Chapter 9 009 The Blessing of Qi
Chapter 9
A thought suddenly popped up in Meng Yuning's mind: Qi Jingyan was going to drag her into this.
But when I think about it, it can't really be considered as dragging her down. Her life is tied to theirs, like grasshoppers on the same rope. So, if they have any plans, it's reasonable for them to assign her tasks.
But this was the first time in his life that he had done something bad, something that could cost someone's life. Meng Yuning felt inexplicably nervous and did not answer for a while.
Mu Yun seemed to see her ambiguity and answered first, "They are just some wild vegetables that can be found anywhere. It's a bit awkward for you to say that, brothers, but most of them have been used up just now. There is only that bucket of water celery left. If you don't mind, feel free to take it."
The officers and soldiers had just tasted the various wild vegetables and were still savoring them. They hurriedly said, "Thank you very much."
Mu Feng came back from the river carrying a bucket of water. When he heard this, his face immediately turned black. He threw the bucket to the ground and rushed over with his sleeves rolled up: "Mu Yun, I picked those. Why are you using them as a favor?"
Before he finished speaking, Mu Shan stepped forward, stopped him and led him to the side, whispering: "We have to ask someone to help us buy some food. It's just some wild vegetables. Don't be so stingy. We can pick more later."
Mu Feng struggled and cursed: "I just can't stand their arrogant attitude."
Mu Shan, relying on his height and strength, forcibly led the man away. Mu Yun smiled awkwardly at the officers and soldiers, "My brother is young and easily impulsive, please don't mind, brothers."
Several people have always disliked Mu Feng, who is always jumping around and looking for trouble. At this moment, their faces are a little unhappy, but they don't know what to say.
Mu Yun looked at Meng Yuning and said, "Miss Meng, how do you think we should prepare these ingredients?"
Meng Yuning subconsciously avoided the water celery: "Give me the bacon, I'll cut it. I'll use the water celery stalks to stir-fry the bacon and eggs later, and use the water celery leaves to make egg soup."
Mu Yun agreed, took the two large strips of bacon from those people, and handed them to Meng Yuning. Meng Yuning saw that they had not been steamed yet, so she went to boil water and prepared to wash it before cutting it, otherwise it would be too hard.
Seeing her busying herself, Mu Yun casually instructed the two guards: "Pick the water celery from the bucket and separate the leaves from the stems."
The two men responded, carrying wooden buckets and squatting aside to pick them.
Seeing that those people refused to leave, Mu Yun asked someone to bring some stools, poured them some tea, and asked them to sit down.
The officers and soldiers received orders from Zhang Hujun and sat down. They all shared the same thought: if anyone had attempted to tamper with the food, it would undoubtedly be the cook.
So everyone's attention was focused on Meng Yuning's hands, staring at her hands closely, not missing any of her movements.
Meng Yuning had long been accustomed to cooking in front of others and was not afraid of other people's eyes, but when she thought about what she was going to do next, she still felt a little guilty.
But now that it had come to this, she couldn't back down. She kept repeating to herself, "Follow orders, follow orders," and tried her best to calm her mind and work in an orderly manner.
After the water in the pot was heated, she scooped a few scoops of water into the wooden basin, washed the bacon carefully, and rinsed it several times with changed water. Then she asked a guard to help cut a few branches to place in the pot, put the two pieces of bacon on it, covered the pot, and steamed it over high heat.
While steaming the bacon, she beat the eggs, about a hundred eggs, filling two large ceramic basins.
The two guards had already finished picking the large bucket of water celery. Mu Yun, who was sitting nearby, asked, "Miss Meng, what do you think we should do next?"
Meng Yuning was beating eggs with her chopsticks. "Cut the stem into sections. Just cut them into the same lengths as we ate before."
Mu Yun: "Okay, I'll cut it." After that, he rolled up his sleeves and washed his hands. He took the bucket of water celery stalks to the chopping board one by one and cut them into small pieces of even length with a kitchen knife.
Meng Yuning had beaten the eggs and the bacon in the pot was almost steamed. She lifted the lid of the pot and poked it with chopsticks. Seeing that it could be poked, she used two chopsticks to poke it out and put it in a basin to cool. After waiting for a while and being able to start, she first cut it into long and thin strips, and then cut it into thin slices of even thickness with neat movements.
After cutting two large strips of bacon, they filled up a large wooden basin.
Mu Feng, who had been taken away by Mu Shan before, appeared out of nowhere, took a bowl and scooped a big spoonful of bacon, and started eating it with his hands without any scruples.
Mu Yun scolded, "Mu Feng."
Mu Feng rolled his eyes: "Let our Miss Meng help cook, and use our pot and our firewood. What's wrong with me eating a few pieces of meat?"
Mu Yun was so angry that he was speechless. He smiled apologetically at the officers and soldiers and said, "I'm sorry."
