The Wife Is First

Chapter 42

Ch42 - Wolf’s Bane

“Xiao Hei?” Jing Shao blanked, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and ran out. Xiao Hei had been fine last night; how had he gotten sick so early in the morning? 

“Wang Ye!” Mu Hanzhang looked at Jing Shao’s half-eaten meal, sighed helplessly, and also went to the stables.

“Neigh…” Xiao Hei was currently panting angrily in his stable. The fodder in the trough was scattered on the ground, trampled under his hooves. The caretaker was squatting on the side, covering his stomach; Xiao Hei had clearly kicked him.

So spirited – how was this considered ill? Jing Shao had the soldiers who were trying to placate Xiao Hei get out of the way. He kicked the wooden pillar lightly, leapt onto the horse’s back, and grabbed Xiao Hei’s reins. “Neigh ～” Xiao Hei stood up straight immediately and whinnied. Knowing that his master had come, he finally stopped tossing from side to side and puffed out a hot breath of air, but still kept stamping his hooves.

“Jun Qing, don’t come over first.” Fearing that Xiao Hei would hurt Mu Hanzhang in his frenzy, Jing Shao quickly stopped Mu Hanzhang from approaching. 

Zhao Meng came over from the other side and saw Mu Hanzhang standing three steps away. He ridiculed, “Yes, it definitely wouldn’t be good if such a smooth-skinned person got kicked.”

“Zhao Meng! Shut up!” Jing Shao glared at General Zhao, who was saying whatever he wanted. After Xiao Hei quieted down, Jing Shao jumped off the horse and looked at the mess in the horse shed. He asked the caretaker on the ground, “What happened here?”

“Replying to Wang Ye, Chen got up late this morning and didn’t have time to cut fresh grass for Xiao Hei, so I got some hay for him to eat. Unexpectedly, he spit it out after eating a mouthful and started to go crazy,” the caretaker knelt down and answered. He was afraid that the Wang Ye would blame him, which would cost him his head.

“Is this horse still being picky about food? You shouldn’t spoil these domesticated animals!” General Zhao had been scolded by the Wang Ye earlier, but he didn’t get angry. He walked to the front to pat Xiao Hei and said to Mu Hanzhang, “Why is the military advisor still afraid to go forward? If you want to go to the battlefield, you can’t be as timid as a girl.”

Mu Hanzhang ignored General Zhao, who liked to say unpleasant things. He lifted his feet and slowly walked to the manger. He looked carefully for a moment and frowned slightly. He picked up some hay and said to the caretaker, “Do all the horses in this stable eat this kind of fodder?”

The caretaker didn’t understand why the military advisor was asking this. He glanced up at the Wang Ye and replied that it wasn’t the case. He was afraid that Xiao Hei wouldn’t like hay, so he used the new fodder that had been brought in for Xiao Hei alone to eat. The fodder wasn’t completely dry yet, and half of it was still green, which tasted a little better than hay.

“Jun Qing, is there a problem?” Jingshao detected something wrong, and turned to ask Mu Hanzhang the question.

“There’s wolf’s bane in this fodder!” Mu Hanzhang gave the grass in his hand to Jing Shao. 

Zhao Meng picked up a handful of grass for a look and said, “What wolf’s bane? Isn’t this just ordinary sogon grass?”

Jing Shao looked at the grass leaves in his hand. The half-dried leaves were still a little dark green and slightly wider than sogon grass. When he touched them, they didn’t cut his hand. Horses were born with the ability to identify poisonous grass. As long as they weren’t extremely hungry, they wouldn’t eat it. Xiao Hei had eaten too much last night, so he naturally would be very picky about poisonous grass.