I started as a concubine, and I made the crown prince cry with my delicious food.

The depletion of beef jerky cast a faint shadow of sadness over the eager-to-return team.

For the next two days, the atmosphere was particularly heavy at mealtimes.

Without the delicious dried meat to look forward to, the white rice cooked in the army pot and the coarse dry rations seemed even more unpalatable.

Xie Zhao was completely listless, like an eggplant that had been hit by frost. He listlessly picked at the white rice in his bowl, feeling as if his mouth was so bland it could taste nothing at all.

"I can't take it anymore!" He slammed the bowl down on the ground, ran to Xiao Jingshi who was resting with his eyes closed, and knelt down with a thud, hugging his leg.

"Your Highness! My dear Your Highness! Please have mercy and save all living beings!" he cried, his acting exaggerated. "We accept that the beef jerky is gone. But... but there's still that mushroom and meat sauce, isn't there? Please give us just one more spoonful! Just one spoonful! Otherwise, I'll really starve to death on this journey back to the capital!"

His outburst drew eager glances from the surrounding soldiers.

Clearly, everyone has endless nostalgia for that jar of bibimbap sauce that could turn the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Although Lu Chengyuan didn't embarrass himself as much as Xie Zhao, he still silently stood next to Xiao Jingshi, and his pleading eyes said it all.

Xiao Jingshi was both amused and exasperated by Xie Zhao's shameless behavior.

He opened his eyes, looked at the lovable little devil clinging to his leg at his feet, and then at his subordinates around him, who looked pale and full of expectation. He felt a little sorry for them.

He knew that Ye An'an made these things so that everyone could eat better on the road. Now that the mission was accomplished, it wouldn't hurt to make everyone happy on their way home.

He nodded helplessly at the pavilion.

Changting immediately gave an "I understand" look, turned around, and solemnly took out the earthenware jar containing the mushroom and meat sauce from the carriage again.

"Oh ho! The Queen's sauce!"

"We're saved! We're saved!"

A burst of barely suppressed cheers erupted from the crowd.

Xie Zhao immediately jumped up from the ground, rubbing his hands together, and followed behind Changting, looking just like a puppy waiting to be fed.

Changting placed the pottery jar on a makeshift table and, under the expectant gazes of everyone, slowly peeled off the oil paper seal.

"boom--"

That familiar, rich, and domineering aroma of soy sauce burst forth instantly.

Everyone who smelled this aroma couldn't help but take a deep breath, their faces showing an expression of fascination.

This is the taste! The taste I've been longing for!

"Quick, quick! Give me a big spoonful!" Xie Zhao was the first to hand over his rice bowl, his eyes gleaming with greed.

Changting picked up a long-handled iron spoon and dipped it into the earthenware jar.

He stirred it, and then the expression on his face suddenly became somewhat strange.

"What's wrong?" Xie Zhao asked anxiously when he saw that he hadn't moved for a while.

Changting took out the spoon, and everyone crowded around to look.

The spoon was completely empty.

Changting tilted the pottery jar again, so that everyone could see what was inside.

The jar is almost empty.

After these months of "squandering," the entire jar of mushroom and meat sauce only had a thin layer left on the bottom and sides of the jar.

Changting used a spoon to scrape the inside of the jar vigorously for a long time.

Finally, a full spoonful was scraped out.

This is the last spoonful in this jar of sauce.

The air froze instantly.

The crowd, who had just been cheering, now had expressions that plummeted from ecstasy to despair.

Xie Zhao looked at the last spoonful of sauce and felt his heart stop beating.

His lips trembled, and after a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Is...is this all that's left?"

That sound was filled with endless sorrow and despair.

It's like a beggar who has walked for three days and three nights in the desert and finally sees an oasis, only to find that it's just a mirage when he gets there.

Lu Chengyuan was also stunned. He held his forehead and let out a long sigh, as if the whole world had lost its color.

Seeing their expressions of utter despair, Xiao Jingshi's mischievous side resurfaced.

He stepped forward and took the spoon containing the last spoonful of meat sauce from Changting's hand.

Under everyone's tense gaze, he slowly divided the sauce in the spoon into three portions.

He poured one portion into his own bowl.

One portion was poured into Lu Chengyuan's bowl.

The last portion was poured into Xie Zhao's bowl.

Each portion is only about the size of a fingernail.

"Alright, eat up," he said casually.

Xie Zhao looked at the precious little bit of sauce in her bowl, and tears almost welled up in her eyes.

He didn't eat it right away. Instead, he carefully and evenly spread the sauce on every grain of rice, making sure that he could taste the wonderful flavor with every bite.

Then, as if handling some rare treasure, he carefully shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth.

When that familiar salty aroma filled his mouth, he squinted his eyes in bliss.

"Delicious...so delicious..." he mumbled incoherently. "I declare this the most delicious bowl of rice I've ever eaten in my life!"

Lu Chengyuan was similar; he ate extremely politely, but his slightly trembling lips and his surprisingly bright eyes betrayed his inner excitement.

The three of them, with just a little bit of sauce, ate a large bowl of white rice clean, even licking the bottom of the bowl three times.

After finishing their meal, the three of them held their empty bowls, looked at each other, and then simultaneously let out a long, sorrowful sigh.

"well……"

"What are we going to do now..." Xie Zhao said with a look of utter despair. "Without the Empress's sauce, how are we supposed to eat this meal!"

"Once we get back to Beijing, even if we have to beg, we'll kneel down and beg her to make us a huge vat of it!" Lu Chengyuan said fiercely.

Xiao Jingshi listened to their words without saying a word.

He thought to himself: Dream on.

When we get back to Beijing, all the delicious food that An'an makes will be for me alone.

You can't even get a whiff of it.