There was a small kitchen in the courtyard, and Xiao Luolan asked Dongxue and the others not to stay up late to stay with her. After a few times, Xia He and Dongxue left.
Xiao Luolan found the pancake in the small kitchen, steamed it in a pan, then washed the cabbage, fried the cabbage heart, stir-fried winter bamboo shoots, and a shrimp ball and radish soup.
Xiao Luolan put the steamed soft noodles into a white porcelain plate, put them in the food box together with the fried vegetables and two bowls of soup, and waited to eat them when they went home.
Zhou Xu strode in and smoothly took the food box from the table. He also held a food box in his other hand.
Zhou Xu held his wife's hand and returned to the house.
When you go to the inner and outer halls of the house, put the contents of the food boxes one by one.
"Madam's craftsmanship is really good." Zhou Xu smelled the fragrance, lifted his robe and sat next to Madam, and praised her sincerely.
"Then you eat more." Xiao Luolan didn't do much, so she put more noodles because she thought of Master Zhou's appetite. She looked at the washed grapes and wine on the table, and poured a glass for each of them. .
The night was bright and clear, the snow was glistening, and they were alone in the courtyard.
"The steward said the grapes were a bit sour, so I brought the wine over." Zhou Xu set out the bowls and chopsticks and handed the fruit plate to his wife: "Try to see if it tastes good."
Xiao Luolan pinched one and tasted it. It was a bit sour, but still acceptable: "Zhou Lang, you can eat it too."
Zhou Xu smiled and said, "I will eat after Madam has finished."
"Come, come, let's eat first." Zhou Xu and his wife clinked a glass of wine.
After Xiao Luolan finished eating, he drank a few more glasses of wine and felt a little tipsy.
Zhou Xu swept away the food and ate the remaining half of the bunch of grapes. At this moment, the two of them were drinking together under the moonlight, and the atmosphere was warm.
Zhou Xu looked at Madam's flushed drunk face: "Is Madam drunk?"
After a while, Xiao Luolan patted her warm cheek gently: "No." Her thinking was just a little slow.
Zhou Xu saw his wife looking at him with drunken eyes, like a pool of spring water sloshing around.
Under this moonlit and snowy night.
Zhou Xu asked a question for no reason: "Does Madam have a wish?"
Xiao Luolan hummed in confusion, and put a jade bracelet on her delicate and snowy wrist. The hands lined with it were like mutton-fat jade. She put her hand on the back of Sect Leader Zhou's hand.
Zhou Xu felt his heart beating very fast.
"It's good that the family is safe and sound." Xiao Luolan said sincerely. She didn't have any big ambitions. When she came here, she only wanted one thing from beginning to end, just that her family was safe.
After Zhou Xu drank the last sip of wine, he smiled and held his wife in his arms, so that he felt complete.
In the past, I often heard that the fireworks in the world were the most comforting thing. It was not until today that Zhou Xu realized that this sentence was right.
Chapter 127
Noon the next day.
Xiao Luolan went hunting with Clan Leader Zhou. She didn't know how to hunt. She would probably just watch Clan Master Zhou and the others hunt. For this trip, Clan Master Zhou brought nearly three hundred Lei's cavalry.
She sat in the carriage and took advantage of her free time to look out. The road from Lishui Villa to Beihao Mountain was fairly flat, and faint grass could be seen on the roadside. Everyone in this hunting team led by Clan Leader Zhou carried a bow. He was nocking an arrow, he was full of energy, and the feather pouch hanging diagonally on his horse was full.
Sect Master Zhou rode in the front, with Lei Hu and Lei Bao one step behind, on either side of him.
Occasionally, they could still hear their voices. Xiao Luolan watched for a while and then sat back in the carriage. The weather was too cold, her riding skills were not good, and there was a lot of snow on the road, so she was more honest and sat in the carriage.
At the foot of North Mountain.
The servant guarding the place tied the hunting dogs with a dog leash. When hunting, hunting dogs are indispensable. Dozens of hunting dogs were kept with smooth skin and barking. Zhou Xu turned over and dismounted, holding a black whip in his hand. After nodding the heads of the hounds, the hounds immediately fell to the ground and whined softly. Xiao Luolan watched in surprise not far away.
"Good boy, be smarter later." Zhou Xudao said. He loves hunting. Whenever he has free time throughout the year, he will go around Beihao Mountain. He searches for seedlings in spring and summer, hunts in autumn and winter, and hunts prey in the mountains regularly. Shen Zhi would occasionally come here to have fun while hunting a group of people to eat or reward. This summer, he went to Heshuo County, but in autumn and winter, he did not come for a while due to the war with Huiyi.
Zhou Xu took out the black-haired hunting dog among the hunting dogs, then put his fingers to his lips and whistled into the sky. After a while, a flock of birds flew up in Beihao Mountain. The man in black clothes heard the sound and came and landed on his master's shoulder. Everywhere, the light yellow bird's eyes turned around.
