Chapter 5

With the eggs and wild mushrooms, Xu Qinyu decided to make mushroom egg drop soup. The Pei family had been eating coarse grain biscuits along the way, which were dry and hard, weakening their stomachs. Egg drop soup would be easier to digest.

Making mushroom egg drop soup was simple. Once the water boiled, she added the shredded mushrooms. After the mushrooms were cooked, she added a spoonful of lard to melt, then sprinkled some salt. Finally, she poured the beaten eggs evenly into the soup.

After adding the egg, she immediately removed the pot from the heat. Even though the main fire was out, the residual heat from the coals could overcook the egg, so she took the pot off the stove and gently stirred the soup with a spoon, creating silky, tender egg strands. She finished by sprinkling some chopped green onions on top, adding color, aroma, and flavor.

Xu Qinyu tasted the soup; it was very fresh. Although the ingredients and seasonings were limited, it was still quite delicious. If she had more ingredients, she would have added some wood ear mushrooms and dried daylilies and thickened the soup with starch for a richer texture.

Ma Liu, smelling the fresh aroma, was tempted again. The cured meat and winter bamboo shoot stew hadn’t been enough to fill him up, and he had the biggest appetite among them, eating twice as many biscuits as the others.

Xu Qinyu poured the soup into large bowls and signaled the Pei family to come and eat.

Apart from the absence of this historical dynasty, she felt that other aspects hadn’t changed much. For example, the ingredients were similar to those in her time. She had tasted these wild mushrooms raw, and they tasted the same as in her era, even fresher due to the unpolluted land.

Pei Jianing, already starving, led Feng’er and Yuan’er over to eat. Madam Wen, however, pulled her daughter’s clothes with a worried expression and whispered, “Ning Jie’er, the soldiers said the wild mushrooms here are poisonous and can kill. Even if Yuniang can cook, she’s not from here. Even the locals can’t tell the poisonous mushrooms from the non-poisonous ones. I’m worried. It’s best if your fourth sister-in-law doesn’t eat them.”

She was soft-hearted and didn’t like to gossip, but now her face was flushed with concern.

Pei Jianing impatiently shook off Madam Wen, “Fourth Sister-in-law said she can tell the difference, and I believe her. Besides, we still have several days of travel left. If we don’t nourish Feng’er and Yuan’er, they won’t make it.”

Not only would the children not make it, but neither would they. Compared to dying of exhaustion and hunger, she would rather be full and risk being poisoned.

Madam Wen’s eyes reddened, and she said no more.

Seeing her mother like this, Pei Jianing felt distressed but didn’t try to persuade her. She just wanted to take her brother and niece to her fourth sister-in-law.

Pei Weixuan got up, took the two children from his sister, and followed her to Xu Qinyu.

Xu Qinyu handed them two bowls of soup, “Feed Feng’er and Yuan’er first.”

The weather was cold, and the soup had cooled a bit, making it perfect to eat now.

Pei Weixuan nodded, took the large bowl, and fed the two children, who started devouring the food after the first bite.

Xu Qinyu felt a pang of sadness seeing the two children so thin and malnourished. If they didn’t get proper nutrition, they wouldn’t survive. Fortunately, there were still four eggs left from making the soup, which she planned to cook for the children later so they would have something to eat if they got hungry at night.

Xu Qinyu also brought a bowl to Madam Wen, who muttered a thank you before Xu Qinyu returned to the stove to continue eating.

There was one bowl of mushroom egg drop soup left, which Xu Qinyu intended to give to her husband. He was only nineteen, still growing, and the original owner of this body was just fifteen, still a child in her time, yet they had to endure such hardships, especially on behalf of her elder sister.

The Dechang Marquis Mansion was truly a troublesome family; Xu Qinyu thought as she drank her soup, silently criticizing them.

While they were enjoying their meal, the two children from the Anping Duke’s family were causing a fuss, demanding to eat what they had and even asking someone to take it from them.

These two boys, one about seven or eight years old and the other two or three, were the legitimate great-grandsons of the Wen family. They had been spoiled in the capital and remained the same even in exile.

Old Madam Wen was annoyed by the crying of her great-grandsons and scolded, “Why are you crying? These mushrooms can’t be eaten carelessly. Be careful, or you’ll get poisoned.”

Xu Qinyu rolled her eyes internally and enjoyed her soup even more.

As the family ate, Ma Liu came over with a big grin, squatting in front of Xu Qinyu and asking, “Young lady, you still have a bowl of soup left. Is it really safe to drink?”

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, “Of course, Sir. Look at us; we’re all fine.” She had picked common, edible mushrooms with no toxicity.

Tempted by the aroma, Ma Liu couldn’t resist and asked, “So, there’s still a bowl left?”

Xu Qinyu, understanding his intention, smiled and said, “Yes, there’s one more bowl. Please, have it.”

Ma Liu didn’t hesitate and drank the soup, exclaiming, “It’s so fresh, so delicious.” He had never tasted such a flavorful soup before. He finished the bowl in a few gulps.

The Pei family continued eating their hard, coarse-grain biscuits, as one bowl of soup wasn’t enough to fill them.

After finishing, Ma Liu thanked Xu Qinyu and left, satisfied.

Pei Jianing looked at Xu Qinyu and couldn’t help but say, “I never knew Fourth Sister-in-law was such a good cook. After her illness, she seems like a different person.”

When the Fourth Sister-in-law first entered the Fourth Brother’s mansion in her wedding dress, she seemed lifeless, as if she had lost her soul. She never spoke on the journey to exile, even when bullied by the Wen family. She just shrank back, just like Mother. Pei Jianing disliked overly weak people, so she hadn’t been fond of her Fourth Sister-in-law either.

