smile."

  Although it was a common practice at that time to treat women as gifts, otherwise Wang Yun would not have been able to use the linked strategy so freely. Cao Cao also sent beautiful women to win over Guan Yu, and even Zhao Fan, the governor of Guiyang, wanted to give his sister-in-law to Zhao Yun. But Liu Ze, who had modern ideas, was deeply disgusted by this move, and his face couldn't help but show some anger as he said: "General, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

  Liu Ze looked at the four girls and felt a bit embarrassed, saying: "In this remote mountain village, it's hard to find beautiful women, they can't compare to the beauties of the Central Plains. However, these four girls are considered top-notch in our tribe, and they're all virgins. If you don't mind, let them serve you."

  Liu Ze was now laughing and crying, anyway, he couldn't say a word or two clearly, waving his hand, saying: "The general manager's good intentions are appreciated, but these four beauties are not worthy of my enjoyment, please ask the general manager to take them away."

  He had previously been uncertain, last year when he sent gifts to the governor of Liangzhou, it wasn't just the Flame Dragon Horse that was sent, but also several young girls and precious jade. The governor of Liangzhou accepted them with a smile, but in the end, it was like throwing a meat bun at a dog, gone without a trace. Today, Liu Ze accepted the two precious horses very readily, so why didn't he dare to show interest in the beauties? These four young girls were among the most beautiful women of their tribe, could it be that they really couldn't enter Liu Ze's eyes? Seeing Liu Ze's resolute attitude, he had originally planned to make some requests after presenting the beauties to Liu Ze, but now it seemed he could only bid him goodnight and retreat.

  Zhang Fei had been holding back for a long time, and after Lord Liu retreated, he couldn't hold it in anymore. He laughed so hard that he was bent over backwards, his face red with laughter. Liu Ze's face was full of helplessness, and he could only force out two bitter smiles. Zhang Fei said: "You have such a beautiful young girl, white and tender, with blue eyes and high nose bridge, why don't you just take her in and taste the freshness?"

  Liu Ze looked at him with a straight face and said, "Is your elder brother that kind of person? If I wanted to take advantage of his beauties, would I have traveled thousands of miles to get here?"

  Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's also a good idea. We came here for the sake of the sweat-blood horse, and today we saved the lives of their entire clan. Tomorrow, when we want to buy some sweat-blood horses from them, they shouldn't refuse us. Once we've bought the sweat-blood horses, our mission will be accomplished, and we can hurry back to the capital. This place is really not suitable for humans to stay."

  Liu Ze saw Guan Yu remaining silent and said: "Yunchang, what's your take on this matter?"

  "Big brother, I think there's something fishy about this. If it's just a matter of gratitude, then why did Lord Cao already give us the two best horses in our tribe during the day, and now he's offering us beautiful women at night with such courtesy? He must have some request to make." Guan Yu hit the nail on the head.

  Liu Ze nodded and said: "What Yunchang said is absolutely right, I also have this intention."

  "What else could he have?" Zhang Fei asked in surprise.

  "The great Yu Wentai has suffered at the hands of the Xiongnu. This time, we have killed over a thousand Xiongnu here and left with a flourish, but this debt will be settled on the heads of the people of Yu Wentai. I'm afraid it won't take long for the Xiongnu to come seeking revenge in a frenzy."

  Zhang Fei said disapprovingly: "Let them find another place to hide."

  Liu Ze shook his head and said, "For the past decade, they have been hiding and fleeing everywhere. If there were any places to go, they would have gone already. Otherwise, they wouldn't have come to this barren South Mountain Valley. Further south lies the uninhabitable region of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, where survival is extremely difficult."

  "Does big brother have a good way to settle them?" Guan Yu asked.

  Liu Ze hesitated for a moment, shook his head and said: "Let me think about it... forget it, I'm too tired, let's talk about it tomorrow, sleep!"