Chapter 91

Li Kuan sat in the carriage, swaying as it headed out of the city. Beside the carriage, a half-grown puppy was running lightly, following the carriage. It wore a copper bell around its neck, which jingled as it ran.

The Li family had already moved into the Eastern Palace of the Crown Prince, despite the fact that a massacre had occurred there just a few days ago. The family lived there with a clear conscience, but Li Kuan still felt a bit uneasy. He admired Li Er, Changsun, and the other two young boys who knew the truth.

Today, he was leaving the city to learn horseback riding, one of the goals Li Kuan had set for himself. In the past few years, he had been busy restoring his frail body, and as a result, he had neglected the essential riding and archery skills that were required for the sons of ancient noble families. Now, he was determined to make up for lost time.

Recently, his body had mostly recovered, with only a few minor injuries remaining, which did not affect his ability to learn other things. The place he was heading to was a horse ranch on the eastern outskirts of Chang'an, which had long been dedicated to providing horses for the royal family. Li Kuan had adopted a jet-black warhorse there. The term "adopted" was used because, as the owner of a warhorse, one had to personally raise the horse for a period to build a bond. This was to ensure that, in the event of battle, the horse would not be unfamiliar and cause any accidents.

For the past few days, Li Kuan had been leaving the city every day to ride his black warhorse, which he named Zhuiyun (Chasing Clouds), for a couple of laps. Learning to ride was not difficult for Li Kuan, as he had practiced horse stances for a long time, which made his lower body very stable. The highest level of horse stance was to stand as if riding a horse in mid-air. This meant that when standing in a horse stance on flat ground, one should move in a way that mimicked riding a galloping warhorse. Once this level was achieved, the horse stance was considered complete.

Li Kuan had not yet reached this level, but he was very close. Therefore, he could ride Zhuiyun at a gallop after just half a day of practice. He enjoyed the sensation of the wind rushing past him, feeling very free, much like riding his beloved motorcycle in the future.

Upon arriving at the ranch, Li Kuan whistled, and a black horse, like a streak of black light, quickly ran out from the herd. The warhorse neighed, expressing its joy to Li Kuan. Li Kuan walked straight toward it. Just as they were about to collide, the horse reared up on its front legs, snorted loudly, and stopped right in front of Li Kuan.

"Ha ha... Zhuiyun, did you miss me?" Li Kuan gently stroked the horse's coat and combed its mane.

The horse brought its face close to Li Kuan and exhaled a long breath, blowing on his face.

"Let's go for a couple of laps!" Li Kuan mounted the horse, and Zhuiyun galloped away. The little gray puppy, which had been following Li Kuan, barked and chased after them.

Li Kuan sat firmly on the horse's back, moving with the rhythm of Zhuiyun's gallop. At this moment, he was experiencing the highest level of horse stance, which was difficult for those who practiced martial arts in the future because they rarely had the opportunity to ride horses. Now that Li Kuan had the chance, he was not going to miss it.

However, halfway through the run, Zhuiyun let out a mournful neigh and nearly threw Li Kuan off the horse. Li Kuan tightly held the reins to prevent being thrown off and quickly dismounted. "What's wrong?" In his urgency, Li Kuan forgot that Zhuiyun couldn't understand him.

Only then did Li Kuan notice that they had reached the edge of the ranch, where thorns were piled to prevent the horses from running out. Normally, Li Kuan would turn back at this point, but today, while practicing horse stance, he had forgotten. The thorns had pierced the keratin layer on Zhuiyun's hooves, causing it pain and making the usually gentle horse become agitated.

"Zhuiyun, stop!" The horse was struggling, so Li Kuan used his strength to bring it down to the ground and then began to comfort it, stroking its coat.

The guards and the stable hands, who had been accompanying the Crown Prince's son, quickly rushed over.

"Second Young Master, what happened?" asked Wang Hu, the leader of the guards.

"Zhuiyun's hooves were pierced by thorns!" Li Kuan replied. "Have the stable hands check if it can be treated."

The stable hands hurriedly bowed to Li Kuan and began to examine the horse. After a short while, they concluded that the thorns had only pierced the keratin layer and not the hoof itself. If the thorns were removed and the horse was given proper rest for half a month, it would recover.

Li Kuan ordered the thorns to be removed on the spot, as it was too far from the ranch's buildings to transport the horse back. The guards held the horse down while the stable hands carefully removed the thorns. Zhuiyun struggled, but the guards kept it in place. Li Kuan comforted the horse, thinking to himself: How could the thorns pierce the hooves? Could it be that there are no horseshoes?

