Drive to the Tang Dynasty, where supplies are refreshed daily!

"What should I do?"

Seeing Li Lizhi's worried expression, Xiao Ran changed the subject.

"Fifth Sister, there's no need to worry too much. We still have the old man. His medical skills are superb, and we have plenty of medicinal herbs, so there shouldn't be any major problems."

These words were purely meant by Xiao Ran to comfort Li Lizhi. Xiao Ran wasn't entirely sure what the truth was, and could only do his best and leave the rest to fate.

Li Lizhi's tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly. In any case, Xiao Ran's words did make her less worried than before.

It was cold outside, so the two went back inside after they finished talking.

Upon seeing Xiao Ran and Li Lizhi return, Li Shimin asked, "Did you go out on business?"

Empress Zhangsun also looked over curiously.

Li Lizhi did not want Li Shimin and Empress Zhangsun to know about her conversation with Xiao Ran, so as not to worry them. Therefore, she shook her head and gave Xiao Ran a look.

Xiao Ran didn't want Empress Zhangsun to know, as the pregnant woman's mood was very important.

So he replied, "It's nothing. Let's go out for some fresh air and think about what to eat tonight."

Li Shimin chuckled, "You've been spending too much time with the rhinoceros, and all you're thinking about is how to eat it?"

The little princess, who was sitting on the kang (a heated brick bed) and touching Empress Zhangsun's belly, suddenly raised her head.

"Okay, that's great!"

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "In this life, we all need to eat and drink. How can we not eat? Uncle, why don't you stay? I'm planning to make a boiled fish dish today."

Li Shimin was indeed somewhat tempted. He wasn't busy today, otherwise he wouldn't have brought Empress Zhangsun along.

Not only Li Shimin, but everyone wanted to try the food that Xiao Ran had prepared, not to mention the little princess, who was a real glutton.

"Little Nang-kun~ I want seven fish ducks~"

Xiao Ran looked at the little princess with a indulgent expression, "Even if anyone else is missing, our Sizi won't be missing."

However, there were no fresh fish at home, so Xiao Ran picked up his fishing rod and prepared to return to his old ways.

Empress Zhangsun looked at Li Shimin with a gentle expression, "Why didn't Your Majesty go with the young master?"

Although Li Shimin also enjoyed fishing, he was even more worried now that he had just learned that Empress Zhangsun was pregnant and that Sun Simiao had said that Empress Zhangsun's health was failing.

"I won't go, I'll worry about you."

Hearing this, Empress Zhangsun felt a warmth in her heart.

Knowing that Xiao Ran was going fishing, the little princess quickly got off the kang (a heated brick bed) and insisted on going too, but Xiao Ran stopped her.

“Be good, Sizi. It’s cold outside, and that’s the water’s edge. It’s too dangerous.”

As he spoke, Xiao Ran coaxed, "I'll be back soon, and I'll make something delicious for Si Zi when I get back, okay?"

Empress Zhangsun also said to the little princess, "Sizi, come to your mother."

The little princess looked at Xiao Ran, then at Empress Zhangsun, and walked up to Empress Zhangsun.

"Aniang~"

Empress Zhangsun said gently, "Doesn't Sizi want to spend more time with his mother?"

The little princess tilted her head and thought for a moment, then looked at Xiao Ran, "Little Nangjun~ I'll stay with Mommy~ You have to come back quickly~"

Xiao Ran nodded. "Okay, I'll definitely be back soon."

The little princess and Li Shimin are not going, but Li Lizhi can still go and join in the fun.

Not only Li Lizhi, but also Zhang Dalang and Qin Huaidao and a few others went to join in the fun.

Xiao Ran took out his fishing rod, cast it, baited it, and sat down to start fishing.

Fortunately, the pond hasn't frozen over yet, otherwise we'd have to make a hole in the ice first.

Xiao Ran's bait was still as popular as ever; the float moved shortly after the hook was cast.

"The fish is on the plate!" Cheng Chumo exclaimed in surprise.

Xiao Ran stood up and started reeling in the fish, while the others stared intently at the water.

After a while, the fish below ran out of strength, and Xiao Ran pulled it up by breaking the surface of the water.

"This fish is quite big."

Qin Huaidao looked at the fish for a while and finally came to a conclusion, "It must weigh at least three jin."

Xiao Ran laughed as well, "It is indeed quite big, but it's a grass carp, so it's normal for it to grow big."

Moreover, grass carp is perfect for making boiled fish.

However, one fish was not enough. Since he had already come all this way, Xiao Ran simply cast another line.

The fish weren't being caught as quickly as before, but Xiao Ran wasn't in a hurry. He just sat in his chair and waited patiently.

On the contrary, Li Lizhi glanced at Xiao Ran, who was fishing, and a few other people who were watching intently, picked up a landing net from the side, and suddenly scooped it up from the water's edge.

