Chapter 171 Mapo Tofu
"Fourth Brother, do you want to bring so many people back with Third Brother? It's so grand, and people who don't know us might think we're princes with all the pomp and circumstance." The Ninth Master frowned slightly. The Emperor had instructed them to keep their entourage as small as possible. Such a grand ceremony might reflect badly on their reputation.
The Tenth Master also glanced at the huge team and said, "There are indeed too many people. I'm afraid we'll be delayed on the road."
"In troubled times, it's better to be cautious." The fourth master said, and entered the yamen with his two younger brothers.
As soon as he sat down, An Luhai came forward with a smile on his face and bowed: "Master, the young lady asked me to bring the meal."
The tense nerves of the Fourth Master relaxed a little, and before he could say anything, he saw the Ninth Master and the Tenth Master surrounding him.
"What did Sister-in-law Si give you today?" asked Master Shi.
"It doesn't matter what you give me, it comes at the perfect time." said Master Jiu.
His stomach had been growling with hunger for a long time, and it had snowed earlier today, so his third brother's trip was delayed and he didn't go out until the afternoon.
He and his fourth brother were busy all day and had a casual bite at noon. As it was getting dark, his stomach was already rumbling.
An Luhai shook his head and said, "In reply to the two gentlemen, the young lady sent some snacks today. Some of them are newly developed. I would like to invite the master and the gentlemen to taste them together."
Then he turned to look at the Fourth Master: "Master, shall we serve the meal now?"
The Fourth Master suddenly felt a little regretful for keeping these two naughty boys by his side. It would have been much easier if he had let them return to Beijing with his Third Brother.
It was clearly the meal that the maid brought to him, but he had to share it with them for no reason. Thinking of this, his face suddenly turned unhappy.
However, he was too lazy to say more, because it would be useless to say anything to these two shameless people, so he just said: "Put it on."
An Luhai agreed immediately, and together with a few eunuchs beside him, he neatly placed the meal on the eight-immortal table.
Su Peisheng also helped to set the table.
Wenjiu hasn't delivered any food for two days. The Ninth Master and the Tenth Master have been very worried these past two days. They wanted to ask the Fourth Master's wife why she didn't deliver any food, but in the end they felt a little embarrassed because they had been following the Fourth Brother for free food and drinks all day long.
What’s more, their fourth brother also ate the meals sent from the kitchen with them, so it was even more difficult for them to speak up.
The two even privately wondered if their fourth brother had made their fourth sister-in-law angry, which was why they hadn't had a good meal in the past few days.
With their fourth brother's temper, it's probably common for him to make people angry.
Now, they finally saw some fresh food, and the two gentlemen were making faces at each other.
Ninth Master leaned over to Tenth Master's ear and whispered, "Looks like he's finally coaxed Little Fourth Sister-in-law into submission!"
The Tenth Master leaned over and whispered in the Ninth Master's ear, "You will have a good life in the future."
The Fourth Master didn't hear what they were saying, but seeing their expressions, his face darkened: "Behave yourself! Why are you whispering to each other while we're having a meal?"
After hearing this, the Ninth and Tenth Masters immediately straightened their expressions and stared at the Fourth Master without blinking.
Seeing that the Fourth Master finally picked up his chopsticks, the two of them immediately started eating.
"Hey? Is this tofu? It's spicy and numbing, and surprisingly fragrant!"
As the Tenth Master spoke, he handed his bowl to An Luhai beside him: "Go and serve me a bowl of rice!" It was just a small plate of tofu, but for some reason, after taking a bite, he felt a great appetite.
"Hey," An Luhai responded immediately, and while serving himself some rice, he explained, "The girl said this is called Mapo Tofu, and it goes really well with rice."
He glanced at the Fourth Master again and said, "Master, the young lady said that the food you had yesterday was not tasty enough, so I made this dish specifically to whet your appetite."
While Wen Jiu was busy in the kitchen, he did say that the Fourth Master hadn't enjoyed his meals recently. But he didn't mention that this meal was specially prepared for the Fourth Master.
An Luhai felt that the girl must have done this with such great effort for the Fourth Master.
The girl has been promoting him, so naturally he has to speak well of her.
If it weren't for the girl, how could he have such a day today?
Being able to serve his master up close was something he had never dared to dream of in his entire life. Now he was the master of the kitchen. Eunuch Zhao, who had once thought him unattainable, no longer called him "Little Anzi," but instead respectfully called him "Eunuch An." Naturally, he no longer dared to try to trip him up, either overtly or covertly.
The Fourth Master thought of that charming little face and the charming scene from yesterday that seemed to be imprinted in his mind. He subconsciously put a spoonful of tofu into his mouth, savored it carefully, and nodded: "It tastes good. She put a lot of effort into it."
Then, he suddenly frowned and looked at An Luhai beside him and said, "She went to the kitchen? Didn't she rest?"
An Luhai replied, "The young lady slept a little late this morning, but she was in good spirits. She went to the kitchen to take a look around and gave us some instructions. The dinner was very delicious."
The Fourth Master frowned slightly, glanced at the sky, and suddenly felt eager to go home.
After a moment of distraction, the Fourth Master took the spoon and wanted to take another bite, but found that the plate of tofu was gone.
The veins on the Fourth Master's forehead twitched, and he saw his two younger brothers each holding a large bowl of rice, covering the whole tofu in the rice, and eating it mouthful by mouthful with a spoon until their mouths were full of oil.
Su Peisheng saw that the Fourth Master looked unhappy, and then he glanced at the two heartless Masters imperceptibly, and couldn't help but feel a pang of worry for them.
He immediately stepped forward, picked up another plate of colorful dishes with chopsticks and put it on the Fourth Master's plate.
"Master, try this. This is also made by the girl with great care."
As he said this, he glanced at An Luhai next to him.
An Luhai nodded immediately: "That's right, this dish is called Fish-Fragrant Shredded Pork, and the young lady said it was made according to your taste."
The Fourth Master's expression softened slightly after hearing this. He just picked up his chopsticks to taste the food when he saw the Tenth Master pick up the plate and use a large spoon to transfer half of the plate to his own bowl.
"Fourth brother, let me help you taste the dish made by Fourth Sister-in-law to see if it's delicious."
Jiu Ye followed the same procedure, and the remaining half of the plate fell into his bowl.
The Fourth Master's hand holding the chopsticks froze, and he squinted his eyes at the two people.
Unexpectedly, the two men were so busy eating that they didn't even look at the Fourth Master.
Su Peisheng swallowed hard, then tremblingly picked up another cucumber with chopsticks and placed it on the Fourth Master's plate: "Master, please try this cucumber..."
An Luhai came back to his senses: "Yes, this cucumber is refreshing. The lady said she was worried that the master would get a sore throat, so she brought some cool side dishes with it."
This time, before the Ninth and Tenth Masters could recover, Su Peisheng suddenly dropped his chopsticks and used a spoon to scoop up a small portion of the plate for his master and placed it in front of him. He couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead. The princes actually had to fight for food to eat. It was really an eye-opener.
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