Exile at the start? The princess is no ordinary woman.

Since the game was hunted by the lady herself, Steward Li and the others naturally followed her orders. Moreover, what the lady said was absolutely right. After all, they were exiled prisoners and had to be mindful of the escorts' moods. It was better to maintain a harmonious relationship.

Gu Nanzhi, carrying the pheasant, walked up to Chen Qiang as if he hadn't seen anything and put the pheasant on the ground.

"My lord, thank you for your convenience today. This is a token of my gratitude."

Without pausing or waiting for Chen Qiang to speak, he turned and left. This action left the others, who had just been urging their leader to seize Lue Wu for himself, speechless.

After watching the woman leave without saying a word, Master Chen ordered someone to deal with the chicken. This woman was quite good at handling things; she gave him another fifty taels of silver and even brought back a chicken, which was quite different from the young ladies and wives of other families.

Gu Nanzhi returned to their spot and didn't see Steward Li or Cang Ling; the two had gone to prepare the food. Zhou Cai was in charge of starting a fire, but he couldn't get it going. He was about to get up to borrow a kindling from the guards.

"Zhou Cai, where are you going?"

"Madam, we don't have a tinderbox. I'll go find the guards to borrow a tinder."

"not necessary"

She had forgotten about that. She stopped Zhou Cai, then walked to the fire he had built, a lighter appearing in her hand.

Just as Zhou was getting curious, he saw the lady holding a small object in her hand. With a "pop," the small object emitted a flame.

Zhou Cai's eyes widened instantly. Had he seen that right? What was that thing the lady was using? How could it suddenly produce flames?

Slightly excited, he squatted down beside the lady, his eyes fixed on the thing she was using to light the firewood.

"Madam, what is this? I've never seen a tinderbox like this before."

Gu Nanzhi calmly used a lighter to ignite the dried-out twigs and leaves. "Oh, there are many things you haven't seen before. This is called a lighter. It's used in the same way as a tinderbox, just looking different."

It would be strange if you had seen it.

"Alright, the fire's lit. You're in charge of burning a lot of embers."

"Okay ma'am"

Zhou Cai was still very curious about the lighter that his wife mentioned, but it belonged to his wife, and as a subordinate, he could only look at it.

Gu Nanzhi got up, picked up the small basket, took out the spices she had gathered that she needed, and handed them to Xia He.

"Xiahe, go wash all of these; we'll need them for the barbecue later."

"Yes, miss, I'll go right away."

It wasn't completely dark yet, and the road was still clearly visible. Xia He, who had been assigned a task, happily headed to the riverbank.

Well, that's good. Everyone has something to do. As for Jun Yanchen sitting to the side, let's treat him specially since he's disabled.

Gu Nanzhi placed the small basket in front of him, revealing bright red cherries and strawberries, and then introduced them to him.

"These are wild fruits I picked. The small ones are called cherries, and the big ones are called strawberries. Try them, they're very sweet."

As she spoke, she had already picked it up and started eating, not forgetting to ask Zhou Cai, who was watching the fire, to come and get some for her.

"Zhou Cai, come here, have some wild fruit first."

"Yes, thank you, Madam."

Zhou Cai naturally obeyed his wife's summons. He walked over and saw the wild fruits in the basket, which looked very tempting, but he hesitated, unsure whether he should take them.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up!"

Gu Nanzhi noticed his stunned expression and understood perfectly. In this world, hierarchy was very important, so she simply took matters into her own hands, grabbing a handful of each and placing them in his palm.

"This is called a cherry, and this is called a strawberry. Here, have some and go check on the fire."

Zhou Cai couldn't quite relax in front of his master, but seeing that his master's eyes were fixed on his wife the whole time, he had no choice but to accept the things with both hands and return to the fire.

I couldn't wait to put a strawberry in my mouth. With a gentle bite, I found it to be so juicy and sweet.

Jun Yanchen watched Gu Nanzhi eat and found the food very tempting. He couldn't help but reach out, take one, and imitate her, putting it in his mouth.

It was indeed as sweet as she said.

"How is it? Sweet, right? Try some cherries, it's the season for them now." Seeing that he had eaten, and having nothing else to do, Gu Nanzhi took the initiative to start a conversation with him again.

Jun Yanchen looked into her eyes, then obediently took another cherry and put it in his mouth. It was still as sweet as a strawberry, but this one was a little smaller and had a pit inside.

"Mmm, it's very sweet."

Gu Nanzhi was satisfied with his evaluation. It had to be sweet. Now that there was a space with spiritual spring water inside, the plants that grew there would only be even tastier and had the perfect flavor.

Butler Li and his team worked quickly, and in no time they had packed everything and brought it back. Xia He also washed the spices and brought them back as well.

"Madam, everything is ready. Please tell me how you would like it done, and I will take care of it."

"No need, no need, I'll do it."

Although Gu Nanzhi wasn't particularly keen on cooking, she wasn't sure how good the others were at it, so she decided to cook for herself.

With few tools at her disposal, she pulled out a piece of oiled paper from her bundle, used for holding pastries, and then applied the spices, extracting their juices, to the paper. She also stuffed some pastries into the chicken's cavity, and did almost the same with the rabbit.

This allowed everyone to watch her take action;

After marinating, Gu Nanzhi was looking for something to skewer and grill, and immediately set her sights on Qian Laosi, who was not far away.

Okay, wait for me a moment.

After saying that, she walked towards Qian Laosi. Qian Laosi, who was already avoiding eye contact and only daring to secretly observe, noticed that she was heading towards him.

He instantly wanted to escape, but he couldn't lose face in front of so many people. He could only suppress his fear of the hidden weapon in the woman's hand, gambling that she wouldn't dare to make a move in front of everyone.

Still sitting there, somewhat fearful and uneasy.

Until Gu Nanzhi came up to him, saying, "Lord Qian, may I borrow your knife?"

The words sounded gentle, but to Qian Laosi they were chilling. However, this was a case of borrowing a knife; he was constantly fearful and dared not easily hand it over.

He quickly shielded his knife with both hands and stammered as he replied,

"No...no, what are you going to do with the knife?"

Seeing how timid the person was, Gu Nanzhi felt a surge of disgust. With such meager courage, yet daring to harbor thieving thoughts—she was speechless.

"Don't worry, it won't be used to kill anyone. It's just to cut a tree branch. Are you sure that's not convenient, Master Qian?"

Gu Nanzhi's tone remained calm, but to Qian Laosi, it carried a hint of threat. The image of the pheasant instantly collapsing flashed through his mind again.

For some inexplicable reason, his body trembled, and instinctively he dared not refuse, offering the knife with both hands.

No... I wouldn't dare.

That's more like it. Gu Nanzhi was satisfied now. She raised her hand, gripped the hilt, drew the knife, and started cutting the branches behind her.