In March, Lake Belga is still very cold, the wind blows along the lake, the grass is barren, the dead grass has been eaten by cattle, sheep and livestock, and the only remaining grass roots remain in the ground, quietly waiting for the gentle spring breeze to bring the abundant rain of the new season.

When the sun rose, among the tribes near Lake Belga, there were herdsmen who had already raised the smoke of the cooking, and the faint cooking smoke flew into the air and gradually opened up in a strange shape, like a monster with teeth and claws, which was blown by the wind and scattered in all directions.

Like a papier-mâché tiger, it will rot if you poke it lightly, Xiao Pei laughed in his heart, covered the wine bag hidden in his arms, and walked along the tent in the direction of the racecourse.

The early herdsmen saw this young man coming from a distance, and they all showed him a kind smile, Xiao Pei also smiled gently, the tall and strong young man was different from the rough and barbaric Tatars, he always had a restrained calmness, which people did not dare to underestimate.

The horse farm in Alchibe is very large, accommodating nearly a thousand horses, and hundreds of slaves get up early in the morning to help the horses scrub, change the pedals, check the teeth, and feed the horses.

Xiao Pei found the beautiful-looking young man from the busy crowd, strode over, reached out to take the brush in his hand, and handed him the wine bag in his arms.

"Childe first drink some wine to warm up his body, I'll do these jobs. ”

Chu Shaoyuan was busy all morning, a little sweat appeared on his forehead, he wiped his forehead with his sleeve casually, thanked him, opened the wine bag and drank a few sips of wine, the liquor entered his stomach, and his body instantly warmed up.

Xiao Pei lowered his voice and said to him while brushing his horse: "In the past few days, the Tartars have obviously been short of food, and Xiao Qing has already sniffed out from the mouth of that princess that in the past few days, several of their tribes will attack Yanmen Pass together. ”

Chu Shaoyuan paused, looked around, and said softly, "Do you know the specific number of people?"

Xiao Pei shook his head: "Although the princess is irritable, she is not stupid, you have to test and test again to know the specific number of people, Xiao Qing is about to be entangled by that princess these days, if she is not pressed by me, she will fight with that princess ten times ten." ”

Chu Shaoyuan, every time he saw Xiao Qing's aggrieved look, he couldn't help but want to laugh, Xiao Qing's fiery temper would only be restrained when he was with Wan Zhao, and now he was locked in a tent as if he was in prison, and it was not easy to speak calmly with the princess who often went to provoke.

"Sue her, if you really can't bear it, you will beat it, the Tartar is still martial, that is, the princess will be beaten, and Bai Lang will not do anything to Xiao Qing. ”

Xiao Pei frowned, "But in this case, that princess will definitely be provoked, and we may not get any useful news from the princess." ”

Chu Shaoyuan smiled lightly: "I just want to provoke her." ”

Xiao Pei was stunned, then understood, looked at Chu Shaoyuan with shining eyes, and when he saw the other party nodding, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and said, "Since the relationship between Xiao Qing and you reached the ears of that princess, Xiao Qing has often been entangled by that princess, Xiao Qing has endured it for a long time, and he has long been impatient with her, and now it is just right." ”

Chu Shaoyuan took a few more sips of wine, and his body was completely warmed up, before he tightened the wine bag and looked south, his eyes flashing with light.

At this time, the steward of the horse farm who was patrolling came over, saw Chu Shaoyuan standing and did not work, and reprimanded loudly in Tatar: "The master gives you food, drink, and clothing, do you still dare to be lazy here, do you want to be whipped? What do you see? Hurry up and work for Lao Tzu!"

Xiao Pei glared at the steward, the brush in his hand was almost pinched by him to the point of deformation, Chu Shaoyuan patted him lightly, took the brush from his hand and gently brushed the horses.

The steward glared at Xiao Pei, paced down to inspect the past, and muttered in a low voice: "Lowly Yan people, in Lao Tzu's territory, dare to go wild, if it wasn't for the master's order, Lao Tzu would have let you eat whips a long time ago......"

Xiao Pei's fingers pinched until they turned white, and he almost wanted to kick the steward away immediately, but it could be seen that Chu Shaoyuan was silent, so he had to endure that breath, he saw that Chu Shaoyuan's originally slender and white hands were full of cracks at the moment, and couldn't help but say: "I asked Xiao Qing to ask Bai Lang for some chilblain cream, and the son remembers to wipe it every day." ”

Chu Shaoyuan smiled absently, "You let Xiao Qing be careful, Bai Lang is very smart, don't fold yourself in when the time comes." ”

Xiao Pei scratched his head, to be honest, he didn't approve of Xiao Qing's actions either, but it was not a way to always be trapped here, all kinds of methods had to be tried, and it was impossible to say which one would work.

Wei Qing walked in with a bucket of water, a jacket made of lambskin, and a thick black felt hat on his head, suddenly he looked like a native herdsman, but when he raised his head, the less conspicuous facial features were slightly different from the deeper facial features of the tartars, which made people see some differences.

He threw the rag into the water, wiped the stains on the horses while twisting them, looked around, turned his head and said softly: "Master, when I passed by the stables in the middle of the horse farm just now, I found that there were dozens of horse breeds different from the local horses among the horses, I took advantage of no one to pay attention, sneaked over to take a look, those horses are our Central Plains war horses......

Chu Shaoyuan nodded, brushed all the stains on a horse's body, then led him to the other side of the stable, separated from the horses that needed to be cleaned, and then pulled another horse covered in mud over and gently brushed the mud with a brush.

He kept his voice low, and his voice, which was in the stage of voice change, became more and more hoarse at this time.

“…… The war horses of the Tartars are different from the horses, Bai Lang deliberately did not let me know the situation of their war horses, I am afraid that they are also guarding against me, what is the end of the horse market, we don't know, but if it is our war horse, there will be marks on the body, which cannot be erased, at this time we are not good at acting, and when they fall asleep at night, we will look carefully. ”

Wei Qing was twisting the rag, hearing Chu Shaoyuan say this, his hands were agitated by the cold water, and he couldn't help but shiver, and hurriedly dissuaded: "This is too dangerous, let's sneak out and find it by one of my subordinates, your status is noble, if you are discovered, I am afraid ......"

Chu Shaoyuan frowned and interrupted him: "The horse farm is so big, what year and month do you have to find it alone?Not to mention that you have just recovered from a major injury, and your body is not yet well, if the wound recurs, wouldn't it be a delay?" he said as he threw the wine bag to him, "Drink some wine to warm up, and go back with Xiao Pei to raise it in a while, I don't need you to help me with this kind of work." ”

Wei Qing held the wine bag, a pair of calloused fingers were frozen out of frostbite like Chu Shaoyuan's hands, some of the purple-red cracks were still bleeding, and it looked very strict, if it weren't for the fact that his body was not complete, the master would not have shrunk as if he was tied here.

Xiao Pei said: "My family has several war horses, all of which were brought back by my father from the northwest, and I am the most familiar with the horses in the northwest, and I can see it at a glance." ”

Chu Shaoyuan nodded, "Then at the third watch today, we will gather on the east side of the racecourse." ”