Chapter 411: Satisfying Your Cravings
"After I returned victorious, within two years, Lord Dingbei did indeed send Princess Mu back to his residence in the capital. He said she had been acting like a boy at the border, and so she needed to be sent back to the capital to learn some etiquette and manners so she could get married in the future. At that time, the Empress Dowager was still alive, so she would occasionally be brought to the palace to play. However, I was busy studying literature and practicing martial arts, so we didn't have much interaction. It's really not like we were childhood sweethearts."
Chen Fenghe naturally heard that Xiao Yunshuo was explaining the things she had misunderstood about him, so she just listened quietly without saying anything.
But the heart that was just cold began to warm up little by little.
"As for the claim that she gave you the position of Crown Princess, that's pure nonsense. Putting aside the fact that my father is so wary of me, how could he possibly allow the daughter of the Duke of Dingbei, who holds military power, to marry me as Crown Princess? Even if we're just going by the matchmaker's words, you were the Crown Princess chosen by my grandfather. Even my father couldn't interfere, so how could anyone else get a turn?"
"Although we never met on our wedding day and couldn't be said to have a deep affection for each other, we've come this far together, and you and I have married. The love between us is truly incomparable. And yet you took the initiative to bring her back to the house? Aren't you deliberately trying to piss me off? If I really did keep her, would you not care at all?"
Chen Fenghe pursed her lips, naturally not wanting to reveal it. If he really wanted to keep Princess Mu, she would disappear without a trace in a minute and never see him again.
"I... was just angry for a moment."
Xiao Yunshuo sighed and said, "Before you get angry in the future, come and ask me clearly, otherwise I will be wronged."
The horse's pace had almost slowed to the level of a leisurely stroll, and it even stopped from time to time to lower its head and eat a mouthful of snow. Chen Fenghe leaned in his arms and did not speak for a while.
Xiao Yunshuo smiled and said, "Now that everything has been explained, is there anything else you need me to clarify? Don't be bound by the fact that I'm the Crown Prince. Just tell me what you want. There's no need to create a rift between us just because of an outsider."
Chen Fenghe felt much better after hearing him say that Little Princess Mu was an 'outsider'. She thought for a moment and asked, "Did you really not recognize Little Princess Mu at Linjiang Tower before?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunshuo couldn't help but laugh and said, "So this jealousy started from Linjiang Tower. No wonder you wanted to go hunting in the mountains and even sent me away under the pretext of a competition..."
Chen Fenghe blushed a little, and said angrily: "Don't change the subject. Did you recognize me at that time and pretended not to know me and deliberately hid it from me?"
Xiao Yunshuo shook his head and smiled, "I only saw that she was a woman disguised as a man, but I didn't recognize her. The number of times I've met Princess Mu is really few and far between, so how could I possibly remember her appearance?"
Upon hearing this, Chen Fenghe nodded and said with a smile: "Since you didn't recognize me, that's fine. It's not a big deal."
Xiao Yunshuo couldn't help but purse his lips and smile without saying anything.
And now he's still saying, "It's no big deal!" I don't know who was taking it out on the wild boar just now, or was he trying to give him a hard time?
"Since it's nothing serious, do we still need to send someone to pick up Princess Mu home tomorrow?" He couldn't help but joked.
"Princess Mu will definitely not get used to the simple conditions in our village. Let's let her stay in the city!" Chen Fenghe said, glaring at Xiao Yunshuo fiercely.
He dared to bring that up? Bastard!
Xiao Yunshuo laughed loudly a few times, suddenly pulled the reins, slapped the horse's belly with his legs, and the horse immediately broke into a run.
"Now that we have made things clear, and it's getting late, let's go back quickly."
As he was speaking, the horse had already run back to where Yuan Xu and the carriage were.
Yuan Xu had followed them originally, but when he saw Xiao Yunshuo suddenly holding Chen Fenghe and jumping onto the horse, he didn't dare to follow and obediently returned to the carriage.
Seeing the two of them returning on the same horse, the tense atmosphere had dissipated. He knew they must be reconciling, so he hurried over, grabbed the reins, and asked with a smile, "Your Highness and Your Majesty, are you going back on horseback? Or in a carriage?"
Xiao Yunshuo smiled and said, "Let's take the carriage. Young Master Yun is frail, and it's so cold, how can he get cold while riding a horse?"
Chen Fenghe thought about it and agreed, so she didn't object.
Yuan Xu had already sent people to carry the wild boars that had been hunted down the mountain, and had also arranged a vehicle to transport them back to the village.
