9009

Chapter Nine

A sudden thought flashed through Meng Yuning’s mind: Qi Jingyan wanted to drag her down with him.

But on second thought, it wasn’t really dragging her down. Her life was bound together with theirs, like locusts on the same string. So if they had plans and assigned her tasks, it was only natural.

Yet, it was the first time in her life she was involved in wrongdoing—deadly wrongdoing at that—and an inexplicable tension gripped her heart. She hesitated, unable to reply immediately.

Mu Yun seemed to sense her inner turmoil and quickly answered, “It’s just some common wild vegetables. The brothers are just being polite. Most of it has already been used, only that bucket of water celery remains. If the brothers don’t mind, feel free to take it.”

The soldiers had already tasted the various wild vegetables earlier and were still savoring them. They quickly responded, “Thank you very much then.”

Mu Feng returned from the riverbank carrying a bucket of water. Hearing this, his face darkened. He threw the bucket down and rolled up his sleeves, ready to rush over. “Mu Yun, I picked those myself. How dare you give them away as gifts?”

Before he could finish, Mu Shan stepped forward quickly, blocking him and pulling him aside. In a low voice he advised, “We have to rely on others for help in purchasing supplies. It’s just a bit of wild vegetables; don’t be so petty. We can pick more later.”

Mu Feng struggled and cursed, “I just can’t stand their arrogant attitude.”

Mu Shan, relying on his greater height and strength, forced him away.

Mu Yun smiled awkwardly at the soldiers and said, “My brother is young and impulsive. Please don’t take it personally.”

The soldiers, who always disliked Mu Feng’s troublemaking, wore sour expressions but said nothing.

Mu Yun then turned to Meng Yuning. “Miss Meng, how would you like to prepare these ingredients?”

Meng Yuning instinctively avoided the water celery. “Give me the cured meat. I’ll cut it. Later, I’ll stir-fry the celery stalks with the cured meat and some eggs. The celery leaves can be used to make egg soup.”

Mu Yun agreed, taking the two large strips of cured meat from the men and handing them to Meng Yuning. Seeing they hadn’t been steamed yet, she went to boil water, intending to clean them thoroughly before cutting; otherwise, they’d be too tough.

Seeing her busy, Mu Yun casually instructed two guards, “Pick the water celery from that bucket and separate the leaves from the stalks.”

They nodded and squatted nearby to begin.

Noticing the soldiers hadn’t left, Mu Yun had some stools brought over and poured tea for them, inviting them to sit.

The soldiers obeyed the orders of their commanding officer and sat down. Their shared suspicion was clear: if someone was to tamper with the food, it would surely be the cook.

So their attention was fixed tightly on Meng Yuning’s hands, watching every motion without missing a single detail.

Meng Yuning was accustomed to cooking in front of others and was not afraid of their gaze, but the task ahead still made her uneasy.

Yet, at this point, she had no choice but to persevere, silently repeating to herself, “Following orders, following orders,” striving to steady her nerves and work methodically.

Once the water in the pot was hot, she ladled some into a wooden basin and carefully washed the cured meat, rinsing it several times with fresh water. Then she had a guard help peel some branches to create a rack inside the pot. She placed the two strips of cured meat on it, covered the pot, and steamed them on high heat.

While the meat steamed, she cracked eggs—about a hundred or so—into two large ceramic basins.

By then, the two guards had finished picking the water celery. Mu Yun, sitting nearby, asked, “Miss Meng, what should we do next?”

Meng Yuning stirred the eggs with chopsticks. “Cut the stalks into sections about the length we ate before.”

Mu Yun nodded. “Alright, I’ll cut them.” He rolled up his sleeves, washed his hands, then laid the celery stalks on the cutting board and sliced them into evenly sized pieces.

Meng Yuning finished stirring the eggs. The cured meat was nearly done steaming. She lifted the lid, poked it with chopsticks, and upon seeing it was soft enough, used two chopsticks to lift the meat out, placing it in a basin to cool. After a while, when it was manageable, she sliced the meat into thin, uniform strips.

The two large strips of cured meat filled a whole wooden basin after cutting.

Mu Feng, who had earlier been pulled away by Mu Shan, suddenly reappeared from somewhere, scooped a large spoonful of cured meat into a bowl, and started eating it with his hands, unabashed.

Mu Yun scolded, “Mu Feng.”

Mu Feng rolled his eyes. “Miss Meng is helping cook for us, using our pot and firewood. What’s wrong with me eating some meat?”

