Ziling went nearby and found a relatively flat stone, placing it directly into the fire to heat up. Once the skewered meat was ready, she laid the skewers across the hot stone. They immediately began sizzling. After sprinkling on some seasoning, the aroma spread through the entire area at once.
The guards were extremely satisfied with the meal. They had never seen meat prepared this way before.
“The meat turned out well. Thanks,” Zhang Meng said while eating. “Tell Liu Hu to cut you a piece of meat to bring back to your family. Take a few skewers too.”
“Thank you, Officer. I’m glad you enjoyed it. We’ll still need a lot of care from you along the journey ahead.”
Ziling brought the meat back and handed one skewer each to Ying’er and Gong Hao.
“Sister-in-law, I’ve never seen meat eaten like this before. It’s unbelievably delicious!”
“If you like it, I’ll make it for you again in the future. This is my exclusive invention—you couldn’t buy it even with silver.”
What Ziling said was not an exaggeration. In this ancient era, barbecue did not yet exist, so it truly could be considered her own unique creation.
She cut off a small piece from the meat she had brought back and sliced it into very thin strips, planning to make a pot of meat noodle soup.
She rendered oil from the meat inside the clay pot, added water, and once it boiled, dropped in the instant noodle cakes. She also washed a handful of wild vegetables they had gathered along the road.
The resulting pot of meat noodle soup became the best meal their family had eaten since the beginning of their exile.
Little Ying’er ate until her belly was round and full, happily letting out tiny burps of satisfaction.
“Ying’er, come here for a moment,” Ziling whispered secretly to her.
After quietly giving the child a few instructions, Ying’er scampered off.
Soon, she returned with a little girl—the very same girl Ziling had earlier given a black-flour bun to.
Ziling took out the portion of noodles she had deliberately saved beforehand.
“Here. Eat it before you leave.”
“Thank you, Madam, but it’s alright. Today, following you around, I learned to recognize quite a few wild vegetables and gathered plenty myself. I can eat those too.”
The little girl clearly understood propriety and knew when to advance or retreat. If she had been the type who only knew how to greedily take advantage of others, Ziling would never have continued helping her.
“It’s alright. You’re still a child. How could wild vegetables possibly fill you up? I saved this for you. Didn’t I tell you before? If you’re hungry, come find me.”
The girl quickly devoured the noodles in only a few bites and even licked her lips afterward, obviously deeply satisfied.
“What’s your name?” Ziling asked, realizing she still did not know the girl’s name.
“My name is Jingya.”
“That’s quite a nice name. Did your mother choose it?”
Given the lazy, selfish nature of her father, Ziling doubted he could come up with such an elegant name.
“Yes. My grandfather was a scholar, and my mother can read some characters too. Thank you for today, Madam. I should return to my mother now.”
“Mhm, go ahead. Take this black-flour bun for your mother. Remember to let her eat it only when nobody’s around.”
Jingya quickly hid the bun inside her sleeve and ran off.
Along the exile journey, the guards usually distributed only black-flour buns, and sometimes when the pace was rushed, they did not even hand those out. Today, however, because the guards were in such good spirits after the meal, they gave the prisoners some meat soup.
Although there was barely any actual meat visible in it, merely tasting a hint of meat flavor was enough to satisfy everyone.
After eating, the prisoners all settled down to rest. Even the guards watching over them began dozing off.
The mountain roads were difficult to traverse, and early the next morning the guards were already cursing and shouting for everyone to continue moving.
After traveling more than two hours along the mountain paths, the roads became even more twisted and difficult.
Without drawing attention, Ziling secretly took out pieces of sausage from her space, broke them into small sections, and handed them to her mother-in-law and Ying’er, signaling for them to eat quietly so they would not collapse from exhaustion.
Ying’er had never tasted anything like it before. It smelled like meat, yet somehow different from meat. She hid it beneath her sleeve and nibbled at it in tiny bites.
Taking advantage of moments when the guards were not paying attention, Ziling slipped pieces into Gong Hao’s and Gong Mohan’s sleeves as well.
Gong Hao suddenly realized why Ying’er’s little mouth had been moving nonstop earlier—his sister-in-law had secretly given her extra food. Pretending to stop and wipe away sweat, he quietly stuffed the sausage into his mouth.
The flavor was astonishingly delicious.
Watching his family secretly chewing while keeping their lips tightly shut, even Gong Mohan’s usually cold and stern expression nearly cracked with amusement.
“We need to pass through this mountain within two days,” Zhang Meng shouted at the convoy. “Only after reaching the town can we rest at a relay station and replenish our supplies.”
“Hurry up! Stop dawdling! Want a whipping or what?!”
The guards lashed their whips and cursed loudly from behind, driving forward anyone who lagged behind.
Gong Hao pushed the wheelbarrow at the very back of the convoy. But because Ziling had cooked for the guards yesterday and pleased them, they had not been whipped.
After another hour of walking, several prisoners finally collapsed from exhaustion.
Over the past days, they had either gone hungry or survived only on black-flour buns. This morning, they had not even had a drop of water before trekking half a day through mountain roads. Their strength was completely spent.
Once they fell to the ground, they no longer had any desire to rise again. Even when the guards threatened them with raised whips, they remained motionless.
Left with no choice, Zhang Meng ordered the convoy to halt for a quarter of an hour.
As everyone rested, none of them realized that danger was already approaching.