Chapter 11 [Life-threatening work]

As soon as Xu Youshan said this, everyone in Zhaoping Marquis Mansion changed their expressions.

Chen looked at Yang who was lying on the ground. Yang's complexion did look much better after seeing the food sent by Jiang Lili's grandfather, but this was not a solution after all.

The conditions proposed by Xu Youshan are indeed tempting.

If I can save my mother's life, what's the difficulty in kneeling down?

When Jiang Lili heard the conditions offered by Xu Youshan, a look of contemplation flashed in her eyes. Then, she quietly pulled Xin Che's hand and wrote the four words "delay time" on Xin Che's palm.

Over here, Wang Zifu heard Xu Youshan's words and asked curiously, "Master Xu, are you going to join our exile team?"

This exile road is difficult to travel, and it gets more and more remote. It is not a suitable route for sightseeing. If Mr. Xu follows them, they will have to take care of him for the sake of the Yanzhou prefect, and the task will be more difficult.

"Don't worry, I've brought along a highly skilled guard for this trip."

Xu Youshan fanned himself, "Also, we have a top chef from the seafood restaurant accompanying us. We've also prepared plenty of wine, meat, and other ingredients. We can provide everyone with better meals along the way."

"However, traveling together will cause some trouble to Chief Wang, so I'd like to ask you to accept this small reward for your hard work."

He winked at the beautiful maid beside him, and the maid took out a heavy purse from her waist and walked up to Wang Zifu and other yamen runners to distribute gold leaves.

The yamen runners took the gold leaves and smiled from ear to ear. Wang Zifu, as the leader, took more, and he was even more polite to Xu Youshan.

None of the yamen runners in this group can cook. They are just old men with rough cooking skills. Their standard for making fire and cooking is just to make sure the food is cooked, and there is no taste to speak of. Now that Master Xu has brought a cook and wine and meat, the living conditions on the road will be much improved.

Xu Youshan came here with the intention of humiliating Xin Che.

Beating Xin Che directly would not be enough to vent his anger. Moreover, if the person was seriously injured, he would have to treat him. If he could not save the person, he might get into trouble. After all, the late emperor had ordered that the heroes who founded the country and suppressed the rebellion should not be killed.

He wanted to see Xin Che forced to give up his dignity and kneel down to beg him, only then could he get rid of the hatred he had for the past.

"Well, what do you think?"

Xu Youshan looked at Jiang Lili with a smile: "Speak up, weren't you quite talkative just now?"

Having regained his composure, Xu Youshan calmed down a bit. He sarcastically asked, "Why, for the sake of your so-called face, you disregard your mother-in-law's life and don't want to kneel?"

Jiang Lili actually spoke up: "I have a question."

"If you can do what you said and make mother better, then your conditions are fine. But——"

Jiang Lili's tone was filled with doubt: "How can I believe that you will do your best to treat him after the whole government kowtows and kneels?"

"Where is the doctor you mentioned? How is his medical skills?"

"I'm afraid you're pretending to heal us, but are actually fooling around and making fun of us."

Jiang Lili's words woke up Chen and others. Yes, with Mr. Xu's stubborn temper and his love for finding fault, would he really allow someone to cure Yang?

Xu Youshan felt that Xin Che was a difficult woman to deal with. "My daughter-in-law was delayed at home by something. She left a step behind me and hasn't arrived yet."

"She's not here? If she's not here, then she's not here. Let's wait and see. Mother's illness isn't acute. She needs a long rest. There's no rush."

Jiang Lili looked unconvinced. "Besides, my mother's illness requires nourishing and rest. She'll definitely need all sorts of precious medicinal herbs along the way. Do you have them prepared?"

"My mother's family runs a pharmacy, so of course we're prepared!"

"My female doctor brought some herbs with her. Just wait and see! They're no worse than what they use in the capital!"

"Just wait and see."

Faced with Jiang Lili's questioning, Xu Youshan fell into the trap of self-proof, and the two were deadlocked.

Wang Zifu had already taken the iron pots, spoons and other cooking utensils from the cart to prepare the evening meal. He walked over to Xu Youshan and said, "Master Xu, we are about to prepare dinner. If you don't mind, would you like to try our brothers' cooking?"

Wang Zifu's seemingly polite question was actually a reminder. Xu Youshan naturally understood the other party's hint: "Captain Wang, you are too polite. Let my chef take care of dinner."

"Ahai!"

Xu Youshan called out to his accompanying cook, and the servant beside him replied, "Master, Chef Hai said that the mushrooms and game on the nearby hills are particularly delicious, so he went to pick some mushrooms."

"Tonight, I'll make mushroom, ginseng, and pheasant soup with some fresh vegetables. It's so delicious!"

When Wang Zifu and others heard what the servant said, they started to feel greedy.

The convicts were also greedy, but they knew that they could only eat coarse bread and drink rice soup.

At this time, Xin Yan, who was being held by Chen, had a particularly loud rumbling sound in his stomach. They had been on the road since they had had breakfast in the morning, and the child was getting hungry quickly.

"What's wrong, are you greedy?" Xu Youshan looked at him with a pair of drooping eyes, full of evil, and Xin Yan immediately shrank his neck.

Seeing this, Xu Youshan suddenly came up with an idea. He said to Wang Zifu, "Captain Wang, look at these people. They are clearly prisoners, but they are lazing around in this temple. Aren't they living a little too comfortably?"

"Chef Hai is going to look for mushrooms alone. He has to prepare dinner for nearly 20 of us. I'm afraid he doesn't have enough manpower."

Xu Youshan was holding back a malicious thought: "Old people can't stand the rain, and these young people are lazy here, which is not right. Why not let the young and strong men in Zhaoping Marquis's Mansion help us look for mushrooms together."

Wang Zifu knew Xu Youshan had connections to the Marquis of Zhaoping's mansion, so he said, "Brilliant, brilliant. Jiang Lili, Chen Fulan, Xin Che, Xin Cheng, the four of you step out!"

"Go help Chef Hai find mushrooms."

Wang Zifu was not afraid that Jiang Lili and others would escape. After all, the hostages, Marquis Zhaoping and his wife, were still in his hands.

"Wait." Xu Youshan then added, "I'll give you half an hour to find enough food for 20 people."

"If they are not all found..." Xu Youshan was thinking about the appropriate means of punishment when Lin Gong, the yamen runner who had harassed Jiang Lili before, came over and whispered something to him.

Xu Youshan was immediately overjoyed, "Great, great!"

"If we haven't found them all, Jiang will have to partner with Lin Yashi and take charge of the meals on the road, helping Lin Yashi!"

Lin Gong showed a lewd smile. Jiang Lili helped him, and he had many opportunities to take advantage of her.

Xu Youshan continued, "Poisonous wild mushrooms can easily cause death if eaten accidentally. You must be careful. If, during the final inventory of ingredients, Chef Hai discovers poisonous mushrooms among the mushrooms you handed in..."

Xu Youshan glanced at Xin Che and said, "Then you people in Zhaoping Marquis' Mansion will be responsible for eating up all the poisonous mushrooms!"

Marquis Zhaoping became very worried when he heard what Xu Youshan said. The fungi in the forest were so diverse that even the locals themselves could easily get confused, let alone outsiders like them?

Xu Youshan had anticipated this, so he came up with this idea.