After they got on the carriage, Xiao Yunshuo suddenly came over and untied her belt.
"Your Highness?" Shen Fenghe quickly suppressed his hand.
However, Xiao Yunshuo had no intention of stopping. He whispered in her ear with a smile, "It was too dangerous on horseback just now. Let's satisfy our craving for a bit now..."
Chen Fenghe was embarrassed, annoyed and helpless, but she let him do whatever he wanted for a while. She was afraid that Yuan Xu and other followers outside would hear the noise, so she had to suppress the sound desperately. However, she left several deep teeth marks on Xiao Yunshuo's neck and shoulders.
When we returned to the village, it was already dusk.
Qin Mengyue and a few little guys came over.
Shen Fenghe's legs were still a little weak, and she couldn't help but glance at Xiao Yunshuo. Then she took out the candied haws and sugar figurines she bought in the city and gave them to Shen Yichuan and the others.
The three little guys took it and went to play.
Seeing another cart pulling three or four wild boars, Qin Mengyue couldn't help but ask curiously, "Didn't you go to Youzhou City for a tour? Why did you bring back so many wild boars?"
Chen Fenghe was too embarrassed to say that she had hunted them to vent her anger, and it was really unbelievable that a woman like her could kill three or four wild boars at once.
As for Xiao Yunshuo, it would be fine if he said in front of Qin Mengyue that he hunted the animals, but that wouldn't make sense in the village.
Therefore, the two of them had already discussed it on the way. They just said that on the way back, they met a hunter selling wild boar meat at a very cheap price, so they bought it all back.
"Meat is easy to preserve in winter, and this year's drought has made it difficult for wild animals in the mountains to survive. It's not so bad now, but when spring comes, I'm afraid the prices of meat and grain will skyrocket. I happened to come across some today, so I bought some and stored it. Even if we can't finish it all, we can help other families in the village later."
Shen Fenghe smiled.
Qin Mengyue listened without any doubt, nodded and smiled, "If that's the case, then fine."
That night, I picked a wild boar leg and made braised pork elbow. I also had several other dishes such as stir-fried meat with dried bamboo shoots, kimchi, and stewed pork ribs with radish.
In addition, a wild boar was picked, and every household in the village was given a pound or two of meat. Naturally, everyone was very happy.
The rest will be made into bacon by the kitchen and preserved.
After dinner, Xiao Yunshuo immediately took Chen Fenghe back to the room.
Although they had done it once on the road, both of them were young and energetic, especially Xiao Yunshuo who was always very durable, so how could they have ever had enough fun?
I have endured it with great difficulty until now, so of course I can't let her go easily.
The two of them tossed and turned until midnight before they finally calmed down, tidied up, and went to sleep.
I had originally planned to sleep in, but just as I closed my eyes, I heard Xiao Yunshuo getting up.
Seeing her awakened, Xiao Yunshuo reached out and tucked the corner of the quilt for her, whispering, "It's still dark, you should sleep a little longer. Little Princess Mu is in trouble. I'm afraid she was tracked all the way to Youzhou City by spies from the Northern Rong and was abducted last night. I'm afraid this matter is related to the Northern Rong's next military move, so I have to go and see for myself."
When Chen Fenghe heard that it was about Princess Mu again, she subconsciously felt a little uncomfortable.
However, she and Xiao Yunshuo had already spoken out during the day, and now Xiao Yunshuo had gone out of his way to explain so much, presumably to reassure her and avoid misunderstandings. Therefore, she quickly suppressed her discomfort, nodded, and said, "I understand. Be careful."
Xiao Yunshuo nodded, then stood up and left.
But Chen Fenghe couldn't sleep.
The spies from Beirong captured Princess Mu, naturally to use her to threaten Earl Dingbei.
She and Xiao Yunshuo had the same idea.
There was a drought in the north this year. Judging from the trade between the Chariot and Horse Trading Company and the Northern Rong, it can be seen that the Northern Rong was also severely affected.
The vast land of Beirong and its climate and soil conditions are not very suitable for growing grain crops, but they are suitable for growing high-quality forage. Therefore, Beirong mainly makes a living by raising sheep and horses. Originally, Dayu Pass had to buy high-quality forage from Beirong to feed livestock.
However, since the beginning of autumn this year, the carriage and horse business has received several orders, and it was the herdsmen of Beirong who wanted to buy fodder from Dayu.
In addition, the Beirong also sold a lot of horses and sheep at low prices.
It can be seen that the Northern Rong people probably suffered from drought, which caused many grasslands to die. Even their habit of living near water and grass could not solve the fodder crisis caused by the drought. The herders had to sell their horses and sheep at low prices.
