"It removes the water, but not the properties."
Xu Qinghuan placed the dried vegetable back on the wooden table, her fingertips pausing in front of three coarse porcelain bowls.
"The sick soldiers in the army suffer from bleeding gums and poor night vision. The root cause is a lack of vegetables for half a year; their vitality and medicinal properties have been cut off for too long. Sheep kidney sour soup can provide emergency relief, but you can't force people to swallow that sour, muttony smell every day."
"This batch of vegetables from Jiangning perfectly fills this gap."
Zhao Kui opened his mouth to argue.
Xu Qinghuan raised her hand first.
"If you still want to call them demon vegetables, fine."
She turned and pointed to five sick soldiers.
"These five men have had repeatedly bleeding gums over the past few days and couldn't even feel the tent posts when getting up at night. Lao Sun has their medical records and oral examination notes. Starting today, they will drink vegetable soup first. In three days, we will examine them in front of the whole camp."
Lao Sun immediately dug out wooden plaques from his medicine chest.
"Yes, I have the records."
He set out five small wooden plaques, carved with names and symptoms.
"Han Qi, red and swollen gums, bleeds when pressed, severe night blindness."
"Lame Feng, cannot distinguish figures at night, bled again the day before yesterday when biting a millet cake."
"Zhao Erhe, purple edges on the tongue, unhealed ulcers on the gums."
"Liu Laochai, fell twice during night patrol, cannot distinguish objects three steps away in the tent."
"Sun Mancang, severe case, stopped the soup for half a day the night before, gums bled again."
The five sick soldiers were helped into the camp.
They were young and old, their clothes washed until faded, the backs of their hands covered in old scars.
Han Qi was the youngest, just in his early twenties. Hearing he was first in line, he shrank his neck.
"Imperial Envoy, this humble one will drink it. Even if I drink myself to death, I'll accept it."
Xu Qinghuan looked at him.
"This official wants you alive to bite a cake for them to see in three days."
Someone in the camp chuckled softly, and the tension eased a bit.
The fire-head army brought over the clay pot, their hands still shaking when opening the seal.
The vegetable soup was poured into the bowls, steam rising.
The aroma of the vegetables overpowered the sour, muttony smell of the sheep kidney soup. The five sick soldiers each had a bowl, first taking small sips, then drinking it all down.
Lame Feng licked the edge of the bowl and couldn't resist asking.
"My Lord, is there any more?"
A sick soldier next to him immediately scolded him.
"You old cripple, just now you were afraid of ruining your constitution, and now you want to gnaw on the bowl?"
Laughter spread through the camp.
Zhao Kui was pushed back half a step by the laughter. He wanted to stir up more trouble, but the personal guards behind Tie Lanshan had already stepped to his side, hands on their sword hilts.
Tie Lanshan spoke.
"Zhao Kui, you come back in three days too."
Zhao Kui's throat went dry.
"Commander, this humble official was just asking on behalf of the brothers..."
"Good question. Stand closer so you can see clearly."
Tie Lanshan's single sentence suppressed him, and Zhao Kui shut his mouth.
Three days is not long.
But in the wounded soldier camp, three days felt more grueling than three months.
The five severely ill soldiers had two bowls of vegetable soup daily, their sheep kidney sour soup was halved, and the millet porridge remained the same.
Lao Sun personally kept watch.
What they ate for each meal, whether they vomited, how many times they had stomachaches, and whether they could find their water bowls at night were all recorded in a ledger.
On the first day, Han Qi's gums were still swollen, and he inhaled sharply in pain when biting down on hard rice grains in the porridge. Lao Sun pressed it with a hemp cloth; the bleeding lessened, but hadn't completely stopped.
On the second day, Liu Laochai got up at night without calling for help and managed to find the water bucket by the tent door himself.
He bumped into a wooden post on his way back to bed, earning a long laugh from the old soldier sharing his tent.
On the morning of the third day, a crowd had already gathered outside the wounded soldier camp.
Originally, only the sick soldiers were supposed to wait for the oral examination, but the soldiers from all camps didn't care about that, pushing toward the camp gate with broken bowls, wooden ladles, and chipped clay cups.
