Chapter 59
The sky was clear and blue, without a single cloud. The vast mountain range stretching to the horizon was still covered in snow, and the grasslands at the foot of the mountains had already revealed dry grass stems and yellowish-brown ground.
The winter snow has slowly melted away, but the weather remains cold.
A camel caravan braved the biting cold wind and arrived in Qusang City.
Qusang City was bustling with activity. Looking around, the mountains were covered with white felt tents, and the flat ground along the riverbank below was filled with herds of horses, camels, sheep, cattle, and a dense crowd of people. In the very center of the area, a high platform was built with a wooden fence, and clusters of bonfires were scattered around it. Tribal men and women, dressed in fur coats and with their hair in braids, passed around wine, played the pipa, and sang and danced around the bonfires.
Every winter, surrounding tribes gather in Qusang City for a grand assembly. Men compete in archery and horsemanship, vying for the title of warrior and electing a new chieftain. Women bring tanned animal hides and preserved foods to exchange with merchants. Parents choose wives for their sons and husbands for their daughters. Couples who are in love leave the assembly and find a quiet corner to make love in the wild. The following year, children are born in every tribe.
The young Hu people on guard outside Qusang City saw a camel caravan coming from the east, drew their bows and shot an arrow, stopping the caravan from entering the city.
The Hu man at the head of the caravan raised his head, his brown eyes and thick beard waving at the wary young Hu man, and laughed loudly: "Mangbao, it's me, Shabona!"
The young man Mangbao recognized Shabona and immediately his face lit up with joy. He slung his bow over his shoulder, signaled his companions to open the wooden door, rode his horse to Shabona's side, jumped off his horse, hugged Shabona who had also dismounted from his camel, and laughed heartily.
"Shabona, I thought you wouldn't make it to our Tulun tribe's gathering this year!"
Shabona glanced at the crowd dancing below the platform and laughed, "Your Tulun tribe has so many beauties, and they're all at the age where they want to find lovers. How could I miss this gathering?"
Mangbao laughed even more heartily: "The women in our tribe are the most beautiful and the most feisty. They have high standards, and their fathers and brothers are very strong. Shabona, if you want to win their hearts, you must first defeat the bravest warrior in our tribe."
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the camel caravan entered Qusang City.
Soldiers came up to inspect the cargo on the camels and horses.
Mangbao's gaze fell on a man who had dismounted from a camel behind Shabo.
The man was tall and upright, with a composed demeanor. He wore a royal blue robe with a cross-collar and deer pattern, and his face was covered with a veil, with only his calm eyes visible.
Mangbao's tribe not only herded livestock but also engaged in trade. The chief was the leader of the caravan. He had followed the chief since childhood, traveling all over the country and was very knowledgeable. Although he could only see the man's eyes, he had a feeling that the man was no ordinary person. He smiled and asked, "What is your name, sir?"
The man walked over, removed the mask covering his face, revealing a young face with a cold expression, and said indifferently, "My surname is Mu."
"Young Master Mu!" Mang Bao sized up Young Master Mu and laughed, "Young Master Mu, are you also here at the gathering to meet beautiful women like Sha Bo Na?"
Shabona laughed heartily and said, "He's here to do business. In recent years, the price of spices in the capital of the Great Zhou has been very high, and he wants to buy some good spices from the merchants of Xiliang."
Upon hearing this, Mang Bao let out a cold laugh.
Mu Langjun glanced at the sand pot.
Shabona gave him a wink, his smile vanished, and he lowered his voice to ask Mangbao, "Do the people of Xiliang still not allow you to get involved in the spice business?"
Mang Bao said angrily, "After the Xiliang people defeated the Tang army and occupied Qusang City, they sent a Xiliang governor to rule us. He gave the best businesses and the best pastures to the Xiliang merchants."
Shabona also looked angry and sighed, "The appetites of the Xiliang people are indeed getting bigger and bigger. Only when they are full can we get a little meat soup."
Mang Bao sneered, "I doubt they'll get enough to eat."
A group of laughing Hu people passed by them, and the two men warily shut their mouths.
Mangbao led Shabona to the camp of the Tulun tribe and first went to ask the chief for instructions.
Shabona and Mulangjun stood at the foot of the mountain.
As the sun slowly set, the sky gradually turned...
A faint red glow tinged the white felt tents on the hillside, which were then bathed in a golden light, and the crowd lit more bonfires.