Xiao Luolan couldn't help but laugh when she saw Wu Yilang.
Zhou Xu walked over and asked his wife to touch it.
Xiao Luolan did not dare to get too close to the hunting dog, and only touched Wu Yilang through the air. Maybe there were a lot of prey in the mountains, and Wu Yilang was a little fatter. Its head was raised high, looking very impressive.
The steward who lived at the hunting ground smiled and said: "General, Madam General, now is the time when the hares, wild deer, pheasants, and wild roe deer are getting fat and strong, and the foxes and martens are also eating their bellies in the autumn." Yes, the general hasn’t hunted here for a long time, and I will definitely gain a lot this time.”
Zhou Xu smiled and said: "Apart from what was mentioned above, are there any large wild animals deep in the mountains?"
Beihao Mountain is very big, and walking inside is the remote mountains and wild forests that are rarely visited. Usually, they hunt in their own hunting grounds outside Beihao Mountain. This time he wanted to hunt something big.
Xiao Luolan hesitated to speak.
"Return to the general." The steward immediately reported back: "A few months ago, I went to the deep mountains with a few veterans and the leopard slaves for a special inspection. There were traces of deer and wild boars in the mountains. The leopard slaves took Xiaohua to the deep north. He was thirty miles away, but he refused to come in any further. He killed seven or eight more hares and hung them on the treetops. He used the net cellar method to seduce them and spread them with hay and leaves. When it was dark on the third day, he only I saw a huge black shadow heading towards the hare, and the shadow fell down, but the net cellar as high as a person failed to trap it, and it escaped."
"I went down to check it out at dawn and found a few tusks of black bear fur. It must be a big, troublesome guy."
After Zhou Xu heard this, he already had an idea in his mind.
Xiao Luolan waited for the men and horses in front of them to bring hunting dogs into the outskirts of the Beihao Mountain enclosure to hunt, and then rode up to Sect Master Zhou.
"Does the steward mean that there are black bears in the mountains?" Xiao Luolan said worriedly: "It's so dangerous, so don't fight them. Black bears are very hungry in winter and can hurt people."
Zhou Xu rode close to his wife and said with a smile: "Don't worry, madam. Today we will only shoot some little guys in our hunting ground. When everything is ready tomorrow, we will officially start hunting the day after tomorrow. If you want to catch good prey, you need to plan well." "
Knowing that Clan Master Zhou would not go into the mountains to hunt bears recklessly and impulsively, Xiao Luolan felt relieved. However, she also felt that she was worrying too much. Clan Master Zhou had much more hunting experience than she did.
Zhou Xu held Madam's hand, patted the back of Madam's hand with a big palm, and said with a smile: "I know Madam cares about me, Madam's feelings for me." He paused deliberately and saw Madam's cheeks turning red with embarrassment. .
"It's the same as my wife." Zhou Xu said softly. He planned to make more traps tomorrow. Once the beast becomes ferocious, it is also dangerous. When it falls, bring more torches to smoke the hiding place of the prey. Hundreds of attendants surrounded and drove the prey away from a distance, allowing the prey to escape to the prepared paddock. Bowmen/crossbowmen with superb archery skills shot it in the eyes and vital points, and various traps were arranged in the paddock to prevent it from having any possibility of escape.
He is no longer a reckless young man. If he had been young and energetic, he would have been very brave and just care about his own speed, charging with a bow/crossbowman.
But now that he has a wife by his side and a pair of children in his house, he must be more considerate.
Zhou Xu couldn't see that his wife was worried, so he told her what she would do tomorrow. After hearing this, Xiao Luolan's heart completely fell back into her stomach, and her expression became calmer and softer.
"That's good. Just shoot the arrow from afar. Wait until it stops moving, then go forward." Xiao Luolan said.
"Everything depends on Madam." Zhou Xudao.
The two talked for a while and caught up with the large army in front. The outer hunting ground occupied a large area.
Zhou Xu let go of the hunting dogs and let them search for prey. The barking of the dogs became louder and louder, and they undulated each other. The lynx followed behind them, with long hair blowing up on their bodies. Zhou Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and drew his bow and arrow. Like the wind.
When the arrow leaves the string, it is as fast as the wind.
A hare was stabbed in the neck by an arrow. Zhou Xu bent down and threw it to the thunder tiger behind him. The snow melted and the horses' hooves galloped. The atmosphere gradually heated up. From time to time, whistling and barking dogs mixed with the mournful cries of prey were heard.
Xiao Luolan was in the middle of the team, watching more and more prey, and then took a look at Beihao Mountain, where the vegetation was greener than the ordinary mountains. He guessed that it was close to the hot springs, so there would be more food to eat in winter, and those hares and deer were Not too hungry.
