Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 130 Having a Wife Like This
In November of the sixth year of Guanghe (183), there was heavy snow.

The off-season for farming.

In previous years, the Xianbei people would make moves every winter month, and Youzhou would generally not be quiet.

But this year is different. The internal strife among the Xianbei people has intensified, and they are fighting each other instead of raiding the border.

That year was unusually cold; the ice in the well at Xihe Pavilion was a full foot and a half thick.

In this kind of weather, everyone naturally stayed at home... to engage in production activities.

In those days, most people did certain things each month, and for poor families, the winter months were mating season...

This is because if a woman conceives during the winter months, the child will be born the following autumn.

Children born in the fall are more likely to survive.

Having enough food ensures sufficient breast milk, which in turn provides better nutrition for the child, making them less prone to illness and premature death.

Wealthy families naturally didn't care when their children were born, and they had plenty of entertainment options, but it was different for poor families.

In reality, increasing the frequency of births in the eleventh lunar month will not result in more babies being born in the fall, because the frequency of childbirth is not determined by the number of births...

But people these days always have this kind of thought.

Besides, there's no farming in the winter months, and the weather is cold. There aren't many indoor entertainment options these days, so what else can you do besides... you know...?
So every winter, poor families would close their doors and plant as many seeds as possible, partly to keep each other warm and save firewood...

Apart from Zhang Fei, all of Liu Bei's subordinates came from poor backgrounds. Although they were no longer considered poor, they retained their old habits.

This year, the weather is freezing cold, water freezes instantly, and nobody goes out.

Zuo Yuan finally had some free time.

In fact, Zuo Yuan originally wanted to take advantage of the off-season to study and practice diligently, but when she went to visit Jian Yong, she was turned away.

Jian Yong had just moved in not long ago. The yard wasn't big, and it wasn't soundproof at all...

Zuo Yuan heard it all from outside the courtyard.

So she had no choice but to hide at home and practice her swordsmanship.

Shortly afterward, several retainers carried over a large box, saying it was a gift from Liu Bei to Zuo Yuan.

Liu Bei did often give gifts, but he usually gave them personally; this was the first time he had someone else deliver them.

Zuo Yuan usually doesn't accept any gifts, but of course she had to accept the one Liu Bei gave her.

But Zuo Yuan was stunned for a long time after opening the box.

It was a white wooden sculpture.

A slender woman, dressed in swordsman's attire, with her hem rolled up and sleeves tied, her hair in a ponytail, a sword at her waist, and a faint smile on her face.

This is what Zuo Yuan looks like.

This is what Zuo Yuan looked like when he met Liu Bei at the foot of the city after he heard the drums of war and seized the city in Zhuo County.

Actually, the sculpture isn't particularly exquisite, but its face and expression are extremely lifelike. It would be impossible to achieve such a resemblance without years of companionship.

Moreover, the box also contained a pair of wooden geese, as well as a complete set of black and red silk, five bolts of silk, and a pair of deerskins.

Zuo Yuan's heart began to pound violently; she had never been this nervous, not even when she had thrown Zou Dan off the city wall that night.

She finally realized that while she had been busy improving herself, she had forgotten that she still had important things to do.

She practiced swordsmanship for half a day in the wind and snow, but still couldn't calm her restless heart.

When Liu Bei returned, Zuo Yuan was still practicing his sword.

Steam rose from above his head, and his breath was like smoke, clearly indicating that he was covered in sweat.

Liu Bei, worried that she might catch a cold, quickly took off his cloak and draped it over her shoulders, saying, "You're sweating and you're not resting? You're being too hard on yourself."

Zuo Yuan, who always acted like a man and considered himself a retainer, threw down his sword this time, hugged Liu Bei tightly, and asked in a very gentle voice, "That statue... how long did you spend carving it, my lord?"

"I can't remember, but I would carve it whenever I felt uneasy."

Liu Bei wiped the sweat from her face: "My wife's appearance can calm my mind."