Shabona looked at the Xiliang soldiers standing guard outside the gathering in the distance and whispered, "Governor Wei, this is not the territory of the Great Zhou. There are Xiliang people everywhere. You have a Han Chinese face. If the Xiliang people suspect you of being a spy and capture you to feed the vultures, I will prove that I have not colluded with the Han people. I will not save you. You'd better pray for good luck."
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The man beside him quietly observed Qu Sangcheng, nodded slightly, and hummed in agreement.
“Shabana, come here.”
Mang Bao left the camp and led Shabona and Wei Mingsu to see the chief.
A dozen or so Hu people sat on a felt mat in front of the campfire, drinking.
Shabana stepped forward, holding the gifts.
A man in his fifties from the Central Plains gestured for Mangbao to accept the gift and ordered, "Go and fetch two sheep to entertain our friends!"
Several boys led over two plump white lambs, tied their hooves, and pressed them down on the muddy ground. They stabbed the lambs in the throat, drained their blood, skinned them, removed their internal organs, and carried them to the river to wash them. Then they threaded one lamb whole onto a tree branch and placed it over the campfire, while the other lamb was cut open and put into a pot to stew.
The aroma of roasted meat wafted in all directions on the cold wind.
Mang Bao spread out a felt mat, invited Shabona and Wei Mingsu to sit down, and tossed them a bag of wine.
Shabona took the wine, drank a large gulp, and handed it to Wei Mingsu.
Wei Mingsu also took a sip.
A middle-aged Hu man standing next to the chief of the Tulun tribe squinted at Wei Mingsu and said, "Is this young man from Mulang's first time in Qusang City? Shabo, why are you bringing a stranger to see our chief? You are Sabao's disciple, how can you lead the way in breaking the rules?"
Everyone else stopped talking and focused their attention on Wei Mingsu.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
Sabao wanted to speak, but his father glared at him, and he didn't dare to say a word.
Shabona glanced at Wei Mingsu with a smile, but did not say anything.
Without saying a word, Wei Mingsu stood up, walked to the place where the sheep had just been slaughtered, picked up a piece of bloody sheep bone, pulled a small knife from his boot, removed all the mutton from the bone, put it into the sheep's stomach that had just been cleaned, untied the water bag from his waist, filled the sheep's stomach, sprinkled salt from the jar on it, shook it well, inserted the blade into it and stirred it a few times, and tied the opening of the sheep's stomach.
He walked to the campfire, brushed aside the burning dried cow dung, dug a hole in the mud heated by the campfire, buried the sheep's stomach in it, and filled it with soil.
The people of the Tulun tribe all stared at Wei Mingsu, their expressions softening.
Wei Mingsu was making roasted lamb stomach, a common dish among herders. When herders graze their livestock and sleep in the wilderness, they lack pots and pans, making life inconvenient. Later, someone devised this method of cooking meat, which quickly spread among the tribes. Anyone skilled at stuffing lamb stomachs and digging pits must have made roasted lamb stomach many times and has experience living in the wilderness.
Shabona looked at Wei Mingsu with some surprise. Wei Mingsu was a Han Chinese official, yet he knew how to make roasted pork belly.
This isn't Wei Mingsu's first time in Xizhou, is it? He comes from a humble background, yet he can speak a Hu language and a little Xiliang language. Who taught him?
Shabona suppressed his doubts and smiled at the chief of the Tulun tribe, saying, "He is my friend, and he has come to the gathering to do business."
The chief raised his wine bowl with a smile and said, "The friends of Shabona are our friends."
They drank and discussed business.
Tulun tribe wanted all the animal hides and sandbags, and he brought cloth and tea from the Central Plains to trade with them.
By the time the lamb and the roasted belly were cooked, they had already finalized their deal.
Shabona ordered the caravan to deliver tea and cloth to the Tulun tribe's camp.
"Send it to the chief's tent first, and wait for him to return and inspect it tonight. Don't forget the gift I brought for him."
Shabona gave the instructions, glancing at the chief, his thick beard unable to conceal the smile on his face.
The chieftain laughed heartily: "Shabona, you are very generous, which is why we all like doing business with you. Mangbao said you want to find a beautiful woman for a tryst? A virgin has no experience, how can she enjoy herself! I have several young and beautiful female slaves in my tent, they are very good in bed, you can choose two later."
He clapped his hands, two
The young Hu man played the pipa, and Mang Bao got up and left. A little while later, he came back with several pretty Hu women.
The chief looked in the direction of Shabona and Wei Mingsu and said, "Let's perform a few dances for our distinguished guests."
The Hu woman nodded respectfully, took off her padded jacket, and began to dance gracefully to the sound of the pipa.