"Elder Sun, I can't see clearly when standing guard at night either. Give me a mouthful of soup."
"My teeth are loose too. I was in pain chewing dried meat a few days ago."
"After the severe cases drink, shouldn't it be the turn for us mild cases?"
The fire-head army stood by the stove holding the clay pot, not daring to open it or set it down, sweating profusely from anxiety.
"Don't push! If this pot breaks, making soup out of my head won't help!"
Lao Sun was surrounded in the middle, his medicine chest almost trampled. He grabbed his crutch and thumped it on the ground.
"Severe cases first!"
"Whoever pushes forward again won't get a single sip today!"
Just as he finished speaking, someone outside shouted.
"Severe cases are people, aren't healthy people people too?"
"All the good stuff goes to the wounded soldier camp. We're on the city walls eating wind and sand. The Imperial Envoy can't be this biased!"
The line instantly descended into chaos.
A few soldiers took advantage of the crowd to push forward, causing a racket. Someone yelled from the back.
"The people who drank the vegetable soup yesterday had stomachaches at night. These demon vegetables are causing trouble!"
"Smells good for one bite, then rots your intestines!"
As soon as these words came out, the people who had been holding out their bowls backed away.
The fire-head army held the clay pot, arms stiff in mid-air. The sealing mud around the mouth of the pot cracked halfway, almost falling to the ground.
When Li Sheng arrived, he first kicked away a broken basket blocking the path.
"Who yelled about demon vegetables? Step forward!"
No one in the crowd confessed.
Xu Qinghuan was currently at the field headquarters.
The young soldier Li Sheng had sent ran in covered in sweat, reporting the chaos outside the wounded soldier camp.
Spread out in the room was the inventory list Xiaocui had sent: 317 catties.
Three bags were damaged on the way, leaving just over 300 catties actually usable.
Upon returning, Li Sheng cupped his hands and reported.
"Miss, given the situation today, if we give it out freely, it will be gone in three days."
"Every camp wants a share, the night patrol scouts came asking too, the fire-head army says they need to keep some to try adding to the porridge, and Elder Sun is about to lose control over there."
Xu Qinghuan pushed the abacus to the front of the desk.
"How many severe cases in the wounded soldier camp?"
"One hundred and sixty-seven."
"How many night patrol scouts?"
"They rotate among the camps, usually one hundred and twenty men."
"The fire-head army needs to test the vegetables. If we don't let them test it, they won't be able to cook it in large pots later."
Xu Qinghuan wrote three lines on a piece of paper.
"Seventy percent for the wounded soldier camp, prioritizing severe cases first, then mild cases."
"Twenty percent for the night patrol scouts, to be collected by shift, with nighttime vision recorded after consumption."
"Ten percent for the fire-head army, solely for testing recipes to find the most material-saving cooking method."
She handed the paper to Li Sheng.
"Every bag must be weighed and recorded in the ledger. Who collects it, how much they collect, and who drinks it must be clearly written. Any shortages will be handled as stealing military rations."
Li Sheng took the distribution order, steadying himself.
"With this order, no one will dare to grab it recklessly."
When the distribution order was posted at the gate of the wounded soldier camp, the queuing soldiers crowded around to look.
Not many could read, so someone shouted out the contents.
"Seventy percent for the wounded soldier camp, twenty percent for the night patrol scouts, ten percent for the fire-head army to test..."
Reading up to here, curses erupted from the back.
"On what grounds?"
"I stand on the city wall all night, filling my stomach with wind and sand, and the wounded soldiers get seventy percent while lying down?"
"The Imperial Envoy saves the wounded, so those of us who haven't fallen just have to tough it out?"
Zhao Kui mixed into the edge of the crowd, lowering his voice to shout again.
"The matter of the stomachaches last night hasn't been investigated clearly yet, and you're rushing to distribute it. If someone dies from eating it, who will take responsibility?"
"If the vegetable soup is really good stuff, why don't you dare give it to the whole camp?"
