Chapter 16 Rouge Cake

Behind the pastry shop was a small courtyard, where I was sitting and chopping wood, sweating profusely.

The dog was cleaning, and Aman stood behind me, watching me chop wood.

My forehead felt soft, and when I looked up, Ah Man was squatting down, raising his sleeve to wipe the beads of sweat from my forehead.

"Mmm, good girl, you go back to your room now." I said absentmindedly, continuing my struggle with a pile of wood.

Without a word, he took the axe from my hand, raised his hand, and easily chopped down.

With a "snap," the piece of wood I had been struggling with for half a day was easily dealt with.

With a soft gasp, I shook my head in disbelief, then reached out and squeezed his arm, nodding repeatedly as if muttering something to myself.

"Good job, I'll leave it to you." I breathed a sigh of relief, wiped my sweat, and patted his shoulder on tiptoe.

Ah Man laughed, and under the dazzling sun, his laughter was as dazzling as the sun itself.

I moved a small chair, grabbed some herbal tea, and happily sat under the shade of a tree, fanning myself with a small fan, feeling extremely relaxed.

Aman had already stripped off his upper garment, tied half of it around his waist, and diligently completed his wood-chopping task.

Raise the axe and chop it down.

"Crack!" The wood shattered into pieces.

"Okay!" I readily agreed.

Ah Man looked up and smiled at me.

His narrow eyes were slightly narrowed with a smile, and a hint of naivety between his thin lips softened his originally ruthless features.

"Excuse me, do you sell rouge cakes here?" The person who peeked in was a pale face, and... a strange donkey-like face...

"Please go to the front yard to buy rouge cakes," I replied, blinking inexplicably. Then I paused slightly, realizing the face looked familiar.

I frowned and thought for a long time before finally having a sudden realization.

"Your Excellency, do you really not recognize this woman?" A voice of indignation echoed in my tragic memory of falling into a pigsty and then being brutally beaten with sixty strokes of the cane…

And then... there was that gentlemanly customer at the brothel!

Guo Fengxiao!

Instinctively, I jumped up and hid Aman behind my back.

Are he enemies or friends with Cao Cao?

I tightened my sleeves, turned around, and immediately felt like banging my head against a wall. Aman was a full head taller than me; I couldn't cover anything up, and he saw everything I needed to see…

"Pei'er?" Clearly, he recognized me too.

"Who is he?" Aman suddenly asked.

Guo Jia looked up and smiled, "Brother Mengde, I am Fengxiao."

I almost drowned in my own saliva. This guy introduced himself so calmly, without a hint of surprise. It seems he knew all along that his prime minister was with me.

I can only pray to God that this person is a friend, not an enemy, otherwise Cao Cao will be in big trouble...

"Fengxiao?" Cao Cao looked completely bewildered.

"Yes, I'm a good person," Guo Jia immediately stated his position.

"Xiaoxiao," Aman tugged at my sleeve, "He's a good person."

I was powerless again. He said it was true, so it was! Which bad person has "bad" written all over their face...?

"Sister, what are we having for lunch?" Gou'er asked as he walked in.

"Rouge cake," I answered without turning my head.

Aman and Gou'er immediately froze, petrified.

"What kind of expressions are those? It's so hot, why don't you eat the unsold rouge cakes yourselves? Is it such a waste to throw them away?" I said arrogantly, hands on my hips, forming a compass shape.

"But the rouge cake that my sister made..." Gou'er muttered.

"May I stay for a meal?" Guo Jia asked politely.

Gou'er and Aman immediately nodded gratefully, with Aman muttering under his breath, "I knew he was a good person..."

I gritted my teeth so hard they made a "crunching" sound, and the two people whispering behind me automatically fell silent.

One serving of rouge cake per person.

Gou'er and Aman both pushed their own portions in front of Guo Jia, putting on a hospitable appearance.

Guo Jia was flattered and took a bite.

The next second...

"Cough cough cough... cough... cough cough..." He lowered his head, coughing until his face turned red, and a blush appeared on his pale face.

I was horrified to see him coughing so hard he looked like he was about to suffocate...

Am I going to become the first murderer to use food as a pretext for manslaughter?

"Rouge cake... that's not how it's made." With great difficulty, he calmed down and spoke.

"Oh?" I rolled my eyes at him. "You can make that?" Hmph, I got this rouge cake from a recipe; there's no way an ancient person could make it...

"It's been a long time since I've done it," Guo Jia said softly.

kitchen.

"The amount of honey must be just right; too little and it will be bland, too much and it will be too greasy. And the red beans must be made into very fine red bean paste so that they will be smooth in the mouth..." Guo Jia said as he worked, clearly a master.

I was utterly shocked and my self-esteem was severely damaged. Anyone else could cook better than me...

"Don't feel inferior. Actually, this is the only thing I know how to do," Guo Jia laughed, seemingly seeing through my thoughts.

"Oh?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, I used to know a friend who loved to eat, so I tried every means to learn how to make this," he said with a smile.

"It's a woman, isn't it?" I leaned closer to him, my face full of gossip.

He smiled.

"Red beans grow in the south, how many branches will sprout in spring? I wish you would pick more, for this is the most cherished token of love," I recited, swaying my head, and then picked up a red bean and placed it in front of him. "Do you know that red beans are also called love beans, which are also called love beans?"

Guo Jia was slightly taken aback, and looked at me with some complicated feelings. "So you and she are from the same place."

"What?" I didn't quite understand.

"It's nothing." He shook his head and chuckled. "Remember, this is what rouge cake is all about." He took a piece of the finished rouge cake and placed it to my lips.

I opened my mouth and took a bite.

It's sticky but not glutinous, sweet but not cloying—truly delicious.

“Mengde seems to trust you very much,” he said abruptly.

"Hmm?" I looked up. "Ah, you mean Cao Cao?"

"Yes, I'll leave him in your care for now. There are some things to attend to at the palace. I'll bring him back to my residence once I've arranged everything," Guo Jia whispered in my ear.

I looked at him, and sure enough, he knew Cao Cao was here all along. Although he spoke lightly, I knew that "some things in the palace" must be something big.

"How can you trust me?" I asked, a smile playing on my lips.

“Intuition,” he coughed softly, a hint of color returning to his pale face. He smiled. “My intuition is always very accurate.”

I shrugged, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.