Having grown up in the countryside, Li Kuan was familiar with horseshoes. In his childhood, there were no rural roads, and all construction materials were transported by pack horses. Whenever a house was being built, the sound of the pack horses' bells would ring for ten to fifteen days, or even one to two months. All the pack horses had horseshoes.

Thinking about this, Li Kuan turned to watch the stable hands remove the thorns. Indeed, Zhuiyun's hooves had no horseshoes. How could such a warhorse run fast on the battlefield? The scattered weapons and swords on the battlefield would be deadly to the hooves, potentially crippling a warhorse. This would result in significant losses for the army, which the newly established Tang Dynasty could not afford. It seemed that he needed to introduce horseshoes.

Thus, Li Kuan began working on this project secretly over the next half month. Although he could have used the system, he did not want to rely on it too much, as it made him feel weak, and he had very few energy points.

Time passed quietly, and Li Kuan continued his secret experiments. Iron and a forge were not hard to find in Chang'an. He could easily find small workshops run by blacksmiths who made items like iron pots, knives, and braziers for households.

Li Kuan found one such workshop and began his work. Blacksmithing was one of the few skills he had. In his previous life, due to the intense job competition, he had no degree and could not compete with the millions of college graduates. He had to take temporary jobs in small towns, and blacksmithing was the job he held the longest. His strength from martial arts training made him very popular in the small workshops that still used manual labor.

After that, Li Kuan secretly met with Changsun once. Afterward, several large boxes were transported out of the Jiu Xianju (Wine Immortal Inn), leaving deep tracks on the dirt road. The price of lamp oil in Chang'an began to rise, eventually increasing by more than 30%.

Indeed, Li Kuan had asked Changsun for money to buy lamp oil. Changsun had already intended to do this, but previously, due to the uncertain situation, she had many expenses. Now that everything was settled, she gave Li Kuan the money he needed, several tens of thousands of silver taels, packed in large boxes. Changsun also mentioned that the Jiu Xianju would operate independently, and she would be responsible for the inner palace. A dedicated manager would oversee the Jiu Xianju, and Li Kuan could withdraw money from any branch whenever he needed it. Compared to the other royal businesses, the Jiu Xianju's earnings were now insignificant to Changsun, as each royal business was massive and far more profitable than the Jiu Xianju, which had only established itself in Chang'an. Even after accounting for the inner palace's expenses and other costs, the Jiu Xianju's earnings were still more than the annual income from selling wine. The Jiu Xianju would now be Li Kuan's private property, as it had earned Changsun a significant amount during the most difficult times. The money would be used to build the several wine shops, making the Jiu Xianju Li Kuan's private asset.

Li Kuan, of course, did not hesitate. He had already felt the need for financial independence when Changsun was hesitant about giving him money. Now that she had spoken, it was even easier!

In the Eastern Palace, Li Er sat behind a desk, looking at Wang Hu, who was kneeling before him. "What has Kuan been up to lately? It's been almost two months, and he's still buying lamp oil?" Li Er's voice was low and authoritative, reflecting the change in his demeanor since becoming the Crown Prince. His aura had shifted from the ferocity of a general to the dignified authority of a high-ranking official, rather than the intimidating presence of a warrior.

"Your Highness, Second Young Master has been buying lamp oil for the past few days, and the price of lamp oil in Chang'an has increased by 30%!" Wang Hu replied.

"It seems that the scientist behind Kuan is up to something again. These people are always talking about coal, oil, lamp oil, and other flammable materials. Could it be that the energy they speak of is contained within these things?" Li Er had been puzzled about this energy since his conversation with Chen Tuan and now had a vague idea that it might be the unknown substance that allows these materials to burn.

Thus, Li Kuan continued his疯狂的扫荡 of the Chang'an market. Time passed quietly, and Little Gray, neglected by its owner, began to suffer. The two young girls loved to dress it up and even wanted to ride it, going so far as to have a dog saddle, small leather armor, small leather pants, and small boots made for it, along with wooden knives and swords (Miss Yun was very fond of this part!).

If Little Gray were not still a puppy, it might have become a war dog with the same treatment as a warhorse.

By September, the autumn wind was blowing, and the leaves were falling. Li Er's coronation day was approaching, and Li Kuan was making his final preparations.

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