Thirty-Nine Loyalty to the Country Ten Drunken in the Snow

  Two of the maidservants carefully carried Han Jiu'er out, while the remaining three stood beside Zong Bi and Xiao Wu, one on each side, with another one specially serving wine.

  Xiao Wu also learned to sit on the kang with his legs crossed, and was surprised to find that the kang was warm. He didn't know that this was a special heated kang of the Jurchen people, which was passed down through generations. With it, even in the coldest winter, the room would be as warm as spring.

  Since the chair called "bar stool" was introduced to the Central Plains, the Song people changed the traditional habit of "sitting on the ground" of the ancient people, and were used to sitting high on chairs, stools, and benches. Xiao Wu was a bit uncomfortable with this kind of Kang, so he leaned over the wooden basin, observing before acting.

  The Song people emphasized the importance of color, fragrance, and flavor in their food. This Manchu dish was at least as good as the Song cuisine in terms of color. A bowl of golden millet porridge, a bowl of oily fried dough pancakes, and two other bowls that were even more rich and colorful - one with half-cooked meat slices with blood veins and another with internal organs' blood soup, topped with chopped scallions, ginger threads, and a sprinkle of green onions. The colors were so vibrant, with purple, red, and green hues, that Xiao Wu's heart was racing as she wondered if this was something humans could eat. It seemed the saying about northerners eating raw meat and drinking blood wasn't entirely unfounded after all.

  Zong Bi, however, looked at it as if it were a rare delicacy, and hastily took the wooden bowl and spoon handed over by the maid. He started eating with his hands, taking a sip of wine and a bite of meat, puffing out his cheeks and shouting: "My own brother, don't be polite, don't be polite!"

  Xiao Wu picked out the millet porridge and pancakes that were still edible, and unexpectedly found that the pancakes had a layer of honey on them, which was very delicious. He was already hungry, so he ate five pancakes in one breath, drank half a bowl of porridge, and the maidservants by his side couldn't help but cover their mouths and laugh.

  "What are you laughing at? Don't just stand there like a wooden stake, serve my brother properly!" Zong Bi was eating with the corners of his mouth stained red and sweat beading on his forehead, having the time of his life, while also taking care of the host's needs, what a busybody indeed.

  The maidservants responded in unison, flitting about like butterflies. One held a bowl of wine, another a dish of meat, and with a slight bow, they presented them to Xiao Wu, saying in broken Chinese: "Young master, please have some wine and meat."

  Xiao Wu had never been treated like this before. On the one hand, he couldn't bear to refuse such a generous offer; on the other hand, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. He steeled himself and put a bloody piece of meat into his mouth, swallowed it with difficulty, and was hit by a wave of fishy smell. He quickly downed a glass of wine, and after the initial burning sensation, he found the aftertaste to be fragrant and mellow - it was good wine!

  "Good wine capacity, young master!" The maid praised and refilled Xiao Wu's cup with wine.

  "I'll accompany you!" Originally drinking one mouthful at a time, Zong Bi also finished a bowl of wine.

  To avoid eating the raw meat and blood sausage, Xiao Wu had no choice but to keep drinking. Coincidentally, the Jurchen people considered being good at drinking as one of the criteria for measuring a brave warrior, so Zong Bi, who was known as the number one brave warrior of the Jurchen people, naturally did not want to show weakness and actually started a drinking contest with Xiao Wu.

  Xiao Wu had been treated with hospitality by local officials of Liao all the way since he followed the envoy into Liao. His capacity for wine gradually increased, and at first, he was still unintentional. Later, seeing Zongbi being more serious, the intoxication took effect, and he wanted to suppress the prestige of this Jurchen number one brave warrior, the more he drank, the more fierce he became.

  The two of them came and went, drinking three jars of wine, with a 70-80% drunken intention, shouting and yelling, completely forgetting their respective identities, as if returning to the intimate state of traveling together on the grasslands.

  Suddenly, a commotion broke out outside the tent, accompanied by the sound of clear and tender scolding. The tent door shook, and two maidservants half-blocking and half-following a young girl rushed in.

