I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 87 Do you want to eat blueberries?

As the days passed, the pastoral life gradually faded the sadness in the hearts of the people in Ward Village, and the mountains and forests became more and more lively.

But there are always exceptions.

That day, Luc watched with great interest as Julie combed the white cat's hair in the house. Perhaps animals really do like children in general, and both little Charlie and the white cat were very close to Julie.

The white cat has grown a lot bigger than before. Since it was brought home, it has indeed caught a lot of mice, especially in the cellar behind Luc's house. Luc has seen the white cat carrying a gray mouse to the open space several times and playing with it. The mouse was tormented by the cat's claws, squeaking and trying to escape but couldn't. There was even one time when the mouse took advantage of the white cat's inattention and climbed very high up the earthen wall. It was caught by the white cat with strong jumping ability and peed all over the floor. In the end, it just lay on the ground and waited for death.

However, little Charlie and the white cat were only close to a few people, especially little Charlie. Apart from Luklein, Robert's family and old Eike, he was not friendly to other people. After a long time, at best he ignored them.

This is also the result that Luc wants. A guard dog should only be friendly to its owner.

Julie used a pig-bristle brush to brush off the stray hairs on the white cat, and the white cat snored as it enjoyed Julie's combing. Today, everyone returned to their usual routine. The peasant women continued to look for wild fruits and vegetables, and Jill learned to make charcoal under Luc's guidance. She turned the firewood that Hans had chopped into wheelbarrows full of charcoal.

Robert took care of the fields and livestock, and Luc had a rare chance to relax. He sat on a chair covered with soft deerskin and drank cider from a wooden cup. This was a barrel of cider that Luc had brewed after he came back, and it was now placed in a pottery under the bed.

Shaking the ice in the glass, Luc leaned lazily against the back of his chair, looking at the wooden house that could be regarded as a food depot and an armory, as well as the simple shacks outside and the serfs drinking wheat paste. He felt that he was becoming more and more like the person he hated in the past.

But the villagers of Ward Village, including the horse thief George, all thought behind Luke's back that he was more generous and kind than all the lords they had met before. It was really a case of comparing goods to goods.

"Sir, are you free now?"

Luc was feeling the refreshing mountain breeze and was about to fall asleep when a cautious question interrupted his sleep. He opened his eyes and found two people standing outside the window.

"Amy?"

It took Luc a while to see who was coming and he found out that it was a peasant woman from Ward Village.

Amy's figure is relatively thin compared to the others, or it can be said that she has a normal female figure. Her face is dark and thin due to wind and sun, but she is already the most beautiful woman in the mountains, and the youngest. It is said that like Jill, she was not married before being attacked by bandits, but her parents were killed.

Amy is a relatively introverted person. Since she came to the mountains, she has never taken the initiative to look for Luc. She mostly stays close to old Ekgill and others. So when Luc looked at Amy with a hint of anger on her face and Hans standing behind her, he knew that something must have happened.

"What's going on?" Luc frowned.

"Sir, please forgive my rudeness. I didn't mean to disturb your rest, but Hans is really going too far!"

When Amy heard Luc's question, she immediately became angry and told Luc everything about Hans' situation.

As they had a rough idea of ​​the food around the forest, under Ryan's leadership, everyone took a raft to the other side today and successfully found some edible plants on the other side. Hans was also among them.

But it was precisely because of this that Hans came into conflict with others.

Hans insisted on picking and eating as he went along, and he ate a lot, which made the others very dissatisfied. After all, except for the oatmeal porridge that could be eaten as much as they wanted, the other vegetables and fruits had to be shared equally. Hans' behavior was tantamount to stealing other people's food.

Everyone knew that Hans had a low IQ, so they only criticized him slightly. However, Hans got angry and felt that the people in front of him didn't want him to eat enough, especially Amy. He almost hit her, but Ryan pulled out his butcher knife and threatened her, so he didn't dare to act rashly. When he heard Ryan ask Amy to hand Hans over to Luke for processing, Hans fell silent.

After hearing the whole story, Luc remained silent for a while. Finally, he picked up the wooden cup and drank the cider in one gulp. He said, "I understand. Amy, you can go back first. I will give you a fair treatment in front of everyone tonight. Hans, you stay."

