"Summon the manager!"
These servants sure know how to shirk their duties. As soon as my back is turned, they begin to publicly comply but privately oppose! Ti for a good crackdown on them!
The manager arrived swiftly. On seeing Qin Hong’s stern expression, his heart dropped. He sensed trouble!
As expected, within monts, Qin Hong delivered his command.
"Who was in charge of the outside gate today? Find this person and give them twenty strokes with the military pole! Let’s see if they dare to abandon their duty again!"
The manager’s heart sank. He shouted an internal alarm!
"My lord, an incident has occurred with the person guarding the gate today!"
Upon hearing about the incident, Qin Hong’s heart pounded wildly. Abandoning all decorum, he pushed away the manager and bolted towards the inner courtyard.
He pushed open the door with force, only to find an empty room. The items that were arranged were missing, including several servants.
As he walked slowly into the room, he could still vividly imagine a petite woman ticulously preparing dicine. He could still feel the presence of the lift and fall of her brow - it felt like she was standing right before him.
His heart throbbed with irrational pain as if it was hollow, an agony that pierced his soul!
"Call soone! Soone, help! Help..."
His furious roar echoed through the manor.
The evening was slowly descending.
Fearing pursuit, their party broke off the mountain road, planning to cross over the mountain directly.
That path was the sa one Qin Yi had taken when trying to take a short route. It was not sothing to worry about as they wouldn’t get lost in the woods. However, with familial burdens, traveling nights turned sowhat complicated.
To avoid exposure, they dared not light a torch and had to rely on groping in the dark, each step uncertain and tentative.
The hardships of traveling in this biting cold were indeed unspeakable.
While the adults could still bear it, Little Yanyan in Su Pan’er’s arms started crying from hunger, the wailing echoing the forest.
Add to that an uncooperative sky. After dark, the intermingling rain and snow worsened, making the ground wet and slippery. This forced the party to halt.
At last, they found a sheltered spot near the mountaintop.
Behind a large rock, there was a corner shielded from the wind. Also, an indentation underneath the rock served as an excellent refuge from rain and wind.
At least, it was a dry place, untouched by rain or snow.
Everyone was cold and hungry, so with no regard to their tracks being discovered, Su Pan’er hurriedly lit a fire for warmth.
As the flas soared, everyone gathered around to warm up. They were exhausted from half-day’s travel and it looked like they couldn’t make it any further by foot.
Su Pan’er raised a curtain using her cloak and let Nanny Zhou feed Little Yanyan.
Qin Yi went out to fetch so bamboos. He skillfully sliced them open with his small dagger, filling them with clean water, grains, and dried at. Then he resealed the bamboo tube and put it over the fire.
When the simred fragrance escaped, Qin Yi took one bamboo tube out, opened the seal, and rich at aroma filled the air.
He handed it to Su Pan’er: "Here, eat so hot food quickly. It will warm you up."
"Alright."
Su Pan’er received it and instead of eating, she gave it to Nanny Zhou, who had just finished nursing Little Yanyan.
"Here, give Little Yanyan to ! You eat so food first."
After her al, Little Yanyan was now comfortably asleep in Nanny Zhou’s arms. Once Su Pan’er took her, she moaned a little but showed no signs of waking.
Nanny Zhou hurriedly tried to refuse: "My lady, you eat first. Your servant is not hungry yet."
"It’s late, and humans are not made of iron. How can you not be hungry? Eat up quickly. We need to ensure you have enough breast milk. If not, Little Yanyan will go hungry!" Su Pan’er finished speaking and abruptly took Little Yanyan from her.
Left with no choice, Nanny Zhou accepted her bamboo tube and started eating.
"Don’t worry, I’ve cooked enough for everyone."
As Qin Yi spoke, he shared out the rest of the food. Seeing Su Pan’er quickly feeding herself, he took over the child. "You eat up. I will take care of Little Yanyan. Co here, Little Yanyan, to Daddy..."
Su Pan’er wanted to say sothing but in the end, didn’t speak. Instead, she snapped a tree branch to serve as chopsticks and started eating the rice prepared in the bamboo tube. It was indeed delicious—the rice, dried at and the water in the tube, all assembled and simred over the fire!
One bite and Su Pan’er was nodding in approval.
She also took a piece of at and fed Qin Yi.
"How is it? Tasty, right?" Su Pan’er smiled with glee.
If not for their ongoing escape, she would have assud they were on a picnic!
"Hmm! The taste is indeed great. It has the taste of dried at and a unique bamboo fragrance. It’s scrumptious!"
"If it’s tasty, eat more!"
Su Pan’er fed him another mouthful of rice and took a spoonful herself.
Qin Yi gave a warm smile and did not refuse. The couple ate mouthful by mouthful in silence.
He called out to Qingwen and Xiao Min, "Co over here and eat. Enjoy so hot food to survive the long night!"
Everyone was hungry, and the enticing aroma of the at made them eagerly accept the food. Each of them started eating the bamboo tube rice with a lot of praises.
"I haven’t eaten such delicious food in a very long ti."
"Sa here! This rice is indeed fragrant!"
"The at is incredibly tender. This is so delicious and, most importantly, hot."
Being able to eat warm als on a cold night was truly a blessing!
Su Pan’er listened to the praises. Looking at Qin Yi, she broke into laughter. The two of them finished two bamboo tubes of rice, and still wanting more, Su Pan’er threw the used chopsticks into the fire.
"Co on, let hold the baby."
Qin Yi did not refuse and handed over Little Yanyan to Su Pan’er, "Alright, you hold the baby and rest for a bit. I’ll see if I can gather more firewood." As he spoke, without waiting for Su Pan’er to respond, he stepped out briskly.
Su Pan’er wanted to call him but, she didn’t stop him.
After thinking for a bit, she had soone gather dry firewood and laid it on the ground, covered it with her cloak and told everyone to cuddle up for warmth.
To save firewood, she specifically reduced the size of the fire which initially roared due to the bamboo container rice. Despite offering to help initially, Xiao Min was finally shooed away by Su Pan’er to the warm corner, just to be extra cautious.
Reviews
All reviews (0)