63 Hunting
"I'll roast a little bird for you."
The place they were going to was called Jade Green Mountain, located south of Yongluo County.
Ningyuan is south of Yongluo, and Yongluo is south of Liangzhou. The border between the two prefectures is Yucui Mountain.
It was precisely because Yucui Mountain blocked the cold air moving north that Liangzhou became a warm and fertile land.
The convoy slowly made its way from morning to afternoon, arriving at the border of Yongluo County, where Xiao Pingchuan and his men were waiting.
From afar, Shen Suqin saw the person standing in the distance like a sharp sword through the car window. It has to be said that Xiao Pingchuan was outstanding in both figure and appearance.
The carriage stopped, and Shen Suqin lifted the curtain and stepped out. Her clear and pure appearance, like mist and fog, made everyone around her, who were seeing the general's wife for the first time, stare in disbelief.
This reminded Xiao Pingchuan of the scene when the two first met.
It was in the bustling city center. Her carriage was parked right in the middle of the street, and she stepped out by lifting the curtain just like that.
However, unlike others, Xiao Pingchuan immediately noticed the red agate hairpin in her hair.
Xiao Pingchuan suddenly became excited, "Miss Shen, the Second Miss." He went to greet her.
Shen Suqin narrowed his eyes. "General."
Very good, call her Shen Er in front of her brother.
Xiao Pingchuan stopped in his tracks; his intuition told him that Shen Suqin was not happy at the moment.
However, Shen Suqin quickly smiled again and continued, "Thank you for your concern, General. I am very happy to be able to come out and get some fresh air."
Xiao Pingchuan nodded reservedly.
"General, I've safely delivered the lady. I'll head back now," Xu Youcai said.
After he finished speaking, he nodded to Zhao Chengchun, Chai Shun, and the others.
"Wait, Chai Shun will go with you, let him help you," Xiao Pingchuan said.
He knew there were many things going on in Jinzhou, and Xu Youcai wasn't as quick-witted as Chai Shun, so he probably wouldn't be able to handle everything.
Xu Youcai chuckled: "That's great, let's go, Lao Chai."
Chai Shun stepped forward.
After exchanging a few brief words, they parted ways. Shen Suqin continued in her carriage, while Xiao Pingchuan rode alongside on horseback.
He hadn't gone far when he heard someone calling him from inside the carriage.
"What's wrong?" He leaned over and lifted the curtain, just as Shen Suqin was about to lift her curtain as well, and their fingers just happened to touch.
Xiao Pingchuan immediately let go of his hand as if he had been burned, and asked again, trying to make conversation, "What's wrong?"
"Come into the carriage, I have something to tell you."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Pingchuan's ears immediately turned red, as if he had thought of something.
Shen Suqin tilted her head and glanced at him. "The general is not happy?"
"No, no." With that, he threw down the reins and, without even giving the carriage a moment to stop, jumped onto the carriage shaft and climbed inside.
Zhao Chengchun watched from behind, dumbfounded.
The carriage was quite spacious; it was the one Shen Suqin used frequently in the capital, and it was specially made.
Upon entering, the heat rushed towards Xiao Pingchuan's face, immediately causing him to blush.
Shen Suqin sat still, wrapped in a white fox fur coat, revealing only her pair of bright, clear eyes. In front of her was a low table with two teacups, both filled with tea.
Xiao Pingchuan moved quietly and consciously moved over to sit on the other side. He picked up his teacup, took a sip, but couldn't taste anything.
The two hadn't seen each other for over a month, yet they didn't feel any awkwardness and remained as comfortable as they had been in the capital.
"General, did you find the battle satisfying?" Shen Suqin asked.
Xiao Pingchuan shook his head: "Zhu Xiegebo cannot die, so I am not satisfied."
After thinking for a moment, Shen Suqin understood why Zhu Xiegebo couldn't die, and comforted him, "It's only a matter of time, General, there's no need to be anxious."
After speaking, she raised her hand and gently pulled out the hairpin. Her ink-black hair instantly spread out, sliding down like silk to Shen Suqin's shoulder and Xiao Pingchuan's fingers.
