Chapter 100 The route for border patrol is to go north first and then south, making a detour...
The route of the inspection was to go north first and then south, making a circle, and finally Muxue and Dorji went to Princess Guihua's Mansion together.
This is the first time that Mu Xue has come to the area north of Kulun.
The further north you go, the more swamps and lakes you see. At first glance, it looks a bit like a swamp.
Passing by a lake, the azure blue sky makes the lake look particularly beautiful, like a sapphire inlaid in the wilderness.
Muxue reined in her horse and took a few more glances.
"Do you like this lake?" Dorji's voice sounded.
"It's quite beautiful." Mu Xue nodded slightly.
Dorji was originally riding side by side with her, but after hearing this, he simply dismounted and asked the whole team to stop.
"Let's camp here and rest for half a day." Dorji stretched out his hand to Muxue on the horse, "It just so happens that I can catch some fish for you."
Such a beautiful lake must have fish. The jewel-like lake surface occasionally ripples with a dot, which is the fish wagging their tails.
It had been a long time since I had eaten fresh big fish, so Mu Xue suddenly became interested. She stood by the lake excitedly, watching the guards busying themselves with work, and making several hemp rope nets that could be used as fishing nets like magic.
"Is this how you catch fish? I thought you were fishing."
"It's okay to go fishing, but it may take a while." Dorji had already taken off his outer robe, leaving only a thin cloth robe. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing a strong forearm. He smiled at her and said, "What if my princess is hungry?"
"Humph, it's not that easy to get hungry." Muxue said, watching Dorji seriously enter the water, she couldn't help but take two steps closer to the lake, her tone a little eager to try. "I want to fish too."
Mother Zhao and Rong'er beside them had bitter faces and tried to persuade them, but it was useless.
Mother Zhao had no choice but to look at Dorji for help: "Prince, the water is cold and there are rocks. It would be bad if you fall."
Her original intention was to ask Dorji to persuade Muxue not to get involved in the trouble. But Dorji not only refused to listen, but also encouraged Muxue: "It's okay, Mother Zhao, I'm here, I won't hurt the princess if I fall. Princess, come, I'll hold your hand."
Mu Xue smiled, quickly took off her embroidered shoes and silk stockings, and stepped into the lake barefoot.
As spring deepens and the days become warmer, the lake water is a little chilly but not freezing. In this warm afternoon sunlight, the waves are especially gentle.
Dorji held her hand tightly, with a smile in his eyes: "You have never tried fishing or playing in the water in the palace, right? I will take you with me, it will be very interesting."
The two masters went into the water, and people were watching them on the shore and in the water.
Several personal soldiers stood in the water early, first spotted the fish, then used nets to drive the fish to an area in front of their masters, making it convenient for them to play in the water and fish.
Duoerji handed a small net to Muxue: "Try it. Use your wrist to cast it towards the area where there are fish."
Mu Xue took the net and swung it out, but she herself was not sure how to control it and her body swayed. The maid on the shore screamed as if the sky had fallen, and then stopped abruptly. The prince-in-law quickly grabbed the princess' waist.
"How come you threw everyone out when you threw the net?" Dorji held Muxue's waist tightly and said with a smile. His breath brushed against her ears, making her feel itchy.
Mu Xue laughed instead. She found this experience very interesting.
She pretended to be angry and glared at Dorji: "What did you say?"
"I say - the princess casts a very good net." Dorji wisely changed his tone, "Next time it will be better."
The two cast the net several times, but sometimes they caught nothing, and sometimes they caught a fish, but the fish would flick its tail fin and suddenly slip away.
Although she didn't catch anything, Mu Xue was still in high spirits. Even though her vest was wet and stuck to her body, she still fished tirelessly.
She tiptoed and stared at the fish, but Dorji's gaze was always on her with a smile.
The princess' childish moments were only revealed on the grassland, beside him. She was full of pride and contentment.
Dorji suddenly leaned close to her and kissed her on the cheek.
Mu Xue's eyes widened: "What? What?"
"It's nothing. Just kiss me if you want." Dorji held her hand holding the net. "Don't move. The fish is coming."
The fishing net was suddenly pulled, water splashed everywhere, and a fish was pulled into the sunlight.
"Wow, could you please pull the net higher? Otherwise the fish will run away."
"Don't worry, the net is here, it can't run away."
After struggling for a long time, I finally caught a fish, which was quite big.
Mu Xue understood the fisherman's joy and happily carried the fish, looking for people to see it.
"Aunt Zhao, look, a big fish!"
"Rong'er, look, is this fish big?"
After showing off to everyone close to her, she reluctantly went into the tent to change her wet clothes. If she hadn't been in a hurry to eat the fresh fish, she would have wanted to hang the fish on the saddle and show it off to the northernmost Taiji.
The sun was setting in the west, and in the afterglow of the setting sun, a bonfire had already been lit. The guards and attendants had also caught a lot of fish and were busy preparing them for today's dinner, either roasted or boiled, which was very fragrant.
Muxue had already ordered the fish, which she and Dorji had caught with their own hands, and they were going to have it cooked with hot pot!
The maids and eunuchs had already set up the small stove, found out the soy sauce, wine, vinegar, and sprinkled a handful of chopped green onions as a dipping sauce.
The task of slicing fish was in charge of Dorji.
He held a small knife, moved his wrist, and the tip of the knife pierced into the fish meat. The blade moved forward, separating the fish skin from the fish meat, and slicing off very thin fish fillets.