A few people were afraid that Meng Yuning had tampered with the dish, but they were happy to see it happen. Mu Feng tasted it first and said quickly, "It's okay, just a few pieces of meat."
Mu Feng glared at Mu Yun and said, "Look, no one else said anything, but you're the only one pretending to be a good person all day long."
Mu Yun was choked and his expression froze. He shook his head, looking helpless.
The two of them sang the same tune. If Meng Yuning didn't know how good their relationship was, she would probably have believed that they were not getting along.
After all the ingredients were prepared, Meng Yuning heated up the oil in a pan and fried the two eggs in batches. Mu Feng, as usual, picked up a bowl with chopsticks and squatted aside to eat.
Mu Yun waited for Meng Yuning to fry all the eggs and served them out. He then poured some oil into the pan and heated it up. Then he carried the large wooden basin filled with chopped celery stems over and asked, "Do you want to put this in now?"
Meng Yuning nodded: "Put it in. Pour half and keep the other half for frying the bacon."
Mu Yun did as he was told and put the remaining half pot aside. Then he stood by and watched, asking a few questions from time to time, as if he was interested in learning cooking.
There was no one around the officers and soldiers, so they put their heads together and talked in a low voice.
"This Miss Meng is really pitiful. She is such a rich lady, but now she is working as a cook in this shabby place. What a pity."
"I heard it was the Queen Mother's decree."
"Prince Shen must hate Minister Meng to death. It would be strange if he could treat his daughter well."
"Then don't blame her cruel father. Since Minister Meng has taken refuge with the Third Prince, he could have sent his daughter away early."
One person said in an obscene tone: "In fact, it would be a good idea to give it to His Majesty the Third Prince as a bed warmer. This way, the two sisters of the Meng family can share the same husband, and it will not be in vain that Minister Meng is so loyal to His Majesty the Third Prince."
"The two daughters of the Meng family are both outstanding in appearance and figure. If both are sent to His Highness the Third Prince, then His Highness will be blessed with the best of both worlds."
Several people laughed together with obscene expressions.
They spoke quietly, and Meng Yuning only heard them laughing. When she looked over, she saw them glancing at her with frivolous looks that made her feel uncomfortable.
Although she didn't hear what they said, Meng Yuning had a hunch that they didn't say anything good, and it wasn't anything related to her.
Meng Yuning felt quite uncomfortable for a while. The uneasiness and guilt that had arisen in her heart due to the poison hemlock incident faded a lot in an instant.
Mu Yun, Mu Feng, and several guards were all martial artists. They were all very sharp-eyed and sharp-eared, and heard everything the others said clearly. Their faces all darkened.
Even if His Highness has not yet recognized Miss Meng as the princess, Miss Meng is still theirs, and they will not tolerate these bastards disrespecting her.
Mu Feng was about to stand up with the bowl in his hand, but Mu Yun quickly reached out and held him down, then winked at the others, who then held themselves back and continued to do what they had to do, but they were all holding their breath.
After the scrambled eggs with water celery stems came out of the pan, Meng Yuning directly put them into a large dish bowl brought by the officers and soldiers.
Then he washed the pot, dried it, added some oil, poured the chopped bacon in first, and after the oil came out, he asked Mu Yun to pour the remaining half pot of water celery stems into the pot, and then stir-fry quickly. After a while, a large pot of fragrant water celery and bacon was out of the pot.
Then I made the last dish, water celery and egg soup, so that two dishes and one soup were complete.
Just as they stood up to serve the dishes, Mu Feng took the lead and scooped out a large spoonful of bacon and another spoonful of eggs from a large ceramic bowl. Just as he was about to scoop out another spoonful of bacon, Mu Yun shouted, "That's enough."
Mu Feng rolled his eyes, holding the bowl, and ran towards the river while eating like a starving ghost.
Seeing that Mu Feng had eaten everything, the last bit of vigilance in their hearts disappeared. They thanked Meng Yuning and Mu Yun, and in pairs, they carried the two dishes and a soup back to their camp.
Seeing them walk away, Mu Feng quickly found a place away from others, spit out the bacon in his mouth, dug a hole on the spot, and buried the full bowl of vegetables. Then, holding the empty bowl, he went to find Doctor Tang and asked him to check him. After Doctor Tang confirmed that he was fine, he felt relieved.
Watching everyone in the camp scrambling for food, Mu Yun bowed to Meng Yuning and said, "Miss Meng, thank you for your hard work. Your Highness, please come to the carriage and talk."
Meng Yuning didn't know what he wanted to talk to her about, but she could only nod and agree, and silently followed Mu Yun to Qi Jingyan's carriage.
Mu Yun: "Your Highness, Miss Meng is here."
A warm and deep voice came from: "Come up."
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