He was a pun intended.

Lu Qingxi gladly accepted such flattery.

The two of them clinked glasses as they had done before, laughing as usual.

……

A few days later, the territory of the Deer Clan, the royal capital, and the city of Bucks.

The decoration of the main hall of the royal palace is very different from that of the Black Horn City, and there are a large number of furs hanging on the walls, mostly bear and tiger skins, as well as a large number of fox and wolf skins, and a small number of leopard skins. This is because the deer people have always liked the skin of the white spotted leopard, the pattern is very beautiful, and the price in the market is expensive. Despite its ferocious temperament, and at times even more difficult to deal with than the maned bear, the nobles could not stop their strong love of beauty, and despite the casualties, they repeatedly organized hunts against the white spotted leopard.

A sumptuous banquet was held in the main hall.

There were not many participants, except for the current deer clan king Lu Fengguo, the national teacher Wujiao, and the four adult princes, the rest were all tribal chiefs, and there were more than a dozen people in total.

Lu Fengguo's evaluation among the people is not very good, but he is an extremely generous king to his subordinates. Because of this, he enjoyed the unanimous support of the aristocracy, and his position was secure.

It is an annual feast of patriarchs.

Fifty-eight-year-old Lu Fengguo stood up from the throne, raised his wine glass, and said loudly with a smile: "Thank you, gods, this year is another bumper harvest year." ”

In the audience, all the patriarchs stood up one after another and echoed: "Congratulations to Your Majesty, congratulations to Your Majesty, for the coming year!" ”

Grain wine is expensive, but it is essential on such occasions. After a glass of wine, the whole body suddenly became warmer, feeling the mellow fragrance echoing in the mouth, Lu Fengguo motioned to the maid to fill up his empty cup, he turned sideways, and whispered to the national teacher Wujiao who was sitting next to him: "Today's food is good, eat more." ”

He and Wu Jiao have been old friends for many years and have a close relationship with each other.

Wu Jiaole nodded flatteringly: "Congratulations to Your Majesty, it would be like this every year in the future." ”

"Yes, the gods will bless our deer clan with a good harvest year after year." Lu Fengguo replied casually with a smile, and he glanced at the audience with a rather regretful expression: "It would be nice if Lu Qingxi of the Deer Clan was also there." ”

The national master Wujiao knew that Lu Fengguo liked to be lively, he put down the chopsticks in his hand and said seriously: "Actually, he came earlier than the other patriarchs, but he didn't expect to get sick at this time." ”

Lu Fengguo, who was slightly drunk, glanced at Wu Jiao and asked in a suspicious tone, "Is he really sick?" ”

Wu Jiao hurriedly replied: "I'm really sick." I went to the inn last night, and I was so cold that I shrunk into a cup and shivered, and my head was frighteningly hot. If it's a pretending illness, you can't hide it from my eyes. I also asked the people at the post house, and they all said that Lu Qingxi was sick on the day he arrived in Bucks City, and since then, he has been taking medicine and has never stopped. ”

"That seems to be true." Lu Fengguo was a little disappointed: "I also plan to take everyone out hunting tomorrow to make everyone happy." ”

Wu Jiao smiled and complimented: "We all know that Your Majesty is kind-hearted, even if Lu Qingxi can't go tomorrow, when the time comes, Your Majesty will give him some prey, I believe he will be grateful." ”

"Hahahaha! You're right. Lu Fengguo laughed happily: "That's it." ”

……

Early in the morning, the cavalry of several hundred men left Bucks City and walked along a dirt road that was not very wide, towards the dense mountains and forests to the north.

Winter hunting is a traditional sport for all northern barbarians. On the one hand, there is the struggle against the cruel natural environment, where the number of wild beasts far exceeds that of humans. On the other hand, it is for food, especially animals that must be eaten in large quantities before the onset of winter, because they are fat and strong, and the taste is more beautiful than in other seasons.

The four sons surrounded Lu Fengguo like stars and moons, and his heart was full of joy.

The eldest son had a great talent for governing the clan, and some of the decrees he made had good results when they were implemented. This is not an exaggeration, but a personal verification by the ministers and national teachers. Lu Fengguo even planned to observe for a few more years, and if everything went as usual, he would abdicate early and let the eldest son become the new deer king.