Xiao Pingchuan placed his hands neatly on his knees, his back straight, sitting upright.
"General, General?"
"Huh? What? Tell me."
"I said the workmanship of this hairpin is rather rough."
"Really? The craftsman's hands were probably too rough, and he couldn't tell. Give it to me, and I'll take it back and have him polish it again."
As he spoke, he reached out his other hand to take the hairpin, but Shen Suqin pressed his hand down on the table and said slowly, "Craftsman? Didn't you say that the general made this himself?"
As she spoke, her fingertips slid across the prominent blue veins and undulating joints.
Xiao Pingchuan's Adam's apple bobbed involuntarily twice, and he said in a hoarse voice, "Um, this is my first time doing this, I'm still a bit clumsy."
"Really?" Shen Suqin took out the hairpin and played with it between her fingertips. "I'm indeed clumsy, but I like it very much. What do you think, General? Do I look good wearing it?"
Xiao Pingchuan didn't dare to move his hand on the table and said, "It's beautiful."
Shen Suqin held the hairpin upright and gently poked the back of his hand with the tip, asking, "How beautiful? More beautiful than the most beautiful woman you've ever seen?"
Xiao Pingchuan's heart pounded wildly with each step of the hairpin, and he said, "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."
Shen Suqin laughed, pulled her hair up, put the hairpin back in, and asked, "What did the general ask me just now?"
Xiao Pingchuan thought for a moment: "Are you unhappy?"
Shen Suqin replied, "I'm happy now."
Xiao Pingchuan sighed helplessly: "You're happy just by teasing me?"
"Yes, thank you, General."
Xiao Pingchuan was at a loss for words.
After they finished speaking, the carriage fell into a moment of silence as the two calmly picked up their teacups.
The carriage was warm and cozy, with charcoal fire burning and incense spreading. Xiao Pingchuan lowered his eyes and took a deep sniff, feeling that he could never get enough of the aroma.
"When I was in the army, I learned that you had obtained tens of thousands of bushels of grain from the court with just a eulogy," Xiao Pingchuan began slowly, his voice tender. "At that time, I missed you dearly, and I wanted to give you something in return. The hairpin isn't worth much, but..."
Xiao Pingchuan did not continue speaking.
He knew that if he continued, he would become annoying.
"But what?" Shen Suqin asked knowingly.
Xiao Pingchuan shook his head.
"Does the general still hold a grudge against what I said at Shuyu Pavilion back then?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Pingchuan's body trembled violently, causing the tea on the table to spill.
He hurriedly tried to wipe it with his sleeve, but Shen Suqin stopped him.
“General, you must listen to me carefully. I spoke without thinking back then. I never pitied you. You are a great general, the commander of 100,000 troops. What right do I have to pity you?” As she said this, she looked earnestly at Xiao Pingchuan and continued with a sigh, “It was pity for the general. I saw what others couldn’t see, such as your injuries, your pressure, and your lack of support.”
Today, if any woman said such a thing, Xiao Pingchuan would think it was a sign of disrespect towards him.
But this person was Shen Suqin, someone he held dear in high esteem.
He would only be happy if she said these things.
"So, General, I have never underestimated you."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Pingchuan thought he would laugh, but he didn't, because he immediately thought that although you don't look down on me, you don't like me either.
He forced a smile and replied, "I've got it. I'm glad."
He changed the subject, took out a cloth bag from his pocket, placed it on the table, opened it and said, "I want to grind another pair of earrings." He picked up one that was already half-finished and rubbed it between his fingertips. Its rosy color was very eye-catching. "Watch me grind it."
Shen Suqin's gaze softened: "Okay."
When the vehicle finally came to a stop, it was already late.
They arrived at an abandoned post station in Yongluo, and it would take them another half a day to reach Yucui Mountain.
“Stay in the car and don’t get out,” Xiao Pingchuan told her. “I’ll go get you some food.”
"good."
