It was mid-autumn when we first arrived. After more than a month of hard work, it is now early winter.

Feng County is located in the north, so in early winter, we should wear thin cotton clothes and light a small charcoal stove.

Baoning carried Yuanzi to the bed. His arms and legs were soft and warm. Baoning's head rested on his neck. Yuanzi leaned sideways and hugged her arms. The two of them pulled the quilt to their chins and fell asleep in a short while. I

got up too early today, and Huilong also slept deeply. When Yuanzi woke up, it was almost noon. Baoning even woke up a little later than him. He still felt sleepy when he woke up, and yawned with his eyes closed.

Yuanzi yawned with her, Baoning smiled and touched his belly: "Are you hungry?"

"No." Yuanzi made a hissing gesture, "Auntie, listen, what is Auntie Liu saying outside? It seems that she is going to take Ah Mian to Uncle Liu's house in Xicun for breeding... What does breeding mean?" Baoning remembered

. Auntie Liu mentioned to her yesterday that it is best to breed sheep in September and October, so that the lambs will be born in February or March of the following year, when the weather is warm and suitable, and the first grass has just grown, which is very beneficial to the recovery of the ewe and the survival of the lambs. However, the weather in Fengxian is not as warm as that in the Central Plains, and it may take a little longer to warm up. Breeding at this time is also a good choice, and it is best not to delay it any longer.

Bao Ning rubbed his eyes and explained to him in a low voice: "It's to arrange a blind date for Ah Mian, find a handsome little ram, and let them have a baby together."

Yuanzi's eyes widened and asked curiously: "Auntie, can I go and watch?"

"They are giving birth, what are you watching?" Bao Ning refused at first, thinking that it was not good.

Yuanzi was only five years old, and it seemed too pornographic to take him to watch such a scene. Pei Yuan would definitely scold her if he knew. But Bao Ning thought about it, what's the big deal! Whether it's a human, a kitten, a puppy, a lamb, or a pig, they all have to go through such a thing. There is no difference between early enlightenment and late enlightenment. If the scene is too glaring, she can just cover Yuanzi's eyes... Besides, she has never seen it before and wants to watch it.

"Actually, I don't think there's anything wrong with it." Baoning turned his head and squinted at Yuanzi, "Are you getting dressed and going out now?"

Yuanzi nodded happily, "Okay!"

...

Sitting in the carriage to West Village, Baoning felt a little guilty. He grabbed Yuanzi's hand and said, "Don't tell your uncle about this, or he will miss me."

Yuanzi agreed. Baoning thought about it, and muttered, "Remember to remind me, and tell Aunt Liu and the others later, don't let anything slip!"

Yuanzi agreed loudly, "Okay!"

When they arrived at Uncle Liu's vast sheep farm, Baoning and Yuanzi became excited when they saw the rows of sheep heads sticking out from behind the fence to eat grass. After talking to Aunt Liu, Bao Ning finally understood that the owner of the sheep farm was called Liu Bobo, the eldest in the family, not Uncle Liu.

Bao Ning covered her mouth and smiled, "He has a good name, taking advantage of others, I want to learn from him. If I have a son in the future, I will call him Pei Bobo, and if I have a daughter, I will call her Pei Gugu."

Aunt Liu looked at her belly and said seriously, "If you are really pregnant, that would be great."

"How can that be possible? There is no chance of pregnancy." Bao Ning smiled and nudged her arm, "You old lady are really funny."

Aunt Liu also laughed and helped Bao Ning to go to the small shed that had been prepared long ago. Amian was already waiting there, staring at her new husband. Baoning looked at the ram, not very satisfied, and commented, "It's quite tall and strong, but too dirty. How old is it?"

Liu Bobo quickly replied, "It's three years old. It's the best breeding sheep we have. The lambs it gives birth to are all very beautiful and healthy."

Baoning said, "Give it a bath when you have time. This mud on its body affects its appearance."

Liu Bobo knew that this was the Princess of Jinbei, so he didn't dare to say anything else and nodded repeatedly.

"Then you guys get busy." Baoning held Yuanzi's little hand and said with a smile, "Let's go to the side and take a look. Is that okay?"

