Chapter 11: Unpalatable Meal
Do you want to forgive Wang Hu?
Gu Xiyue hesitated for a moment, but it was only a moment before she made up her mind.
Everyone's eyes were focused on her. Wang Hu was curled up at the feet of Mr. Xu, looking very miserable. He had not recovered from his illness and looked haggard. In addition, he had just shed tears out of anxiety. The man who was less than 30 years old looked a little pitiful.
"Wang Hu, I have no grudge against you. This time, I can let you go because of your filial piety, but..."
Wang Hu listened with trepidation. When he heard that Gu Xiyue let him go, he breathed a sigh of relief and even lowered his shoulders. When he heard the word "but" at the end, he looked up with a look of horror and met Gu Xiyue's eyes, his eyes full of tension.
"But what?"
His voice trembled.
It can be seen how scared he was, fearing that Gu Xiyue would not let him go.
Even Zhao Yancheng and Qian Fu, who had been so aggressive just now, couldn't stand it anymore.
Previously, there was a man here who stole food from several families. He was eventually discovered and brought before the military commander. Later, the man was charged with a more serious crime and sent directly back to the cell. He did not survive a year.
No one knows how he died.
That incident happened two years ago. Wang Hu knew about it, and everyone knew it.
Seeing Wang Hu's miserable appearance at this time, he knew in his heart that if Gu Xiyue and everyone did not let him go and insisted on pursuing him, his end would not be any better.
Gu Xiyue couldn't bear to look him in the eye, so she turned her face away and said, "You still have to be punished. I'll punish you by making you pull mosquito repellent grass for ten days. If next time..."
“There won’t be a next time!”
Wang Hu looked grateful and turned around to kowtow to Gu Xiyue, "Thank you, Miss Gu, for your forgiveness. Not to mention pulling mosquito repellent grass for ten days, even a hundred days is fine!"
His expression changed quickly, with a sense of relief as if he had survived a disaster, and Gu Xiyue saw it all.
When people saw that Gu Xiyue did not pursue the matter of Wang Hu and only gave him a light punishment, they felt relieved for Wang Hu on the one hand, and on the other hand, they admired Gu Xiyue even more.
Xiao Heng had been standing by and was secretly approving of Gu Xiyue's actions.
When the three generals heard what Miss Gu said, they taught Wang Hu a lesson and told him not to steal steamed buns from other people's homes in the future, and not to slander others behind their backs. If he did it again, they would never let him off easily.
After Wang Hu's repeated assurances, the three of them comforted Gu Xiyue and the villagers before leaving.
As soon as the military officer left, Wang Hu relaxed completely. He said to Gu Xiyue respectfully, "I'll go pull the mosquito repellent grass now."
He turned around and was about to run when Gu Xiyue stopped him, smiling with a hint of disdain, "Go back and recuperate first. Don't hang around for the next two days. Be careful not to infect others, especially children."
Wang Hu agreed with a smile, his face a little embarrassed. He turned around and looked at the familiar villagers sheepishly, sniffed his nose, hunched his shoulders and walked away from the crowd. "Okay, then I'll go... pick some mosquito repellent grass for myself."
As soon as he left, Zhao Yancheng told Wang Hu about how he was bitten by mosquitoes last night. He said that he finally couldn't stand it anymore and wrapped himself in a winter quilt, but he fell ill when he woke up in the morning.
After listening to this, Gu Xiyue couldn't help but curl up the corners of her mouth when she thought of that scene.
It turned out that the mosquitoes that usually bite everyone were so hungry yesterday that they ran to Wang Hu's house and bit him alone. It was really miserable.
If he had listened to himself and used mosquito repellent grass last night, he wouldn't have to suffer like this!
I even caught a cold from using a winter quilt.
It’s really tragic!
After Wang Hu left, before Gu Xiyue could thank everyone, everyone waved goodbye and went home, asking Gu Xiyue to go back to the house and rest quickly, as they also wanted to go back and rest.
Because of the mosquito repellent grass, everyone would light it when sleeping during the day. Every household lit it, and the entire southern wilderness was filled with the smell of mugwort and wormwood. The mosquitoes hid themselves hard and looked for new places to stay.
After everyone left, Xiao Heng smiled and said to Gu Xiyue, "You did the right thing! You are indeed... worthy of this king's admiration."
He was about to say that she was worthy of being a lady from a noble family, but when he thought about what she had done in the capital before, a lady from a noble family would never do something like marrying off her sister, so he felt a little hesitant to praise her. In the end, he ended up looking at her with admiration.
Gu Xiyue didn't care much and nodded at him with a smile. The two turned around and prepared to go back. As they turned around, they found Meixiang and Wei Lin standing behind them, looking at them meaningfully.
Meixiang looked incredulous, while Wei Lin had a worried look on his face.
"Have you finished cutting the steamed buns?"
"not yet!"
The two answered in unison and quickly ran towards the meeting place.
The four people quickly finished cutting the steamed buns and filled the coarse cloth to dry.
Just after noon, Xiao Heng and Wei Lin prepared to go back to the east room to rest. Before leaving, Xiao Heng seemed to think of something and looked back at Gu Xiyue.
Gu Xiyue flexed her wrist, felt his gaze, and raised her head with a questioning look, "Your Highness, please tell me if you have anything to say."
"You'd better be careful about some things in the future. If the three military masters insist on intervening in something like today's incident, you will also be implicated."
