Out of caution, Yang Xi and her husband did not plan to get the steamed buns.

Wu Shan came out with the household registration, and seeing Yang Xi and her husband with nothing in their hands, he asked, “Are you not going?”

Zhou Yu, “Brother also knows our situation, so we won’t go.”

Wu Shan was a little hesitant when he thought about holding the household registration, Zhou Yu smiled and said, “Go ahead, big brother.”

Wu Shan was reluctant to give up the steamed buns. There were many people in his family, and each person only needed two steamed buns for a day. “Okay, I’ll go and take a look. If there’s anything wrong, I won’t take it.”

Zhou Yu continued to chop wood. Yang Xi wanted to help, but Zhou Yu was reluctant to do so. “Just sit and keep me company.”

Yang Xi found a wooden stake to sit on. Now there were only two people in the yard. Yang Xi smiled and said, “You are much stronger now.”

Zhou Yu was very happy, “I’ve worked out.”

Yang Xi asked: “Do you want to practice archery when you have time?”

Zhou Yu stopped chopping wood and turned his head to look at his wife, “Can you make a bow and arrow?”

Yang Xi blinked, “I wouldn’t have originally, but I’ve touched the bow and arrow more than once.”

Third Yang and Hunter Wang became familiar with each other. Third Yang practiced archery a lot. She used the excuse of observing several times and a blueprint of the bow and arrow came up in her mind.

Zhou Yu was tempted. In ancient times, there were many mountains and forests. When they were on the road, they often stayed in the wild. Bows and arrows were sometimes more useful than swords. If they were well-trained, they could also be used for hunting. “I’ll go buy the materials to make bows and arrows.”

Yang Xi said leisurely, “I asked Hunter Wang, and he spent a year just preparing the materials. He even asked someone to buy buffalo horns and other materials in the south.”

She thought that Hunter Wang was a nice person and he did not look down on women. She accurately described the type of wood she would use and Hunter Wang gave her a thumbs up.

Then she asked about other materials and Hunter Wang didn’t feel annoyed. He told her everything he could and also shared some of his experiences in making bows.

Zhou Yu sighed, “No wonder Hunter Wang treasures his bow so much. However, his bow is indeed good.”

He looked at them with envy. Ancient bows and arrows were craftsmanship passed down from generation to generation, and it was difficult to get a good bow.

Yang Xi blinked his eyes. “I will write down the materials needed in a moment. Just buy as much as you can. Even if you can’t make a good bow and arrow, you can still use it as is.”

Zhou Yu said, “Okay.”

Yang Xi got up and went back to the house. Fortunately, she had bought paper and a pen yesterday. She quickly wrote down the wood she wanted to buy. She was very familiar with wood, as she had been exposed to it since she was a child in modern times.

Not long after Zhou Yu went out, the Wu family came back. Yang Xi saw that Wu Shan and his wife came back empty-handed and asked, “Didn’t you get it?”

Wu Shan curled his lips and said, “Only for the people of this state.”

Yang Xi, “The waiter didn’t explain it clearly.”

Li Shi said, “We made this trip in vain.”

Wu Shan frowned, “It’s not a wasted trip. Every family that went to get the steamed buns had to register their household registration information.”

Yang Xi asked, “Did they register when they distributed steamed buns last time?”

Wu Shan specifically inquired about the news and shook his head, “No, I heard that next time it will be issued directly according to the registered household registration.”

Yang Xi understood that some people would resist the first household registration, but it would be different the second time when trust was established. “I think the main purpose of registering is for strong laborers.”

Wu Shan frowned, “Strong laborer?”

Yang Xi whispered, “There is no such thing as a free lunch in the world. Pingzhou is the fief of King Jiang. I wonder what King Jiang is thinking behind his actions.”

Wu Shan’s pupils shrank slightly, and his heart was beating fast. He thought of treason and said uncertainly, “No way.”

The princes had no real power and could not interfere in any political affairs within the state. Even the palace soldiers were subject to strict regulations!

The more Yang Xi thought about it, the more it seemed possible. Unfortunately, they didn’t live long in her ancestral home in the previous life, so she didn’t know much news. The most she heard was about rioters.

Wu Shan took a while to react before asking, “Where’s Brother Zhou?”

Yang Xi said: “He went out to buy wood.”

