A delicious and sumptuous lunch can not only fill your stomach but also refresh you.

  Cui Ying feels that she has truly come back to life now.

  All the way from Shengjing, because of the rush, every meal was done in a hurry, and as much as possible, simple dishes were chosen.

  Although Shi Xiuren and the accompanying soldiers thought the dishes were delicious, in fact, for her, those dishes only stayed at the level of hastily dealing with them.

  Now she has finally settled down temporarily, she plans to make some delicious food to compensate herself.

  Northwestern people love to eat beef and mutton, roasted whole sheep is a must, sauce beef, braised beef shank, lamb chop bones, even making a mutton hot pot is also great!

  Chui Ying in the fifteenth year of Da Sheng Dynasty, let her gradually fade away from the previous life's strong competitive spirit, and had a few points of knowing heaven and enjoying fate.

  As long as she can eat well and sleep well, she can automatically shield herself from her surroundings.

  Contentment is happiness!

  However, she also has concerns, not knowing how long she will have to stay in Muzhou City, and whether she still needs to personally deliver the edict of Empress Jiang to every soldier who fought for the country.

  Otherwise, Empress Jiang ordered her to follow the convoy to the northwest. Could it be that she was really just trying to reunite her with her husband?

  Thinking of Empress Jiang's sinister gaze in Kun Ning Palace that day, she felt a little uneasy.

  On her way here, she had also thought that with her age and low-key temperament, it was impossible to offend Empress Jiang.

  It's just the grudges of the previous generation then.

  It can't be a political struggle, or else how could Anning's mansion still be so peaceful?

  It's just emotions and grudges now.

  Cui Ying thought that her mother had passed away very early, and before that, she and her father Cui Chengkai were always in love.

  Even if there is a problem, it must be her father.

  She tried to recall, and indeed when Choi Sung-kai was young, he had a good-looking face, handsome and elegant, with the elegance of a scholar and the masculinity of a man.

  It's not easy...

  Chui Ling patted her chest. She decided to stop her thoughts, otherwise she would have imagined a shocking and earth-shaking conspiracy triggered by old feelings.

  She hastily cast her gaze on those peppers.

  After all the trouble of hauling it here, I couldn't just leave it to rot. I had to find an opportunity to teach the army's head chef how to cook a spicy dish with it, or else the trip would have been for nothing.

  But these mind-boggling things can wait until Shi Xiuren gets back.

  Although... Shi Xiujian's brain structure is also not normal...

  Cui Ling put down her worries and wholeheartedly squatted in the kitchen, waiting for the pot of beef stew.

  Yuan Wulang looked at her focused expression and couldn't help but lower his voice to ask Yu Ge'er, "Was your Fifth Aunt like this when she was at home too?"

  A lady should stay away from the kitchen.

  The kitchen has smoke and heat everywhere, with ingredients all over the place, and it's inevitable to come into contact with some fresh produce.

  It's not good for ladies to be smoked, it's not good to have a smelly smell on their bodies. It's also not good to get their clothes dirty.

  For a wealthy and influential family, everything in the kitchen is handled by the chef. If the chef's dishes don't suit their taste, they can just change chefs. How could the ladies of the house possibly take on such tasks themselves?

  Besides, the noble ladies of Shengjing City only need to move their mouths to eat whatever they want, and they don't have to do it themselves.

  If there is only one or two skilled maids around, no matter how delicate the pastries they make are, it's all attributed to their own credit.

  Even Su Zihua, his fourth sister-in-law who was known as an all-around talented woman, did not personally take care of everything.

  So he grew up like this, and it was really the first time I heard that there was a noble lady who liked to stay in the kitchen.

  Xiao Ge's head nodded like a chick pecking at rice, "Uh-huh, that's how it is at home. I often spend the whole day in the small kitchen of Tai'an Courtyard. Sometimes we agreed to come and play together, but because of making some chicken wings, I forgot."

  He let out a deep sigh, like an old man, "But at home, there's Mu Niang sister to help with the chores. Xiao Ying sister also often comes over to lend a hand, Tang Shifu and Liu Shifu and many other masters in the kitchen will all work together, how can it be like now, where even tending the fire has to be done by Wu Yiniang herself?"

  Cui Ling ordered Old Man Lu to go and prepare for other procedures.

  Third Brother was still a young boy and it wasn't suitable to order the whiskered man around, there were no maids or servant women in this courtyard who could be ordered about, so she had no choice but to personally squat on the ground to watch the fire.

  Yuan Wulang listened and couldn't help but feel a little heartache.

  Whatever, what about his woman!

  Having traveled thousands of miles and endured countless hardships on the road was already a lot, but to think that even watching the fire had to be done by oneself.

  He indignantly asked, "Where is the young girl you brought with you? Is it that your family trusted no one and only let you, a weak woman, travel far from home?"

  So many big men on the road, but only she is a woman, and just rumors can spread so badly.

  He didn't believe that his elder brother and sister-in-law would forget this matter, let alone his grandmother who handled things with even more trust.

  "Third Brother snorted, 'The great-grandmother called many serving girls to follow her, but as they traveled north the weather got colder and those serving girls who were used to being pampered in Shengjing City couldn't withstand the hardships and fell ill one after another.'"

  He sighed, somewhat heartbroken and frustrated. "Uncle Five, you see, our ancestors had the women in the family practice morning exercises for a reason. When it comes to critical moments, the difference between those who practiced and those who didn't becomes apparent."

