The hunt was over. Ji Chang's horse had indeed been delicious.
On the way back to Chaoge, Zi Shou still made Ji Chang lead his horse.
E Chongyu, who accompanied the king, felt rather lonely. On the journey out, Ji Chang's horse had accompanied the king alongside him, but now it was gone.
Ji Chang returned to Youli. Thinking back on all his former glory in Xiqi, only to suffer such humiliation today and even kill his beloved horse with his own hands, he felt desolation fill his heart.
As he sighed in sorrow, Ji Chang suddenly cried out, "The pain is killing me!"
Then he swayed on his feet, his face as white as paper, and vomited up a lump of meat. The lump rolled across the ground, sprouted four hooves and two ears, grew a mane along its neck, and galloped out of sight.
Ji Chang stared blankly after the horse. Somehow, he felt that something had left him. Unable to bear the stifling anguish in his heart, he took up his tortoiseshell and performed a divination, yet could discern nothing.
Helpless, he could only taste a mouthful of the bitter gall King Zhou had sent him that day, warning himself never to forget today's humiliation. Then he lay down on a bed of firewood and fell into a deep sleep.
Several days later, Jiao Ge set off to assume his post at Guanjiangkou. On the night before his departure, he met with Ji Chang.
Of course, Ji Chang was not the only person he met that night. He also visited the Marquis of the South, E Chongyu, and North Marquis Chong Houhu, who was bedridden with illness and had not even attended the hunt.
When Zi Shou heard the news, he felt even more reassured about Jiao