There wasn't much good food out there, so we lit a fire, roasted cornbread, and added a bowl of hot water—that was all.
But Xiao Pingchuan deliberately cut his dried meat into pieces with a dagger, roasted it in a pot, then poured in water to boil it into a broth, and then broke up the flatbread and cooked it in.
On the fire, the meat broth was bubbling and boiling.
Zhao Chengchun squatted down next to him and joked, "Anyone who didn't know better would think you were feeding a baby."
Xiao Pingchuan: "She shouldn't have to suffer."
Zhao Chengchun wiped his face. His understanding of Shen Suqin began with her slitting an enemy's neck with a knife, so he always felt that this woman was extremely fierce.
Therefore, he did not quite understand Xiao Pingchuan's attitude of "treating him like a fragile flower".
"You know, right? Our general's wife can snap a person's neck with her bare hands?" he asked.
"mine."
"What?"
"My wife."
Zhao Chengchun took a deep breath. "I mean, she can kill people, and she's very skilled at it."
"I know."
"Didn't you ever suspect her background?"
"General Zhao, do you want to know my background?" Shen Suqin's voice suddenly rang out above him.
Zhao Chengchun shuddered in fright. He looked up and saw that his wife was indeed looking down at him.
Zhao Chengchun hurriedly crawled two steps sideways and said, "What's your background? Nobody said. I'll go down first, you two can talk."
Xiao Pingchuan offered the stool next to him: "Are you cold?"
"It's not cold." Shen Suqin sat down. "Was this specially cooked for me?"
"Um."
"General."
"Um?"
"The reason I'm unhappy today is that you called me Miss Shen Er in front of outsiders, instead of Madam."
Xiao Pingchuan looked up at her and casually said, "I thought you preferred me to call you Miss Shen, or would you rather I call you Madam?"
Shen Suqin paused suddenly, then asked him casually, "What do you want to call me?"
For a moment, Xiao Pingchuan doubted that he had misheard, but he knew very well that he had not.
Suddenly, his heart began to pound violently, thumping like it was broken.
"I... want to call you Madam." His palms were sweaty as he said this. He hadn't been this nervous, not even when fighting on the battlefield.
Shen Suqin looked at him quietly and asked, "Even if everything I did after getting close to you was for a purpose?"
She was referring to the exchange of 300,000 shi of millet for a divorce agreement.
Xiao Pingchuan: "If I were to get angry with you over 300,000 shi of grain and a million shi of military expenses, wouldn't I be too ungrateful?"
At this point, he suddenly joked, "After Chai Shun and the others found out that you were giving them money and grain, they said they would have sold me earlier if they had known I was so valuable. If you don't buy me now, you'll lose out on this deal."
Shen Suqin chuckled: "The general is quite carefree."
Xiao Pingchuan: "There's nothing I can do, what can I do when you're so rich?"
"So the general only has his eye on my money?"
"Not only that, you should also know about yourself."
Shen Suqin feigned ignorance: "I thought it was the face."
Xiao Pingchuan nodded in agreement, "She's attracted to her looks too." He suddenly changed the subject and asked seriously, "I don't quite understand what Miss Shen is trying to do?"
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but she seemed to have suddenly become closer to him.
Shen Suqin fell silent, deep in thought about Xiao Pingchuan's question.
After a long while, she slowly spoke, "General, do you still remember the day my father passed away?"
"Remember."
Shen Jinghe committed suicide by slitting his throat, and his blood stained the funeral hall. He couldn't let Shen Suqin collect his father's body herself, so he personally handled all the funeral arrangements.
“I was standing outside at the time,” Shen Suqin said.
Xiao Pingchuan was puzzled; he was even more confused.
“At that time I was thinking, if I need to find a new family, why can’t that person be you?” Shen Suqin said.
Xiao Pingchuan suddenly froze.
What does she mean by that?
Family? Is that what he meant?
"So, that's why you gave up going south and agreed to go north with me?" Xiao Pingchuan asked tentatively.
Shen Suqin laughed: "How could that be? The main reason is, of course, that I need the Northern Territory. I need to use the Northern Territory to accumulate power and overthrow the aristocratic families."
