knife

Chapter 403 Rhetoric
By the stream, Li Dachui carefully arranged the selected stones one by one, and smeared the wet mud he had scooped from the river into the gaps. Slowly, a small stove was completed, looking quite presentable.

The neatly trimmed branches were placed into the stove, lit, and the small stove began to be heated.

He heard the sound of wind in his ear, and when Li Dachui looked up, he saw Jiang Ping flying towards him.

With two thuds, two pheasants were tossed in front of Li Dachui. Jiang Ping, pouting, looked at Li Dachui and said, "You actually expect me to do hunting? I'm a princess!"

Li Dachui snorted: "You're the one who wanted to roam the world with me. If you can't endure the hardship and fatigue, then let's part ways as soon as possible. I'll send you to the nearest government office. You just need to give them your name, and you'll be waited on hand and foot."

"Alright, alright!" Jiang Ping wilted as soon as she heard Li Dachui tell her to leave. "It's just work, I've already done it, haven't I?"

"It's not over yet!" Li Dachui pointed at the pheasant. "We still have to pluck the feathers, gut it, and wash it clean. How are we supposed to eat this fluffy, bloody, and prickly thing?"

"I can't!" Jiang Ping looked at Li Dachui pitifully.

"Since we're going to make our way in the world, we naturally have to learn everything!" Li Dachui laughed. "Let's start learning today. Otherwise, I'll do these chores, and you can set up the stove and cook something for us to eat."

"Then I'll go pluck the feathers, that looks easier!" Jiang Ping dejectedly carried the two pheasants to the stream.

When he returned to Li Dachui's side with two cleaned and gutted pheasants, the small stove had already dried, with a very thin bluestone slab placed on it and a fire burning fiercely underneath.

"How do we do it?" Jiang Ping asked Li Dachui.

He opened his bag and took out several small bottles. He dripped a few drops of oil onto the bluestone slab, and immediately, billowing white smoke rose from them.

Li Dachui picked up a pheasant, flicked his wrist, and a sharp dagger flashed in the air. In a moment, it was placed on several large leaves next to him, and then neatly filled with slices of meat and bones.

"Excellent swordsmanship!" Jiang Ping clapped repeatedly.

Thinking of Li Dachui's barbecue skills on the ship, I couldn't help but swallow.

"Do you usually carry this much stuff with you?" Jiang Ping asked curiously, pointing to the bottles and jars.

Li Dachui shook his head.

"No, it's just that you insisted on coming with me, so I bought these in the town ahead." Li Dachui laughed. "When I went out to buy them, you were still fast asleep! Hey, look carefully, I'll do it these two days, and from now on, we'll take turns."

"I want to learn too?"

"Why not learn?" Li Dachui laughed. "Wandering the martial world, when you can live well without relying on your cousin, that's when you'll be a true heroine!"

"I was just curious about the martial world, and you're a good person with high martial arts skills, so I followed you for a while. After experiencing the martial world, that's it. Do you really think I'm going to wander the martial world?" Jiang Ping chuckled. "My sister said that the so-called martial world can only become a tool in the hands of people like us. When we need to use it, it must be effective. When we don't need it, it must learn to tuck its tail between its legs, retract its claws, and behave itself."

Li Dachui nodded with a smile: "Just like your cousin said."

"As if you know my cousin very well!" Jiang Ping sneered.

“I don’t really know her, but you do, why don’t you tell me about her?” Li Dachui said.

"I can explain it to you, but you can't make me work anymore!"

"Then you should get back to work!"

"Alright, alright, I've never seen a grown man so stingy!" Jiang Ping said discontentedly.

“I’m not Han Zheng, you know. Han Zheng would spoil you, but I won’t,” Li Dachui said. “At most, I’m your bodyguard or perhaps your partner. So, we can share the good times and the bad. Here, have a taste. You hunted this pheasant, so you deserve the first bite!”

Jiang Ping blew on the grilled chicken skewer, took a bite, and rolled it in her mouth, savoring the wonderful taste on her tongue. "It's even better than the grilled chicken on the ship!"

"Of course!" Li Dachui picked up the firewood on the ground. "See? This is pine resin that I specially went to the forest to find."

Jiang Ping said, "He who eats another's food is bound to do his bidding. He who takes another's gift is bound to do his bidding. Since I've eaten such delicious food from you, go ahead and ask. What do you want to know about my sister? But Li Bao, there are some things about the palace that I'm afraid you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Don't be angry if I told you. Even though you eat quite well, the chefs in the palace are truly meticulous in their cooking. They can make even an ordinary eggplant taste like something you can't even imagine."

"Understood!" Li Dachui smiled and said, "Your martial arts skills are really not that great. How about your cousin's?"

"I don't know!" Jiang Ping used a skewer to poke at the slices of meat on the bluestone slab and ate them.

"If you don't want to talk, then don't talk. What do you mean you don't know?"

"I really don't know!" Jiang Ping said seriously, "When I first met my cousin, she was already the Empress. I only knew that she practiced martial arts, but I never saw her fight, and I didn't dare to ask her!"

