“I know, I know!” Li Ming replied perfunctorily. Seeing that his younger sister had nearly scooped up all the fish in this section of the stream, he carried his bamboo basket upstream.
“Young Master, don’t go too far!” Nanny Zhang called out in warning while deftly cleaning the small fish and looking up.
Li Sushu disliked the strong fishy smell, so she pulled her sister along to follow their elder brother.
Li Ming found a particularly auspicious spot teeming with small fish and began scooping them up.
Just then, Steward Li came looking for them and reminded them that it was time to get ready to depart.
Li Ming answered softly that he would be ready in a moment.
Steward Li had no choice but to wait silently beside him, urging him on without a word.
Li Ming unhurriedly completed his fishing experience, catching seven or eight small fish.
He handed the small fish over to Nanny Zhang to deal with, and the three siblings returned to the convoy ahead of her.
Nanny Zhang cleaned the processed fish thoroughly, placed them in a bamboo basket, and put them in the carriage at the back so that the fishy smell would not waft over the masters.
After declining Li Yueyue’s invitation to ride with her, Li Sushu returned to her own carriage and propped open the window to watch the scenery along the way.
The plants and trees on both sides of the official road were lush and green, dotted with little wildflowers of unknown names, some red and some yellow.
She remembered that the red flowers were edible. When the buds were just about to bloom, they could be picked, and after pulling off the stems, one could suck on them to taste the sweet nectar inside.
She lifted the curtain and whispered a few words to Nanny Zhang.
Nanny Zhang nodded repeatedly, then called for the coachman to pull the carriage over to the roadside and let the carriages and horses behind them pass first.
Once the carriage had stopped, Nanny Zhang jumped down, quickly broke off a large bundle of flowering branches, and handed them to the young lady in the carriage.
Sugar was extremely precious in this era. Perhaps because there were no villages ahead or behind this stretch of the official road, no children had come to ruin this patch of flowers.
Li Sushu held the abundant bundle of flowering branches. Once Nanny Zhang had climbed back into the carriage, she called for the coachman to catch up with the carriage ahead.
The coachman loudly acknowledged her and raised his whip, striking the horse’s rump with all his strength. Stung by the pain, the horse began running energetically.
After catching up with the main group, Li Sushu signaled the coachman to urge the horse after Li Yueyue’s carriage.
Just as the two carriages drew level, Li Yueyue happened to have her carriage window open as well, watching the scenery.
Li Sushu handed a bundle of flowering branches to Li Yueyue and told her that the flowers’ nectar was sweet, making them both pleasing to look at and good for satisfying a craving.
Li Yueyue liked the red flowers and green leaves very much. She accepted them happily, then imitated Li Sushu by plucking a flower and sucking out the nectar inside.
When she tasted the sweet nectar, Li Yueyue’s eyes lit up, and she thought to herself that traveling really was fun.
The coachman drove the carriage back to its original position. When traveling outside, the formation could not be disrupted, though occasionally straying from it for a little while was no great matter.
After picking a few flowers, Li Sushu lost interest in the small amount of sweet liquid. She stuck the flowering branches into the carriage window and began to grow drowsy.
No matter how beautiful the scenery along the road was, it was only novel for a while. She had always been prone to falling asleep in carriages.
When she woke again, it was already dusk.
Looking at the sky outside the window, she saw that the rosy clouds and a lone wild duck truly seemed to be flying together.
The convoy continued onward for another half an hour before reaching the post station where they would stay that night.
It was already late, and the lanterns outside the post station had been lit, guiding travelers on their way.
Steward Li went forward to negotiate. Only after waiting for a while did a post-station clerk come out to lead them in.
The courtyard assigned to their family was somewhat secluded.
The clerk explained that with the festival approaching, many officials and merchants were traveling back and forth, and all the superior courtyards were occupied.
Although this courtyard was a little out of the way, it had the advantage of being large enough to accommodate their horses, carriages, and servants as well.
The kitchen was ready for use, and there was also a well. However, they would have to provide their own grain, rice, oil, salt, and vegetables—or pay the post-station clerk to purchase them.
