The servant girl sent by the Crown Prince’s consort became the lifeline for Ning Ze.
Upon seeing her, Ning Ze hastily asked, "Did my elder sister send any message to you? Did she ask you to find us?"
The maid was stunned by the scene in the kitchen. She never expected that Su Rong’s younger brother would be leaning cooking from the head chef in someone else’s kitchen, let alone dragging the Second Young Master Ning into this.
The Second Young Master Ning was covered in some unidentified substance. There was no trace of his usual noble demeanor and grace.
The maid was too stunned to say anything for a long while.
Ning Ze wasn’t patient by nature. He had been tolerating this for an hour now and was already furious. Seeing the maid silent, with a deep voice, he said, "I asked you a question?"
The maid snapped out of her stupor and quickly lowered her head. She revealed why she came to the kitchen and suggested they should hurry to admire the chrysanthemums with Feng Ling.
Ning Ze was also shocked. The entire garden of chrysanthemums her sister adored most, Duanhua wanted to pluck them all for tea at the Princess’s Residence? And her sister agreed to it? He instantly said to Feng Ling: "Brother Feng, we must stop doing this and hurry. You have no idea, my sister’s chrysanthemums bloom beautifully and are extremely delicate. If we go late and they’re all plucked, you won’t get a chance to admire them."
Feng Ling was not moved, "It’s alright. Those flowers are supposed to be plucked and sent to the Princess’s Residence anyways, I will appreciate them at the Residence."
"How would that be the same?" Ning Ze persuaded, "Flowers look pretty while on the stem. Once plucked, they will wither very fast. How can you enjoy them then?"
Feng Ling insightfully stated, "It’s okay, once they are brewed into tea and place in the water, they will bloom in the tea cup just as radiantly. And we can enjoy as well as savor the tea. That would be even better."
Ning Ze: "..."
He took a deep breath: "I haven’t admired those chrysanthemums yet. If you don’t go and intend to stay here, I’ll go myself."
"No, you have to stay with me." Feng Ling shook his head, adamant, "Brother Ning, if you don’t accompany me, then I will leave with my sister."
Ning Ze really wanted to say "Get lost, you all can leave", but as he thought of Su Rong’s beautiful slender waist, he couldn’t make himself say it. He can only feebly waved at the maid, "You heard it, tell my sister we won’t go to see the flowers."
What he really meant was: Hurry to tell my sister. Find a solution. Come rescue me from this kitchen, get him out of here, so I can escape this kitchen.
The maid was smart. She left and went back to the pavilion, and reported to the Consort of the Crown Prince, Ning Yao, what the two men were doing in the kitchen.
After hearing the report, the Crown Prince’s Consort widened her eyes in disbelief, "What did you say?"
The maid repeated the report.
The Crown Prince’s consort turned to Su Rong, looking at her, "Your younger brother doesn’t need to learn to cook Buddha’s Temptation from the head chef. As I said earlier, if you like any chef, we can have him transferred to the Princess’s Residence. The kitchen is a place full of smoke and fumes, how can two grown men stay in there indefinitely?"
Su Rong smiled, "Certainly, I’ll request for a chef, but my brother likes both eating and cooking. Now that someone is with him to make a ruckus, he probably got carried away."
She sighed, "There’s no solution. We can only wait for him to finish cooking this dish, then, I think he’ll come out of the kitchen. Or else, no one can move him."
The Crown Prince’s consort thought: Your adopted little brother can cook if he wants, but why does he have to drag my brother into it when my brother doesn’t even like cooking? But she couldn’t speak her mind, after all, she had indeed asked her brother over to keep Feng Ling company.
Duanhua was on the verge of bursting into laughter but maintained her composure, "My, are Feng Ling and the Second Young Master Ning cooking the Buddha’s Temptation together? I’ll have to eat some more later. What a rare occasion, I hope they can make it delicious."
Su Rong was very confident and smiled: "Your Highness, be assured, Feng Ling’s talent for cooking is also high, it will not taste bad."
Duanhua was really looking forward to it, "Then, we’ll just be waiting."
Ning Ze was trapped in the kitchen, and the Crown Prince’s consort couldn’t do anything to Su Rong, as her brother couldn’t leave the kitchen. She had to suppress her feelings, thinking after the meal was served, Feng Ling would have finished cooking and should be coming out from the kitchen.
People have to eat lunch after all.
Buddha’s Temptation had many steps. The chef in the Crown Prince’s consort residence was a true-born Minnan who was a very diligent cook. Although he was reluctant to teach his culinary secrets, considering it was the distinguished guest brought by the Crown Prince’s Consort’s brother, he dared not offend. Despite intending to teach superficially, Feng Ling was not one to be cozened. He asked about each step, striving for perfection. This made the chef unable to hide his secrets. He realized Feng Ling seems to have learnt to make Buddha’s Temptation before and thus decided to teach him everything.
