Ch37.1 - The Thieves Who Were Tortured (Part One)

After Lily entered the castle to work, she found that the lofty castle was different from her imagination.

First of all, it wasn’t as warm as the serfs had described. Because the castle was entirely made of stone, it felt cold and wet inside. Even though many tapestries were hung everywhere, this problem still couldn’t be remedied. When the cook had taken her to her residence, she saw a craftsman repairing places that had leakage. The Lord’s room was more comfortable because of the abundant firewood in his fireplace.

Second, this place was not as cruel as everyone described. Compared with the slaves’ lives previously, the slaves Lily saw were much happier. It was obviously because of the Lord Baron.

“Are they making… farm tools?” Lily could recognize some of the tools, and she was surprised that this work was done by slaves. 

“Yes, the Lord told them to learn how to make farm tools from craftsmen, so that we can have more tools after spring,” the cook said, as if it was of no importance.

Anyone who had been bombarded by the Lord Baron’s pleasant surprises for such a long time would learn to be calm when faced with more surprises.

How incredible. They made a turn around the corner and encountered a group of people sitting in the hall with a fire in the middle. They were all sitting there to keep warm. At first glance, they could see craftsmen, servants, and slaves amidst the group.

Lily didn’t know who the slaves were until she saw Michael’s daughter, her friend Elle. Elle and a few other daughters of the slaves were huddled together, knitting with wool fabric. There were even some smiles hanging on their faces.

Lily didn’t know whether this sight was an illusion. She felt that Elle’s smile right now seemed bigger than the smiles she had previously made. Because Elle wasn’t strong enough to do too much work for her family, she could only drink some soup every meal during the previous winters.

As soon as the cook passed by them, the servants asked, “Will we be able to eat some stewed carrots today?”

The cook calmly said, “Yes.”

Everyone cheered. Although meat wasn’t available every day, the hot vegetable soup was also a rare delicacy in winter. Since the harvest festival banquet, carrots seemed to be tied with mutton in terms of appeal in their minds. Many people later agreed that mutton should be stewed with carrots. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Olis rjk Siif jwbcu atf qfbqif ktb kfgf mtffglcu. Vtf rjlv kfjxis, “Jjggbar… jgf rbwfatlcu rijnfr mjc jirb fja?”

“Ktfs mjc tjnf mjggba rbeq jcv bmmjrlbcjiis j yla bo mjggba, yea atfs ufa wbgf atjc fcbeut bja wert jcv qfj wert bc j vjlis yjrlr,” gfqilfv atf mbbx. Ktlr kjr jirb j gfkjgv ogbw atf Obgv, ab fcmbegjuf atf rijnfr ab qea lc jii atflg foobga ab wjceojmaegf abbir jcv kfjnf mibatfr veglcu klcafg. Ktf rafkjgvr mbeiv bcis jmmfqa atf Obgv vblcu atlr yfmjerf atfs tjv j ybecaloei tjgnfra bo ktfja atlr sfjg. Po atf rafkjgvr mbeivc’a wjcjuf atfrf qfbqif yfaafg atjc atf Obgv, atfs mbeiv bcis jmmfqa atf Obgv’r mbwwjcvr.

To be honest, after the slaves learned the craftsmanship, they began to move rather agilely.

Lily: “……” 

How unbelievable. Although her family members were all freemen, she never had enough to eat during winter. No wonder Elle had a smile on her face. Although beans mush and coarse oats mush were inferior food, those were better than nothing.

It was at this time that Elle also spotted Lily. She let out a cry of surprise but didn’t dare approach Lily. She merely stared at her.

Lily also gazed at her for a while, before she was subsequently taken to the residence by the cook. Naturally, many people slept in one place, just like how it was in Lily’s home.

When Elle later came to find Lily, they told each other about their own experiences. 

Lily learned that after Uncle Michael’s family had become slaves, the men went to learn craftsmanship, while the women did knitting. They didn’t suffer many beatings. Instead, because Uncle Michael worked very hard in order to atone, he was rewarded twice. He once even brought back some crispy fried pork lard for the girls to eat.

Here, Elle expended a lot of her saliva to describe its taste. Lily became hungry from listening to her.

Truthfully speaking, although they had lost their share of land, they seemed to be living more comfortably than before. Back when they owned a share of land, they had to worry about the harvest. Here, they only had to pay attention to pleasing the Lord.