The commotion startled Xiao Ran and the others. Xiao Ran turned around and saw Li Lizhi holding a net with a fish inside. The fish was thrashing around, and it looked like Li Lizhi was about to lose her grip.

Xiao Ran didn't even bother with the fishing rod. He took a few steps forward, took the landing net from Li Lizhi's hand, and threw it far away from the water's edge. The fish could only wag its tail in place and then stopped moving after a few moments.

"Are you alright?" Xiao Ran asked.

Li Lizhi nodded, looked up, and her eyes still held a hint of excitement.

"I caught a fish! The fish was right under the water plants. I was going to call you guys, but I was afraid it would get away, so I just tried using the landing net. I didn't expect to actually catch it!"

Xiao Ran walked over, took back the fish that Li Lizhi had caught, and said, "We're in for a treat today. This is a mandarin fish. We'll make you squirrel mandarin fish when we get back."

Li Lizhi asked in confusion, "Squirrel? Mandarin fish?"

Xiao Ran nodded, "Yes, squirrel mandarin fish. Squirrel is a type of flying squirrel. The reason it's called squirrel mandarin fish is because the dish looks just like a squirrel after it's cooked, hence the name."

Li Lizhi understood immediately, "I thought it was really made from squirrels."

Now that he had caught two fish, Xiao Ran planned to take the fishing rod back with him. However, he didn't expect that as soon as he picked up the fishing rod, another fish would come out with him.

However, the fish was too small, so Xiao Ran simply released it.

Carrying two rather large fish, he headed home, but before he could even enter the house, the little princess ran out.

"Little Nangjun~ You're finally back~" The little princess hugged Xiao Ran's leg and acted coquettishly.

Xiao Ran was still holding a fish in his hand. Upon seeing this, he quickly raised both hands and held the fish high.

Li Lizhi gently pulled the little princess away, "Sizi, let's let the young master come inside first, it's cold outside."

The little princess nodded and followed Xiao Ran into the house.

As soon as I entered the room, a wave of heat hit me.

Xiao Ran didn't feel cold while fishing outside, but he realized it was cold after entering the house.

Looking at the fish in Xiao Ran's hand, Li Shimin laughed and said, "These two fish are quite big. You're quite fast at catching two fish in such a short time."

This made Li Shimin feel a little eager to try it out.

Xiao Ran shook his head. "It's not that I'm a great fisherman. I only caught one. This one was caught by Fifth Sister."

As he spoke, Xiao Ran shook the mandarin fish.

“Perfect timing. I was thinking that the boiled fish was a bit too spicy for Sizi and the others, so I was planning to make something else. Now that we have this mandarin fish, Sizi can eat fish too.”

The little princess nodded in agreement, "Seven Fish~"

Li Shimin then looked at Li Lizhi.

"Oh? Fifth Sister caught it?" Xiao Ran nodded. "Yes, she caught it with a net. It's all thanks to Fifth Sister's quick eyes and hands, otherwise this fish would have gotten away."

Under the watchful eyes of Li Shimin and the others, Li Lizhi blushed with embarrassment.

Xiao Ran chuckled and then said to Li Shimin, "Uncle, I'll put these two fish in the kitchen first, and we can eat them tonight."

Nowadays, candles are still used for lighting at night, so there are not many activities at night, and dinner is eaten earlier.

But it's still a bit too early to eat it now.

However, with so many people, it was impossible to eat only two fish for dinner, so Xiao Ran began to prepare the dishes.

He also planned to stir-fry some cabbage with vinegar, and then stir-fry some eggs and meat.

If there are too few samples, then we can only make up for it with quantity.

The staple food is not just rice, but also sesame cakes.

Zhang Erya could handle steaming the rice, so Xiao Ran didn't need to. After preparing the dishes, Xiao Ran went inside as well.

At this moment, Sun Simiao was taking the little princess's pulse, and he looked quite relaxed.

After a short while, Sun Simiao withdrew his hand.

"Don't worry, even though children are young and may seem weak, they actually have a lot of energy."

Upon hearing Sun Simiao's words, Empress Zhangsun visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

Xiao Ran asked, "What's wrong? Is Si Zi feeling unwell?"

The little princess turned around and saw Xiao Ran, giving him a sweet smile.

"What's up~"

Empress Zhangsun explained, "She was playing around in the room with Fanyin and Seventeen just now, and then she ran out. Although she only went out for a short while, she suddenly coughed twice, so I was a little worried."

The little princess touched her neck.

"There are ducks here~ so I'll cough~"

Xiao Ran realized that the little princess had choked on her own saliva.

"Looks like Sizi can't wait to eat, he's even drooling," Xiao Ran joked.

