The rain came suddenly, and soon the ground outside the tent was rolling with yellow mud.

To facilitate entry and exit, the curtain of the Firehead Camp was lifted and tied in a knot.

A cold wind swept through, causing Jiang Yanyi to shiver: “I wonder when this rain will stop.”

Qiu Kui came in from outside, holding a stack of firewood.

She tried her best to shield it, but the firewood in her arms still got wet from the rain.

Hearing Jiang Yanyi’s words, she said, “With thunder and lightning, it’ll probably keep raining until tonight. The firewood outside will be soaked.”

The firewood in the Western State Camp had always been stacked outside the tents.

Today, the rain coincided with the Firehead Camp’s supply exchange with the Liao Nan army, so they had no time to worry about the firewood outside; they just covered it with a piece of canvas.

Seeing that Qiu Kui’s clothes were already half-soaked, Jiang Yanyi hurriedly said, “Go warm yourself by the fire; what if you catch a chill?”

Qiu Kui placed the firewood next to the fire, but the rainwater had soaked her forehead injury, causing her to wince in pain.

To avoid worrying Jiang Yanyi, she forced a silly smile, her wet hair sticking to her forehead: “I feel sorry for the dry firewood outside, getting soaked by the rain. How can we light it later?”

Jiang Yanyi noticed the steaming basket next to her and frowned inwardly.

Word of the poor food in the military had reached the general’s ears, and he specifically ordered that today there should be good food to reward the soldiers.

A few chefs were planning to make braised pork, which required a lot of firewood for the steaming basket.

But at this time, the ingredients were mostly prepared, and it was too late to change the dish.

“How much firewood can you bring in alone? Your forehead injury hasn’t scabbed over; it can’t get wet. Don’t go out anymore; just use the wet firewood to stack with the dry firewood to light it,” Jiang Yanyi said, skillfully pouring the chopped pork belly into the pot to blanch, adding a handful of green onion, slices of ginger, and some rice wine to eliminate the fishy smell.

Hearing Jiang Yanyi’s caring words, Qiu Kui shyly brushed her wet hair back and smiled.

Seeing Jiang Yanyi start to chop the softened dried mustard greens, her eyes suddenly brightened but then dimmed again: “My mother used to like making pancakes with dried mustard greens; they were so delicious. It’s a pity I haven’t had them since.”

Jiang Yanyi recalled that when they were registering the roster earlier, she had heard Qiu Kui mention that her parents had died on the road while fleeing.

She said, “Do you want to eat pancakes with dried mustard greens? I can make them tonight.”

Qiu Kui’s eyes sparkled, “How much do you sell them for? I’ll buy some.”

Jiang Yanyi feigned anger: “If you mention money again, I won’t let you help me with the fire anymore.”

Qiu Kui was frightened and didn’t dare to bring it up again.

The pork belly in the pot was nearly done, so Jiang Yanyi fished it out, pierced many small holes in the skin with a bamboo skewer, brushed it with sauce, and waited for the oil in the pot to heat up before putting all the pork belly in, skin side down, to fry.

Frying was to force out the excess fat from the pork, making the meat less greasy when eaten.

After frying, the pork skin would be softer and more elastic when steamed.

As the pork went into the pot, it crackled and splattered oil, and Jiang Yanyi quickly covered it with a wooden lid.

Chef Zhu at the adjacent stove saw her flustered and throwing the pork into the oil and couldn’t help but cast a disdainful look: “Jiang Master, are you trying to fry the pork dry to make pork cracklings?”

His words drew laughter from a few Firehead soldiers.

It was the first time a woman had taken charge as a chef in the Firehead Camp.

While many would superficially compliment Jiang Yanyi and call her “Master Jiang,” behind her back, they had different opinions.

Some even thought that Chef Li and Head Zhao had taken a liking to her, likely due to her youth and beauty, and speculated about what shady dealings might be going on among the three of them.

Jiang Yanyi didn’t even raise her eyelids.

She uncovered the pot lid, scooped up the fried pork belly, and regretfully said, “It’s a pity this pig is a bit too fatty; it’s hard to make cracklings.”

Qiu Kui burst out laughing, and the few Firehead soldiers helping Chef Zhu stifled their laughter.

Chef Zhu belatedly realized that Jiang Yanyi was not talking about the pork but was clearly using it as a metaphor to insult him.

His face turned red with anger, and the fat on his belly quivered with each breath.

He angrily declared, “I want to see what kind of braised pork you can make!”

Jiang Yanyi didn’t respond further; she knew that her sudden rise to the position of chef would inevitably lead to some dissent.

But so what?

In the cooking profession, one’s skills were what mattered.

However, Chef Zhu saw that he had thrown the pork into the pot to fry, as if he were watching a joke.

Did they not fry the pork before making braised pork?

Jiang Yanyi was somewhat curious and turned her head to watch Chef Zhu’s steps in making braised pork.

Chef Zhu, noticing her, mistakenly thought she couldn’t make braised pork and wanted to sneakily learn from him.

Startled, he hurriedly turned his body to block Jiang Yanyi’s view with his plump frame and, thinking it wasn’t enough, called over two Firehead soldiers helping him to block her from seeing.

Facing Chef Zhu’s “I won’t let you steal my secrets” gaze, Jiang Yanyi couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time.

Every time Chef Zhu proceeded with a step in his process, he had to glance at Jiang Yanyi to ensure she wasn’t watching him before continuing.

In response, Jiang Yanyi pretended to stretch her neck to peek whenever he looked over, making Chef Zhu wish he could run three zhang away with his pot.

Chef Zhu was both preparing braised pork and keeping an eye on Jiang Yanyi.

After several rounds, he was already mentally exhausted.

