"Ah Zhen!" Seeing Gu Shengyin coming over, several young ladies who were chatting in the distance waved at her.
Gu Shengyin rode her horse over and, indeed, everyone was dressed just like her, all in distinct Hu attire. Not far away, several robust and gallant horses were quietly grazing.
"You haven't been out for a long time." The speaker was the County Princess Danyang from Li County Prince's Mansion, one of Jiang Lingzhen's close handkerchief friends and also one of the few who knew about Jiang Lingzhen's engagement to the Crown Prince.
"I had a fall last time, and mother forbade me from going out," Gu Shengyin answered with a smile, feeling a genuine fondness for this girl with a radiant smile, who in the original story was the only one who stood by Jiang Lingzhen through thick and thin, always trying to save her from her plight.
The County Princess Danyang saw Jiang Lingzhen's bright smile with not a trace of gloom, and her heart, which had been in her mouth ever since she heard that Jiang Yunsan had become a concubine, settled down.
"Let's go! My father found for me a fine horse from the Western Regions just a few days ago, and today I'll let you see what it can do!" the County Princess Danyang said with a smile.
All the young ladies rode their horses towards the distance, and the County Princess Danyang's horse, indeed a one-in-a-thousand steed, soon left everyone else far behind, with only Gu Shengyin able to keep up with her.
"Haha, Ah Zhen, never mind them, I will sneakily take you to a great place!" the County Princess Danyang said excitedly to Gu Shengyin.
With her interest piqued by the chase, Gu Shengyin gave no heed to Hu Zhu's calls and followed the County Princess Danyang, disappearing without trace.
"Not good!" As they ran, Gu Shengyin realized something was wrong—her horse seemed to be showing signs of going mad. There was something wrong with this horse!
"Danyang! Something's wrong with my horse!" Gu Shengyin shouted at Danyang.
Startled by her words, Danyang looked towards Gu Shengyin and her face instantly changed.
"Ah Zhen, hold on! I'll slowly move closer," the County Princess Danyang said as she controlled her horse to approach close to Lie Yangzhen, planning to pull Gu Shengyin onto her own horse when close enough.
Little did she know that Gu Shengyin's horse was already not in its normal state, and upon seeing another horse coming closer, it suddenly kicked out ferociously!
"Hiss~!" the County Princess Danyang's horse cried out in agony but still remembered its rider on its back, managing to stabilize itself without falling, though it refused to get any closer to Gu Shengyin's horse.
By the time the County Princess Danyang had finally stabilized, Gu Shengyin was nowhere to be seen!
"Ah Zhen!" Danyang panicked internally—if something were to happen to Ah Zhen...
However, Gu Shengyin was having a tough time, the horse not knowing what was provoking it, only knowing to run wildly. She was being shaken badly, sometimes the leaves by the roadside hitting her body, painfully stinging!
"System!" Gu Shengyin called out in her mind, "What on earth is going on?"
The system replied, "The hallucinogenic potion's components were detected on the horse you are on."
Gu Shengyin's expression turned cold, "So, it was man-made?"
The system replied, "This part was in the original story; did the host forget?"
Gu Shengyin recalled, yes, in the transmigration, Jiang Yunsan once poisoned Jiang Lingzhen's horse; Jiang Lingzhen fell off the horse and broke her left arm, requiring a six months recovery.
But wasn't that supposed to happen two years later?
The system answered, "The host changed the original body's fate, naturally, the world's storyline also changed. However, now, I advise the host not to think too much and immediately deal with the situation at hand."
Gu Shengyin regained her senses and suddenly saw that there was no road ahead—only a smooth rock wall, and the horse under her was not showing any signs of stopping.