  The convoy of carts carrying cotton-padded clothes and fur coats to the northwest was in a hurry, and there was no way to take the sick maidservants to the town for proper treatment, so they were simply treated with medicine by the military doctors.

  But wind-cold diseases are not a big deal if you say they're big, and it's not a small matter if you say they're small. They need to be nursed back slowly.

  Where is the team going to find a place for these little girls to live?

  So they had no choice but to give a large sum of money and entrust them to a medical institution when passing through the town.

  Along the way, people kept falling ill, and several batches were put down. After much difficulty, Xiaozhen sister persisted until the end, but still fell seriously ill due to the cold wind before entering Muzhou City.

  In the end, he still stood tall. The only ones left jumping around were him and Aunt Wu.

  Brother Xiong thought that although he was young, he practiced martial arts every day to strengthen his body, and his physique was very strong.

  But Wu Yiniang was able to persevere through the harsh conditions of traveling and sleeping in the open, which could only be explained by her daily morning exercises at the Yuan residence.

  Yuan Wulang listened to these words and couldn't help but look at Cui Ying with a different gaze.

  He asked in a low voice, "Does your aunt still practice morning exercises when she's at home?"

  On their wedding night in the Xiangyuan Garden, her heart-piercing words still echoed in his ears. Hadn't she said that her greatest wish in this life was to muddle along, eat and wait for death, and lazily pass the days?

  Still follow family rules and go to Shangwu Hall for morning exercises.

  This also made Brother Yu very puzzled, "Thinking carefully, although Aunt Wu claimed to like being lazy, she had never slacked off in reading, cooking or practicing."

  He smiled and raised an eyebrow at Yuan Wulang, "According to Big Sister's words, this is all the power of love!"

  Don't look at Yige's young age, but he is precocious.

  Su Zi Hua and Mei Cui sighed when they saw Cui Ying's diligent work, and Su Zi Hua said, "When Wu Lang was about to leave, he asked me to remind Wu Di Mei to practice piano, chess, calligraphy, and painting. It seems that he wanted a talented and sentimental wife. You see, Wu Di Mei obviously didn't like reading or studying, but she still did it, which shows that she truly took Wu Lang's words to heart."

  Just this one sentence, Xīu Gē Er remembered it in his heart.

  He is too young for this kind of thing about love and cannot understand it.

  But he knew how much courage and perseverance it took to go and do something he didn't want to do.

  From unwillingness to learn something to taking the initiative to learn it, the hardships that need to be paid are even more unknown.

  It was just like him. At first he refused to learn martial arts, but out of respect for his father and fear of his mother, he forced himself to learn.

  Later on, he worked hard to make martial arts his only hobby and interest, and gradually came to like it.

  Only he himself knows how much great mental shock he has experienced in it.

  From this, Xīu Gēr decided that Wǔ Shěn also had the same attitude towards Wǔ Shū as he did towards his parents. He both revered and feared her.

  Yuan Wulang was taken aback and immediately raised his fist as if he was about to punch him.

  "He lowered his voice and asked, 'You little brat. What do you know about love? You're spouting nonsense! And Yue Er is also to blame, not teaching them anything good, only teaching her brothers these things!'"

  He thought for a moment and felt a bit strange, "Your elder sister has always been in the palace, not even returning home when I married your fifth aunt, how did you meet her?"

  "Me too, it's been a long time since I've seen big sister," said Gege, shaking his head.

  He hung his head and pouted, "Last time, Auntie complained that Uncle had gained a lot of weight around his waist and wasn't as handsome as he was when he was young. Uncle went hungry for several meals, wanting to get rid of the fat on his belly. When my sister sighed and said, 'This is the power of love!'"

  The great uncle is a greedy eater, just because of the great aunt's careless words, he starved for several meals, it's not true love, how can he do that?

  Yuan Wulang didn't say much this time, but his eyes gazing at Cui Ying gradually deepened.

  He saw that slender woman almost sticking her entire body to the ground in order to grasp the best timing, and his heart skipped a beat.

  He strode forward a few steps, standing beside Cui Ying, and squatted down. "The ground is dirty, ma'am, you'd better sit on the stool instead. I'll take care of the fire here."

  Cui Ling turned her head, and a speck of ash clung to her pale, jade-like cheek.

  But she didn't notice at all, only revealing a kind smile. "It's just watching the fire, what can't be done? However, little brother, if you have something to attend to, don't need to stay here with me, I have Xun'er accompanying me and Master Lu helping out, it's alright."

  Although I feel pretty good about this bearded guy, isn't there a difference between men and women?

  Even if Brother Yu was around, this young man had been staying here for a long time, and she was afraid that Yuan Wulang would have ideas.

  Even if she no longer likes her husband, the imperial marriage cannot be annulled. She doesn't want to make any changes with a good family like the Yuan's either.

  But the whiskered man didn't back down, he decisively knelt on one knee with her, gazing at the fiercely burning flames in the stove, his eyes also seemed to be burning with fire. "It's alright, General has ordered me to follow you and young master these few days."

  Perhaps due to the intense heat of the stove fire, his voice involuntarily became a few degrees hoarse. "What are your orders, madam? Just say it, I'll obey without hesitation!"

  ps：

  The second update is here, this chapter is a thank you to Emily, thanks for the He Shi Bi, I'm very happy and grateful, will work hard! Mua mua da!