At this moment, Xiao Pingchuan had no time to be surprised by her ambition; what he cared about was the word "family."
Fortunately, Shen Suqin continued, "Of course, you are one of the reasons. You know, I'm actually quite stingy; I only spend money on people I care about. But General, I need more time, so I'd like you to wait for me a little longer, okay?"
She had to admit that she did have feelings for Xiao Pingchuan, but those feelings weren't enough to move him yet. Having come from the apocalypse, her heart was hardened; it wouldn't be so easily pried open.
Overjoyed, Xiao Pingchuan was instantly filled with excitement. These were the words he had always wanted to hear! And he automatically ignored the second half of the sentence. He wanted nothing more than to pick her up and spin her around a few times, but he was afraid of scaring her. So, expressionless, he got up and ran wildly into the snow-covered forest, running silently and expressionlessly within it.
Half an hour later, he returned, panting, and half-squatted beside Shen Suqin, looking earnestly into her eyes and saying, "I'll wait for you, as long as it takes."
The next day, the convoy arrived at the foot of Yucui Mountain in the evening and found the place where they usually stayed.
This is a sheltered, open flat area, backed by a mountain road leading into the mountains.
There was a row of small wooden houses along the roadside, which were built quite sturdily and durablely.
Shen Suqin randomly picked a room and went in. It was empty except for a wooden bed, and it was drafty and very cold.
She immediately left the house and decided to sleep in her car.
Xiao Pingchuan also planned to let her sleep in the car, which was almost like a small mobile house, where people could stretch out their legs.
"Let me help you unload the car and secure it," he said to Shen Suqin.
"good."
Everyone was busy tidying up the campsite, but she was free, so she went to help start a fire.
“Madam, there’s no need for you to lift a finger. We’re here to help,” someone said.
Shen Suqin recognized the voice and turned to look; it was someone she knew.
"You are... Zhou Kang?"
"Madam has a good eye."
Zhou Kang was the commander of the central army who said he wanted to join the Black Flag Army outside Cangshuang Tower.
"What are you now?" Shen Suqin asked.
"One hundred households."
"From a thousand households to a hundred households," Shen Suqin chuckled, "Are you content?"
“Of course, only those who have fought alongside the Black Flag Army know what it means to be filled with passion.” As he spoke, he looked in Xiao Pingchuan’s direction. “The general is a true man.”
Shen Suqin nodded slightly.
"Does the lady know that the general wields a heavy sword?"
"I know," she said, having seen Xiao Pingchuan dance before; it was indeed very powerful.
"On the battlefield, the general wields a heavy sword and slaughters all in his path; neither humans nor ghosts can approach him. You really should see that."
Shen Suqin thought about it and realized that she had never actually seen Xiao Pingchuan on the battlefield.
"I should definitely see it with my own eyes if I have the chance."
Zhou Kang nodded. "The general is ruthless, not only skilled in combat but also adept at leading troops. They said this trip is not only for hunting but also for training the troops."
"Training troops?"
"Yes, I'm now in the scout battalion, and all these brothers are from the scout battalion. The general's trip here is to train us."
"I see. Won't taking me with you cause problems?"
Zhou Kang choked up, and after a long while, he stammered, "I don't think so."
This is the general's personal motive; what can they say?
Before Zhou Kang could finish speaking, Xiao Pingchuan suddenly ordered, "Everyone, get in the mountains immediately. Anyone who comes back empty-handed in half an hour will be on guard duty tonight."
Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed towards the mountain. They were so fast that Shen Suqin didn't even have time to react.
In the blink of an eye, only she and Xiao Pingchuan remained in the camp.
Xiao Pingchuan walked over and placed the pot next to the fire on the fire. There was already clean snow water in the pot.
"Sit down," Xiao Pingchuan said. "I'll boil some hot water for you so you can drink it and warm yourself up."
All around were dry forests and snow, and the fire roared, its flames licking the bottom of the pot.
