The Emperor is Above

Chapter 11: Annual Tribute Day
"Boom-"

A wooden basin with a diameter of three feet was placed on the dining table in front of Qing Yi.

The large chunks of wolf meat are piled high and are steaming hot. The rich aroma of the meat whets your appetite.

"Master, why did you eat so little today?" Da Niu asked while holding his rice bowl which was about one foot in diameter. "You only ate ten kilograms of meat this morning?"

"Hululu——"

Qing Yi ate a lot before answering, "We've been eating wolf meat for seven days in a row. No matter how delicious the meat is, it's getting a little boring. Let's go hunting some other time to change the taste."

"I think it's better to slaughter those four reindeer. Each reindeer has three or four hundred kilograms of meat!" Da Niu shook his head and felt that he had come up with a good idea.

"Brother Danniu, please don't kill the deer. I think they can be used to pull carts and plow the fields in spring." Erhei, who was sitting next to Danniu, spoke hurriedly.

He is eight years old and skinny. He first glanced at Daniu's bowl, then stared at Yi's three-foot rice bowl and said with envy, "I think this wolf meat is delicious."

Seeing his expression, Qing Yi couldn't help but laugh and said, "Haha, of course we can't kill the deer. If we kill them, who will pull the cart for us?"

"Come on, Erhei, eat more meat so you can grow as strong as your brother Da Niu." Aunt Bo picked up a piece of lean meat and gave it to the dark and thin Erhei with a loving face.

Erhei said with a worried look on his face: "Auntie Bo, I have already eaten more than half a pound of meat. My stomach is full and I really can't eat any more."

"This poor child can't even eat meat!"

Aunt Bo smiled and patted Erhei's little head, then looked at Qingyi and said,
"Young Master, the Kou clan has schemed against you in so many ways that they even let Senior Sergeant Mao Sheng collect the annual tribute eight days in advance without authorization. You must be extra careful when you go to Maoqiu Pavilion today."

Seeing the sun rising above the treetops outside the window, Qing Yi smiled and said to the old man, "Don't worry, Auntie Bo. Although I don't know what other tricks Kou has, many nobles will come together when the annual tribute is collected, not to mention Chai Yong and his men will follow them.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Kou Shi only dared to use some tricks within the rules and would never dare to do anything reckless, not to mention that I now have more than 500 kilograms of physical strength. "

Qing Yi ate a lot for seven consecutive days, especially the extremely nutritious wild wolf meat. On average, he ate fifty kilograms of meat every day. On average, every kilogram of meat he ate could increase his strength by one kilogram.

After seven days, Qing Yi's strength is now over 500 kilograms, and the minimum requirement for a lower-level commoner is 300 kilograms, almost reaching the standard of the middle level of body building.

“People’s hearts have really changed!”

After breakfast, while helping Qing Yi pack his clothes, Auntie Bo sighed, "Back then, the old master and Kou Rui both served in the Right Division, and they were comrades and friends for many years. The two families had many interactions.

Who would have thought that eight years ago, in the expedition against the Black Wind Tribe, the right division was ambushed and defeated with heavy casualties, and the old master also died in that battle, but Kou Rui accidentally killed a wounded intermediate totem warrior, and was therefore appreciated by a nobleman.

After that battle, my family went from upper commoner to lower commoner, but Kou Rui was promoted from upper commoner to lower commoner. I didn't expect him to take care of my friend's children and orphans, but I didn't expect him to have evil intentions and repeatedly persecute me. "

Qing Yi had long known that his cheap father was once a good friend of Kou Rui. After hearing Auntie Bo's complaints, he realized that his family actually had such a connection with the Kou family.

He thought for a moment and guessed, "The relationship between our two families was originally very good, but now he has repeatedly persecuted and plotted against me. It is said that only ungrateful people who have done wrong to others will be so cruel.

Could it be that it was actually my father who killed the intermediate totem warrior, and Kou Rui took the credit and took the reward, and then he felt sorry for my family and had to kill him immediately to eliminate his uneasy feeling?"