"Wife?" Zuo Yuan looked up at Liu Bei, but instead of panicking, he seemed to have regained his former cleverness.

"The weather has been too cold this year. I've been searching for wild geese since the beginning of spring, but I haven't been able to find any live ones... Would you be willing to take my wooden goose?"

Liu Bei turned around to take the wooden goose out of the box.

This is one of the six rites of marriage for men, and it is the ceremony for proposing marriage.

Geese are migratory birds and represent the principles of trust and righteousness.

Black and red silk, bundles of silk, and matching leather were all betrothal gifts.

"Take it, take it all."

Zuo Yuan smiled, took off the ribbon from her waist, and stuffed it into Liu Bei's hand: "This is the only way I can return the favor. Would you accept it, my lord?"

The woman accepted the goose and returned a ribbon in return, signifying that the marriage agreement was established.

However, Zuo Yuan was only wearing a single layer of clothing while practicing swordsmanship, and once his belt was untied...

"It's so cold..."

Liu Bei pulled her into his arms and wrapped her in his cloak to prevent her from being exposed: "Neither of us has family, and we both acted as matchmakers ourselves. This return gift is not enough. We should thank the matchmakers."

"My lord just said that Yuan can calm your heart, but now you are not looking at Yuan. I suppose it is because Yuan is not beautiful enough to please you... I'm afraid it is not appropriate to thank the matchmaker."

Zuo Yuan straightened her chest and her voice became even softer.

I feel guilty for not being able to give you time to rest in the past.

Liu Bei picked her up and said, "I'm already seeing signs of distress, and I'm not at peace. My wife doesn't seem to be at peace either... Why don't we go warm ourselves up and calm down?"

When a person is concentrating on carving or practicing swordsmanship, their hands are prone to going limp.

When two people try to calm themselves down... their legs tend to go weak.

Anyway, the two of them didn't go out again until noon the next day.

The two supported each other, both looking radiant, but both had some difficulty moving around.

……

A month later, Liu Bei held a wedding banquet at his home.

The wedding banquet was also kept relatively simple because neither of them had any relatives.

This time, Zhang Fei didn't send a screen, but instead sent fine wine and mutton, which was quite proper—he was afraid Zuo Yuan would beat him up.

In fact, Zuo Yuan doesn't hit people much, and she has never really beaten Zhang Fei hard, but Zhang Fei is afraid of her. It's probably because he has been under Zuo Yuan's control for the past few years and has indeed become like an older sister to her.

Getting married in the twelfth lunar month is actually a bit unusual, because transportation in Youzhou is terrible in winter, and heavy snow can completely cover the roads, making it very inconvenient for guests to travel.

However, both Liu Bei and Zuo Yuan felt that the twelfth lunar month was suitable, because after winter, there would be many things to do again.

Zuo Yuan has intelligence that something big is likely to happen next year.

Even without intelligence, Liu Bei knew that something big would happen next year.

Nationwide food shortages, epidemics, severe drought in the Central Plains, floods in Liangzhou, landslides in Bingzhou, and a sudden cold snap in Youzhou...

This autumn, the imperial court issued a decree stating that this year would be a bumper harvest, requiring all grain-producing areas in the capital region, the three surrounding areas, and Henan and Hebei provinces that were connected to the Grand Canal to pay full taxes, and prohibiting the use of money or silk to offset these taxes.

With two consecutive years of severe drought and disease, a bumper harvest was of course impossible.

But the court had to say this because after last year it ordered all regions to collect grain and bring it to the capital, all the prefectures and counties reported famine.

It's impossible for all prefectures and counties to suffer from famine, and the emperor certainly wouldn't allow that, otherwise the taxes wouldn't be collected.

Last year, there was the incident of Luoyang running out of food and being threatened. The palace barely managed to get through it, but still had no food reserves.

If the grain tax isn't collected this year, how can the palace feel at ease?

Therefore, it must be a bumper year, or at least a good year.

(End of this chapter)