Chapter 334 Fierce

"Smack!"

"Slap! Slap!"

The three crisp slaps sent a shiver down the spines of everyone present.

"Who are you yelling at?"

"Who the hell wants to share a husband with someone else? If you dare to say another word, I'll personally escort you out the door."

Song Chunxue put her hands on her hips, perfectly embodying the aura of a matriarch. "It's your young lady who's shameless. To force the master to submit, a woman would even resort to drugging someone. If your young lady were to actually enter the family, wouldn't she be the one to ride roughshod over us?"

“Go back and tell her that I have kung fu skills. If she dares to continue to pester me, I won’t hold back.”

The beaten old woman covered her cheek, her chest heaving as she glared at Song Chunxue, unable to utter a single word.

The matchmaker stood up to smooth things over, "We'll all be family from now on, why ruin our harmony? I think Lord Xie and his young lady are a classic case of bickering lovers..."

"Sir, may I hit her?" Song Chunxue interrupted her, looking coldly at Xie Zheng. "I'm too lazy to say another word to someone who doesn't understand human language."

Xie Zheng nodded subconsciously, "It's up to you."

"Hmph, did you hear that? The adults said that I'm in charge of this house from now on." Song Chunxue pointed towards the door. "Those who know what's good for them should get out of here now, or I'll have to take action."

The man standing to the side was furious; he looked to be in his early thirties.

"My sister truly loves Lord Xie, and you are merely his fiancée who hasn't even entered the family yet, how dare you act like this..."

Seeing that his index finger was about to poke her eyeball, Song Chunxue raised her hand, grabbed his finger, and kicked him in the chest.

"Bang!"

"Ah! Ouch... my hand..."

The man was kicked so hard that he fell face-first onto the threshold of the front hall, looking utterly disheveled.

The Taoist priest saw his junior brother's fist and quickly went to the door to help him up.

“My junior brother is a cultivator, and his martial arts skills are no less than mine. You shouldn’t be asking for trouble. She can’t tolerate any dissent. If she cripples your sister in the future, the adults will still side with my junior brother. After all, the adults can’t beat my junior brother.”

"..."

"..."

Song Chunxue and Xie Zheng both sighed and rubbed their foreheads.

The matchmaker still wanted to try.

"Lord Xie, look at this..."

"Still not giving up?" Lord Xie said coldly, "I've said before that forced relationships are never happy. Now that I have a fiancée, no matter how strong and domineering she may be in the future, I won't interfere. Your young lady was originally looking for a son-in-law to live with her family, so how could she be willing to be someone's concubine?"

"Spring Tree, seeing off the guest."

Chunshu gripped the stick tightly. "Yes."

"Everyone, please." Chunshu rolled up his sleeves and said in a roguish tone, "If you don't know what's good for you, then we'll have to trouble Madam Xie to kick you out."

Even though the five people were furious and unwilling, they didn't dare to linger because of Song Chunxue's imposing manner. They helped each other and jogged out of the courtyard.

The front hall suddenly fell silent, an awkward silence that was almost unbearable.

Song Chunxue turned to look at the Taoist priest and Xie Zheng, her expression returning to normal, and went straight to find a seat to sit down.

"Everyone's gone, what's the point of standing here? Chunshu, aren't you going to pour us some tea?"

"I'll be right there." Chunshu suppressed a laugh and turned to go to the kitchen.

Song Chunxue's gaze fell on the meat and vegetables on the table, and she got up and picked them up.

"I'll go to the kitchen and marinate the meat first; it'll taste better." With that, she nodded to Lord Xie and her senior brother. "You two chat first."

She walked out of the house calmly and breathed a sigh of relief as she went into the kitchen.

This is terrible.

What a human suffering this is!

You can't think about it too much; if you're easily embarrassed, just thinking about it will make you feel numb all over.

When Liu Chunshu saw her come in, he greeted her with a smile, "Sister Song".

Song Chunxue looked at him, her mind full of questions, but she felt that asking them would only make her more embarrassed.

Oh well, I've already helped her. Anyway, she's leaving tomorrow.

Lord Xie was forced to resort to this tactic. That's the downside of civil officials. They grow up reading the classics and are taught etiquette and how to treat others with kindness from a young age.

How could he possibly handle a woman who was spoiled rotten and pampered by her family so much that they couldn't bear to marry her?

That man's previous live-in son-in-law dared to drug Lord Xie; who knows, that son-in-law might be abused and run away.

Lord Xie is really something. A scholar can't reason with a soldier. He needs a ruthless bandit as a bodyguard.

"Sister Song, do you want me to marinate the meat? Or shall I do it?"

Liu Chunshu noticed her displeasure, and became nervous and cautious.

"No need, I'll marinate it. You can just watch." She said gently. "Although I don't know if it's true that your father said my meat sauce is delicious, since he likes it, I'll teach you."

"Actually, to make delicious meat sauce, it's best to marinate it, and it must be raw meat. Cooked meat won't absorb the flavor even after stir-frying. You can use marinated meat sauce, but it's not as good as fresh meat sauce."

"You know how to heat a pan and add oil, right?" Song Chunxue laughed. "I only found out later that many people don't actually know how to heat a pan and add oil."

"Although I don't know why, dishes cooked in a hot pan with oil are more fragrant and less likely to stick than those cooked in a cold pan with oil. When stir-frying meat, the higher the heat, the better. Don't rush to add soy sauce. After stir-frying the scallions and garlic until fragrant, it's best to remove them. After the oil is rendered, add Sichuan peppercorns and salt. Add the other seasonings in small amounts."

"The key is to stir-fry it for a longer time, add more white parts of the shallots so they don't fall apart easily, and sweet shallots are not suitable for this dish. When it's almost done, add more water and simmer until it's flavorful and the liquid has evaporated, then serve it."

Song Chunxue looked at Liu Chunshu and said, "Especially the last step, don't think that it's done when it's cooked. It must be simmered until it's flavorful, and the meat is tender and elastic to taste good."

Liu Chunshu nodded repeatedly, "I didn't know there were so many intricacies to cooking. I've learned a lot."

“You have a strong hand, so you should be good at making noodles. Once this sauce is cooked, Lord Xie will be inseparable from your cooking skills, and your future will be bright.” Song Chunxue asked with concern, “How have you been these past two years?”

"Not bad. When the lord went to the capital, he was questioned about why he stayed in that small place of Zhuanglang County for so long. He was summoned to the palace and interrogated for two hours before the emperor's suspicions were finally dispelled."

“Longxi County is very large. The officials have been to every place and have eliminated many corrupt officials for the people. However, Lord Xie did not leave behind any experts. They were either bribed or killed. I am the one who has been with him the longest and the closest over the years.”

"The lord is like a piece of Tang Monk's flesh. I've encountered many situations like this today, but I've always managed to escape danger. Today's one is the most troublesome. Her family has a powerful background. The woman's uncle was a bandit, and she's just like a bandit."

Liu Chunshu poured hot water into the teapot and said gently, "Actually, the master has always thought about Sister Song. He asked you for help because he has feelings for you."

"He told you?"

“I can tell that he will ask about your situation from time to time, afraid that you will overthink it, so he writes letters to the Taoist priest every time.”

At this point, Liu Chunshu looked into her eyes and asked, "Sister Song, do you really not have those kinds of feelings for the adults?"

“I know you have many concerns, and you may find the path of spiritual practice troublesome, but life is too short…”

"The person who said that last time, I beat him up, and he got married. Lord Xie is a good man. It would be a lie to say that he never had any feelings for me, but I know that I am not good enough for Lord Xie."