Looking at Luc's serious face, Amy nodded and said, "Yes, sir."

She still trusted Luc very much. After all, in the eyes of her and all the peasant women in Ward Village, he was a knight who attacked and killed bandits in order to rescue them.

Amy slowly retreated, and Luc stood up and looked at the dejected Hans, his eyes gradually becoming stern: "Hans, have you forgotten what I said to you before?" As Hans followed him, Luc set some rules for this man with low intelligence. He would make sure Hans had enough to eat, and at the same time use his relationship with the monastery to make Hans believe that his brother's soul could be sent to heaven by him, but at the same time, Hans had to obey his orders as he obeyed his brother's orders, and was not allowed to use violence against people in the mountains unless he ordered.

Seeing Hans shaking his head, Luc said, "Since you still remember, I will hold a court hearing tonight and punish you with a willow stick, just like your brother once did."

Seeing that Hans was a little scared but not dissatisfied after hearing this, Luc understood that he accepted his punishment. He waved his hand and said, "From now on, don't go picking mountain fruits. Go to the foot of the mountain and help Jill push the charcoal."

Seeing Hans leave, Luc sat back in his chair.

Luc poured himself another glass of cider and took a sip. Hans's problem was not a big deal. On the contrary, it was a good opportunity for him to establish his authority over Hans. After all, Luc was very experienced in dog training. Training a dog cannot be done by just feeding it.

However, it was a new food that Amy just mentioned that caught Luc's attention.

Wild blueberries.

Like grapes, wild blueberries cannot be eaten as food. At best, they are condiments. They can be eaten raw or made into blueberry jam and spread on brown bread.

Putting down the wine glass, Luc climbed up the wooden ladder to the mezzanine, found the cleanest and best piece of clothing from among several linen clothes, told Julie to clean the cabin, and then walked out of the house.

The Hoffman caravan brought a lot of linen for Luc. In addition to the nine sets of clothes he had bought, Luc also bought enough clothes for the mountains. However, he did not distribute them immediately. Instead, he planned to give them to everyone as rewards in the future.

Upon learning that blueberries had been discovered, Luc couldn't help but think of one thing - dye!
Dyes were also valuable items at this time.

Of course, Luc didn't intend to waste blueberries, but it would be okay to take out some for experimentation.

When everyone came back at noon, Luke called Ryan over and asked everyone to hand over some blueberries. After lunch, they put the blueberries in wooden basins and officially started extracting dye.

The small oval blueberries exuded an enticing aroma. After washing them, Luc picked up a few to taste. Hmm, they were relatively soft and juicy.

Then Luc mashed all the blueberries, put them into the pottery, and filled it with water until it was completely covered.

Let old Eklan fetch some wood and start a fire and boil it.

If you want to turn blueberries into dye, you can soak them slowly, but that will take longer. Luc just practices it simply and uses a faster method.

After boiling for about a few hours, Luc opened the boiling pottery and found that the blueberries inside had turned into crumbs, and the river water that had just been clear had turned light blue.

Luc took out the paper mold, covered it on another pottery, and began to filter out the debris inside. He filtered it twice before he finished.

Then Luc spread the clothes he had prepared in advance in the wooden barrel, poured all the ripe blueberry juice into it until it was completely soaked, and finally sealed it tightly with wooden boards and stones. He asked Ryan and Jill to move to a cool place and wait slowly.

In the evening, after dinner, everyone did not disperse, but was gathered together by Luc. In front of everyone present, Luc punished Hans with a willow stick.

When the party was over, Luc said to Hans in a meaningful tone, "Hans, remember, I'm punishing you today not because you stole the food, but because you didn't obey the order I gave you earlier. Do you understand?"

After sending Hans away, two days later, Luc reopened the blueberry barrel and looked at the once light yellow linen that had turned into dark purple clothes after being dyed. Luc washed it again and then dried it.

The dark purple clothes successfully attracted Ryan's attention. Although the color distribution was not very uniform and the color was darker in some places, it did not stop Ryan from liking the clothes.

"Master, from now on you will also have clothes of noble colors!"

(End of this chapter)