"That makes sense!" Li Dachui laughed. "So what does she like to eat? What does she like to do? What color clothes does she like?" "Why are you asking that?"

"Just curious!" Li Dachui laughed. "The highest-ranking official I've ever met was Xiao Changche, the General of the Cavalry from beyond the Great Wall. And that was just a glimpse from afar. Your sister is the Empress! If I knew all this, I could brag about it for the rest of my life when I go back!"

"Really?" Jiang Ping stared at Li Dachui with some suspicion.

"if not?"

“That’s true!” Jiang Ping said, “It seems that my sister doesn’t have any particular favorite foods. As far as I know, she eats whatever the imperial chefs make and never makes any requests. She doesn’t care much for food, unlike me. What does she like to do? Besides reviewing memorials, she talks with ministers. As for clothes, apart from formal robes, she seems to only like wearing blue clothes.”

"Now that you mention it, your sister seems pretty boring!" Li Dachui was gnawing on a piece of chicken breast, making a crunching sound as he chewed. Jiang Ping stared wide-eyed as she watched him chew even the bones and swallow them.

"Li Bao, let me tell you a little secret, my sister has someone she admires the most!" Jiang Ping suddenly remembered something and said to Li Dachui as if she were showing off a treasure.

Who does she admire most?

“She’s also a woman, named He Qingqiu!” Jiang Ping said. “Do you know who He Qingqiu is?”

Li Dachui's heart skipped a beat, and he laughed, "The person your sister admires must also be an extraordinary person. How could a mere warrior from beyond the Great Wall like me possibly know who that person is?"

"I asked Lin Yunqi privately, oh, Lin Yunqi, you don't know who he is either. This guy is my sister's lackey, and he's very good to me, but when I asked him who this He Qingqiu is, he refused to say even after I plucked a few of his beard hairs!" Jiang Ping said sullenly.

Li Dachui handed Jiang Ping a chicken leg and said, "When I was outside the Great Wall, I heard that your Chu Kingdom was heavily infiltrated by the Demonic Cult, and that your central court was also filled with many members of the Demonic Cult. Did you know about this?"

Jiang Ping's eyes flickered, and she chuckled, "That's you Qin people slandering us. But the Demonic Sect isn't as bad as you think; there are many good people among them."

"how do you know?"

"Why wouldn't I know?" Jiang Ping said, "I've met many people from the Demonic Sect. Some are prisoners, some are honored guests, some are despicable, and some are kind!"

"So, does this mean your imperial court is really colluding with the Demonic Sect?"

"Don't put it so harshly!" Jiang Ping said discontentedly, "It's a cooperation. Sister said that the history of the Demonic Sect is as long as that of the Chu Kingdom, and it has a profound foundation. If we can get them to serve the Great Chu wholeheartedly, then what is the mere Qin Kingdom? It's just that there are many stubborn old men in the Demonic Sect who cling to the old ways and are always going against Sister. Sooner or later, Sister will kill all these people."

"The headquarters of the Demonic Sect is in your Chu Kingdom!" Li Dachui said.

“Yes, it’s right there in Cloud Mist Mountain!” Jiang Ping said dismissively. “It’s not that we don’t know, but my sister said that in order to win over those in the Demonic Sect who are willing to submit to the imperial court, it’s not appropriate to raid their headquarters. It’s a way of giving these people face.”

"Jiang Ping, can you take me to see Cloud Mist Mountain?" Li Dachui asked.

"What are we going there for?" Jiang Ping asked. "There's nothing fun about it."

"Just curious! Besides, the Demonic Sect's headquarters must have a lot of experts!" Li Dachui patted the sword at his waist: "They're definitely more powerful than those from the Five Tigers Breaking the Gate Swords!"

"You want to take on their headquarters single-handedly? You're just a mere ninth-grade Xuan Yuan cultivator, are you courting death?"

"Where are there still innate beings?"

"Of course!"

"So I'm taking you with me to back me up!" Li Dachui laughed. "You're the Empress Dowager's sister. Out of respect for you, they won't bother using innate experts to deal with me. As long as they're all at the ninth rank of the Profound Origin Realm, I'm not afraid of them."

"I have a feeling you're using me? Is it really just to hone your martial arts skills?"

"What else do you think I can do?"

"That's true! We'll see!" Jiang Ping nodded. "That depends on how you treat me along the way. Otherwise, I won't take you. Li Bao, I want to eat fish!"

“Alright, Princess, I’ll go catch some fish for you right now!” Li Dachui said with a smile.

Watching Li Dachui tear off a long grass vine, then throw one end of the vine into a deep pool, a moment later, the vine suddenly burrowed into the bottom of the water, and then broke out of the water again. In the head of the vine, there was a large fish more than a foot long tied up, which was dragged to Li Dachui's front by him, shaking its head and wagging its tail.

"Oh my, so this is what you can do with martial arts skills!" Jiang Ping exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly, her eyes full of envy. "I also want to study martial arts diligently and strive to be like you soon!"

"Then you'll have plenty of practice to do!"

(End of this chapter)