Fish Meat – Chapter 153
by Little PandaThe Second Year of Zhao Wu
The Lamp Behind the Curtain, the Sword in its Case (12)
Late autumn, all wild animals began to fatten up [build fat reserves], making themselves into round balls, preparing for winter.
This was the most suitable time for autumn hunting. Zhen Wenjun had just finished tending to the flowers and plants in the manor properly. Unable to stay idle, once idle her head was full of random thoughts, so she simply rode Yunzhong Feixue to go hunting in the wild, each time returning only at night, but bringing back plenty of wild game.
After going several times, Xiao Xiao discovered this, and insisted on going along. Zhen Wenjun had no intention of taking her, but Xiao Xiao jumped on the horse without a word, holding tightly to Zhen Wenjun’s waist and refusing to get down. Zhen Wenjun usually rode very fast, and feared that a couple of bumps might make this silly child fall and hit her head, making her even sillier, so she had to lift her to the front and hold her steady.
Xiao Xiao grew up in the Gulun Grasslands, naturally carrying wildness, with a pair of frost-like sabers always by her side. When returning to Da Yu, they encountered a hungry tiger’s attack, and Xiao Xiao showed extraordinary courage. Zhen Wenjun knew she was good material for martial arts training.
After staying in Runing for several months, communicating in Da Yu language was no longer a big problem, and this child’s cleverness exceeded Zhen Wenjun’s expectations.
Xiao Xiao had long grown tired of staying in the manor unable to go anywhere. Zhen Wenjun recently had many worries and no time to pay attention to her, let alone take her out to play. Xiao Xiao couldn’t find peers her age, and Zhen Wenjun didn’t pay much attention to her, so most of the time she stayed alone, writing and drawing with a brush, or reading books to pass time.
If not for this autumn hunt, Zhen Wenjun would have almost forgotten her existence.
Riding Yunzhong Feixue out of the city gates, after getting on the official road, carriages and horses gradually became fewer, the sky was high and the land vast. Zhen Wenjun told Xiao Xiao to sit steady and hold the reins tight. Before Xiao Xiao could respond, she shouted and cracked the whip, Yunzhong Feixue immediately galloped like wind and lightning, Xiao Xiao’s thin body was a bit unstable on the violently bumping horse, swaying left and right.
“Use force in your waist, squeeze tight with both legs!” Zhen Wenjun instructed in her ear.
Xiao Xiao’s fine hair was blown by the autumn wind, revealing excited eyes, and following Zhen Wenjun’s instructions she became much more stable. Even if unstable, Zhen Wenjun’s arms were at her sides, and would never let her fall and get hurt.
Xiaoxue ran faster and faster, the bumping became more intense, but Xiao Xiao wasn’t scared at all and instead shouted excitedly.
Zhen Wenjun smiled and said: “Good child! Can you still hold on?”
“Ah Mu, go faster!”
Xiao Xiao was braver than she thought. When Zhen Wenjun saw her, it was as if she saw herself as a child, feeling both surprised and familiar. Her heart, which had been soaking in cold water for many days, was rarely injected with some warmth.
Finally stopping, Zhen Wenjun saw a fat wild boar in the woods, so she took her arrow and quietly dismounted. Xiao Xiao also saw it and was about to speak, but Zhen Wenjun made a “shush” gesture to her. She immediately didn’t dare move, her round big eyes staring intently at the wild boar.
Zhen Wenjun drew her bow ready to shoot, her shoulders to waist particularly beautiful and strong. Xiao Xiao saw her aim for a while without shooting and got somewhat anxious, but didn’t dare speak, afraid of scaring away the wild boar.
Zhen Wenjun wasn’t in a hurry. The wild boar had just walked here and was still exploring around. Waiting until it had sniffed around and found interesting food, relaxing its guard to the surroundings, Zhen Wenjun then released the arrow, hitting it with one shot. The wild boar ran wildly in pain, Xiao Xiao shouted happily, Zhen Wenjun flew onto horseback to chase immediately, chasing until the wild boar lost too much blood and lost strength, easily tying it to a tree trunk, to come back and collect after finishing hunting.
Xiao Xiao clamored to shoot the wild boar herself. A memory flashed through Zhen Wenjun’s mind of when she had gone hunting with Wei Tingxu, who had made the same request, like an innocent happy child.
That day’s magnificent sunset was unforgettable for a lifetime.
While Zhen Wenjun was still immersed in past memories, Xiao Xiao had already reached out wanting to hold the bow.
