Chapter 3 003 Wild Bamboo Shoots Stewed Lamb
Chapter 3
Meng Yuning carried the wild vegetables and went to the kitchen on the east side of the camp. It was called a kitchen, but it was just five stoves made of a few stones, with five large pots on top.
Four of the large pots were filled with white porridge, but everyone had almost finished eating it, and now only some rice soup and rice grains were left at the bottom of the pot.
The other pot was filled with black and green things, which should be the vegetables in the dish just now. There was still more than half of the pot left. It seemed that not only she couldn't eat the food, but no one else liked it either.
Meng Yuning really wanted to say that this dish was not only unpalatable to humans, but even pigs wouldn’t eat it if given to them.
The guards who were drinking porridge from bowls not far away looked at Meng Yuning who was standing in front of the stove, drinking porridge and whispering to each other.
"This Miss Meng used to either hide in the carriage or stay in the tent, never showing up. How come she's in the kitchen now?"
"Who knows? He might even change his personality after running away once."
"Shh, shh, Mu Yun said no one is allowed to mention this matter."
"Look at my mouth, I have no control."
"She's holding what looks like bamboo shoots and vegetables. Could it be that she's going to cook?"
"No way, she's just a girl, how can she know how to cook?"
"Stop talking, Mu Feng is here."
Seeing Mu Feng walking out of the main tent, everyone dispersed and returned to their tents with their bowls. However, they still couldn't help but look out through the gap in the curtain out of curiosity.
Meng Yuning used a ladle to scoop water from the bucket and poured it into the pot. She then picked up a brush made of bamboo and grass next to the stove and scrubbed the pot. The iron pot was too heavy for her to lift, so she used the brush to brush the water onto the ground beside her.
He brushed the two pots several times and cleaned them. He filled one of the pots with water, took a few bowls of rice from the rice bag, washed it and poured it into the pot, added firewood to the stove, picked up the fire starter beside him, lit the hay under the firewood, and the firewood slowly burned.
She picked up a slightly larger piece of wood from the firewood pile and used it as a stool, then sat on it. Then she took the bundle of wild bamboo shoots and began to peel them.
She moved quickly and quickly, and soon the wooden basin was filled with tender green bamboo shoots.
A few steps away, Mu Feng stood with his arms folded, stunned. No, isn't this Meng the eldest daughter of the Shangshu Mansion? How come she is so skilled in cooking?
The guards peeking from the tents looked at each other in bewilderment. "How come Miss Meng is a completely different person compared to a few days ago?"
"Perhaps something happened to him when he ran away? Then he suddenly came to his senses and felt that he should live a peaceful life with our Highness?"
Meng Yuning ignored Mu Feng who was standing opposite her and staring at her, nor did she pay attention to the pairs of eyes that popped out of the tent. She just focused on her work.
She peeled all the wild bamboo shoots in the two bundles, washed them twice with water, grabbed a handful and put them on the chopping board, flattened them with a kitchen knife, cut them twice vertically, and then cut them once horizontally, repeating this process until all the bamboo shoots were cut into small pieces and put into a clean wooden basin.
The pot of rice over there was already bubbling. Meng Yuning walked over and stirred it back and forth a few times with a spatula to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
Then he walked to the jars next to the stove, lifted the lids and took a look. There were oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. Although there were not many seasonings, it was enough for the time being.
She looked at the two pieces of salted and air-dried mutton hanging on a makeshift rack made of branches. She picked up the knife and was about to reach out to cut it when Mu Feng rushed over, protecting the piece of meat with his arm and asked warily, "What are you doing?"
Meng Yuning: "I'll borrow a piece of meat."
Mu Feng: "Your Highness and Little Highness have poor appetites. These two pieces of meat are reserved for your two highnesses to enjoy. You can't waste them."
Seeing Mu Feng so nervous, Meng Yuning remembered something.
On the first day after leaving the capital, she heard Mu Feng complaining while sitting in the carriage, saying that His Majesty was really cruel. He released His Highness from prison but did not give him time to pay tribute to the Queen or prepare supplies. He drove them out of the city that same day.
Later, the Queen Mother sent people to chase them for dozens of miles and brought them two carts of food, one cart of vegetables and meat, one cart of daily necessities, and one thousand taels of silver.
By the way, the little prince was also placed in a basket of vegetables and sent here secretly.
For a team of two hundred people, even if they only eat two meals a day, the consumption is not small. There is still rice, vegetables, potatoes, radishes and so on.
But the meat that was difficult to store had almost been eaten, so these two pieces of mutton were salted and air-dried and left for the brothers Qi Jingyan and Qi Jingyi.
Occasionally, when the cook was in a good mood, he would cook a pot of bacon porridge for the two brothers.
Yesterday during the day, before "she" ran away, she also got a bowl.