Shabona smiled as he looked at the young and beautiful female slaves, pointed to two of them, and said with a smile, "Since it's a gift from the chieftain, I won't be polite!"
Two female slaves came to him, knelt down to pour him wine and serve him mutton.
The middle-aged man with a beard who had just raised the question looked at Wei Mingsu and smiled.
Then he asked, "Why didn't you choose two, Young Master Mu?"
Wei Mingsu raised his eyes.
Shabona saw that he wanted to refuse, frowned at him, and told him to shut up. He then pointed to two Hu women and said, "I'll help Mu Langjun pick two pretty ones. These will do!"
Two Hu women walked to the felt mat and knelt beside Wei Mingsu. Seeing that he was a young and handsome man, one wanted to pour him wine, and the other wanted to snuggle in his arms, but he had a cold expression on his face, so the two did not dare to act rashly.
The sun had long since sunk below the horizon, and the clear sky overhead had turned into a dark blue night sky.
The competitions below the platform had ended, but the crowd was still drinking and dancing around the campfire. Couples of young men and women, hand in hand, left the crowd and headed to a corner.
The young men of the Tulun tribe all went to find their sweethearts, and the chief also stood up, embraced the beauty, and returned to his tent.
The caravan from Shabona set up their felt tents on an open space next to the Tulun tribe.
Shabona got up and watched the chief leave, then put his arm around the Hu woman and returned to his tent.
Before leaving, he glanced at Wei Mingsu, waved for the Hu women to wait in the yurt, and whispered, "Prefect Wei, don't you Han people always say that when in Rome, do as the Romans do? Since you've come to Qusang City, you must abide by the rules of Qusang City. The chief of the Tulun tribe offered you beautiful women to serve you. If you don't accept them, the chief will think that you look down on their tribe and don't consider them friends."
Wei Mingsu frowned slightly.
Behind him, a follower dressed in a Hu robe led two Hu women toward his tent.
Two Hu women entered the tent, took off their clothes, lay down on the blankets, and waited for Wei Mingsu to return.
Wei Mingsu did not go back. He got up and walked towards the dancing crowd, with Tong Jin following behind him.
The men and women dancing and singing around the high platform came from different tribes, including Turks, Liang people, Sogdians, and Han people.
The cold air was filled with the aroma of strong liquor, the smell of beef and mutton, and the smell of sweat.
Wei Mingsu covered his face and walked from one end of the gathering to the other, silently observing the crowd.
Suddenly, a quarrel broke out from below the platform.
At today's gathering, a merchant who trades in female slaves brought a group of young and beautiful female slaves. A man from Xiliang and a man from Turkic both took a fancy to the most beautiful female slave. The two started fighting, and the crowd automatically parted to watch them wrestle from the platform all the way to the riverbank.
The Xiliang man was pinned to the ground, and he reached into his boot and pulled out a knife, piercing the Turkic man's neck.
Fresh blood spurted out.
The Turkic man fell into a pool of blood.
The crowd fell silent for a moment, then screams and curses erupted.
The man from Xiliang stood up, gripping his knife, and shouted, "A bet's a bet! He lost, and the beauty is mine!"
Mang Bao led his soldiers to the foot of the platform to maintain order.
One of the men knelt down, lifted the Turkic man's eyelids, and shook his head, saying, "He's dead."
Mang Bao's face darkened, and he wanted to take the Xiliang man away.
A group of Xiliang men rushed over to stop Mang Bao, saying, "Who are you? How dare you arrest people from our Lamabang?"
The people of the Tulun tribe quickly pulled Mang Bao away and whispered to him not to meddle in other people's business.
The crowd was buzzing with discussion.
The commotion outside the tent startled Shabona, who, worried that something had happened to Wei Mingsu, lifted the curtain and came out. After finding Wei Mingsu and Tongjin in the crowd, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Mang Bao walked past them with a sullen face. When he saw Shabona, he stopped and said, "Shabona, didn't you want to see a beauty? Look at that one, she's the most beautiful. Buy her."
He pointed to the high platform.
"The one on the far left is the prettiest."
Shabana looked towards the high platform.
On the high platform, several female slaves, dressed only in a single garment and with their hands bound, sat on a felt mat. The Hu woman on the far left had golden hair and skin as white as snow; she was indeed the most beautiful one.
Shabona smiled, but before he could speak, Wei Mingsu suddenly turned to look at him and nodded slightly.
Shabona paused for a moment, a hint of a smile flashing in his brown eyes.
It turns out Wei Mingsu can also be a chivalrous woman!
"Don't worry, I will definitely be able to buy her and send her to your tent tonight."
Shabona said with a smile.
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