Dongdong looked at both dishes and chose shrimp.

The shrimps, which were not cooked for a long time, were actually very tender. The shrimp shells were a little crispy because they were drizzled with hot oil, and the shrimp meat was extremely tender. When he took a bite, the spicy taste blended with the oil immediately stimulated the tip of his tongue, making his tongue tremble and he swallowed his saliva.

Then taste the food in your mouth.

The shrimp itself is not spicy. Instead, the spiciness is closer to the skin. After being marinated, the shrimp has a salty taste, and it has its own salty taste. Coupled with the texture, I ate the shrimp shell directly after a few "crunches".

Xiao Pingsong prefers to eat fish, so he was the first to pick up a piece of fish.

Compared to shrimp, the taste of fish is a bit stronger. Without the obstruction of shrimp shell, the spicy taste is all over the fish. The fish slices are thin but not loose. After shaking off the seasoning on top, the taste in your mouth is spicy and salty!

Delicious!

Next comes the feeling of the tender fish meat rubbing between the lips and teeth, tender, smooth and fresh!

No step is perfect!

Following Dongdong, Zhou Zhaoheng also got used to the strong taste and adapted to it very well. He even ate so much that he didn't even want to look up.

In fact, I am quite happy in the Xiao family.

At least now, while he was eating, he temporarily forgot the pain of parting with his parents.

Really delicious!

The only one who ate slowly was Wan'er. After two bites, she couldn't get used to the spicy taste. She had always had a light taste. The third daughter of the Xiao family had become more and more dull in recent years. She was also brought up to be introverted and had rarely tried new things. A few bites was already her limit.

Seeing this, Yan Qiushu pulled out her favorite winter mung bean sprouts from the bottom of the bowl.

In most cases, these dishes use soybean sprouts, but it’s just a matter of taste. She always feels that soybean sprouts are too old, while mung bean sprouts are tender and lack the hard texture of soybeans, so she will choose mung bean sprouts when making them herself.

The mung bean sprouts at the bottom of the bowl have been soaked in the delicious fish soup and have absorbed the soup. At this time, because they are at the bottom of the bowl, they are also exposed to the spicy chili peppers, but the taste they bring is obviously much less than that of fish and shrimp.

The mung bean sprouts were placed on a small plate in front of Wan'er.

The girl first thanked Yan Qiushu politely, and then carefully picked up two of them and put them in her mouth.

She chewed carefully, taking small bites, and finished two. It was not as salty as before, but still had some flavor, just within her acceptable range. The mung bean sprouts were crispy and refreshing, and she could taste a sweetness as she ate them.

The little girl ate two and picked up two more. She looked at Yan Qiushu with sparkling eyes, pursed her lips into a beautiful arc, and said in a sweet voice, "It's delicious!"

Yan Qiushu smiled like an auntie and quickly picked up some more mung bean sprouts and passed them over: "If you like it, eat more."

Wan'er nodded obediently and ate in small bites.

Yan Qiushu also started eating. The fish fillet was tender and smooth, the shrimp meat was crisp and tender, and the spicy taste was so satisfying and delicious that her appetite was immediately aroused!

The food there is delicious.

But inside the prince's residence, the scene was quite different.

Whenever it rains, even though the weather has become much warmer, there are still many charcoal stoves in the house, which make people feel so hot that they can feel sweat on their backs even when wearing light clothes.

Prince Chang was just about to ask someone to move the charcoal stove away.

Princess Chang's eyes turned red, and she whispered, "No! We couldn't use this before, and you were in so much pain. Now we can use it. It's okay to warm it up for a while, otherwise your leg will be in pain again."

Prince Chang quickly shut up, holding his wife's hand in silence.

The injuries on his body were caused by offending the emperor and being punished. His waist and legs were injured. They did not dare to let him die at that time, so some people came to treat him, but they were not dedicated. Although the doctor who was loyal to him came later, he was delayed at that time. Because the weather was cold and damp when he was injured, it was rainy and cloudy, and the place he lived in was not good, he was covered in moisture. After he recovered, he felt unbearable pain in such weather.

The two of them lay flat on the bed, looking at the darkness above their heads in silence.

Every time it rains, I never forget the pain.

Now King Chang is also waiting, waiting for the pain to come.

But this time, I waited and waited until I fell asleep.

Normally, it should have come long ago, but he didn't feel uncomfortable until three o'clock in the morning. He was still asleep at that time, and vaguely felt soreness in his waist and legs, but he didn't want to get up.

It was not until the pain became more and more severe that he woke up completely. The temperature in the room was still as high as before. He was sweating from the heat and pain, but he did not roll on the ground in pain like he did in the past.

Prince Chang pulled the corners of his lips and revealed a bitter smile, but he didn't say a word, so that people around him didn't know he was in pain.

It was not until the sky gradually brightened, the rain had long stopped, and the humidity in the air became less and less that his pain began to ease.

Prince Chang was able to relax and unwind, closing his eyes and planning to continue sleeping. However, just as he closed his eyes this time, he suddenly opened them again, and he realized something -

The pain level is much lower than the last time I was imprisoned!