  The girl had a head of half-damp raven-black hair, her tender face like jade flushed with pink after the bath, wearing a snow-white ermine velvet skirt that only a female Jurchen noblewoman could have, setting off her whole person as icy and pure as jade, just like a snow lotus on Mount Tian, yet with bright eyes flashing anger, cherry lips slightly pouting, exactly like an isolated frosty chrysanthemum.

  "Has Guanyin descended to the mortal world?" Zong Bi's drunken eyes narrowed, his mouth agape, and a phrase in Jurchen slipped out. In the eyes of the northern tribespeople, beauty was not as complicated as it was for the Han people - no need for descriptions like "plump and slender" or "enchanting enough to entice fish to jump from the water and geese to fall from the sky". They simply acknowledged that Guanyin was the most beautiful in the world, and those who could be called Guanyin were naturally endowed with a heavenly beauty.

  "It's Chang'e descending to the moon!" Xiao Wu, who was half-dazed and half-confused, was also moved by the girl's otherworldly beauty, and rarely came up with a sentence of playful praise. However, he felt that this Chang'e fairy was somehow familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.

  "Stinky wooden wheel, you drank so happily and threw me to one side!" Unexpectedly, the girl walked fiercely to the front of the kang, grasped Xiao Wu's ear with one hand, and scolded in Chinese, "Where did you bring me? Why are there ghosts outside? Hmm, and here's another little ghost."

  "Who are you..." Xiaowu turned his head and struggled free, still in a daze, without reacting.

  The maids saw this bold little girl, who not only didn't take the fourth prince's noble guest seriously, but also scolded the fourth prince as a little devil. Each of them pursed their lips, wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh. The truth is that "treating someone like an onion" is a compliment, because onions are rare in the north and precious due to their scarcity.

  "Little Anun, whose precious daughter are you? Have you promised yourself to someone?" Zong Bi changed his tone to Mandarin, crawling over to the kang with a flirtatious smile, completely enchanted by this little Han girl.

  Ancient people were married early, according to the Song Dynasty's law, men over 15 and women over 13 could get married. The Jurchen people had no age restrictions and advocated for free marriage, with the saying "women are promiscuous and wives are chaste", which actually meant that women could choose their husbands freely before marriage. Zongbi was about the same age as Xiaowu, although he hadn't taken a wife yet, but he had many maidservants and understood the ways of men and women.

  "Big Brother Wu!" The girl let out a sharp cry, shrinking into Wu's arms like a startled deer, "This little devil is trying to bully me."

  "Little Jiu?" Little Wu waited for Ruo Yu to be in her arms, the fragrance of Qing Xiang filled her nose, and she suddenly came to her senses. It was Han Jiu'er who had changed back into women's clothes. The effects of the wine were immediately dispelled, and she hurriedly helped her sit on the edge of the bed. "Ninth Miss, don't be afraid! This is the Fourth Prince of Jin Country, he... saved you."

  Xiao Wu thought that Zong Bi had harmed someone first and then saved them, but it was hard to say for sure. Han Jiu'er heard this and, plucking up her courage, looked up at Zong Bi with a glance, her starry eyes flashing, and the corners of her mouth twitching: "Fourth Prince? This is what he looks like..."

  "Yue Fei Ge, your Yierha is really a little Guanyin!" Zong Bi also sobered up a lot, with eyes full of envy, and didn't expect that this little nine would look so youthful in men's clothing, but after changing back to women's makeup, she was as beautiful as a heavenly immortal. Her soul was not guarding her body as she responded, "Little Guanyin, what don't I look like the Fourth Prince..."

  "What's with the Ilha, little Guanyin... you, your ghost head is so ugly!" Han Jiuer didn't know what "Ilha" meant, but she knew that "little Guanyin" was a compliment, and her face flushed with embarrassment, and she let out a giggle, that kind of charming and playful demeanor unique to Han girls, it made Zong Bi look like he was in a daze.

  Xiao Wu didn't interrupt, but instead looked at Han Jiu'er with a discerning eye. It seemed that the poison had been fully detoxified. The little girl, apart from being slightly pale on both cheeks, had completely recovered to normal. Perhaps due to her hair being disheveled, she seemed to have lost some of her youthful innocence and gained a hint of allure.

  At this time, another commotion came from outside, with people cheering and getting more and more excited, showing that there were more participants, even the people inside the tent couldn't help but be moved.