Li Sheng rushed over with his horsewhip, but there were too many people, voices coming from all directions, making it impossible to pinpoint who started it.
Just then, the sound of horse hooves rang out outside the camp.
He Minghu led two personal guards over from the dirt road. The horses didn't move fast, and when they stopped outside the camp gate, he deliberately looked up at the distribution order.
"Oh, the Imperial Envoy has new regulations again?"
He dismounted and patted the dust off his sleeves.
"In the army, from ancient times to the present, dried vegetables are just dried vegetables. They can fill the stomach, but I've never heard of them curing illnesses."
"Now a pot of vegetable soup has all the camps fighting over it, and it's causing such a fuss outside the wounded soldier camp. It won't sound good if word gets out."
With Tie Lanshan absent, several low-ranking officers exchanged glances; none dared to speak up first.
He Minghu took two steps forward. His voice was kept low, yet it was clear enough for everyone around to hear.
If the soldiers fall ill from eating this, the Commander-in-Chief's office will have to answer for it, and so will the Imperial Envoy. We soldiers sell our lives to the imperial court, not to be used as test subjects for food.
The crowd backed away, forming a circle.
A few wounded soldiers who had previously been treated by Xu Qinghuan were originally standing at the front, but now they simply gripped their bowls, motionless.
These words were hard to counter.
If the food turned out well, it would be credited to the Imperial Envoy's skill.
If it made them sick, the blame would fall on the Commander's office and the Envoy's headquarters.
Li Sheng gritted his teeth.
Vice General He, a public test was conducted three days ago. Old Sun has the records, and the sick soldiers who ate it are right here. Do not stir up trouble.
He Minghu turned to look at him.
Manager Li, can a mere record book protect the lives of the men in this army?
Just as his voice fell, another person arrived from outside the camp.
Ma Jin'an held an old medical book in his hands. Its pages were curled and its cover worn, looking very much like an antique dug out from an apothecary.
General He makes a valid point.
Ma Jin'an walked up to the crowd and flipped open the medical book.
If you military gentlemen do not believe me, you can at least believe the book.
He turned to a page marked with a paper slip and read slowly.
Withered and decayed matter kept for a long time must not be eaten in excess. It ruins the stomach's qi, damages one's vital essence, and harms the reproductive lineage.
I did not make these words up; they are written in this ancient medical text.
The younger soldiers reacted the most intensely.
A bowl slipped from someone's hands and shattered into pieces on the ground.
Harms the reproductive lineage?
Does that mean if we eat too much of this, we won't be able to have children?
This is an outrage!
The clay pot in the army cook's hands slipped. Fortunately, a fellow cook beside him reached out to steady it. The clay seal cracked completely open, and the savory aroma of the vegetables drifted from the mouth of the pot, yet no one dared to step forward to ask for a serving anymore.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhao Kui began to shout.
Did you hear that? Even the medical book says so! Withered and decayed things harm the body!
We are soldiers, not bugs in a medicine furnace! Why should we be used as test subjects?
Li Sheng unsheathed his sword by half an inch.
Shout nonsense again, and you will be dealt with by military law!
He Minghu raised his hand and stepped in front to block him.
Manager Li, who are you trying to frighten? The soldiers are merely asking if the food going into their bellies is harmful. Is it a crime to ask?
He turned toward the crowd of watching soldiers.
I will leave my words right here today: no one can force you to eat this. If the Imperial Envoy insists on pushing these demonic vegetables, I will report this to the Commander's office and request the Commander-in-Chief to convene a military council.
Ma Jin'an closed the medical book and patted its cover.
Healing must follow the natural order of the seasons. These vegetable leaves have been out of the soil for a long time, yet they are unnaturally green and unnaturally fragrant.
Furthermore, they were smoked with sulfur. Gentlemen, think about it: have ordinary commoners ever eaten food prepared like this?
At this, the crowd descended into complete chaos.
Some cursed, some backed away, and some still longed for a mouthful of that vegetable soup, but frightened by the words harms the reproductive lineage, they stood frozen with their bowls, unable to advance or retreat.
