Chapter 14 The Golden Hairpin (1) "How can something that has never existed be cured or not..."
"Let me introduce you to my wife, this is my master's wife."
Su Xiaotang led the head chef to Yuan Mingjin. Seeing her surprised expression, he instinctively tried to smile, but accidentally aggravated the wound on his cheek, causing him to almost burst into tears. He could only suppress his grievances, saying, "I originally wanted to open a restaurant, so I became her apprentice and learned cooking from her. The stinky tofu, stinky mandarin fish, and dirty buns I made before were all learned from her!"
Recalling the stinky mandarin fish that almost made him faint from the stench, Yuan Mingjin's lips twitched twice. He was about to scold the prince consort for tinkering with such things all day long, but then he remembered the things he brought back from the Su residence yesterday, and the words stopped abruptly. His lips opened and closed, and after a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a sentence: "...So what are you planning to do today?"
The head cook replied, "Your Highness, when the King was learning his craft at Wanqian Restaurant, he tasted a dish called 'Luosifen' (river snail rice noodles) and praised it highly. Unfortunately, the flavor of Luosifen is greatly diminished when it gets cold, so it cannot be taken away and can only be eaten fresh. Today, the King would like me to make a bowl of Luosifen for Your Highness."
"Luosifen?" Yuan Mingjin repeated in confusion, "What a novel name! Is there any story behind it?"
"Your Highness, the names of these dishes were all chosen by the master, and some of us commoners don't understand their meaning." The head chef smiled and said, "However, the name 'Luosifen' is not very original. It's just that the soup base is made from snails, star anise, cinnamon, cloves, chili peppers, and other ingredients, hence the name."
"I see." Yuan Mingjin cautiously peeked into the large vat behind the cooks. "What's in there? It doesn't smell bad, does it?"
The psychological trauma caused by the spoiled, rotten mandarin fish is so severe that she is now terrified of large vats like these.
"Don't worry, my lady, that's pickled bamboo shoots, they don't smell bad!" Su Xiaotang quickly answered, her guilty conscience evident, clearly recalling her disastrous attempt at cooking. "Without it, the flavor of snail rice noodles would be halved. By the way, mistress, did you bring any fresh snails?"
"Yes, yes, I brought them! My wife went to the market early this morning to pick them out herself!" The cook patted her chest proudly. "They're still bubbling in the jar, guaranteed fresh!"
Once the master and apprentice started talking about cooking, they couldn't stop. Yuan Mingjin, who had been smiling faintly as he watched this scene and listened to his confidant's whispered report, quickly lost his smile. Taking advantage of the two's heated discussion, he got up and slipped away.
She didn't notice what was behind her. Su Xiaotang caught a glimpse of her departing figure out of the corner of her eye, and she couldn't hide her disappointment.
...
"Did he really say he was willing to tell the truth?" Yuan Mingjin strode along the path, the lush vegetation on both sides rustling against his clothes.
“My lord, it’s absolutely true. He did confess to switching the prince consort, but… he said he could only tell you.” The confidante hesitated. “Granny Zhang also suspected something was amiss, but that scoundrel Jiuyao is very stubborn. He won’t utter a word until he sees you—even after being beaten so badly…”
"I understand." Yuan Mingjin suddenly stopped, took out a gold hairpin from his bosom, and placed it in his hair. "Let's go."
Upon reaching a rockery as tall as two people, she and her confidante skillfully circled around to the other side and entered the cave.
The passageway was initially extremely narrow, spiraling downwards, and gradually became so narrow that only one person could barely pass through. As it went deeper into the ground, it became increasingly cool.
After walking for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the interior suddenly opened up: there were prisons on both sides, each bar as thick as an infant's arm, and heavy locks made of black iron by a master craftsman. Once inside, there was no way to escape.
At the end of the corridor, a bloodied man was handcuffed to the wall, his hair disheveled and face obscured. Yuan Mingjin raised his chin, and his attendants rushed forward and poured a basin of well water over him. The man shivered violently, slowly opened his eyes, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he chuckled.
This person was none other than Xiao Lü.
