Mrs. Li sneered, "Pei Shu’er hates you now. How could she possibly treat you? With how we’ve treated them, even if she doesn’t treat you, no one could say a bad word about it." Tang Peilin’s face was deathly pale, "What should I do?" He was so afraid of bleeding to death. Mrs. Li smirked, her eyes full of gloom and hatred. "Don’t be afraid, I heard you can cauterize the wound with a torch to stop the bleeding." Tang Peilin had heard of it too, but that method was incredibly painful. Yet, the fear of death overpowered all his fears. Then, throughout the entire group of exiles, all that could be heard was Tang Peilin’s pig-like screams of agony. Mrs. Li only felt satisfaction. Now that Tang Peilin was crippled and limping, it was the perfect time for him to suffer. She still had to avenge her Qinghua! After watching the big house’s disgrace for a while, the other men turned to thank Pei Shu’er. They knew their women had not been humiliated, which increased their gratitude towards Pei Shu’er and Tang Zan. They didn’t have anything particularly precious to offer, so they improvised gifts for Pei Shu’er. But in their hearts, the gratitude towards Pei Shu’er was sincere. Pei Shu’er tried to refuse several times, but when she found she couldn’t, she accepted. Some even walked up to Tang Zan and placed some food in his hands. Tang Zan looked at the somewhat shriveled vegetable bun in his hand, a bit stunned. Receiving things was all too normal for him as a princely heir. Within those gifts, there were varying degrees of sincerity and insincerity, with most offerings aiming to curry his favor. He wouldn’t even glance at more precious items. But for him now, this vegetable bun represented true gratitude, with no need to analyze it layer by layer. He looked up at the woman who offered him the bun and saw her dry, frizzy hair and cracked, peeling cheeks. But her smile was pure and sincere. "Thank you, thank you for saving my daughter and daughter-in-law." Tang Zan silently kept the items. Several others, who didn’t dare to approach before, sighed in relief and hastily came to thank Tang Zan with their gifts. There were herbs, vegetable buns—worthless outside but lifesaving here. A soft spot was touched in Tang Zan’s hardened heart. He looked towards Pei Shu’er standing nearby. If it weren’t for her, he probably would just have saved those from the third branch, ignoring the others. Therefore, he wouldn’t have such gains. He tightened his grip on the vegetable bun and nodded toward the people in front of him. They relaxed their smiles, but the awe and fear in their eyes remained. Because the camp had a dining hall, and the black bread and vegetable buns prepared by the government officers were just about finished, Lu Qing approached Pei Shu’er. "Why don’t you make some food for everyone? For tonight’s dinner and the meals to be distributed to the exiles in the future." After traveling and living together for so long, Lu Qing had stopped seeing Pei Shu’er as an ordinary exile. This girl was smart and had repeatedly helped the exile group out of danger. Moreover, compared to those whose hunger had reduced them to mere animals, Pei Shu’er was kinder and more rational. Though asking Pei Shu’er to cook was one thing, there also had to be government officers supervising. Conveniently, Pei Shu’er also needed to prepare some food. Preparing food now and storing it away would allow her to take it out later without arousing suspicion. It would be identical to what the officers distributed to the exiles. Just as Pei Shu’er was about to agree, a thin man beamed and hurriedly pulled a woman along to Lu Qing. "Lord Officer, my mother was once a cook in the Prince Mansion. Her cooking is delicious enough to be praised by the Prince himself; I helped in the kitchen too." Pei Shu’er knew this man, called Li Fugui, usually unassuming; it was surprising to see him step forward now. Mrs. Li also chimed in, her demeanor brimming with concealed pride. "What I cook has even been praised by the Emperor." Lu Qing glanced at Li Fugui and Mrs. Li, then shook his head, "Pei Shu’er will do." Pei Shu’er was pleased with Lu Qing’s trust; she didn’t appreciate this kind of interference midway. Li Fugui returned somewhat sheepishly to his place. But in his heart, he held a grudge against Pei Shu’er. Blaming his low status, he didn’t have much Silver Coin, otherwise, he could have tipped the Lord Officer and fostered a good relationship. If so, perhaps the one cooking in the kitchen would be him. Eating without being caught, maybe even stashing away some food. He didn’t believe Pei Shu’er had no such thoughts. He and his mother had been hungry throughout the journey, while Pei Shu’er’s family ate so well, yet they wouldn’t even relent with this opportunity. It was cutting off his and his mother’s survival! Absolutely malicious. Lu Qing produced some fine flour; it was found that when the officers searched the mountain camp, they discovered a place in the Second Master’s room where grain was stored. It was his personal stash. Lu Qing and his people had now restocked their supplies. So they brought the food to Pei Shu’er and said, "Make it with fine flour." Pei Shu’er naturally wasn’t polite; she couldn’t stomach black bread. Before making bread, Pei Shu’er walked over to the officer supervising her with a smile. "Lord Officer, I’ll just retrieve my hidden package." Only then did everyone realize what had been off about Pei Shu’er earlier. Now she was back in her original attire, but without the large package on her back—they had thought she lost it. It turned out she had merely hidden it. Then Pei Shu’er dashed out of the mountain camp, seemingly looking for something. When the officers were about to go check, she emerged carrying her large package, along with a big bag of flour and a big bag of rice. In truth, these were items Pei Shu’er took from her hidden space. She needed to justify her package in daylight; otherwise, she couldn’t take anything out later. With a cheerful expression, she carried the huge bundle into the kitchen. She poured all the flour given by the officers. Pei Shu’er kneaded and rested the dough thoroughly. Once ready, she placed it in a pot, having Yinxing watch the heat. She then took more than ten pounds of flour, starting to knead again, but as she poured the flour, she secretly added more from her hidden space to the white flour bag. Now, she began making dumplings. The officers saw but didn’t comment. Luckily, there were enough steamers in the camp, so Pei Shu’er made a large batch, filling them up. She made enough for both the officers and her people, essentially bribing the officers. The filling was made from pork and pickled cabbage from the bandit’s dining hall. The pork was minced finely, with some green onions added, and she made both pork with pickled cabbage filling and pork with cabbage filling. She also made separate pickled vegetable and cabbage fillings. Granny Zhang was on the side wiping her mouth several times while the seasoning was being mixed. Liu Xu and Tang Qingning were swallowing their saliva. Once the buns were ready, their aroma filled the entire kitchen. Even the officers supervising in the kitchen heard their stomachs growling in hunger.