Chapter 3538: A good cook cannot cook without rice
Xinping asked, "Father, what is that?"
Zhu Feng also took a look, but did not answer her. He only said, "What do you think it is?"
Xinping said, "Smoke."
After she finished speaking, she immediately shrank her neck and stuck out her tongue. The word "Yan" was her mother's name, and children should avoid it. Even the ignorant Princess Yongping was scolded by Concubine Yi for calling her "Empress Yan", but she forgot about it in a hurry.
Seeing her like this, Zhu Feng also laughed and turned to look at Nan Yan.
Nan Yan said coldly, "You don't have to be so careful. Just be less irritated with me. There are plenty of things I can do."
Xinping stuck out his tongue again.
Then he turned his head and looked at the countless columns of smoke in the distance, and said doubtfully, "Father, I know that it is smoke. I just don't understand why there is so much smoke over there."
Zhu Feng said: "What do you think?"
Xinping immediately shook his head.
Nan Yan stood behind her and said coldly, "Before, I asked you to think about it, but you said you couldn't think of anything because you couldn't see it. Now that I've asked you to see it, you say you don't know without even thinking about it. So why did I bring you out to see it?"
Xinping became more and more afraid of her mother and didn't dare to breathe.
Zhu Feng, standing aside, smiled slightly and said, "Don't panic. Think carefully about where the smoke came from."
Xinping thought for a moment and said, "Light a fire."
"Then, what do people do with fire?"
"Cook."
At this point, Xinping's eyes lit up, and he suddenly realized: "This smoke is the Yue people making fire to cook!"
Nan Yan stood behind her and couldn't help but smile when she saw her happy expression.
Although this girl is sometimes clumsy, she gets things done sooner or later.
The smoke ahead was clearly from the cooking fires of the Yue army. Unlike Yongzhou City, the Yue people had no troops stationed in Doubei Town. However, because Li Wushang was determined to fight them this time, he temporarily mobilized a large number of Yue troops to Doubei Town. Doubei Town was too small to accommodate so many troops, so the army set up camp outside the town.
They can see such scenes.
After her joy faded, Xinping immediately became puzzled. She clung to the parapets on both sides, wishing she could lean half her body out of the tower. She looked at the smoke ahead and said, "But why are they having dinner at this time?"
The sun has already set by this time, and normally, people would have had dinner long ago.
But looking at the situation ahead, it seemed like they were still cooking dinner.
Xinping turned around again, looked at Zhu Feng in confusion, and said, "I remember that my father once said that as long as there is no war, the army's meals must be provided on time, otherwise it will affect the soldiers' training; but even if a war breaks out, the meals must be guaranteed, otherwise it will affect the soldiers' combat effectiveness, right?"
Zhu Feng smiled and stroked her hair: "Yes."
Zhang Xu, the city guard standing by, smiled and said, "Although Her Royal Highness is a daughter of a wealthy family, she is as brave as a man."
Zhu Feng said, "I come from the military, so this girl can be called a daughter of a general."
Xinping raised his chin proudly.
Although she was also spoiled, she experienced the Battle of Changqing City when she was less than two years old. In the following years, she followed the emperor and the imperial concubine to travel around the country and saw a lot of the world. Naturally, she was different from those girls who were raised in seclusion. In addition, with the intentional guidance of Zhu Feng and Nan Yan, although her knowledge and insights were still immature, they were indeed much better than those of her peers.
Although Zhang Xu's words were flattering, they also contained a hint of surprise.
On the other hand, Nan Yan said coldly, "Don't get so cocky just because I praise you a few times."
Upon hearing this, Xinping immediately lowered his head again.
Zhu Feng reached out and pinched the back of her neck, signaling with his eyes that Nan Yan didn't need to constantly pour cold water on her. Then he said, "However, Xinping's question is correct. Zhang Xu, what have you been observing these past few days? Do the people of Yue eat dinner at this time every day?"
Zhang Xu immediately said, "In the days before the war, unless General Xiang launched a surprise attack, their three meals a day, and the time I saw the smoke from the cooking stove was also regular."
Zhu Feng asked, "What about these few days?"
Zhang Xu said, "For the past three days, I've only seen smoke rising from cooking fires twice a day: once at chenshi and once at xushi."
Xinping listened carefully and said, "They only eat two meals a day."
By this time, the sky had completely darkened, and the distant smoke had faded into the gloomy sky, leaving only the vague outlines of the mountains. Zhang Xu said, "Your Majesty, it's getting late. Your Majesty, Your Majesty, and Your Highness should not stand on the city walls."
Because there were people holding torches around them, if the emperor and the concubine were discovered standing here, it would be disastrous if the Vietnamese people shot them in the back.
Zhu Feng also nodded, and led Nan Yan and Xin Ping into the watchtower to sit down and rest.
Xinping was still thinking about what he had just thought of. He sat next to Zhu Feng, still reaching out to pull his sleeve and said, "Father, why do the people of Yue only eat two meals a day?"
Zhu Feng asked: "Why do you think?"
Xinping thought for a moment and said, "Before, Mother only allowed me to eat twice a day."
Hearing this, Nan Yan almost laughed out loud.
Zhu Feng also suppressed his laughter, pinched her cheek, and said, "That's because your mother thinks you're too fat, as fat as the cat in the imperial garden that can't run. If you keep getting fatter, I won't be bothered to take you out."
He snorted indignantly, then thought about it and said, "But, the people of Yue wouldn't think they are fat."
“…”
"Eat more, and you'll fight better. Why only eat twice a day?"
Just at this moment, someone served tea. Nan Yan picked up the teacup, blew away the foam, and said coldly, "Think about why."
Xinping frowned, sat in the chair with a serious expression, and thought seriously.
The two adults almost laughed out loud when they saw her like this, but they held it back. Zhu Feng also picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea. He couldn't help but frown and said, "Why is it Longjing tea from last year?"
Nan Yan said, "A good cook cannot cook without rice. They can't have tea here to begin with. The emperor is coming suddenly, so it's not easy to prepare something on the spur of the moment. Let's just make do."
Zhu Feng snorted lightly, but didn't say anything else.
On the contrary, Xin Ping heard these words, and suddenly a light bulb went off in her head. She raised her head and said, "No!"
The two men immediately looked down at her.
Zhu Feng asked, "What's missing?"
Xin Ping said, "The people of Yue only eat two meals a day because they have no food!"
As she spoke, she pointed at the teacup and said, "It's just like this tea. Even a good cook cannot cook without rice. They don't have good tea, so when the emperor comes, he won't be able to drink good tea, right?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com