Chapter 73: It Wasn't Me

He Jing stared into her eyes, watching her lips move, but couldn't hear what she was saying at all.

It wasn't until the girl gave him a hard push that his soul was pulled back to its original place.

Yu Wan was quite helpless. She had limited patience with such a taciturn person and didn't want to chat with him anymore. She also regretted asking him to come and chat.

Just as she was about to turn around, she heard the boy's urgent voice.

"No, don't go."

Yu Wan didn't want to pay attention to him, but she stopped and turned around to look at him with annoyance.

"If you don't say anything, I'm going to go to sleep."

He Jing pursed his lips. "What I want to say is that it's inconvenient for me to meet with the Third Princess, so I won't show myself when she's around. But don't worry, I'll protect you secretly."

Yu Wan asked curiously, "Why is it inconvenient to meet with her? Could it be...?"

"I have something I can't tell you right now." He Jing knew that once he revealed the reason, the girl would definitely keep it a secret for him, but it was too dangerous for her.

The best-case scenario, in people's eyes, is that General He has disappeared or is likely dead. This is also why the Liang and Jin kingdoms have been able to maintain their stalemate until now.

Once he appears, he will have to obey the emperor's orders to fight the enemy, and the battlefield will continue to be ablaze.

Back in his room, he found that Xue Xiujun was also awake and had come to his room to drink tea.

"Why didn't you tell him about your identity? Were you afraid she would expose your whereabouts?"

He Jing denied it, saying, "Of course not, she's not that kind of person."

"Oh, I see," Xue Xiujun said with a smile. "You're afraid the landlady will find out that the Third Princess's sweetheart is you."

He Jing glared at her. "The Third Princess's beloved is not me."

"So your beloved is the Third Princess? Otherwise, why were you so restless as soon as she arrived in Jiangnan?"

"Of course not. People like you and me don't even know where we'll die one day, how dare we think about anything else? What doesn't Awan know? She should just live her peaceful life. She doesn't need to know things she shouldn't know."

Xue Xiujun pursed his lips, "You, you're stubborn all over, including your mouth. But it's right that you didn't appear in front of the Third Princess, I support your decision."

He Jing snorted coldly, "You've been testing me all night, just to find out what I'm really thinking, haven't you?"

Xue Xiujun put down his teacup, stood up, and said, "Yes, I couldn't sleep tonight without your affirmative answer. Now I can finally go to sleep. General He, don't forget our agreement. Also, if you put the proprietress in danger, I won't let you off the hook."

"You're the same. If I find out you've done something you shouldn't have, don't blame me for turning against you," He Jing warned coldly.

Xue Xiujun turned his back to him and waved a few times.

The next day, Yu Wan and the others got up, washed, and ate breakfast. Today, the Third Princess was to formally taste the dishes of Jin Family Restaurant at the villa.

Because of her noble status, she naturally wouldn't go to the restaurant herself, but instead sent the chefs to her villa.

The chefs were all nervous; their futures were at stake, so they were all very careful.

With such a grand mobilization, even a fool would know that the distinguished guest is no ordinary person, and if something goes wrong, it's not impossible that they could lose their lives.

They arrived at the villa before dawn and didn't come out until midnight. They cooked ten meals and were busy all day without a moment's rest.

Fortunately, the outcome was good. I heard that the distinguished guests were very satisfied and even rewarded each of them with fifty taels of silver.

That night, Yu Wan waited until Xue Xiujun returned, bringing with him the good news, which relieved her.

You should know that if the Third Princess is not satisfied with the dishes, she will definitely be pushed out by the Jin family as a scapegoat.

But what Xue Xiujun said next surprised her.

"Boss lady, I felt that when the Third Princess was tasting the food, she didn't seem to be enjoying it as I expected. I even secretly went to their kitchen to eavesdrop, and it turns out they didn't use your improved recipe at all."

Zhu Zhifeng exclaimed, "What? The Jin family didn't use the recipe that A-Wan helped improve? Why? If they didn't want to use it, why did they ask A-Wan for help? What kind of logic is that?"

Yu Wan understood the reason immediately and gave a bitter smile. "In the end, the Jin family doesn't trust my cooking skills; they trust themselves more. Although they know that my improved version tastes better, they don't dare to take the risk, so they chose the conservative recipe. Their own version is at least neither good nor bad, and there's almost no chance of any mistakes. If my improvements really cause a problem, they can use me as a scapegoat. But the Third Princess has also lost trust in the Jin Family Restaurant."

Zhu Zhifeng was furious and slammed her hand on the table. "This is outrageous! How could they do this? It's utterly shameless!"

Xue Xiujun found it very satisfying, but still couldn't help asking, "Hey, they're your maternal grandfather's family. Isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to insult them like that?"

"Hmph! I'm not the kind of person who can't distinguish right from wrong. No matter who it is, if they do something immoral, I'll curse them!" Zhu Zhifeng only knew that her maternal grandparents' family was a large clan, and there must be some people with bad intentions, but she didn't expect that the entire Jin family basically had this kind of atmosphere.

In order to protect their family's interests, they used a young girl as a shield.

Even if the girl did it willingly, it's still too much; her intentions are too malicious!

Yu Wan smiled and comforted her, "It's nothing. Most people in this world are like that. They weigh the pros and cons before making any decision. Actually, I'm like that myself."

