Chapter 160: Learning and Applying
While Ma Jin was still wondering what practical way Zhou Da could help Erye's family, he didn't expect to see an eye-opening scene the next evening.
When they arrived at the designated destination, Wu Yasi found that there were already people inside and there was a delicious smell of food wafting out. This discovery surprised everyone.
It was almost the end of the year, and few people were still out and about. Furthermore, this was the northernmost part of Dali, making it even less visited. They encountered almost no one along the way.
Today is the first time a young lady is riding in a sedan chair.
Just when Wu Ya Si was hesitating whether to go in, the other party came out and approached Wu Ya Si enthusiastically.
Ma Jin looked at Zhou Da's familiar face, and before he could react with surprise, he watched helplessly as he began to deceive people. He first claimed that they were escorts hired by the wealthy businessman Yi Shuang. The woman's husband had died of an acute illness, and they wanted to carry the coffin back to their hometown, so they hired these escorts to escort him. Then, by coincidence, their hometown was none other than Changli.
Then this guy said that he had heard of Wu Yasi's name for a long time, and that he admired Wu Yasi the most for being a man with thick eyebrows and big eyes and full of righteousness...
Ugh!
At this point, Zhou Da had already welcomed Wu Yashi and several officers in, and the others followed quietly.
During this time, Zhou Da gave him a subtle look, watch and learn from me!
After Zhou Da invited everyone in, he said he had cooked too much rice and wanted to treat them all to a good meal. His hospitality made Wu Yasi unable to refuse.
As a result, even the fugitives got a chance to enjoy a delicious meal of bone and meat porridge.
Ma Jin: Is this still possible?
The next day, Zhou Da teamed up with them on the grounds that the coffin was too heavy and the road was difficult to walk on, and that the official was righteous and could suppress the evil spirits.
What could Wu Yashi do? The other party's reason was too legitimate to refuse. Besides, this road was not theirs.
Ma Jin’s eyes widened. Is this possible?
After successfully achieving his goal, Zhou Da secretly winked at him. "How's that? Isn't he awesome?"
Ma Jin: ...Where did this guy learn this? How did he become so insidious and cunning?
Zhou Da's brothers laughed secretly. Their leader was almost copying the prince's instructions.
After that, Zhou Da did something amazing every day. By the end of their journey together, Zhou Da and his team had almost taken over their three meals a day and also solved the problem of the children having difficulty walking.
Also, the officer named Lin died on the third night of their journey together. It was said that he had diarrhea, and when he went to take care of his urgent needs, he accidentally stepped on empty air, fell, and couldn't get up, and froze to death in the wild.
Qin Yan hadn't expected Zhou Da to be so adaptable. Ever since they met him, the children had stopped starving and freezing. Their journey into exile had also become increasingly smoother.
It was not until he arrived in Pingzhou that he found out that these moves were used by his sixth brother's wife, whom he had never met. Zhou Da was just copying and learning as he went along.
His wife, Cai, was very curious about her and had a good impression of her because they both knew that if Zhou Da had not sent the medicine in time, their little daughter Qin Yun's illness would not be cured and her death would be a matter of time.
The couple was really curious about what kind of person the sixth brother's wife was, and how she could come up with so many tricks.
Ma Jin ate nougat and asked Zhou Da, "Has the prince been living like this for a long time?"
Zhou Da replied, "Well, the life over there with the Crown Prince is much better than ours. The Sixth Young Mistress has made ample preparations, and their food and drink expenses along the way are no worse than those of the nobles from the wealthy families."
Ma Jin and his colleagues expressed doubts.
"Why would I lie to you? The Sixth Young Madam arranged for the Yang Wei Escort Agency, and they brought over a dozen packed carriages with all sorts of supplies. The nougat in your mouths and the rice crackers in your hands were all from her. From time to time, the Sixth Young Master would even hunt some game to change things up. You can imagine what life was like there."
Ma Jin and his men listened so hard that they forgot to eat the bread in their hands. "Wow!" they exclaimed. "Wow! Is this still exile?"
"Old Zhou, the trick you used to deal with Wu Yashi, and the fact that you became so treacherous and cunning, did you learn it from the Sixth Young Lady?" Ma Jin was really curious.
"Call me Brother Da! Why Old Zhou?" Zhou Da then said proudly, "I did learn this trick from the Sixth Young Madam. The Sixth Young Madam once said that if we want to have a successful career, we must make more friends and fewer enemies." In fact, it was the prince who gave him some pointers, and after learning about the series of performances of Yang Wei Escort Agency before they met, he had been thinking about it all the way.
Ma Jin nodded. It was true. More friends mean more roads, more enemies mean more walls.
"It doesn't matter if they aren't our friends at first. We should be more proactive. As long as we wield the hoe well, there's no corner we can't dig." This was the first time he put his knowledge into practice. Look, didn't they win over Wu Yasi? The effect was amazing.
Ma Jin: That makes sense.
"What if the other person doesn't like me, or even has a grudge against me?"
"As long as we don't have a mortal enemy, we can strive for more."
"What if we become mortal enemies?"
Zhou Da said firmly, "Then let's do our best to deal with him, kill him. We are mortal enemies, what else can we want?" Just look at the Sixth Young Lady, has she ever been soft on the Xie family and the Zhao family?
******
Just as Zhou Da said, the rest of the journey for Lu Songli and his group was extremely smooth.
After leaving Yanzhou and entering Jizhou, it was already spring.
In early spring, many wild vegetables sprouted in the fields and mountains. The first to emerge was shepherd's purse, followed by white cauliflower, gray cauliflower, locust flowers, wild celery, water spinach, Chinese toon, etc.
