Chapter 14 The Fourteenth Kill

Xiaoyu avoided Zhou Xunran's gaze and blinked guiltily.

"This is normal. I know what's wrong with this smell."

Zhou Xunran leaned back in his chair, his tense body relaxed, and looked at her with a hint of smile in his eyes: "Of course it's strange."

"What's so strange about that?"

Xiaoyu's eyes rolled around, and she quickly thought of a solution. She spoke with confidence, "I have my period every month, plus I put on makeup on my face, so I am familiar with this smell. What's so strange about that? It's you men who don't understand anything!"

[I'm so damn smart! I can even find such a reason! Junior brother must be too shy to say anything.]

A bright light of excitement flashed in Xiaoyu's eyes.

Zhou Xunran spoke slowly and calmly: "But you have been in the palace for half a month, and you haven't put on any makeup or powder on your face, you haven't even painted your eyebrows, right?"

He pointed at Xiaoyu's eyebrows and said with disdain: "Your eyebrows are natural. They don't look good. Find a chance to ask Minglu to help you trim them."

Xiaoyu completely forgot that the argument started with the smell on Zhou Yi's body. She walked out with the bowl in her hand, and before she left, she didn't forget to hit him back with his words: "You have a really venomous mouth, and what you said is not very nice. Find a chance to let Minglu sew for you with an embroidery needle."

Zhou Xunran: “…”

Zhou Xunran was so choked that he was speechless. Xiaoyu was very happy and even jumped and sang a little song when he went to the kitchen to return the dishes.

At the door of the kitchen, chef Zhang Chuanjiang was sitting on a bench at the door, chewing dry steamed buns with a listless look on his face.

Xiaoyu was in a good mood. After delivering the bowl, she stood aside and asked him, "Chef Zhang, this steamed bun has been there for four or five days. It's dry. How do you chew it?"

Zhang Chuanjiang was already depressed, and seeing her relaxed and at ease, leaning against the pillar with her legs crossed, he felt even worse, and spoke in a veiled tone, "As the head chef of the East Courtyard, what's wrong with me chewing a dry steamed bun? Does it bother you?"

"No, I'm just asking you this."

Zhang Chuanjiang opened his mouth and took a big bite of the steamed bun. He choked instantly and his neck stiffened, his face flushed.

Fortunately, he had prepared a water bag. Before he was choked to death by the steamed bun, he grabbed the water bag at his side, tilted his head back and drank two sips of water before he came to his senses.

"I just can't figure it out,"

Zhang Chuanjiang wiped off the water stains on his chin and finally spoke, "I am a chef from a noble family. You can choose any of the six major cuisines. Which one can't I cook? Why doesn't the prince like the food I cook, but eats the food you cook instead?"

He gave Xiaoyu a disdainful look and said, "When I was all the rage in the imperial palace, you were still in your mother's womb."

"As for this question," Xiaoyu touched his chin in a mysterious way, "I know the answer."

"You know? What can you know?" Zhang Chuanjiang didn't even look at her.

"I know why the prince loves my cooking but disdains yours."

"Then tell me!" Zhang Chuanjiang immediately looked at her expectantly: "If you can tell me the real Zi Chou, I, Old Zhang, will give you the position of the head chef of the East Courtyard!"

The fact that Xiaoyu coveted the position of chief chef in the East Courtyard had already reached Zhang Chuanjiang's ears on the first day she entered the palace, thanks to the "unremitting efforts" of Chief Eunuch Zhu.

When Zhang Chuanjiang heard this, he didn't take her to heart. He just smiled and quickly forgot about it.

The first face-to-face confrontation with Xiaoyu happened the day after hearing the news. The prince's attendant, Zhou, came to the kitchen in person and told him that if Xiaoyu came to the kitchen, he should treat her with a smile and cooperate with her no matter what she did. He should also pay attention to her every move and report to him quietly if he saw her poisoning the food.

That day he took out his precious chopping board and knife, his eyes wide open, and saw Xiaoyu come to the kitchen, cook some porridge and leave.

Moreover, she actually lived in the East Courtyard and became a frequent visitor to the kitchen. The prince could even eat the food she cooked.

This forced Zhang Chuanjiang to cheer up and examine this little girl whom he did not take seriously but who might replace him in the future.

"Are you serious?" Xiao Tao asked. She said she wanted to replace the chef of the East Courtyard. Although it was just a casual remark, the fact that she was able to accomplish it in such a short time also proved that she was an excellent cook.

Telling it to others can also be a topic of conversation.

Zhang Chuanjiang nodded: "I, Old Zhang, always keep my word, as long as you can give me a convincing reason!"

Xiaoyu said seriously: "When we cook, we not only put the ingredients and seasonings together, but also put our emotions into the food. Only in this way can the food be alive, and the people who eat can also feel the feelings of the cook."

Zhang Chuanjiang touched his hairless bald head and said, "Focusing on emotions? What emotions?"

Xiaoyu was full of passion: "Of course it's your love for the prince. You love the prince, and you think about him when you cook. The prince can naturally feel your love for him. In this way, he knows that if he doesn't eat your food, you, the one who loves him, will be sad, so he will eat it~"

"Ah?" Zhang Chuanjiang looked at her in confusion, his face slowly turning red, even with a hint of embarrassment: "What are you talking about? I have a wife."

Xiaoyu laughed, and seeing Zhang Chuanjiang's face turning red visibly, Xiaoyu couldn't help laughing.

Only then did Zhang Chuanjiang realize that he had been fooled by her.