“You won’t be able to draw it,” Zhen Wenjun didn’t give it.
Xiao Xiao refused to accept this and insisted on trying. Zhen Wenjun’s ears hurt from her fussing, so she gave in to her wishes and handed over the bow. Sure enough, Xiao Xiao struggled for a long time, her face turning red, and when she finally shot an arrow, it didn’t fly more than two steps before falling limply to the ground. Xiao Xiao was deeply discouraged.
“Don’t pout.” Zhen Wenjun messily rubbed her round head, “I’ll make you a bow that suits you later. This one is too tight.”
“Then will it not be good to use, unable to shoot prey?”
“It won’t kill large beasts, but for small animals like rabbits, it’s no problem.”
“Really!”
“When have I ever lied to you?”
“Ah Mu is the best!”
Xiao Xiao happily broke off some wisteria vines and wove them into a grass hat, putting it on Zhen Wenjun’s head. Seeing her eyes curve like crescent moons when she smiled, Zhen Wenjun felt for the first time that Xiao Xiao wasn’t so annoying, and actually had some childlike charm and cuteness, so she didn’t mind her constantly calling her “ah mu” anymore.
When they returned to Zhuo Jun Mansion with several prey animals, the sky was completely dark. Wei Tingxu had already returned from the Forbidden Garden and was trimming the wandering flowers by the pond.
“You’re back so early today?” Zhen Wenjun had the servants help move the prey to the kitchen, she went to wash her hands first, took some soapberry [natural soap], glanced at Wei Tingxu and walked toward the water basin.
“Early? I came back a shichen [time unit: about 2 hours] ago.”
“Oh, why didn’t you rest after coming back?”
“The flowering period is over. Before winter comes, I want to trim the branches and leaves well, so they can pass through winter more easily.”
“Mm, that makes sense. Zizhuo always thinks things through.” Zhen Wenjun washed her hands then went to wash her face, then went to the kitchen to help the servants process the prey. Not only did she help skin everything, but also helped slice the meat, string it up and hang it – she hadn’t stopped working since returning.
Wei Tingxu sat nearby watching the whole time without speaking, not disturbing her. Zhen Wenjun kept her head down working, but she wasn’t blind after all – she certainly knew Wei Tingxu was there.
“The weather is gradually getting cooler, it’s the perfect time to store meat.” Zhen Wenjun sat on a small wooden stool stringing meat, her hands not stopping, lifting her head to smile at Wei Tingxu.
“You’ve been busy all day, don’t you miss me?” Wei Tingxu sat beside her and suddenly threw out these words, with quite a bit of grievance in the tone.
“Of course I miss you, how could I not? But I still need to work.” Zhen Wenjun stretched her neck and gave her cheek a kiss, “This year’s summer rainfall wasn’t abundant, who knows when another famine might come. I don’t want to experience hunger again, better to be prepared.”
Wei Tingxu seemed quite satisfied with this kiss, personally went to pour a cup of wine for Zhen Wenjun. After drying the meat, Zhen Wenjun still couldn’t stay idle, and went to make the bow, with no intention of returning to the room to sleep.
“Why do you have so much energy today?” Wei Tingxu held a scroll in hand, appearing to have finished reading it.
“Didn’t I take Xiao Xiao hunting earlier? She insisted on drawing the bow herself, but couldn’t pull mine, so I thought I’d make her one to play with. If she has something to play with, she won’t bother me anymore.”
“I can see you care about her quite a bit.”
Zhen Wenjun smiled and said: “My father and mother passed away early, no one to care for me, I know what it feels like to be alone and helpless. Although Xiao Xiao is a bit rash and somewhat annoying, her nature isn’t bad. Within my abilities, I can care for her a bit, it’s just something I can do easily, no trouble at all.”
“You’re even carving flowers on the bow?”
“Since I’ve started making it, might as well do the best job possible.”
Wei Tingxu became interested, wanting to help carve the remaining patterns. Zhen Wenjun wouldn’t let her, saying it was easy to get hurt.
“Remember I made dolls for you before?” Wei Tingxu protested, “Dolls are much more complicated and I could complete those, how could this little trick stump me?”
Wei Tingxu’s words showed unrestrained sulking, and she was sulking quite seriously.
Zhen Wenjun could no longer remember when Wei Tingxu had started being comfortable showing emotions so openly in front of her. She remembered when they first got close, there had been no cracks [in her composure], it was absolutely impossible for anyone to detect her thoughts.
This version of Wei Tingxu was probably something only she could see.