With plenty of time, they weren't in a rush. Their convoy stopped and started, gathering wild vegetables along the way. Once they found a suitable place to stay in the evening, they would check in early. During this time, dinners were primarily based on seasonal wild vegetables. For example, dumplings stuffed with shepherd's purse and pork were incredibly delicious. They also cooked cauliflower into a soup, cracked a few eggs, and added a little salt. It was a refreshing, sweet, and fragrant soup.
These wild vegetables were prepared under the guidance of Lu Songli, and each dish has a unique taste.
The children were also well taken care of. The weight they lost during the first few days of hardship had long been regained. Now they were all lively and energetic with rosy cheeks.
On this day, the sunset was just right, and after dinner everyone dispersed and moved around freely.
After eating and drinking their fill, several officers sat by the river with their bellies bulging, watching the sunset and chatting about trivial matters.
"Brother Ding, you've gained weight."
The guy called Ding Ge rolled his eyes at him and said, "Xiao Lu, you talk as if you're not fat."
In fact, they privately lamented more than once that this trip was truly the most relaxing and enjoyable one in their entire escort careers. It was like a free trip. They had delicious food and drinks, and they spent almost the entire trip in a carriage, with the occasional walk being used as exercise.
Xiao Lu said, "Brother Ding, Youzhou is just ahead." After Youzhou is Pingzhou.
Brother Ding couldn't help but touch his belly and said, "Yeah." He was very melancholy. He didn't know how much food would be left in his belly when he returned home.
Xiao Lu said sadly, "We won't be treated so well on our way back." As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but it's hard to go from luxury to frugality. They haven't even started their journey back yet, but they're already worried.
Brother Ding looked at him with contempt and said, "Of course. You still want to ride in a carriage when you go back? You are so beautiful." They only had one horse, the only one. A horse is more valuable than a human.
But then again, the thought of having to walk more than 3,000 miles back home is sad.
Human beings do not share the same joys and sorrows. At this time, on the other side, Lu Songli was directing Lu Mingzhi to dig wild vegetables with a hoe.
Qin Jia, Qin Han and other children gathered around her and poked their heads out to look, "Auntie, can we eat this dish?"
Lu Songli nodded. "Sure. This wild vegetable is called spur root. It's covered with sharp thorns. Most animals don't dare to get close to it. Don't touch it with your hands."
Qin Jia asked again, "How do you eat this spur root?" Why does it taste bad?
Lu Songli: "We can use its roots to stew chicken and make soup. People who have eaten it will find it hard to forget its taste." Its roots are indeed very thick, and usually an adult can use their finger to measure the thickness. It is a bit similar to Codonopsis pilosula.
The youngest, Qin Zhen, chimed in, "But Sixth Aunt, we don't have any chickens left in the carriage."
Lu Songli thought about what happened two days ago when Mo Bing told her about the last three chickens. Unexpectedly, the little ones heard it and remembered it.
Five-year-old Qin Yu waved her little hand and said proudly, "Sixth Uncle, go catch it!"
In the children's hearts, Uncle Six and Aunt Six are both very powerful. Aunt Six knows a lot of things, and Uncle Six can catch a lot of delicious food whenever he goes out, whether it is flying in the sky, running on the ground, or swimming in the water.
"Okay, let's arrange it. Let your Sixth Uncle catch him." Lu Songli smiled and took the task for him.
Qin Sheng, who just walked over: ...
He was spotted by the sharp-eyed Qin Zhen. The little girl stretched out her tender white finger, pointed at Ma Spur Root and shouted, "Sixth Uncle, go catch some pheasants and stew the roots."
Qin Sheng said helplessly, "How many pheasants do you want?"
"Two!" Qin Yu said loudly.
Qin Han secretly pulled him and said, "Fourth brother, you are so stupid. Two pieces are not enough to eat."
"What about the four?" Qin Yu stretched out five fingers.
"Idiot, this is five, this is four!" Qin Han pressed his thumb back.
Lu Songli watched them bickering with a smile, then raised her eyes to meet Qin Sheng's gaze and said with a smile, "We have to get at least seven or eight pheasants." After all, there were forty or fifty of them.
"Mom, Sixth Brother's wife is so patient with these kids," Nie Yunniang said with a smile as she coaxed the child to sleep. Children are indeed endearing when they're cute, but when they're throwing tantrums, you really want to spank them twice.
Mother Qin, who was sewing, looked up and smiled, "A-Li is indeed patient."
Lu Songli took them to dig wild vegetables, allowing the children to learn about many edible wild vegetables along the way.
Many adults had never thought that there were so many edible things growing in the mountains. Moreover, after being guided by Lu Songli, the brothers of the escort agency who were good at cooking made them and found that the taste was unexpectedly good.
Recognizing Lü Songli's erudition, the three Qin brothers followed her lead in learning to identify edible wild vegetables and animals. Having led troops in battle for years, they knew all too well the difficulties faced by an army when food and fodder were insufficient or unavailable. Learning a little more now might save their lives later.
Usually, after Lu Songli taught her two uncles Qin Heng and Qin Zhao, she would pull Qin Sheng aside to teach him individually.
Every time this happened, Qin Zhao couldn't help but tease him, "Sixth brother's wife, you don't need to prepare special meals for him. If he gets lost or trapped while leading his troops out, he'll definitely have enough to eat and drink." God loves him and wouldn't let him starve, so he'll always be fed. There's no wild vegetable he can't find, only wild vegetables that can't find him a share.
Just as Lu Songli was about to respond with a smile, she was pulled away by Qin Sheng.
At this moment, Qin Zhaojun was about to say something sarcastic, "Xiao Liuzi is just lucky."
Qin Heng nodded, "Xiao Liu's luck is indeed good."
Qin Zhao thought to himself, this kid's luck is more than just good. He was born as the youngest in the family, loved by his elders and his brother. When he was in trouble, God loved him, and now his wife loves him too.
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