“So you’ve really come here to train your troops,” Shen Suqin said. “Then why did you bring me along? Aren’t you afraid of what your subordinates will say?”
What did you say about me?
"I'm saying you're not doing your job properly."
"Who dares to say that about me?" Xiao Pingchuan stood up. "I'll roast you a little bird."
After saying that, he picked up a bow from the side and tilted his head back to listen to something.
Before long, he suddenly drew his bow and shot an arrow at the treetops. With a whoosh, things fell from the treetops a hundred paces away.
Xiao Pingchuan picked it up; it was a grey-headed bunting about the size of a fist.
Shen Suqin poked him; his body was still warm.
"Want to live?" Xiao Pingchuan suddenly asked.
"want."
"Wait."
Xiao Pingchuan turned and walked to the edge of the forest. He looked up for a while, then suddenly grabbed a tree trunk with one hand and swung up. When he landed, he had a chirping baby bird in his hand.
Shen Suqin and the little bird looked at each other and said, "Did we just kill its mother?"
Xiao Pingchuan was stunned.
The two of them silently looked down at the corpse at their feet.
After a while, Shen Suqin asked, "Is there any left in the nest?"
"There's one more."
"Then bring them all over, I'll raise them. No, we'll both raise them."
Xiao Pingchuan quickly brought the bird's nest back.
Two baby birds, eager for food, opened their beaks and chirped. Shen Suqin poked their beaks and whispered, "From now on, recognize me as your mother and him as your father, and we will take care of you."
Xiao Pingchuan chuckled and couldn't help but stroke the bird's feathers.
"General! A deer!" someone suddenly exclaimed.
People who went into the mountains are gradually returning.
Xiao Pingchuan abruptly withdrew his hand, nodded with a stern face, and said, "Not bad."
After saying this, he handed the bird's nest to Shen Suqin, then walked to the front of the mountain path and began to watch the people who came after him.
Zhou Kang was the second. He brought back two colorful pheasants. As soon as he got back, he brought the pheasants to Shen Suqin and said, "Madam, their feathers are beautiful. I brought them back for you to play with."
Xiao Pingchuan grabbed the person and said, "We're having roast chicken tonight."
Everyone returned quickly, in less than half an hour, which made Shen Suqin look at Xiao Pingchuan's scout camp with new respect.
Especially after seeing a mountain of prey.
Wild pheasant stews in an earthenware pot over the fire, incredibly fragrant with just a touch of salt. Meanwhile, venison roasts over another fire, glistening with oil, its skin and meat golden and firm; a bite releases a burst of juice in your mouth.
In the wild, chicken feathers are difficult to remove. Even after just singeing them over a fire, some stiff stubble remains embedded in the skin. Shen Suqin couldn't eat it and wanted to peel off the skin, but the chicken leg was too hot, and chopsticks weren't handy. She struggled for a long time but couldn't get the skin off.
Xiao Pingchuan, sitting beside her, took her bowl upon seeing this, carefully picked out the chicken skin before returning it to her. He then casually put the chicken skin he had picked off into his own bowl and ate it without saying a word to Shen Suqin.
"You don't like the food, do you, Madam?" Zhao Chengchun slurped up the chicken soup. "It's like this when we're out. It'll be fine when we get back."
“That’s right, I’ll hunt some roe deer for you tomorrow, roe deer meat is tender,” another person said.
They felt it was already quite good that such a precious person as the lady would come with them to endure hardship in the wilderness; no one thought she was particular about food.
Shen Suqin smiled.
After dinner, arrangements were made for the night watch, divided into two shifts. Xiao Pingchuan assigned himself to the second half of the night.
Shen Suqin lay in the car, while Xiao Pingchuan sat outside.
There is no snow tonight, the sky is high and far, and the stars are twinkling.
Shen Suqin lifted the curtain and quietly gazed at the sky. On the other side, Xiao Pingchuan was also looking at the sky.
"Can't you sleep?" Xiao Pingchuan asked.
How did you know?
"Your aura hasn't changed. Are you thinking about something?"
"No, it's a bit cold."