By noon, the Buddha’s Temptation was prepared. The chef took a different chopstick to taste a bite and had to compliment Feng Ling, "Master Feng has great talent in culinary arts. The taste is almost identical to the one I make, even though it’s his first attempt. If he practices a few more times, I think I might not discern the difference."
Feng Ling was very delighted and picked up another chopstick to taste a bite, "Hmm, it’s really delicious. I’ll take this to my sister and the County Mistress to taste it quickly."
He put down his chopsticks, seemingly forgetting about Ning Ze who had been hustling alongside him all day, picked up the jar, and walked out of the kitchen.
Ning Ze: "....."
He had been busy all day, but hadn’t even taken a bite yet.
Master Feng held the jar all the way, asking for directions and quickly arrived at the pavilion. Seeing several people sitting there, he rushed over, placed the jar between Duanhua and Su Rong, and cheerfully boasted, "Sister, Lady, have a taste. This is a seafood casserole that I made myself. Even the head chef praised me for it; savoury to the extreme."
Duanhua, having caught a whiff of the aroma, praised him delightedly, "Master Feng, you’re amazing."
"Of course. I am my sister’s brother after all." Master Feng was proud.
Su Rong chuckled, "Little brother, you must have worked hard."
"For my sister and lady, it’s not hard. Hehe." Master Feng sat next to the two, "Doesn’t it smell marvelous? I made it myself all day. The head chef only pointed out things and didn’t lift a finger."
"Hmm, it smells divine." Duanhua hastily instructed her maid, "Quick, get two pairs of bowls and chopsticks. We want to taste it."
"No, three pairs of chopsticks. I only tasted a bit just now. I also want to eat." Master Feng clarified.
"Alright, three pairs of bowls and chopsticks." Duanhua corrected her instructions, urging, "Hurry."
The maid immediately followed her orders.
The three of them were discussing the seafood casserole in the jar, seemingly forgetting about the Crown Prince’s wife and the Second Prince’s Wife sitting next to them, especially Master Feng. It seemed that he was the only one responsible for the dish and did not mention Ning Ze, who had been hustling in the kitchen with him all day. He took all the credit and tried to make himself look good in front of the two women.
The maid quickly returned with three pairs of bowls and chopsticks.
As a result, the Crown Prince’s wife and the Second Prince’s Wife watched as the three of them shared a jar of seafood casserole evenly, with each person receiving exactly one bowl. They didn’t even bother asking them if they wanted any.
The seafood casserole in the jar was okay when the lid was on, but as soon as it was opened, the aroma couldn’t be contained anymore. The entire pavilion was filled with the fragrance.
Duanhua took a bite and was amazed, "Master Feng, I wish I had a brother like you. From now on, I’ll call you ’brother’, too!"
"No way, I’m only one sister’s brother." Master Feng declined firmly.
Duanhua glared at him, then turned to Su Rong to complain, "Su Rong, you see, what’s wrong with having one more sister?"
Su Rong simply lowered her head, eating quickly and quietly, not bothering to reply.
Seeing Su Rong seemed to ignore her, Duanhua was neither angry nor did she dispute with Master Feng. She too hurriedly lowered her head and resumed eating.
For a while, the Crown Prince’s wife and the Second Prince’s wife just sat in the pavilion, watching the three of them relish the seafood casserole. Both of them had had this dish before and didn’t lack in food, but being blatantly ignored in this way was indeed a source of annoyance. However, they were unable to lose their temper because once they did, it would seem like they were fighting over food.
The two exchanged a look. Duanhua used to be domineering, but she was generally polite to other people. Now, when they looked at her again, she didn’t seem to realize or care about these acts of rudeness and acted as if they were perfectly fine. They barely recognized Duanhua anymore.
The one most vexed was the Crown Prince’s wife. As the hostess, she was now reduced to a mute. But she couldn’t really be a mute. She took a deep breath and asked, "Where’s my brother? I see Master Feng but not him."
Without looking up, Master Feng replied, "He should have gone to freshen up and change his clothes, right? He is hopeless. I asked him to lend a hand, but he couldn’t do anything properly, always fumbling and clumsy. What he churned out were all unusable, just standing there, taking up space in the kitchen."
Duanhua burst out laughing, "He’s that useless?"
Master Feng nodded, "Isn’t he though? Too useless. If it weren’t for the fact that he’s the host, I would have chased him out of the kitchen."
Su Rong coughed lightly, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and gave Master Feng a reproachful look, "You shouldn’t speak ill of others behind their backs. Although the Young Master Ning did not contribute, he did work hard."
Master Feng composed an enlightened expression, "Sister, you’re right. Today, we can enjoy this seafood casserole thanks to Young Master Ning. If it weren’t for him being in the kitchen as a pillar, the chef would definitely be stingy and not share his secret cooking skills."
The Crown Prince’s wife: "..."
She felt like she was about to explode with frustration! What sort of people are these!
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