Chapter 151
Baise stood up and took the chili jar from Wen Nuan's hand, pouring it over the roast meat.
Tonight, she wanted to eat spicy food, lots and lots of it.
Dinner was ready, and everyone looked at the roast meat covered in chili on the table.
"That's too much chili."
"This... how can we eat this?"
"I can't eat spicy food,"
"I can have a little, but this smells spicy just from here. Ah-choo!"
"How are we supposed to eat this?"
"Why can't we eat it? I think it's just fine." Baise took a big bite of mutton, her eyes widening.
She forced the mouthful of meat down, suppressing a cough. "Not spicy."
As soon as she finished speaking, she picked up a waterskin and took large gulps of water.
It was deathly spicy!
"Spicy is good too." Tie Yi picked up a skewer shortly after, taking a bite.
Cough, cough, cough...
Ye Yunniang handed him a waterskin, then silently passed waterskins to everyone else.
"Rinse it before eating." Ye Yunniang said, pouring water into a bowl and swishing the roast meat in it.
The flavor was milder, but still spicy.
Some followed Ye Yunniang's lead, rinsing the meat before eating. Others felt this ruined the taste of the meat and insisted on not rinsing.
They took one bite of meat, then one sip of water.
They weren't full from the food, but they were full from the water first.
That night, they kept getting up to relieve themselves, and some even had upset stomachs because of it.
By dawn, half of the group looked listless and exhausted. The other half, who had rinsed their meat, were slightly better off.
They packed up their camping gear, and the group got into the carriages to continue their journey towards Qing.
Because they were uncomfortable, their pace was slow.
When evening came, faced with Baise's demand to add chili, Wen Nuan refused. She didn't want another night of constantly getting up to relieve herself.
Baise, while Wen Nuan wasn't looking, poured a considerable amount into the mutton stew.
During the meal, everyone saw the roast meat was fine and didn't pay much attention to the mutton stew.
They picked up their bowls and took a sip.
Cough, cough, cough...
"Baise... cough... how much chili... cough, cough... did you sneak into the pot..." Wen Nuan couldn't finish, moving aside to cough violently.
The others weren't faring much better.
Ye Yunniang had also taken a big sip of the mutton stew and was now coughing incessantly.
Drinking water didn't help; it was too spicy.
That night, everyone was once again caught in the cycle: get up to relieve themselves — return to the tent and lie down — get up to relieve themselves — return to the tent and lie down.
They tossed and turned all night, getting no proper sleep.
Not a single person in the entire team rested well.
Under the collective gaze of the whole team, Tie Yi persuaded Baise to wait until they returned to Beijiang City to eat spicy food.
If they were all in poor condition, it would be troublesome if they encountered danger.
"What kind of danger could we possibly encounter?" Baise didn't believe him.
"We're in Yan Country; we must be cautious."
"Fine." Baise gave up on eating spicy food.
Everyone breathed a slight sigh of relief, looking forward to a peaceful night's sleep.
In the middle of the night, Ye Yunniang opened her eyes, sensing something was wrong outside. She reached out and nudged Wen Nuan beside her.
"Wha—"
Ye Yunniang covered her mouth. "Something's wrong outside. Speak quietly."
Wen Nuan nodded to show she understood.
Ye Yunniang pulled a dagger from under her pillow. Wen Nuan gripped a kitchen knife under hers.
The two cautiously moved to the tent entrance and peered out.
By the faint light of the dying fire, they saw the several people on night watch had already been tied up. There were others searching around.
Ye Yunniang and Wen Nuan's tent was at the very back, blocked by carts. They hadn't been discovered yet.
"Look." Wen Nuan whispered, prompting Ye Yunniang to look in a certain direction.
Ye Yunniang looked over and recognized two people among the enemies.
The human trafficker—Monkey, and Chunyan, who had been trafficked.
Monkey was inspecting the confiscated items.
Chunyan held a knife, none of her previous innocence and kindness remaining. She looked utterly sinister, pointing the knife tip at Baise and saying something.
They were too far away to hear her words clearly.
Baise, leaning against Tie Yi's chest, caught sight of Ye Yunniang and Wen Nuan.
With her eyes, she signaled for the two of them to run.
"Let's go." Wen Nuan made the decision.
Ye Yunniang agreed.
The two of them couldn't fight them off; the best option was to run, to escape.
They grabbed a few things and lifted the tent flap to leave.
The night was dark, and no one noticed their escape.
Ye Yunniang and Wen Nuan didn't know how long they had been running.
The sky gradually lightened.
"Stop, I can't run anymore." Wen Nuan called out to Ye Yunniang ahead.
"Alright." Ye Yunniang gasped for breath, swallowing to soothe her parched throat.
"What do we do now?" Wen Nuan's mind was in chaos.
"Find a way to rescue them." Ye Yunniang didn't hesitate for a moment. Surviving alone on the Yan grasslands would be difficult for them.
"How? With my kitchen knife and your dagger?" Wen Nuan said, twirling the kitchen knife in her hand a couple of times.
"Let's find something to eat first." After running all night, they were both exhausted and hungry.
Wen Nuan recognized many wild vegetables, and the two dug up some together.
They had no fire, so they could only eat them raw.
After easing their hunger, they discussed how to rescue the others.
"I have a bit of poison." Ye Yunniang took out the knockout drug she had. Jiang Mingzhe had given it to her when she left.
"I have chili powder." Wen Nuan had hidden it on her person, afraid Baise would put it in the pot again.
"I have an idea."
"What idea?"
"We—"
She had just started speaking when a large net fell. Wen Nuan and Ye Yunniang were caught under it.
Then several burly men jumped out, laughing heartily at them.
Wen Nuan and Ye Yunniang struggled but couldn't break free. They were tied up and thrown onto horseback.
The horse jolted along, and Ye Yunniang felt like she was about to vomit.
Just as Ye Yunniang was about to lose her grip, the horse stopped.
Ye Yunniang lost her balance and fell headfirst.
Just as she thought she would crash to the ground, a long, strong hand caught Ye Yunniang.
"Ye Yunniang, I've saved you again." A familiar, teasing tone sounded.
Ye Yunniang looked up. "Tong Mo, what are you doing here? How are Pan'er and the others?"
Tong Mo carefully set Ye Yunniang down, still holding her. "I came to find you. Your sons are all fine."
"Master Bao wouldn't let you come to Yan Country so easily. How did you get here?"
"I have feet; he can't lock me up." Tong Mo didn't listen to Bao Min's words.
"Thank you for coming to save me."
"Is a simple 'thank you' all I get?"
"I promised to marry him." Ye Yunniang's words made Tong Mo's smile vanish.
"He's not worthy of entrusting your life to. He's not a good man.
All these years, you've remained faithful, raising his sons for him. But I investigated; in Yan Country, he's been carousing and womanizing, and he has no fewer than ten women in his household."
Tong Mo grew urgent. "Ye Yunniang, if you choose him, you'll never have a peaceful day for the rest of your life. You'll have to compete with other women for favor, live a life of constant scheming, and guard against those women harming your sons."
"I believe in him." Ye Yunniang's words rendered Tong Mo's further arguments useless.
Tong Mo looked at the Ye Yunniang before him. "You really infuriate me, you..." He clenched his teeth, snatched a nearby horse, mounted it, and galloped off into the distance.
Wen Nuan walked over. "You're truly impressive, truly blessed."
Not only did she have Jiang Mingzhe's devotion, but even the nephew of the Prefect was deeply in love with her.
"You can have this blessing."
Wen Nuan shook her head. "No, thanks. I couldn't handle it."
Wen Nuan knew her limits; neither of these men was someone easy to deal with.