Mu Xue held a lamp and came closer to supervise, looking at the fish, her eyes were attracted by his hands. Dorji's fingers were long and beautiful, with distinct joints, and filleting the fish was like a performance.
"Are you looking at the fish or at your hands?"
Mu Xue coughed lightly: "Why, is it the fish or the hand that is not allowed to be seen?"
"Let me see them all," Dorji smiled and glanced at her, "They are all yours anyway, you can see them however you want."
"Okay, come on, the water's on!"
The water in the stove was boiling, bubbling with smoke, and green onions and ginger were floating at the bottom of the pot.
Muxue picked up a thin slice of fish and slowly dipped it in. When she saw the fish slice curled up, she immediately took it out, dipped it in the sauce, and handed it to Duoerji: "Try it, how is the fish you sliced?"
Dorji ate the fish fillet in one bite: "It's delicious."
"Me? Try it."
Muxue also boiled a piece of fish for herself and nodded repeatedly as she ate it.
The wild fish raised in this lake are so sweet and tender that they slide down the throat and into the stomach.
The two sat around, eating fish and chatting.
"This lake is nothing. Go further north, near the border, there is a very large lake with lots of fish. It is a rich sea."
The rich sea? Mu Xue pondered the pronunciation of Mongolian and realized that it was referring to Lake Baikal!
"Does the lake you mentioned belong to us?"
Dorji raised his eyebrows and said, "My tribe used to hunt, fish and graze there. But we left this place a few years ago because of the Junggar disaster, and I haven't visited for a long time."
"So are there any boundaries? Like which section belongs to which side?"
"Probably not," Dorji thought for a moment and said, "We didn't originally have the habit of clearly defining the boundaries of a certain area like the imperial court did. The Treaty of Nerchinsk, which was drafted by the envoys sent by His Majesty, only mentioned that the east and south of the lake belonged to our territory. But it wasn't very clear."
At that time, Khalkha was being occupied by Galdan, and the Russians used this as an excuse to refuse to negotiate with the Qing government about the middle section of the border.
Mu Xueyu stopped eating and put down her chopsticks: "We still have to make it clear to avoid trouble in the future."
This lake must have been our territory since ancient times!
She told Rong'er to tell the officials of the Lifanyuan: "Is Li Wen here? Ask him to take the map and mark the border of this land clearly."
Seeing her serious expression, Dorji couldn't help but take it seriously: "Are you worried about Rakshasa?"
They commonly called the country bordering the north "Rakshasa", while the official documents of the Qing court called it "Russia".
Mu Xue nodded: "You must be on guard against others. If you don't keep a close eye on it, someone might use the excuse of drying goods to dig up a piece of land from you."
"Okay, I'll listen to you, Princess." Dorji said, "In that case, I will also order the flag bearer Jiduo to inspect this area when the time comes."
Mu Xue nodded, but she was thinking in her heart how to make the border line clearer.
After traveling through time and becoming a princess of the Qing Dynasty and the mistress of the Khalkha tribe, how could she have the face to give up such a large piece of land!
I have so many worries that I can't sleep well.
Dorji, who was lying beside her, had fallen into a deep sleep, but Muxue kept her eyes open in the night, staring at the ceiling of the tent, thinking about how to write a memorial to Khan Ama.
The night is deep and extremely quiet.
I could faintly hear something howling coming from far away.
Mu Xue frowned and listened attentively.
The next moment, he jumped up and pushed Dorji.
"I? Why do I hear a wolf howling?"
Dorji woke up with a start, and immediately reached for his knife, pricked up his ears and listened: "It's a wolf howling, but there are so many of us, the wolf dare not come."
So it's directed at someone else in the distance?
Did they both think of this at the same time?
The guard on duty outside the tent reported: "Report to the Khan and the princess, it seems that there are wolves attacking people in the distance."
"Send someone with a knife and a torch to take a look." Dorji said calmly.
Muxue couldn't sleep either, so she simply got up and sat in the tent surrounded by her followers, waiting.
Dorji comforted her: "It's okay. It's not uncommon to see wolves in this area."
After waiting for a while, I suddenly heard a few sounds in the night sky, and then everything returned to silence.
Mu Xue stood up with the help of a table and looked outside the tent, feeling confused and uncertain.
"Was that...a gunshot?"
Dorji walked out with a knife on his shoulder: "You guys protect the princess well, I'll go take a look."
Mu Xue grabbed his sleeve and said, "Be careful."
Dorji patted her hand soothingly: "It's okay."
After waiting for a while, Mu Xue couldn't bear it any longer, so she ordered her guard Tong Shoulu to lead the others to surround her tightly and go out of the tent.
All she saw were many torches floating in the darkness, gradually drifting over. Dorji, surrounded by his personal soldiers, came over, put his arm around her shoulders and said, "It's okay. A pack of wolves attacked a group of Rakshasa merchants in the distance, and our people went over to rescue them. We checked their ID cards and found that they were legitimate merchants. We have already removed their weapons and have them guarding and resting outside for the time being."
Under the light of the fire, Mu Xue turned her head and looked outside the city.
There were about twenty Rakshasa merchants, standing outside, expressing their gratitude to the soldiers.
Most people had panic on their faces, except for one exceptionally tall young man who showed no fear at all. Instead, he looked a little excited as he looked towards Mucheng.
The young man's gaze happened to meet Mu Xue's. He was stunned for a moment, as if he saw something very interesting, and started laughing.
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