Xiao Pingchuan paused for a moment: "I'll go get my wolfskin rug for you."
"good."
Soon, the carriage curtain was lifted, and Xiao Pingchuan came in with a quilt. He put it down and was about to leave.
Shen Suqin pressed his hand down, "Let's sleep together, it's colder outside."
Xiao Pingchuan tilted his head to look at her: "Are you sure?"
"What do you dare to do?"
Xiao Pingchuan shook his head.
Shen Suqin: "Then what do I have to be unsure about? In the wilderness, one must act swiftly and decisively. They are all huddled together for warmth. Do you want to freeze to death?"
Xiao Pingchuan wanted to say that he had slept in the coldest places before, and he wouldn't freeze to death.
However, he ultimately said nothing and lay down fully clothed next to Shen Suqin.
With a soft, warm body beside him, he thought he wouldn't be able to sleep, but surprisingly, he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.
In the latter half of the night, he woke up on time to take his night watch.
Shen Suqin's peaceful sleeping face appeared even more radiant and otherworldly in the dim light. He stared blankly at her fair and jade-like skin, delicate nose, and naturally red lips... When he came to his senses again, he realized that he had secretly pressed his lips to hers.
He was startled and jumped back, his back hitting the carriage wall with a thud. Startled, he quickly checked to see if Shen Suqin had woken up.
Seeing that she was sleeping soundly, he breathed a sigh of relief, straightened his clothes, and left the carriage.
After he left, Shen Suqin, who had been keeping her eyes closed, slowly raised her hand and touched her lips.
It was quiet outside the carriage. She could imagine a silver moon hanging in the sky, its thin moonlight pouring down on the earth and mountains, the wind carrying the crisp air of the pine trees and the elegant man standing there.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Chen Suqin woke up and came out of the tent to find that everyone had left, except for Xiao Pingchuan sitting in front of the fire cooking something.
She rubbed her eyes and walked over. "Where are they?"
"He's gone to training." Xiao Pingchuan ladled a bowl of chicken soup from the earthenware pot and handed it to her.
The soup was leftover chicken broth from last night, and he cooked millet in it to make a kind of porridge.
Shen Suqin took it. "Have you eaten?"
"We've eaten. After we finish eating, we'll prepare to go into the mountains. We won't be coming down until tonight."
"Okay." It turned out he had stayed behind specifically to wait for her.
The forest on the mountain is very dense. When you scrape away the snow, you can see rotten leaves, mushrooms, and black soil underneath.
The two walked up the mountain, and every now and then a bush or two covered with dried fruit would appear on both sides of the road.
Since arriving in Jinzhou, there's no hope for fruit; there aren't even many dried fruits. Although Shen Suqin isn't a big eater, after such a long period of blandness, seeing these red fruits always makes her itch to eat them.
So, she paid special attention to the red berries when she saw them again.
There was a tree about a person's height diagonally in front of me, covered with red berries, some of which had fallen to the ground.
Her heart skipped a beat. She walked over and took a closer look, and it turned out to be hawthorn.
Seeing her reach for the bright red fruit, Xiao Pingchuan quickly stopped her, saying, "In these mountain forests, the more brightly colored something is, the more poisonous it is. Don't touch it."
“Haven’t you ever eaten it?” Shen Suqin said. “It’s called hawthorn. It’s sweet and sour and can be used in medicine.”
"hawthorn?"
“Yes, you should try one.” Shen Suqin picked one and handed it to Xiao Pingchuan.
Xiao Pingchuan threw it directly into his mouth. He didn't like sour food, and immediately wrinkled his nose in discomfort.
Shen Suqin chuckled: "How is it? Doesn't it make your mouth water?"
Xiao Pingchuan's cheeks were aching from the sourness of the hawthorn berries, and he didn't want to talk.
Shen Suqin popped one into her own mouth and said, "Eat slowly."
[Author's Note]
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2:45:07 on April 14, 2023 and 3:37:02 on April 16, 2023!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: 2 bottles; Jianbing Guozi and Baofufu each have 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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