Chapter 8 I don't know how to cook sweet flower soup.
Only after leaving the office did Zhu Qing feel the gaze that had been fixed on her back finally disappear. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief and quickly walked away from Feng Huaihe, who was already far away.
Zhu Qing followed him for a few steps and noticed that Feng Huaihe's gait was still a bit strange. Just then, he turned around and opened his mouth as if to say something, so Zhu Qing hurriedly rushed forward, "I know, I can't walk behind you!"
After Zhu Qing finished speaking, she saw Feng Huaihe pause for a moment, but she ignored him and turned to walk ahead.
Zhu Qing was worried that Feng Huaihe had come to her at this time to help Tian Lingzi catch someone. Her heart was pounding with anxiety, and she felt that she had no time to think and had to find an opportunity to get rid of the letter she had on her.
As Zhu Qing was about to step into the chief secretary's office, Feng Huaihe called out to her from behind. Startled by the sudden voice, she turned around in alarm and saw him pointing to a winding path on the left, indicating that she should take this route.
The flowers, trees, shrubs and grasses on both sides of the path grew to waist height and stretched as far as the eye could see. At that time, at sunset, it looked like a sinister path where a crime had been committed.
Zhu Qing's heart clenched. She had read that some shogunates had torture chambers, and Feng Huaihe was the head of one of them. The torture chamber was likely located in the chief secretary's office. Was she going to be forced to confess?
Zhu Qing's face was a little pale. It seemed that he and Feng Huaihe were not that close. Tian Lingzi hadn't even arrived yet, and he was already starting to stab him in the back!
Despairing of life, she stepped onto the path.
Listening to Feng Huaihe's slow, uneven footsteps behind her, Zhu Qing slowly walked to the end of the path, only to find a small kitchen hidden among the flowers and trees in front of her.
As the evening sun sets, its rays filter through the tree branches, dappling the ground like scattered gold and illuminating the small flowers and grasses swaying in the breeze.
Amidst the flowers and plants, there was an open space paved with blue bricks, where a dining table and two low stools were placed.
Three dishes and two bowls of chestnut porridge were laid out on the table.
Zhu Qing was stunned on the spot. Was this an invitation to dinner?
"Sit down." Feng Huaihe said succinctly, sitting down on a low stool near the flowers and trees. Zhu Qing quickly sat down opposite him and saw a plate of steamed small fish, two bowls of mutton soup with bright green coriander floating on the table, and a bowl of small green vegetables.
The main dish served as a side dish was very light chestnut porridge.
Besides the aroma of food, Zhu Qing also smelled a slightly bitter scent of mugwort. Looking down, he discovered that a brazier was placed on the ground not far away, where mugwort was being burned.
Feng Huaihe noticed her gaze and casually explained, "Mosquitoes are a nuisance in the summer; lighting this can repel them."
Zhu Qing gave him an appreciative look and confirmed that he was indeed a considerate childhood friend.
Zhu Qing picked up her long chopsticks, took a piece of small fish, and put it in her mouth.
The aroma of fish is irresistible, the meat is tender and juicy, almost melting in your mouth, leaving a lingering fragrance on your lips and teeth.
Zhu Qing's eyes widened. This was the best-tasting communal meal she had ever eaten in her life. The shogunate's chefs were incredibly skilled!
Feng Huaihe remained seated as still as a mountain, not moving an inch, observing Zhu Qing's expression, "Delicious?"
Zhu Qing was busy cooking and didn't have time to speak, so she just nodded repeatedly at him.
Feng Huaihe raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. “You can come here for meals anytime from now on, morning, noon and night. I heard you’re not feeling well, so I’ve prepared a medicine stove. You can bring your medicine here to brew in the future.”
Upon hearing the word "medicine," Zhu Qing recalled Zhu Feichuan, who had been holding a medicine jar outside the shogunate earlier.
I wonder if the three of them have gone home yet, and when Tian Lingzi will come to deal with her.
Zhu Qing lost her appetite. With a mouthful of food in her mouth, her cheeks were bulging. She stood there blankly, like a silly little pufferfish.
"Meow—"
Baobao jumped out of the dense bushes, walked to Zhu Qing's calves, and affectionately rubbed her with its fluffy little head.
Zhu Qing swallowed the rice in her mouth, bent down to rub its little head, and at this moment, Feng Huaihe picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, rinsed it in the bowl of water, and fed it to Bao Bao.
Bao Bao happily snored as she ate the fish.
When Feng Huaihe tried to feed Baobao a second bite, Baobao turned its head away and refused to eat.
Zhu Qing squatted down and petted Bao Bao: "Looks like a kitten that doesn't like to eat fish."
As she said this, while petting the cat, Zhu Qing was still thinking about the letter.
She was thinking, since Feng Huaihe was so familiar with her, and he had personally delivered those three letters to the three of them separately, could he know something and have a way to resolve this problem?
Moreover, Feng Huaihe must have some shrewdness and ability to get to this position. Perhaps asking him might give us some brilliant ideas.
While hesitating and pondering, Feng Huaihe suddenly said, "It loves to eat sweet flower soup."
Zhu Qing looked bewildered: "What?"
“Baobao doesn’t like to eat fish, but it loves sweet flower soup. So you can make it a bowl of sweet flower soup.”
Zhu Qing was already in a great mood and had no interest in such things. Besides, she had only ever heard of egg drop soup, never sweet flower soup. She casually said, "You're overthinking it. I don't know how to make it."
Feng Huaihe slowly put down his chopsticks, picked up the clean white handkerchief beside him, and calmly pressed the corners of his lips before looking at her and saying seriously, "I know you can do it. The small kitchen is right here. Cook a bowl of it. Look how hungry it is."
Zhu Qing looked up impatiently. "Do you even understand what I'm saying? I already told you I don't know how to cook. Besides, how do you know it's hungry? Did it jump onto your pillow in the middle of the night to tell you?"
Seeing Feng Huaihe sitting upright and eating in a refined manner, with lush greenery swaying in the wind behind him and the red glow of the sunset stretching across the sky above, he seemed to have stepped out of a painting, exuding an otherworldly air.
But his eyes were as dark as night, brimming with malevolence.
A note from the author:
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