3 003

Chapter Three

Meng Yuning carried a bundle of wild vegetables and arrived at the kitchen on the east side of the camp. The so-called kitchen was merely five stoves temporarily piled up with a few stones, each holding a large pot.

Four of the pots contained white porridge, but most of it had already been eaten. Now, only some rice soup and a few grains remained at the bottom of the pots.

The fifth pot was filled with a dark, blackish-green mixture—likely the wild vegetables from earlier. It was still more than half full, suggesting that not only did Meng Yuning find it unpalatable, but others did as well.

She genuinely wanted to say that this dish was so unappealing, even pigs wouldn’t touch it.

Nearby, the guards drinking porridge glanced over at Meng Yuning standing by the stove. They whispered among themselves as they sipped their bowls.

“Miss Meng used to hide in the carriage or stay inside the tent, never showing herself. Why is she at the kitchen now?”

“Who knows? She ran away once and seems to have changed.”

“Shh, Mu Yun said no one’s allowed to mention that.”

“I wish I had a lock on my mouth.”

“Look, she’s carrying bamboo shoots and vegetables. Could she be cooking?”

“No way. She’s just a young lady from a noble family; how could she know how to cook?”

“Enough, here comes Mu Feng.”

At the sight of Mu Feng approaching from the main tent, the men quickly dispersed, each returning to their tents with their bowls, though curiosity still got the better of them as they peeked through the tent flaps.

Meng Yuning scooped water from a bucket and poured it into one of the pots, then took a brush made from bamboo and grass tied together and began scrubbing the pot. The iron pot was too heavy for her to lift, so she brushed the water onto the ground beside her.

After scrubbing a few times, she cleaned two pots thoroughly. She then filled one pot with water, scooped several bowls of rice from the sack, washed it clean, and poured it into the pot. She added firewood beneath the stove, picked up a tinderbox, and lit the dry grass. The fire slowly caught.

She found a slightly larger piece of wood among the firewood and sat on it. Then she brought over the bundles of wild mountain bamboo shoots and began peeling them.

Her movements were swift and skillful, quickly piling a heap of tender green bamboo shoots into a wooden basin meant for vegetables.

A few steps away, Mu Feng stood, arms crossed, staring in astonishment. Didn’t the Meng family’s eldest daughter come from the prestigious Shangshu Mansion? How could she be so adept at kitchen work?

The guards secretly watching from the tent exchanged glances. “This Miss Meng seems like a different person from a few days ago.”

“Maybe something happened when she ran away? She realized it’s better to live a steady life with our lord?”

Meng Yuning paid no attention to Mu Feng’s intense gaze opposite her, nor to the many eyes peeking from the tent. She focused solely on her work.

She finished peeling the two bundles of bamboo shoots, rinsed them twice, then took a handful, placed it on a cutting board, and flattened them with a cleaver. She cut vertically twice and then horizontally once, repeating the steps until all the bamboo shoots were chopped into small pieces and placed into a clean wooden basin.

The pot with rice had begun bubbling. She walked over and stirred it a few times to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom.

Next, she checked the jars beside the stove. There was oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar—not many seasonings, but enough for now.

Her eyes then fell on two strips of salted and air-drying mutton hanging on a makeshift rack propped up with branches. She reached for a knife, about to cut some meat, when Mu Feng rushed over, shielding the meat with his arm and looking at her warily.

“What are you doing?”

Meng Yuning said, “I’m borrowing a piece of meat.”

Mu Feng replied, “The lord and the young lord have poor appetites. These two strips of meat are reserved for them. You can’t waste them.”

Seeing Mu Feng so nervous, Meng Yuning recalled the first day they left the capital. Sitting in the carriage, she overheard Mu Feng complaining that the emperor was ruthless—he released the lord from prison without giving him time to mourn the empress or prepare supplies, and immediately forced them out of the city.

Only after the empress dowager sent people to chase them down for dozens of miles did they receive two carts: one with rations, one with vegetables and meat, plus a thousand taels of silver.

The young lord was also secretly delivered in a vegetable basket.

With a group of two hundred, even eating only two meals a day consumed much of the supplies. Rice, vegetables, potatoes, and radishes were still available, but the perishable meat had nearly run out. These two strips of lamb were salted and air-dried, reserved for the brothers Qi Jingyan and Qi Jingyi.

