Everyone had gone to bed by now, and even though they were cold and hungry, they all huddled together and fell asleep. When they heard the loud noise, everyone was awakened and looked in the direction of the noise.
Xu Qinyu also opened her eyes and looked over.
The place where the loud noise came from was at the foot of the mountain where they had just stopped. A large amount of sand and soil mixed with rain water slid down, carrying with it several huge rocks and other large and small stones and uprooted pine trees, and was rushing down the hillside.
Sure enough, a mudslide occurred.
Everyone's expression changed.
Many people patted their chests and said thankfully, "It was so scary. Fortunately, we walked a little further and didn't stay there any longer. Otherwise, we would definitely be buried here, or we would be washed away to other places or hit by these rocks. Deputy Captain Chen must have had the foresight to know that the area was prone to danger."
"That's right, Lieutenant Chen has foresight."
It was not until this moment that they felt that even though they were a little tired from the journey, at least they were still alive.
Being alive is more important than anything else.
Wen was so frightened that her face turned pale. Pei Jianing glanced at her expressionlessly and then closed his eyes. Pei Weixuan glanced at Xu Qinyu, said nothing, and continued to lean against the pine tree with his eyes closed to rest.
Xu Qinyu took a few glances and found that the mudslide could not affect them. They were very safe here. She felt relieved, hugged the two children in her arms and fell asleep. She was too tired and sleepy. Now that there was no danger, she could finally sleep peacefully.
The Wen family members were still frightened and their faces turned pale. They no longer had the intention to cause trouble for Xu Qinyu. Even if they were dismissed from office, they wanted to live well. They also thought that Wen Yunling could enter the palace and become the concubine of the new emperor in the future. Then they could turn their lives around and return to the capital to become powerful and respected by everyone.
Deputy Captain Chen looked at the mudslide in the distance and felt relieved. He didn't say that he felt sorry for the families of the exiled criminals and serious criminals, he just felt sorry for his own soldiers.
These soldiers have been following him to transport exiled prisoners over the years, traveling all over the country, sleeping in the open air, and enduring untold hardships. Their families at home are worried about them, and he has to ensure that he brings them home safely every time.
So Deputy Captain Chen was very grateful to the young lady.
This young lady had been silent and timid all the way, but unexpectedly she did a great good deed at this moment.
Ma Liu also widened his eyes in surprise. The young lady actually predicted it right and a mudslide really happened.
"Boss..." Ma Liu couldn't help but call out to Lieutenant Chen, wanting to tell him how the young lady knew that a mudslide was going to happen.
Deputy Captain Chen said, "Stop talking and take a good rest."
…
Another half a quarter of an hour passed, the sky darkened, and the rain gradually stopped.
Lieutenant Chen took a look at the sky and asked the officers and soldiers to go around and find some firewood. The weather was too cold. Although they were all wearing straw raincoats, they were soaked. They needed to keep warm and dry their clothes, otherwise they would easily get sick.
Ma Liu couldn't help but come over and said, "Boss, it's too cold today. We need to make a fire, or why don't we light a stove? Our pancakes are too dry and we can't swallow them. There are still a lot of bacon in the car. Put it in the pot and cook it. Everyone can have a piece of bacon and drink some bacon soup to replenish their energy." The weather has been bad in the past few days, and they haven't turned on the stove all the way. They almost choked to death from eating the pancakes.
Deputy Captain Chen nodded in agreement.
They were on the road all year round. Since they were sending prisoners to exile, they could not ride horses on the road, but they still prepared a horse to pull a cargo cart, on which were placed their food, clothing and daily necessities for the journey. Although there were only about thirty soldiers, they were fully equipped with large iron pots, salt, and liquor. Occasionally, when they passed by a town or village on the road, they would buy some ingredients or food.
The bacon in the car was what they had bought when they passed by the town. They bought the bacon of a whole pig and some dry firewood. However, there was not much dry firewood left and it would not burn for long. After burning the dry firewood, they would put some wet firewood on top to make it burn for a while longer.
Half of the officers and soldiers went out to find firewood. Lieutenant Chen lifted the oilcloth on the cart, took out buckets of liquor and iron pots, and those who were fetching water went to fetch water, and those who were setting up pots started to set up the pots.
There was a small stream not far from where they rested, and the water quality was good.
They don't have a cook. They usually cook by setting up a big pot, adding water to it and bringing it to a boil, then throwing all the ingredients in and cooking them. There is no taste at all.
"Boss," Ma Liu couldn't help but nag at Lieutenant Chen, "It would be great if we had a cook. We must find someone who can cook and light the fire. I've been eating homemade food all the way and it's almost tasted bland. I want to eat big meat buns, braised pork and roasted pork, which will make me feel refreshed."
The food they cooked was really terrible, but in this kind of environment, it was good to have a hot meal. These exiled prisoners had been eating coarse grain cakes all the way, which were not only as hard as stones but also hurt their throats. At least they were eating white flour cakes.
Deputy Captain Chen didn't say anything. How could a cook who could cook be willing to do such a hard job? It would be better for him to be a cook in any military camp than to run around with them.
Xu Qinyu had woken up by now and was looking at the busy officers and soldiers not far away.
These officers and soldiers were not far from her, and she could hear their voices. Thinking of what Ma Liu said, she had an idea. She had been thinking about how to borrow their pot, but now she had a way.