“Lily, you came at the right time. Lent will be over soon, so the Lords and stewards will eat meat. And…” Elle gulped. “The ham that the cook pickled seems ready to be eaten.” 

Lily was at a loss. What was ham?

.

Soon, Lily discovered what ham was. She worked for the cook in the kitchen, peeling garlic, picking up vegetables, sifting wheat, and so on. She was very busy, so she didn’t need to cook, but she didn’t have any energy to spare after work. However, she could always eat her fill, even though the food given to her was only vegetable soup.

She had to say, these vegetables were really sweet. And these huge fruits and vegetables seemed to be from the Lord’s garden. 

…Her thoughts had steered away from the main topic. Going back to the topic of the ham which was the big pig trotters being hung in the kitchen, as long as one was in the kitchen, one could smell their salty aroma. She could drink a large bowl of water merely by smelling it.

At the end of the Lenten season, the Lord came to the kitchen in person. Naturally, with his cat.

Lily’s initial misunderstanding of him had long since been resolved. The Lord hadn’t gone out of his way to look for her for sexual comfort. There were also plumper women in the castle, so the Lord couldn’t be interested in her.

But Lily was still very grateful to the Lord, and in extreme embarrassment, she thought about how she and the Lord shared a secret. Both of them were fascinated by the cats that the others had dubbed evil creatures. 

Cui Qichao also saw Lily. He handed XiaoBai to the child, as if to tell her they still shared the same secret.

Hiding her joy, Lily hugged XiaoBai tightly, but when XiaoBai sniffed and caught the smell of garlic on her hand, it jumped down from her hand immediately.

In other people’s eyes, this was a good thing for Lily. Peeling garlic really was effective in warding off evilness. She was now despised by the black cat.

The Lord himself came to instruct the cook on how to prepare the ham and the sausages. He asked the cook to take down one ham and a few strings of sausages. “Do you have any dried mushrooms? Take them out.” 

The cook found a pile of dried mushrooms tightly sealed in a jar.

Cui Qichao then asked the cook to cut all the mushrooms and slice the ham into small pieces. He wanted the cook to soak the ham, because it might taste too salty after being marinated.

The cook said in a panic, “So what’s the salt water for?”

“…Forget it, don’t soak it,” Cui Qichao said. “Leave it there.” These people probably liked salty food. In any case, he would put the ham into his vegetable soup to soak later. 

The dried mushrooms and carrots were first fried with oil. The cook had practiced for a long time before she could skilfully fry food. Then she added some onion and garlic and stir-fried them with the ham.

The aroma of the raw ingredients was completely released under this strange cooking method. The olive oil was sizzling in the pot, and Lily could even smell the scent of fried carrots. Everyone knew the delicious taste of stewed carrots, but fried carrots unexpectedly tasted different. Although Lily hadn’t tasted any of the ingredients in the dish, that didn’t obstruct her from imagining the tenderness, freshness, and saltiness of the sliced ham and the soft fragrance of carrots…

At this moment, that scene in her imagination that made Lily salivate appeared. The cook poked a small piece of mushroom from the spatula and put it into her mouth to taste.

The cook could actually taste the food sent to the Lord, right in front of the Lord! Obviously, the Lord allowed her to do so. Lily envied her so much! 

Then there were the sausages. Some were stir-fried with the vegetables, while the rest were put on top of bread, thus making a sausage on bread dish! Lily never thought that meat could be put on bread. Did such a way of eating exist in this world? The smell was too tempting. The sausage slices weren’t charred at all.

And this sausage was different from the sausages Lily usually saw. After slicing, one could see white pigment inside which appeared to be pork fat. It was also smaller and bouncier than ordinary pork fat.

When it was time to eat, they brought the food to the long table in the hall. Except the Lord, everyone was salivating. Lily knew that when the stewards saw these delicious foods for the first time, even their expressions weren’t much different from that of the slaves’.

Upon Cui Qichao’s command, they almost scrambled to eat the sausage on bread. 

The bread was still the same bread, but because the flour used to make them was finely sieved, there weren’t any other foreign substances in it. It was still hard to chew, but it was different when there were sausage slices on top. During the baking process, some oil dripped from the sausages, soaking the bread. This gave the bread a slightly greasier taste.

