Yunzhou County.

The time has come to the beginning of November of the twenty-fourth year of the Heavenly Sage.

Yunzhou County is located in the northeast, and it comes much earlier in winter than in Guannai.

As early as mid-October, the snow was already falling.

By now, the entire Yunzhou County seems to have turned into a snow country, and the ground is completely covered by thick snow everywhere.

In the past, the green grass was already covered with snow, and it was white everywhere, and it was extremely easy for people with a bad sense of direction to get lost in such an environment.

More than a month has passed since the September war, and the southern steppe has changed dramatically.

Today's southern grasslands have at least nominally belonged to Yunzhou County, and all the tribes in the southern grasslands are already herdsmen of the Yunwang.

And the southern steppe Tatar tribe gate of Shangyunzhou County has been unusually comfortable this winter.

Coal stoves, a specialty of Yunzhou County, appeared in the felt tents of every household.

The thick padded jacket was wrapped around them.

Although the export of iron tools was forbidden and they could not get iron pots, the clay pots produced by Yunzhou County were enthusiastically embraced by everyone.

On a cold winter night, the family gathered around the stove to bake a fire, and a clay pot on the stove was gurgling and boiling hot mutton soup.

There is also a magic seasoning chili noodles from Yunzhou County, which is evenly sprinkled with salt and salt after the soup is cooked, and then stirred with a spoon!

Suddenly, the rich smell of mutton soup filled the entire felt tent.

Under the impatient eyes of the family, the eldest sister first served a bowl to Abu (father) and Eji (mother), who were the heads of the family, then Aha (elder brother) and Du (younger brother), and finally herself.

A large bowl of mutton soup is full of aroma, and the whole person is almost intoxicated when he smells it.

The whole family smiled, and finally everyone ate happily at the start of Abu's voice.

In this cold weather, drinking a bowl of steaming mutton soup is a pleasure, but if this mutton soup is sprinkled with chili noodles, one bite will make the whole person warm!

In an instant, people couldn't help but let out a comfortable moan.

After the meal, the family each held a bowl of strong tea and drank it from time to time during the conversation, which was both greasy and comfortable.

This kind of life is deeply intoxicating to everyone, and it is the day that all herders have ever longed for.

Today, they did.

And all this is just because they are the herdsmen of the Cloud King, not the humble existence of those nobles who said that they were herdsmen but were actually slaves.

During the conversation with the family, Abu suddenly said:

"Tomorrow is the day when the mutual market opens, and I will set off before dawn in the morning, which of you will go with me?

If there is anything that Abu needs to bring, just say it now, and Abu will buy it tomorrow. ”

As soon as Abu said this, the eyes of the three children in the family instantly lit up.

As the eldest son, Aha raised his hand and said, "Abu! I'll go with you, and I'll help you herd the sheep together!" ”

Not to be outdone, the younger brother hurriedly said, "Abu, I'll go too!" I can herd sheep too! And it's better than Ahha's catch! ”

As the eldest sister, Hailan opened her mouth, but looked at the excited two younger brothers but did not say anything.

Eji, who was on the side, saw this scene, and when he took his daughter's hand and smiled, "Does Hailan want to go to the mutual market with Abu?"

You, Aha and Du, have been there, but you are the only one in the family who hasn't been there yet, don't you want to go? ”

Hailan's fluttering little face shook and said, "Let's let Aha and Du go, I'll stay at home and help Eji take care of the little lamb, this is an important point." ”

His wife's words made Abu suddenly think that it was true that his eldest daughter had not been to the mutual market, and he couldn't forget her.

But listening to the eldest daughter's words, he was also a little hesitant, there are too many lambs born in the family this winter, and his wife alone can't take care of them, if the eldest daughter goes, then there will be no one to help his wife take care of the little lambs, which is indeed a problem.

But at this time, the wife, who has always been mild-tempered, said in a strong tone: "Okay, you don't have to worry about these things, don't you still have Aha and Du, tomorrow I will leave them to take care of the little lamb with Eji and me, and you will go to the mutual market with you Abu to have a good time."

See if there is anything you want, let you buy it, if he doesn't buy it, you come back and tell me, I will drive him out of the felt tent to sleep and freeze him to death! ”

After saying that, he looked at him with a threatening look, and the meaning of the warning could be seen even by a fool.

Atai smiled awkwardly, he didn't dare to meet his wife's eyes, the last time he saw his wife like this, it seemed to be before marriage.

Before that, his wife had always been a well-known hot-tempered girl in the tribe, but since she married her, she had restrained her temper and concentrated on being a good wife, and now she suddenly returned to such a appearance, how could he refuse?

Touching his nose, Atai leaned over and hugged his thighs and begged the eldest son and younger son to go, and said to the eldest daughter with a smile: "Yes, what you said Eji is right, it's your time to go, you Aha and Du They can also help your mother take care of the little lamb, so you don't need to worry about it here."

Hailan was still a little hesitant: "But ......"

Atai made a direct decision: "Okay, no, but we will set off at dawn tomorrow, you have to prepare everything tonight, especially food and water, it will take a lot of time to get from us to the market, and you may not come back until the day after tomorrow."

You'll need to be more prepared! ”

Seeing her father's resolute words, she turned her head to look at her mother again, and seeing her mother's affirmative and encouraging eyes, Hailan finally nodded.

As for the two sons who were making trouble on the side, Atai directly mentioned them one by one, and it was honest to mention that he slapped two big slaps on his ass while slapping them.

The boy is honest, and he won't be obedient if he doesn't fight.

Where to go? I've been there a few times, not worse this time or twice, if she doesn't take Hailan back this time, she will definitely kick herself out of the felt tent when she comes back.

Thinking of that kind of end, Atai shuddered, and the slap that fell on the buttocks of his two sons suddenly became a little heavier, causing two screams.

The night was getting deeper, and the wind and snow were whistling in the tent, and there was a rustling sound on the felt tent.

But it was very warm in the felt tent, and the family slept quietly in it.

The next day, just after dawn, the snow that had fallen overnight finally stopped for a short time.

Atai got up early, only to find that his daughter Hailan had gotten up earlier than him, and had already prepared everything that needed to be prepared.

Ah Tai smiled knowingly, this girl doesn't really want to go.

Smiling and shaking his head, he went to another felt tent specially prepared for the sheep, drove out more than 20 sheep, and the father and daughter rode off after breakfast.

Their tribe was more than thirty miles away from the place where the city was, and they had to drive the sheep more slowly, probably in about a day.

Coupled with the unpredictable weather now, snow may slow down the two of them at any time, so it is necessary to set off as soon as possible.

It just so happened that there were not many people in the tribe who wanted to go to the mutual market together, so everyone gathered together, talked and laughed, and drove their respective cattle and horses on the road to the mutual market.

On the white steppe, a large group of Tatars, wrapped in thick cotton jackets and driving sheep on horseback, headed to the south where the mutual market was.

Moving forward......

(End of chapter)