The Li Family had always been generous. Under Steward Li’s direction, they bought some ready-made food and distributed it to the coachmen and servants who had worked all day.
They also bought some vegetables and fresh meat. Nanny Zhang would cook and prepare a meal for the three young masters.
For this trip, Nanny Zhang was receiving three times her monthly silver. Even though it was somewhat busy, she had been mentally prepared for it.
Li Yueyue’s maid, Yuanbao, also followed her into the kitchen to help.
The post station’s stove had one pot in front for steaming rice and stir-frying dishes, while the pot in back was filled with water. By the time the food was cooked, the water would be hot as well.
That way, they would have hot water to wash up after eating.
Naturally, the food prepared for the masters had to be somewhat more refined. Nanny Zhang took out the seasonings they had brought and made a dish of deep-fried small fish, sprinkling it with the chili powder prepared by the young lady.
She also made stir-fried meat slices with tofu skin, as well as a soup of seasonal vegetables and egg ribbons.
While Nanny Zhang was cooking, Li Sushu had nothing to do, so she wandered around the courtyard.
Just then, someone came knocking at the courtyard gate. The visitor explained that his master was unaccustomed to the food at the post station and had not brought a cook. Could he borrow their cook for a while?
Steward Li said that he would have to ask his own masters and asked the visitor to wait a moment.
After hearing about it, Li Sushu merely said that Nanny Zhang could decide for herself whether she wanted to go.
After all, it was an opportunity to earn some extra money. If Nanny Zhang did not mind the additional work and was willing to go, Li Sushu naturally would not stop her.
Nanny Zhang was somewhat tempted, but she also felt that her cooking skills relied entirely on the young lady’s guidance, along with the young lady’s specially prepared seasonings, which was why someone had been drawn by the aroma and invited her over.
She was a little worried that the other family might be trying to steal her techniques.
Li Sushu thought she was worrying too much. Meeting at a post station was nothing more than a matter of fate.
How could anyone in the city have known for certain that her family would set out today and spend the night at this post station?
At most, some young master had traveled with few preparations and simply could not endure hardship.
Li Ming nodded as he ate and agreed emphatically, declaring that the only benefit of bringing his two younger sisters back to their hometown was that he would not have to eat the post station’s communal pot meals.
Li Yueyue angrily stepped on his foot. “It was our younger sister who suggested scooping up fish today. I don’t know who it was that exhausted every argument to beg her to let him try it too.”
Li Ming could only repeatedly say that he was wrong and that bringing his two younger sisters along was his good fortune.
Li Yueyue felt that he was being sarcastic and stamped on his foot again, even harder.
In the end, Nanny Zhang decided that she might as well go earn the reward, just as her young lady had said—she could treat it as forming a good connection.
She never expected that lending out her services as a cook to prepare someone a meal would lead to trouble.
That night, at around the third watch, several people were heard shouting threats and pounding on the gate.
Steward Li naturally did not dare open it. He woke all the household servants and had them guard the courtyard gate.
Amid the commotion, they also learned what had happened. After eating the food prepared by the cook, that family’s young master had suffered unbearable abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea, and had broken out in a red rash. They suspected that the cook had poisoned him with some unknown poison.
The strange thing was that before the young master ate, one of his page boys had tasted the food for poison, yet the page boy was completely unharmed.
Hearing the commotion, the post-station clerk hurried over to mediate, suggesting that there might be some misunderstanding.
Anyone who could stay at a post station was either rich or influential, and he could not afford to offend either side.
He could only try to persuade both parties. In the end, Steward Li sought instructions from the masters and, accompanied by the post-station clerk, went to inspect the sick patient.
The young master’s attendants continued shouting that the cook should be bound, lest she flee in fear of punishment.
Li Sushu was naturally unwilling to agree. She knew very well that the problem did not lie with Nanny Zhang.
Moreover, it was their family who had taken the initiative to come and beg repeatedly to borrow the cook. Now that something had gone wrong with their own master’s health, they were trying to pin the blame on her family.
In her view, these servants were trying to make Nanny Zhang take the fall!
This was simply going too far in bullying others!