Gu Xiyue nodded and said, "Your Highness is right. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely look for another way out. Life here is too hard. Let's think of a solution together."
"good."
Gu Xiyu and Meixiang took a nap in the afternoon. When the sun was setting, the steamed buns had dried. Today was a sunny day with wind, which dried the buns very quickly. Gu Xiyu and Meixiang gathered the buns in the middle of the coarse cloth and wrapped them up directly with the coarse cloth used to dry the buns. It was a big bag and she couldn't hold it all by herself.
Storing such a large bag became a problem. If I put it on the cabinet, I was afraid of attracting rats. Finally, after much thought, I used a hemp rope to drop it on the beam, and a large bag of dry steamed bread slices was hung in the air.
Xiao Heng helped to tie it up. When Xiao Heng threw the hemp rope over the beam, he looked at Gu Xiyue with a smile.
Gu Xiyue knew that her original body had hanged itself on this beam. She did not avoid his gaze and there was no trace of embarrassment on her face.
Xiao Heng looked at it in loneliness and tied up the cloth bag without saying a word.
When it was time to cook, Gu Xiyue thought Xiao Heng would cook, but there was no movement. Finally, she couldn't help it and knocked on the door to urge him.
When the door opened, Gu Xiyue took a look inside and found a shelf on the right side, which was full of books, and Xiao Heng was reading a book in his hand.
Wei Lin stood in the doorway, bowed with a smile, and said, "Miss Gu, would you like me to help light the fire?"
As soon as she asked this question, Gu Xiyue knew that Xiao Heng had no intention of cooking dinner at all and was just waiting for her to do it, which meant that both sides would take turns.
I feel a little unhappy, but there's nothing I can do. Even if she cooks delicious food, she shouldn't cook it for every meal. Let's just take turns. Just don't complain that her cooking is bad.
"No need, you can accompany His Highness to read books, Meixiang and I will be fine."
Gu Xiyue’s best dish is dumpling soup. This dish is the simplest. Pour the noodles into a bowl, add water and stir while stirring until the flour becomes flocs. Pour a few drops of oil into the pot, then throw in some chopped green onions. Add water and bring to a boil, then shake the flocs into the pot. After they are cooked, just throw in some vegetables.
If you have eggs, add an egg to the flour and the dough will be chewy.
When she told Meixiang that she was going to make dumpling soup that night, Meixiang said with a worried look on her face, "Miss, there aren't many black noodles left. I'm afraid it won't be enough for the four of us."
"Do you have any other flour?"
Gu Xiyue also felt a little worried.
"And a little cornmeal."
Gu Xiyue waved her hand and said, "Then mix the two kinds of noodles together, they are the same."
Just think of it as multi-grain noodles, it is more nutritious.
Meixiang hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
Gu Xiyue poured all the black flour into the ceramic basin, but there were only two or three handfuls. He sighed and poured in some corn flour. He was afraid that it would not be enough for four people, so he poured in a little more.
Then pour water and stir the dough. There is something wrong with the dough today. After Meixiang boiled the pot, Gu Xiyue poured the dough into the pot, stirred it, and was a little dumbfounded.
The dough balls that were just formed into a paste turned into a paste after being put into boiling water.
When it is finally cooked, it becomes a thick paste.
Gu Xiyue was dejected. Compared with the white noodles he had at noon, how could he let others eat this kind of food?
But there was no other way. These were all she had in her room, so Her Highness had to let her eat this.
She scooped a little into her own bowl and tasted it. The taste was indescribable, and she suddenly felt a little depressed.
She can find ways to do other things, but when it comes to cooking, she can only make a few simple meals.
Dough dumplings are her specialty.
Just as he was feeling depressed, the east gate opened and Xiao Heng stepped over the threshold with his long legs. "Can we have dinner now?"
Gu Xiyue nodded and took the lead in serving herself a bowl. She was too embarrassed to look at Xiao Heng, so she quickly took the bowl and went into the west room, leaving only a word outside.
"Mei Xiang, please help His Highness serve the meal!"
Meixiang didn't understand what was going on. She thought the young lady was so hungry that she couldn't wait for her to serve her food, so she served herself.
She served a large bowl to Xiao Heng and Wei Lin respectively, and used the rest in the pot for herself, leaving just enough for one bowl.
Meixiang did not go into the house to eat. Instead, she took her meal and ate it on the stone slab at the edge of the yard. It was much cooler here than in the house. When she took a bite of the meal, she was stunned.
She seemed to understand why the young lady asked her to serve food to His Highness while she herself ran into the house.
The rice tasted very strange, astringent and salty, not as good as yesterday's vegetable porridge, and compared with the noodles made by His Highness at noon, there was a world of difference.
I wonder if Your Highness can eat such a meal?
She glanced secretly at Xiao Heng who was sitting at the door, and saw him staring at the rice in the bowl with a frown on his face. He looked at it for a long time before he slowly lowered his head and started eating.
He ate normally, but Wei Lin next to him had to swallow every bite with great effort. It was painful to watch him.
Meixiang wanted to laugh but didn't dare. She couldn't help it, so she stood up with the bowl and went into the house, whispering to the young lady about Xiao Heng's reaction.
After hearing this, Gu Xiyue became even more depressed.
If he can't eat, maybe he'll be willing to cook in the future.
But he can eat it...
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