As for why Mu Feng treasured these two pieces of meat so much, it was because Emperor Kangwen not only did not give them time to prepare supplies, but even more hatefully, he actually ordered that in order to maintain the royal face and avoid causing panic among the people, they were not allowed to stay in towns along the way and could only sleep in the wilderness.
So even if they had silver, they now have nowhere to buy it.
The day before yesterday, they passed by a county town. Mu Feng was alone with some silver preparing to go buy some fresh food. But as soon as he rode out of the team, the officers chased him and stopped him. If Mu Yun had not arrived in time, Mu Feng would have almost fought with them.
Mu Feng returned to the team cursing and was angry for the whole afternoon.
There was no point in getting angry. They had two hundred people, but the officers responsible for "escorting" them numbered five hundred, more than twice as many as them.
Meng Yuning remembered this. The book said that after the death of the queen and under pressure from the empress dowager, Emperor Kangwen released Qi Jingyan.
But he was still worried about this former crown prince, who had always been quite prestigious both in the court and among the people, for fear that he would gather troops and rebel on the way to his fiefdom.
Therefore, 500 elite soldiers were dispatched to "escort" Qi Jingyan and his party in the guise of servants, but in fact they were escorting him to Lingnan.
A death order was issued, not allowing them any chance to contact outsiders.
In other words, Qi Jingyan and his companions had to be honest and behave themselves as they headed south.
During the journey, no matter who you are or what you want to do, you must not leave the team.
Anyone who leaves without permission must be dissuaded immediately; anyone who refuses to comply will be executed on the spot.
These were the exact words of Emperor Kangwen, but Qi Jingyan and the others didn't know them. However, after trying several times and being stopped every time they wanted to go hunting or shopping, they finally understood.
As for why the officers did nothing when the original owner Meng Yuning escaped, it was because they not only received orders from Emperor Kangwen, but also received orders from the third prince in private. They did not have to stop anything that was not good for Qi Jingyan.
In their eyes, his fiancée's escape would definitely be a blow to Qi Jingyan, so even though the officers discovered that Meng Yuning had run away, they didn't care.
In addition, in their eyes, these wild mountains and wildernesses were full of wild beasts and poisonous insects. Even if she ran away, she would not survive for long, so there was no need to worry.
Not only did they ignore this incident, but later when they encountered various bandits, vagrants, and thieves who came to kill them, they also ignored them. They just lined up and watched from afar, observing coldly from beginning to end.
Oh, by the way, they weren't completely indifferent. They even shot a few cold arrows at him secretly, but Qi Jingyan was lucky enough to avoid them all.
To sum up, it is understandable that Mu Feng was so nervous about these two pieces of pickled mutton since he didn't know when he would be able to get new meat next time.
Seeing Mu Feng protecting the two pieces of mutton like an old hen protecting her chicks, Meng Yuning couldn't help laughing and thought that this young man was quite funny.
She wanted to use her cooking skills to change the attitude of Qi Jingyan and his group towards her.
For Qi Jingyan, who had not eaten meat for several days, the taste of adding some meat to bamboo shoots would probably be more likely to conquer his taste buds.
So she must cut a piece of mutton today.
So she raised the knife, gestured, and said sincerely: "Mu Feng, I will just cut a small piece like this."
Before she could finish her words, Mu Feng took a big step back and looked at the knife in her hand warily.
The two were in a stalemate when Chef Tang, who had appeared at some point, spoke up: "Let her cut it. I want to see what tricks she can come up with."
"That's the meat reserved for His Highness." Mu Feng was reluctant and grumbled, but he still gave way.
Meng Yuning thanked both of them, then took a knife and cut off a piece of air-dried mutton, but it wasn't much, only slightly bigger than her palm.
Then, under the close watch of the two, she washed the semi-dried mutton, cut it into small pieces, added firewood to another pot and lit it. When the pot was hot, she added a little oil. Since there was no chopped green onion or garlic, she didn't stir-fry the pot. She put the mutton in and stir-fried it for a few times. Then she added half a pot of water, brought it to a boil over high heat, and simmered it slowly.
Mu Feng rolled his eyes: "What's the big deal? I thought they were going to do something. It's just boiled mutton. I can do that too."
Meng Yuning pretended not to hear. Seeing that the porridge over there was almost cooked, she picked the shepherd's purse, washed it, chopped it, and put it into the porridge. She stirred it for a while. When the shepherd's purse was cooked, she added a little tea oil from the jar and sprinkled some salt. After stirring evenly, she turned off the fire under the stove.
Mu Feng sniffed it, moved closer to Doctor Tang, pointed at the pot of porridge, and whispered, "It seems quite fragrant."
Tang He shrugged his nose, said nothing, and continued to watch Meng Yuning busy herself.
The pot of mutton had been boiling for quite some time. Although there wasn't much mutton, the aroma still wafted out. Meng Yuning added more firewood, then sat down on the same piece of wood and waited silently. When the firewood burned out, she stood up and added more firewood...
