"Who says the vegetable soup made people sick?"
The words rang out from the back of the crowd, and the soldiers packed around the camp gate automatically parted to make a path.
Xu Qinghuan walked up from the dirt path, followed by Xu Zhan. Li Sheng carried a wooden bucket.
The bucket held the leftovers collected from the kitchen last night, smelling of sour mutton and grease.
As she approached the camp gate, a few soldiers in the front row wrinkled their noses and stepped aside.
Seeing her arrive, He Minghu first lowered the horsewhip in his hand.
"The Imperial Envoy arrives just in time."
He pointed at the clay pot of vegetable soup, then at the surrounding crowd.
"The food in the army is a matter of life and death. It's perfectly reasonable for the brothers to ask a few questions."
"If this vegetable is harmless, Your Excellency can use evidence to calm people's hearts. If it is harmful, don't blame me for speaking up for the army."
Xu Qinghuan didn't look at the old medical book, nor did she pay attention to Ma Jin'an's outstretched hand.
She walked to the camp gate and stopped by the clay pot.
"Bring up the three men who complained of stomachaches last night."
Li Sheng had been holding back his anger for a long time. Hearing this, he turned and waved to the back.
"Bring them over!"
Soon, three soldiers were pushed to the front.
One was named Hou San, one was Tian Xiaowu, and the other was Pockmarked Feng, a squad leader under Zhao Kui.
The three men still had oil spots on their clothes, and their belts were tied crookedly. After being pushed in front of everyone, they all kept their heads down, rubbing their toes in the dirt.
Zhao Kui stood at the edge of the crowd. Just as he was about to speak, Xu Zhan took a step forward and blocked him.
Xu Qinghuan raised her hand.
"Elder Sun, diagnose them."
Old Sun squeezed in with his medicine box on his back. He first felt Hou San's pulse, then Tian Xiaowu's, and finally Pockmarked Feng's.
The more he diagnosed, the lower his brows pressed.
"It's not a poisoning pulse, nor is it cold evil entering the stomach."
Old Sun let go of Pockmarked Feng's wrist and turned to speak to the crowd.
"The pulse is slippery, indicating food stagnation in the stomach. Greasiness blocked the intestines and stomach, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea."
Someone in the crowd muttered.
"Food stagnation?"
"Didn't they say drinking the vegetable soup caused the bad stomach?"
Xu Qinghuan looked at Li Sheng.
"The leftovers."
Li Sheng put the wooden bucket on the ground and lifted the lid.
The smell rushed out at once. Overnight mutton fat, broken bones, rotten intestines, and blood foam were all mixed together. Thick oil hung on the bucket wall, hardening after cooling down. It was hard to even stick a wooden spoon in.
The soldiers in the front row covered their noses and backed away.
Old Sun took the wooden spoon and scooped the contents of the bucket into a copper basin.
With a splash, half a basin of leftovers fell. A thick layer of coagulated oil floated on the surface, and under the oil skin, a few pieces of unchewed offal rolled out. White fat wrapped the vegetable stalks, and the smell made people's stomachs turn sour.
Old Sun knocked the wooden spoon against the edge of the basin.
"According to the kitchen's register last night, there was half a pot of mutton fat and offal, which should have been thrown away."
Li Sheng slapped the kitchen's small booklet onto the wooden table.
"But this morning, only the bottom of the bucket is left. Who ate this half pot?"
Hou San's legs went soft, and he almost knelt down.
Pockmarked Feng gritted his teeth and didn't make a sound.
Tian Xiaowu looked up at Zhao Kui, then quickly lowered his head.
Xu Qinghuan finally spoke.
"Was it the vegetable soup that ruined your stomachs, or were you reincarnated starving ghosts?"
The words weren't heavy, but they made the voices at the camp gate pause for a moment.
Hou San couldn't hold on first and knelt down with a thud.
"Your Excellency, I was wrong."
"I was so hungry last night. Pockmarked Feng said it was a pity to throw away that pot of offal and told us to secretly heat it up and eat it."
"I didn't drink much vegetable soup, just two mouthfuls."
Tian Xiaowu also knelt.
"Me too. When it was my turn for the vegetable soup, I only drank half a bowl, and later shared the offal with them."
Sweat dripped down Pockmarked Feng's face, but he still wanted to hold on.
Li Sheng kicked him in the back of the knee.
"You're still pretending?"
Pockmarked Feng fell to the ground, his voice hoarse.
"This humble one... this humble one just craved meat."
The soldiers in front of the camp gate exploded.
"So it wasn't the vegetable soup?"
"You sneaked leftover grease, got a bad stomach, and then blamed the demon vegetables?"
"Who taught you to do such a wicked thing?"
Many people turned to look at Zhao Kui, then at He Minghu and Ma Jin'an.
Zhao Kui broke out in a sweat on his back and shouted, bracing himself.
