Peach Blossom Land On Longyin Island Chapter 55
byOnly when you have enough food can you work well
The back kitchen was crowded with a bunch of guards, chefs and servants, but it was surprisingly quiet. The only sounds were the sound of oil simmering on the fire and the clinking of spatulas.An Xiaoyu wore an apron and was cooking at the pot with skillful and agile movements.On one side of the pot, seven or eight gold and jade dishes contained the prepared meals.
“Your Highness, please stay away. Don’t get hurt. Let your subordinates do the rest…” The guard named Jingyu stood beside An Xiaoyu nervously and advised, his eyes always staring at the pot, as if he was afraid that the hot oil would splash on his master.
“It’s okay, he’s almost healed,” An Xiaoyu said in a good mood, with a smile on his lips, “Is he out yet?”
“My subordinates sent someone to take a look.” Jingyu said, turning around to signal someone to go take a look at the situation. He happened to see An Ran coming in and said, “Your Highness, the Crown Princess is here.”
An Ran: “…Don’t scream.”
Seeing An Ran come in, An Xiaoyu raised his head to look at An Ran and said gently: “Are you hungry? Let’s go eat first.” After saying that, he motioned to everyone in the room: “Let’s set up the meal.”
The group of people in the room immediately picked up a meal and filed out.
An Ran approached and said displeased: “Stop it, a bunch of people are just playing, what are you cooking here? It’s not like there are no cooks. Let’s go and eat.”
The meal was set out in the courtyard. Seven people, An Ran, An Xiaoyu, An Susu, An Linmian, An Mai, An Tu, and Anton, sat around the table. Behind them stood a circle of expressionless servants who were ready to serve.
An Ran, who hadn’t had a full meal in six days, just immersed herself in eating.
An Linmian looked around with his chopsticks and said to An Xiaoyu, “Hey, An Xiaoyu, can you let them go down? I lost my appetite after being stared at by a group of people.”
Hearing this, An Xiaoyu glanced at Ling Feng, who immediately asked the group of people to retreat, leaving only him and Jing Yu.
After An Ran destroyed two bowls of rice like a storm, An Linmian showed a rare expression of distress to An Ran: “An Ran… won’t he be given food in prison?”
An Ran didn’t have time to reply to her, so she finished serving the rice and continued to work hard.
“Of course…” An Mai also hesitated, “It’s not advisable to be full after being hungry for a long time. Eat slowly.”
An Ran nodded repeatedly, but kept moving.
People at the table silently watched An Ran eat. After eating most of the third bowl, An Ran finally put down his chopsticks, leaned back on the chair, rubbed his belly with satisfaction, and announced to everyone: “I’m full.”
Everyone let out a sigh of relief at the same time.
An Xiaoyu handed An Ran a handkerchief and apologized: “Sorry, I was late and made you suffer.”
After eating and having strength, An Ran remembered that this matter was all because he had done something illegal and criminal first, so he deserved it, so he shook his head and said, “It has nothing to do with you. What should I do about this matter? Will it implicate you?”
An Xiaoyu said: “It’s okay. Before I went, I heard Brother Dong explain the cause and effect. Although the salt was sold, it was only sold to Song Yu. The Song family colluded with the government, so they won’t make a big fuss.”
“That’s good. By the way, Brother Dong, why didn’t you leave?” An Ran thought of their previous plan to let Anton and An Tong leave together and not come back.