"How can this be possible!"

After tying the lower commoner's hat for Qing Yi, Auntie Bo shook her head and said, "A mid-level totem warrior is comparable to a seventh-rank lower-armor warrior, or even a sixth-rank upper-armor warrior. The old master was only at the peak of the eighth-rank warrior realm back then, and was no match for a mid-level totem warrior at all."

During the conversation, Chai Yong and other young men had finished breakfast and were waiting in the yard. Da Niu led the men to move the ninth-grade exotic wolf onto the newly built huge sled, which was large enough to carry 20 people in addition to cargo. "Master, we are all ready and can set off at any time!" Seeing Qing Yi tidy up his clothes and go out, Da Niu stepped forward and said, "Are we leaving now?"

Qing Yi first clasped his fists, then laughed out loud to Chai Yong and other young men in the neighborhood, "All of you uncles and aunts have been troubled because of me."

"The head of the village is too polite!"

"That's ridiculous. We are neighbors, so of course we have to help."

Many young and strong men responded one after another. Many of them held bone knives and bone swords in their hands, and many others held long spears, the spear tips of which were naturally made of animal bones.

After greeting the neighbors, Qing Yi turned to Da Niu and said, "Except for this wild wolf, bring five more of the remaining twelve wild wolves here. I have my own uses for them."

Dozens of young and strong men worked together, and Qing Yi couldn't even get to the corner. The five wolf corpses were quickly loaded onto the sled, but this meant that not too many people could sit on the sled.

Chai Yong suddenly had an idea and said, "Everyone has skis now. It's only about ten miles from Huaiqiuli to Maoqiuting. We can just follow along and practice!"

"Pay attention to this!"

"I haven't practiced properly on the skis I made yesterday."

More than twenty young men agreed and went home to get their own snowflake boards. This attracted a group of young men including Xizi and Huaimu to follow.

In the past, the snowy winters made it difficult to move around, and there were hungry wild beasts roaming around. Not only were the children locked up in the village and not allowed to go out, but even the adults did not dare to go out alone.

Nowadays, when it comes to the annual tribute, people naturally want to join in the fun and also gain some knowledge. In fact, during the tribute period, Maoqiu Pavilion will often spontaneously form a market, and some people are prepared to go to the market to buy some things.

Qing Yi didn't care about what these people thought at all. The more people acted together, the less likely the beasts would get close, and the danger would be lower.

After such a delay, when we actually set out, more than fifty people followed us all the way, which was really lively.

The one who controls the four reindeer is naturally the little white fox with the ability to confuse them. If they want the wild reindeer to pull the cart safely, their ability is indispensable for the time being.

The little fox, feeling that he had worked hard, wanted to crawl into Qing Yi's fur cloak to keep warm, but was rudely grabbed by the scruff of the neck and pulled out.

It had no choice but to lie in the animal skin bag specially prepared for it next to Qing Yi, with only its tiny head sticking out. It looked young, pitiful and helpless.

The wasteland was covered with snow in winter, but because it was the day to pay annual tribute, groups of people and horses could be seen heading towards Maoqiu Pavilion from afar from time to time, so it didn't feel desolate.

As we got closer to Maoqiu Pavilion, we met more and more groups of people, all of whom were walking forward with difficulty. When they saw the people in Huaiqiuli rushing at lightning speed, they were all stunned.

From time to time, you can see these people pointing and talking at Qing Yi's group, and from time to time you can hear passers-by exclaiming: "What are they stepping on? Why are they moving so fast?"

The journey proved that sleighs are far superior to ordinary horse-drawn carriages for traveling in winter. It took less than half an hour to cover more than ten miles of snowfield.

The bustling market at the edge of Maoqiuting attracted the young men to rush in with cheers, and a few young and strong men also went to buy and sell the items they needed.

However, Chai Yong and more than 30 others followed Qing Yi all the way to Maoqiu Pavilion. When they approached Maoqiu Pavilion, they found that the upper and lower officials gathered around the pavilion had ugly expressions on their faces.

(End of this chapter)