These people can't cook, and she probably can't do anything else, but cooking is a piece of cake for her, and it also allows the Pei family to have something hot to eat.
She stuffed the two children in her arms to Pei Jianing, "Sister Ning, please take good care of Brother Feng and Sister Yan. I'll be back soon."
Pei Jianing was also drenched just now. Regardless of Wen's eager eyes looking at her, she also ran to the boulder to take shelter from the rain.
Pei Jianing was still asleep. He took his brother and niece in a daze and went back to sleep.
When Wen saw her daughter-in-law stand up, she hurriedly asked, "Yuniang, what are you doing?"
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll go borrow some hot water from the military officers."
Xu Qinyu made up an excuse, saying that Wen was timid, and if she asked these soldiers to recommend herself to cook, Wen would be worried to death.
Mrs. Wen wanted to say something but stopped herself. Although these officers and soldiers never beat or scolded them or the prisoners, they were not easy to get along with. Every time she went to ask for hot water and food, she had to pay some silver. She still had some jewelry left on her, but that was the capital for them to settle down in the southwest. Her daughter-in-law was almost recovered from her illness now, and she was reluctant to use the remaining jewelry to exchange for hot water.
Xu Qinyu walked over to Deputy Captain Chen and said gently, "Deputy Captain, are you looking for a cook? I happen to be able to cook, so why don't you let me try to cook today?"
Deputy Captain Chen glanced at Xu Qinyu without saying anything. Ma Liu stared at her with wide eyes, "Can you cook?"
The families of the criminals this time are from the fourth prince of the capital and the lineage of the Duke of Anping. This young lady seems to be the legitimate daughter of the marquis's mansion. How could a girl from a noble family be able to make fire and cook?
Xu Qinyu smiled bitterly, "Although I am the second daughter of the Marquis of Dechang's mansion, my life in the mansion..."
Deputy Captain Chen and Ma Liu were both soldiers from the capital, so of course they knew about the young lady's situation, and even they felt a little sympathetic towards her. The young lady was the second daughter of Marquis Dechang's Mansion, and it was the third daughter who was originally engaged to the Fourth Prince, but in the end, the imperial edict made it her turn to be engaged to the Fourth Prince, and she would also be exiled to the border town with the Fourth Prince.
I guess she learned how to cook because she was not valued or pampered in the Marquis' Mansion.
Although Xu Qinyu's words were meant to elicit sympathy, they were not false. Seeing the sympathetic expressions on the faces of these officials, she continued, "So I do know how to cook, and the food tastes pretty good. I hope you will trust me, sir. If it doesn't work out well, I'll compensate you with the ingredients, okay? But if it does, and you sir, you think it tastes good, could you also reward me and my family with a bowl of hot rice?"
"Okay, then you try it."
The food cooked by these men is really bad. I think the food cooked by this young lady is better than theirs no matter how bad it tastes.
"Excuse me, what ingredients do you have?" Xu Qinyu felt relieved. As long as they agreed to let her cook, she would be able to impress these soldiers.
Ma Liu said happily, "There's bacon, some flour, eggs, and a few cans of oil. We bought them in town earlier."
Although their job is quite hard, many prisoners' families will give them some money and ask them to help take care of their families on the road, so they have more money on hand. The job is hard, so they are unwilling to compromise on food. When they encounter food and ingredients on the road, they are very generous and willing to buy them.
Xu Qinyu nodded, already knowing what to do.
"Master, can I go to the hill ahead to find some food? There should be winter bamboo shoots in the mountains. They are delicious and perfect to stew with bacon at this time of year."
Deputy Captain Chen agreed. He wasn't worried about the young lady running away. Although the families of these criminals were also exiled to the southwest, they were ordinary commoners there and didn't need to serve. This was already the mountainous area of the southwest. Moreover, in these desolate mountains, if a young lady dared to run away, she would probably not want to live.
Xu Qinyu borrowed a basket and a kitchen knife from Deputy Captain Chen.
This place is full of rolling mountains, and the mountains where they rested are gentle, not high mountains.
After entering the mountains, Xu Qinyu was surprised to find that, perhaps because this place was too remote, not many people came here to pick wild vegetables such as winter bamboo shoots, mushrooms, etc. There were a lot of wild vegetables.
Especially the wild mushrooms, which are very lush. You can see patches of wild mushrooms every few steps. Most of them are edible, and occasionally there are some poisonous ones.
Some wild mushrooms are highly poisonous and should never be eaten.
Although some of them are slightly poisonous, the toxin can be eliminated by cooking them thoroughly, making them a very delicious dish.
Of course, if you eat it without cooking it thoroughly and do not seek medical treatment in time, you may lose your life.
Xu Qinyu did not pick those slightly poisonous ones. She was afraid that the soldiers would not be able to resist tasting them when cooking. She was also afraid that the poison could not be cleaned up in these wilderness. It was better to be cautious and picked those completely non-toxic mushrooms, which were just as delicious as others.
She picked half a basket of wild mushrooms, and there were some winter bamboo shoots not far ahead, so she dug up half a basket of that as well. She also found a lot of wild ginger and wild onions, which she dug up as well.
A quarter of an hour later, Xu Qinyu returned to the team, poured out the basket of wild vegetables she had picked, and prepared to wash them.
Ma Liu saw Miss Xu coming back and saw her pouring out a basket. He took a closer look and saw quite a few mushrooms. He was surprised and asked, "Miss, what are you picking these mushrooms for?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
