in2ebook Chapter 373 Killing Pigs
Chapter 373 Killing Pigs
Jinse's sudden question struck Li Desheng, who was about to step out the door, like a thunderbolt. His body trembled violently, and he almost stumbled and fell to the ground.
He turned around in horror, his gaze first falling on Jinse, then quickly shifting to Su Nuannuan, as if to confirm whether he had misheard.
"Your Majesty, are you...are you going to slaughter a pig for the New Year at the manor?" Li Desheng's voice trembled slightly, as if he still held onto a sliver of hope that Jinse was just saying it casually.
However, Su Nuannuan's answer left him utterly hopeless.
"Let's prepare one! If we don't slaughter a pig for the New Year, is it really the New Year?" Su Nuannuan said with a smile and a relaxed tone.
Li Desheng thought to himself, "So he didn't celebrate the New Year in the palace before?"
Since his mistress had already spoken, Li Desheng dared not delay and had no choice but to accept his fate and begin preparations.
"Also, please invite the princess and her husband to come to the manor to celebrate the New Year. Otherwise, it would be quite lonely with only the two of them in the manor."
After hearing this, Li Desheng couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Your Majesty, is it you who feels lonely?"
However, he dared not voice his thoughts and could only respectfully reply, "Your Majesty, you are truly thoughtful."
Then, Li Desheng added, "This servant understands. To slaughter a pig for the New Year, this servant needs to go to a farmer's house now to reserve a large, fat pig, and also to book a butcher. I just don't know if we can still make a reservation?"
Su Nuannuan thought for a moment and said, "Let's reserve two! We'll bring one back tomorrow, kill it, and the manor will need meat too. We can also take some back with us when the four carving masters leave."
Upon hearing this, Li Desheng was stunned. He thought to himself, "One pig isn't enough, they actually want to order two, and one of them has to be brought back and slaughtered tomorrow. They really are rich and willful!"
But outwardly he still responded respectfully, "Yes."
After accepting his fate, Li Desheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly, "His wife really does things on a whim. With that kind of personality, she's quite a talent to have climbed to the position of Imperial Concubine in the cutthroat harem."
Right after the new emperor ascended the throne, there was still someone who could live so freely and unrestrainedly; after thinking about it, it could probably only be his empress.
Li Desheng pondered these random thoughts to himself, but his steps did not falter at all as he slowly left the room.
"Your Highness, the invitations are ready." Jinse said softly as she walked up to Su Nuannuan, holding a stack of completed invitations.
Su Nuannuan glanced casually at the invitation in Jinse's hand and replied nonchalantly, "I naturally trust what you wrote, so there's no need to look at it. Go and arrange for these invitations to be sent out."
Upon hearing this, Jinse quickly replied "Yes," then bowed with the invitation in her hand before turning around and going out to arrange for people to deliver the invitations to each household.
Upon receiving the invitations from Consort Zhuang, the ladies of the various households were overjoyed, their faces beaming with smiles. They began to meticulously prepare the clothes and jewelry they would wear on the day of the banquet.
However, the next morning, before dawn, Su Nuannuan was awakened by a sudden howl.
"Tingxue, why do I hear what sounds like pigs squealing?" Su Nuannuan asked sleepily.
Tingxue, who was keeping watch on the small couch, was dozing off when suddenly a piercing squeal of a pig shattered the tranquility of the night. She jolted awake, immediately sitting up on the couch, rubbing her eyes to make sure she hadn't misheard.
Upon hearing her mistress's question, Tingxue quickly walked over and respectfully replied, "Your Majesty, a pig is being slaughtered in the front yard."
Su Nuannuan was clearly not satisfied with the answer. She frowned and muttered, "Slaughter the pig? It's not even dawn yet! Can't we slaughter the pig later?"
Tingxue quickly explained, "Your Majesty, it's already the hour of Mao (5-7 AM). In Huiyang City, pig slaughtering always begins at this time."
Su Nuannuan still found it strange. She said with dissatisfaction, "What kind of ridiculous custom is this? Slaughtering pigs so early is such a disturbance to the people." As she spoke, she pulled the blanket over her head, seemingly trying to block out the annoying squeals of the pigs.
Seeing this, Tingxue said softly, "Your Highness, the reason why the noise is so loud is because only our household is slaughtering a pig today."
Upon hearing this, Su Nuannuan abruptly threw off the blanket covering her head, her eyes wide as she asked, "If all the neighbors slaughter pigs, how are we supposed to live? Won't the neighbors have any objections?"
Tingxue smiled slightly and patiently explained, "So, Your Highness, after we slaughter the pig, we need to send some pork to our neighbors as a token of our apology."
"In my opinion, the person who started this ridiculous custom of slaughtering pigs at dawn must be craving pork but doesn't have the money to buy it, so they came up with this stupid idea." Su Nuannuan threw off the covers, plopped up angrily, and kept muttering to herself.
Seeing this, Tingxue quickly stepped forward, only to find Su Nuannuan looking displeased, as if someone owed her money. Tingxue couldn't help but ask curiously, "Your Highness, are you getting up?"
Su Nuannuan rolled her eyes at her, annoyed, and replied in a harsh voice, "Otherwise what? It's so noisy outside this early in the morning, how am I supposed to sleep?" After saying that, she glared fiercely at the window, as if she could see the scene of slaughtering pigs through the window.
Following Su Nuannuan's gaze, Tingxue saw that it was still dark outside, and she could faintly hear the squeals of pigs.
Su Nuannuan grew angrier the more she thought about it, and couldn't help but complain, "If I had known about this ridiculous custom, I would never have killed this pig. Just thinking about the New Year's pig slaughter again makes me realize that I made a mistake."
The pig was finally slaughtered, and as the butcher's knife fell, cutting the pork into pieces, the sun slowly rose from the east.
The morning sun shines on the snow-white earth, as if draping this silver-clad world in a golden veil.
However, this seemingly warm sunshine is merely an illusion. In reality, the sunlight at this moment doesn't bring much real warmth; it's more like a beautiful lie, deceiving people's senses.
After respectfully seeing the butcher off, Li Desheng made an appointment for the butcher to come to his residence on the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month to slaughter a pig. Then, he instructed the servants in his residence to carry the already cut and portioned pork to each of the neighbors.
The "left and right neighbors" here doesn't just refer to the two houses on either side, but to all the residents on this street. The street isn't very long, with only eight households in total. However, even Li Desheng was worried about whether there would be enough pig to go around.