After an hour and a half, Xiao Luolan saw that the prey had almost piled up into a small mountain, so he spoke to Sect Master Zhou and took the steward and the prey back to the Leopard Garden in the hunting ground.
The game manager kept smiling. When the general's wife arrived at the leopard garden, he bent slightly and said, "General's wife, would you like to see the general's favorite flowers?"
Xiao Luolan stopped and looked at the group of leopard slaves standing in front of the leopard garden.
All of them are men with dark faces and thick beards, and strong figures. Even if they are wearing sheepskin winter clothes, you can see the muscles all over their bodies. They stand in a row as if they are going to fight. Then think about the hunting that I first heard from the leader Zhou. Field Leopard Slave.
She originally thought she would be a leopard slave with a sallow complexion and skinny skin, but she didn't expect...
Think about it again, looking after a beast like a leopard. It seems that even if you don’t have a lot of strength, you can’t do this job.
"Madam?" Dongxue asked softly when he saw his wife was lost in thought.
Xiao Luolan came back to her senses: "It's okay." She looked at the steward: "Then I'll go in and take a look."
The steward's smile became even bigger, and even the leopard slaves standing in a row were happy. Their job was to take care of Lord Jiedushi's leopards. Lord General likes little flowers, and if the General's wife doesn't like these fierce beasts, over time , I'm afraid they won't be good, it would be better if both of them like it.
The people in the Leopard Garden were in great spirits.
Xiao Luolan walked in along the gravel path and found that there were other animals in the leopard garden of Clan Master Zhou, including birds and beasts, separated by large iron cages. The largest cage was equivalent to a small garden.
A large leopard was lazily turning its belly and basking in the sun. When it heard someone coming, it immediately raised its ears, and then lay down again, waving its tail.
Xiao Luolan looked at it and found that it was well raised, and its colorful fur was shiny and smooth in the sun.
"Madam General, this leopard was picked up and raised by the General when he was a child. He is very dear to him. It even lived in the General's Mansion when he was a child. When he grew up, the General put it here in the hunting ground to assist the General in hunting. On weekdays, It’s all good meat for eating and use.” The steward introduced it to the general’s wife.
Xiao Luolan looked at it for a while before leaving.
When she returned to her residence at the Beihao Mountain Hunting Ground, it was already getting late. Just when she was about to call someone to see if Sect Master Zhou and the others were back, she heard vague noises. Lei Hu's voice was always very recognizable.
"Sect Master, you must let me show off my skills in the bear hunt the day after tomorrow. You don't know, we have been very depressed during this period. You didn't take us to the war. I was still thinking about beheading..."
Behind him was the voice of Lei Bao shouting: "Thunder Tiger!"
Xiao Luolan walked to the door of the small courtyard and smelled the smell of blood and beasts. She stopped in her tracks. Although she knew that Clan Leader Zhou and the others were numerous and full of bows and arrows, she still felt a little worried in her heart.
There was a faint sound coming from the corridor of the small courtyard.
Sect Leader Zhou's voice was filled with slight pride, and he laughed loudly. He was obviously in a great mood: "If I let you show off your skills, wouldn't it mean that I can't be a hero to Madam?"
As soon as these words came out, several of Lei's followers burst into laughter.
Xiao Luolan couldn't help but laugh.
"Madam." Zhou Xu turned around the corridor and saw the lady at the door of the small courtyard, and immediately strode over.
"Let me see if you are back." Xiao Luolan said, seeing many people present, he took his hand out of the palm of the Zhou clan.
"We're back, a lot of them, and the rest have already gone to rest." Zhou Xu said: "Thunder Tiger, you put the prey in the open space in the courtyard, and then count how many there are and divide them according to the animals."
"Wei." Lei Hu and Lei Bao responded loudly.
Zhou Xu took his wife into the second entrance of the courtyard. When no one was around, he smelled the smell on his body and said disgustedly: "I must take a shower later."
"I've already had the hot water boiled," Xiao Luolan said.
"Madam is still virtuous." Zhou Xu smiled and said, "Has Madam been washed?"
Xiao Luolan shook his head: "Not yet, I played in the Leopard Garden for a while."
"Then let's wash it together later." Zhou Xu held his wife's hand and couldn't help but kiss her.
After ordering the prey in the evening, Xiao Luolan found that there were quite a lot of them. There were 107 large and small ones in total. Since it was winter, there were fewer animals than usual, so they hunted in the afternoon.
Zhou Xu saw that his wife was about to take a bath and was still looking at the number and types of prey, so he took the paper in her hand aside and said, "I'll wash your hair."
Xiao Luolan was lying on the small couch, looking up at Sect Leader Zhou. Her hair was soaked in hot water and felt very comfortable: "I will wash it for you after you wash it."
Zhou Xu lowered his head and kissed his wife on the lips: "Okay."
