Chapter 299 - 299: Magical Dried Vegetables
The deputy generals came to a realization and cupped their hands to apologize for their previous disrespect. Rong Yan did not mind. Just as he was about to go with them, he heard someone say, “We can’t have no generals in front of the formation. Leave such a lowly person to us.”
They were all experienced in front of the array, so it was not a problem for them to follow and hide. Rong Yan knew that he was a newbie in this matter, so he did not interfere and really stayed behind.
The deputy generals chose two people and followed the spy at a safe distance with 500 elite soldiers. The rest stayed behind and guarded against foreign enemies with Rong Yan.
Most of the generals who guarded the borders all year round were angry. Furthermore, they did whatever they wanted and were not easy to discipline. Especially since the person sent by the Imperial Capital to lead the troops was a prince who lived a pampered life. They felt that they had been underestimated. They had been perfunctory with Rong Yan’s orders on the first day he came.
To put it bluntly, if not for that, those traitors might not have been able to successfully destroy so much rations.
Their originally inharmonious relationship seemed to have become much stronger after this incident. Rong Yan could be considered to have gained a foothold in the border camp, which was the greatest gain among the misfortunes.
That night, when the Xiongnu did not move, Deputy General Xiong successfully completed the tracking mission with the 500 people and destroyed an earthen stronghold with a total of nearly 1,000 people. When he returned, he said proudly, “Isn’t it just setting fire? I know how to do it too.”
“I burned their village and stole their food.”
After saying that, he looked at Rong Yan worriedly. He heard that those young masters in the Imperial Capital didn’t know anything and only knew how to preach. Would the Third Prince be dissatisfied with his actions?
Rong Yan gave him a thumbs up. Deputy General Xiong could not understand this action, but His Highness said, “Well done.”
After almost all the money was spent, Rong Yan collected a little food from the nearby cities. However, the borders were mostly sand fields. Not only could they not grow food, but they could not even grow vegetables. The soldiers were used to not eating vegetarian food, but Rong Yan could not take it.
He did not like to eat meat to begin with, and his food had always been exquisite. Although he did not say anything after coming to the border, he had lost a lot of weight. The guards were anxious but helpless.
At this moment, Yun Er received a letter from Yun San. Seeing the word “Xiao” signed on the envelope, Yun Er hurriedly sent it to His Highness.
Rong Yan had just discussed with the military counselor the possibility of Xionghu taking any action in the past few days. His jawline was becoming clearer, and his face was filled with solemnity. The conclusion was worrying. “Master, there’s a letter from the Imperial Capital.”
Rong Yan’s gaze softened when he saw the word “Xiao”. When he saw the contents of the letter, he looked even more relaxed. Yun Er had sharp eyes. “Is there good news?”
Rong Yan nodded. “She said that she asked the Li Family’s caravan to bring me something.”
Yun Er thought that Miss Ning had asked someone to bring over just some trinkets to talk about longing. Unexpectedly, when he saw Li Muyan, he saw him carrying a sack from the carriage.
“These are some ‘trivial things’ that Miss Ning asked me to bring to Young Master Zhao.”
Yun Er was dumbfounded. “So many?”
After taking it from Li Muyan, he was surprised. “It’s so light?” To be honest, Li Muyan was also in a dilemma when he saw the things Xiaoxiao had brought. He had a lot of goods to bring out of the pass, and the carriage had long been stuffed to its limit. It would definitely not be able to withstand an additional sack of weight.
Unexpectedly, Xiaoxiao mysteriously asked him to lift it. After that, Li Muyan followed Xiaoxiao’s instructions and hung this sack casually. It was indeed not heavy at all.
He was very curious about what was inside, but Rong Yan had no intention of sharing it with him. Just as he was about to say a few more words, someone rushed over. “Your Highness, General Xiong is looking for you!” Rong Yan hurriedly went back.
Li Muyan was stunned. He turned his head mechanically to Yun Er, who had left behind instructions for him. “Your Highness?”
Yun Er nodded and gave him the remuneration and the gift Master gave Miss Ning. The head of the Li Family revealed a rare dull expression. “Aren’t you here to join the army?”
It seemed that Miss Ning had yet to tell this person about His Highness’ identity.
Yun Er blinked. “That’s right, but my Master volunteered for the leadership position.”
Oh, right. If you bring any food on this trip, we’ll take them all.”
Li Muyan didn’t bring much with him, so he gave it all to Yun Er immediately. The price was fair and the efficiency was extremely high. The business went smoothly, but his brain, which had been praised by countless people, couldn’t process it now.
He felt that he had to go back and have a good chat with Ning Xiaoxiao.
How did Zhao Yan become “Your Highness”?
No one had expected the grain shortage at the border to be so urgent. Rong Yan and the rest would not miss even a grain of food now. After putting the small amount of food they obtained from Li Muyan into the tightly guarded granary, Rong Yan could not wait to open the things Xiaoxiao had brought for him.
What he saw was a patch of green.
He picked up some from inside and sniffed it in confusion. He was not wrong. Xiaoxiao had brought him dried vegetables.
Yun Er wanted to laugh. “As expected of Miss Ning.”
Others might have brought something that they missed, but Miss Ning only wanted Master to eat well. It was just that this dried vegetables… It was said that only poor people could make them. The taste was even more indescribable. Miss Ning went through so much trouble to get Li Muyan to bring these dried vegetables?
There was also a layer of oil paper in the sack, probably to prevent the dried vegetables from getting wet. There was also a piece of paper with words written on it.
“Soak a small handful with boiling water. There will be a surprise.”
Important hint, it’s a small handful! Don’t take too much! Open this piece of paper after soaking it and continue reading.”
Rong Yan couldn’t help but smile. He could almost imagine Xiaoxiao’s delicate face when she said this. He instructed someone to boil hot water and put the dried vegetables inside…
“Eh, w-what’s going on? When did Miss Ning learn how to conjure tricks?”
It was clearly just a small handful of light dried vegetables. Why did it become a large bowl of emerald green vegetables after soaking in water? The key was that it smelled fragrant and refreshing!
‘Tve seen other people’s dried vegetables in the past. Even if those vegetables were put into the soup to cook, they would still look listless and ugly. They even smell strange and sour, but Miss Ning… It’s impossible not to believe that they’re not fresh vegetables.”
Rong Yan put down the bowl and opened the paper again according to Xiaoxiao’s instructions. There were naughty words neatly written on it. “Little Big Brother, try it.”
Rong Yan did not suspect anything. He picked the vegetables with chopsticks and put them into his mouth.
Before Yun Er could stop him, he saw Master relax his brows and finish the entire bowl.
When he saw Yun Er’s silly face after eating, Rong Yan asked him to do the same once, and Yun Er became a fool.
“It’s cooked! It’s edible! And the taste is completely different from ordinary dried vegetables!” Was Miss Ning a god? How could she make such a magical thing?
Rong Yan felt that his mind was much clearer now that he finally had vegetables after so many days, and they were very fresh