Liu Bobo said, "Of course it's okay."

Baoning and Yuanzi walked to the side to take a look with satisfaction. Both of them were curious. Aunt Liu smiled and shook her head, but said nothing.

In the shed, Amian and the ram were sniffing each other's buttocks. The ram seemed very satisfied and wagged its tail. Amian went over and sniffed it again. The ram bleated and turned back to sniff it again. He also opened his mouth and bit the hair on Amian's buttocks.

Yuanzi made a short "ah" sound. Baoning didn't expect this to happen and watched in amazement.

Liu Bobo put his hands in his sleeves and reminded them, "This is a process of getting familiar with each other. After getting familiar with each other, it's time to start. Hey, let's start!"

The ram bleated quickly, raised his legs, and immediately rested on Ah Mian's butt.

Ah Mian's cry sounded like both joy and pain, and the ram began to move. Because Ah Mian was too small and the ram was too strong, it couldn't rest steadily and fell off again. But soon the ram adjusted itself, leaped up, and rested on her again. Ah Mian's legs softened and she almost lost her balance.

Yuanzi exclaimed, "Wow!"

Baoning closed his eyes and raised his hands to cover Yuanzi's eyes: "Forget it, don't look at it, there's nothing to see."

Yuanzi asked reluctantly: "Are you leaving?"

Liu Bobo also asked: "Are you leaving? This is just the first one, there are three more behind, all of which are carefully selected healthy rams. If you are afraid that it won't work the first time, run a few more times, and there is a 90% chance that you can have a baby."

Baoning said: "Thank you

for your hard work." "Why should I work hard? I'm just a matchmaker." Liu Bobo smiled honestly, "As long as you are satisfied."

Baoning smiled awkwardly, and a little regret arose in her heart. She shouldn't have come here! Hearing the cries of the two sheep, Baoning didn't want to stay any longer, so she pulled Yuanzi out. But children are playful by nature, and Yuanzi hesitated and kept looking back.

Baoning pulled his sleeve and coaxed him, "Don't look at it. I'll take you to buy something delicious when I get back."

Yuanzi asked, "What to eat?"

Baoning said, "Have you ever had leek dumplings?"

Yuanzi recalled and shook his head.

"They're really delicious. There's a shop next to our house that sells them." Baoning looked up at the sky and deliberately exaggerated, "Oh, it's already past noon. We have to go back quickly! That shop is doing very good business. If we go too late, there will be nothing left!"

Yuanzi got anxious when he heard this and walked faster, "Then let's hurry up." Baoning breathed a sigh of relief

when he saw that he didn't mention staying any longer. He took two quick steps and got on the carriage with Yuanzi. As

the carriage drove along, Baoning's sense of embarrassment was almost gone. Hearing the noisy shouting, Baoning knew that they had arrived at the market and lifted the curtain to look out. It was past noon and most of the vendors had left. There were only a few customers left. There were puddles of black water stains on the ground that smelled a bit fishy. They were left by the fish stalls.

Baoning frowned and covered his nose, but couldn't help but continue to look.

Feng County is not as prosperous as the capital, nor as clean as the capital, but it seems to be more humane and more down-to-earth.

Because it is close to the border, the customs are more open, and the restrictions on women are not very strict. Baoning often goes to the street, not revealing his identity, just leisurely buying things and eating in the shops.

The carriage drove for a while and saw a big pot of fried chive dumplings at the door of the store. Baoning's eyes lit up and called Chen Jia, "Stop."

Baoning got off the car with Yuanzi and bent down to look at the appearance of the boxes. They were all golden and crispy, exuding an alluring aroma.

She asked Yuanzi as if to take credit: "Is it delicious?"

Yuanzi nodded vigorously: "Delicious!"

Baoning Chong's lady boss said: "I want all of this pot, pick out five and add chili, and wrap them up separately."

"Auntie wants to eat five, that's a lot." Yuanzi was surprised and asked, "Do you want to bring some to uncle?"

