Fields of Gold

Su Ran naturally wouldn't take this lying down. The two of them both had their hands on the same fishing pole while the other hand was being used to battle. Their movements were like lightning and so fast that the people watching could only see a faint shadow. It was a dizzying sight.

Hou Xiaoliang fared better. He had already seen his master's fierce side before. Wutong, on the other hand, observed all of this with her mouth wide open and her eyes bugged out. She was usually a very lively person but now resembled a stunned simpleton.

The two of them were making quite a ruckus as they fought energetically. Yu Xiaocao, who had been trying to fish at the side, noticed that not a single fish could be seen for quite some time and became infuriated. She threw her fishing pole to the side and stamped her feet. She took in a deep breath and screamed in a shrewish manner, "The two of you!! Stop right now——"

The two supreme experts reacted immediately to the roar of the lioness and froze. Each of them still had a hand on the fishing pole while the other one was still in the middle of their next movement. They looked as if they had been frozen in a certain moment in time. The two of them turned their heads to look at Yu Xiaocao, who had her hands on her hips, and sheepish expressions surfaced on their faces.

"If you guys want to fight, go fight in the river! Not only are you two messing up my fishing, but if two also accidentally damage the ship while sparring, what are we supposed to do? Greet the fishes personally in the water?" Yu Xiaocao furiously glared at the two childish culprits, whose combined ages were over sixty. She resembled a teacher scolding some wayward students. Although she wasn't old in age or tall, her demeanor was quite imposing.

The old official at the back of the ship had heard the ruckus and looked over to see this surprising scene. He was stunned speechless. The people being scolded like schoolboys were not easy folk to deal with. One was the cruel and merciless, infamous head of the imperial hidden guards, while the other was an imperial prince, a highly skilled war hero with a face as cold as a glacier.. Despite their reputations, they were both acting like weak little chickens in front of the young woman and taking her scoldings like meek children.

It wasn't completely surprising that Imperial Prince Xu was taking this without a peep. After all, he was the husband of the great imperial envoy and Official Wu had heard the rumors in the capital that the price was a husband who pampered his wife to no end. Chief Steward Su's reaction, on the other hand, completely perplexed him. This man who was clothed entirely in white was obediently accepting his verbal punishment with a smiling face. Was he truly the same Chief Steward Su who was known to be vicious, cunning, and cold to his bones?

"Then ah...may I ask, Great Imperial Envoy, how should we be fighting in the river?" Su Ran meekly asked. Were they supposed to compete in swimming and catching fish in the water?

Yu Xiaocao gave a sidelong glance at the two people and crossed her arms in front of her chest. She tapped the deck with one foot as she huffed, "Aren't you both very skilled ah? Hmph! Here are two pieces of wood. You both can stand on them while they float in the river and you two can fight up to three hundred passes. Whoever's shoes don't get wet is the winner!" Following that, she threw in two pieces of wood that were about the size of a person's palm straight into the water. They were quite thin but she hinted at them to get started!

Zhu Junyang and Su Ran exchanged looks as they didn't know whether they should cry or laugh at the little lass's absurd expectation. Zhu Junyang let go of the fishing pole that he had been fighting with Su Ran over and walked towards his wife. He pointed at the pieces of wood, which were halfway submerged in the water, and said, "Do you want to kill me, your husband ah? That piece of wood wouldn't be able to hold a bird that landed on it, let alone me, alright?"

"You both are skilled at martial arts. Can't you make yourselves as light and lithe as a swallow ah?" Yu Xiaocao snorted a few times as she fully expressed how displeased she was at the two of them for delaying her fishing. In order to vent her temper, didn't she need to make things a bit difficult for them?

Su Ran lightly chuckled and sat down at the side as he stated, "Only the experts written in those wuxia novels have the ability to cross a river while stepping on floating reeds. Your Highness, Imperial Prince Xu, how about...you try it?"

