Chapter 603 - Returning Back
The birth of the new foal had gone quite well considering the circumstances. Perhaps it was because the mother horse had eaten fodder that had spiritual energy in it, so she was in good shape. Not long after Xiaocao arrived there, the mare had given birth on her own to a red colored foal. Once Doctor Wang arrived, he inspected both the mare and her new foal from head to toe. After ascertaining that both animals were doing well, he left.
Black Whirlwind squeezed through the group of people and curiously regarded the pitiful little fellow who couldn't even stand up properly. It turned its head away in disgust and walked away. However, it was also afraid that its master would start loving the other fellow more than it, so it ended up waiting obediently at the side, acting completely different from its usual fiery and childish self. In fact, it didn't even try to steal the drop of mystic-stone water that Xiaocao had fed to the other little foal.
The new little foal had a decent bloodline and had just been fed some mystic-stone water to improve its constitution. After spending a winter at the stud farm, the little foal would likely not be the least bit inferior to Snow Scar once it grew up! Yu Xiaocao noticed that within the wild horse herd there were quite a few other pregnant mares. Thus, she especially sent out a few experienced grooms to take good care of these mares and their future little ones. These foals were all the hope for the future at this farm! She was pretty convinced that the next generation of these horses, who would spend their entire childhood in the cozy environment of the horse farm, would likely be quite reluctant to leave such a wonderful 'home' in the future.
After she finished settling everything down with the wild horse herd, it was already getting close to the twelfth month. Yu Xiaocao took a few of her maidservants on a day with good weather and had them pack all of their belongings in preparation to head back to the capital.
During this time period, the guards at the stud farm had caught a few outside spies who had tried to infiltrate the area to poison their water source. After interrogating them, they confirmed that these spies had come from the Tuha'erhanbu Tribe and had been sent out by Xiao Rong's brainless younger brother on this mission.
Did they really think that the Great Ming Empire, a fierce tiger, was a weak little Hello Kitty ah? In a pique of fury, Zhu Junyang took these spies along with some soldiers from the firearm barracks and headed out to attack the tribe with a night ambush. This group ended up setting the tribe's winter supplies all on fire and they also hung the heads of the slain spies on the flagpoles at the camp. For these ambitious foreign tribes, it was necessary to teach them a hard lesson. Otherwise, they would never learn!
The elite warriors of the Tuha'erhanbu Tribe had finally experienced the savagery of the long-distance gunpowder powered firearms. After experiencing a complete defeat, they finally realized the giant gap between themselves and the troops from the Great Ming Empire. Just because the other side didn't bother with them did not mean it was because they were afraid of them. Instead, it meant that they truly didn't even regard them as a rival and saw them as little jumping fleas instead.
In the middle of winter, it was extremely difficult for a tribe like them, which lived on the outskirts, to gather extra food and supplies. Almost half of their wintering supplies had been burnt to a crisp, which meant that a large portion of the tribe would go hungry during the long winter. In addition, the new chief of the tribe was tyrannical and muddleheaded. Many of the lower-ranking warriors and commoners were quite unhappy about this turn of events and began to long for the times when Great King Xiao Rong, who was a wise leader, was still around.
Xiao Rong, who had recovered fully from his wounds in the outer residence at the outskirts of the stud farm, had already infiltrated the tribe with his two loyal advisors. He was patiently waiting for the perfect time to strike and regain his throne. When Royal Prince Yang's firearm troops began their ambush, he took advantage of the situation and struck when the iron was still hot. He roused the warriors and people who were still loyal to him and swiftly rounded up all of the turncoats and imprisoned them. Thus, he finally regained the power that he had lost within the Tuha'erhanbu Tribe.