The only difference was that he drank the soup this time, but in fact, he had drunk it before, but he only drank part of it each time. But this time, his son was present, and he drank it all in one gulp.

Could it be that Doctor Yu is very capable? !

That prescription is actually so effective?

Princess Chang beside him also suddenly woke up. She looked at the dim light outside the window, then looked at the man who didn't move at all. She asked hesitantly, "My Lord, are you okay?"

"That medicine might be useful. This time it's still within the tolerable range." Prince Chang replied, feeling a little weak, but far from being tortured to the point of being exhausted as before.

Princess Chang was so happy that she sat up and said, "That's good. You go to sleep first. I'll go call Doctor Yu to come and ask him about it!"

"It's still early..." Prince Chang also sat up subconsciously.

But he was quickly pushed down by his wife, who smiled and said, "It's okay. I can't sleep now anyway. If you don't feel any pain, you can take a nap first..."

Prince Chang smiled helplessly and lay down again in cooperation.

When I woke up again, it was already 9:00 p.m.

His wife was embroidering and when she saw him get up, she looked strange: "The doctor said that it might be because we used too much charcoal stove. His medicine is for conditioning and can relieve the symptoms, but it shouldn't be that good..."

Prince Chang's eyelids twitched, and he was even more puzzled.

Could it be that... this medicine was made by my son?

That’s not right. Someone sent medicine to me before, and my son has been sensible since he was young and would take the initiative to help make the medicine. He has never encountered a situation like this.

Prince Chang was puzzled. The only thing he could think of was that maybe because he was using poison to fight poison this time, his body was too weak, so the effect of these medicines on him was more obvious?

But whether it is or not, no one can know.

But on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, when the New Year festival was coming to an end, the Uta Kingdom on the border of the Greater Periphery finally launched an attack after five years of peace.

When the battle report came, the people of the Great Zhou were shocked. The old emperor, who was already troubled by his son's matter, was so angry that he trembled all over. He sent Xiao Huaiting as the commander-in-chief to lead the troops to fight.

Xiao Waiting seemed to have known about it for a long time, and even told his family a day in advance.

Therefore Yan Qiushu also knew it.

Before she knew it, she ran into Xiao Huaiting in the mansion, and he smiled and said, "Pingyu is going back to the Shen family, and Miss Shu brought him so much food. I don't know if this general will be going on a long journey soon. Miss Shu, can you make some snacks to see him off?"

Yan Qiushu didn't know what was going on, but Xiao Huaiting was the benefactor who brought her to the Xiao Mansion, so she agreed immediately: "Of course."

Normally, the chefs in the mansion learned her cooking methods and she didn't have to worry about it, but now that she was going on a long journey, she still had to show her appreciation.

So she thought of making pork jerky.

It is not difficult to make pork stew. It mainly involves chopping the pork tenderloin and marinating it with various seasonings. Because Xiao Huaiting has a stronger taste, Yan Qiushu gave him more seasonings, including a lot of ground Sichuan peppercorns.

When the marinating is finished, roll it into thin slices through a clean gauze and put it in the oven.

She had done nothing else these past two days but repeat this step. Fortunately, Shui Yan, Nanny Xu and other people in the mansion could help, so it was quite easy for her to do it.

It was not until the sixth day of the Lunar New Year that she heard the news and realized that this was the case?!

The Kingdom of Wuta is the country that defeated the second young master and two aunts of the Xiao family five years ago. The two sides have been enemies for decades. More than ten years ago, Xiao Huaiting's father beat them so hard that they dared not come out. But after the great defeat in the war ten years ago, Xiao Huaiting's father and elder brother got into trouble, and the Kingdom of Wuta frequently offended them. There was no major war, but small disturbances continued.

Until the second young master of the Xiao family led his troops there, although the Great Zhou was defeated five years ago, due to the strong advantages accumulated in the early days, the Wuta Kingdom had to retreat for many years to recuperate.

That battle also caused a lot of discussion. Although we had a clear advantage in the early stages, we suddenly made a wrong decision. Some people said that the enemy had set up an ambush and obtained the marching map, while others said that our army leaked it.

But after a while of arguing, nothing was caught, and the matter was dropped. The original owner just treated it as a joke.

It was just that when these two things were combined, Yan Qiushu, who had read countless novels and seen similar historical events, felt that something was wrong.

After all, the people who died were not their own. In order to gain power, there would always be people in the royal family who had no bottom line and did many extremely cruel things.

Plus, Xiao Waiting can now predict this war...

Yan Qiushu smelled the pleasant aroma of pork jerky, brows furrowed, and came to a conclusion that the reason why so many members of the Xiao family died was probably because of the emperor?

So the prince who was on good terms with the Xiao family was deposed and imprisoned because he knew something and the emperor was furious and would never allow him to be emperor again, nor would he allow him to go out and shake the hearts of the people?

