Xiao Jin Yu glanced at the exquisitely sliced ingredients in the soup basin. "No need... I know who it is."
With finality, Xiao Jin Yu declared, "Take your time eating, have more. I'll be back soon."
☆、111 Manhan Banquet (Three)
Xiao Jin Yu had been sitting in the study of One Heart Garden for half an hour when the door finally received a light knock.
"Wang Ye, Mu Yao has arrived."
Without haste, Xiao Jin Yu finished organizing the documents in his hands before speaking in a deep voice, "Invite him in."
The man who entered was around thirty years old, of average height and appearance. His short shirt and cloth shoes had been washed to a pale gray, yet from head to toe he was neat and tidy without a single fault. As he approached slightly, a faint aroma of kitchen smoke could be detected around him.
Two years ago when Xiao Jin Yu first met him, he had been wearing these same old clothes with the same detached expression. Had it not been for the fact that he was escorting Tan Zhang—stripped naked and tightly bound—Xiao Jin Yu would have truly thought him an ordinary, law-abiding cook.
Mu Yao leisurely knelt before Xiao Jin Yu's desk. "Mu Yao pays respects to Prince An."
"Rise."
Mu Yao didn't stand on ceremony with Xiao Jin Yu. When told to rise, he silently got up from the floor and unabashedly fixed his gaze on Xiao Jin Yu's face. Xiao Jin Yu allowed him to look for quite some time before speaking lightly, "What do you see?"
Mu Yao lowered his head slightly. "Reporting to Wang Ye, you're not as frail as two years ago, but still quite weak."
"...You requested an audience with me using a basin of salty soup just to say this?"
Seeing Xiao Jin Yu's faintly darkening expression—enough to make even Prince An Manor's generals frolicking in the front courtyard tremble with fear—the cook slowly shook his head, his voice full of laziness. "Reporting to Wang Ye, I wish to remain in Prince An Manor."
Xiao Jin Yu was slightly taken aback, then nodded gently. "Acceptable... What benefit does this prince gain?"
"My culinary skills are better than my knife work, but working as a cook for restaurants doesn't require such excellence—it's tiring and wasteful."
Xiao Jin Yu raised an eyebrow slightly. "With that basin of salty soup?"
"And Sweet and Sour Ribs."
No wonder Chu Chu said Feng Yi's Sweet and Sour Ribs were getting better and better...
Without changing expression, Xiao Jin Yu looked calmly at Mu Yao. "This prince's household lacks no cooks."
"I know more about As Returning Pavilion than the dishes I can cook."
Xiao Jin Yu's face stiffened slightly.
Mu Yao lazily rubbed his nose. "Someone wants to kill me. I can't stay at Lianli Pavilion anymore... You're the only powerful good person I know."
Xiao Jin Yu's brow tightened. Wu Jiang had once said that based on this man's knife skills and internal cultivation, even he would need to weigh his options before engaging him in combat. Yet now this man needed to hide in the home of someone powerful to preserve his life.
"Who wants to kill you?"
Mu Yao showed rare hesitation. "Can I not say?"
Xiao Jin Yu responded without hesitation. "No."
Mu Yao helplessly licked his lips, his tone as lazy as ever. "Xue Rucheng."
Xiao Jin Yu's expression sharpened, and the words escaped his lips abruptly: "How dare you!"For the first time seeing this usually ice-calm person react so intensely, Mu Yao merely paused briefly, showing no trace of panic on his face. His posture remained relaxed as he gazed downward at the floor, speaking unhurriedly, "I was the cook who accompanied Shi Niang as part of her dowry from the palace... Shi Niang never allowed the imperial consort to touch her. In retaliation, the consort assaulted the maids in the residence, brutally violating several to death. Once when drunk, he tried to force himself on Shi Niang, so I killed him... Unfortunately, Shi Niang's heart still belonged only to Xue Rucheng. When she entered As Returning Pavilion, I remained as her cook."
Mu Yao's voice carried a calm laziness as if recounting some hearsay gossip, the corners of his mouth even bearing a trace of mocking smile - mocking that utterly foolish cook in the story.
Xiao Jin Yu listened impassively, the faint annoyance on his face receding into stillness like a deep lake. "If that's the case... why would Grand Tutor Xue want you dead?"
"I know too much."
"What do you know?"
Mu Yao raised an eyebrow but didn't answer, instead countering, "Has Prince An agreed?"
Xiao Jin Yu looked at him quietly. "You may stay... but under conditions."
Mu Yao nodded.
"My residence doesn't lack for cooks. If you wish to stay, you may chop firewood in the kitchen."
Mu Yao nodded.
"If you take up firewood chopping, you'll be paid according to the standard for miscellaneous laborers - two silver coins per month, with room and board provided."
Mu Yao nodded again.
"One more thing... when I ask questions, you must hold nothing back. When others ask, you must remain tight-lipped."
Mu Yao hesitated briefly, then still nodded.
"After completing today's banquet, report to Steward Zhao yourself."
"Thank you, Wang Ye."
Xiao Jin Yu had intended to retrieve some case files from Three Thoughts Pavilion before returning to his quarters, but no sooner had he exited One Heart Garden's gate than he was intercepted by the Emperor - who had quietly slipped in through the Royal Mansion's back entrance - and cornered back into the study.
"Seventh Imperial Uncle," the Emperor was dressed as a young master from a prominent family, yet wore the expression of a resentful woman confined to inner chambers. Sitting in the chair by the tea table, he looked at Xiao Jin Yu with pleading eyes, "The world is unjust, human hearts are no longer what they used to be..."
"Your Majesty..." Xiao Jin Yu calmly interrupted the Emperor's lament, slowly lifting his teacup, "Whatever your command, this subject will do his utmost."
The Emperor immediately put on an ingratiating smile, "Actually, it's nothing major. Just that we have a guest, and I'd like Seventh Imperial Uncle to join us for a meal and conversation..." Noticing Xiao Jin Yu's frown, he quickly added, "I've brought ten premium mountain ginsengs from the palace for Ping'er, already given to Steward Zhao."
"Your Majesty..." Observing the Emperor's expression and recalling the documents forwarded by the Ministry of War and Ministry of Rites days earlier, Xiao Jin Yu's brow furrowed slightly, "Who is leading the Turkic delegation?"
The Emperor's mouth twitched, clearly wanting to smile but producing an expression uglier than crying, "The newly appointed Khan of Turkic tribes, Ashina Suwu."
Xiao Jin Yu sighed silently, leaning back gently against his chair, "Was Xiao Jue's recall to the capital also his request?"
The Emperor nodded helplessly, "There's something else I haven't dared announce... he brought Xue Ming with him."
OpenNovel