When I woke up, there were seven or eight small fishes neatly placed around me. The calico cat, all wet, was lying on the grass next to it in the sunshine, sleeping deeply.
The world is still vast, and the bay-red horse has run back and is grazing next to the shade of a tree.
"..."
Song You let out a long breath, stood up unhurriedly, and went to cut open and wash all the fish. Hearing the noise, the calico cat raised its head and looked at him for a few times, then turned over again and continued to lie down and sleep.
Dinner is grilled fish and grilled rat.
Fall asleep with the stars in mind.
The clothes had been left in the sun for a day and the wind blew all night, and they were dry by the next morning.
One person, one cat and one horse then continued on their journey.
Walking in the grassland.
Yanzhou is a vast country with few people. Walking alone in such a world will indeed make you feel lonely. However, once you accept it, it will not be a fear at all, but will make your heart become more vast and peaceful.
Solitary practice is one of the most common spiritual practices.
It's the same for everyone.
Occasionally when walking up the hillside, I will see a white tent package in the distance. Occasionally I will light a campfire and spend the night, and a group of wolves will come over tentatively to investigate. When it rains, I will find a tree to sit on all night. When there is no rain, I will sit on it. Lie on this piece of land and watch the stars in the sky and the river flow.
As General Pu said, sometimes they are invited as guests by herdsmen, and sometimes they are stopped by people from official ranches. Because the bay-red horses have neither reins nor signs of letting go of the saddle, they are suspected.
It’s good to meet people and ask for directions.
It’s a good thing if you don’t meet them, you just enjoy walking alone.
Song You walked very slowly, covering dozens of miles a day. He spent most of his time resting, lost in thought, and comprehending the aura of heaven and earth. In this way, he slowly approached the place where General Pu and the schoolmaster had mentioned that the horse racing meeting would be held.
I have already met people traveling with me on the road.
Song You talked with an adult in charge of the official ranch. This horse racing meeting is not actually called a horse racing meeting. It has its own name and is an activity to worship heaven and earth. However, just like the temple fairs in the Central Plains, it is difficult for so many people to come. Gathered together, especially on this prairie, it is rare to see so many people, so naturally they cannot just worship the heaven and the earth.
There should be singing and dancing performances.
There must be trade relations.
There should also be various entertainment activities and activities that promote marriage between men and women.
We are all mortals in this world, living beings with flesh and blood and thoughts, and the seven emotions and six desires, as well as the smoke and fire of the world, are naturally indispensable.
One of the most lively activities is the trade on the grassland, exchange of daily necessities, horse roping, horse racing and other activities. People in the military were most concerned about horse racing, so they called it the Jockey Club.
The road under my feet gradually became clearer, and there were obvious traces of being trampled by people and horses and being rolled over by wheels.
Song You walked along the road without any hurry or slowness.
Sanhua Empress transformed into a girl and followed beside her, beating the grass on the roadside with a bamboo stick.
From time to time, young men would pass by on horseback, and there would also be people with their whole families riding horses and slowly passing by him, and there would also be people driving bullock carts and horse-drawn carriages pulling goods, making clanging noises as they walked on the road. Everyone saw the maroon horse without a rein or a saddle beside Song You, and they couldn't help but look at him.
I don’t know whether it’s because of his enthusiastic nature, or because the grassland is so vast and he’s been holding back for a long time without talking to anyone, but many people greet him, some in local dialect and some in Dayan Mandarin.
If Song You didn't understand, he smiled and nodded.
If you understand, talk to each other for a few words.
Although part of Yanzhou is grassland and borders Saibei, it has been part of the Central Plains since the Yu Dynasty and has been for thousands of years. The Great Wall has long been built in the north. Except for the possibility of falling when the Central Plains Dynasty was weak, most of the time it was in the hands of the Central Plains Dynasty. In this grassland, even the locals only have similarities with the Saibei people. In fact, they are no longer the same. .
In particular, different dynasties and generations have different management methods for the grassland of Yanzhou. The previous dynasty was governed by the Northern King. However, the Northern King was too loyal to the previous dynasty. When Dayan conquered the world, he also beat him. Now the The people from the north of Yanzhou became more and more culturally similar to the people from the Central Plains. They even had to study for the imperial examination, and there were many people who entered the court and became officials. This was also a manifestation of Dayan's strength and tolerance.
After passing this grassland, the rest of Yanzhou is almost the same as other states. Just like the fortune teller I met at the beginning came from Yanzhou.
As I was walking, a voice suddenly came from behind:
"That Taoist Priest!"
The voice is clear and youthful.
Song You couldn't help but look back.
It was a young man riding a yellow horse. His face was tanned and he smiled at him, but his teeth were very white.
It seemed that he had come to the grassland party with his family. He was accompanied by his brothers and sisters and two middle-aged people, a man and a woman, who all smiled at Song You.
"Be polite."
Song You raised his head and said.
"Are you also going to participate in the grassland meeting?" The young man on horseback gradually caught up.
The boy was riding a Northern Yuan horse, but it was taller than Song You's bay-red horse.
"Yes, let's go see the excitement."
"It's just ahead, not too far away."
"Thank you."
"Why don't you ride a horse if you have one?"
"Just walk."
"Hey, is your horse too small? Carrying such a heavy load might crush it to death?"
The young man said and laughed.
Several brothers and sisters of different sizes around him also laughed.
Song You could tell that there was no malice in it, so he replied: "I'm really afraid of tiring it."
