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

The complete depletion of the mushroom and meat sauce plunged Xie Zhao and Lu Chengyuan into a deep "post-meal depression."

They began to miss their days in the capital, the braised dishes and stinky tofu at "Wenxianglai," and the various heavenly aromas wafting from Ye An'an's little kitchen.

"Your Highness," Xie Zhao said weakly, slumped on the horse's back, to Xiao Jingshi beside him, "Can we go any faster? I feel like I can't wait another day. I want to fly back to the capital right now and kneel at the door of the concubine's kitchen."

Xiao Jingshi glanced at him and said indifferently, "If you run back from here now, you should be able to get there half a day earlier than us."

Xie Zhao: "..."

He was just saying it.

However, despite their complaints, everyone still harbored one last hope.

That is, in Ye An'an's "love baggage", the last and most top-notch "trump card" - crab roe sauce.

Everyone knows that the real treasure is that jar of golden sauce.

Previously, Xiao Jingshi had only opened it once at the very beginning, to give to a few of the sickest disaster victims, mixing it into their porridge to supplement their nutrition.

The exquisite aroma made everyone present drool.

Now, the beef jerky is gone, the mushroom meat sauce is gone, and everyone's hopes are pinned on that jar of crab roe sauce.

Xie Zhao and Lu Chengyuan even engaged in a fierce rivalry over this jar of sauce for several days.

Xie Zhao tried to bribe Changting with a treasured fan from the previous dynasty, hoping he would secretly get a small taste for him.

Lu Chengyuan, however, took a different approach. Knowing that Xiao Jingshi was recently studying water conservancy maps of Jiangnan, he volunteered to help him organize various complicated data. He stayed up several nights in a row, hoping to get a reward from His Highness the Crown Prince when he was in a good mood.

However, Xiao Jingshi seemed to have forgotten about the jar of sauce, remaining unmoved no matter how much they hinted or explicitly suggested it.

That night, the team set up camp by a scenic lake.

Dinner consisted of fresh fish caught by the soldiers from the lake, which were cooked into a large pot of fish soup and eaten with dry rations.

The fish soup was fresh, but it didn't have much flavor.

Everyone drank rather blandly.

Xie Zhao finally couldn't hold back any longer. He held up a bowl of fish soup and approached Xiao Jingshi, saying pitifully, "Your Highness, if you could add a small spoonful of crab roe sauce to this fish soup, the taste... tsk tsk, it would definitely be so delicious it would make your eyebrows fall off."

Lu Chengyuan was also standing to the side, nodding frantically in agreement.

Xiao Jingshi looked at their hungry expressions, then glanced at the thin, watery fish soup in his own bowl, and remained silent for a moment.

He felt it was time to let these mortals witness true "top-class delicacies".

This is also a way to... reward everyone for their hard work over the past few months.

He nodded slightly towards the pavilion.

Changting immediately adopted a solemn expression. He turned around and took out the best-preserved pottery jar from a locked box at the innermost part of the carriage.

When the earthenware jar containing crab roe sauce was placed in front of everyone, everyone instinctively held their breath.

Changting carefully unsealed the seal.

An aroma that was more "high-end," purer, and more dominant than mushroom meat sauce exploded in the camp!

It was an ultimate freshness, a concentrated essence of countless crabs, imbued with the scent of the sea.

Just smelling this aroma makes your tongue feel like it's drooling uncontrollably.

"Oh my god..." Xie Zhao stared wide-eyed at the golden, glistening sauce in the jar, his mouth watering uncontrollably.

Xiao Jingshi was very satisfied with their naive and unsophisticated reaction.

He picked up his bowl and asked Changting to scoop a large spoonful of crab roe sauce for him.

The golden sauce, poured over the snow-white fish soup, melted instantly, turning the entire bowl of soup into an enticing golden hue.

Xiao Jingshi picked up the spoon and took a sip of soup.

The next second, an indescribable look of amazement flashed in his cool eyes.

fresh!

So fresh it's domineering! So fresh it's unreasonable!

The natural umami flavor of the fish soup was amplified tenfold, even a hundredfold, by the addition of crab roe sauce! The rich umami taste seemed to create a tidal wave on his tongue, making every cell in his body scream "Delicious!"

He slowly finished the "upgraded" fish soup, and then asked Changting to serve him a bowl of white rice, on which he poured another spoonful of crab roe sauce.

The golden crab oil seeped into every grain of rice. He took a bite and squinted his eyes in satisfaction.

Xie Zhao and Lu Chengyuan watched from the side, almost drooling with envy.

They held their bowls, staring longingly at Xiao Jingshi, their eyes like those of two little dogs abandoned by their owner in the rain.

After Xiao Jingshi finished his meal with satisfaction, he finally looked up at his two friends who were now frozen in place.

Then, in front of them, he picked up the lid of the earthenware pot and slowly put it back on.

"Your Highness?" Xie Zhao's voice trembled.

"What about us... what about ours?" Lu Chengyuan asked in a trembling voice.

Xiao Jingshi elegantly wiped the corner of his mouth with a napkin, and then, in a calm and even tone, uttered a sentence that utterly broke their hearts.

"This one," he pointed to the earthenware pot, "is mine."

"You don't."

Having said that, he ignored the two people who had turned into statues and instructed Changting, "Keep it safe. Don't spill a single drop."

Changting suppressed a laugh, hugged the precious pottery jar, and retreated.

Only Xie Zhao and Lu Chengyuan remained in the camp, disheveled in the evening breeze.

They finally understood that His Highness the Crown Prince was not only cunning, but also... very stingy.

Especially when faced with the delicious food prepared by the concubine.