Otherwise, without sufficient fodder, the horses and sheep would eventually starve to death, and by then they wouldn't even be able to be sold at a low price.
Apart from animal husbandry, Beirong has no other agricultural support. Unlike Dayu, where the people are rich in resources and have a prosperous life, they at least have some spare money and can buy some food from other places that have not been affected by the disaster to survive the famine.
Even in previous years, when food was scarce, the most common thing the Northern Rong would do was to march south and plunder Dayu.
We have suffered such a severe drought this year that it is a miracle that we have been able to endure until the middle of winter without sending out troops.
Yanmen Pass, where Dingbei Bo is stationed, is a very important pass for Dayu. Once the natural barrier of Yanmen Pass is passed, Beirong can lead his cavalry to march straight down and take the capital!
Back then, Xiao Yunshuo led his army into battle at a young age, and returned to the court as the world-renowned "God of War". The battle that made him famous was the battle for Yanmen Pass.
At that time, the Northern Rong army defeated all the enemies along the way and captured Hequ, Shuozhou, Huairen, and even Datong City in Datong Prefecture outside Yanmen Pass. They relied on the city for food and grass supply and had besieged Yanmen Pass for ten days.
In addition to the army approaching, there were also spies from the Northern Rong who entered the city and spread rumors, saying that as long as the city opened the gates and surrendered, the Northern Rong army would not massacre the city. Otherwise, the city would be captured soon and all the people in the city would be killed. This caused panic among the people, and there was even a civil uprising and military rebellion, forcing Mu Xuan to the Earl's Mansion and demanding that he open the city gates and surrender.
Fortunately, Xiao Yunshuo arrived in time and used various military tactics to miraculously put the Beirong army in chaos. He then led the Dayu army out of the city to pursue the victory, not only eliminating the danger at Yanmen Pass, but also recovering the two cities of Datong and Shuozhou.
However, when Emperor Yucheng heard the good news, he was not happy but angry. He issued an imperial decree to recall Xiao Yunshuo to the palace and sent envoys to negotiate peace with the Northern Rong.
It was also because of this that Hequ and Huairen were ultimately not recovered and became the sphere of influence of the Northern Rong.
In the years that followed, the Northern Rong often used these two cities as food and fodder supply bases to harass and plunder the people in border towns such as Datong Prefecture and Hejian Prefecture.
Now, the Northern Rong have kidnapped Princess Mu, and I'm afraid they are planning to attack Yanmen Pass again.
If this is true, since it concerns the fate of Dayu, Xiao Yunshuo will naturally not sit idly by.
As I was sorting all this out in my mind, I heard the sound of roosters crowing outside and the sky turned pale.
Chen Fenghe got up and washed up before leaving the room. She informed Qin Mengyue that Xiao Yunshuo had gone out for something, and told others that Xiao Yunshuo had caught a cold when he went out yesterday and was not feeling well. He needed to rest in the room. Even the food and medicine were brought into the room by Chen Fenghe herself.
The villagers were also used to seeing Master Yun staying at home to recuperate, so they all laughed and said
"Mr. Yun's health wasn't good to begin with. He took his wife out for a stroll in the city yesterday in such cold weather. It's not surprising that he's sick now. So he'd better be more careful on a daily basis."
Someone interjected, "Mr. Yun loves his wife so much that he would rather risk getting sick to go on a trip with Miss Shen. Alas! We men are all very strong, but I haven't seen anyone willing to take us around the city. In the final analysis, Miss Shen is lucky to have married a husband who loves his wife so much and cares about her."
After hearing what they said, Chen Fenghe could only smile awkwardly and quickly changed the subject.
Fortunately, the villagers just made a few jokes and quickly put the matter aside and talked about other things.
"Mrs. Shen, what's the name of the crop you planted this year... corn? Did you save any seeds? Next spring, my family wants to plant an acre of corn to see how it goes. The corn can be ground into flour and made into cornmeal and corn steamed buns. Although it doesn't taste as good as wheat flour, the yield is so good and it's not afraid of drought. If we encounter a famine like this year again, it can save lives!"
Chen Fenghe smiled and said, "I have some reserved seeds here. I'll get some for you later."
Since she had taken out corn to plant, she naturally had no intention of hiding it. Her goal was to make corn popular in this dynasty as soon as possible.
In the future, when Xiao Yunshuo ascends the throne, Dayu will be able to slightly alleviate the food shortage in various places by growing corn.
This can be considered a gift from her to Xiao Yunshuo.
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