With their cangues removed, Lin Xiuran, Lin Chengyu, and Lin Zhixu felt as if they had come back to life.
Those things were simply too exhausting to wear.
Their hands and necks were sore from the weight.
Jiang Wanyue immediately waved them over.
“Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother, over here!”
“We’re coming!”
Lin Xiuran walked over to Jiang Wanyue.
“Little Sister, leave the grilling to us. We’ve been watching just now—we know how to do it.”
“All right! Just remember to keep turning the fish often. Don’t let them burn, or they won’t taste as good.”
Lin Chengyu was the more lively one.
Now that his cangue had been removed, he felt completely liberated.
As a martial artist, he could bear the weight of the cangue itself, but having his neck and hands restrained so he couldn’t move had been unbearable.
“Little Sister, thank you for getting our cangues taken off, even if it’s only temporary. Otherwise, I would’ve gone crazy.”
“We’ll make sure to grill the fish properly.”
“Then I’ll leave the grilled fish to you. I’ll keep cooking.”
After teaching them how to grill the fish, Jiang Wanyue returned to the fish soup.
By now, the broth had turned a rich milky white, with a layer of shimmering oil floating on top, making it look incredibly appetizing.
She added the washed yellowcress to the soup and let it cook for another three minutes before seasoning it with salt.
A perfect pot of fish soup was finished.
Next came the pan-fried fish.
She cut the larger fish into chunks.
A thin layer of pork lard was spread across the bottom of the pan.
Then she laid the fish pieces inside.
Jiang Wanyue reminded Lin Jingyuan,
“Father, you don’t need to add more firewood now. Just keep one thick log burning.
I’m frying the fish now, so the fire should stay low.”
“Understood.”
Pan-fried fish wasn’t difficult.
The key was controlling the heat and timing, frying the fish until it became crisp and golden.
The coarse salt the guards carried actually gave the fish a unique flavor.
The fish had just been caught fresh from the river and were cooked over a wood fire.
Fresh and delicious.
Jiang Wanyue kept fifteen fish for her own family.
The rest she cooked for the guards.
Ten fish went into the soup.
Another ten were pan-fried.
The remaining fish were grilled.
Finally, Jiang Wanyue stir-fried a dish of wild vegetables.
When everything was ready, she announced that the meal was finished.
The guards immediately grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and rushed over as fast as they could.
Everyone was afraid they’d be too late.
The aroma alone was enough to make anyone drool.
It was the first time Li Dashan had ever seen his men this enthusiastic about a meal.
He shouted,
“All right, stop pushing! There’s plenty for everyone!”
Just as everyone eagerly prepared to eat, He Er suddenly stared at Jiang Wanyue.
“Wait! Nobody eat yet!”
“What is it now?”
“This woman volunteered to catch fish and cook for us. I don’t think she has good intentions.
I watched her cook. She threw all sorts of strange things into the food. Who knows if they’re poisonous?
As the saying goes, ‘A woman’s heart is the most venomous.’
Maybe she’s trying to poison us so she can escape.”
The moment He Er said that, many of the guards who had already filled their bowls with fish soup hesitated and stopped eating.
“So you’re worried I poisoned it?”
Jiang Wanyue rolled her eyes.
She called out to the people still grilling fish nearby.
“Mother! Didn’t Grandfather pack several sets of bowls and chopsticks for us? Please bring me a few large bowls.”
“Coming!”
The bowls and chopsticks were quickly brought over.
Jiang Wanyue filled one large bowl with fish soup for herself and then filled the others as well.
She also placed nine pieces of pan-fried fish onto a plate.
Then she picked up two grilled fish without hesitation.
“The seasonings I added are simply wild herbs I gathered by the river. If you don’t believe me, you’re welcome to go look.
Now I’ll have every member of my family drink the fish soup first.
If you still don’t trust us after that, you can wait until we’ve finished eating all the soup and the other dishes before you eat.”
With that, Jiang Wanyue took a large sip of the fish soup.
Since there weren’t enough bowls, after finishing her portion, she handed the bowl to Shen Qingru.
At a time like this, there was no room to fuss over sharing utensils.
Looking at the milky-white fish soup being offered to her, Shen Qingru suddenly realized just how hungry she was.
