Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 5 Soma
Su Ze looked at the future Emperor Shenwu and couldn't help but sigh at the injustice of this world.

When he was reading history books, he was puzzled as to how handsome Gao Huan was that Lou Zhaojun, a rich lady, would marry him and even leave her family to help him build his career?

Now that he had met Gao Huan, seen the packed crowds in Sitong City, and saw those usually unrestrained Hu girls having to cover their blushes with their sleeves, Su Ze had to admit that he was just that handsome!
However, Su Ze would not be fooled by Gao Huan's appearance. According to history books, this Shenwu Emperor was definitely not a good person. If he had not founded the Northern Qi Dynasty later, his evaluation in history books would probably not be much better than that of Lu Bu.

Su Ze pointed at the horse and said, "Sir, if I point to mount the horse and you say dismount, what should I do?"

Gao Huan laughed and said, "That's true! It seems that you are very confident in your horse-judging skills! This is easy. I will tell a passerby which horse is the best among the horses and ask him to be the referee."

After saying that, Gao Huan looked around, pointed at the Qihu elder from whom Su Ze had just bought cakes, and said, "How about asking this old man to be the public servant?"

Su Ze said, "Okay, but the one who is good at judging horses is not me, but my riding slave. How about letting him judge horses?"

Gao Huan looked at Su Ze. After finishing their duty, the Yulin guards had to take off their armor and seal it in the Nan Ya armory, so Su Ze was only wearing casual clothes.

However, Gao Huan had amazing eyesight and could tell that Su Ze's gait and clothing were not those of ordinary people in Luoyang City. Seeing that Su Ze did not show much emotion when he guessed the wealth and was given a horse as a gift, he was even more convinced that Su Ze was someone he could get along with, so he simply said:

"Of course, my husband's servant will do, too."

After saying this, Gao Huan raised his hand and said, "Then let's high-five to swear an oath!"

After high-fiving each other as an oath, Gao Huan pulled the bewildered Qihu old man and pointed at the herd of horses. Su Ze squeezed out of the crowd, detoured to an uninhabited corner outside Sitong City, opened the system and clicked the virtual button of "Purchase [a riding slave proficient in horse judging]".

Almost in an instant, a short middle-aged man dressed as a frontier herdsman appeared in front of Su Ze.

This was the first time that Su Ze bought a living person from a commodity store. He looked at the middle-aged herdsman carefully. His dress was similar to those of the border merchants in Sitong City, and it was hard to tell whether he was a Hu or Han Chinese. He was so ordinary that he would not attract any attention in the crowd.

Su Ze tried to communicate with the slave rider again, and he quickly figured out the situation of the system purchasing slaves.

Su Ze didn't know whether the person purchased in the system was a real person. This riding slave had no idea how old he was and looked confused when asked about his family situation.

He couldn't even clearly explain his hometown and origin. In Su Ze's opinion, he was not as intelligent as the rapidly developing AI before he traveled through time.

However, this does not mean that this riding slave is an "artificial idiot" created by the system. You must know that this is the chaotic era of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and many of the slaves sold in the market are similar to this riding slave. Being a slave in chaotic times, age, family, hometown and so on are too luxurious for slaves.

The good thing is that this riding slave is very loyal to Su Ze, and basically does whatever Su Ze tells him to do.

"You're good at horse-viewing?"

The riding slave said respectfully: "I don't know what horse appraisal is, but I have been able to recognize a good horse since I was a child."

Soma probably thought that this was the reason why this riding slave was rated as purple. In the Ya market, slaves with special skills could indeed be sold at a higher price than other slaves.

And since he was a riding slave, Su Ze asked again: "Can you ride a horse?"

The riding slave added: "I can train horses, raise them and ride them."

Su Ze nodded with satisfaction again. He was a sergeant in the Yulin Army, and the Yulin Army also had horses. If they were to go into battle officially, the cavalry would also need to be equipped with riding slaves.

According to the Northern Wei military system reformed by Emperor Xiaowen, the Yulin cavalry had two auxiliary soldiers. The riding slaves were responsible for daily horse raising and assisting the cavalry in combat on the battlefield, while the armor slaves were responsible for maintaining armor and helping the cavalry put on armor, and also served as infantry to assist the cavalry in combat on the battlefield.

However, these were things that happened in the early days of the Yulin Army. Nowadays, low-ranking soldiers like Su Ze can't even support themselves, let alone two auxiliary soldiers.

On weekdays, when Su Ze was not on duty in the palace, he would go to the stables to feed the horses himself, and go to the treasury to maintain his armor himself.

The system's products are indeed top-notch!

Su Ze immediately brought the slave back to Sitong City. He saw Gao Huan sitting idle, leaning on a white horse, with a Hu girl playing the huqin for accompaniment, singing northern folk songs:
"Under the Yin Mountains of Chi Le Chuan,
The sky is like a dome,

Covering the four fields,

The sky is vast and the wilderness is boundless,

The wind blows the grass low and you can see the cattle and sheep!"

Gao Huan had an excellent voice, and this folk song had a melodious tune, with a strong frontier flavor, which attracted even more people.

Su Ze finally squeezed back in, and could only sigh that Gao Shenwu was really like a peacock, always unable to resist showing off his beautiful feathers.

When everyone saw the timid riding slaves beside Su Ze, several merchants who often sold horses in Sitong City were even more eager to try.

Seeing this, Su Ze couldn't tell which horse was good. The merchants who had already observed the horses behind Gao Huan and were ready to buy high-quality horses at the price of lower-quality horses were already impatient.

Gao Huan glanced at the riding slave behind Su Ze and nodded, acknowledging Su Ze's qualification to use the riding slave to select horses. Su Ze made way and let the riding slave walk into the herd of horses.

The riding slave only saw the horse enter the herd. He did not look at the horses' teeth and hooves, nor even at whether they were male or female. He just stroked the horses' bodies one by one with his hands. After touching all the horses, the riding slave returned to Su Ze.

Su Ze asked: "Which one is the best?"

The riding slave said respectfully, "My lord, the yellow horse that you are riding is the best."

Everyone looked in the direction the slave rider pointed and then started to laugh.

It turned out that what Gao Huan relied on was not a yellow horse, but a white horse with pure white fur.

"You can't even tell the difference between yellow and white, and you still think you can judge a horse? Hahaha!"

"It's such a waste of the wealth given by this handsome man. If I were to choose a horse, I would definitely be able to choose one."

Su Ze didn't care about the comments of the people around him. Instead, he walked to Gao Huan, grabbed the white horse's bridle and said:

"This young man, this is the horse."

Gao Huan's expression changed slightly, and he confirmed, "Are you sure? Your riding slave was talking about a yellow horse."

Su Ze nodded and said, "Sure."

After saying this, Su Ze looked at the Qihu old man who was selling Hu cakes and asked, "Old man, is this horse the best?"

The old man Qihu nodded repeatedly and said, "The young man just now did say that this horse is the best."

The onlookers were all in an uproar, but Gao Huan, the protagonist, smiled, stepped aside and said:

"Luoyang is indeed full of talented people. I will give this horse to you as promised."

Gao Huan then said, "I came from Huaishuo thousands of miles away and rode every horse myself before I could tell that this horse was the best. How did your riding slave know how to identify horses? Moreover, your riding slave couldn't even tell the color of the horses. How could you believe that the horses he identified were the best?"

Everyone looked at Su Ze, waiting for his answer.

(End of this chapter)