"Why are you laughing?" Yuan Mingjin took a rattan whip handed to him by his confidant, weighed it in his hand and tested it, then looked up at Xiao Lü. "That's right, having red smartweed as a companion on the road to the Yellow Springs is something to laugh about. At least you're not all alone."
When she first met him that day, she noticed that Xiao Lü looked remarkably like someone else. However, she had only glanced at the two people once or twice, so it was impossible for her to immediately recognize them.
"Heh... Hahahaha!" Xiao Lü laughed even harder, but seeing that Yuan Mingjin's expression remained unchanged, she suddenly stopped. "Your Highness Prince Rui, I am not as stupid as your consort—if you had already caught Hong Liao, you wouldn't need to use him to test me. I know no more than he does."
"Besides, you wouldn't dare kill me—if one day His Majesty discovers that the Su family dared to switch the beams and pillars, and is enraged, would you just stand by and watch your beloved consort and your right-hand men be executed at the Meridian Gate?"
Snap!
Yuan Mingjin raised her arm and lashed him hard with the whip. The thin blade struck a gaping wound, causing the man to jerk like a shrimp, panting heavily. He glared at her through his greasy, tangled hair, his expression a mixture of shock, anger, hatred, and fear. He laughed maniacally like a demon: "What, Your Highness, did I hit the nail on the head? Are you furious? Not only do you not dare to kill me, but you're begging me to tell you those things!"
"What good will it do to kill me? You'll never find out our plans from me!"
Handing the rattan whip to someone else, Yuan Mingjin took a deep breath without making it obvious, calmed herself down, reached out and stroked the gold hairpin that had just been put on, and smiled at him, "Little Green—no, Green Ting, do you recognize this?"
Red smartweed, green sandbar, ah... what nice names—wait a minute.
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Yuan Mingjin, and a pretty and fresh face appeared before her eyes.
Hearing this long-lost address, Xiao Lü suddenly looked up, and the strangely shaped hairpin came right into his eyes. His pupils suddenly contracted—"Where did this hairpin come from? Where did this hairpin come from?!"
He hadn't eaten or drunk anything all night, and had been handcuffed to the wall for several hours. He should have been exhausted, but somehow he found a surge of strength, making the iron chains binding his hands and feet rattle loudly. His eyes bulged out, like a goldfish leaping out of the water, about to die. "How do you know my real name? How did this hairpin end up with you? What did you do to her? What did you do to that official!"
How foolish! She only used a casual trick, and Lü Ting panicked, almost revealing their entire plan. Seeing his arrogance earlier, I thought I'd have to waste time arguing with him, but it turned out he'd saved the day.
"Weren't you unwilling to speak just now, only knowing how to provoke me?" Yuan Mingjin pulled out the gold hairpin, held it up to his eyes and examined it closely. "Why have you changed your tune now, becoming so noisy?"
The main body of the hairpin features seven gold beads connected by extremely fine gold wire, twisted by a skillful craftsman into the shape of a wine scoop. Two more gold beads adorn the end of the handle, resembling the Big Dipper and its two auxiliary stars in the sky. The entire hairpin is a masterpiece of craftsmanship, reflecting an extremely bright light even in the dim light of the dungeon, dazzling and radiant, clearly an extraordinary piece.
No wonder Su Yiyi took a liking to it at first sight and was determined to snatch it from Su Xiaotang.
"Pooh!"
Despite the dim light inside the cell, Lü Ting could clearly see everything around her. Her eyes were glued to the hairpin, and in a fit of anger, her blood rushed to her head. She stretched out her neck, and a mouthful of foul-smelling blood gushed out—fortunately, Yuan Mingjin reacted quickly and stepped back, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Nevertheless, a few drops inevitably splashed onto her chest—today she was wearing a moon-white round-necked robe with flowing cloud patterns. Against the white background, those few bright red bloodstains stood out even more, their vermilion-like color faintly exuding an eerie and ominous aura, like the most vicious curse.
Lü Ting glared fiercely, then burst into hearty laughter. Her bulging eyes were fixed on Yuan Mingjin's face, anticipating her disgusted reaction. But instead, Yuan Mingjin merely furrowed her brows slightly, remaining calm. As she laughed, she gradually lost her voice and exclaimed in astonishment, "Weren't you a clean freak? When did you recover?"
