I became the God Brother of the Regent King after Transmigration!-Chapter 269 - 195: News

In the forest, the melting snow revealed a hardwood grill set up on the ground.

"Gu Lan, I’m coming for you!"

Su Zixiao shouted, charging at Gu Lan with a knife.

Rong Heng kicked him away, saying, "If you don’t cook, then goodbye."

Su Zixiao, red-eyed, glared at the chicken on the grill, angrily shouting, "Gu Lan, you actually used the Azure Gold Spear to skewer the chicken! That’s the Dingyuan Marquis’ Azure Gold Spear!"

Gu Lan sighed and said, "Brother Hang, don’t bother with him. I’ll do the grilling myself."

If Gu Lan didn’t know Su Zixiao was a good cook, she wouldn’t have asked him to join them.

Gu Lan lit the dry kindling under the grill with a firestarter, calmly rotating the Azure Gold Spear given to her by Marquis Gu. On the spear, a pitifully dead chicken was skewered.

Rong Heng crouched beside her and said, "I think brushing on some honey would make it taste better; last time it was too dry."

"Brother Hang is right, honey-roasted chicken must be delicious."

Gu Lan nodded, took out some honey from her pocket, and was about to start when Su Zixiao, who had climbed back on his feet, snatched the honey jar from her with grief.

"Let me! You have no sense of care at all; this is the Azure Gold Spear of the Dingyuan Marquis!"

Gu Lan said, "It’s not the first time; you’ll get used to it."

She drew out the Longquan Treasure Sword from her waist, took out a few cleaned potatoes from a small bundle behind her, and began to peel them.

"What are these things? They look like sweet potatoes; are they edible?" Su Zixiao, who had never seen potatoes before, frowned in confusion.

Gu Lan said, "These are tributes brought by the Qi Country envoys to the Capital, just a basket, and the Emperor gave them to my second aunt."

Even Rong Jing knew that the wife of the Second Young Master Gu was a cook who loved to experiment with novel dishes, and the Imperial Kitchen didn’t know how to cook potatoes, so they gave them to Mrs. Wang.

While this dynasty had long had sweet potatoes, it surprisingly did not have potatoes.

When Gu Lan received this basket of potatoes a couple of days ago, she thought about planting them, though Qi Country only offered a small basket as tribute. If chopped into pieces, it would be enough to plant a small plot of land.

If this crop were to be grown extensively, it could feed countless people in a famine.

However, the people of Yan Country were certainly not familiar with potatoes, just like Su Zixiao, who didn’t even know how to eat them. Also, this time of year wasn’t right for planting potatoes, and she couldn’t just create a vegetable greenhouse out of nowhere.

Gu Lan skewered the peeled small potatoes with the Longquan Treasure Sword and grilled them together.

The Azure Gold Spear, already set on the grill, seemed to let out a sympathetic whine upon seeing the Longquan Treasure Sword’s fate.

Su Zixiao brushed honey on the chicken, crying out sorrowfully, "Did you hear it? It’s the Azure Gold Spear weeping!"

Gu Lan said, "It’s just the chicken sizzling with oil."

Saying this, she leaned back against the tree trunk, hands folded behind her head, lazily saying, "If Tang Zhan hadn’t left with Xie Yun the other day, I would want to pull you two along to cook together."

Tang Zhan’s scallion oil noodles were simply marvelous.

Just after Marquis Gu returned to the Northern Territory, Tang Zhan and Xie Yun went to the Southern Border for disaster relief. They had to gather grain from a few other cities along Yan Country on the way and transport it to the Southern Border; it would take at least two months going to and fro, and who knows when Xie Yun would be back.

After a while, the chicken was finally done, golden and juicy, permeating the air with an enticing aroma.

Gu Lan sliced off a drumstick with a sword, put on gloves, and began eating, "Marquis Gu loves roast chicken the most, and this is how I use his spear to remember him."

Su Zixiao said, "Yeah, right."

A moment later, with oil dripping from their mouths, the three unanimously agreed that chicken roasted with the Azure Gold Spear was delicious.

Due to the Dingyuan Army returning to the Northern Territory, the current Guerrilla General, Military Discussion Captain, and Captain of the Cavalry were left as lone commanders, living each day off small barbecues, forming a deep bond over food and drink...

Mainly, Gu Lan and Rong Heng still had to attend classes at Maoqin Hall, while Su Zixiao, having graduated from the Imperial Family school, only needed to eat at home and practice martial arts, which felt unfair. So, he was caught by the two to serve as the cook.