But unexpectedly, her Fourth Sister-in-law changed after falling ill.

Xu Qinyu sighed, “I had a change of heart. After a serious illness, I realized that as long as I’m alive, anything is possible. I don’t want to die; I want to live well. As for cooking, I learned a bit at home, never expecting it would become a skill to build a life.” She used this as an excuse for her personality change and to inform the Pei family that she planned to use her cooking skills to establish herself once they reached the place of exile. As for the original owner’s cooking skills, she did know a bit.

Their second branch was not favored in the Marquis Mansion, and their food was much worse than the other two branches. Sometimes, when she craved something, she would learn to make it, but she didn’t know much.

Pei Weixuan paused slightly, his hand holding the bowl and his eyelids lifting a bit, but he didn’t look at Xu Qinyu and continued eating with his eyes downcast.

Pei Jianing didn’t think much of it. Even she had changed after such experiences. It would be abnormal not to change, so she naturally believed what her Fourth Sister-in-law said.

After eating, Xu Qinyu washed and put away the pots and bowls.

Ma Liu, in high spirits from the meal, even shared some firewood with the Pei family, allowing them to make their own fire for warmth.

With the fire, their clothes dried, and with full stomachs, they slept comfortably under the boulder. It was almost the most comfortable night they had spent on the road to exile.

…

The next day, just as the sky began to lighten, Xu Qinyu and the Pei family had just woken up when Ma Liu ran over to Xu Qinyu, grinning, “Young lady, what are we having for breakfast today?”

He had been worried that the mushroom soup might poison him during the night, but after drinking a bowl of it, he felt about seventy to eighty percent full and slept even better.

In this era, ordinary people had only two meals a day: breakfast and dinner. There was no lunch. Only wealthy, noble, and royal families had three or four meals a day: breakfast, lunch, dinner, and supper.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, “Today, we’ll have scallion egg pancakes.”

Making scallion egg pancakes was simple. She cleaned and chopped the wild onions she had picked the day before, mixed them into the prepared egg batter, and added salt for seasoning. The key to this dish was controlling the heat while cooking the pancakes and getting the batter’s consistency right. For Xu Qinyu, this was a piece of cake.

While she was cooking, the soldiers helped by boiling a pot of hot water, filling everyone’s water bottles, and then going to the mountains to dig for winter bamboo shoots and wild vegetables.

By the time the soldiers returned, she had already made a thick stack of scallion egg pancakes, filling the air with a delicious aroma.

The pancakes were soft, fragrant, and easy to digest.

She made the pancakes quite large, giving each soldier two and each member of the Pei family one. They ate them with hot water, regaining some of their strength.

After another day of travel, she made mushroom and winter bamboo shoot stew with cured meat for dinner. The stew was simple but delicious. The mushrooms added more flavor than the previous day’s cured meat and winter bamboo shoot stew, making it even tastier. The Pei family each got a bowl.

They traveled for another five or six days, with Xu Qinyu making breakfast and dinner each day. Her cooking impressed the soldiers, who became more polite to the Pei family. The Pei family also received hot water and food daily. After eating well for several days, Xu Qinyu and the Pei family looked healthier.

At first, the Wen family could endure the aroma of Xu Qinyu’s cooking, but eventually, even the old master Wen couldn’t resist. They used to buy hot water and food from the soldiers, so they tried to buy some food, but Deputy Officer Chen refused, saying there wasn’t enough even for them. This angered the Wen family, making them hate Xu Qinyu and the Pei family even more.

After five or six days, the soldiers’ food supplies were exhausted. Fortunately, they were surrounded by mountains, where they could pick fresh wild mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots daily. Even without cured meat, white flour, and eggs, Xu Qinyu could still make a soup and a dish with wild mushrooms and winter bamboo shoots.

The soldiers were amazed at how she made the wild mushrooms so delicious with just hot water, salt, and lard. They finally believed that many wild mushrooms were edible but hard to distinguish. They didn’t know how Xu Qinyu was so skilled. Sometimes, they helped pick mushrooms, thinking they were the same as hers, but she would tell them they were poisonous and couldn’t be eaten. She also sliced the winter bamboo shoots thinly and stir-fried them with lard, adding only salt. The result was a crisp, refreshing, and sweet dish.

Ma Liu sighed as he ate, thinking the journey back to the capital would be tough without the young lady’s cooking.

The soldiers usually relied on Ma Liu to cook, and Xu Qinyu generously taught him the recipes and some simple cooking tips for stir-frying and stewing. More intricate dishes were unnecessary on the road to exile.

Ma Liu was very grateful to Xu Qinyu. As they neared the border town, he secretly told her, “Young lady, don’t worry. As a commoner here, you’ll do well with your skills. When I return to the capital, I’ll send a letter to your parents to let them know you’re safe.”

Xu Qinyu solemnly said, “Thank you, Sir. Please tell my parents that I will live well and never give up. They shouldn’t worry and should take care of their health. There will always be a chance for us to meet again.”

Since she was living in place of the original owner, and the original owner’s parents loved her dearly, she would also honor them as her own. Following the fourth prince’s family into exile in the southwest, the original owner’s parents must be very sad, and she didn’t want them to fall ill. She needed to reassure them for now.

Ma Liu replied, “Don’t worry, young lady. I understand and will let them know.”

On the seventh day, they finally saw the silhouette of Raozhou, the border town in the southwest.