The texture was incredible when one chewed the bread and the sausage together. The sausage consisted of a mix of fat and lean pork. It tasted very different from the sausages of this era, which were made of water and viscera. The outer layer of the sausage casing was so thin that it seemed non-existent. The sausages became oily and fragrant after being pickled. When one’s teeth touched the sausage, they could almost distinguish the fatty and lean parts of the meat. The oil and water of the pork fat was also squeezed out. Although no sound was emitted when this happened, they could almost feel the sausage “popping” in their mouths. Then all of a sudden… oil came bursting out of the sausage.

The salty sausages made the bread taste extremely delicious. Even after soaking the bread in vegetable soup for a while, the bread’s texture was still coarse, but now it was completely soaked with the sausage’s aroma.

The ham slices, together with mushrooms and carrots, had a peculiar taste. Even though the ham slices were extremely marinated and weren’t roasted, they didn’t have the stinky stench of the bacon that they previously used to eat. Instead, this ham’s taste was purer and more fragrant. It tasted salty by itself, but when paired with vegetables or a few more mouthfuls of soup and after soaking the ham slices in the soup like the Lord, it tasted more delicious. 

They drank wine and ate meat. The heat from the fireplace caused everyone to sweat, so they took off their woollen outerwear. They were very fortunate and happy this winter.

Lily’s eyes were red. It was at this moment that she heard someone rush into the hall and say, “Lord! There are thieves coming to attack us!”

Everyone was stunned.

Thieves. They were thieves! 

Ch37.2 - The Thieves Who Were Tortured (Part Two)

There were many thieves wandering on the road. Like a whirlwind, they advanced from one territory to another, attacking the castle and robbing away the food.

In general, this type of stone and trench castle was tough to breach, so the guards would constantly doze off. If the castle’s defense soldiers were inadequate, or if the Lord was not present in the castle, their fief could suffer from an attack.

It was a little late today, but the Lord invited them to eat meat, so they spent a long time enjoying a good meal until it was late. And now, although it was already dark outside, they did not return to their homes.

When she heard that the thieves had arrived, Lily’s feet grew weak, and she unconsciously gazed at the Lord. 

The Lord was very calm and even wiped his mouth before he said, “It seems that it’s a group of hungry thieves who come out to rob us this time. The Knights will go to catch the thieves first. Afterwards, they can continue eating.”

The Knights and their attendants, one by one, put down their plates, stood up with a dark expression, put on their armor or cotton armour, took their weapons, and stormed out of the door.

When they reached the door, Cui Qichao said in a loud voice, “Come back early, the food is still hot.”

.

When Cui Qichao heard the word “thieves”, he thought that this moment had finally arrived; his experience in the middle-ages wouldn’t be complete without meeting a bunch of thieves.

It was a coincidence that these thieves had come here. During winter, everyone had a lot of leisure time. Although Cui QiChao didn’t prepare weapons, he asked the agricultural officer to prepare some insecticides for the knights to put on their weapons.

The Knights of Northumberland took turns serving and guarding the fief. Because each of them only served for a few months a year, together with their attendants, there were only a few people who were trained and combat ready.

For Cui Qichao’s sake, they put on a show of the medieval version of how Guan Yu slayed Hua Xiong before the wine went cool——in their case, how the knights fought the thieves before the dishes went cold. 

In winter, few people would venture out in the cold. These hungry thieves had no choice but to attack the castle of this small territory under the guise of darkness. Everyone knew that the castle offered the best selection of cuisine. This fief appeared to be easier to raid, but because individuals lived in scattered areas and there was nothing in their homes, the thieves had a difficult time stealing anything. The authorities and the knights apprehended them after they robbed two families.

But nobody knew that at this moment, the inhabitants in Northumberland Castle didn’t hide to stay warm and sleep, and the knights were all ferocious.

They charged down from the high ground on horseback. It was easy to defend but difficult to assault, and when the cavalry charged down, it would have a significant impact on those below ground.

The knight who ate half of his meal had the most fighting power, and the thieves only heard the first knight exclaiming, “For the castle…” 

As if they were crazy and desperate, and forsaking their lives, they rushed down the high ground. This made the thieves’ morale descend even lower.