A single roast chicken was soon devoured by the three, and Gu Lan distributed the grilled small potatoes, seasoned with the spices left by Marquis Gu, to the two. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Su Zixiao, cradling the hot and aromatic small potatoes, juggled them between his hands:

"So hot! Gu Lan, this sword isn’t bad. Why not roast the chicken with it instead of using the Marquis’ spear?"

Gu Lan wiped the grease from the Azure Gold Spear clean and said, "It’s my spear now, and I like using it to roast chicken."

Su Zixiao took a bite of a small potato and then heard Young Master Gu say, "Oh right, this sword was given by Prince Rui; it’s called Longquan."

Su Zixiao: "...Tastes good, but let’s not grill again next time."

The three were having their barbecue in the forest of the Capital’s suburbs, right beside the official roads, the main passageway into and out of the Capital. Walking further out, they might encounter a few refugees who had traveled long distances to reach the Capital.

Although the Southern Border was severely famine-stricken, the people of Yan Country were more resilient than those in bordering Wei Country. Officials had the situation under control promptly, and with Prince Rui as a stabilizing force, widespread panic hadn’t set in.

Gu Lan gave the small uneaten potatoes to an old man in tattered clothes, staggering by the roadside.

The old man kowtowed, offering endless thanks to Gu Lan.

Watching the old man’s limping figure disappear into the cold wind, Gu Lan decided to go home and plant the basket of small potatoes in her house for cultivation.

Just then, another travel-worn old man appeared beside her.

"No more small potatoes left," Gu Lan shrugged and said.

Unexpectedly, the old man lifted his messy hair, revealing a gentle yet familiar face.

"Uncle Li?" Gu Lan exclaimed in surprise.

The elderly man before her was Uncle Li, the steward of the Marquis Mansion.

Gu Lan ushered Su Zixiao away, and Rong Heng gave Uncle Li and Gu Lan a deep look, saying, "I should return to the palace too."

Rong Heng sensed that Uncle Li had something to tell Gu Lan about the Marquis Mansion, something he shouldn’t pry into.

Once the outsiders were gone, Uncle Li collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood.

Gu Lan: Should I call Rong Heng back now, is it too late?

"What happened, Uncle Li? Didn’t you say yesterday you were going to Mu City to rendezvous with your men? How did you get injured?"

Gu Lan planned to carry Uncle Li back to see a doctor, but Uncle Li waved his hand, comforting her:

"No need to worry, my lord. It’s just a minor injury. Back in the days with the old Marquis, I survived countless open and covert attacks."

Uncle Li found a rock to sit on by the roadside, looking at Gu Lan with a hint of emotion: "I never expected the young master to be waiting here."

The Young Master Gu blushed and said, "I was just... meeting Brother Hang and the others here for a barbecue."

Uncle Li merely smiled silently.

Gu Lan was a child he watched grow up in the Marquis Mansion. In the past, she was mischievous, with a peculiar temperament, never communicating with the mansion’s servants and not caring about her elderly caretaker.

Thankfully, she had grown up to be an upright and gentle person, trusted by the people of the Marquis Mansion, and reassuring was Marquis enough to entrust her with the Azure Gold Spear.

She was concerned about her servant’s safety, which was why she waited in the woods, though she wouldn’t admit it.

The young master was a kind-hearted soul all along.

Gu Lan cleared her throat before asking, "You said yesterday that there was intelligence from Mu City about Bian. What kind of intelligence led to your injury?"

Previously, Marquis Gu had informed Gu Lan that Uncle Li was in charge of the mansion’s intelligence network, so she asked him to monitor the actions of the Wei nation’s siblings.

After all, Marquis Gu had mentioned that even he was no match for Uncle Li.

Yesterday, Uncle Li suddenly said that a message had broken off on its way to Mu City and that a very important subordinate had lost contact, needing him to personally assist.

Mu City is a small town, only tens of miles from Yan Capital; it’s within a half-day round trip, yet it’s a hub of intelligence.

Knowing he was going to Mu City, Gu Lan knew he would return to the Capital today, so she went out to the woods with Rong Heng and the others to barbecue, waiting for Uncle Li.

Uncle Li said, "You previously asked me to monitor Wei Liuyu to see when she might get pregnant. This news, however, has nothing to do with her."

Gu Lan frowned, "Nothing to do with her? Then why is the message so difficult to relay?"

Uncle Li wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth:

"That’s also what puzzled me... Last month, the Marquis Mansion’s spy in Wei Country learned that a concubine in the Wei country’s imperial palace is indeed pregnant, but it is not Princess Consort Jin Wei Liuyu."