The Lucky Farmgirl

Chapter 2109: 2084: Return to the Capital

Capítulo 2109: Chapter 2084: Return to the Capital

When the flatbread was cooked, Third Mrs. Gong picked them up, dipped them in some soup, and then invited everyone, “Eat up. Their lamb scorpion is selected from the best lamb vertebra, the meat is the finest, and it also contains spinal cord, which comes out easily with a gentle push. It’s soaked in the soup, and it’s incredibly tasty.”

Manbao and the others started to eat.

Yin Huo looked at one piece, then another, and finally chose a smaller piece to taste. There was no lamb smell, as Third Mrs. Gong said, the meat was very tender.

He has a weak stomach, so he chewed slowly. By the time he had uncovered the spinal cord, they were already eating the second piece of meat. Third Mrs. Gong said, “Besides the meat, the flatbread is also delicious. Dipped in the soup, it has the aroma of both meat and wheat, it’s not greasy at all.”

So everyone ate the flatbread. Yin Huo also picked up a piece of flatbread, and then Third Mrs. Gong asked those who still wanted to eat meat to scoop the meat out, and the waiter poured soup into the pot, then brought over a basket of vegetables and two plates of thinly sliced meat.

Third Mrs. Gong said, “This is the broth made from lamb bones. After eating the lamb scorpion, we can have hot pot. Actually, it’s best to eat it in this cold winter, but unfortunately…”

Third Mrs. Gong shook her head and cleared her thoughts, smiling, “But vegetables are scarce now, only radishes and some cabbage, let’s make do and eat.”

But even so, everyone was very satisfied, especially the soup was very well seasoned. Manbao drank a bowl, and warmth spread from inside out.

Manbao put down the bowl satisfied, but couldn’t bear to put down the chopsticks and joined them to cook the meat slices in the pot…

In the end, everyone, including Yin Huo, ate to their heart’s content, and except for Yin Huo, everyone else was full to the brim.

After eating, Manbao said, “Next time we shouldn’t do this, overeating is no good.”

Bai Erlang said, “Nine times out of ten you say that, yet next time you still overeat. Except for Yin Huo, who can do it every time?”

Yin Huo ignored them and formally thanked Third Mrs. Gong for her hospitality.

Third Mrs. Gong was also full, waved her hand and said, “Imperial Doctor Zhou saved my life, what’s a few meals? If you come to Xiazhou next time, I’ll treat you again. Hmm, roasted yellow sheep is also delicious, but it’s wild and hard to catch. If you stay long enough, I’ll have my husband take you deeper into the grasslands, maybe you’ll find some. Actually, the yellow sheep at the start of autumn are the best.”

As she said this, she swallowed her saliva and said, “At that time, the yellow sheep have fattened up, and the meat is very tender. Brush it with honey and roast it, the taste…”

After savoring the fond memory, she said, “It really is no worse than the lamb scorpion we had today.”

Manbao couldn’t help but yearn for it, imagining how delicious it must be.

Bai Shan also felt Third Mrs. Gong was of the same mind, so he started planning, “Actually, if we go to the Western Regions, it’s very likely we’ll pass through Xiazhou.”

Manbao and Bai Erlang chuckled, “Then we can resupply in Xiazhou.”

Not only did Third Mrs. Gong treat them to lamb scorpion, knowing it was difficult for them to travel now, she prepared some ingredients for them, including jerky and frozen marinated lamb legs.

She said, “I’ve never been far, but my husband often travels. When he goes, he likes to take marinated lamb legs. If he gets hungry on the road, he just slices off a piece to roast and eat, it’s very convenient.”

Manbao was dumbfounded, “Then you have to carry a roasting pot.”

“No need,” Third Mrs. Gong waved her hand, “Just have your guards bring a wide knife, you can roast it on the knife.”

The four of them thought about it and realized, “Oh, it really can be done like that.”

So when they went back, they stared at Yang Heshu.

Yang Heshu asked helplessly, “If you have something to say, just say it, I went to find you in the morning and heard you went out for an appointment.”

Manbao quickly said, “Third Mrs. Gong treated us to a meal again. Scholarly Senior Brother Yang, how many people are you bringing to the capital this time?”

“Just Wantian.”

“Ah, does Wantian use a knife?”

Yang Heshu: “… Wantian takes care of my chores, what’s he going to use a knife for?”

Seeing disappointment on their faces, he said, “But this time, there are also people from the Imperial Hospital and the Imperial Doctor’s House going back. The local government will send some people for protection, and also officials from the Ministry of Justice and Punishments. There won’t be a shortage of people with knives.”

Manbao was delighted to hear this and accepted the lamb legs sent by Third Mrs. Gong with peace of mind.

Yang Heshu didn’t know that in their food box was a lamb leg wrapped in leaves. Early in the morning, he bid farewell to Ms. Cui, after patting Brother Qi’s head, he led the Imperial Hospital people and left the city together.

He didn’t have to worry about returning to the capital, all these affairs were arranged by the Ministry of Justice and Punishments.

The Ministry had delivered the imperial decree this time, and by the way, investigated the affairs in Xiazhou, and planned to escort Yang Heshu and Governor Niu and his son to the capital.

Indeed, Niu Kang, who was still alive, was also required to go to the capital, and compared to his father, his treatment was not favorable. Although he was not wearing shackles, he was still watched over by the Ministry of Justice officials, unlike the free and carefree Zhou Man and the others traveling with them.

Approaching noon, the convoy stopped, and Lord Zhao from the Ministry of Justice let everyone rest for half an hour, and take the opportunity to eat and drink.

Manbao jumped off the carriage, ready to stretch her legs, there was still a lot of un-melted snow in the woods, and stepping on it made a crunching sound.

She couldn’t help but stomp, leaving her dirty footprints on the white snow, and after looking around, she ran away feeling a little guilty.

Imperial Doctor Lu, feeling cold, already had someone picking firewood, pulling out a few pieces of charcoal they carried with the carriage to light a fire, he shouted at her with his head shrunk, “Imperial Doctor Zhou, didn’t you bring lamb legs? Just roast them to warm everyone up.”

Manbao refused, “It’s only half an hour, you can’t roast them properly, it’s boring, better to roast them in the evening.”

Sure enough, true to her word, in the evening they stopped at a post station, she took out the lamb leg to roast, since there were too many people, she didn’t need a big knife at all, one lamb leg was not enough for everyone.

Niu Kang sat there staring blankly. If it was before, he would definitely dislike it, but these days he has been treated differently. Even though his father tried to take care of him, what he ate and drank was inferior to the others traveling with them. Now, forget about roast lamb leg, even roasted lamb wool might make him crave a little.

Manbao glanced at him, seeing ten or so pockmarks on his face, really not pleasant to look at, and even without those pockmarks, he wouldn’t be considered handsome.

She shook her head, taking a bite of roasted lamb meat, asked unclearly, “Is bringing him to the capital like this meant the emperor wants to punish him?”

Bai Shan thought for a moment and shook his head, “Punishing him is impossible. He’s not an official, it’s said he forcibly took a foreign girl, but actually there is no concrete evidence. As for contracting smallpox, it wasn’t intentional, he can at most be disliked. But he can’t be punished, the blame could fall on his father, and Governor Niu’s faults are greater.”

He said vaguely, “It depends how well Feng Zongping spreads his little stories around.”