“Behave yourself, you won’t have a second chance for me to save you.”

Ever since the high and mighty military god had said these words to Zhu Yanyu in the stable, she had become even more cautious. She never said a word more than necessary in front of others, and even with the seemingly innocent Xiaocui, she was careful to guard her heart and consider what she should and shouldn’t say.

According to the rules here, after Zhu Xiangyu recovered from his illness, he moved out of his sister’s room and shared a large dormitory with several young stable hands. Zhu Yanyu was worried that her brother might attract unwanted attention, so before he moved out, she repeatedly warned him to keep a low profile and not to quarrel with anyone.

Although Zhu Xiangyu had been a pampered young master at home, surrounded by servants and accustomed to a life of luxury, the sudden change in his family’s fortunes had left him almost alone in the world. The hardships he had endured on the road to exile had also changed him. He was no longer the carefree young master he once was.

Despite his young age, the intelligent boy quickly understood the situation he and his sister were in, and he solemnly promised his sister that he would not cause any trouble.

After a long lecture, Zhu Yanyu personally took her brother to his new living quarters. Later, through Awang, she found out that Zhu Xiangyu had been assigned as a third-class stable hand, responsible for sweeping the courtyard and running errands. The work was not too demanding.

At first, seeing him clumsy and taciturn, a few mischievous boys tried to bully him, but they were all driven away by Awang, who scolded them for not knowing their place. Yanyu’s sister was now personally serving the Commander’s precious horse, and the horse was very fond of her. Who would dare to bully Yanyu and risk his sister reporting them to the Commander?

The boys listened to Awang’s warning and stopped bothering Yanyu. To their surprise, Yanyu didn’t mind at all and even treated them to snacks sent by his sister. This won over the leader of the group, a twelve-year-old boy, who promised to protect Yanyu from then on.

Zhu Yanyu listened to Awang’s account of her brother’s “winning hearts and minds” in the courtyard and couldn’t help but smile.

With one less worry on her mind, she also had the leisure to observe everything in the horse farm. Sometimes, when Fu Yuncheng went out to inspect the nearby military camps, she would take the opportunity to walk around the horse farm.

The horse farm currently housed several hundred horses, all of which were provided for the use of the Commander’s personal guards, especially the most elite Iron Armor Regiment soldiers. The Commander’s mounts were all specially trained here into excellent warhorses.

The horse farm was located in a valley between two mountains, covering a vast area. There was a large pasture for the horses, but since it was now the transition between autumn and winter, the grass had turned yellow, and most of the horses were kept in the stables and fed fodder. Occasionally, they were let out to run and exercise.

Following a gentle slope upwards, through a maple forest, there was a clear and beautiful lake like a mirror, reflecting the sky and clouds, like a fairyland.

Zhu Yanyu loved this place. It was secluded and quiet, with beautiful lake and mountain scenery. Sometimes, when Fu Yuncheng was too busy with official duties to take Flowstar out for a ride, she would take the initiative to lead Flowstar here, where they could leisurely stroll by the lake.

On the other side of the lake was a dilapidated mansion, with its walls covered in thorns and its gates tightly locked. It was said to have been left by the previous owner of the horse farm. After Fu Yuncheng bought the horse farm, he didn’t bother to renovate it, so it had been left abandoned.

Every time she looked at the mansion that she couldn’t enter, Zhu Yanyu felt it was a waste. If it were properly renovated, it could be a charming vacation cottage. Opening the door would allow one to enjoy the lake and play in the water, how wonderful!

She didn’t know that the mansion was only nominally empty. In fact, a three-story pavilion inside had long been cleaned up. Whenever Fu Yuncheng felt troubled and wanted to be alone, he would come here quietly.

One day, Zhu Yanyu, as usual, led Flowstar to the lakeside for a leisurely stroll. Fu Yuncheng was standing by the window on the third floor of the pavilion, looking at the figure of a person and a horse laughing and chasing each other in the distance.

This was not the first time he had watched her like this.

The first time was half a month ago. He had come to the pavilion to think, but was suddenly disturbed by a noise. Looking out, he saw someone trying to push open the tightly closed gate by the lake, but they couldn’t open it. The person seemed very frustrated and let out a long, mournful cry.

It was a clear and bright female voice. Even in frustration, it sounded as sweet and melodious as birdsong, accompanied by a few neighs from the horse.

Wasn’t that Flowstar’s cry?

He was suddenly alert and looked carefully. It turned out that the person who couldn’t enter the gate was his beloved horse Flowstar and that woman.

He pricked up his ears and listened carefully to the conversation outside the gate.

“Flowstar, you also want to go in and have a look, right?”

“Neigh—”

“Who locked the door so tightly? What a miser!”

“Neigh?”

“Haha, maybe it was your master who ordered it locked! I’m calling him a miser, aren’t you angry?”

“…”

“You’re really angry? Okay, okay, I won’t call him a miser, okay? But your master is really not easy to get along with. Every time I see him, he has a stern face, scaring people to death… Okay, okay, I won’t say anymore, stingy horse.” The woman spoke playfully as she turned and left.

He watched the woman and the horse gradually walk away, watching her laugh and play with the horse, her figure as agile as a butterfly. That was the first time he had stood by the window of the pavilion and watched her.