  "Yue Fei, brother, Xiao Jiu, sister-in-law, go take a look!" Zong Bi dragged the fifth and Han Jiuer out of the big tent without saying a word, several maids had already rushed out ahead.

  Just now the sky was still clear, but a layer of gray mist has already covered it. Large snowflakes are falling from the sky. Inside and outside the camp, regardless of whether they were officers or soldiers, masters or slaves, everyone is dancing with joy, shouting "Sadele Gan", letting the snow fall on their faces, mouths, and palms.

  "What a wonderful omen!" Zong Bi also shouted with joy, "You two are noble people, bringing the first snow of the year, bringing good fortune and peace..."

  Han Jiuer saw that everyone's head was emitting wisps of white air, which was the snowflakes melting when they encountered human bodies, like a fairyland on earth. Infected by the atmosphere, she pulled Xiao Wu's hand and started twirling in the snow.

  Xiao Wu's body involuntarily followed Han Jiu'er as she spun around, feeling the sky spinning, the earth spinning, everything around him spinning. The only thing that remained still was the person in front of him, whose fluttering hair, delicate face, and elegant posture all left him dazed and confused, unsure where he was. In his heart, a thought suddenly emerged: he wished this moment would freeze, frozen in eternity...

  "Bang!" A snowball hit Xiao Wu's face, which was an unimaginable thing for a martial artist like him. If it were a sharp weapon, what would happen? He shook his head, wondering why he still hadn't sobered up after sleeping the whole night.

  Yesterday Xiao Wu was spun around by Han Jiu'er in the snow, and it's unclear whether he was drunk from wine or infatuated with someone, or perhaps both, but he ended up falling to the ground.

  When he woke up this morning, he stumbled out of the deerskin tent, and outside had already become a world wrapped in silver and white. Han Jiuer, wearing a light fox fur hat, was like a silver fox, leading a group of maidservants to play with Zong Bi, who was alone on horseback, throwing snowballs at each other. When they saw Xiao Wu come out, they immediately greeted him with a snowball to celebrate his awakening.

  "Brother Yue Fei, come quickly, we'll fight side by side!" Just as Zong Bi was in a tough battle, he found the Living Troops, and while rubbing his snowball-like fist, he dodged and weaved.

  "Good!" Xiao Wu's childlike heart was stirred up, and he used the snow to scrub his face before joining the battle camp. He stretched out his hand to catch a thrown snowball and threw it back at a maid.

  The two sides, originally evenly matched, were disrupted by the appearance of Little Five. How could a group of weak women be a match for two agile young men? They were instantly beaten and fled in disarray, their laughter echoing through the air above the Crown Prince's tent.

  Everyone was having a great time, when suddenly the sound of bugles filled the air, and from the large and small felt tents on all sides, countless fully armed soldiers rushed out, each leading their troops to horseback, under the guidance of black and white triangular flags, quickly gathering in front of the gate in the open space.

  Want to fight? Xiao Wu was startled, but heard the sound of armor clanging behind him. He turned his head and saw two soldiers bringing over a set of helmets and armor, while another soldier struggled with two bows, two quivers of arrows, and two guns slung over his back, one of which was Xiao Wu's iron spear.

  "Brother Yue Fei, this is our clan's tradition. After the snowball fight comes the hunt, and this is a holiday for brave warriors." Zong Bi exhaled hot air as he put on his armor with the help of his personal guards.

  "Hurray!" Little Wu couldn't conceal his inner joy, having long wanted to learn Zongbi's hunting gun technique. He didn't expect things to go as he wished, and so clumsily opened his arms and legs, happily letting the soldiers help him put on his armor. No wonder, this was his first time wearing armor in his life, and he was naturally excited.

  When he put on the heavy armor, Xiao Wu suddenly found it difficult to move. This armor weighed at least 50 or 60 kilograms. Yesterday, he saw those Jurchen cavalrymen wearing this heavy armor and moving freely, so he thought he could do the same. But now that he had put it on, he truly understood its weight. Xiao Wu was not willing to admit defeat, so he pretended to be relaxed and walked a few steps. Then, he saw a soldier leading out two fine horses, one black and one white, from behind the tent. In his heart, he cried out in distress: with this heavy burden, how could he mount the horse?