Everyone present laughed, but the little princess innocently said, "Yes, I miss Qiyuyu!"

Xiao Ran opened the cabinet, took out a few cookies, and handed them to the little princess.

"Shall we eat cookies first?"

The little cookie princess also liked it, and quickly picked one up and put it in her mouth, not forgetting to share the rest with the others.

Several children sat there eating cookies and listening to the adults chat.

Li Shimin is currently most concerned about glass, and he doesn't know when his clairvoyant vision will be completed. Every time he mentions it, he looks regretful.

Xiao Ran wasn't sure about this either. Glass is indeed getting better and better these days, but it's probably impossible to make a telescope out of the glass we're making now.

"Uncle, don't worry, if it works out, I'll definitely tell you as soon as possible," Xiao Ran could only promise.

The sun gradually sank in the west, leaving only a sliver of its setting sun outside.

Xiao Ran pushed open the door and was pleasantly surprised.

"It's a fiery sunset."

The others rushed over to see, and saw that the horizon was covered by a fiery red glow, just like the afterglow of a phoenix flying by.

"Wow~ So pretty~" The little princess loved it so much that she immediately wanted to go outside.

Xiao Ran hugged the little princess tightly.

"Let's wear warmer clothes before we go out to play."

It was warm inside, so I changed the little princess's clothes as soon as we came in. Otherwise, if she sweated inside, she might easily get sick if she went outside.

The little princess urged, "Then hurry up, ducks!"

Li Lizhi went to change the little princesses' clothes, while Xiao Ran went to the kitchen.

It's almost time; it's time to start making dinner.

Both fish were already marinated. Xiao Ran first made boiled fish, which cools down slowly, and then made squirrel mandarin fish.

The little princess had changed her clothes and was playing in the yard.

Princess Chengyang and Princess Gaoyang chased each other around, while Yan Yao played and frolicked with the princess and Third Sister. Di Renjie, being more composed than the girls, watched quietly from the sidelines.

After Xiao Ran finished cooking, he called out to the outside, "Dinner's ready!"

The little princess immediately stopped what she was doing and ran towards the kitchen.

Xiao Ran was holding a bowl of stir-fried cabbage with vinegar when he turned around and almost bumped into the little princess.

Especially considering the little princess's height, Xiao Ran couldn't see her at all unless he bent down. It was only after hearing Li Lizhi call out "little princess" that Xiao Ran realized something was wrong and stopped in his tracks.

The little princess had no idea what was happening. She was blinking her eyes and tilting her head back, trying to see Xiao Ran clearly.

"Little Bag~"

Xiao Ran squatted down. "Sizi, why are you here? Go back and eat."

The little princess shook her head, "I'll come help!"

Xiao Ran didn't trust the little princess to carry the food, and besides, the little princess couldn't carry it, so Xiao Ran simply gave the little princess a bowl.

"Then, Sizi, please take this bowl inside for me."

The little princess nodded, holding the bowl in her two little hands, and walked into the house.

Princess Chengyang and Princess Gaoyang also came over, and each of them took a bowl and a pair of chopsticks and went back to their rooms.

Xiao Ran and the other adults carried the food into the house.

A group of people were eating around a table; the scene was almost like celebrating the Chinese New Year.

Xiao Ran pointed to the boiled fish and said, "This is boiled fish. It's a bit spicy, but I didn't put in too much spice. You can try a little bit first. It's made with grass carp, and I removed all the fish bones when I cooked it, so you don't have to worry about getting pricked."

Then, Xiao Ran pointed to the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish and said, "This is the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish. It has no bones, so you can eat it without worry."

Li Lizhi looked at the squirrel-shaped mandarin fish and said, "It really does look a bit like a squirrel's tail."

Xiao Ran sat down and placed a piece of squirrel-shaped mandarin fish on the plate of the little princess who was eagerly waiting.

The little princess put it in her mouth, and her big eyes instantly brightened. "Good, good, good duck~ Little darling, I want more~"

Xiao Ran then placed another large piece on the little princess's plate.

Li Lizhi also ate a piece of squirrel-shaped mandarin fish and was immediately amazed by its deliciousness.

"This squirrel-shaped mandarin fish tastes sweet and sour, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, with no fishy smell at all. It's really delicious."

Li Ke then picked up his chopsticks and started eating the boiled fish.

"Hiss—this boiled fish is delicious, but it's a bit spicy." Li Tai gasped as he ate.

Xiao Ran quickly stood up, grabbed some milk, and poured a glass for each of them.

"This milk helps relieve the spiciness; you can drink some if you get burned by the spiciness."

Li Tai quickly picked up his cup and took a big gulp. Once it wasn't so spicy anymore, he started eating the boiled fish again.

"Is this fish really that delicious?" (End of Chapter)