"Stealing food is one thing, but this dried vegetable has no basis in ancient methods. The medical book clearly states that long-stored withered and decayed things should not be eaten in large quantities!"
Ma Jin'an also held up the old medical book.
"Imperial Envoy, let's put aside the matter of the three men's stomachaches for now. But there is no such thing in the ancient methods, so it's still improper to rashly promote it in the army."
Xu Qinghuan finally looked at the book.
"Do you only read half a page when you read a book?"
Ma Jin'an choked.
Xu Qinghuan reached out her hand.
"Bring the book."
Ma Jin'an hesitated for half a beat, but Xu Zhan had already reached out, taken the book, and handed it to Xu Qinghuan.
Xu Qinghuan flipped to the page with the paper bookmark, scanned the small characters on it, then flipped to the previous page and handed it to Old Sun.
"Elder Sun, you read it."
Old Sun took the medical book, looked at the preceding text first, then the following text, and his face twitched.
"The long-stored withered and decayed things mentioned here are moldy grain, rotten fruit, and stinky vegetables. Eating them by mistake ruins the stomach qi."
He looked up at Ma Jin'an.
"There's another sentence after that: If it is roasted dry and sealed away, without mold or rot, it can be used in soups."
At this, the cursing in the crowd could no longer be suppressed.
"Mr. Ma, why didn't you read the whole thing?"
"Scaring people with half a page of a book, do you take us for fools?"
Ma Jin'an's fingers stiffened.
He Minghu opened his mouth, wanting to make up for it.
"Medical principles are inherently complex..."
Xu Qinghuan didn't give him a chance to pull it back.
"If it's complex, then look at the people."
She turned and called roll.
"Wang Daniu, step forward."
From the back of the crowd, a one-armed man squeezed out.
He was the wounded soldier who had been moved to tears by the vegetable soup a few days ago. His face still had the pale pallor of illness, but his back was much straighter.
"Here!"
"Zhang Gou'er, Cook Liu."
Two night patrol scouts also came out of the ranks, one thin, the other with a bow slung over his shoulder. Both had just been given vegetable soup in the past few nights.
Xu Qinghuan then pointed at Han Qi.
"You come too."
The four men stood in front of the wooden table.
Xu Qinghuan looked at Old Sun.
"Report."
Old Sun opened the medical register and raised his voice.
"Li Tiezhu, five days ago his gums were red and swollen, bleeding upon pressing. He couldn't bite into millet cakes and needed help getting up at night.
"After three days of vegetable soup, his gums closed up. Yesterday at lunch, he bit half a cake with no bleeding seen."
Li Tiezhu immediately pulled out half a hard millet cake from his chest and took a big bite with a crunch.
He bit hard, crumbs falling on his chest. After chewing, he opened his mouth to show everyone.
"Where's the blood?"
"Who sees blood?"
A few wounded soldiers leaned in, and after looking, they shouted.
"There really isn't any!"
Old Sun continued reading.
"Han Qi, severe night blindness, hard to distinguish objects three steps away at night. After nightfall yesterday, he could walk from the tent door to the water bucket without hitting a pillar on the way. Today, his gum swelling receded by three parts."
Han Qi blushed.
"Last night I even found shoes for a tentmate. The shoes were kicked under the bed by him, and I reached in and took them out."
"Before, I couldn't even find my own feet at night."
Laughter broke out in the crowd.
This laughter wasn't mocking; it was relaxed, a joy that came out after being held back for several days.
Old Sun turned the page.
"Zhang Gou'er, night patrol scout, took vegetable soup for two days. Last night during the second watch, patrolling the west wall, he could clearly see the rope stakes at the base of the wall and didn't step into any pit traps by mistake."
Zhang Gou'er cupped his fists.
"The camp gate guards can testify to this. The night before last, I almost stepped on empty air. Last night I could see clearly and walked around it."
"Cook Liu, empty panting after marching, took vegetable soup for two days. Today he carried water three times, rested once, and did not vomit."
Cook Liu patted his chest.
"Before, you'd be panting and ready to collapse after just two trips. Today, you actually have the energy to curse at people."
Someone from the army cooks jeered.
"You've always had plenty of energy for cursing!"
The crowd at the camp gate burst into laughter again.
Amidst the laughter, Zhao Kui's face grew increasingly ugly, and Ma Jin'an could no longer use his book to intimidate people.
Xu Qinghuan raised her hand, and the voices gradually quieted down.
"Do you still want evidence?"
She looked at Li Sheng.
"The ledgers."
Li Sheng brought up a wooden box. After opening it, he took out three thick ledgers.
Xu Qinghuan didn't flip through them herself; instead, she had Li Sheng spread them out on the wooden table.
"The vegetables from Jiangning total three hundred and seventeen catties. Three hundred and fourteen and a half catties were put into storage, and two and a half catties were opened for trial use."