  On the other side, Zongbi, dressed in a neat uniform, whistled and the black horse galloped over. He stretched out his hand to grab the reins, his left boot stepped on the stirrup, his right foot kicked off the ground, and he sprang onto the saddle. He raised an eyebrow at Xiaowu and asked with a grin: "This Jurchen heavy armor, isn't it something that only brave warriors can wear? How does it feel?"

  "Alright!" Xiao Wu knew that Zong Bi was testing him, and he wanted to save face for the Han people. He moved to the front of the white horse, grasped the saddle and stirrup, but on his first jump, he didn't get up, instead startling the horse with its front hooves thrashing about. Knowing things were going badly, he used his wits in an emergency, using both hands to exert force, and with 300 jin of arm strength, he pulled the horse down to its knees. Taking advantage of the momentum, he jumped onto it, shook the reins, and the horse obediently stood up. However, he felt embarrassed, after all, it wasn't a proper mount.

  "Good tactics!" Zhong Bi exclaimed, according to the Jurchen way of thinking, no matter what means were used, as long as they got the results they wanted, it was a good tactic.

  "Eldest brother, I want to go too!" Han Jiuer's small face was redder than ever before, her arms spread wide as she blocked the horse's path, not willing to miss an even more wonderful gathering.

  " Ninth sister, this is not going to work! Hunting in the wild is no ordinary matter, who knows what kind of beast we'll run into!" Little Wu waved his hand repeatedly, unwilling to take the risk.

  "Xiao Jiu An, come with me, I guarantee your safety!" Zong Bi was overjoyed and didn't want to miss the chance to get close to "Little Guanyin", so he rode his horse over, bent down, and lifted Han Jiu'er onto the horse.

  "Ah! Little devil..." Han Jiuer exclaimed, already sitting slanted on Zong Bi's saddle, hastily clinging tightly to his chest, afraid of falling off.

  "This wench! This scoundrel!" Xiao Wu saw that Zong Bi was reenacting the scene of his attempted assassination of Emperor Liao, so he hastily grabbed Han Jiu'er and rode off on horseback. Worried and helpless, he cursed both of them before quickly whipping the reins to chase after them.

  But at the gate of the village, a large embroidered tiger banner was inserted in the middle, with a majestic flag as its symbol. More than a thousand heavily armored cavalrymen quickly formed small teams and lined up in a long row. Under the scorching sun, on the snowy white ground, team after team of black armor gleamed, awe-inspiring. Xiao Wu followed Zong Bi to arrive under the banner, and the opposing generals all looked at each other, patted their chests, and performed a Hu tribe military salute.

  Zong Bi swung his whip to signal to his subordinates, but there was a little girl sitting in front of the saddle, which was quite out of place. Han Jiu'er was momentarily intimidated by the scene before him and didn't dare move or ask questions, he just gave Xiao Wu a white eye, very dissatisfied with his performance.

  Xiao Wu didn't move, with his current attire, he was almost indistinguishable from the Jurchen soldiers. A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: The Jurchens have such iron cavalry, even the Liao army, which is skilled in horse warfare, is no match for them. If they enter the Central Plains and face the Song army, which is only good at infantry warfare, what will happen...

  At this moment, a cavalryman rushed out of the team, pulled up the big flag and shook it in the air. The cavalrymen shouted together, shaking the camp field. Then, more than ten young servants, holding green branches as tall as one person, ran from both sides and inserted them into the snow on both sides of the camp gate, according to the interval between each small team. The green branches were tied with colored handkerchiefs, making Xiao Wu and Han Jiu'er look like they were in a dream.

  "Yue Fei, my brother, and Xiao Jiu, this is our family's tradition, the shooting ceremony before the hunt...". Zong Bi himself wanted to explain it in detail, not knowing if it was because of Han Jiu'er, but he explained it very patiently.