"Hmph! You're the number one expert in the empire. If you can't even reach that level, why would this prince even bother trying to attempt such a task?" Zhu Junyang's wit was also quite good.

Yu Xiaocao stuffed a fishing pole into her husband's hand and grunted a couple of times before she said, "I don't think it matters anymore ah! You two were unable to figure out who's better than the other earlier, right? Then use fishing to decide! Starting from now, whoever catches the most fish and the largest fish will be the winner! The loser will have to wash the dishes from our lunch. Begin now!"

"A competition is just a competition; neither of us are afraid of the other!" The two of them weren't considered fishing experts. They picked up their respective fishing poles and baited the hooks. Then they stared at the river as they cast their hooks, and, in an instant, there wasn't a sound to be heard.

It was finally quiet. Yu Xiaocao let out a sigh and ordered Hou Xiaoliang to bring a fishing pole to her. Since these two unreliable guys were likely unable to catch much, she needed to do all of the work herself. Who knew when they would be able to eat a grand fish banquet ah?

Hou Xiaoliang whimpered, "Your Highness, the ship only has two fishing poles and this subordinate brought them all over earlier…" Argh! His mistress was mighty and was able to easily push around those two great lords like they were nothing. As a tiny shrimp, wouldn't he be punished heavily if he wasn't able to do things right?

"There's no more? Then bring over a bamboo rod and some fishing line. Wutong, go get a sewing needle. We can make our own fishing pole!" True experts didn't need fancy equipment to show off their skills!

Zhu Junyang bent the sewing needle into the shape of a hook with his bare hands. Following that, they threaded the line through the needle's eye and then stuck it onto the bamboo pole that had a diameter as thick as a baby's wrist. Yu Xiaocao then put some dough seasoned with sesame oil on as bait and pulled the little divine stone's claw over to imbue some spiritual energy on it. Okay, all preparations were done!

She placed her stool in an area close to where Zhu Junyang and Su Ran were sitting. She cast the fishing line expertly and fixed the fishing pole at the side of the ship. Before long, there was movement on her pole. She waved a hand at Hou Xiaoliang and then pointed at the pole, hinting that he should bring it up. It wasn't that she was unwilling to work. In fact, this fellow had found a bamboo pole that was too thick for her to easily pull on. Her arms and legs were skinny, and she didn't have enough strength ah!

Hou Xiaoliang knew exactly what he needed to do. If he was able to serve his mistress well, he would be able to hug the beauty earlier. He was very obedient in front of Xiaocao. As soon as he got the order, he stepped forward and pulled the pole up forcefully. A river carp that looked to weigh around four to five catties waved its tail as it wiggled on the hook.

Hou Xiaoliang immediately flicked the pole up and the river carp fell onto the deck with a thud and it began to struggle even more heavily. He leapt over and caught the river carp before taking it off the hook. He presented to his mistress as he flatteringly said, "Your Highness, you are truly an astounding expert! This river carp can be cooked and be a fine main dish at the meal!"

Yu Xiaocao nodded her head in satisfaction and replied, "Not bad. Looks like we have the main ingredient for exploding garlic fish!"

She revealed a victorious smile at the two people next to her and bent down to bait the hook so she could continue fishing. Before long, another fish was caught. When the pole was lifted up, they saw a large catfish that weighed around seven to eight catties. As Hou Xiaoliang was reeling the fish in, the fish struggled mightily and almost pulled the man off of the deck!

"Haha! We now have our Sichuan poached sliced fish in chili oil ah!" Yu Xiaocao deliberately pretended to be talking to herself. The expression on her face, however, betrayed just how proud she was!

Following that, Xiaocao continued to catch fish left and right while the two fellows behind her didn't have anything to show for their continued wait. They could only pathetically watch as fish continued to get hooked onto her pole and fill the water bucket next to her until it was almost full!