Anton shrugged and said, “How can I leave you here? Besides, Mianmian and the others are missing. Brother Tong and I discussed it after we got on the boat. He went back to bring reinforcements, and I will guard here. Yesterday I sneaked into the city, and I remembered that you told Su Su to go to Anran Lantern Shop to buy mermaid lanterns, so I wanted to try my luck, and randomly picked an Anran Lantern Shop. Unexpectedly, the boss brought me here as soon as I mentioned the mermaid lanterns. Su Su Mianmian, sheThey are all hiding here.” At this point, Anton suddenly became excited, clapped his hands, his eyes flashed, and said, “I told you why you named yourself An Ran.It’s such a coincidence that there are An Ran lantern shops all over the city. It turns out that this An Ran lantern shop is the place where you and Xiao Yu have private meetings. Sure enough, you come out to see Xiao Yu every time, right? I said I was right. Brother Tong still doesn’t believe it.Let me tell you, how can you two endure not seeing each other for a year-”
“D-Brother Dong, stop talking…” An Ran’s blood started to jump and she glanced at An Xiaoyu from the corner of her eye.An Xiaoyu lowered his eyes and pursed his lips into a thin line.
An Ran coughed and said, “We will go back tomorrow morning, and we should run into Brother Xiaotong on the way.”
“Go back tomorrow morning?” An Xiaoyu raised his eyes slightly and looked at Anle with a sense of disappointment.
An Ran looked away, scratched her head guiltily, and said, “It’s been too long, parents…it’s time to worry.”
“Yes, sister-in-law,” An Susu said shaking her legs, “Mom said we can play outside for five days at most. This is already the tenth day. My parents must be so worried that they can’t sleep.”
Hearing this, An Xiaoyu remained silent.
An Susu added: “Aren’t sister-in-law’s affairs finished yet? My sister-in-law hasn’t been home for a year, and my parents miss her too.”
After a moment of silence, An Xiaoyu said, “The thick fog has appeared again. How did you get out?”
“Well~” An Linmian suddenly smiled mysteriously and glanced at the two guards behind An Xiaoyu, “I can’t tell you now. You can ask An Ran quietly at night when there is no one around.”
“By the way, Xiaoyu,” Anmai wiped his mouth and said, “Can you prepare some directions for us?”
An Xiaoyu nodded: “Of course.”
“Great,” Antu cheered, “I can finally go find Brother Ashun.”
An Linmian bit his chopsticks and said angrily: “If I catch him, I will kill him!”
Hearing this, An Xiaoyu glanced at An Linmian and the others without hesitating to speak.
“What, Xiaoyu?” An Mai asked, realizing that An Xiaoyu had something to say.
An Xiaoyu hesitated and said: “Anshun… will write to me every once in a while. The latest one was a month ago. He said he was going to Jiangzhou.”
“Are you in contact?!” the three of them exclaimed at the same time.
An Xiaoyu nodded: “Finding someone also requires money.”
“He asked you for money?” An Ran was very surprised. He thought that with Anshun’s silent and stubborn character, he would not ask for money from anyone.
An Xiaoyu understood An Ran’s meaning at a glance and said, “He was unwilling to accept money from me, so I asked him to help me keep an eye on the situation in various places while he was looking for someone. In return, I provided him with travel expenses.”
This was in line with Anshun’s character. An Ran nodded in agreement and asked what An Linmian and the others wanted to ask: “Then where is he now?”
An Xiaoyu said: “It should still be in Jiangzhou, but Jiangzhou is very big. If you look for it blindly, it will be difficult to find it in a short time.”
Anmai bent his eyes and smiled: “It’s okay, we have plenty of time.”
There is a strong tendency to not give up until you find it.
Anshun, wish you good luck.An Ran silently prayed for Anshun again.
“Then will you return to the village tomorrow?” An Xiaoyu asked after a while.
“Of course,” An Linmian said, “You have to tell grandpa first, otherwise you will definitely be worried.”
“Then when will you come out? Anshun went out with the East Palace Order. I came in a hurry this time and didn’t bring the East Palace Seal.” After saying that, An Xiaoyu glanced at An Ran hesitantly and said, “When you come out, I will have someone come to take you to the capital.”
“What kind of capital are you going to? Anshun is not in the capital. Why don’t you write it and send it to me?” An Ran muttered.
A hint of loneliness slipped through An Xiaoyu’s eyes, and An Xiaoyu whispered: “Okay.”