As a result, the crown prince died, and his subsequent sons were evenly matched in strength, but they died one after another during the fight, and the Crown Prince of Jin, Zhou Zejing Yuweng, got the upper hand instead?

ridiculous.

Yan Qiushu was amused by this speculation, and she felt more and more that life was too difficult for the lower-class people in ancient times.

"What funny thing did you think of?" A clear young voice interrupted her thoughts.

Yan Qiushu raised her head and looked at the young man in front of her. His handsome eyebrows and eyes were like stars, the corners of his lips were slightly raised, and his tall figure made him walk with extra big steps. The four little carrots behind him had to jog to keep up with him.

He walked closer, a faint smile on his lips, inexplicably moving.

Yan Qiushu felt very sympathetic. Such a good boy would die in just over a year, which made the old emperor look even more hateful. But now was not the time to think about this. She smiled widely and said crisply, "I wonder if General Xiao will have enough pork jerky to eat?"

Xiao Waiting paused in his unstoppable steps, tilted his face slightly, covered his lips and said, "What if it's not enough?"

"Then shall I make some more for you?" Yan Qiushu said with a smile.

Xiao Huaiting also smiled.

Dongdong and others also came over and shouted, "Sister Shu!"

"Aunt Yan..."

Dong Dong finished shouting, rolled his eyes, and said lazily, "Today is still pork jerky?"

Shui Xuan had just taken out the pork jerky, one portion wrapped in a stack of oil paper, each portion weighing about two pounds. In the past few days, Yan Qiushu had used the ovens in other yards together, so she made more than twenty pounds of jerky. The portion that had just come out of the oven had not been packaged yet and was still hot.

Yan Qiushu didn't know whether to laugh or cry when she heard this: "You don't like it so much? I didn't see you eat less!"

Dong Dong said confidently: "It's delicious, I like it too, but I don't want to eat this all the time, I want to eat fresh food, I want to eat boiling shrimps, boiling fish fillets..."

This kid has completely become a heavy taste lover!

Yan Qiushu rubbed his little head, looked at Xiao Huaiting and explained: "This is coated with a layer of honey. The temperature is not high recently, so it can be kept for another month. But you still have to eat it as soon as possible. Try this first."

She pushed the freshly made pork jerky towards the other person.

Everyone else in the mansion had eaten, but Xiao Waiting had not yet had the chance to eat the pork jerky because he had just returned from mobilizing troops and preparing to leave.

"Thank you for your hard work." Xiao Huaiting looked at so many pork jerky placed on the stone table that there was no room for anything else. He felt a little apologetic. He didn't expect that his casual remark would make her take it so seriously.

Yan Qiushu smiled and said, "It's not bad. Shui Yu and the others all worked together. It's not too hard. Come and try it and see how it tastes."

Xiao Waiting nodded and looked at the only piece of pork jerky that had not been packaged yet. It was a thin slice of reddish brown in color. It was translucent when he picked it up. It looked a bit hard, but when he put it in his mouth, it was not as hard as he had imagined.

It tastes slightly sweet at first, but is soon overwhelmed by the slightly spicy and salty taste. The spicy taste stimulates his lips and tongue, and also temporarily dispels the fatigue from staying up all night, making him feel much more energetic.

The meat does not have any chewy fascia. It has a tough texture but is not too hard to chew. It becomes soft in the mouth after just a few chews. It is perfect for killing time while on the march or when you are hungry.

At the end of the meal, he swallowed it and licked his lips subconsciously.

The light sweetness that he tasted at first reappeared. Xiao Huaiting raised his eyes and looked at the woman in front of him, saying seriously: "It tastes very good, very delicious, and... quite sweet."

Yan Qiushu blinked blankly: "Ah?"

She had obviously not added anything sweet like honey to the seasoning of the pork jerky in order to suit Xiao Waiting's appetite. There was only a little sugar, and the rest was pepper powder and so on.

The only difference is that in order to save time, a layer of honey is brushed on it during baking.

Isn't it too sweet?

She also picked up a piece and tasted it. No? It's still delicious!

She was about to ask what was going on when the young man in front of her suddenly said, "By the way, I'm going to pass through a lot of places this time, including Wucheng. Do you want to take anything with you?"

Yan Qiushu shook her head subconsciously. Wucheng has a lot of aquatic products, but they are not easy to transport. It is spring now, and it might be summer when he comes back. How can she bring them? She could only shake her head, and was a little amused: "Why do you act like you are going out for fun?"

Xiao Huaiting smiled noncommittally: "Really?"

Seeing him so relaxed, Yan Qiushu suddenly had an idea: "Well, there is something. If you come across it, help me take a look and I will draw it for you..."

Then she used the painting skills she had learned in elementary school for three years to draw peppers, and also drew potatoes and sweet potatoes. Although she didn't know whether these things existed in this country now, what if they did? After all, this was a world of traveling through books.

However, her painting skills were ridiculed by everyone, including the youngest Dongdong: "Hahaha! Sister Shu, your painting is so ugly..."

Yan Qiushu...covered her face silently.