“Achoo~~”

Chi Qing had just arrived at the Fire Camp when he let out a loud sneeze.

Rubbing his nose, he muttered, “Could it be that the weather has turned cooler, and I’ve caught a chill?”

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Feng Shuo, who was also dressed lightly, and couldn’t help but complain, “Your Highness, aren’t you cold?”

Feng Shuo replied coolly, “Not cold.”

The two of them learned that Chu Changping had already dug up the grave and retrieved the coffin, so they hadn’t even had dinner before heading out of the Xizhou military camp.

Upon returning, Chi Qing insisted on trying the late-night snacks from the Forehead Camp’s private kitchen, and Feng Shuo, remembering he had regained his sense of taste the previous night at the camp, decided to accompany him.

As they entered the Fire Camp, the duty personnel noticed their fine clothing and hurried over to greet them.

One tall, thin cook who had seen Feng Shuo the night before immediately beamed with joy, “Military Advisor, you’re here!”

Chi Qing was taken aback, fiddling with his hair as he was about to respond, but Feng Shuo spoke first, saying, “Mm.”

Chi Qing: ???

It was raining today, and the ground outside was wet, so the cook graciously led Feng Shuo inside the barracks to sit. “You arrived just in time; if you had come a little later, Master Jiang would have finished work.”

Feng Shuo strode confidently over to sit down, clearly not his first time there.

Chi Qing followed behind, looking confused.

The cook finally noticed Chi Qing and warmly asked, “May I ask who this gentleman is?”

Chi Qing glanced at Feng Shuo and replied, “I’m the….”

Several cooks were startled and shivered.

Chi Qing slowly finished, “…a staff member of the General.”

The cooks sighed in relief.

Feng Shuo cast an indifferent glance at Chi Qing, who felt a chill down his neck, as if the autumn rain was particularly cold.

A cook had already rushed into the kitchen to inform Jiang Yanyi that the military advisor had come for a late-night snack.

Although Jiang Yanyi had many grievances against this military advisor in her heart, she had to suppress them for now.

She wiped her hands on her apron and came out, saying, “What would you like to eat tonight, Military Advisor?”

Her voice was as sweet as a yellow oriole, making Chi Qing’s bones feel weak.

He remembered hearing from some soldiers about the beautiful cook in the Firehead Camp and quickly looked up.

The young cook who emerged from the kitchen looked as fresh as a flower, with a distinctive oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, sparkling autumn eyes, and ruby lips that were truly captivating.

Jiang Yanyi felt uncomfortable being stared at by Chi Qing and lowered her head to avoid his gaze.

She secretly thought that someone close to this lecherous military advisor was also a lecher.

Feng Shuo took a silver note from his sleeve and handed it to Jiang Yanyi. “As I said yesterday, I will give you an additional reward.”

Upon hearing the mention of extra rewards, Chi Qing’s eyes darted back and forth between the two of them, and a lewd smile suddenly appeared on his face.

No wonder Feng Shuo wanted to use his name to come to the Fire Camp; it turned out he was here for this!

He thought he had uncovered some remarkable secret and felt quite pleased as he took a sip of the tea on the table, but suddenly realized that if Feng Shuo denied it later, using his name, wouldn’t he be the one getting scolded?

Chi Qing became anxious, his beautiful fox-like eyes filled with shock.

Fortunately, he was clever!

Otherwise, he would have fallen into Feng Shuo’s trap!

He glanced at Feng Shuo and then at Jiang Yanyi, deciding he must secretly tell the little cook the truth.

Jiang Yanyi had no idea that Chi Qing had imagined such a big drama; otherwise, she would definitely have told him: You’re overthinking it; this is just a proper reward for the menu.

Following the principle of “no profit means a fool,” she reached out her hands to take the silver note. “Thank you, Military Advisor, for your generous reward!”

With a quick glance, she saw that the silver note was worth one hundred taels!

Jiang Yan Yi immediately lost her composure!

She exclaimed, wow, this amount of money could feed an ordinary family for ten years in the capital, where land is as precious as gold!

Indeed, a wealthy person could casually let slip something that would be enough for an ordinary person to live half a lifetime!

Her five slender, delicate fingers landing on the silver note looked particularly eye-catching.

Feng Shuo’s thumb and index finger held the other end of the note; his fingers were much larger, with long joints that still looked pleasing to the eye.

However, Jiang Yanyi had no time to admire his hands now, as he was holding the other end of the silver note, and she tugged several times but couldn’t pull it free!

Not daring to use too much force for fear of tearing the note.

What’s going on?

Jiang Yanyi frowned and looked up at Feng Shuo in confusion.

As their eyes met, Feng Shuo quickly averted his gaze, letting go of the silver note, and expressionlessly said, “One bowl of wontons.”

How could someone’s hands be so delicate?

They looked almost soft without any bones…

Once the topic turned to food, Jiang Yanyi temporarily set aside her previous displeasure.

She tucked the silver note into her sleeve. “I’m sorry, but the dishes from the private kitchen must be ordered a day in advance. I didn’t know you would come tonight, so the kitchen hasn’t prepared any fresh meat.”

Feng Shuo asked, “What else do you have?”

Jiang Yan Yi thought for a moment. “We have some leftover braised pork from lunch. Would you like me to heat one up for you?”

Feng Shuo nodded indifferently.

Jiang Yanyi then looked at Chi Qing, who hurriedly waved his hand, “I don’t want braised pork!”

He had only taken a bite of the braised pork delivered by the Fire Camp at noon before he couldn’t eat anymore, giving it to the soldiers below.

It was far too greasy, with each bite just being a mouthful of fat.

Even recalling that taste now made him feel queasy.

He spotted a Fire soldier holding a preserved vegetable braised pork bun and said directly, “Just give me one of those buns.”

