The Emperor, with more men than women, made me his mistress.

The horse was tall and powerful, with a pure black and shiny coat without a single blemish. Surprisingly, its four hooves were strong and powerful, but they were white.

Upon seeing such a horse, Jin Chenyuan couldn't help but take a few steps closer.

Seeing Jin Chenyuan walking towards her, Yue Li raised her chin, patted the horse she was leading, and said with some pride, "Brother Chenyuan, what do you think of my horse? Isn't it majestic?"

Upon seeing the horse Yue Li was leading, Shao Qi, who had followed her over, exclaimed in surprise, "Yue Li, where did you get this horse? A horse like this isn't something you can buy easily."

Such powerful horses are usually warhorses used in battle, and because of the needs of war, they are not easily sold.

When she thought about what Yue Li had said when they met, that she grew up in a remote small county town, she also remembered that there was a main road leading southwest from the west gate of the city.

Meanwhile, Feng Yuanxi's troops were stationed at the southwestern border.

The person who could sell such horses must be someone from the garrison.

For a moment, Jin Chenyuan and Shao Qi were both thinking that when they had some free time, they would write a letter to Feng Yuanxi and ask him to investigate whether there were any horse traders in his garrison.

But before the two could decide what to say in the letter, Yue Li's next words dispelled their concerns.

Seeing the two looking at her horse with surprise, Yue Li felt even more proud. She excitedly shared with them, "You don't know, when I bought this horse, its hind leg was injured. You couldn't see it normally, but it couldn't run too hard. The seller said it used to be a warhorse. However, because of the injury, it could no longer go to the battlefield, so it had to be sold. But even though it can't go to the battlefield, it's fine for riding or pulling things. When I bought the horse, I saw several injured horses like this, and I immediately fell in love with this one."

After saying that, Yue Li patted the horse she was leading and looked at the two of them, asking, "Look, my taste is pretty good, isn't it? The first thing I noticed about this horse was its hooves, because all four hooves are white, so I named it Treading Snow."

Upon hearing Yue Li's words, Jin Chenyuan's concerns were dispelled. He then carefully examined the horse Yue Li was leading and nodded in praise, "It's quite good. You have excellent taste."

Jin Chenyuan knew that this was a common practice in the army: old or injured horses that could not go to the battlefield would be sold off, since there would be many wounded warhorses every time the two armies clashed.

Although these warhorses could no longer go to the battlefield, they were still much stronger than the horses on the market if they were sold outside.

The horse that Yue Li chose was clearly better.

Jin Chenyuan was also a horse lover, and he couldn't resist going up to touch the horse's mane. Yes, it did feel as smooth as it looked.

Seeing Jin Chenyuan's actions, Shao Qi also stepped forward, walked to Yue Li's side, and raised his hand to touch the horse's mane. Hmm, it was indeed very nice to touch.

While stroking the horse's glossy black mane, Shao Qi turned his head and asked Yue Li, who was standing in front, "Yue Li, where did you buy this horse? Do you have any more horses like this? I'd like to buy one too."

Seeing that Shao Qi liked it so much, Yue Li was also happy and casually said, "I bought it at the horse market in Pingchuan County. There were quite a few injured warhorses, but the one I'm leading is definitely the only one like this! Otherwise, why would I choose this one out of so many horses?"

As she spoke, Yue Li's eyes darted around for a moment.

Actually, when Yue Li's horse was bought, it wasn't this strong, and its coat wasn't this black, shiny, and smooth.

When she first bought it, the horse had a large frame, but it was skinny and its coat was dirty and matted. If she hadn't been attracted to the horse's four strong white hooves, she definitely wouldn't have bought it.

The horse has grown to its current robust state thanks to her feeding it a low-grade healing pill to heal its leg injury and some spiritual spring water.

With its current physique, it's no exaggeration to say that it's definitely stronger than the strongest horse in the army.

When Shao Qi heard Yue Li say that there were no horses like that anymore, he wasn't too disappointed. After all, good horses are hard to find!

Moreover, the horse he is riding now is a rare and excellent steed.

Jin Chenyuan, standing to the side, had a flicker in his eyes when he heard Yue Li say that she bought the horses in Pingchuan County.

Now he was even more certain that Yue Li and Madam Yuan were related. After all, Madam Yuan's family was from Pingchuan County, and given Yue Li's personality, if she were to travel far, she would definitely not take a carriage but ride a horse. So if she were to buy a horse, she would definitely buy it locally.

In other words, Pingchuan County is the starting point of Yue Li.

Without saying anything more, Yue Li and her group led their horses and left the inn.

After the group left the East Gate and mounted their horses, Yue Li realized that Qingyun, who usually followed closely behind Jin Chenyuan, had not followed. Instead, Haoyun was now walking beside Jin Chenyuan.

Yue Li casually asked, "Brother Chenyuan, why didn't Qingyun follow us?"

Jin Chenyuan, riding his horse to Yue Li's left, replied, "I sent Qingyun to take care of something!"

"Oh, let's go then." With that, Yue Li squeezed the horse's flanks with her legs, pulled the reins with her left hand, and made the horse run.

Actually, Yue Li didn't mean anything by it. She just asked casually when she noticed that Qingyun was missing from the group.

Shao Qi rode his horse to Yue Li's right. Seeing that Yue Li had already started trotting, he followed her on his horse.

He wasn't interested in Jin Chenyuan's affairs at all, and even if he were, he wouldn't ask such a question so casually as Yue Li.

After all, apart from this business trip with Prince Chen, the two had no interaction in Kyoto before.

After all, one was a prince with real power, and the other was a young master from a noble family.

Furthermore, given their ages, they shouldn't have any connection.

The group set off early, so by noon when the weather got warmer, they had already walked a short distance.

As the weather got hotter, Yue Li's face turned rosy from the sun. Jin Chenyuan saw a grove of trees ahead and suggested, "Let's rest in the grove for a while, and then continue our journey when it gets a little cooler."

If it were just a few grown men, they wouldn't care whether the weather was hot or not.

But now they have Yue Li in their team, don't they?

"Okay, let's stop and rest for a bit and have some water." After riding horses all morning, Shao Qi was also a little tired. Although he practiced martial arts regularly, he was, after all, a pampered young master from a noble family, and he rarely had the chance to travel on horseback like this.

"Okay." Yue Li agreed readily, after all, she was really hot!

Hearing that their masters wanted to rest, Tian Dong, Chuan Bai, Hao Yun, and several guards, who were following behind, rode quickly into the grove.