Chapter 1061: The Smell of Horses
That Tang Zhangwei likes to listen to people sing recently, after all, in that Yingzhou City, there are too many troubles, if that Tang Zhangwei can't self-regulate, he will be overwhelmed by these troubles.
The team under that Tang Zhaozong is getting bigger and bigger, and many people from the overseas provinces of the Tang Dynasty, in order to eat, have joined that Tang Zhaozong's subordinates.
Those under Tang Zhaozong, they began to buy many war horses. These people, they rode war horses, galloping on the land on the outskirts of Yingzhou City, and they were thinking about how to clean up that Tang Zhangwei.
Under Tang Zhaozong's clever propaganda, these people think that the key to their unhappy lives is that Tang Zhangwei has real power.
This Tang Zhangwei didn't know that he was becoming the target of the anger of those people from the overseas provinces of Datang, but that Wei Wan'er's men, those intelligence officers from Datang Locals, they had already sensed some disturbing atmosphere in the air.
That Empress He, together with Tang Zhaozong, let those people fight hard and be ready to launch a rebellion in Yingzhou City at any time.
In fact, many people entered the hunting grounds outside the city of Yingzhou. Those horses transported from the northern province of the Tang Ridge are being trained by those people from the European provinces of the Tang Dynasty.
As she pulled out the roots of the antelope sage and shook off the dirt, she saw the heart-shaped leaves and long, tubular yellow flowers of the snakeweed, which could be used to prevent miscarriages. She remembered that Iza had picked the plant for her, and a pang of pain welled up in her heart. As she stood up and placed the fresh rhizomes she had just gathered into a special basket tied to the top of a pannier, she saw Winnie picking and biting on the top of the wild oats. When cooked, she also likes its seeds
The horses have excreted their droppings. She noticed that some flies were buzzing around it. In some seasons, insects are annoying, she thought. She decided to look for insect repellent plants. Who knows what kind of places they will pass through?
During a close look at the local plants on an ad hoc basis, she noticed a prickly shrub. She knew it was a penny, bitter and with a strong camphor flavor. It's not an insect repellent, she thought, but it has its own usefulness. Next to it is the old crane grass, the wild geranium, with jagged leaves and five-petaled pink flowers that will bear fruit shaped like a crane's beak. Its leaves are dried and ground into powder, which can be used to stop bleeding and heal wounds; Brewing it as a tea can treat mouth sores and rashes; Its root can treat diarrhea and other celiac diseases. It has a bitter and spicy taste, yet quite mild, and can be used for the elderly and children.
Glancing at Wei Wan'er, she noticed that Wolf was still chewing on her shoe. Suddenly, she stopped pondering and focused on the last plants she noticed. Why did they get her attention? Something about them seems to be important. That's when she remembered. She immediately picked up the digging stick and began digging through the soil around the bitter penny, which smelled of strong camphor, and then dug up the spicy, bleeding-stopping, but relatively harmless geraniums.
Wei Wan'er had already gotten on her horse and was ready to leave. He turned around and asked, "Queen He, why are you collecting plants?" It's time for us to go. Do you really need those now?"
"Yes," she replied, "in a moment." "After digging out the long, fat, spicy horseradish, she went to dig another one." I think I've found a way to get it away from ours," Queen Ho said, pointing to the little wolf who was still mischievously biting the remnants of her camp shoes. "I'm going to make a 'wolf repellent.'"
They walked southeast from the camp and returned to the river they had been walking along all along. The dust kicked up by the wind calmed down overnight, and in the clear air, the vast sky showed a distant horizon that had been vague before. As they rode through the wilderness, their entire vision, from one end of the earth to the other, from east to west, from south to north, was an endless, undulating and undulating grass, a vast and all-encompassing meadow. The few remaining trees along the river only make the dominant plant stand out even more. However, the expanse of the steppes is much greater than they knew. , added a leash to it, and tied it to the opposite side of the pole on the boat. She stood beside the boat holding the loose part of the leash, and then turned to Wei Wan'er. "I'm ready to go."
He hesitated, then said decisively, "Okay." He took the halter out of the basket and called the horse over. When the man first tried to put the hitch on the stallion's head, it raised its head and neighed, but after Wei Wan'er had spoken to it and stroked its face and neck, Lesser quieted down and accepted the hitch. He tied the rope to the boat and faced Queen Ho. "Let's go," he said.
Empress Ho gestured for Worf to get on board. Then he pushed the boat into the water and climbed up, both of them holding leashes in their hands to control the animals.
It didn't go well from the start. The rapid current controlled the boat and drove it forward, but the horse was not ready to be launched. When the ship was pulled away, they retreated, the boat jolted violently and nearly capsized, and Wolf stumbled back to his feet, watching the situation nervously. What could be loaded was too heavy, and the ship quickly regained its balance. The poles had already begun to move forward with the powerful current.
The pull of the river on the horses, as well as the anxious and encouraging words of Empress He and Wei Wan'er, finally persuaded the hesitant animal to enter the water. Winnie tentatively put in one of his hooves and reached to the bottom, then Lesser, and finally they all jumped into the water due to constant dragging. Before this unlikely complete combination of three long poles in front of them, a woman, a man, and a nervous little wolf in the middle, and finally two horses, Queen He and Wei Wan'er had no choice but to let the current carry them downward. Once stable, they let go of the leash and each picked up a pulp and tried to change direction to cross the rapids.
Empress He, who was sitting facing the opposite bank, was not familiar with using oars at all. Wei Wan'er paddled hard to the shore while giving guidance to Queen He, and after a few attempts, she mastered the main points and cooperated with Wei Wan'er to guide the boat. Even then, with long poles in front and horses in the back, the boat went very slowly. The horses were dragged forward involuntarily by the current, their eyes rolling in horror.
