What was with this unexpected situation?
Currently, she is riding a horse…
Alright...let's be more honest. She was dragged to ride a horse with him.
And where were they going?
The capital.
The freaking capital!!! So early in her travels? She had not even gotten a grip of the surrounding areas and now she was already dragged to the capital?!
She was not happy at all. Not in the least.
"Why do you look so unhappy?" Wei Kangnuan asked with laughter.
"Your Highness, you must be kidding me, right?" Peng Mingzhu questioned. "If you wanted me to ride a horse, I definitely can. You really don't need to ride with me. Also, you did not even discuss with me before telling me we are heading for the capital."
"Discuss? Didn't we discuss it already? You owe me a favor, so you're doing what I want you to do," Wei Kangnuan shamelessly told her.
Do what he wanted her to do for him? No. This man dragged her to a horse and did not even tell her where they were going until after the horse had already speedily sprinted at least a mile away!
Sighing at his response, Peng Mingzhu just said, "Your Highness, it's fine if you told me that you wanted me to travel with you to the capital. However, did you even think to ask me if I was ready to leave? I haven't prepared anything and I'm not even done with my own business with the Jiang River."
To be honest, she wanted to say Jiangging, but she had not even the slightest idea of where the city was located.
"What to prepare? When Mo Yuanjun discovered you, you clearly had nothing on hand," Wei Kangnuan replied with a smile. "Other than you and your clothes, you were empty handed. Tell me, what do you need to prepare?"
"Such things like knowing the political, economic, and social situation," Peng Mingzhu told him. "As a prince, you should understand that knowing these things are important when heading to a large city."
"Are you forgetting that I'm a prince then?" Wei Kangnuan asked. "As the prince, everything you'd want to know could and can definitely be found in my mansion."
Hearing his response, she sighed while in thought, 'Alright, I should have known that he would say this. He is a prince after all.'
"Will you give me what I asked of you earlier in your mansion then?" Peng Mingzhu asked just in case.
"I don't make unfair transactions," Wei Kangnuan stated while motioning the horse to slow down.
So...an owed favor became a transaction instead.
'This damn prince…' Peng Mingzhu cursed in her head.
Still mad at the prince for his absurdity, she decided to ignore him for the rest of the way to the capital. Of course, she could not ignore him forever because she later found out about something: the capital is far away from the Jiang River.
'You must be kidding me,' Peng Mingzhu internally grumbled while he tied up the horse to a close tree.
"We'll sleep here for the night. Mo Yuanjun and the rest have already set up nearby, so you can sleep comfortably," Wei Kangnuan told her when he finished tying up the rope onto the tree.
"Tell me, how far away is the capital from the river?" Peng Mingzhu asked with an angry tone.
"Ah," Wei Kangnuan sounded out while smacking his head as though humbling himself for doing something wrong. "I forgot to tell you. The capital is at least a hundred miles away."
'Stop acting as though you're being apologetic. I know you don't feel anything at all. You must be very happy...and proud of yourself,' Peng Mingzhu berated him in her head.
According to modern statistics, it should take a horse about 14 hours to travel 100 miles while speeding at full speed and if it was a well-bred horse specifically suited for long-distance and fast-speed travels.
Looking at his horse, she could tell that it definitely was a good horse.
It was a silver purebred Akhal-Teke. These horses were the fastest horse breed and exhibited extraordinary ability in long-distance travels. If you were to take these horses to a race competition, you were more likely to win than others.
Their endurance allows them to keep going through any race. Not only that, an Akhal-Teke also excelled in dressage and show jumping.
"Your horse can go to the capital city in one run. Why didn't you do that?" Peng Mingzhu asked.
"My horse can, but Mo Yuanjun and the rests' horses can't. I'm not such a mean leader," Wei Kangnuan answered. "Besides, if I made him run for so long without a break, he'd surely break down."
"By the way, where did you get this horse?" Peng Mingzhu asked interestedly.
"It was a tribute from King Xiong," Wei Kangnuan answered. "These horses are common in their country, but still extremely hard to get your hands on one. Of course, as the prince of an empire, I can easily get my hands on one, as long as you want it."
"I don't want one," Peng Mingzhu rejected.
Anyways, she did not plan to live in this place for a long time and had plans to go back soon. After all, she did not belong in the ancient era, but the modern era.
Just like the way she came, that was the way she wanted to go back…
"What are you thinking?" Wei Kangnuan questioned with dark eyes.
He did not know what she was thinking specifically, but he was somehow able to make correct guesses and estimates about what she was thinking.
"Peng Mingzhu, whatever you are thinking in your head, you had better put that thought away," Wei Kangnuan warned. "Especially if you are thinking about disappearing from my life after entering it."
Hearing his warning...she could only keep her silence.
What was wrong with this man? She did not even say anything.
Just how did he know that she was thinking about leaving after accomplishing her goals here?
Forget it…
She can always think about it when he is not in the same room and place as her.
"Alright, whatever. I'm going to sleep," Peng Mingzhu told the man while shrugging off his earlier statement.
"Wait. Let me set up the bed," Wei Kangnuan stopped her by holding her wrist.
"No need," Peng Mingzhu said.
Then, she stared up at the tall trees with long thick branches.
"Those branches make the perfect bed," Peng Mingzhu stated after shrugging off his hand with the intention to climb up the tree.
"Are you sure? What if you fall off? It'd hurt quite badly if that did happen," Wei Kangnuan started asking.
"If I fall off, I'll take care of it. You don't need to worry for me. Just worry about yourself," Peng Mingzhu told him right before she started climbing the tree trunk.
"I see…" Wei Kangnuan mumbled in response sadly.
Just when he thought he could get closer to her. He was going to make them sleep next to each other.
Well...he should have expected that considering that it is her after all.
She was not any other normal girl. Not a girl of the jianghu and not a girl of the noble families.
Though she carried herself with grace, he could tell that she was not raised up with the teachings of those strict manners teachers. Her grace was not taught, but instead forced.
If it was a taught grace, her body would be more stiff and straighter than what she was exhibiting in the two days that he has met her. Instead, her body was straight, but relaxed.
This was completely different from what the teachers taught the girls. At the very least, this was what he knew after seeing how the teachers taught the girls when he was younger in the palace.
Well...he only saw it once when the palace teacher was teaching his younger sister how to behave like a lady. Of course, he was dragged to watch her lessons even though what he really wanted to do was to go practice his archery.
Since he was worried that she might accidentally fall down while sleeping, he decided not to go up just to be able to stay closer to her. After all, her safety was more important than his selfishness.
When she saw that he was staying down on the ground instead of following her up the tree, she looked at her system and started typing out some things.
"Open map."
Seeing the tiny map of the campsite and the river, she sighed. It seems that accomplishing her goal would take a while. Especially considering the fact that there are 5 countries.
There seems to be no mention of other continents, but she did not know for sure yet. Just like how she thought that she would be taken to an ancient China that she would be familiar with, she was instead taken to a new world.
She knew that it was a new world and not just ancient China that used different names because there were too many differences between the history she has researched and this place.