The leader of the thieves also used all his strength and yelled, “We, we should also charge, for the sake of the castle! For the food in the castle, kill!”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

Unfortunately, only a few people among the thieves responded to him. When the knights’ horse hooves were almost upon them, many thieves fled in a panic.

Ktf xclutar tjv gertfv ab atf ogbca, jcv atflg mgs yfmjwf mifjgfg, “Mbg atf obbv lc atf mjraif!” 

“??” Ktf tfjv bo atf atlfnfr kjr rilutais ja j ibrr. Qts mbqs atflg ribujc?

For the food in the castle, don’t you live in the castle?

Dfobgf tf xcfk la, tf kjr mjqaegfv ys atf xclutar. Pa kjr agef atja atf filaf atlfnfr mbeiv tbiv atflg bkc jujlcra atf cbyif xclutar, yea atf atlfnfr kfgf rb tecugs atja atflg fsfr aegcfv ugffc. Lbk mbeiv tf yf atf bqqbcfca bo atfrf xclutar ktb tjv fcbeut ab fja fnfgs vjs? Ccv tbk kbeiv atfs yf atf bqqbcfcar bo atf xclutar ktb kfgf tjio-oeii jcv tlutis vlrrjalrolfv klat atflg jgglnji?

The thieves who fled down the high ground were apprehended by authorities who arrived from the lower ground and beat them hard with a wooden stick. 

.

Cui Qichao lifted the tapestry and looked out of the window. Then he heard the echoing noises of “ah, ah” coming from the slope of the wide field, and hundreds of thieves fighting with his troops… Perhaps he shouldn’t refer to them as his troops, considering many of them were only carrying sticks.

Within ten minutes, the “fierce” battle to defend the castle ended, and Cui Qichao walked back with a “tsk”.

The other people in the castle, on the other contrary, were filled with excitement for the battle and were nervously waiting for the news. They cocked their heads to hear what was going on outside. The maids even clutched each other’s hands, closed their eyes, and prayed whenever they heard the cry in the distance. 

When the Knights came back victorious, the atmosphere felt a bit like the atmosphere one would feel during Chinese New Year.

The invaders were bundled up like pigs and left in the hall.

The thieves locked their gaze on the nobility of the castle. The thieves discovered that they were feasting. It was no surprise that they were all awake and able to react so efficiently!

The thieves shouted to the young man sitting on the top, who was obviously the Lord, “It’s us who had bad luck. If you aren’t hosting a banquet tonight——” 

Before he finished speaking, he was given a kick by someone.

The Lord motioned to the person who kicked the head of the thieves and said uncaringly, “Well, please continue eating your dinner, warriors. In order to reward your victory, I just asked the cook to prepare the pudding.”

“Oh!!” It was then that the thieves saw that the fierce knights all raised their fists and cheered a few times like a group of young boys, and continued to settle into their seats happily.

The thieves were at a loss. 

Normally, humiliating and investigating the intruders was the most essential thing the people in the territories would do after a battle, but they were now utterly disregarded.

These people went on eating and drinking in a loud manner. Speaking of eating and drinking, the thieves felt the food smelled really good…

The flames reached such heights that the damp and cold stone castle became bright and warm… Under the illumination of the fire, they could clearly see the knights fork up a huge chunk of red and white meat and devour it in their mouths. Their mouths were all slick with oil and gleaming with grease.

There were mushroom strips and carrot strips. The thieves had no idea why mushrooms and carrots were put in the same bowl. The food in the bowl was slurped into the knights’ mouths, as they gobbled and chewed. 

Bread. It was so opulent that there were even meat slices on top! Every bite of bread tastes like meat!

The knights revealed an intoxicated expression, enjoying the ham and sausage that the cook managed to marinate after much effort, and praised the Lord and the recipes he brought back from the East.

The sounds of “squelch, squelch, slurp, slurp, slurp” seemed to be amplified in their ears. The scene of oil dripping from their lips appears very clear to their eyes now. The unique and rich fragrance travelled straight into their noses. In their eyes, all that’s left in the world was the scene of people eating meat, vegetables and pudding…

“Ah, ah, ah!” The thieves were going crazy, howling out in pain. They couldn’t control the feelings of hunger anymore. They shouted, “I’m so hungry!” 