"For every single packet, the date it was opened, who collected it, who drank it, and how many mouthfuls they took, along with subsequent records of their gums, night vision, appetite, and any abdominal pain, are all recorded in the ledgers."
Li Sheng turned to the first page.
"The first packet, severe cases in the wounded soldiers' camp. Han Qi, Lame Feng, Zhao Erhe, Liu Laochai, and Sun Mancang. Three taels were used to make five bowls of soup."
He turned another page.
"The second packet, night patrol scouts. Zhang Gou'er, Cook Liu, and eight others. Two taels were used to make ten bowls of soup."
Old Sun took another ledger and supplemented the records.
"Han Qi, initially took half a bowl, no vomiting, no diarrhea; the next day took one bowl, ate more than half a bowl of porridge; the third day took one bowl, gum swelling reduced."
"Zhang Gou'er, initially took one bowl, no abdominal pain after night patrol; the next day took one bowl, appetite increased."
As the entries were read out one by one, no one in front of the wooden table interrupted.
These were not empty words, nor were they using official authority to suppress others.
These were weighed measurements, written names, and the actual changes experienced by the sick soldiers meal after meal.
It was at this moment that Tie Lanshan arrived.
Followed by two vice generals, his military boots stepped across the ground as the crowd parted to the sides.
Xu Qinghuan nodded to Old Sun.
Old Sun held the ledger with both hands and presented it to Tie Lanshan.
"Commander, please inspect."
Tie Lanshan took the ledger and started flipping from the first page.
The area in front of the camp gate fell silent, with only the sound of turning pages.
He did not flip quickly; he read every page and paused at every name.
Upon reaching the end, Tie Lanshan closed the ledger and looked up at He Minghu.
"The Daqian border army has been short of vegetables for half a year. In the wounded soldiers' camp, gums are bleeding and ulcerated, and soldiers cannot see the road clearly at night. The Imperial Envoy has brought these life-saving rations from thousands of miles away."
He took a step forward.
"He Minghu, why are you in such a hurry to ruin the reputation of these life-saving rations?"
When these words dropped, the camp gate was quiet for a moment before an uproar of voices erupted.
"That's right, what is Vice General He so anxious about?"
"The vegetable soup can save lives, yet he insists it harms the bloodline."
"He even got people to call them demon vegetables. The stomachaches last night were fake too!"
He Minghu's face turned livid.
"Commander, I was merely afraid that something might happen in the army."
Tie Lanshan slammed the ledger onto the wooden table.
"If you were afraid of something happening, you should have first investigated what the three soldiers with stomachaches ate, then checked the ration ledgers, and then asked the military doctors for their medical records."
"But instead, you brought people with half a page of an old book to block the camp gate, inciting the various camps to fight and cause trouble."
He turned his head and shouted an order.
"Zhao Kui!"
Zhao Kui was just about to retreat when two personal guards stepped forward and pinned his shoulders.
"Here!"
"You took the lead in spreading demonic rumors and disrupted the rations of the wounded soldiers' camp. Seize him and escort him to the military law room for interrogation."
Zhao Kui panicked.
"Commander! I am wronged! I merely heard the brothers saying..."
Tie Lanshan didn't listen to his shouting.
"Gag him."
The guards took a cloth, stuffed it into Zhao Kui's mouth, and dragged him out of the crowd.
Xu Zhan stood to the side, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword. No one dared to stop them.
Tie Lanshan then looked at the crowd again.
"From today on, the dehydrated vegetables from Jiangning are classified under the military supplies and medicinal rations ledger of the Commander-in-Chief's Office. They will be jointly recorded by the Imperial Envoy's office, the military medical camp, and the army cooks."
"The severe cases in the wounded soldiers' camp will use them first, and the night patrol scouts will collect them according to their shifts."
"Once the army cooks have figured out how to boil them in large pots, they will be distributed by camp."
"Anyone who dares to call them demon vegetables again, or dares to privately snatch or sell them, will be punished for disrupting military morale."
"Anyone who dares to tamper with the rations will be punished for stealing military provisions."
Several vice generals cupped their fists together.
"Orders received!"
The soldiers looked at each other, and finally, someone shouted.
"Give it to the wounded soldiers! Save our brothers first!"
"Yes, the severe cases drink first. Those on the city walls can wait!"
"I can't see clearly at night, but I can wait two days. Don't let the villains ruin the good stuff!"
Li Sheng stood by the clay pot, his shoulders that had been tense for half the day finally relaxing.
The army cooks distributed the vegetable soup again, and this time, no one refused it.
Even the soldier who had smashed his bowl earlier squatted down to pick up the pieces, his face so flushed with shame that he couldn't lift his head.
Li Tiezhu held half a bowl of soup and handed it to an old soldier next to him.
"Drink up, the green leaves save lives."
The old soldier took it, blew on it twice, and took a small sip. After a long while, he muttered softly.
"How are these demon vegetables."
"These are green life-saving rations."
