By now everyone had gone to bed, and even though they were cold and hungry, they all huddled together and fell asleep. When they heard the loud noise, they were all startled 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, along with several huge rocks and other large and small stones and uprooted pine trees, 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. Otherwise, we would have been buried here, or washed to other places or hit by these rocks. Lieutenant Chen was farsighted and knew that the area was prone to danger."
"Yes, Lieutenant Chen has foresight."
Until this moment, they felt that even though they were a little tired from rushing, 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 expressionlessly and then closed his eyes, while 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 would not affect them. They were very safe here. She felt at ease, 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 for a while.
The Wen family members were still frightened and their faces turned pale. They no longer had the intention to cause trouble to Xu Qinyu. Even if they were dismissed from office, they wanted to live well. They also thought that in the future, Wen Lingling could enter the palace and become the concubine of the new emperor. Then they could turn things around and continue to return to the capital to become powerful and respected by thousands of people.
Lieutenant Chen looked at the mudslide in the distance and felt relieved. He did not 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 in transporting exiled prisoners over the years, traveling all over the country, sleeping in the open air, enduring untold hardships, and their families are worried about them. 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 I didn't expect that she would do such a great good deed at this moment.
Ma Liu also widened his eyes in surprise. The young lady actually predicted it right. 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 about the mudslide.
Deputy Captain Chen said, "Stop talking and take a good rest."
…
Another half a minute later, 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 warm up 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 how about lighting the stove? Our cakes are too dry to swallow. There's 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 strength." The weather had been bad in the past few days, and they hadn't lit the stove all the way. They almost choked to death from eating so many cakes.
Deputy Captain Chen nodded in agreement and came down.
They were on the road all year round, because they were sending prisoners to exile and could not ride 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 a large iron pot, salt, and liquor. Occasionally, they would pass by a town or village on the road and buy some ingredients or food.
The bacon in the car was what they had bought when they passed through the town before. They bought the bacon of a whole pig and some dry firewood. But there was not much dry firewood left and it would not burn for long. After the dry firewood was burned, they 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 the bucket of liquor and the iron pot, and those who were fetching water went to fetch water, and those who were setting up the pot started to set up the pot.
There was a stream not far from where they rested, and the water quality was good.
They don't have a partner in this business. They usually cook by setting up a big pot, boiling water in it, and then throwing all the ingredients in to cook. There is no taste at all.
"Boss." Ma Liu couldn't help but nag to Lieutenant Chen, "It would be great if we had a teammate. We must find someone who can cook and cook with us. I'm almost tired of eating all the food I made along the way. I want to eat big meat buns, salted pork with roasted pork knives, which will make me feel energetic."
The food they cooked was really terrible, but in this environment, it was good to have a hot meal. These exiled prisoners had been eating coarse grain cakes all the way, which were as hard as stones and also hurt their throats. At least they were eating white flour cakes.
Lieutenant Chen said nothing. How could a guy who could cook be willing to do such a hard job? It would be better for him to be a member of a random army 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 soldiers were not far away 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, and now she had a way.
These people can't cook, and she may not be able to cook either. But lighting a fire and cooking is the easiest thing for her, and it also allows the Pei family to have something hot to eat as well.
She stuffed the two children in her arms to Pei Jianing and said, "Sister Ning, please take care of Feng Ge'er and Yan Jie'er. I'll be back soon."
Pei Jianing was also drenched just now, and regardless of Wen's eyes staring at her, she also ran under the boulder to take shelter from the rain.
Pei Jianing was still asleep. She took over her brother and niece and went back to sleep in a daze.
When Wen saw her daughter-in-law standing up, she asked hurriedly, "Yuniang, what are you doing?"
"Don't worry, mother. I'll go and borrow some hot water from the soldiers."
Xu Qinyu made up a lie. She said that Wen was timid. If she asked these military officers to recommend her to cook, Wen would be worried to death.
Mrs. Wen wanted to say something but stopped herself. Although these 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 money. 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 Lieutenant Chen and said gently, "Lieutenant, are you looking for a partner? I happen to know how to cook, so how about letting me try to cook today?"
Deputy Captain Chen glanced at Xu Qinyu without saying anything. Ma Liu stared at her with wide eyes, "You know how to cook?"
The families of the criminals this time are from the fourth prince of the capital and the Duke of Anping. This young lady seems to be the legitimate daughter of the marquis's mansion. How could a girl from an aristocratic family cook?
Xu Qinyu smiled bitterly, "Although I am the second daughter of the Dechang Marquis's Mansion, my life in the mansion..."
Deputy Captain Chen and Ma Liu were both soldiers from the capital, so they knew the young lady's situation, and even they felt a little sympathetic towards her. The young lady was the second daughter of the Marquis of Dechang's Mansion. Originally, it was the third daughter who was engaged to the Fourth Prince, but in the end, according to the imperial edict, she was the one engaged to the Fourth Prince, and she had to be exiled to the border town with the Fourth Prince.
I guess he learned how to cook because he was not valued or loved in the Marquis's Mansion.
Although Xu Qinyu's words were meant to gain sympathy, they were not false. Seeing the sympathetic expressions of these officials, she continued, "So I can indeed cook, and the food tastes pretty good. I hope you will trust me, if I don't cook well, I will compensate you for the ingredients, okay? But if I cook well, and you think it tastes good, can you also reward me and my family with a bowl of hot rice?"
"Okay, then you give it a try."
The food cooked by these men is really awful. I think the food cooked by this young lady is better than theirs no matter how awful it is.
"Excuse me, what kind of food do the soldiers 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 is bacon, some white flour eggs and a few cans of oil, all of which I bought in the town earlier."
Although their job is quite hard, many prisoners' families would bribe them and give them some money to 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, and are very generous and willing to buy food and ingredients when they see them on the road.
Xu Qinyu nodded and knew what to do.
"Master, can I go to the hill ahead to find some food? There should be winter bamboo shoots in the hills. Winter bamboo shoots are delicious. They are perfect to stew with bacon at this time of year."
Deputy Captain Chen agreed. He was not worried that the young lady would run away. Although the families of these criminals were also exiled to the southwest, they would be ordinary commoners and would not need to serve in the military. This was already the mountain range of the southwest. Moreover, if a young lady dared to run away in the wild mountains, she would probably not want to live.
Xu Qinyu borrowed a storage basket and a kitchen knife from Deputy Captain Chen.
The mountains here are undulating, but the place where they rested is flat, not a high mountain.
After entering the mountain, Xu Qinyu was pleasantly surprised to find that there were a lot of wild vegetables, perhaps because this place was too remote and not many people came here to pick wild vegetables such as bamboo shoots, mushrooms, etc.
Especially the wild mushrooms, which are very lush. You can see patches of wild mushrooms every few steps. Most of them are edible, but occasionally there are some poisonous ones.
Some wild mushrooms are poisonous and should never be eaten.
Although some of them are slightly poisonous, the toxicity can be eliminated if they are thoroughly cooked, making them a very delicious dish.
Of course, if you eat it without cooking it thoroughly and don’t seek medical attention 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 these poisonous mushrooms could not be processed cleanly in the wilderness. It was better to be cautious and pick those completely non-toxic mushrooms, which were just as delicious as others.
She picked half a basket of wild mushrooms. There were some bamboo shoots not far ahead, so she dug half a basket of those as well. She also found a lot of wild ginger and wild onions, which she dug back 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 of things. He looked carefully and saw that there were still a lot of mushrooms. He was surprised and asked, "Miss, what are you doing with these mushrooms?"