Chapter 69: Chapter 69
Chapter 69
The next morning, the husband and wife sat together, building a fire to cook breakfast. The two children enjoyed helping each other draw water using the pulley system. While they worked, Yueqian taught them to count. For example, she asked how many times Xiao Long drew water and how many times Huan’er drew water, then had them add the numbers together, teaching them arithmetic. Also, how many buckets worth of water were left in the jar if they used up two buckets.
The siblings asked each other problems, and sometimes their big brother and sister-in-law joined in, asking questions, encouraging the children to think together. This made the work enjoyable for the children.
For breakfast, Yueqian prepared “Thai coconut chicken soup”, using just a few ingredients: chicken thighs, straw mushrooms, boxed coconut milk, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and a few bird’s eye chilies for garnish.
The fragrant aroma of the Thai coconut chicken soup whetted everyone’s appetite. The way she used an unfamiliar coconut milk in a savory dish instead of a dessert piqued the children’s interest. However, they were no longer surprised since every dish their sister-in-law made for them was delicious. Ultimately, they could only sit and salivate, waiting for her to finish.
Yueqian didn’t just make one dish as usual. She also took some Vietnamese pork sausage from her interdimensional space, sliced it, and fried it to accompany the soup dish.
When the cooking was done, the children had already set the table. Yueqian let Mu Heng serve a big bowl of Thai coconut chicken soup. He didn’t let Xiao Long do it because the freshly made soup was very hot, and he didn’t want the children to get burned. The only thing left was fried Vietnamese pork sausage, with Xiao Long sneaking a piece and liking it.
Initially, they thought the square fish balls they ate were delicious. Now, they got to eat the Vietnamese pork sausage and they found it to be equally tasty in its own way. Xiao Long mentally noted this dish, just in case he wanted to eat it again in the future, he could ask his sister-in-law to make it again.
The children ran to wash their hands so they could come to eat breakfast. This morning was fortunately peaceful, unlike the usual chaos before almost every meal. So, they focused on enjoying their food more than usual.
Not long after they finished eating and washing the dishes, the children followed their older brother to the farm. Yueqian went along as well, planning to help him fertilize the young plants to promote root growth. So, the whole household set off together.
Unexpectedly, they hadn’t reached their vegetable plot when they heard the cries of many people up ahead. It wasn’t just villagers; there was also a group of soldiers clutching their stomachs and vomiting. Some looked even worse, with piles of excrement nearby.
“Physician.... Physician, please help me.”
“Blech!! Somebody, give me some medicine.”
The wailing of the people made Yueqian frown. The Young General, not far away, was having a headache over the situation. Upon seeing Yueqian, he quickly approached her.
“Qian’er, are you alright? If you’re feeling unwell, let the physician check you.” His tone of voice was as distant as ever. However, his eyes reflected a trace of concern, a look Yueqian usually saw when she was sick. It soon disappeared, as if he didn’t want her to notice.
"I was just asking out of courtesy. If nothing’s wrong, then that’s good." And yes! How could a Young General like him show concern for someone who never worried about him? So, upon seeing that Yueqian seemed fine, he retracted his words.
Looking around, the situation seemed to worsen. There were only three physicians tending to the sick. One was the city physician Mu Heng frequently sold herbs to. He didn’t expect that the physician would be summoned early in the morning. The other two were local physicians with limited skills, but they could follow the city physician’s instructions to brew medicine and care for the sick.
"What happened?" Mu Heng asked. Many of the sick people were villagers he knew, and a few soldiers who had been injured yesterday were now vomiting. If this continued, the situation would indeed become dire.
"It appears to be food poisoning. The patients have severe abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. If not treated properly, they could die from dehydration and exhaustion," Yueqian predicted before the Young General could speak.
The highest-ranking person there froze and looked at Yueqian with a strange expression. He couldn’t believe that his former fiancée had such knowledge, reinforcing the idea that she had been pretending all along.
"Food poisoning?"
"Mmm, I think so. Most of the sick are soldiers, but some villagers are also affected. The villagers who are ill are those who didn’t have enough food since winter. So they came here seeking aid. I suspect the food they ate last night is the cause," Yueqian reasoned further. Even Mu Heng was convinced.
One of the nearby physicians, an old man, overheard every word. He looked up at the courageous woman with admiration but quickly averted his gaze when he noticed the group behind her.
"Yueqian, are you accusing us?!" A sharp voice of a woman came from behind. Without turning, Yueqian knew it was a group of nonsense-chatter from the capital. They must have been the ones who prepared last night’s meal, likely trying to win favor with the soldiers and villagers. They didn’t just distribute food as usual; they volunteered to cook for the brave soldiers, since there were many injured soldiers the day before.