She carefully took a small sip.
Instantly, the rich, delicious flavor conquered her taste buds.
Her eyes lit up with delight.
“Yueyue, this fish soup is so delicious! It’s refreshing and appetizing, with just a hint of spice and a wonderful fresh herbal aroma unlike anything I’ve ever tasted.”
The rest of the Lin family’s eldest branch each tasted the soup as well.
Every one of them wore expressions of pleasant surprise.
None of them had expected the fish soup to be this delicious.
And they had gotten to taste it first.
Only after everyone in the eldest branch had taken a sip did Jiang Wanyue speak again.
“Now you’ve all seen it.
Our entire family has already drunk the fish soup.
Why would we poison ourselves?
We’re on the road to exile. Trying to escape would be defying an imperial decree.
Do we really look that foolish?
Father, Mother, Big Brother, Second Brother, Third Brother—you haven’t eaten your fill yet, have you?
Let’s go finish grilling the fish.
Otherwise, if we keep standing here, someone else might accuse us of poisoning the food again.”
Having been publicly embarrassed by Jiang Wanyue, He Er flew into a rage.
Gripping his whip tightly, he strode toward her.
“Hmph! What a sharp-tongued woman. Don’t think I won’t hit a woman.
Let’s see if I don’t teach you a proper lesson…”
“Enough, He Er!”
“Do you still want to eat or not?”
This time, Jiang Wanyue was no longer as accommodating as before.
She let out a cold snort, the smile disappearing from her face.
Turning to the members of the eldest branch of the Lin family, she said,
“Let’s go eat over there. From now on, I’m never doing something so thankless again.”
She had wanted to build a good relationship with the guards.
But if she kept acting overly accommodating, they’d start thinking she had no backbone.
Earlier, they had only tasted the fish soup.
Now they finally ate the grilled fish and the pan-fried fish.
The delicious food instantly swept away the unpleasantness from before.
The Lin family had always been accustomed to eating the finest delicacies.
Yet after a bowl of fish soup…
They all felt as though their tongues had been completely won over by its incredible flavor.
Some of them had even eaten meals prepared by imperial chefs before.
Even so, none of them had ever tasted fish soup this delicious.
“This pan-fried fish is amazing too. I have no idea how Little Sister made it. There’s no fishy smell at all. It’s crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and perfectly cooked, with a wonderful smoky flavor from the firewood.”
“Exactly! I never used to like fish because I always thought it smelled too fishy.”
“I actually think the grilled fish is the best. It’s golden, crispy, and absolutely delicious.”
Everyone praised the food without end.
“Yueyue, you’re incredible!”
Jiang Wanyue smiled.
“I’m not that incredible. You all think it tastes so good because you helped make it yourselves.
Doesn’t food always taste better when you’ve cooked it with your own hands?
As the saying goes, ‘Work with your own hands, and you’ll always have enough to eat.'”
“I guess that’s true.”
Everyone continued eating happily.
But as they ate, Shen Qingru suddenly began wiping away tears again.
Jiang Wanyue let out another helpless sigh.
“Mother, what’s wrong now?”
“Waaah…”
“Yueyue… You’ve suffered so much.
You should have been a noble young lady. You were never meant to endure hardships like these.
You know how to do everything.
It just makes the rest of us seem so useless.
We were supposed to be the ones protecting you.
Instead, we’ve all been relying on you.”
Once Shen Qingru started crying, everyone else was reminded that Jiang Wanyue had been dragged into exile because of them.
One by one, their eyes turned red.
The more capable Jiang Wanyue proved herself to be…
The more ashamed they felt.
At the same time, every member of the eldest branch felt a warmth filling their hearts.
In truth, given the crude conditions in the wilderness, the fish she cooked wasn’t as extraordinary as they imagined.
They had simply gone hungry for an entire day and had eaten almost nothing decent.
When a person was starving…
Anything tasted delicious.
Meanwhile, the guards were eating so enthusiastically that oil glistened around their mouths.
Even He Er—the very one who had accused Jiang Wanyue of poisoning the food—looked as though he wanted to swallow his bowl along with the meal.
That woman…
She really did have remarkable skills.
Her cooking was unbelievably delicious.