Chapter 11 "The princess wasn't sleeping in the middle of the night, she dragged me..."
Before the thick darkness swallowed the road completely, the group set up camp in a deserted forest.
Although the Swift Feather Camp slowed down their pace, they clearly did not intend to accommodate the princess's travel habits. They did not look for an inn at night, but simply found a place where they could drink water and let their horses out to rest.
Everyone in the Swift Feather Camp, including Baili Xunzhou, started eating their dry rations in an orderly manner.
On the carriage, there was also a dry ration in front of Feng Mian.
The food they carried was left unattended on Wolf Bone Ridge overnight and was all carried away by wild wolves. There was also nothing fresh to eat at the outpost, and they could only buy dry rations to supplement their supplies. Even though there were several imperial chefs in the dowry, they could hardly cook without rice.
Fengmian tore off a small piece of the pastry and chewed it. The rough texture had no grain aroma at all, and it even stung her throat when she swallowed it.
Through the crack in the window, she saw the members of the Swift Feather Camp quickly devour their rations, then collapse to sleep, making the most of their time to conserve their energy.
The rations in the military camp must have been even more unpalatable than those they bought from the sentry post, but none of them showed any sign of being unable to eat. They all seemed used to it and adapted to it, suggesting that this was how it was every day.
This isn't a wartime forced march; they only need to wait a few days to return to Yunzhong County, and they'll be able to eat hot meals. But during actual warfare, they'll likely have to endure this hardship for a long time.
Feng Mian stared silently for a long time, wondering if his father had done the same thing when he went to war.
She only spent three days with her father, and learned much about him from others. Emperor Jiayu disliked her asking about her father, so even now, she can only piece together a very vague image of him: a brave and skilled general in the eyes of others, but one who neglected his wife and daughter.
Now, observing the actions and postures of those soldiers who, like my father, guard the frontier and fight against barbarians, my imagination of my father seems to come alive a little more.
Turning his gaze away, Feng Mian forced himself to take another bite. This bite of biscuit was incredibly dry; he had to drink half a pot of tea to get it down.
"Princess, you must have suffered greatly on this trip," Liu Ying said with heartache, bowing her head. She held the flatbread in both hands and ate it with a grimace.
"Aren't you suffering along with me? Have some pity on yourselves too." Feng Mian poured two cups of tea and pushed them towards them, trying to make the best of a bad situation. "This is much better than talisman ash water. At least it's edible food, isn't it?"
The days when he was tormented by the Empress Dowager are long gone, but Feng Mian still remembers the smoky smell of the talisman ash water and the burning sensation in his stomach from hunger. Therefore, he cherishes every bite of food all the more.
But she had no appetite at the moment. Two bites of bread and half a pot of tea filled her stomach, leaving her with no appetite. She could only carefully wrap up the leftover dry food and let Wu Liu save it for the next meal.
Then I prepared to wash up and rest.
Wu Liu was somewhat worried. The princess should have been eating well while she was ill, but how could she be satisfied with just drinking water? Helpless, she got off the carriage to instruct someone to prepare hot water, and as she turned around, she met Lu Mingzhu.
Lu Mingzhu was much more meticulous than the commanders and other soldiers. He specifically came to inquire about the princess's meal. Upon hearing that the princess had only eaten two bites of bread, he and Wu Liu began to worry.
"How about the commander lead some wild game to prepare a special meal for the princess?" Lu Mingzhu glanced at the commander's location.
Perhaps because the Jiyu Camp members were there for comparison, the commander didn't want the Luanyi Guards from Shengjing to be outdone. He kept everyone in line, forbidding them from complaining about the food or behaving improperly. After all, they had never eaten such dry rations in Shengjing.
But they are all soldiers of the emperor, and the Imperial Guards are not just eating rich food!
"Where are we going to find game in this desolate wilderness? The princess surely won't allow us to go through such trouble." Wu Liu shook her head. Their princess never indulged in such frivolous activities for her own selfish desires. She understood the hardships of their journey better than anyone else and didn't want to cause any trouble because of her.
"I won't bother with that." Lu Mingzhu scratched his head a little sheepishly. "I'm just unlucky. If I stand under a tree for too long, birds will land and leave me some pearls..."
Wuliu: "...Huh?"
This was the first time Wu Liu had ever shown such a stunned expression in front of anyone. Lu Mingzhu's words were elegant, but translated, it meant a bird had defecated on his head—how could that not be shocking!
This is really bad luck...
Wu Liu looked at Lu Mingzhu with pity, feeling somewhat reluctant: "Lord Lu, there's no need for you to sacrifice yourself like this..."
But Lu Mingzhu insisted on doing something for Feng Mian to repay the kindness of saving him several times. He ran over and called the deputy envoy over, acting as bait to lure the bird, while the deputy envoy waited for the right moment to shoot it down.
Who has ever seen someone use themselves as bait to lure birds to poop on their head? A group of idle people gathered around to watch the spectacle.
Bai Lixun, who was not far away, saw this and thought something serious had happened. After learning the reason, his expression became even colder. He glanced at the princess's luxurious carriage, which was out of place with the surroundings, and sneered: "For a moment's pleasure, you can even think of such a method."
Completely unaware of everything, Feng Mian was curled up on the soft cushion, dozing off. She was vaguely wondering why the hot water hadn't arrived yet when she drifted off to sleep.