Wu Shan was puzzled but didn’t ask any more questions. He said thankfully, “Fortunately, we are leaving the north.”

Yang Xi also sighed, the north will be a battlefield for minced meat in the future, and the people here will also flee to the south. How many people can escape?

Wu Shan was not in a good mood. Seeing San’er and Si’er coming back, he couldn’t muster the energy to teach them a lesson.

Third Yang held the rabbit in his hand and said, “Sister-in-law, this is what we caught.”

Yang Xi looked at the rabbit and a string of dish names flashed through her mind. She was already greedy because of her pregnancy, and she thought that the timing of the baby coming was not good. “I’ll make it for you later.”

Third Yang knew that the Zhou family was a vegetarian, so he followed suit these days. He thought for a moment and said, “I won’t eat it. I’ll exchange it for money later.”

Yang Xi’s eyes softened. No matter what Third Yang was thinking, following the Zhou family and being a vegetarian was a good intention.

Third Yang sold the rabbit to the inn and got back twenty or so copper coins.

Zhou Yu came back in the afternoon. “I went to all the nearby villages and bought deerskin.”

Yang Xi smiled and said, “I’m lucky. When we go south, there will be bamboo and I can make bows with them.”

She knew that these were all said by Hunter Wang. Her modern grandfather was indeed a carpenter, but unfortunately, he did not know how to make a bow.

Zhou Yu: “Yeah.”

Yang Xi drew Hunter Wang’s bow and marked the size on it. Her hand was like a ruler. She couldn’t study it at the moment, but when she settled down in the south, she wanted to make a good bow by herself.

Zhou Yu held up the blueprint, and Zhou Xiaodi was stunned when he saw it. “Did my sister-in-law draw this?”

He recognized his sister-in-law’s handwriting, and the words marked on it were written by his sister-in-law.

Zhou Yu nodded, “Your sister-in-law has touched Hunter Wang’s bow.”

Zhou Xiaodi didn’t think much about it. His sister-in-law’s paintings were good, so he praised her, “Sister-in-law is amazing.”

Third Yang glanced at the blueprint and couldn’t help looking towards the house. He had a feeling that the sled was not what Brother Zhou invented, and this understanding became clearer when he saw the blueprint.

Then Third Yang focused his attention on the bow. He had long been coveting Hunter Wang’s bow.

Wu Shan also helped. There were no bows and arrows for sale on the market, so they could only be bought from experienced craftsmen. Even if they found someone selling bows, they were not allowed to buy more than one because the bow was a weapon.

To make it easier to enter the city in the future, the two families would not make more, and of course, the materials were not enough to make more.

In the following days, both families took care of themselves. The frostbite on their faces healed a lot, and the woman and child’s faces gained some flesh.

After the bows and arrows were made, they prepared to set off. Before leaving, they bought a lot of food and supplies and rebuilt the sled shed.

The bow made was not good. Yang Xi wanted to try it out but had no way of explaining it. She could only watch it being made. The result was unsatisfactory. The material greatly limited the finished product. The only consolation was that it was barely usable.

After leaving the town, they followed the route they had inquired about. Pingzhou was not troubled by bandits, so they took the official road. There were caravans on the road from time to time, so the journey was very safe.

When they were almost reaching the city, the group stopped.

Wu Shan was already used to discussing things with Yang Shi, who was also there. Wu Shan asked, “Shall we go into the city?”

Zhou Yu frowned, “Brother also saw it along the way. We would encounter patrolling soldiers from time to time. I think we should go around instead of entering the city and continue walking.”

Yang Xi’s brows were also furrowed. Their household registration was checked several times along the way, and the silver money just for giving tea to the soldiers was five taels.

Wu Shan, “The soldiers said that the patrol was to guard against rioters, but I don’t know if it’s true?”

Zhou Yu looked towards the direction of the city. “It’s just an excuse.”

The rioters were still gathering in the northeast, which was far away from the capital, not to mention Pingzhou. He was more inclined to believe that King Jiang had a lot of ulterior motives.

Yang Xi thought of the princes they met when they came to the capital, and lowered her voice, “Do you know something about King Jiang?”

Zhou Yu sighed, “We know too little information. For safety, we’d better hurry on our way.”

He had a bad feeling and was eager to leave King Jiang’s fiefdom.

(End of this chapter)

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