The bay-red horse still walked forward silently.
Only Sanhua Empress could not help but stop and stand on the roadside, raising her head high and staring at the speaker.
Riding a horse was faster than walking. The young man and his group slowly passed Song You and walked to the front.
But the young man still turned his head and kindly reminded them: "Although it's not far, if you don't ride a horse, you may have to walk to the grassland at night. It's easy to get lost in the grassland at night, and there are wolves. Sir, it's best to walk to the grassland before night." Go to the meeting camp, otherwise the little girl may be snatched away by the wolf."
"Thank you."
Song You sent him off with a smile.
The little girl still stood where she was, staring up at him with a thoughtful look in her eyes. She didn't catch up with him quickly until he walked away and her Taoist priest also walked away.
Walking is indeed not as fast as riding a horse. I don’t know how many people passed by the Taoist. The two sides turned their heads to each other and looked at each other countless times. However, the Taoist kept his pace firmly. Even though he originally wanted to rest more, Empress Sanhua seemed to want to get to the grassland meeting camp quickly. Song You naturally wanted to listen to Empress Sanhua and almost didn't stop.
We saw the campground in the evening.
It is a large area of white tents, some large and some small. Except for a few large tents in the middle, which are arranged in a regular manner, the rest are very messy. The larger one can fit into a room, while the smaller one can only accommodate one person. In the middle, someone piled firewood and was lighting a bonfire. There was a large field outside, which had been trampled by horses so that the grass was no longer visible. Someone was riding a horse on it, constantly shouting loudly.
The two of them walked over slowly.
The ears suddenly became lively, and the voices of many people spoke together, which made them a little unaccustomed to it after walking through the grassland for several days.
The big one and the small one couldn't help but look at each other.
"Eh? Sir."
Suddenly there was another shout from behind.
Song You turned around and looked over, seeing the same young man.
The young man smiled happily and said:
"meet again!"
"Very destined."
"Where do you guys live?"
"I don't know yet." Song You stopped to talk to him, "Maybe I can just find a place."
"There are many thieves at the grassland meeting. You don't have tents. Your things are on the ground and may be stolen. Horses may also be stolen." The young man reminded bluntly, and couldn't help laughing as he spoke, "And there are often people who go out after I couldn’t find where I lived, someone’s things had been stolen, and I thought I was in the wrong place.”
"Then we have to be careful."
"It would be even worse if it rained."
"Yes." Song You replied, looking up at the sky, "Fortunately, it won't rain these days."
"how do you know?"
"Guess."
"You know magic?"
"Understand a little bit."
"Really?"
"A little bit."
"I heard that there are people who can do magic at night. They are very powerful and can perform magic. I have never seen them before."
"so……"
The young man talked too much and was too enthusiastic, and Song You didn't know how to reply to him.
The two parties chatted for a few words before they separated.
There were countless tents ahead, with people coming and going, as well as cattle, sheep, and horses. Song You walked through them with his maroon horse. The little girl carefully avoided the adults and the horse dung on the ground, and followed him closely.
People were drinking and talking and talking loudly everywhere.
The bustling sounds came from all directions.
It is a pity that even though Dayan is now strong and powerful, even people as far away as the Western Regions are proud to speak Dayan's official dialect, but after all, this does not belong to the poor people. Most of the people talking here spoke the local language, and Song You couldn't understand most of the sounds that filled his ears. He could only watch their expressions and feel their emotions.
It can be heard that people are worried, probably because they are troubled by war and demons.
But more of it is joy and excitement.
You can also hear that some people have known each other for a long time, and some are strangers. They come from different places on this hundreds of miles of prairie. It seems that there is no need to know each other in advance, and they are friends as soon as we sit down.
Occasionally there are people who understand, most of them are businessmen and officials from here.
Song You walked around, listened to the conversations of businessmen from other places in Yanzhou, and chatted with officials who were familiar with him. He almost understood the process of the grassland meeting.
The formal ceremony of worshiping heaven and earth will take place five days later, and during these five days, there will also be a grassland event.
There is horse racing every morning. The rules are very simple. One person, one horse, and speed wins.
What is different from Song You's imagination is that most formal horse races are attended by children, because children here have grown up on horses, and their equestrian skills are not weaker than those of adults. Riding the same horse does not require too much time. In technical events, adults cannot outrun children.
If adults also want to compete, they can call a group of friends or similar adults after the official horse racing competition, set their own rewards, and compete by themselves.
On the first few days, the winner was awarded a sheep, and on the last day, the winner was awarded a horse.
There is a horse race in the afternoon, which is a game for adults.
In the evening, it is time to relax. Basically, people will sing and dance around the campfire, and some people will also go wrestling.
The gap in between is mostly trading time.
As Song You walked along, he saw many tents filled with goods. Some people spontaneously brought things to sell or exchange, there were also merchants who came from other places, and there were also special tents for prostitutes.
Whenever he heard gasps coming from the tent, the Taoist would take the little girl and leave quickly. On the contrary, the little girl would be attracted by curiosity and stop and stand there, staring at the tent, despite the Taoist's urging. It had already worked to make her stand still - without the Taoist's urging, she would have run over and opened the curtain to look inside.
After that, the Taoist had no choice but to hold her hand.
When holding hands, Sanhua Empress is very honest and will be led by him obediently. At most, she will turn her head in different directions and cast curious eyes everywhere.
(End of chapter)
