Li Taoqi subconsciously lowered his head and glanced at the deer on the ground.
The throat was cut with one knife, and the windpipe and two blood vessels were cut cleanly. The stag could no longer stand up. Its limbs still had the last bit of strength left, and it twitched slightly on the grass, and the blood dyed the grass under it red. The wind blew, and the place where the throat was cut was like a worn-out musical instrument, leaking a hoarse sound mixed with the strong smell of deer blood.
Li Taoqi first felt nauseous, and then a chill, as if it was not the deer whose throat was cut, but his own.
"A Shen is now an expert in horseback archery. I am ashamed of you." He was afraid that he would vomit due to the smell of deer blood, so he quickly climbed onto the horse and said, "You are covered in deer blood. Go back and take a bath as soon as possible."
At this time, the servants who were collecting the prey in the inner field also came. Hunting deer is one thing, but you can't let these gentlemen of wealthy families carry the prey by themselves. This time, they hunted a lot of deer. The leading steward looked among the crowd and found Li Taoqi: "Your Highness, the big ones are all dead, what about the few deer with injured legs?"
“… Take it back first.” Li Taoqi was silent for a moment, “Don’t kill it, it’s also good to keep it in the hunting park.”
The steward obeyed, of course, and called a few servants to pick up the fawn. Li Taoqi pulled the reins and ran back first.
Once the prince left, the others could not stay for long. The young men present dropped their arrows, mounted their horses and followed him. Before long, apart from the servants who were still processing the prey, only Li Qishen and a few young men who had been doing well recently were left in the hunting grounds.
Huo Jun was also in this group, but he had no intention of taking sides. His handsome face was cold, but he showed some tenderness when he took out a handkerchief from his bosom: "Prince, there is blood on your face, wipe it off."
"Oh, you still care about me?" Li Qishen didn't refuse the kindness, wiped it randomly, and looked back jokingly, "It's a pity that this expression... If I wasn't familiar with you, I would think you were going to suffocate me with a handkerchief."
Huo Jun was too lazy to pay attention to him and took the handkerchief from his hand: "Prince, go back."
"Okay." Li Qishen responded, patted Zhao Ye on the head, and jumped on the horse.
Zhaoye was well trained, and he immediately ran forward after carrying a load on his back. Li Qishen was riding on the horse, smelling the faint smell of blood in the wind, and suddenly remembered the moment when he cut the stag's throat earlier.
With one cut, even the strongest male deer could not move. The forked antlers were just decorations or medicinal materials. A thick and fresh blood fountain spurted out, soaking the clothes on his chest. Unlike Li Taoqi, he did not feel disgusted. Instead, he felt extremely refreshed at that moment, as if he had cut off the chains that bound him.
**
Deer are considered big game, and every time they go to the hunting grounds, the men who can hunt deer are praised by others. Naturally, the news of hunting a deer this time spread everywhere. And they hunted more than one deer, so there was a deer feast in the evening, and even fresh deer blood was delivered.
Deer blood is hot in nature, so young ladies naturally don't drink it. Xie Wangzhi worked in the Shangshi Bureau, and later returned home. She was tired of eating deer jerky for so many years and had no interest in deer meat. She didn't want to participate in the drama of noble ladies competing for beauty or even jealousy, so she said she was not feeling well and sneaked out.
The hunting ground was in the woods at the foot of Mount Li, with lush vegetation and a winding river. The water was clear, and you could occasionally see birds or animals drinking water by the river. Xie Wangzhi had no bow and arrow in his hand, and he had no intention of hunting. He walked slowly forward, not too far away. There was no one around, and he felt the most comfortable since he came to the hunting ground.
After walking for a while, she suddenly smelled smoke mixed with a faint aroma of meat. After all, she had been in the Shangshi Bureau for so many years, and she still had the memory of her childhood. She sniffed carefully and concluded that someone was grilling meat in the woods. She should have avoided it, but the person was not prepared and had already entered the woods. It was too late to avoid it.
Fortunately, the person guarding the fire was an acquaintance. Li Qishen changed into a round-necked robe and sat down on the ground without fear of getting dirty. He supported his chin and casually added a bunch of grass to the fire. In front of him, he made a small grill with dead branches, on which a pheasant with its feathers and internal organs removed was placed. It was quite fat, and the fat dripped into the fire, splashing sparks.
Xie Wangzhi hadn't seen Li Qishen since they last met, and she didn't expect to see him like this. It was like a chance meeting. She was startled, her mind still in a mess, but she raised her hand and touched her collar to make sure there was nothing wrong with her appearance.
However, Li Qishen didn't care at all. Not to mention that Xie Wangzhi had changed her clothes and was wearing a loose skirt, which was neat and tidy. Even if she was only wrapped in a dirty piece of cloth, he would still think she was unparalleled in the world.
"What a coincidence, you came here following the smell?" He was much more frank than Xie Wangzhi, and didn't mention anything else at all, as if he had never mentioned the betrothal gift, nor had he ever visited Xie's house at night. Li Qishen waved his hand, "Come over, let's eat together?"
“… I’m not a dog.” Xie Wangzhi muttered softly, smoothing the hair beside his ear, and took a few steps forward to Li Qishen’s side.
She was wearing a skirt, and the grass on the ground looked dirty, so it was difficult to sit down. Li Qishen thought for a moment, pulled the large-sleeved shirt that was draped over his knees to her, and motioned for her to use it as a cushion. Xie Wangzhi did not pretend to be hypocritical, and spread the grass as he asked, and sat on it steadily, and then began to pay attention to the pheasant roasting on the fire.
"Did you hunt this?" She looked at the sparks of grease. "Hmm, there's too much oil, and the wings look dry..."