"Uh...could it be that the lass has caught all of the fish here so I'm not able to get any?" Su Ran mumbled to himself. He stood up and took his fishing pole and chair to the other side of the ship to try——he wasn't convinced that he wouldn't be able to get a single fish all morning!

Zhu Junyang also found a new space that was a bit farther from his wife. He frowned heavily as he stared at his fishing line in the water in a serious manner. Eh? He saw the line move! He forcefully pulled the pole up but there wasn't anything there!

Following that, he either saw that the fish hadn't gotten on the hook or that his bait had been eaten away. All in all, he had very few opportunities where a fish was actually on hook. However, the bait on his hook disappeared much more frequently. From that, it showed him that there were fish to be had but it was skills that were in question now!

"Xiaoliang, faster, faster! Pick up the pole! If you're late, the fish will be gone!!"

"Don't rush, don't rush!! The fish is testing things out right now——now it's okay, go pull the pole up!"

"You dunce, weren't you too slow ah? The bait has been completely eaten! No worries, let's try again!"

……

When he turned his head over, he saw his wife leisurely sitting down on the chair as she ate strawberries that Wutong brought to her mouth. The bright red juice from the fruit had dyed her pink lips a darker color and her nimble little tongue lapped up the sweet juice from the sides of her mouth.

Argh! There was such a vast difference in treatment here! His wife had someone holding an umbrella to block the sun, someone feeding her fruits, and someone in charge of manning her fishing pole. The lass only had to flap her lips and tell Hou Xiaoliang when to bring the pole up. As for himself? He was all by himself and hadn't caught a single fish all morning.

Wait! Why was his wife catching fish so easily? It had to be related to the bait she was using. She must have made it herself. His wife was very skilled so the bait she made must be out of the ordinary. This wasn't okay. In order to avoid having a date with some greasy plates this noon, he needed to get some bait from her.

Zhu Junyang stood up and walked to his wife. He glanced at the bait box next to her and stealthily reached a hand in. At this time, another large hand with long fingers had also reached in at the same time. When he turned his head around, he saw that annoying fellow, Su Ran, behind him.

The two people exchanged fierce looks with each other and the air around them began to tremble. However, Xiaocao's one remark, 'you're not allowed to fight; each person is allowed ten baits from the box to make this a fair competition!' immediately doused out the flames between the two of them.

"Hmph!" After retrieving their bait, the two of them headed back to their post. Now, they no longer had the problem of fish not taking to their bait. However, the two people's fishing skills were still quite bad. Over half of their bait had been eaten off the hook, while the remaining half had only been used to catch small river carps about the size of their palms. Not a single one weighed more than two catties. On Xiaocao's end, on the other hand, she always caught large fish and a vast variety of them. She could almost open a fishmonger's store now!

"Oh my goodness ah! A big guy is on hook now! Xiaoliang, you need to be careful with this one. Don't pull hard on the pole as the line may snap ah! You need to first lead this guy around so it uses up its strength. Once it's tired, then you can bring it onboard ah!"

Yu Xiaocao's butt had finally left her chair as she excitedly stood up and went to the edge of the ship. She instructed Hou Xiaoliang on how to reel this large fish in. Zhu Junyang and Su Ran both came over after hearing the ruckus.

Hou Xiaoliang had a face full of excitement as he fought carefully with the struggling large fish on the line that was swimming back and forth.

"Be careful, don't let the line get too taut ah!" Hou Xiaoliang immediately followed her instructions.

"Look at the strength of this guy; it must be a big fat one! Bring the pole over to the side, perfect, just like that! Okay, now pull it right and left; we need to make this guy dizzy!!" Yu Xiaocao used her hands to illustrate the way he should be moving the pole.

"Be careful, that guy is trying to escape! Hou Xiaoliang, use your strength in the same direction the fish is going, right! Just like that!!" Yu Xiaocao intentionally instructed him in ways to use up the fish's energy. At this time, it wasn't the right opportunity to fight fire with fire.