An Mai secretly glanced at An Linmian, and An Linmian instantly understood and said loudly: “Ahem, actually I don’t think there is any need to rush to find Shunzi. I heard that the capital is very interesting. Maizi, how about we go to the capital for a tour first?”
An Mai looked at An Xiaoyu with a smile: “Xiaoyu, can I stay at your house for a few days?”
An Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up: “Of course.”
Anle rolled his eyes and said, “You go, I won’t go.”
“What are you talking about?” An Linmian slapped An Le on the head, “I haven’t settled the score with you yet! If you don’t report the information and condone the fugitive, you are guilty according to the law. You must help us find someone and go with us.”
“I don’t want to go, my parents are reluctant to let me go,” An Ran shook her head firmly, “I want to go back to the village to plant mulberry and raise silkworms, make a fortune, and lead the whole village to live a well-off life! I will make money and provide you with funds. You can go find someone.”
Hearing this, An Xiaoyu’s eyes were dull again and he lowered his eyes and said nothing.
At this moment, Anmai looked at Ansusu Yanran and said, “Susu, do you want to go to your sister-in-law’s house to play?”
An Susu’s eyes lit up: “I want to! I want to go!”
An Ran: “…….”
“If you want to go, you can go by yourself,” An Ran made up his mind not to go and rolled his eyes at An Susu, “I’ll accompany my parents at home to collect medicines and see doctors. You go to the capital to be prosperous and wealthy, little white-eyed wolf.”
“Susu is not a white-eyed wolf!” An Susu puffed out her cheeks, her face turned red whether she was angry or aggrieved, “Susu won’t go! She won’t go! Susu goes home to help her father get medicine and help her mother see a doctor!”
“Hey, Su Su is so good~” After turning the situation around, An Ran raised her eyebrows at An Mai with a proud look on her face.
An Mai smiled and said nothing, shrugged slightly, then looked at An Xiaoyu and said, “By the way, Xiaoyu, don’t you plan to go back to the village to have a look? We will only stay for two days this time, and then we can enter the capital together.”
An Xiaoyu looked at An Ran again and asked, “Can I… go back?”
“Why are you asking me?” An Ran glared at An Xiaoyu angrily, “Go back if you want, if you don’t want to go back, don’t. It’s not that I won’t let you go back.”
An Xiaoyu’s face lit up with joy and he immediately said, “Then I’ll go back.”
“You can, but they can’t,” An Ran looked at Ling Feng and Jing Yu and said, “Outsiders are not allowed to enter the village, and neither can your guards.”
Ling Feng and Jing Yu were shocked: “How can that be done?!”
An Xiaoyu said: “They won’t go.”
Ling Feng said in shock: “Your Highness! I am ordered to protect you, how can I let you go alone?”
Anton frowned and said displeasedly: “No one of us wants to harm Xiaoyu, so why should we protect him?”
Jingyu cupped his hands and said, “Young Master, don’t blame me. It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just that after His Highness disappeared, the Queen Mother was greatly frightened and ordered us to stay at all times to protect His Highness. If Your Highness is allowed to go alone, it will be difficult for us to explain to the Queen Mother.”
An Xiaoyu said calmly: “If grandma asks, I will explain it to you. Just wait here.”
Ling Feng and Jing Yu looked at each other, and Jing Yu said: “Your Highness, I forgive you for finding it hard to obey your orders. The last time His Highness fell into the sea, all the entourage were killed. I must not let Your Highness take risks again.”
“What risk are you taking?” An Ran became angry for no reason and said coldly: “What kind of risk is it to go home? Why don’t I send you back with beard and tail in five days?”
Ling Feng opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something else. An Xiaoyu glanced at Ling Feng coldly, and Ling Feng immediately closed his mouth.
An Xiaoyu said calmly: “Go check on the Song family and County Magistrate Qian, and come back in five days.”
Ling Feng and Jing Yu looked at each other and immediately said, “I obey.”