Although they drifted downstream at a faster pace, they did begin to cross the river. But ahead, on its way to the sea, the river rushing down the gradually decreasing land is turning sharply to the east. A backflow swirling near the shore on the side of a protruding sand corner swept the pole that rushed in front of the ship.
The birch poles, which would float freely without a rope, spun back and slammed into the small boat wrapped in animal skins, causing Wei Wan'er to worry that the boat would be knocked out of a hole. The collision caused the boat to shake, turn around, and pull the horse's leash tight. The two horses neighed in horror, swallowed mouthfuls of water, and tried desperately to swim away, but they were tied to the boat, and the relentless current that pulled the boat dragged them forward without relenting.
But their efforts are not without effect. They jerked the boat back and spun it. The boat strained its poles again, and they slammed into the boat again. Rushing into the boat, Wei Wan'er was shouting some guidance that she didn't know how to apply. The neighing of frightened horses caught her attention, and seeing them frightened, she suddenly realized that she had to let them go. She placed the oar on the bottom of the boat and drew the knife from the sheath at her waist. She knew that Rayser was more excited, so she cut its rope first, and with a little force, the sharp flint knife cut the rope.
Letting go of it caused more collisions and spins, which was too much for Wolf, and it jumped out of the boat and into the water. Seeing it swimming wildly, Queen Ho quickly cut Winnie's rope and jumped into the water with the little wolf.
"Empress He!" Wei Wan'er screamed, but when the boat, which had suddenly been loosened and lightened, spun and hit the pole, he began to swing around again. When he looked up, Empress Ho was struggling to tread the water, encouraging the little wolf that was swimming towards her. Winnie and Lesser beside him were swimming towards the shore far away. And the current was rushing the boat downstream more quickly, away from Queen Ho.
She took one last look at Wei Wan'er and the boat, which was rounding the bend in the river. For a moment she froze, worried that she would never see him again. The thought that she shouldn't leave the ship flashed through her mind, but she didn't have time to worry about it at the time. Wolf was swimming towards her, struggling in the water. She swam at it a few times, but when she got to it, Wolf put his paw on her shoulder, licked her face, and even pressed her under the water in a fit of frustration. She crackled and drilled out, one arm around Wolf, looking for the horse.
The mare was swimming towards the shore and was pushed away from her by the waves. She took a deep breath and whistled, loud and long. The mare pricked up her ears and turned to the sound. Queen Ho blew again, and the horse changed direction and swam towards her, as she was struggling to paddle towards Winnie. Queen Ho is a good swimmer. Although it was crossing the current diagonally, it was generally going in the direction of the current, and even then, it took some effort to catch the drenched hairy animal. When Empress He caught the horse, she was almost about to cry with ease. Wolf soon followed, but it continued to swim forward.
Empress Ho put her arms around Vinnie's neck and rested for a while, and only then did she notice how cold the water was. She saw the rope attached to the halter that Winnie still wore dragging through the water, and it occurred to her how dangerous the horse would be if the rope got tangled in some floating debris. The woman spent a few minutes trying to untie the knot, but it swelled so tightly that her fingers stiffened from the cold. She took a deep breath and started swimming again, she didn't want to burden the horse, hoping that the exercise would help her warm.
When they finally reached the opposite shore, Empress Ho stumbled out, exhausted, trembling, and fell to the ground. Wolves and horses are better. They all shook their bodies, throwing the water everywhere, and then Wolf fell to his stomach, gasping for air. Even in the summer, Winnie's fur is still thick, but in the winter, when the dense underlayer of hair grows, its fur coat will be thicker. Winnie stood on his legs, trembling, his head drooping, and he didn't know which direction to go after reaching the river, but he finally decided to look downstream. He tugged his hood down to keep out the rain, and he began to walk down the riverbank, inspecting pile after pile of driftwood and piles of mess. He saw many dead animals, many carnivorous beasts and scavenging beasts, four-legged and winged, all munching on the mass of corpses rushing up by the river, and even a pack of southern wolves, but none of them looked like Wolf.
Finally he turned and walked back. He's going a little further upstream, but doubts he'll ever have a good luck. He didn't expect to find the animal, and he realized it was sad for him. Although Wolf can sometimes cause trouble, as an intelligent beast, he has also developed a true affection for man. He would have thought about it, and he knew that Empress Ho would go crazy about it.
ァ新ヤ~(8)~1~Chinese 網ωωω.χ~8.~1zщ.còм
He walked to the bank of the stone river where he had found Empress He, and searched the bend, and he was not sure how far he would go in this direction, especially when he saw that the river was still rising. He secretly decided that as soon as Empress He was fit to move around, they would have to move their tents farther away from the river. Maybe I should leave the matter of looking upstream behind me and see if she's all right, he said to himself, a little apprehensive. Well, maybe I should walk a little longer; She'd ask me if I'd looked in both directions.
He lifted his legs and walked upstream, searching his way between the piles of large logs and branches, but when he saw the great figure of an imperial eagle, with its wings outstretched, gliding through the air, he stopped and looked at it, and was a little frightened. Suddenly the huge bird gathered its mighty wings, landed quickly on the bank of the river, and then flapped its wings again, clutching a large boar-like creature in its claws.
A little further upstream, where the great bird had taken its meal, was a rather large tributary that overflowed into a not-so-high delta and emptied its water into the sister river. He thought that where the tributary joined the great river, on that wide stretch of sand, something looked familiar, and then he smiled, and he recognized it. It was the round boat, but when he looked more closely, he frowned and ran towards it with his legs raised. Next to the boat, Empress Ho sat in the water and put Wolf's head in her lap. Above its left eye was a wound that was still bleeding.