Zhu Zhifeng held her hand and said, "You're different. Everything you do is for the good of everyone, unlike them, who would harm an innocent person."

Xue Xiujun laughed, "It's a good thing you're different from them, otherwise we would definitely kick you out of this house." He then realized his mistake—they were staying in the Jin family's house—and changed his words.

“If you end up like those people, we definitely won’t take you with us when we leave. We’ll leave you in the Jin family. They’ll arrange a marriage for you, and just thinking about that kind of ending is pathetic.”

Zhu Zhifeng glared at him angrily, "Can you shut up? Why are you talking so much nonsense? Haven't you heard the saying 'Disaster comes from the mouth, and too much talk leads to mistakes'? Look at Young Master He, he's definitely not as talkative as you."

Xue Xiujun laughed and said, "He's just pretending. You just wait and see, he'll show his true colors one day."

At this moment, Madam Jin sent someone to invite Yu Wan.

The group was taken aback. What could be the matter that required her to come over and talk so late at night?

Yu Wan decided to go and take a look.

He Jing said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you."

Yu Wan nodded, naturally trusting him.

Upon entering Madam Jin's room, they found six other people. Besides Jin Yizhuang and Jin Yifei's father, there were several other middle-aged men and women who appeared to hold important positions in the Jin family.

When they saw Yu Wan arrive, they all looked her over.

Jin Yizhuang, being of the same generation, stood up to greet her and noticed that she was carrying a food box, so he took it from her.

"Madam Yu, I'm so sorry to disturb your rest so late. There's a very important matter right now, and it happened so suddenly, so we need to make a decision tonight."

Yu Wan observed the other middle-aged men, who all seemed to be scrutinizing her with contempt and mockery.

"What is it?" She maintained a polite smile, completely unaffected by the aura deliberately released by those people.

Madam Jin sighed, "As you probably know, we've been staying at the villa where our distinguished guest is staying all day. She tasted the food we prepared, and although she ate it all, everyone could tell that the dishes were just barely passable in her eyes."

Yu Wan smiled and said, "Perhaps that distinguished guest has tasted all the delicacies in the world, and there is no taste that can particularly surprise her anymore?"

“No, no, no,” said Madam Jin, “that’s not how it is. I only found out afterward that someone disobeyed my orders and did not use your improved recipe, but used the original recipe instead.”

Her angry gaze swept over the three middle-aged men present.

The three people felt uncomfortable being stared at. One of them was a middle-aged man, about forty years old, who was Jin Yifei's uncle and the old lady's youngest son, Jin Zhen.

Jin Zhen heard her mother glaring at them as she spoke, so she stood up and retorted.

"Mother, as it turns out, it's already a good thing that we've achieved nothing. Changing the menu is too risky. If our distinguished guests are not satisfied, it could bring punishment upon our Jin family."

"Shut up!" Old Madam Jin scolded, "What do you know? Madam Yu's improved dishes taste several times better than before. If our distinguished guest is pleased with the food, it will be a great help to the Jin family. Your current statement that it's neither good nor bad already shows that our distinguished guest is very disappointed with the Jin family's dishes. She may never come again in the future. Then our Jin family will decline!"

Jin Zhen glanced at Yu Wan, his eyes filled with resentment and disdain.

“Mother, even so, you shouldn’t have chosen such a young girl. No matter how good her cooking skills are, she still lacks experience. You should have found a master chef of royal rank.”

Jin Yizhuang sat down next to Yu Wan and explained in a low voice, "My uncle wasn't home a few days ago and didn't get to taste your cooking."

Yu Wan nodded slightly, smiled, and shook her head, indicating that she didn't mind.

When Madam Jin saw her youngest son constantly arguing with her, she became extremely angry and shouted...

"Shut up! You've been nothing but troublemakers since you were a kid, and now you dare to meddle in things you shouldn't be involved in. This restaurant has always been managed by Zhuang'er. How dare you openly and blatantly pass on orders, using my token to instruct the chefs to use the original recipes? You have some nerve!"

Jin Zhen protested, "Mother, I'm doing all this for the good of the Jin family. How can you possibly understand my good intentions? Zhuang'er manages the restaurant very well, but he's still young and inexperienced. Who was that distinguished guest? He was a high-ranking official..."

"Shut up!" Old Madam Jin scolded.

Jin Zhen shut her mouth, but still looked like she didn't know what she had done wrong.

Madam Jin was so angry that her face turned red. She finally managed to catch her breath, clutching her chest, before turning to look at Yu Wan.

"I'm sorry, Madam Yu, you must have found this amusing. You are so young, yet some people are not as mature and sensible as you. I am truly ashamed."

Yu Wan smiled and said, "Madam, there's no need to say that. I understand whatever your thoughts may be. After all, this is a matter of great importance, and a decision can affect the future of the entire Jin family. Madam, I brought some hawthorn cake. I thought it would be good for your health to eat some hawthorn since you haven't rested so late."

Jin Zhen scoffed, "Little girl, if you want to please someone, you should at least do some research first. My mother hates hawthorn berries the most."

As if sulking with her youngest son, Old Madam Jin pointed to the food box and instructed Jin Yizhuang.

"Let me try some." She also made sure to instruct everyone to try a small piece.

Jin Yizhuang handed the food box to the maid, who then distributed it to everyone in turn.