“How can something that has never existed be cured?” Yuan Mingjin stroked the exquisitely crafted gold hairpin, smiled at him, but her brows furrowed and her eyes were full of pity. “You care so much about her, yet she hasn’t even told you the truth about why I kicked that dancer at the victory banquet. It’s truly lamentable.”
Lü Ting watched as Yuan Mingjin gently traced the seven golden stars with his fingertips. His smile vanished, his eyes turned icy, and Lü Ting's face instantly flushed red. He was about to retort when someone covered his mouth, leaving him only able to make muffled whimpers.
"You have so much to say right now, but unfortunately my patience has run out and I'm too lazy to listen anymore. If you don't want to talk, there are plenty of people who are willing to."
"Don't worry, blood is thicker than water. I haven't done anything to her—but tomorrow, things might be different."
After saying this, Yuan Mingjin put away the hairpin, turned and left, ignoring the clanking of the chains behind her.
As soon as they stepped out of the cave and into the sunlight, Granny Zhang came forward and said, "Your Highness, it seems that the King Consort was merely implicated and should be innocent."
Like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind, Su Yiyi and Xin Yaning thought that pushing Su Xiaotang out to marry in place of them would solve everything. In reality, they were nothing more than two arrogant mantises, never imagining that countless orioles were watching them from behind.
After the oriole, there is another bird catcher who can easily manipulate her—it's unclear whether it's Yuan Mingjin or her sympathetic rival.
Yuan Mingjin glanced at her sideways and said, "You're definitely biased towards him."
"How could that be? This old servant's favorite is still His Highness." Zhang Mama covered her mouth and laughed.
As the head of the Prince Rui's mansion, she was naturally a fox spirit who had cultivated into human form, cunning and shrewd. That day, Xiangye intended to provoke Su Xiaotang and ordered someone to lure her away first. How could Zhang Mama not see that there was something fishy going on? So she went with the flow and easily followed the servant away, wanting to see how the newly appointed prince consort would deal with it.
Although the result was unexpected, it was also very satisfying to her. She thought Su Xiaotang was a good match. "It's just that the King's husband is really cute. He seems to be wholeheartedly good to Your Highness. This old servant naturally has to say a few words for him."
"Let's not talk about that now." Yuan Mingjin rubbed his temples. "Who named Xiangye in the first place? Take men to the West Courtyard immediately and capture that person alive!"
...
A steaming bowl of snail rice noodles was already ready, but Su Xiaotang waited and waited, her cheek resting on her hand, until the noodles were almost lumpy, but Yuan Mingjin still hadn't returned. Her long eyelashes drooped, concealing the frustration and dejection in her eyes.
"When did you get married?" The head cook, after cleaning the stove with the servants as usual, saw Su Xiaotang standing there with longing eyes, like a statue waiting for his wife. She wiped her hands with a cloth and sat down on the stone bench next to him. "Although your teacher's wife is not your proper teacher, she is still qualified to drink a cup of your wedding wine."
Su Xiaotang could tell that this was just a joke and not a genuine reproach, so she forced a smile and said, "I also wanted to invite my master's wife to have a drink at our wedding, but..." But he himself didn't even know he was getting married, so how could he invite his master's wife?
"—Just what?"
A clear, melodious voice rang in; it was one that Su Xiaotang knew all too well and had longed for. He looked up in surprise, his face instantly lighting up with a smile, and he called out joyfully, "My wife!"
The gloom from before had completely vanished.
"That kid changes his tune so quickly, he's practically wagging his tail," the cook thought to herself.
She smiled knowingly, made an excuse to leave, leaving the couple to remain there, deeply in love.
Yuan Mingjin took his seat, accepted the chopsticks handed to him by Su Xiaotang, and looked down at the bowl of bright red and fragrant soup noodles, feeling quite uneasy.
