Chapter 76: Jiu Refuses to Eat Carrots
"Ajiu, do you want to eat osmanthus sugar cake? Do you want to eat milk pudding? Do you want to eat freshly baked plum blossom cakes sprinkled with sesame seeds?" Chu Xuanyi asked with a smile.
Jiu raised his head, his big black and white eyes flashing with desire, and there was even a trace of crystal saliva hanging from the corner of his mouth.
"Yes!" she answered firmly.
"Alright!" Chu Xuanyi slapped his thigh. "The Imperial Master has given you a very important task. As long as you complete it, you'll have plenty of these delicious treats!"
Ah Jiu immediately jumped out of Xiao Yu's arms and ran to Chu Xuanyi, puffing out his chest with a serious face: "What mission? You want me to tear down the roof of Qian Yushi's house? I'm familiar with this!"
Chu Xuanyi: "..."
Xiao Yu: “…”
"No, no, no, we're not demolishing the house this time." Chu Xuanyi wiped the sweat from his forehead and patiently explained, "The mission this time is very simple, it's just... smelling the smell."
He pointed outside and said, "Later, all the people in the palace will line up in the courtyard. You will walk past them one by one and smell carefully to see who has the smell of this stinking wood. If you find it, you will have candy. If you can't find it..."
Ah Jiu immediately asked nervously, "What if we can't find it?"
"If you can't find it..." Chu Xuanyi thought for a moment and gave a devilish smile, "If you can't find it, your snacks for the next three months will only be carrots."
"Wow!" Ajiu's face instantly fell, as if the sky was about to fall. "No carrots! I will definitely find it! My nose is sharper than the little black dog in the palace!"
Thus, half an hour later, a spectacular scene appeared in the courtyard of the Prince Regent's Palace.
Over two hundred people from the palace, from guards to servants, from cooks to maids, formed long, silent lines. Each one craned their necks, looking with curiosity and awe at the little girl being led by the Imperial Master.
"Everyone, stand still! The Grand Master will pray for the palace today, and the little fortune teller will personally examine your spirits! Anyone who has bad luck and the little fortune teller finds out will be dragged out and given thirty lashes!" Chu Xuanyi was holding a whisk and shouting in a pretentious manner, looking like a real charlatan.
When everyone heard this, they all stood straight, not daring to breathe.
Ajiu walked with his short legs, led by Chu Xuanyi, past the first guard.
"Hmm... the smell of sweat." She shook her head.
The second maid walked by.
"Hmm...it smells like perfumed powder, not nice." She shook her head again.
The third servant walked past.
"Hmm... the smell of garlic is so strong!" She pinched her nose.
One row, two rows...
The atmosphere in the yard became increasingly tense. Everyone held their breath, fearing that they might have some strange smell on them that would be discovered by this legendary "little fortune teller."
Chu Xuanyi also began to lose his temper: "Ajiu, are you sure you can smell it? Or should you be more careful?"
"I sniffed very carefully!" Ah Jiu muttered unhappily, "but they don't smell like that stinky wood!"
Xiao Yu stood in the corridor not far away, with his hands behind his back, his face calm and without any emotion.
Just when Chu Xuanyi was about to give up and thought that this plan was too fantastical, Ajiu walked to the row of people in charge of the kitchen and suddenly stopped.
She stopped in front of a middle-aged cook who was slightly plump and had a simple and honest face.
The cook's heart skipped a beat and his calves began to tremble.
Ajiu tilted his little head and sniffed him left and right, his little brows tightly furrowed.
"You!" She suddenly stretched out her little finger and pointed at the fat cook.
The fat cook fell to his knees with a thud, tears streaming down his face. "Little fortune teller, please spare me! I... I just ate an extra clove of garlic this morning to wake myself up. I didn't mean to stink you! Please, little fortune teller, have mercy on me. Please, Your Majesty, have mercy on me!"
Everyone in the yard was stunned. This little fortune teller was too good to be true! He could even smell garlic cloves after eating them?
"It's not garlic!" Ah Jiu shook her head. She walked around the cook again, her face full of confusion. "You... have that smell of stinky wood, but... it's so faint, like it was blown over by the wind and picked up a little bit."
As soon as these words were spoken, Chu Xuanyi and Xiao Yu in the distance looked at each other, and their eyes instantly became sharp.
"Bring him in." Xiao Yu turned and walked into the study, with Chu Xuanyi following closely behind.
The fat cook was immediately carried into the study by two ferocious guards and was frightened out of his wits.
"Tell me, who did you come into contact with today, and where did you go?"
"No... I haven't been anywhere!" The cook was almost crying. "I went into the kitchen early in the morning, kneading dough and lighting the fire to prepare breakfast for your Highness. I haven't left for a single moment!"
"Think about it again!" Xiao Yu asked coldly, "Where does the smell on you come from?"
The fat cook was frightened by his look and tried hard to recall.
"Ah! I remember now!" He suddenly slapped his thigh. "This morning, Steward Lin came to the kitchen to inspect the breakfast preparations. He...he was standing downwind of me at the time, and I seemed to...seemed to smell a strange odor coming from him. I thought Steward Lin had acquired some precious spice, but it smelled strange, like rotten wood or medicinal herbs. It was definitely not a good smell!"
Rotten wood...herbal medicine...
The clues suddenly became clear.
Chu Xuanyi and Xiao Yu looked at each other again, and everything was said without words.
"Okay, you can go out now." Chu Xuanyi waved his hand, "Don't mention what happened today to anyone, otherwise..."
"Yes, yes, yes! I understand! I didn't see anything and I know nothing!" The fat cook ran out crawling as if he had been pardoned.
Silence returned to the study.
Ajiu was holding the big bag of plum blossom cakes that Chu Xuanyi promised him, and his mouth was full of crumbs.
"Alas," Chu Xuanyi sighed and slumped back in his chair. "After all this trouble, it turns out to be just a second-hand clue. All my efforts were in vain, but it also seems not to have been in vain."
Xiao Yu's fingertips tapped lightly on the table, making a soft "knock, knock" sound.
After a moment, he raised his eyes and looked at Chu Xuanyi. "No, it's not in vain." He said slowly, "Since the fish has revealed its tail, then we should... close the net."
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