Chapter 393: Quick-witted (4) (1/2)

Chu Lian opened up the bag and found a clean earthenware pot in a corner of the tent. She set it over the fire and poured water inside. Then, she took out a dagger and sliced off a piece of mutton before carefully cutting it up into smaller cubes and throwing it into the bowl.

Afterwards, Chu Lian quickly sliced the rest of the mutton and used some bamboo sticks to turn them into skewers, which she set aside.

When the water in the pot had turned red with blood, she took out the mutton cubes and changed the water inside the pot. Next, she threw the small handful of rice and the mutton cubes back into the pot, adding more water with a small amount of goat’s milk.

After she was done with all that, she took out a small porcelain bottle from somewhere on her body and poured a light-coloured seasoning into the bowl before covering up the pot.

Now it was time for Chu Lian to start grilling the mutton skewers. Firstly, she patted the skewered mutton pieces so that the meat was spread evenly across the skewers. Next, she sprinkled a layer of her special seasoning over it and set the skewers to grill over the fire.

Chu Lian didn’t put the skewers right in the middle. Instead, she kept them at the edges of the brazier so she could use the peaks of the flames to grill the meat.

Using the bamboo sticks, she carefully flipped the mutton skewers over. The fragrance of the meat soon filled the entire tent.

The well seasoned meat skewers couldn’t be compared to the haphazardly grilled and salted mutton from before.

It was the kind of aroma that came from street stalls selling barbecued skewers. Chu Lian’s seasoning was lacking cumin; in this condition, it was only natural that her version of skewers couldn’t match up to the more developed modern flavors. For the people of the Great Wu Dynasty, however, this was an irresistibly enticing food.

By the time Chu Lian was done with her skewers, the mutton porridge in the pot was half done. The fragrance of it was also starting to drift out from the pot.

Rice had a natural fragrance to begin with. When blanched mutton was added to the rice, together with some goat’s milk, it created a wonderful aroma with a hint of milk. In contrast to the oily and flavourful smell of the grilled skewers, the porridge smelled clean and refreshing. It even evoked the warm feeling of home cooking.

The four kidnappers were completely stunned!

The thick-lipped woman was staring in disbelief. How had those simple, basic ingredients turned into such criminally enticing food in the hands of that pampered Honoured Lady?

She was suffering now. The tantalising aroma of the food was constantly attacking her senses, and she couldn’t stop it even if she wanted to.

After experiencing such a heavenly fragrance, when she thought back to the half-cooked salted mutton pieces she had eaten earlier, she suddenly felt that her meal hadn’t been fit for human consumption.

The three men on the other side of the tent had already set down their food. Although they had all used the same ingredients, how was it possible that the results were so different? The three men weren’t satisfied.

They spat out the weird-tasting mutton in their mouths as inwardly cried tears of frustration. How could they continue eating their terrible cooking with that amazing smell in the air?

It was as if they were watching someone else have a feast while all they had in their bowls was plain white porridge.