Once again, he turned his head to look, only to find Jiang Yanyi casually staring in that direction, which made him furious: “Don’t think about trying to learn!”

Jiang Yanyi blinked innocently: “What are you talking about, Master Zhu? I’m just watching the rain outside.”

Zhu Chef was even angrier.

His position was right near the entrance of the tent, and he retorted angrily, “You clearly want to steal the recipe for braised pork!”

Compared to Chef Zhu’s fury, Jiang Yanyi appeared particularly calm.

She said, “I do want to learn, but there’s a crowd around your stove, so I can’t see anything!”

Her teasing tone made everyone in the barracks laugh.

“Master Zhu, Jiang Yanyi is a junior to you in the kitchen; how can you keep holding a grudge against a junior?”

“Is it that you’re jealous of Jiang Yanyi for receiving a few rewards?”

The soldiers from the Fire Camp who had previously benefited from Jiang Yanyi started to speak up for her.

Chef Zhu was almost suffocated by the hat of bullying juniors.

He continued to have the soldiers block the stove, swearing that he would never let Jiang Yanyi learn the recipe.

Jiang Yanyi didn’t have time to deal with the old man.

She focused on preparing her braised pork with preserved vegetables.

She sliced the cooled pork belly and marinated the pieces in the pre-prepared sauce to enhance the flavor.

After adding oil to the pan, she chopped ginger and garlic into fine pieces.

She then stir-fried the ginger and garlic with star anise and bay leaves until fragrant, added the preserved vegetables, and continued to stir-fry until they were flavorful.

After that, she turned off the heat, using chopsticks to pick out the star anise and bay leaves.

In the army, they used special coarse earthenware bowls for braised pork.

Jiang Yanyi arranged the marinated meat slices into the bowl, skin side down, tightly packing them without leaving any gaps.

Finally, she topped it with the stir-fried preserved vegetables and placed the bowl into the steamer.

After making a hundred bowls of braised pork, Jiang Yanyi finally had a moment of leisure.

Outside, something noisy was happening, and many people in the barracks crowded near the entrance to watch the commotion.

Jiang Yanyi glanced over but had no interest in looking.

Seeing that Qiukui seemed eager to go, she sat down next to the fire pit to help keep an eye on the fire, allowing Qiukui to go watch the excitement.

Before long, Qui Kui returned with a grave expression. “That Lying Woman and Liu Cheng has been sentenced to death by slicing at the waist.”

Jiang Yanyi was slightly taken aback.

Liu Cheng’s crime shouldn’t warrant such a severe punishment.

She looked at the crowd gathered at the entrance and asked in disbelief, “They’re executing him outside the Firehouse Camp?”

Qiu Kui quickly shook her head. “No, someone died outside. It’s that Hu Ji from the next barrack. She used to be close to Liu Cheng.”

As soon as Qiu Kui mentioned Hu Ji, Jiang Yanyi recalled her.

She was a woman even more voluptuous and charming than Chunxiang, yet she had a low profile, seemingly hiding herself intentionally.

With Liu Cheng facing a death sentence for attempted murder and his former lover Hu Ji suddenly dead, Jiang Yanyi felt that things were likely more complicated than they seemed.

She asked, “How did that Hu Ji die?”

Qiu Kui whispered, “The soldiers from the Tiger Step Brigade came to find her and discovered she had already died behind the tent. When they carried her out, her body was already stiff; they say she used a kitchen knife to slit her throat.”

Jiang Yanyi frowned.

The fact that her body was stiff indicated that Hu Ji had not just died recently.

Another suicide… Could it be a case of love suicide?

But even if it was a love suicide, Liu Cheng hadn’t died yet; that was quite rushed, wasn’t it?

Unless she had some hidden secret!

Jiang Yanyi inexplicably felt that things might not be peaceful from now on.

All she hoped for was that her forged household registration could pass unnoticed.

The small overseer managing the camp prostitutes had already hinted that once their identities were verified, it was highly likely they would allow these respectable young women to leave the military camp and regain their freedom.

She just hoped that Hu Ji’s suicide wouldn’t affect this matter.

Jiang Yanyi had initially planned that once she left the military camp and settled down, she would visit her original mother in the capital.

Having occupied the body of the original owner, she was determined to fulfill her filial duties.

The sky was gray, with misty thin clouds piling up at the horizon, gradually closing in the dusk.

The rain had subsided, and droplets hung from the dry yellow grass along the roadside.

On the desolate low slope, there was a solitary grave mound.

Surrounded by weeds, the new grave stood out, stark and desolate due to the bare earth.

A pair of black boots stepped through the muddy ground, slowly approaching, the cold wind lifting his clothes and cutting a sharp arc through the desolate landscape.

Behind him, followers continuously scattered white paper money, some landing on the grass beside the road, others trampled into the mud, while someone held a spirit banner made of paper.

It was the ceremonial procession for guiding souls.

The man stopped in front of the grave mound, his body imposing.

Under the wide-brimmed hat was a rugged face with distinct features, short whiskers adding to his authority, but his eye sockets were slightly red.

He gazed at the unmarked, flimsy wooden tablet before the grave and extended his rough hand to gently stroke it, his voice hoarse: “Uncle has been demoted to Yongzhou and has been unaware of the many changes in the capital. Uncle has arrived late, allowing you to suffer so much in this poor place…”

By the end, his voice choked with emotion.

A stalwart man, who had never blinked in the face of danger on the battlefield, now broke down in tears.

Had he received the news earlier, even risking execution, he would have never allowed his niece to be humiliated like this in such a poor place by that unworthy sovereign on the dragon throne!

He caressed the wooden tablet, his eyes reddened: “Ayi, uncle has come to take you home!”