At first, Mu Feng and Doctor Tang were still standing and watching, but later they each found a piece of wood to sit on. However, they sat closer and closer to the pot of stewed meat, and kept sniffing.
Meng Yuning found it funny, but she didn't dare laugh, for fear of making Mu Feng angry again.
After about another quarter of an hour, the soup had turned white. Meng Yuning poked the mutton with chopsticks and saw that it was soft, so she poured all the wild bamboo shoots into the soup.
Originally, there were some small pieces of meat floating on the pot of soup, which looked desolate, but now after the bamboo shoots were poured in, it suddenly became half the pot.
Mu Feng curled his lips: "The mutton soup smelled delicious, and now I have to make a pot of bamboo shoots. What a waste."
Meng Yuning watched over the pot. After about half a cup of tea, she added some salt to the pot, then reduced the sauce over high heat and turned off the heat.
She took the ceramic bowl, picked up a piece of mutton and a piece of bamboo shoots, blew on them and ate them slowly. After she finished eating, she nodded, saying that it tasted good.
She looked up and saw Mu Feng looking at her with shining eyes. She took a new pair of chopsticks and a bowl, picked up a piece of mutton and a few bamboo shoots, and handed it to him: "Try it?"
Mu Feng swallowed his saliva and turned his head away: "I won't eat it. Who knows if you poisoned it or not?"
Doctor Tang didn't wait for Meng Yuning to ask him, he stood up and took the bowl and chopsticks: "I'm not afraid of death, I'll eat."
Mu Feng was so disappointed with his friend: "Eat, eat, eat, eat to death, you traitor."
Meng Yuning couldn't help laughing.
Doctor Tang ate a bamboo shoot first, and his eyes lit up. He ate another bamboo shoot, and his eyes lit up again. Then he just buried his head in eating and never raised his head again.
Only after he had finished eating all the bamboo shoots in the bowl did he pick up the small piece of mutton, put it in his mouth, took a bite, and closed his eyes in ecstasy: "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!"
Everyone knows that Chef Tang has a very vicious tongue. If he can say "wonderful" three times in a row, then the food must be extremely delicious.
The sound of slurping could be heard in the tent behind, but no one dared to go out to taste it. They all lay at the door and watched eagerly.
"I didn't expect Miss Meng to have this skill."
"Hey, tell me, were we too harsh on Miss Meng before?"
"Actually, Miss Meng is innocent too."
"She is innocent, otherwise why would His Highness specifically tell us not to embarrass her?"
"How about we be nicer to her from now on? I'm not saying this for the sake of food, I just think it's pitiful for a girl like her to be thrown into your Highness' carriage by her bastard father and have to follow us all the way for thousands of miles."
"That's right. No matter how bad her father is, she is now our prince's fiancée, and that means she is our master. As long as our prince has no problem with her, then we shouldn't give her a hard time."
Doctor Tang swallowed the piece of mutton with great care and went to serve more: "I'll try it again."
Seeing his starving appearance, Mu Feng could no longer restrain himself and quickly fetched a large earthenware basin, rushing to the pot. "Your Highness and Little Prince haven't had a good meal in several days. I'll serve them some."
But when he picked up the soup spoon, he remembered that this dish was made by Meng Yuning.
Not only had he been sarcastic, he had also stopped her from cutting the meat. Thinking of his expression just now, he put down the spoon awkwardly and looked at Meng Yuning with some embarrassment.
Meng Yuning smiled, stepped forward, picked up the spoon, and scooped food into the pottery basin one spoonful at a time: "I made this originally for the two princes. I'll serve one basin first."
Mu Feng didn't say anything, but held the basin quietly until it was full of mutton, bamboo shoots, and rich soup.
Meng Yuning took another ceramic basin, filled it halfway with shepherd's purse soup, and said to Mu Feng, "Let's go and take it to His Highness."
---
Qi Jingyan, who was resting in the tent, was holding Yi'er in his arms and holding a copy of "Thousand Character Classic", teaching him how to read.
At first, Yier was reciting along seriously, but then he suddenly tilted his head and looked outside.
Qi Jingyan touched his little head and asked softly, "Are you tired, Yi'er?"
The little boy said in a baby voice, "Rou Rou." As he spoke, his saliva dropped.
Thinking about the recent food, and looking at Yi'er's thin face, Qi Jingyan felt a wave of sadness and endless guilt. He took out a handkerchief to wipe Yi'er's saliva and said, "Brother, have someone cook meat for Yi'er later."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door curtain was lifted, and Mu Yun led Mu Feng and Miss Meng in. Each of them was holding a clay basin in their hands. Before they got close, bursts of fragrance wafted over.
Yi'er, who had been sitting obediently, stood up and pointed his little hand at Mu Feng's hand, his big eyes sparkling: "Rou Rou, Rou Rou."
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