When I was woken up, a bowl of fragrant pigeon soup was already placed in front of me.
She was stunned for a moment before snapping out of her daze and asked in surprise, "Where did these pigeons come from?"
Wu Liu then told him about Lu Mingzhu's situation. He was indeed very unlucky. He had only stood under the tree for a couple of breaths when he heard the flapping of birds' wings. A pigeon flew in from somewhere and was about to poop when the deputy envoy shot it down with an arrow.
Wu Liu seized the opportunity and pulled Lu Mingzhu away, preventing the last bit of "remnant" left by the pigeon before its death from falling on his head.
The onlookers gasped in surprise; no wonder Lu Mingzhu had tried so hard to avoid the shadows of the trees while riding his horse. Some of the onlookers even tried to urge Lu Mingzhu to do it again, but Wu Liu chased them away with a few words.
Lord Lu has sacrificed himself for their princess, so she naturally has to listen to the princess and cannot stand by and watch others laugh at and ridicule Lord Lu.
Feng Mian was initially angry when she heard that Lu Mingzhu had volunteered and that Wu Liu had actually joined in his fooling around. However, her expression softened when she heard that Wu Liu had tried her best to make amends and prevent Lu Mingzhu from losing face in front of everyone. Nevertheless, she still scolded Wu Liu.
"Don't act so recklessly again. If something goes wrong today and bird droppings land on Lord Lu's head in public, do you know how long this humiliation will follow him? We are all officials in the same court. When we return to Shengjing, everyone will laugh at us. How will Lord Lu face the court?"
"It was my fault. I won't do it again. The soup is ready today, Princess, please try it. It's a token of Lord Lu's kindness." Wu Liu gently persuaded, afraid that Feng Mian would refuse to eat because she was angry.
Feng Mian took another bowl, divided the pigeon soup in half, and handed it to Wu Liu.
"Take this bowl to Lord Lu and thank him for me."
Wu Liu took the bowl and went to deliver the soup. Feng Mian then divided the remaining half bowl into three portions and gave them to Wu Liu and Liu Ying.
Liu Ying hurriedly waved her hand: "We servants won't eat, Your Highness, please eat it yourself. There's not much in this bowl to begin with..."
"This is enough for me. You and Wuliu have been worrying about me all this way, so you should eat something to nourish yourself."
Feng Mian adopted a "if you don't eat, I won't eat either" attitude, watching Liu Ying drink her share of soup before finally drinking his own.
If possible, she would like to share this bowl of soup with all the soldiers. They were traveling on horseback or on foot, while she sat in the carriage, sheltered from the wind and sun, so she had no right to complain of being tired.
This bowl of steaming hot pigeon soup soothed my stomach, but it still felt heavy.
Fengmian couldn't help but recall the dream she had during her nap. In the dream, there was a kind of flatbread that could be eaten immediately after being soaked in hot water. It smelled delicious and contained dehydrated vegetables and dried meat, which became plump and moist after being soaked in hot water.
If the opportunity arises in the future, perhaps we can find a way to make this thing? That way, when the soldiers on the border are on the march, they can also eat some hot food.
But why would she suddenly dream about this? Could it be because when she was dozing off, the food in her stomach had been completely digested, and she was so hungry that she started dreaming about food?
It seems that going hungry occasionally isn't so bad.
As the night grew quiet and everyone had gone to sleep, Feng Mian was still tossing and turning on the spread-out soft cushion.
The feeling of camping in the wild was really unfamiliar to her. She could hear the rustling of the wind blowing through the branches outside, as well as the soldiers' snores. In addition, she had taken a short nap before, so she couldn't fall asleep now.
She quietly sat up, wrapped her crane cloak tighter around herself, picked up her hand warmer, and carefully walked around the sleeping fireflies and mist willows on night watch.
The two had taken care of Feng Mian the night before, not sleeping a wink. They had also been constantly concerned about Feng Mian's condition while traveling today, not daring to even doze off. Tonight, they were finally able to sleep peacefully and were now fast asleep. Therefore, neither of them noticed that Feng Mian quietly pushed open the carriage door and stepped out.
A cool night breeze brought refreshing air, and Feng Mian slowly exhaled, feeling her suffocating body lighten up a bit.
People really do need to breathe fresh air.
She slowly took two steps, looked up and parted the haphazard branches, and saw the dark sky inverted like a bowl, holding a few stars like shards of ice. The starlight flowed, distant and enchanting.
Feng Mian stared until her neck ached, but she couldn't bear to look away. Only when she felt slightly dizzy did she reluctantly lower her head, and suddenly something bright and shiny entered her field of vision.
A glittering light hung from a tree ahead. Feng Mian, who was so engrossed in stargazing that he was almost in a daze, thought he saw a star fall to earth. Without realizing it, he walked to the tree, jumped up, and grabbed the glittering light.
With a snap, a broken branch fell right in front of Feng Mian.
A figure sat up in the tree. The tall young man blocked half of the starlight from Feng Mian's view. He frowned and looked down at her, his dark eyes shining like stars.
"Why is the princess pulling on my jade pendant in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"
Feng Mian held the jade pendant she had just pulled down, staring blankly up at Baili Xunzhou who had suddenly appeared in the tree. He had been lying in the darkness, completely oblivious to the flickering light in the tree.
He was startled and stood there stunned for a moment before staggering back a few steps.
What is the young master doing lying in a tree in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?!
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