Peanuts, though scattered, occupy the most central position; golden-fried tofu skin is neatly stacked on the left; the greens are slightly wilted from blanching, but still glossy and bright green, almost dazzling; dark black fungus and yellowish-white pickled bamboo shoots are finely shredded and slowly spread on the rice noodles; there's not much broth left, almost all of it has been absorbed by the plump white noodles, and you don't know what it will taste like after one bite, but it shouldn't be too bad.
The smell itself isn't unpleasant; in fact, it could be described as appetizing. However…
She looked up at Su Xiaotang, and as soon as she opened her mouth, he immediately understood what she was thinking and smiled, "No extra chili was added! I know my wife can't handle spicy food, but this soup base inevitably needs some chili oil to fully bring out the aroma."
Knowing that he had guessed her thoughts, Yuan Mingjin's cheeks tightened. Without saying a word, she stirred the sticky rice noodles, picked up a piece with her chopsticks, put it in her mouth, and her eyes suddenly lit up—
My tongue was suddenly scalded, but it was incredibly refreshing: the rice noodles were smooth, the tofu skin was crisp, and the greens, wood ear mushrooms, and pickled bamboo shoots each had their own chewy texture, making a series of small, crisp sounds that exploded in my mouth. The rice noodles, especially, were soaked with the broth, becoming even more flavorful. I held my breath and slurped them down, and before I knew it, I had finished them all. Looking at the bottom of the bowl, it was completely clean, not a single drop of broth left.
Su Xiaotang was dumbfounded—Yuan Mingjin ate too fast. Although he didn't wolf it down, in the blink of an eye, the whole bowl of snail rice noodles seemed to have disappeared into thin air.
"Ahem..." Yuan Mingjin slowly took out an embroidered handkerchief from his sleeve and demurely wiped his lips, which were stained bright orange-red with chili oil. "It tastes good."
She wasn't very good at eating spicy food, but at first she accepted it well. Only after finishing did she realize that the spicy aroma filled her entire throat cavity and was rising, making her nose itch and causing her to sneeze.
"Would you like some more snacks, my lady?" From the moment she appeared, Su Xiaotang's bright eyes never left her. Seeing her eating so intently, he watched intently too, not even noticing when the head chef left. If it weren't for the injury on his cheek that hurt when pulled, he would have grinned from ear to ear.
Hearing her say it was delicious, he beamed with joy and couldn't help but want to offer her all the good food. "I also invited the chef who is good at making milk cakes to the manor. Coincidentally, a batch of fresh milk was delivered to the kitchen today, so I had him make it. There is a batch of freshly baked cakes right now. Would you like to try some, my lady?"
Although Su Xiaotang always wanted to feed her, this was the first time he had succeeded. He had to strike while the iron was hot and let his wife taste all the things he thought were delicious!
...Milk cake, milk cake again.
They say once bitten by a snake, twice shy. How come he's already thinking about that milk cake that once tricked him, less than a day later?
"Fine, since he's so eager for me to try it..." Yuan Mingjin sighed and rubbed his forehead, saying, "Go ahead."
With her permission, Su Xiaotang happily slipped into the kitchen. Yuan Mingjin watched her retreating figure, and couldn't help but recall his conversation with Su Aoshuang at the Su residence the day before—
Of Su Aoshuang's three sons, Su Yutang is both a girl and the youngest sister. She is destined to become an official and inherit the Su family business, so no amount of pampering is too much. Su Yiyi is her first child, so she also receives a lot of attention.
Only Su Xiaotang...
Because of her father, Su Aoshuang's feelings for him were the most complicated; even she herself couldn't tell whether it was love or hate.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Haha! You wouldn't believe it! The female lead doesn't actually have mysophobia!
It was actually obvious from the beginning that she was faking it: at the restaurant, the male lead overheard the wealthy merchant saying that she was covered in blood the day she returned to the capital, and that she didn't even go back to her residence to take a bath and change her clothes before going directly to meet the emperor. If she were truly a germaphobe, she would have been unable to tolerate it. [Sunglasses]
The foreshadowing was so well done, especially the moment the truth was revealed—it felt so satisfying to see the wicked scheme succeed. [Sunglasses]
I updated another long chapter today, please praise me hehe [pat on the head]
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