Yixuan couldn’t help but suppress a chuckle, yet he remained silent; however, inwardly he couldn’t help but sigh.
This extreme temperament of his, it’s hard to tell whether it’s good or bad.
In Second Brother’s world, right and wrong, black and white, have always been clear-cut, brooking no other hues. But if this went on, he was prone to ending up stubbornly stuck in a dead end.
As Dong Huiying came out of Liang Shuyu’s room, she saw Liang Yuening peeking around stealthily. He was carrying a bundle of hay toward the stable in the back courtyard.
There were originally two horses in the stable, but Haoming had ridden one away the day before and neither he nor the horse had returned since.
She craned her neck for a better look at Liang Yuening, observing as he placed the hay into the trough and then tugged at the horse’s ear, seemingly whispering some secrets to it.
’Dazhuang’ was the name Liang Yuening had given this horse for its strong, muscular limbs that gave it a robust appearance. He murmured to it for a while then suddenly said, "Dazhuang, we had an agreement, you’ve got to be good and cooperate with me, understand?"
Dazhuang’s response was to snort loudly, then bury its head in the trough to munch on the hay.
Liang Yuening chuckled, looking utterly foolish.
A bright moon hung high in the sky.
In the room where the brothers stayed, the second brother and Little Liu lay on the kang bed, while Liang Yuening and the eldest brother were sleeping on the floor. He lay straight on his back but with ears pricked up, eavesdropping. Judging that everyone must have fallen asleep by now, he stealthily opened his eyes and then slipped out quietly.
As he got up, the ever light-sleeper Shu Yu opened her eyes. She turned over, caught a glimpse of Liang Yuening, and then covered her face with a delicate yawn. Assuming the youngster must have been woken up by the call of nature, she didn’t give it much thought.
Even though Liang Yuening was as careful as he could be when pushing the door, the old wooden door still uttered a ’creak creak’ sound. The eldest brother, lying on the ground, awoke as well. He furrowed his brows slightly but saw Liang Yuening push the door ajar and quickly slip out.
Then, ’creak creak’, cautiously closing the door behind him. Only then did he heave a heavy sigh of relief.
Excellent, excellent, he hadn’t woken the brothers!
Clenching his fist in secret, he dashed toward the kitchen. After dinner that evening, he had sneaked a small bundle into the firewood pile, and he now dug out the bundle to find that it contained a set of black clothes with two patches on them, apparently worn by Haoming.
He quickly stripped off his own clothes and donned the black garb, then picked up a black cloth mask and scurried toward the back courtyard. He led Dazhuang out of the stable.
Climbing onto the horse’s back awkwardly, he hugged Dazhuang’s neck and made ’shushing’ noises, as if to coax the horse not to alert the family.
"Let’s go, hurry?" Once he climbed onto Dazhuang, the horse just stood there unmoving, and his patience started to wear thin. This wasn’t what they agreed upon during the day, was it?
"I’m saying, Dazhuang, didn’t you promise me?" He attempted to reason with the horse, but Dazhuang ignored him completely.
Ah, this stubborn steed!
Liang Yuening slid off the horse’s back and grabbed the reins, pulling Dazhuang along with all his might. Dazhuang suddenly raised a hoof and kicked at him. If he hadn’t dodged quickly enough, he might have been sent flying with one blow.
Liang Yuening glared with wide eyes, clutching the reins, "You—!" He was furious, his eyeballs nearly popping out, when suddenly a white figure leisurely approached.
Da Bai ambled over, yawning along the way. Seeing the standoff between person and horse, it uttered a low growl.