Mu Yun was speechless with annoyance, apologizing profusely to the soldiers. “Sorry about that.”

The soldiers, fearing any tampering with their food, were actually glad Mu Feng tasted it first. They said, “It’s nothing, just a few pieces of meat.”

Mu Feng shot Mu Yun a glare. “See? No one else said anything, but you always act like a goody two-shoes.”

Mu Yun’s expression froze in embarrassment. He shook his head helplessly.

Their playful bickering was so in sync that if Meng Yuning didn’t know their close relationship, she might have believed they were at odds.

With all ingredients ready, Meng Yuning heated the wok with oil and began frying the eggs in batches. As usual, Mu Feng grabbed a bowlful with chopsticks and squatted to eat by the side.

When Meng Yuning finished frying all the eggs and plated them, Mu Yun poured more oil into the wok and heated it. Holding the basin of chopped celery stalks, he asked, “Shall we add this now?”

Meng Yuning nodded. “Add half. Keep the other half to stir-fry with the cured meat.”

Mu Yun did as instructed, setting the remaining half aside. Then he stood nearby, occasionally asking questions, seemingly eager to learn cooking skills.

With no one watching closely, the soldiers whispered among themselves.

“This Miss Meng has it rough—such a fine young lady, yet she’s stuck here cooking in the dirt. What a pity.”

“I heard it’s by the Empress Dowager’s decree.”

“Prince Shen must hate Minister Meng to the core. There’s no way he’d treat the minister’s daughter well.”

“That’s the minister’s fault. Since he defected to the Third Prince, he could have sent his daughter away earlier.”

One spoke lewdly, “Maybe sending her to warm the Third Prince’s bed wouldn’t be bad. That way, the two Meng sisters would share one husband. It’d be a fitting reward for Minister Meng’s loyalty to the Third Prince.”

“The Meng daughters are both beautiful and well-formed. If they both ended up with the Third Prince, he’d truly be fortunate.”

They all laughed with sleazy grins.

Their voices were low, and Meng Yuning only caught their laughter. When she looked over, she saw them glancing her way with lascivious eyes that made her uneasy.

Though she didn’t hear their words, her intuition told her they spoke ill of her—and related to her.

The discomfort in her heart was momentarily lifted by the earlier anxiety and guilt over the water celery incident.

Mu Yun, Mu Feng, and the guards were all trained fighters with sharp senses. They heard everything clearly, their expressions darkening.

Even though the prince hadn’t yet acknowledged Miss Meng as his consort, she was still one of their own. They would not tolerate such disrespect from those scoundrels.

Mu Feng stood up, bowl in hand, ready to confront them, but Mu Yun quickly restrained him and signaled the others. They all held back, continuing with their duties but choking back their anger.

The stir-fried celery stalks and eggs were served in a large basin brought by the soldiers.

After washing the wok and drying it, Meng Yuning added some oil and first stir-fried the cured meat until the oil released. Then, at Mu Yun’s prompting, she added the remaining celery stalks, tossing them quickly in the wok. Soon, a large basin of fragrant stir-fried celery and cured meat was ready.

Finally, she made the last dish: water celery egg soup. With these, two dishes and one soup were complete.

As the others stood to carry the dishes, Mu Feng hurriedly scooped a large spoonful of cured meat and eggs into a big ceramic bowl, preparing to add more meat. Mu Yun sharply stopped him, “Enough.”

Mu Feng rolled his eyes again, clutching his bowl and eating like a starving wolf as he headed toward the riverbank.

Seeing Mu Feng start eating, the soldiers’ last bit of caution vanished. They thanked Meng Yuning and Mu Yun, then paired up to carry the dishes back to their camp.

Once they were gone, Mu Feng quickly found a secluded spot, spat out the mouthful of cured meat he’d just eaten, dug a hole, and buried the entire bowl of food. Then, holding the empty bowl, he sought out the divine healer Tang to have himself examined. Only after Tang confirmed he was unharmed did he relax.

Watching the camp rush to grab food, Mu Yun cupped his hands respectfully toward Meng Yuning. “Miss Meng, thank you for your hard work. The prince requests you come to the carriage.”

Meng Yuning didn’t know why he wanted her, but she could only nod silently and follow Mu Yun to Qi Jingyan’s carriage.

Mu Yun announced, “Your Highness, Miss Meng is here.”

A warm, low voice responded, “Come up.”