"No." Baoning took money out of his wallet and said, "You know how nagging he is. He is very happy when eating, but after eating, he will scold you, saying that the food outside is not clean, the ingredients are not good, and his chatter is annoying. We don't bring him any food. We spend money and still get scolded. What's the point? We only bring food to Aunt Liu and the others. After eating, they will be sweet-mouthed and will compliment others. It's so pleasant to hear compliments."

Yuanzi nodded: "That's it."

Baoning took the oil paper bag handed to him by the proprietress with satisfaction, turned around and handed it to Chen Jia, and continued to walk along the street with Yuanzi.

Chen Jia followed helplessly.

Passing by the grilled chicken shop at the corner, Baoning couldn't help but take Yuanzi in when she smelled the delicious aroma. She bought three pounds of spicy chicken feet and chicken wings and two grilled chickens. After going out, she saw a stall selling pears on the roadside. The pears looked so good, crisp and sweet. Baoning couldn't help but buy another three pounds.

Chen Jia looked at the pile of things in the carriage, and hesitated to speak. After a long while, she persuaded: "Princess, buy less. I brought back five pounds of goat milk from the sheep farm. I can't eat it anymore."

Baoning said: "If you can't eat it, share it. Am I the one who is short of money?"

Chen Jia was speechless.

Yuanzi looked at Baoning's expression and looked up and asked, "Aunt, why are you so happy today?"

Baoning pondered this question. She didn't know, but she was inexplicably happy, as if something happy was going to happen. She thought of what happened in the morning and smiled, "Maybe it's because I saw your uncle getting embarrassed. He is always very majestic and looks at people with squinting eyes. It was really interesting to see him getting embarrassed and cursing people today."

Yuanzi said, "So that's the case."

The palace was built near the downtown area, and it was not far to walk back. Baoning knew that she bought too much, so she suppressed it all the way. Only when she passed by the chestnut stall, she couldn't help but bought another three pounds.

Baoning was satisfied and pulled Yuanzi, carrying things, into the palace gate.

...

Pei Yuan was still dealing with Su Wei.

Su Wei came from Dai County, and walked over a hundred miles. He was an important garrison commander, so it was impossible to send him away after just one meeting. Pei Yuan invited him to have lunch. Halfway through the meal, a servant came to announce that the princess had returned, and brought a lot of delicious food. Pei Yuan frowned, wondering how she could eat so much these days? Su Wei

listened, smiled and complimented: "Someone reports when the princess goes out and comes back. It seems that the prince is very strict in managing the family. You can set an example."

Pei Yuan did not comment, but smiled.

In fact, he was afraid that Baoning would be lost, so he kept reporting back and forth, but it was the first time he was praised like this. Although he was a disliked person, he still felt comfortable in his heart.

"General Su, drink."

Pei Yuan raised the wine cup and toasted him with a smile.

...

Bao Ning and Yuan Zi sat by the stove, the table was full of food, and both of them were eating happily.

Bao Ning ate three chive dumplings and got tired of them, so she came up with a new idea: she removed the meat from the chicken wings, sandwiched it in the dough, and then took a bite. The taste was a little strange, but still good. Yuanzi looked at her in surprise. Baoning pushed the chicken wing in front of him and said, "It's delicious, you try it too. It's fun to try more."

Yuanzi said, "Auntie, I don't eat chicken wings. They're too hard and I can't bite them off."

Baoning laughed at him and said, "Yuanzi has bad teeth! It's okay that you can't chew old meat, but you can't eat tender meat either?"

She picked up a few chestnuts from the stove, blew on them to cool them, and shook them in front of Yuanzi and said, "Let me show you what it means to eat raw chestnuts!"

Yuanzi watched Baoning wipe the chestnuts clean, put them in his mouth, and with a click, the hard shell cracked open, revealing the bright yellow chestnut meat. Baoning smiled and put the meat into his mouth, feeling the sweet taste on the tip of his tongue, but before he could chew it twice, he suddenly frowned and felt a wave of nausea rising from his throat. The

sweet chestnut meat no longer tasted delicious, but only felt greasy and smelly, and he wanted to vomit.

Baoning gulped, stood up quickly and looked for a spittoon, and vomited out everything he had just eaten in an instant.