It was a pity that this cry only amplified the appetite of the people of Northumberland and made them eat more freely.

Cui Qichao lifted his brows slightly, and the knights understood what he meant. They deliberately stood in front of the thieves, eating from wooden bowls. The thieves could almost see the shape of the meat being chewed in their mouths.

The thieves’ eyes were red.

But this was not the end. After a while, everyone’s food was already stuffed up to their stomach. Cui Qichao said, “I’ll bestow the rest of the food to all of you.” 

By all of you, he meant the servants in the castle.

The Lord had always been so extravagant. Everyone knew this. Elle squeezed Lily quietly and winked at her. Then Lily understood why Elle said that she had come at a good time, for her to be able to attend the Lord’s banquet.

At this time, the food was put on the big plate, and everyone divided the food. Even if the Lord ate a lot of it, there were still leftovers on the plate. The maid mixed these dishes with their oatmeal paste and distributed them to everyone.

So, the second round of eating and drinking started, and the thieves were going crazy. 

The reason why they became thieves and ran to other places to rob others was because they didn’t have enough to eat. It was reasonable if the knights in this terrible castle could eat and drink. They were, after all, not ordinary people. However, even the slaves were able to eat and drink to their hearts’ content!

A bowl of warm oatmeal paste mixed with oily vegetables and a little meat was in their bowls. They could even enjoy a bowl of soup. The slaves were much more vulgar than the knights. They were like wild boars, gulping as they ate, and their faces were all red from the meal.

A girl like Lily would usually eat a little more politely, but she had been drooling over the sausage all day. When she was in the kitchen, she couldn’t help but imagine what it tasted like. Now that she finally tasted it, it was more delicious than she envisaged. Because of the presence of meat, the flavor of coarse oats was not as difficult to accept. The farmers also cherished the salty taste in their mouths.

At this time, the cook’s pudding was also ready. This was a type of food the thieves had never seen before, but it didn’t prevent them from looking at how delicious the food was from the expressions those bastards revealed when they tasted the food. The entire piece of pudding wobbled on the plate. The special texture exuded a milky fragrance. Although it was also a dessert, it appeared much better than those green cheeses! 

The thieves: “Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah!!”

They were going to be completely crazy from this torture.

In LJJ’s real-time commentary barrage:

[Oh? Saving a damsel in distress! I’m so touched I’m shedding tears. Is this our female protagonist? She’s very beautiful!] 

[I can’t believe it… Fuck. Cui Qichao even took her back to the castle!]

[Beast, this girl is only fourteen years old!]

[He could just take care of her for a couple more years. Look at those adult women who don’t even want to take a bath. Do you dare to be together with them? Initially, I lost all hope. But now, I found that people with the emperor’s bloodline really know how to play.]

[Eh, eh, that isn’t right. Didn’t he bring her back to raise her? Why did he send her to the kitchen to peel garlic??] 

[This isn’t the same as what we agreed Cui QiChao will do. Cui QiChao has already exposed his love for cats in front of this young girl!]

[I’m going to help XiaoBai speak out his inner thoughts. How the heck does he like her…]

[No! I can’t accept it! Both of you share the same secret! Why don’t you bring that young woman from the kitchen and place her by your side?!!]

[I’ve been cheated again. Why didn’t I learn from the last lesson!] 

[I-hahahahahahahahaha the people whose brains is filled with love deserve it]

[I support Cui Qichao. Cui QiChao, don’t date!]

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[Did I hear what they said wrongly? Are there intruders? Are there intruders coming to his territory at last??] 

[I’m crying. He’s finally going to start battling. Kill!]

[It’s the robbers who came to rob grain. Hurry up and abuse them to let them know that Northumberland’s Lord is powerful]

[Cui Qichao, don’t let me down. He must live to be a fearsome Lord!]

[?? Where is the humiliation, where is the abuse, where is the interrogation, no… is this a new way to torture someone? Why are you letting the thieves see you eat?] 

[orz why are they also taking a close-up shot of these people eating and the thieves drooling  saliva? Are they punishing me instead?]

[Fuck your father, I’m hungry again]

[Ahahahahaha, all of you deserve it. Give up on him, war maniacs]

[Hehe, don’t worry. The punishment for these thieves must be more than that. In the future, they will be detained and forced to bear the pain of farming! Ah!]