Chapter 638: Catching Feelings
Editor: Atlas Studios
Just as Mu Yangling was feeling doubtful, Qi Haoran reached out and pointed at the six people he had chosen. Other than Liu Dahei, who rushed forward excitedly, the other five people’s footsteps were a little slow.
Qi Haoran glared at them. Damn it, if they were unwilling, they could have said so earlier. It wasn’t as if he could force them to marry the Miao girl, right?
If they had told him beforehand, he could have replaced them earlier.
Looking at Liu Dahei, the only willing candidate, he felt rather worried. With such looks and age… If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have tried to appear fair and merely selected two men from each camp. He should have cast his net wider and picked out all those who were eligible.
Jinhua stole a glance at Liu Dahei and whispered into Mu Yangling’s ear, “Who’s that tanned guy who commanded the army just now?”
“Him?” Mu Yangling glanced at Liu Dahei and with her gaze, asked if it was him she was referring to. “Are you talking about him? He’s Assistant Commander Liu, one of the valiant generals under His Highness.”
Blushing, Jinhua asked in a low voice, “Is he married?” She had always remembered what Mu Yangling said—If she wanted to get married, she should choose a man without a wife.
Though Mu Yangling felt it was very strange, she shook her head and said in a low voice, “He used to be poor and couldn’t find a suitable girl, so he has remained single until now.”
Satisfied, Jinhua happily jumped to her older sister’s side and held her hand as they walked behind their father. Eyeing her excited sister suspiciously, Hanlan asked, “What did you say to Her Highness just now?”
“Nothing.” Jinhua pouted.
Knowing her sister was an old pedant, she didn’t want to tell her sister about it, for she would definitely object to what she was about to do.
The group moved to the middle tent, where an empty space in front of them had been cleared. Considerate of the fact that there were women among them, curtains had been placed on both sides to block the cold wind.
There were two bonfires on both sides with half-cooked sheep hanging on them. With a sniff, Chief Ji’an asked happily, “Are these grassland sheep from the Luo family?”
Qi Haoran sat down cross-legged and replied, “That’s right. It’s almost the new year. I got someone to go to the Luo family to collect some sheep to be slaughtered during the new year. The weather is good today, so I got someone to slaughter two. If Chief Ji’an likes them, you can bring two back later.”
Chief Ji’an didn’t refuse and agreed with a smile.
The men and women sat separately, but seeing the handsome boys, Jinhua didn’t want to sit with the women. Hence, she ran to her father’s side and sat down, staring blankly at Liu Dahei.
Liu Dahei happened to sit next to Lieutenant Zhong. When he sensed Jinhua’s gaze, his back tensed up.
He did not know if Jinhua was looking at him or Lieutenant Zhong. For a moment, he regretted it. He should have been more careful when choosing his seat just now, and chosen to sit further from Lieutenant Zhong. Among the six of them, Lieutenant Zhong was the youngest and most handsome.
Little did he know that Lieutenant Zhong, who was at the side, also felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He felt that Jinhua was looking at him and regretted it for a moment. He shouldn’t have not turned down the Prince for fear of awkwardness. Judging from how Miss Jinhua came over to sit with the male guests so brazenly, it could be seen that she had no manners at all. To think she was even staring at a man like this…
As Lieutenant Zhong’s expression became uglier, the other four were relieved of their worries and decided to eat the mutton in peace and watch the show.
Mu Yangling smeared a layer of wild honey on the mutton, turned it over, and sliced off a thin layer with a knife. Soon, she filled a plate with mutton. She first gave it to the chief’s wife, Alu, who quickly waved her hand and refused. In broken Mandarin, she said, “I don’t like honey.”
Mu Yangling smiled. “Then feel free to eat the mutton in whichever way you please. If you need any seasoning, you can tell the soldiers and let them get it.”
Alu agreed with a smile.
Mu Yangling offered the plate to Madam Liu, who took it with a beam. She looked at Little Bear, who was carried over by the wet nurse, and said with a smile, “Now that Little Master is awake, he’s probably hungry.”
Mu Yangling reached out to take the child and let him sit by the side. She fed him some fruit juice first. Seeing that he was looking at the meat in front of him eagerly, she tapped his nose in amusement. Just like his parents, this kid loved eating meat.
Seeing that he was about to drool, Mu Yangling took a handkerchief and stuffed it into his hand. “Wipe your saliva. Mother will help you roast meat.”
Unaware that he had been teased by his mother, Little Bear took a handkerchief and wiped his mouth and nose. Seated opposite, Hanlan laughed when she saw this. Little Bear stared at her curiously with his round eyes, then tilted his head and looked at her for a while. Perhaps he felt that she wasn’t as attractive as meat, so he retracted his gaze and continued to look at the sheep hanging in front of him eagerly. He watched intently as his mother applied a layer of honey and roast the mutton while it emitted an alluring meat fragrance…
Little Bear literally drooled this time.
The meat slices were roasted tenderly, but still, Mu Yangling did not dare to let him eat too much. She only filled half a plate and carefully fed him with chopsticks.
After drinking a mouthful of fruit juice in between eating two mouthfuls of meat, Little Bear was full in no time. Then, he continued to look at the sheep in front of him eagerly.
Mu Yangling didn’t dare to let him eat anymore but was unable to withstand his gaze, so she carried him over to his father. She took the chance to invite Jinhua. “Miss Jinhua, we have wild honey there. We also roast our meat more tender over there. Do you want to come over and try it?”
Because Jinhua was busy drooling at the man opposite her, she replied without thinking, “What’s so interesting about roasted meat? I find martial arts more fascinating.”
Jinhua rolled her eyes and said, “Why don’t we let them compete?” Jinhua pointed at the man opposite her and said, “This time, my father also brought warriors. Let them compete and see who’s stronger.”
Although Liu Dahei looked invincible just now, he was mainly arranging troops and formations. Besides, Assistant Commander Su looked like a weak opponent. Therefore, she wanted to see him compete again.
Jinhua’s suggestion was exactly what Liu Dahei wanted. He felt that he couldn’t compete with the other five men in terms of appearance and could only show off himself with his capabilities.
Hence, he looked at Qi Haoran with bright eyes. The latter nodded in agreement.
This time, it was six Han Chinese and six Miao men, all attacking together.
No matter what, the Han generals felt that they could not lose face in front of the Miao people, whom they deemed were the outsiders. Besides, other than Liu Dahei, no one really had the desire to show off.
However, the Miao people were not to be trifled with either. By the time they were completely wiped out, four of Qi Haoran’s men had also been taken down. Only Liu Dahei and Lieutenant Zhong were left on the field.
Mu Yangling also watched with bright eyes. After all, Liu Dahei was a few years more senior than Lieutenant Zhong and had gotten to where he was with ruthless means. Moreover, with his desire to show off, he managed to force Lieutenant Zhong to admit defeat in just a few moves.
Chief Ji’an couldn’t help but sigh. “Your Highness, you have a lot of valiant generals under you.”
“No, no.” Qi Haoran said humbly without much sincerity, “You have many capable men under you, too.”
Completely focused on the competition just now, Jinhua did not hear their conversation at all. She jumped up and said, “I want to compete too.” Jinhua whipped her whip and ran to the front, then swung it and said, “Which one of you dares to come up?”
Everyone fell silent.
Chapter end
