" Whoa! Not again..." Xia Lian cried as she fell on the ground with a thud! Hurricane rushed towards her and started to lick her face. The saliva mixed with all the dirt combined to a wonderful picture. A little girl playing with her big horse.
Xia Lian looked at her partner with a gloomy expression on her face. For the last five days she was trying her best to maintain any kind of balance on this godforsaken horse while sitting in a crouching position on it's back.
Who would imagine riding in new positions to be this difficult, as it didn't even take a few seconds before the last tiny bit of hope she had for a wondrous performance on the battlefield vanished. What kind of disastrous picture would a commander that couldn't even sit on his own horse be?! The morale of her soldiers shouldn't even be mentioned. As a result, she continued to practice no matter what, which lead to the little girl being thrown off again and again. The tiny body was already covered in cuts and bruises and one could imagine her current mood. She was slowly beginning to imagine what horse meat would taste like ah!
After tormenting her for all this time, this horse was acting sweet and innocent before her. This damn horse was exceeding her in shamelessness by a large margin. Well, as the saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far from the trunk.
First, she had to master the crouching position before proceeding to standing on the running horse. It was a highly important task, because she had to learn to shoot arrows while standing on her horse. Only then could she consider herself as a master in archery. Xia Lian sighed and got up. Numerous thoughts run through her mind while she led her horse to the stable, but she did not lock it in there. Her Hurricane was a wild and free horse. She loved it and she did not want to tame it. Both of them would slowly get used to each other. If her interest in horse meat would vanish within the next few days ah!
Xia Lian patted herself on the shoulders encouraging herself. Yes, she needed some self motivation to get going. This horse was making her go crazy! But in the end, she loved challenges the most and making sure to be in resonance with her lovely horse soon was definitely the most challenging at all!
The little girl, covered in mud and injuries, took a warm bath and changed into a set of royal blue male robes. She tied her entire hair into a simple bun, supported by a plain wooden hair pin. After applying her unique cream and altering her facial features to look more masculine, she perfectly fit the role of a young master.
To be fair, she looked more like a young scholar. Xia Lian nodded her head in satisfaction after staring at the young man reflected in the mirror.
'Knock.. Knock..' A series of patterned knocks interrupted her thoughts. Xia Lian knew that it was Fan Ling because she taught her on how to knock the door following a certain pattern. Anticipating the reasons for her visit, she immediately called out, "Come in."
Fan Ling and Bao Su entered the room with huge sacks in their hands. Xia Lian's face bloomed into a handsome smile after carefully observing the sacks.
" Did you get everything I asked for?" Xia Lian was mostly concerned about this.
" Yes Master, we bought everything you asked for. No mistakes were allowed." Fan Ling and Bao Su replied at the same time.
Herbs! Finally, she got her hands on the herbs! Now, it was time to satisfy her pair of itchy hands. She would make use of the knowledge which her Master imparted to her! With this knowledge she could beat the crap out of those who dared to insult her or belittle her master. Let's see who would dare to look into her direction again, after she finished her preparations.
" Good! Keep them on the table." Xia Lian instructed them to place the bags on the working table, which she specially prepared for the herbs.
" Bao Su, search for a house. We will be moving out of this inn as soon as possible." The little girl wanted to have her own working space. Naturally, it should be big enough to fit at least a hundred people. " Oh by the way, it should be able to accommodate a hundred people at the least. Well, the bigger the house, the better obviously."
" Yes, Master." Bao Su immediately left the house while humming a song.
" Fan Ling, you will help me with these herbs. But be careful." Xia Lian showed her how to grind the herbs using a stone. Fan Ling observed her master carefully for a while. As soon as she remembered all the necessary steps and was ready to grind, Xia Lian suddenly stopped her.
Fan Ling looked at the gloves in her hand with a confused expression her face. Xia Lian sighed, " Put these on your hands. Now, we are going to make some pastes and poisons."
The loyal maid followed her instructions and started to grind the herbs. Xia Lian busied herself in extracting the juices from the mashed herbs, using the special equipment which her master gifted to her.
Since it was a necessary step, some of the herbs were hung up to dry. They would be made into powders and pills. But it was of the utmost importance to carefully follow all the procedures in a correct order.
Xia Lian worked for quite a while and finished concocting her first poison. She used up all the Midnight Grass and Poison Ivy flowers for this particularly dangerous poison.
While looking at all the transparent jade bottles, containing a faint purple liquid in them the little girl had a mischievous smirk on her face. This was going to be her own first signature poison and the consequences it would bring to the poison market would be truly beautiful. The little devil nodded her head in satisfaction while she left the room.