The second and third sons are twins, and thanks to their mother's careful teaching, these two handsome young men are impeccable in character. Five years ago, Lufengguo gave them a small village of 300 people, and now, the residents of both villages are more than 2,000, especially the degree of wealth, which is the envy of the surrounding villages.

The fourth adult, who is already an adult, is very capable of fighting, and he has been a commander since he was a child. Lu Fengguo simply kicked him into the army and directly controlled a thousand-person team. According to the feedback from the people below, the fourth prince was deeply loved by the soldiers, and the thousand-man team under his command was among the best in the army's competition, and was unanimously praised by all the commanders.

Lu Fengguo knows very well that these four adult sons have their own talents, and their achievements are inseparable from the teachings of their cronies. In fact, this kind of thing is not difficult to understand, as long as you are a courtier, everyone has to bet. The big head must have fallen on the eldest son, but as the other three sons who also performed well, they would naturally attract the attention of the courtiers. It's just that the final decision is firmly in his own hands, Lu Fengguo doesn't want to see a divided deer clan in many years, he wants to die right, with no regrets of peace, in the reluctant crying of all his children in this world.

Sixteen daughters...... There are four times as many of them, four times as many as the sons group. Lu Fengguo is very helpless about this, but he must guard the "gift" from the gods. Speaking of which, when his wife and concubines gave birth to daughters one after another in the early years, Lu Fengguo really couldn't cry or laugh, and even had doubts about "Is it that I am destined to have only four sons". Now it seems that this speculation is not unreasonable, and we can only lament the impermanence of life and the unpredictability of the world.

The number of guards of eighty soldiers is not much, but with the addition of the four patriarchs of Bailu, Xuanlu, Yanlu, and Qinglu and their guards, the total number of people exceeds two hundred. Speaking of which, Lu Fengguo has a little bit of a show off, horses are a special trade item of the Tiger Clan, especially stallions, and they are included in the list of goods that are strictly prohibited from trading. The price of horses is so high that even as the king of the clan, he cannot assemble a large cavalry.

The horses under the crotches of Lu Fengguo and his four sons were extremely majestic, and the mounts of eighty cavalrymen were even more oily and smooth. Looking at the other four patriarchs and their guards with different colors of fur under their crotches, and even the horses that were on the thin side, the pride and pride in Lu Fengguo's heart spontaneously appeared...... Yes, this is a naked show-off, which is indispensable in front of his subordinates as a king, which means a material difference in status level.

"Drive! Hurry up for me, if you can't find your prey late, you won't have anything to eat when you go back to the city at night. Hahahaha......"

Lu Fengguo laughed and made bold words, and his legs clamped the horse's belly hard, urging the beast under his crotch to eat pain, like an arrow off the string, and suddenly accelerated forward and galloped forward.

Many tribes have similar hunting rules, and those who wait at home do not prepare meals, and if they do not get their prey, hunters with empty hands go home hungry. It is said to be an old story that has evolved into the default rules for winter hunting, even for the royal family.

The hunting grounds of Kitayama belong to the deer kings of the past generations. This is a vast forest, stretching from the far north of the continent, the tall black needle pine supports countless animals, especially near Buck City, six kilometers away from the city of this batch of woodland, because of the special terrain, there is just a section of hills from the middle, disconnecting the plains on both sides from the city of Bucks, plus the river flowing from the bottom of the mountain beam, forming a natural barrier. In order to guard against wild beasts from the mountains and forests, the previous Deer King deliberately set up a village in the southwest of the hills, and the military defense force here was much stronger than other villages of the same size. Spears, bows and arrows, plus towers, kill up to hundreds of beasts every year. Over time, predators from the mountains knew that this was a forbidden place for humans, and gradually moved away.

Whether it is a bear, a lion, a tiger, or a leopard, they all have their own wisdom. Although the wild deer and roe deer ran fast, no one cared about them. Although the pigs and sheep raised by humans are delicious, they are full of dangers in the process of predation. A lone hunter is food for a beast of prey, and a hunting party of a dozen people is not difficult to deal with, but a village with walls is different, where it is heavily guarded and outnumbered, and even a strong maned bear cannot withstand the impact of heavy ballistas...... Human flesh is delicious, but it's not worth paying a heavy price.

