“Sister, would you like them explosively spicy or mildly spicy? Is there anything you don’t eat?”
In the brief moment that Qingfang was distracted, Su Wan’ning had already taken a large bowl and filled it with rice noodles and vegetables.
Qingfang smiled helplessly before answering, “Mildly spicy, I suppose. Too much spice is bad for the stomach. And don’t make Miss’s portion too spicy either.”
“All right, Sister. Don’t worry!”
Su Wan’ning added the ingredients one by one, then poured in a ladleful of hot broth.
The ingredients that had seemed separate suddenly came alive as the hot broth brought them together, releasing an intense combination of sourness, spiciness, and fragrance, along with a slightly funky smell that was strangely addictive.
Would such a strong aroma wake Miss up? And how would she coax her back to sleep then?
While Qingfang was still pondering this, her mouth had already started slurping up the noodles.
“I want mine explosively spicy!”
Li San and the others quickly followed.
Before long, the entire courtyard was filled with the sounds of slurping and hissing from the heat.
Everyone was eating happily when a sharp female voice suddenly rang out.
“Ah! What are you doing?!”
Everyone’s body stiffened.
They slowly turned toward the source of the voice.
Xu Lingxi stood there with her hands on her hips, her eyes blazing as she glared at them.
Everyone immediately stopped eating and nervously bowed.
“Miss Xu!”
Qingfang’s head buzzed.
Miss looked even angrier than she had imagined!
She hurried over and gently tried to placate her.
“Miss, let me help you wash—”
“Wash what?!”
Xu Lingxi was so angry that her chest heaved. Tears glimmered in her eyes.
“Qingfang, I’ve never treated you badly. Y-you… is this how you take care of me?”
She suddenly turned her head and glared viciously at Su Wan’ning.
“And you!”
“I was wrong. Please punish me, Miss!”
Qingfang immediately dropped to her knees, her voice earnest.
“There simply aren’t enough people accompanying us on this journey. Please allow me to continue serving you for now. Once we return to the residence, I will accept whatever punishment I’m given. I will remember this lesson and never allow anyone to disturb your rest again.”
“As for Madam Su, she didn’t do it intentionally. I failed to warn her properly beforehand. It’s entirely my fault!”
Su Wan’ning was somewhat surprised.
She had not expected Xu Lingxi to be this angry.
And even less had she expected Qingfang to take all the blame upon herself.
“Miss Xu, it was my negligence. I was only thinking about making something you would enjoy and forgot that the smell might disturb your sleep. Please punish me.”
She also bowed her head and lowered her gaze, delivering the explanation she had prepared beforehand.
“What are you thinking?! I’m not angry because you woke me up!”
Xu Lingxi pulled Qingfang to her feet and rushed into the kitchen, looking around.
“I’m angry because you were sneaking food behind my back! What were you eating?”
“Go on!”
Qingfang gave Su Wan’ning a meaningful glance.
Her expression remained calm, but her mind was racing.
In the past, waking Miss up would definitely have resulted in a beating.
Yet now, Miss only cared that they had been “eating behind her back”!
Still, for a noble young lady, neither a domineering temperament nor a reputation for being picky and greedy was particularly flattering…
Su Wan’ning did not care about such complicated considerations.
She only wanted to get back to Qingshan County as quickly as possible.
She filled a bowl to the brim and handed it to Xu Lingxi.
“Miss Xu, once we reach a proper relay station, I’ll use white rice to make this for you. It will definitely taste even better than this.”
“Mmm!”
Xu Lingxi slurped up a mouthful of noodles, and the spiciness brought tears to her eyes.
“So delicious! This is exactly the taste! No, it’s still missing something. Everyone, hurry up and eat! Once we’re full, we’ll set off!”
As soon as she said this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Li San lowered his head and slurped his noodles, secretly muttering,
“This young lady isn’t that hard to please after all. Just give her something delicious and she’s happy. Miss Qingfang really doesn’t understand her mistress at all. She scared me so badly I almost stopped eating.”
“Food can’t shut your mouth, but a punch can.”
The station chief thumped him on the head.