"This isn't something that should be sent to the Imperial Food Bureau. Don't set such a high standard. It's fine as long as it's edible." Li Qishen knew she couldn't help herself, so he blurted out, "I'm in Fengzhou, and I can't even eat it if I want to."
“There are no pheasants in Fengzhou?”
"Yes, but you may not be able to hunt them, and it's not popular to eat them on the grassland." Li Qishen looked at the quality of the meat, turned it over, and a strong smell of smoked meat came out. "I remember one winter, my uncle and I went on patrol and we happened to meet a pair of Turks. There was nothing on the grassland in winter, so we just fought in the snow. After the fight, it snowed heavily and we were trapped by the snow and couldn't go back to Tiande Military City."
He pulled out his dagger and cut into the part where the pheasant's wings met its body. The juices flowed out from the edge of the dagger. "The snow didn't even reach the horses' knees. We did bring some wine to keep warm, but no dry food. We just sat there starving and waited for the snow to stop. At that time, let alone this oily and woody pheasant, I could even swallow hay."
He spoke nonchalantly, even cutting the pheasant meat to see if it was cooked, but Xie Wangzhi was terrified. What people fear on the snowy plains is the night and heavy snow. People and horses have limited energy. If they can't make it, they will become food for the hungry beasts.
Li Qishen was roasting a pheasant leisurely. Of course, it was fine. But she was still worried. She was silent for a moment and asked, "Then... how did you come back?"
"That's how I got back. Luckily, the snow only lasted for a while and stopped before dusk."
"Is that so?" Xie Wangzhi was relieved and stared at the pheasant intently. "Thinking about it this way, I don't dislike it anymore."
"Then shall I thank you on its behalf?"
Xie Wang was stunned for a moment, then he heard a slight joke, turned his head and glared at Li Qishen: "Go to hell."
Li Qishen smiled and stopped provoking her. He pulled out the dry branches of the roasted pheasant, brought the hard-to-cook part closer to the fire, and stirred it again.
He just said it lightly, but in reality, it was a desperate situation. The snow was up to the knees, and the horses could not move. The cold wind was as sharp as a cut, and the face would be cracked if the snow grains touched it. At that time, I didn't know that the snow would stop so soon. I watched the sun sinking slowly, the weather was getting colder, and there were faint wolf howls in the wind.
If the snow didn't stop, hunger would be the least of his worries when night fell. What he feared was the cold and the wolves that came out to hunt. But Li Qishen was surprisingly calm as he watched the sun gradually set. It was on that afternoon when he was almost in despair that he finally made up his mind.
However, there was no need to tell Xie Wangzhi about these things. He took the pheasant off the fire and thought about how to feed it to Xie Wangzhi. It would be nice to just remove the thighs and wings and eat them, but it was a bit unrefined, and the gravy and fat would drip onto the clothes. Li Qishen thought for a moment, took out the short dagger he had used before, burned it over the fire, and then cut a piece of meat along the pheasant's chest and abdomen and handed it to Xie Wangzhi.
The meat in the chest and abdomen is the most firm and is sliced intact. The skin is roasted to a golden brown, and the fat hidden under the skin overflows, giving it a fried flavor. The outer layer of skin is slightly burnt, and you can imagine the crispy feeling at a glance. The meat on the other side retains the gravy, not tender, but it should not be too dry either.
The meat was good, but the problem was that it was placed on the dagger, and Xie Wangzhi couldn't hold it with his hands, so he looked at Li Qishen for help.
"Just eat it like this." Li Qishen said, "The dagger only has one side of the blade open."
Xie Wangzhi had no choice but to move closer and carefully pick up the piece of meat from the dagger with her lips and teeth. She was not very skilled, and the moment she bit the meat, her lips accidentally touched the dagger, and the smell of iron rushed into her mouth.
She thought of the legend in the Shangshi Bureau, saying that there was a kind of dragon fish in the sea, with golden scales, which was the perfect material for fish sashimi. If it was cooked in seawater, it would be considered to have lost its flavor, so it could only be sliced into fish sashimi on the spot. Of course, when eating, there was no need for freshly ground wasabi or soy sauce, and even chopsticks could not be used. It had to be eaten with a knife dipped in fish oil to taste the best flavor.
But with her skills, even if the dragon fish sashimi was placed in front of her, she would probably have a mouthful of iron taste. Xie Wangzhi chewed the pheasant meat and turned to look at Li Qishen. He happened to see him slicing the meat from the wing, also eating it with the dagger. When biting the meat, his lips were also pressed on the dagger, in almost the same position, like a kiss.
Xie Wangzhi blushed, and somehow he recalled the feeling of biting the dagger just now. It was slightly cold, with the taste of iron and blood. The meat on the dagger was rubbed with salt and pepper, and the piece of meat was specially selected. The taste was not bad, but after all, it was on the dagger, even if it was not sharpened, it was scary. However, when he really took the piece of meat, he couldn't help but look forward to the feeling of biting it next time.
She suddenly felt that maybe that was what it would feel like to kiss Li Qishen.
The author has something to say: Changsheng deliberately licked the dagger hhh Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2019-11-12 23:24:50~2019-11-14 18:18:09~
Thanks to the little angel who threw the grenade: 1 glass;
Thanks to the little angels who cast mines: Lucine, 1 Ten Wood Mirror;
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: Longlonglong 44 bottles; Li Nu, The Great Devil of the World, and The Gift of the Forest 20 bottles; Do You Have Sugar, MW 10 bottles; A Good Child Who Loves to Study ~ 6 bottles; The Cat Who Listens to the Alarm Clock, The Moon Chases People Back 5 bottles; Nanmoyuanzhi, Spring Warm Kapok 3 bottles; Peach Blossom Rain 2 bottles; Mu Yao, Encountering Changning on the Road, 19755301 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!