The Empress To Be (BL) [ON HOLD]

Chapter 7 - To The Kingdom Of Xiu, Part 2

¡Chapter recap¡
Yu Zhen slowly placed his foot on the stirrup and hoisted himself up onto the horse, who at first was unsettled but eventually calmed down as Yu Zhen stroked its head affectionately, geez this one's a bit reluctant, oh well, we have plenty of time to get to know each other better Yu Zhen thought to himself with a smile. He gazed at the horse with the utmost kindness but soon enough his attention was brought back to the leaving carriages, Yu Zhen eyes widened as he cursed, oh fiddle sticks! He quickly gripped the reigns, but before he gave them a flick signaling the horse to proceed forward he notified the horse first.

The horse let out a snort then almost seemingly nodded as if giving Yu Zhen the all clear, with that Yu Zhen flicked the reigns and the horse who Yu Zhen has yet to know the name of, bolted forwards after the two carriages.
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¡Continue chapter¡
Yu Zhen griped the reins tightly in his rather slender fists as he pressed forward, encouraging the mighty black horse to run faster, the wind seemingly aiding the pair in their quest for speed. However, Yu Zhen for whatever cause it might have been, whilst riding on the ink coloured stallion, suddenly bursted out into a fit of melodious laughter out of complete nowhere for no apparent reason. To the point that Yu Zhen frightened not only himself but the horse too, said horse now startled, began neighing loudly and took off faster than Yu Zhen had originally thought possible; to put it bluntly – the horse was out of Yu Zhen's control, due to fear that Yu Zhen had brought upon it of course.

Yu Zhen knowing his error, began assessing the situation and swiftly thought up a quick solution, one that he had to execute correctly with the utmost accuracy or who knows what disaster could befall the human and horse duo. Worst of all, the pair were rapidly approaching the two carriages – one that was holding both, Lai Jun and Li Mei and the other that contained the most powerful and most respected man in the whole Ling Kingdom, the emperor himself; Emperor Xiang of Ling. As well as the crown prince of Ling. Yu Zhen didn't spare another thought on the women in the carriage, the same carriage that he was supposed to share with the two, instead he focused all his attention on the dreadful situation he had gotten himself into.

Yu Zhen, just loud enough for the horse to hear, gave some stern yet calm commands to the horse in question, who neighed loudly in response. He then brought up his feet that were in the stirrup and placed them so they were directly where the horse's stomach is and pulled tightly; a hind quarter yield. The horse seemed to of reacted and began slowing ever so slightly, Yu Zhen couldn't help but think to himself with a sigh: my, whoever had the job of teaching and training this horse did a horrible job! Yu Zhen then began trying a different method. He gripped the reigns and pulled on the right side, directing the horse's head to the right, to where it would then be brought to his knee's level, Yu Zhen then began circling the horse slowly and eventually with help of his calm commands the horse stopped bolting all together.

Yu Zhen took this time to gently pat the side of the horse's head all while whispering calming words that were more or less commands, the horse seemed to of calmed down and soon enough Yu Zhen made the large and powerful animal walk again, this time being mindful as to not scare the poor thing half to death.

This time round, the stallion seemed to be more relaxed as it trotted along the path just behind the two carriages, Yu Zhen was pleased with the sudden change in attitude and whispered sweet words to the horse before questioning something out loud. "I wonder who 'trained' you? Obviously that person doesn't know a thing about you or your species, you're missing out on all the fundamentals a young horse like you should have" he said to no one in particular. The horse waved its tail and grunted in response, Yu Zhen chuckled quietly and lightly held the horse close as he embraced the back of the black stallion, "you're such a beautiful horse, I wonder who owns you?" Yu Zhen drew back from the horse, readjusted himself then looked forward. The carriages are approximately 10 meters away from me... so, I believe it would be wise to stay behind them both; especially the one where both the emperor and crown prince is currently residing inside, oh and I'd be good to avoid the guards at all cost too.