Mrs. Sun was surprised that her little nephew had grown up and would care about his mother. She smiled and nodded, "Okay, then you take good care of your sister."
"Auntie, go pick some herbs for Grandma."
Zhu Xixi had only been awake for a short while when she felt sleepy again. Rubbing her eyes, she looked at her second brother in a daze.
Although the eldest brother is only 7 years old, he is already 1.4 meters tall with a handsome appearance, except for his childish face.
He gives off an adult vibe, which makes you feel especially safe. Xixi happily tries to rub her little face against her brother.
[XiXi feels so comfortable in her brother's arms; she wants to sleep now.]
When Zhu Xiaobao heard Zhu Xixi's voice, he was so frightened that his face turned pale instantly, and he looked around blankly.
Whose voice is that?
Seeing that no one around him was making a sound, he suddenly felt afraid.
Hey, brother, you can't be weak and let Zhu Zinan bully you endlessly.
Otherwise, you'll be killed by Zhu Zinan. Your legs will break, your wounds will fester and infest with maggots, and you'll die in excruciating pain.
Zhu Xiaobao's face scrunched up like an old woman as her sister's words made her purse her lips in fear as she stared blankly at her sister in her arms.
"Zhu Zinan, come play with me?"
Hearing the sound, Zhu Xiaobao looked over and saw Zhu Zinan running over to kick him when he saw Zhu Xiaobao alone in the camp.
He glared angrily at Zhu Zinan and said coldly, "Get lost, don't mess with me."
"How dare you refuse me?" Zhu Zinan, not expecting Zhu Xiaobao to defy her, angrily put her hands on her hips.
"Yes, I not only dare to refuse you, I also dare to smash you." Remembering his sister's reminder, Zhu Xiaobao picked up a stone next to him and threw it at Zhu Zinan with a fierce expression.
Zhu Xiaobao's sudden expression startled the usually spoiled Zhu Zinan, who swallowed nervously and turned to run away.
Wow! Big brother is awesome! That's how you should deal with little bullies.
Meanwhile, Zhu Haotian and Zhu Chenfeng, who had entered the western part of the forest, unexpectedly discovered several pheasants running around near the river.
The two brothers had never seen so many pheasants before. They happily caught them all, helped them with their limbs, and sealed their beaks to prevent them from squawking and arousing suspicion from others.
After filling all the bamboo baskets, the two excitedly ran towards the campsite.
Tao was worried that Zhu Haotian and Zhu Chenfeng would go straight back to the camp, so she waited for them outside the woods.
She waved happily at her husband as he excitedly jogged over.
"My lord, we are here."
Zhu Haotian looked in the direction of the voice and excitedly went forward when he saw his wife.
"Wife, where is Mother?"
"Mom is resting in the back. What's wrong?"
Tao frowned uneasily, staring at her husband's sweat-drenched face, and asked with concern.
Zhu Haotian was eager to share the good news with his mother. He didn't have time to explain to his wife and ran towards his mother with a smile.
"Come on, you'll see once you get here."
Left with no other choice, Tao had to suppress her displeasure and follow her husband toward her mother-in-law.
The three approached Old Lady Zhu. Zhu Haotian and Zhu Chenfeng first looked around and then placed the bamboo basket in front of her.
"Mother, look what's in here!"
Upon hearing this, Grandma Zhu curiously looked into the bamboo basket, and her expression changed drastically when she saw the pheasant inside.
"this......"
"Yes, that's exactly what you're thinking." Zhu Chenfeng gestured for Old Lady Zhu to be quiet and nodded excitedly.
Seeing this, the others also curiously came over. After seeing the pheasant in the bamboo basket, everyone couldn't contain their excitement and covered their mouths to scream softly.
"With so many, won't they be discovered?" After her initial joy, Old Mrs. Zhu's smile vanished, replaced by worry.
After all, every time they returned from finding food, the guards would check everyone's bamboo baskets.
"The escorts are too busy to deal with us right now; such a big wild boar will keep them busy for a while."
Zhu Chenfeng swallowed hard at the thought of that wild boar; it would taste even better braised.
Zhu Haotian never had any particular ideas, so since his younger brother had spoken up, he nodded in agreement.
"Yes! That wild boar is quite fat."
“Alright, let’s do it this way then.” After thinking for a while, Old Mrs. Zhu agreed with her son’s suggestion. “Then send someone to tell the escort, so that we won’t hide anything.”
After discussing it, the group carried their bamboo baskets and supplies to the campsite.
The camp was bustling with activity as everyone watched the guards slaughter the wild boar, ignoring the Zhu family members who had returned to the camp.
Although the escorts' attention was not on the Zhu family, Old Madam Zhu still asked Zhu Haotian to inform the escorts.
Upon seeing this, Zhu Haotian quickly jogged towards the escort, who, upon hearing his words, followed him.
Old Mrs. Zhu thought the guards were coming to demand that they hand over their food, so she nervously pushed the food over.
Who knew that the escort officer would come over with a smile, look at the pheasant inside, and then touch Xixi in Liu's arms.
"Oh my! This is a little lucky star. Our lives have been getting better and better ever since this little girl was born."
At first, he was worried that there would be no food to eat and almost took advantage of the child. He never expected that there would be pork to eat in such harsh conditions.
Faced with the sudden touch from the escort, Xixi pulled her head back in disgust.
[You scoundrel, don't touch me! You know Father is innocent, yet you still call us traitors every day.]
To save her own life, she pushed her brother into the bandits' ranks and ran away herself.
[Like Zhu Yanyan, they are both big bad guys, selfish and corrupt.]
Xi Xi's words reached the ears of every member of the Zhu family, and their expressions immediately turned grim. Their shoulders trembled involuntarily, and their fists gradually hardened.
The escort did not notice anything unusual about the Zhu family and pretended to be magnanimous, saying, "Consider these pheasants a reward from me. You don't need to hand them over this time. Just remember to hand over your grain on time next time."
Despite her anger, Old Lady Zhu suppressed it and nodded with a smile, "Thank you, sir."
After the escorts left, Tao frowned and became uneasy. She leaned close to Old Lady Zhu and whispered something.
"Mother, we should be careful of these two. There's suddenly so much food, and there's less and less food on the road. What if these two decide to kill us?"
Grandma Zhu nodded silently, completely agreeing with her daughter-in-law's words; these people were the lackeys of the dog emperor.
These guards are like local tyrants in the group; if a guard is tempted to kill someone for food...
They had no chance to fight back, and even if they escaped and reported to the authorities, the local officials might not care about these criminals.
Thinking of this, Old Mrs. Zhu looked at her third son with a solemn expression, "When your third son's wife comes back, have her lead everyone to make the gunpowder as soon as possible."
As long as the gunpowder is made well, the life or death of those who are capable of protecting themselves is none of their concern.
Zhu Chenfeng understood Zhu Laotian's concerns and nodded vigorously, "Understood."
After arranging things, Grandma Zhu led everyone to process the pheasants they had hunted, as the Zhu family hadn't eaten meat in a long time.
They all excitedly surrounded Grandma Zhu, helping to hand her water and tools, watching with anticipation as the pheasant was being plucked.
In contrast to the lively scene at the Zhu family's tent, Zhu Yanyan's tent was much quieter. She sat angrily in a chair, feeling increasingly puzzled.
"Mother, don't you think those pheasants are strange? There are so many refugees lately, where are they going to get pheasants for them?"
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