In the end, it could be surmised that these girls wanted to earn merit in front of the Young General and the soldiers from the capital. Instead of letting their servants cook as usual, they must have decided to do it themselves.
Liu Sun was involved too. Luckily, she hadn’t meddled much yesterday because she was making ginseng soup bought at a high price from the city to please the Young General. Otherwise, she would be even more stressed than anyone today.
Since she wasn’t involved, she felt quite happy. At least, Liu Sun didn’t display her foolishness in front of the man she loved for a second time.
"Lady Qin, you are so cruel to us. The soldiers and villagers are sick, and now you are blaming us for the food we prepared. If this isn’t contempt for our goodwill, then what is it?" One woman said, looking deeply hurt.
Yueqian didn’t turn around, nor did she intend to argue. She expected that the three physicians present already knew the cause, but no one wanted to speak up.
It seemed Yueqian was the only one bold enough to accept such words. Well..., she had been the villainess from the beginning, and such accusations didn’t bother her in the slightest.
The Young General continued to secretly observe Yueqian’s face. Seeing that even her eyes did not waver, he felt an even stronger desire to possess her. This woman had a strong spirit and didn’t care about slander. This made a man him want to conquer her even more.
The day she cries and clings to his leg would be the day he laughs the loudest.
Of course, he could only think about it, because he couldn’t even get Yueqian to notice him. Even the famous Young General could not manage to do so, how could he expect Yueqian to beg him in tears? Soon enough..., he would realize that it was just a fantasy!
"Husband, try giving these to the villagers to drink. Oh, and don’t let the soldiers have any. If something happens to them, they’ll blame me again. Besides, it’s a waste. The soldiers came with people from the capital. Who knows their conditions? Treating them carelessly could be bad. If the soldiers are severely ill and too exhausted to protect the ladies from the capital on the way back, and they get attacked and violated by bandits, they’ll blame us later. So let them take care of themselves." Yueqian handed Mu Heng a packet of medicine she had secretly taken from her interdimensional space and put into a brown packet under her sleeve.
These were oral rehydration salts to treat diarrhea. Later, she would give her husband antibiotics and anti-diarrhea medication for the villagers. But at this time, those medicines were in a pill form, she needed to ground them into powder to avoid suspicion.
Above all, Yueqian’s words sounded like a clear threat. Her face twitched slightly as she spoke, giving the impression she was cursing them.
The thing the ladies from the capital feared most was being violated during their journey. They had dared to travel from the capital to this remote place only because there were many soldiers, and they were confident the soldiers were more capable than any bandits.
But if the food they cooked yesterday weakened the soldiers, leaving them unable to protect them back and they encountered bandits, wouldn’t that mean they were harming themselves?
"Y... You, Yueqian! What are you saying?!"
"Are you cursing us, Lady Qin? How could you be so foul-mouthed?"
"You’ll be the one violated by bandits, you and your mother."
The terrified women, unable to maintain their composure, began to scream. Yueqian turned and laughed softly. Her "hehe" sound cut deeply. She didn’t say anything else, just glanced at the women from the capital and then turned away, as if she were looking at people about to fall into ruin, people about to become the bandits’ playthings.
The faces of many women turned pale, as if the villainess’ words would soon become reality.
Seeing their paranoid reactions, Yueqian felt an inexplicable joy.
"Lady Qin, don’t tease them," Liu Sun seized the opportunity, speaking up amid the panic-stricken women. She was looking at the Young General who she admired before shifting her gaze to Yueqian.
"Our travel party has many skilled soldiers. Even if some are injured or ill, under the orders and care of the Young General, I believe he will get us back safely." Liu Sun displayed full confidence as if she had entrusted her life to this man.
Her words were like a compliment, and anyone receiving such confidence from a woman would feel pleased. Naturally, the Young General felt the same.
He was satisfied with Liu Sun’s words, which dissipated his anger toward her from yesterday. Moreover, he saw that she composed herself well in situations that could easily cause one to be stressed-out, Liu Sun could still maintain her reasoned thought. She showed no fear, not even made herself look like a fool by cursing Yueqian.
"If you believe that, then think as you wish. Husband, let’s go," Yueqian did not pay much attention but still left a remark that seemed to support Liu Sun.
Of course, she wanted this vile Young General to go back to playing the hero’s role. Helping Liu Sun become his beloved was beneficial for her too...