“Please wait a moment, you two military gentlemen.” Jiang Yanyi said this and turned to head back to the kitchen.

Chi Qing stared fixedly at her graceful figure until she walked into the kitchen, then he sighed, “I think it’s a bit inappropriate to let a bunch of weak women do such hard work…”

As soon as he finished speaking, he felt a chill run down his back.

Turning around, he met Feng Shuo’s icy gaze, as cold as if it could freeze ice shards.

Chi Qing quickly said, “I have no improper intentions toward this cook. My greatest flaw in life is that I can’t bear to see beautiful women suffer…”

Feng Shuo coldly averted his gaze. “She is very likely a spy as well.”

Chi Qing was taken aback.

He recalled the coincidences regarding the little cook’s household registration and then thought of her stunning beauty, making Feng Shuo’s suspicion seem entirely reasonable.

He stroked his smooth chin and said, “Perhaps we could test her.”

Jiang Yanyi was completely unaware that they had guessed her identity.

She had Qiu Kui start a fire to steam the braised pork.

By noon, when her braised pork was ready, several soldiers who had tasted it commented that Chef Zhu’s dishes were much more flavorful.

Jiang Yanyi’s braised pork was indeed delicious, but it lacked oiliness, leaving them wanting more.

Chef Zhu was quite smug, sarcastically mocking Jiang Yanyi’s braised pork.

Naturally, the braised pork sent to the various generals’ tents was made by Chef Zhu.

By now, only three of Jiang Yanyi’s braised pork remained, but she didn’t take it to heart.

After all, her method of making braised pork leaned more towards modern tastes, emphasizing a rich yet not greasy flavor.

The soldiers in the Western State camp rarely got to eat meat throughout the year, so they craved the fat and richness, making her braised pork not quite meet their expectations.

After steaming the pork, she started making pancakes in another pan.

There wasn’t a dedicated steamer for making preserved vegetable braised pork pancakes, so she had to make do with an iron pan.

Having some leftover ingredients from making the braised pork pies earlier, Jiang Yanyi took a small dough ball, flattened it like wrapping dumplings, and filled it with fragrant preserved vegetables and generous portions of marinated meat before folding it over.

She sealed it, flattened it again, and rolled it out with a rolling pin.

Once the pan was heated to medium, she placed the pancake inside to fry until both sides were crispy.

The outer layer emitted a toasty wheat aroma mixed with the fragrance of the preserved vegetables, and the meat filling was tightly packed.

When bitten into, the savory juices burst forth, maximizing the contrast between the rich meat flavor and the subtle pancake taste.

She fried three braised pork pancakes, and the braised pork and rice were also warmed up.

Jiang Yanyi arranged the preserved vegetable braised pork pancakes on a plate, flipped the braised pork onto another plate, poured its juices into the pan, added some water and cornstarch for thickening, and then drizzled it over the pork.

The reddish-brown pork skin was drenched in a golden-brown sauce, looking visually appealing and incredibly tempting.

Qiu Kui stared eagerly, rubbing her round belly.

Although she was already quite full, she couldn’t help but feel hungry at the sight of the braised pork.

As Jiang Yanyi carried the tray outside, she happened to overhear the two men discussing military matters.

A scholar dressed in a green robe was dipping his finger in tea water and drawing on the table.

“…Once autumn arrives, the northern Turks will become restless. Not long ago, they just raided Zhaojiatun for cattle and sheep. In my opinion, Dingjiazhuang, backed by Yanhuai Ridge, will not be an area they dare to raid due to the mountains. Instead, Liujiayu, with its flat terrain, needs to be more guarded…”

Jiang Yanyi had no intention of listening to them, but the name “Dingjiazhuang” sounded familiar.

She recalled, and her heart sank.

That was the village where the Turks had slaughtered everyone!

She remembered because the second male lead, Lu Linyuan, had been in Dingjiazhuang at the time.

He had barely escaped with his life thanks to the protection of the Lu family’s assassins and saved the daughter of the farmer who had taken him in for the night, but everyone else in Dingjiazhuang had met a tragic end.

With the favor of saving his life, the farmer’s daughter, having never seen such a talented and handsome man like Lu Linyuan, immediately fell for him and became the next malicious female antagonist after the original character’s death.

However, since the farmer’s father had a debt of gratitude toward Lu Linyuan, and the people of Dingjiazhuang were all dead, leaving her homeless, no matter how outrageous her actions were, Lu Linyuan chose to forgive her.

After all, to Lu Linyuan, the farmer’s daughter was simply rough and unrefined.

When the female lead traveled all the way to the Western State to find him, she was driven away by the farmer’s daughter’s words, and along the way, she was kidnapped by a Turkic prince who intended to take her back as a wife.

Enraged, the emperor declared war on the Turks, leading to rivers of blood in the Da Xuan dynasty, countless common people displaced, and homes destroyed…

For the sake of these main character’s love story, the lives of the common people were essentially sacrificed.

What was briefly mentioned in the book became living, breathing lives in this world.

Jiang Yanyi couldn’t remain indifferent.

The two men in front of her, one a strategist and the other an aide, were figures close to the general.

She had to inform them about the impending disaster facing Dingjiazhuang!

There were hundreds of households there!

Seizing the opportunity while serving the dishes, Jiang Yanyi spoke up, “Gentlemen, are you planning to go to war? I recently heard a soldier who came to the firehead camp for food say that it seems quite unrestful over at Dingjiazhuang…”

At Jiang Yanyi’s words, a glimmer of light flashed in Chi Qing’s eyes.

He subtly glanced at Feng Shuo as if signaling that the fish had taken the bait.

Feng Shuo’s expression remained aloof and guarded as he asked, “What do you mean by unrestful?”