  Xiao Wu listened carefully and found that "She Qing" originated from the Liao people's "She Liu", which is roughly equivalent to the Song people's "She Qin", both of which refer to horseback archery. She Qing involves inserting a green branch into the ground, tying it with a handkerchief, and cutting off the green skin at a distance of several inches from the ground to create a "target heart". The winner is the one who shoots through the target heart and catches the flying handkerchief, while those who shoot through the target heart but fail to catch the handkerchief come in second. Those who hit other areas or fail to hit the target come in third. This determines the order of the hunting team's formation. As for the hunting team, it is divided into groups of five and ten, with leaders for each group of five, ten, hundred, and thousand. The Jurchen military system originated from this, but added a leader for every ten thousand people. Because the Jurchen language calls the leader of a thousand people "Meng An" and the leader of a hundred people "Mou Ke", the Jin army is also called "Meng An Mou Ke". The imperial guards under Zong Bi's command are called "He Zha Meng An Mou Ke", or the Crown Prince's personal army.

  Just as Zong Bi was explaining, each of the hundred-man teams sent out a rider to form up. With a wave of the great standard, these ten or more skilled riders rapidly encircled the field, galloping at breakneck speed through the deep ranks, and charged straight for the green branches in front of their respective teams. They shot arrows left and right, whooshing in unison, then dived forward again to snatch up the green branches that had been shot off and were floating in mid-air. In this way, they repeatedly rose and fell, their hooves flying and splashing snow everywhere. Watching this, Xiao Wu couldn't help but cheer inwardly, thinking to herself that although her own family had such archery skills, they didn't have such horsemanship.

  The archery contest having ended, the young men again came forward to inspect the green branches, comparing and judging which was superior. Before long, a result was obtained. The horn sounded once more, the drums beat loudly, each hundred-man unit followed the order set by the archery contest, raised their flags and moved out, with ten-man units as the basic formation, riding single file out of the camp, each horse five or six paces apart, forming a marching column several tens of li long, heading straight for the city gate.

  Zong Bi and Xiao Wu walked in the middle, surrounded by a thousand guards holding large banners. The Huang Long Fu, after the snow, had become a silver city, where residents could be seen throwing snow and playing everywhere. When they saw cavalry passing by, they all kept a distance. Han Jiu'er gradually got used to riding with two people, grabbing the saddle tight with both hands, chattering away, asking this and that of the fourth prince of the Golden Kingdom, who was standing on the tower. Xiao Wu felt some sympathy for Zong Bi, but didn't know that he was actually enjoying himself.

  A large group of people rushed out of the city gate and headed east, after about half an hour, a forest with snow-covered branches appeared in the wilderness. The originally long snake-like team immediately slowed down, under the command of the commander, dispersed into a fan shape, opened to both wings, advanced slowly, formed a siege against the forest, and then beat drums to scare wild animals into the siege.

  Xiao Wu was shocked in his heart, such a deployment of troops was no different from two armies clashing, only the enemy had been replaced with wild beasts. It seemed that the Jurchen people's hunting encirclement was not just for pleasure, but also had the intention of actual combat training.

  "Xiao Jiu An, sit tight! Yue Fei Gege, follow me!" Zong Bi deliberately showed off in front of Han Jiu'er, grabbing the banner spear hanging from the saddle side, holding the spear and jumping on horseback, charging towards the thicket in the center of the arena.

  How can I let Han Jiu'er take risks? Xiao Wu frowned, unable to stop her, and had no choice but to follow closely behind, holding the large bow in his hand, ready to rescue her at any moment if danger was discovered.

  Zong Bi grasped Han Jiu'er's slender waist with one hand and wielded a spear to clear the path with the other. The spearhead swept across the branches, startling the wild sparrows into flight, and snowflakes danced around them like falling snow. This brought forth the tinkling laughter of the little girl, echoing through the forest.

  Xiao Wu didn't dare to be careless, his eyes darting back and forth, only seeing that from time to time, rabbits, hares, foxes, and mice would run past in front of and behind him. Some ran outwards, some escaped inwards, and some even crashed into the horse's head. He was somewhat moved, several times drawing his bow to shoot, but seeing that Zong Bi in front of him remained unmoved, he restrained himself again.

  Suddenly, the horse stopped abruptly, almost throwing Xiao Wu off. He didn't know what was wrong and angrily hit the horse's buttocks with his bow. Unexpectedly, the beast seemed to get angry, its hind legs kicking wildly as it spun around in place. Just as Xiao Wu was about to give it a few more hits, a loud roar exploded beside his ear, and from the snow pile beneath him emerged a gigantic black shadow...