The kitchen came alive again, and everyone at the relay station enjoyed the earliest—and most delicious—breakfast they had ever had.
Su Wan’ning left behind various prepared and semi-prepared foods, carefully explaining how they should be cooked and eaten before getting into Xu Lingxi’s carriage.
The carriage wheels rumbled along the road, while the inn behind them finally began to stir.
Someone shouted for Escort Leader Zhao.
Su Wan’ning lowered the carriage curtain, shutting out the sounds from outside.
Xu Lingxi was still savoring her meal and kept tugging at Su Wan’ning, asking question after question.
“Madam Su, why aren’t the sour bamboo shoots you made smelly?”
“Miss, you call this not smelly?”
Qingfang was shocked.
“Wait. You’ve eaten sour bamboo shoots before? Our household has never made anything like that.”
“I heard about them from Miss Ma. Her maternal grandfather’s family is from Liuzhou City.”
Xu Lingxi dramatically covered her nose.
“She said sour bamboo shoots smell extremely bad, like feces.”
“Oh, Miss!”
Qingfang was speechless.
“How can you keep saying ‘feces’ this and ‘feces’ that? If Nanny Zhou hears you, she’ll start lecturing you again.”
Su Wan’ning was somewhat surprised.
“Only sour bamboo shoots that haven’t fermented properly smell that bad. Properly made sour bamboo shoots have a gentle sour fragrance blended with the natural aroma of bamboo shoots.”
“The dried bamboo shoots I made actually aren’t quite perfect yet, which is why there’s still a slight funky smell.”
“So that’s how it is.”
Xu Lingxi looked as though the sky had fallen.
“That little brat lied to me!”
Her eyes continued darting around, clearly indicating that another idea had just popped into her head.
Su Wan’ning smiled but said nothing.
She had been incredibly busy all night and now only wanted to close her eyes and sleep for a while.
“Miss, why don’t you read for a bit?”
Qingfang handed Xu Lingxi a very old book, then raised her eyebrows and gestured toward Su Wan’ning.
“Cook Su stayed up all night to make these noodles for you.”
“Oh. Then go ahead and sleep for a while.”
Xu Lingxi immediately fell silent and lowered her head, earnestly reading the book.
The carriage soon became quiet.
Xuancao drove the carriage steadily, and Su Wan’ning gradually drifted into a hazy state, slipping into that strange space between waking and dreaming within moments.
In her half-conscious state, she vaguely heard Xu Lingxi and Qingfang speaking in lowered voices.
“I never knew the Imperial Food Bureau had such an incredible cook as Madam Su. I attended a palace banquet a few days ago, but I didn’t get to taste anything particularly good.”
“Didn’t you say that dish of Mountain Delicacies Soup was pretty good?”
“It was nowhere near as good as the mushroom venison paste. Has the Crown Prince ever even eaten anything truly good…”
Su Wan’ning instantly lost all trace of sleepiness.
“Mountain Delicacies Soup?”
“Did we wake you?”
Qingfang poured her a bowl of water.
“Your throat sounds a little hoarse.”
“No. Thank you, Sister Qingfang.”
After drinking the water, Su Wan’ning heard Qingfang continue.
“A few days ago, we attended a palace banquet. They said the Crown Prince really liked the Mountain Delicacies Soup, and the little cook who made it even received a reward because of it.”
“The Empress was pleased and specifically added the dish to the palace banquet so everyone could have a taste of something new.”
“With such a great achievement, she probably won’t remain a mere little cook for long. She might even receive an official appointment. And perhaps she’ll be directly assigned to serve the Crown Prince.”
“Tsk. Her future looks limitless.”
Xu Lingxi also sighed.
“But I thought that Mountain Delicacies Soup was only average. It wasn’t even as good as your sour bamboo shoot noodles.”
A metallic sweetness rose in Su Wan’ning’s throat.
From the moment she had been reborn until now, she had not dared relax for even a moment.
She had fought with everything she had simply to stay alive.
Yet Lin Yuwei had effortlessly stolen her achievement and was now climbing higher and higher.