Thinking this way inevitably made her feel somewhat guilty, guilty for unconsciously avoiding Wei Tingxu during this time.
“You can try if you want,” Zhen Wenjun said, “but I need to protect you.”
“Protect?”
Zhen Wenjun pulled a chair in front of her, asking her to sit. After Wei Tingxu sat down, Zhen Wenjun’s arms wrapped around from behind, chin resting on her shoulder, palms covering her hands, protecting them within her palms, moving in sync, slowly using the carving knife to carefully carve along the pre-drawn lines.
Flower after flower bloomed under their skilled hands, Zhen Wenjun felt their breathing merge together.
Wei Tingxu turned her head slightly, as their gazes met, the deers in their hearts raised their head [hearts fluttered], their fresh lips drew closer and closer…
Just as they were about to kiss, Zhen Wenjun’s fingertip suddenly hurt, and the kiss came to an abrupt stop.
Blood slowly dripped from her fingertip, looking somewhat frightening.
Wei Tingxu’s brows furrowed, immediately standing up and gripping the carving knife, as if afraid the knife would open its mouth and eat Zhen Wenjun.
Xiao Xiao had just finished bathing and was planning to return to her room to sleep, when suddenly seeing this scene, she immediately threw down the clothes in her hands, rushed forward and bit the hand that Wei Tingxu was using to hold the knife.
“Xiao Xiao!” Zhen Wenjun hadn’t even seen clearly where this little leopard had sprung from, actually opening her mouth to bite. She immediately went to pull her, scolding, “Let go!”
Xiao Xiao stubbornly refused. Zhen Wenjun grabbed her by the back of her neck, almost lifting her entire body into the air and shaking her repeatedly, but Xiao Xiao’s two rows of sharp teeth wouldn’t release.
“You!” Zhen Wenjun raised her hand as if to strike, but Xiao Xiao’s wronged expression made her pause, not striking immediately.
“I had no intention of harming your mother,” Wei Tingxu said coldly, “it was just an accident. If you don’t let go, I’ll throw you back to the Gulun Grasslands, never to return to Da Yu.”
Wei Tingxu’s words were very effective. Xiao Xiao immediately released her, staring at Wei Tingxu’s face with hostility and retorted: “Ah Mu won’t let you succeed!”
Wei Tingxu didn’t show a pleasant expression just because Xiao Xiao was a child, and the threat wasn’t just a casual trick to fool a child. She bent down slightly towards Xiao Xiao, pressing towards her face with killing intent:
“If you don’t believe me, you can try and see. If you defy me again, I have a thousand ways to make sure you never see your mother again in this life.”
Xiao Xiao’s face turned pale, her shoulders gradually shrinking inward.
“Alright, stop this,” Zhen Wenjun quickly inserted herself between them, smiling at Wei Tingxu, “Why argue with a little child? She acted impulsively because she thought we had some conflict. Come, Xiao Xiao, apologize to Aunt Zizhuo. How could your Aunt Zizhuo bear to hurt me? I got hurt while making a bow and arrow for you, you’ve completely misunderstood Aunt Zizhuo. Quick, just apologize.”
When Zhen Wenjun tried to pull her out from behind, Xiao Xiao pushed her away with a swing of her arm, and ran away with tears in her eyes, biting her lip, without looking back.
Zhen Wenjun knew she wouldn’t run out of Zhuo Jun Mansion. Ah Zhu, standing in the distance, also saw this and nodded to Zhen Wenjun, indicating not to worry, she would go look after Xiao Xiao.
“Let me see, does it hurt?” Zhen Wenjun held Wei Tingxu’s hand in hers, blowing on it concernedly, “This child really doesn’t know her own strength, I must give her a good scolding. Come with me quickly to bandage it.”
Leading Wei Tingxu to sit in the hall, Zhen Wenjun casually muttered while getting herbs for her: “You too, how old is Xiao Xiao, why are you having a staring contest [literally: big eyes staring at small eyes] with her?”
“Why not?”
Zhen Wenjun was slightly stunned, raising her head to look at Wei Tingxu.
Wei Tingxu didn’t have the slightest hint of joking: “If she had been carrying her sabers just now, she would have stabbed me directly instead of biting. Do you still think someone her age is just a child who knows nothing of the world? When I was her age, I had already started killing people.”
Zhen Wenjun’s bandaging movements paused briefly.
“Wenjun, I don’t know why you’ve been deliberately avoiding me these days. But I want to tell you, no one can come between us. I can’t be without you.”
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