Occasionally, when the cook was in a good mood, he would prepare a small pot of salted meat porridge for the brothers. Before Meng Yuning fled, she was even given a bowl.

Mu Feng guarded these two strips of mutton carefully because the Kangwen Emperor not only refused to allow them time to prepare supplies but also ordered that to maintain the royal image and prevent public panic, they were forbidden to rest in any towns along the way, forced to camp in the wilderness.

Even with silver, they had nowhere to buy food.

Two days prior, when they passed a county town, Mu Feng tried to buy fresh food with the silver but was intercepted by the local officials just as he rode out of the group. If Mu Yun had not arrived in time, Mu Feng might have fought them.

Mu Feng returned to the group grumbling all afternoon, but there was no use. Though they had two hundred people, the five hundred escort troops—double their number—were there to control them.

Meng Yuning recalled that according to the records, under pressure from the empress dowager after the empress’s death, the Kangwen Emperor released Qi Jingyan but remained distrustful of the former crown prince, who held great prestige both in court and among the people. He feared Qi Jingyan might gather forces and rebel on the way to Lingnan.

So he dispatched five hundred elite troops disguised as escort officials to supervise and effectively imprison Qi Jingyan’s party, forbidding any contact with outsiders.

They had to march south obediently without deviation.

No one was allowed to leave the group, no matter their intentions.

Anyone who left without permission was to be stopped immediately and, if disobedient, executed on the spot.

This was the emperor’s explicit order, though Qi Jingyan’s party was unaware.

They had tested the limits several times—attempting to hunt or buy supplies—but were intercepted every time and eventually understood the strict restrictions.

As for why the escort troops ignored Meng Yuning’s escape, it was because, besides the emperor’s orders, they secretly followed the third prince’s instructions to not interfere with anything detrimental to Qi Jingyan.

An escaped fiancée was seen as a blow to Qi Jingyan, so even if the guards noticed Meng Yuning’s departure, they turned a blind eye.

Moreover, the wilderness was full of wild beasts and venomous insects; they believed she wouldn’t survive long on her own and thus wasn’t a concern.

Not only did they not intervene in her escape, but when bandits and robbers attacked, they merely watched from a distance, indifferent. Occasionally, they even covertly shot arrows, but Qi Jingyan’s good fortune always saw them through.

In light of all this, it’s understandable why Mu Feng guarded the two strips of salted lamb so jealously—no one knew when they would get fresh meat again.

Seeing Mu Feng fuss over the meat like a mother hen protecting her chicks, Meng Yuning couldn’t help but smile, finding the young man amusing.

She wanted to use her culinary skills to change how Qi Jingyan’s party viewed her.

For Qi Jingyan, who hadn’t tasted meat in several days, the taste of bamboo shoots cooked with meat would likely win over his palate.

So today, she had to cut off a piece of that lamb.

She raised her knife, gestured, and said earnestly, “Mu Feng, I’ll just cut a small piece.”

Before she finished, Mu Feng jumped back a step, eyeing the knife warily.

As they stood there in a stalemate, the cook appeared from the side and said, “Let her cut it. I want to see what she can do.”

“That meat’s for the lord,” Mu Feng grumbled but reluctantly stepped aside.

Meng Yuning thanked both of them, then cut a piece of the air-dried lamb, about the size of her palm.

Under their close watch, she washed the semi-dried lamb, cut it into small pieces, and added more firewood to another pot on the stove. When it was hot, she poured in a little oil. Without scallions or garlic, she skipped the initial stir-fry and directly tossed the lamb into the pot, stirring it a few times. Then she filled the pot halfway with water, brought it to a boil, and let it simmer slowly.

Mu Feng rolled his eyes. “All that fuss, and it’s just boiled lamb. I can do that too.”

Meng Yuning ignored him and noticed the porridge was nearly done. She picked some shepherd’s purse, washed and chopped it finely, then stirred it into the porridge. Once cooked, she added some tea oil from a jar and a pinch of salt, mixed it well, and put out the fire beneath the stove.

Mu Feng sniffed and whispered to the cook next to him, “Looks pretty fragrant.”

Tang He shrugged without replying and continued watching Meng Yuning busy at work.

The lamb stew had been boiling for a long time. Though the meat was scant, its aroma wafted through the air. Meng Yuning added more firewood, then sat on the wooden block, quietly waiting. When the fire died down, she added more wood again.

