CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 80: YOU UNFILIAL SON! UNFILIAL SON!!

Holding it with both hands, she ran back to the team and called the Liu Family to find some firewood.

The Liu Family thought they had bought meat and, overjoyed, went busy picking up firewood, even secretly buying a few logs from the government officer.

Returning to the team, she saw Qi Nanfeng roasting a deer antler, and her eyes went dark, almost fainting!!

"Where’s the deer meat? Where’s the promised deer meat?!" Qi Nanfeng ignored her, just took the logs from her hands, and Liu Family, furious, shrank her hands and smashed the wood onto Qi Nanfeng!

"You unfilial son! Unfilial son!! I asked you to buy deer meat, and you bought this thing??"

"Mother, you don’t understand! With this thing, we have a chance to escape, we... Ah!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Liu Family had already disregarded everything, throwing a fit, kicking away his deer antler and the fire.

Seeing this, Qi Nanfeng immediately pinned his mother to the ground, angrily yelling and punching, terrifying the nearby servants...

Yet the commotion over there did not affect the Ruan Family at all.

Ruan Mian wanted to buy a deer leg, but she knew well that these government officers were greedy and merciless; one mustn’t flaunt one’s wealth in front of them, or it would attract ruin.

Even horses and donkeys were dealt with by Ruan Mian before reaching the post station.

She left three horses for the government officers escorting them, claiming the others ran away, but in fact, she hid them inside her space.

She stored other good supplies too, making them look no different from ordinary exiled prisoners.

This way, when they arrived at the Longchang Post Station, the officers on duty there did not notice anything strange.

However, a bit of broken silver was surely not enough to buy deer meat, so Ruan Mian came up with another plan to talk to those officers.

"Since this can’t buy any, what if I cook a dish of teppanyaki deer meat for the lords? If it’s tasty, then please divide me some, and if it’s not, leave this silver with you, and I won’t take any meat."

The officers immediately showed interest: "Are you so confident in your cooking skills?"

Anyway, it’s better than having it roasted primitively, any way it would taste better!

She first sliced the deer leg meat into thin slices and placed them in a porcelain bowl. She took some spices from her space, including lemongrass, which she crushed into juice and mixed, then evenly spread some salt over the meat slices.

She marinated them for a while, during which she prepared a bowl of dry spices dipping sauce, washed a pair of chopsticks, and then used the iron cleaver they held to heat over the fire.

The officers saw her doing things skillfully and became quite intrigued.

Others found it peculiar too and gathered around to watch.

Before long, the cleaver was red hot, and Ruan Mian saw the deer meat was marinated enough and sprinkled a bit of white flour she took from her space.

The supplies weren’t much, and everyone knew it was part of their personal belongings, never doubting anything.

She picked up the marinated meat slices, coated them with flour, and grilled them on the iron cleaver.

In no time, the oil began to flow, the flour coating became crispy, and the spices released an aroma, flooding everyone’s taste buds.

They all smelled this fragrance, with no hint of deer meat stench, and saliva secreted from their mouths immediately; the officers, in particular, were rubbing their hands eagerly, impatient to taste it!!

After grilling a dish, Ruan Mian first let the officers sample the taste.

With the heat, the deliciousness rushed straight to their heads once it hit their mouths!!

They had never tasted such delicious deer meat before; compared to the original stench of wild wood, these slices were tender and fragrant, leaving a lingering taste in their mouth!

"Good, good, good, the taste is indeed excellent! This woman really didn’t lie to us."

After enjoying the food, their mood improved, and they gifted all the remaining deer leg meat to Ruan Mian.

She grilled for her family following the same method.

The family gathered around the fire, eating the cheap deer meat they bought, roasting the free firewood—its scent so delightful.

This made others envious beyond measure, especially Liu Family, beaten by Qi Nanfeng moments ago.

She cried, with red eyes, holding another maid, sobbing endlessly.

"I’m unlucky, so unlucky! My children treat me like this; my daughter is dead, but my son, my son, why does he do this..."

Qi Nanfeng, repeatedly recalled by her, looked at the roasted deer antler, nauseated from the stench.

He also saw the deer meat roasted by Ruan Mian and could only use it to quench his imaginary thirst, imagining the deer antler in his hand also emitting a fragrance like her deer meat.

So he closed his eyes and tried to swallow it in one bite. However, the deer antler was too large, directly choking his throat!

At that moment, he couldn’t swallow nor spit it out, the stench lingering and surging into his head, bringing suffocation with it, he tightly held his neck, fiercely crashing against a pillar!

Only then did he finally spit the deer antler out; his face flushed red, saliva running down his face, vomiting incessantly...

Inside the Longchang Post Station, they had no house to sleep in.

They could only sleep in a grass shed, wrapped in blankets to pass the night.

Ruan Mian knew it was very cold here, and being in the wind, she waited for the officers to rest and took out more blankets and a small stove with burning coal from her space for them to hold.

The family huddled together, making it not so cold.

At dawn, just as the sky was lightening, the constable from Earth City came to pick people up.

Only then did they discover two people had frozen to death overnight.

Moreover, Li Mao’s toes dropped off from frostbite, having already been problematic from soaking in the icy river.

Now he couldn’t walk anymore, and the mansion’s people used a piece of blanket to drag him along with the team.

He gritted his teeth, hinting to himself that his confidants would arrive soon; if he held on a bit longer, he could completely escape the predicament!!

Yet he had no certainty inside, unsure when his confidants would arrive.

Today’s weather seemed fine, with no strong winds or snow, and soon they reached Earth City.

Upon seeing what awaited them here, everyone was deeply shocked.

Some even wiped tears, already imagining how painful it would be in such a harsh environment.

Mrs. Chen, touching her big belly, couldn’t stop tears from flowing out of her eyes.

She feared... she couldn’t keep the child.

The Earth City walls stretched hundreds of miles, inside and outside were just scattered grass sheds.

Those exiled here, even with a place to return to, had just this.

Moreover, having grass sheds to live in was considered fortunate; upon their arrival, they didn’t even have grass sheds, but were led by the officers into a reception camp inside Earth City.

The reception camp was boundless darkness, surrounded by rudimentary cells and towering wooden stakes.

Outside were numerous heavily armed guards, Shaoxi whispered in Ruan Mian’s ear.

"Miss, I overheard an officer saying these heavily armed guards are not ordinary constables but stationed border army troops."