According to the records on the mud template in the royal database of the deer clan, there have been no large-scale carnivores in the Beishan hunting grounds for more than 70 years. The term "scale" here refers specifically to a herd of more than 50 animals. Beasts have their own special ways of transmitting and communicating with each other, and they may have the same genetic memory as humans. In short, the North Mountain Hunting Grounds have always been a habitat for wild deer and wild boars, and occasionally a few short-eyed maned bears or black howling wolves break in, but they are very disciplined, and as soon as they get their prey, they will turn away with the harvest, and rarely live here for long.

This is because successive deer kings have organized royal family members to go out hunting every winter. These beasts, who thought themselves lucky, would never live to the next spring. In terms of personnel and equipment, the royal family members and their guards are by no means comparable to ordinary village hunters, and in the face of sharp knives and bows and arrows, even the most ferocious maned bears can only flee into the wilderness, and if they run slowly, the fat bear paws will be placed on the table and become a mouth-watering delicacy.

Today's weather is good, the dark clouds rarely disperse, and the sun shows its long-lost face. The horses also seemed to be infected by the high emotions of the people and ran faster than usual. It was almost noon, Lu Fengguo shot a few arrows and got a deer and a half and a few hares.

He held the hunting bow in his left hand, stepped on the stirrup with both feet, looked at the soldiers who were collecting his prey with great dissatisfaction, and frowned: "It's too little, it's just so little......"

This time last year, the hunt was brilliant, with more than 30 large deer, a dozen fanged pigs, and even two white spotted leopards with beautiful fur.

The eldest son, who knew his intentions, hurriedly stepped forward, approached Lu Fengguo's side, and smiled comfortingly: "Daddy, don't worry, it's still early, let's go further, the deer should be in the forest." ”

On an informal occasion, the daughters are called "Daddy" instead of "Father". He himself likes it and thinks it's more affectionate.

"Okay, listen to you, let's go ahead and see." Lu Fengguo smiled and nodded, pulled the reins, and urged the running horses forward.

The same royal hunting, the northern barbarians are very different from the southern whites. Barbarians don't send cavalry outposts to find and drive herds of beasts nearby for the nobles to shoot, like the whites. Whether nobles or commoners, barbarians value personal ability, and only the prey they find and kill can be considered a harvest.

The ground was covered with a not too thick layer of snow, just below the horse's hooves, and this obstacle was nothing to the horse. The cavalry followed the high-spirited Deer King and continued to move forward, heading deeper into the forest.

Even the cold-bound Pinus nigra must obey the laws of nature, and its foliage is sparser than usual during this season, because there are so many of them, and the alternating branches block the sunlight, and the golden spots of light fall to the ground through the gaps between the branches and leaves, casting a halo of light on the dark gray forest snow.

The snow here is deeper than outside, and soon reaches the horse's calf and reaches the horse's knee.

The temperature inside the dense forest is low, and the snow surface melts as in direct sunlight like the outside of the forest. The snow here was soft and difficult to walk, and after hundreds of meters, the horses could no longer run, so they could only walk slowly and slowly.

Lu Fengguo frowned again.

He felt that something was not quite right.

As the king of the deer, he is very familiar with the North Mountain Hunting Grounds. He comes to this woodland every year to hunt, and each time the harvest is abundant. Admittedly, it is true that sometimes it is necessary to go deep into the dense forest to find herds of prey, but never before, four or five kilometers deep into the woodland, not even a single hare can be seen.

Glancing at the horse that was constantly spitting white mist under his crotch, he sighed, turned over and jumped, and his heavy body immediately pressed down the snow, and it didn't reach Lu Fengguo's knees.

The horse could no longer walk, let alone carry a man on its back. Any further attempt to do so will only exhaust the poor beast to death. Anyway, in the current environment, there is not much difference between the speed of walking and cycling, so it is better to get down and walk and move your body.

The deer king was still like this, and behind him, the patriarch and the soldiers dismounted.

The eldest prince stepped forward in the deep snow, he hesitated a little, and asked tentatively: "Daddy, why don't we go back first, and I will let the people below continue to look around and see the situation, let's come back another day?" ”

He spoke in a very vague manner, without mentioning the word "prey" at all.

Lu Fengguo's heart warmed, and he subconsciously wanted to open his mouth to agree, but the dignity of being the king of the deer made him hesitate a little, and he nodded slowly, but he did not immediately agree with his son's proposal: "...... Well...... Let's go a little further ahead, maybe ......."

Suddenly, he felt the reins in his hand straighten instantly, and a huge force pulled his arm in the opposite direction, pulling himself backwards so hard that he almost lost his balance and fell to the ground.