At first, Mu Feng and Tang He stood watching, but soon each found a wooden seat and sat closer and closer to the pot, sniffing repeatedly.

Meng Yuning found it amusing but didn’t laugh for fear of upsetting Mu Feng again.

After about half an hour, the broth had turned milky white. Meng Yuning poked the lamb with chopsticks, finding it tender, then added all the wild bamboo shoots.

Before, the pot had only a few meat chunks floating, looking sparse and desolate. Now, with the bamboo shoots added, it was nearly full.

Mu Feng sneered, “That lamb broth smelled good, but now you’ve ruined it with bamboo shoots.”

Meng Yuning guarded the pot. After another short while, she added some salt and reduced the broth over high heat before turning off the stove.

She took a ceramic bowl, picked a piece of lamb and some bamboo shoots, blew on it to cool, and tasted it. Nodding, she found the flavor quite good.

Looking up, she saw Mu Feng’s eyes gleaming as he stared at her. She grabbed another pair of chopsticks and a bowl, picked up a piece of lamb and several bamboo shoots, and offered it to him.

Mu Feng swallowed nervously but turned his head away. “I’m not eating. Who knows if you poisoned it.”

Tang He, not waiting for her to ask, picked up the bowl and chopsticks. “I’m not afraid to die. I’ll eat it.”

Mu Feng scolded, “Eat, eat, eat! Go die then, traitor.”

Meng Yuning couldn’t help but laugh.

Tang He first ate a bamboo shoot, eyes lighting up. Then another, eyes brightened again, and he hungrily devoured the rest, never lifting his head.

After finishing the bamboo shoots, he took a bite of the lamb, closed his eyes in bliss, and exclaimed, “Marvelous! Marvelous! Marvelous!”

Everyone knew the cook’s sharp tongue. Hearing him say “marvelous” three times in a row meant it was truly delicious.

Inside the tent, sounds of smacking lips rose one after another, but no one dared to venture out for a taste. They all pressed their faces eagerly against the doorway.

“Didn’t expect Miss Meng to have such skills.”

“Maybe we were too harsh on her before.”

“Honestly, she’s innocent in all this.”

“Exactly. Otherwise, why would the lord have told us not to trouble her?”

“So, from now on, let’s treat her better—not just for the food, but because she’s a young lady abandoned by her cruel father onto our lord’s carriage, traveling all this way with us. She’s pitiful.”

“Right. No matter how bad her father is, she’s our lord’s fiancée now—that makes her our master’s future wife. As long as the lord has no objections, we shouldn’t treat her coldly.”

Tang He swallowed the last piece of lamb and went to serve himself more. Mu Feng, seeing his ravenous look, quickly fetched a large ceramic basin and rushed to the pot.

“The lord and the young lord haven’t had a proper meal in days. I’ll bring them some to try.”

But as he lifted the ladle, he remembered the dish was made by Meng Yuning.

Having just scorned her and forbidden her from cutting meat, he felt embarrassed and awkwardly put down the ladle, glancing at Meng Yuning.

She smiled and stepped forward, scooping ladlefuls into the basin. “This was made for the two lords. I’ll serve them first.”

Mu Feng said nothing, quietly carrying the full basin, filled with lamb, bamboo shoots, and rich broth.

Meng Yuning took another basin, filled it halfway with shepherd’s purse soup, and said to Mu Feng, “Let’s go deliver it to the lords.”

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Inside the tent, Qi Jingyan held little Yi’er in his arms, teaching him to read from a copy of the Thousand Character Classic.

At first, Yi’er followed along attentively, but soon he tilted his head to look outside.

Qi Jingyan gently patted his little head and asked softly, “Are you tired, Yi’er?”

The little boy, in a soft childlike voice, said, “Meat, meat,” drooling slightly.

Thinking of their recent food and seeing Yi’er’s gaunt little face, Qi Jingyan’s heart ached with guilt. He took a handkerchief and wiped Yi’er’s drool. “Brother will have someone make some meat for you soon.”

Just then, the tent flap was lifted, and Mu Yun entered, leading Mu Feng and Miss Meng, each carrying a ceramic basin. Before they even approached, the aroma wafted through the air.

Yi’er, who had been sitting obediently, jumped up excitedly, pointed at Mu Feng’s hand, and with bright eyes said, “Meat, meat.”