"How dare you make fun of me, little girl? Do you want to stay in the palace?!"

He is an old man already, and even though he said that, it is not appropriate for him to really argue with a little girl, so he could only curse her a few times.

Xiaoyu laughed and turned to walk out: "Chef, you take your time to think about it here. I'm leaving first."

But the smile on her face only lasted for half an incense stick of time. After returning to Fengheyuan, Xiaoyu became as depressed as Zhang Chuanjiang.

The reason was simple: her situation was back to square one: her and Sixteenth Sister’s mission was to kill their junior fellow apprentice.

It's easy for her to say. She can control whether to do it, what to do, how to do it and when to do it.

But Sixteenth Sister is like a cannonball that explodes at an irregular time. She may detonate the palace at any time and drag Xiaoyu down with her.

We can put this aside for now. Something just happened in the West Courtyard, and the security must be tight. If Sixteenth Sister wants to escape, it will take her several days to plan.

What Xiaoyu was most worried about was the jade token that Sixteenth Sister used to impersonate the sect leader.

Seeing the jade token is like seeing the sect master himself. If Sixteenth Sister uses it to deceive other people in the Jieyou Sect, she will definitely succeed.

There are quite a few of their bases in this capital city.

No, I have to send a message back to Jieyoumen!

Xiaoyu took out a pen and ink, briefly described the situation, hid it under his clothes, and went out to find Wang Dazongguan to apply for permission to leave the house.

But things were not as easy as she thought.

"Originally, anyone in the mansion who wants to leave the mansion can just look for me. But Xiaoyu, you are different. You are the prince's maid, so your travels must be under the jurisdiction of the prince. So you have to look for the prince for this matter."

This rule is acceptable. Xiaoyu can accept it: "Okay, then I'll go find the prince."

She wanted to turn around and go to Qingwu Courtyard, but she heard the chief steward say, "The prince has gone to the palace, and he may not be back for long."

Xiaoyu frowned: "How long should I wait? I'm very anxious!"

The chief steward said he was helpless: "There is nothing I can do about this matter."

After all, it was his junior fellow's residence, and Xiaoyu didn't want to force his way in. If he made a big fuss, it would be bad for everyone.

Well, to be honest, if she didn't try her best to force her way out, she probably wouldn't be able to get out.

"What a broken rule! I'll change it sooner or later." Xiaoyu muttered to himself and prepared to go back to Fengheyuan to think of a solution.

Before I even reached the door, I heard the loud voice of Manager Zhu coming from the courtyard: "Brother-in-law! I just saw Old Zhang coming over. Did he bring you some delicious food? Brother-in-law, you can't keep it to yourself! Your sister is pregnant now...uh..."

His voice stopped when he saw Xiaoyu and the butler who grinned and signaled him to shut up.

Manager Zhu touched his chin awkwardly, "Xiao Yu'er, what a coincidence, you are here to see my sister...to see the chief manager."

Xiaoyu raised his eyebrows and looked at the steward scrutinizingly.

"Chef Zhang is here to bring you something delicious? That's a coincidence, isn't it, Chief Steward?"

The chief steward secretly glared at steward Zhu and smiled with a guilty conscience: "It's just some snacks, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."

This is obviously a case of cat peeping!

"Really? When he brought you the food, did he say anything extra, like... making things difficult for me at the right time?"

The chief steward said righteously: "How is that possible! We are all working for the prince, so we should be of one mind. There is no need to make things difficult for us."

What a high-sounding statement!

Xiaoyu asked him back: "Now that I have told you the reason why you want to leave the house, can you leave now?"

"Yes, yes, yes," the chief steward explained to her with a smile, "Xiao Yu, I don't let you go out because it's for your own good. There are bad people outside. If you get hurt, how can I explain to the prince?"

Xiaoyu snorted coldly, "Hypocritical!"

She walked straight out, and as she left, she could still hear the sound of Manager Zhu being beaten from behind.

Xiao Yu had no time to save Manager Zhu, so after leaving the palace, he walked around the street to make sure no one was following him before he came to a base of the Jieyou Sect in Beijing.

It's a shop selling fructose.

Xiaoyu picked up a pound of grapefruit candy and brought it to the counter.

The shopkeeper was a middle-aged man with a goatee. He took the grapefruit candy attentively and prepared to package it.

Xiaoyu tapped the counter twice with her fingers, paused for a moment, and then tapped three times in a row.

The shopkeeper's little goat shuddered, and his eyes shot at the little fish like sharp swords.

It's time to give the signal for the connection.

Xiaoyu bent down and whispered, "Life is free of worries."

"Only to relieve worries. What do you mean by relieve worries?"

"Kill people without worrying about it."

One of our own!

Xiaoyu took out the envelope and handed it to the shopkeeper, saying seriously, "Please give it to the head of the Ten Women's Hall for me. It's very important. Please hurry up. Thank you, big brother!"

The shopkeeper hid the letter and assured her, "Don't worry, young lady. I have the letter with me."

The two looked at each other and nodded solemnly.

After delivering the letter, Xiaoyu turned around and was about to leave with the pomelo candy.

The shopkeeper saw her quick movements and called her, "Wait a minute, young lady."

"What?"

"The girl hasn't settled the bill yet. It's seven hundred coins in total."

Xiaoyu pointed at herself and asked in disbelief, "...Me? I still need to pay the bill?"

We are partners, brother! Why should we distinguish between you and me?

The shopkeeper chuckled and said without mercy: "Our shop has a small profit margin, and everyone who comes must pay the bill."

Xiaoyu put the wrapped grapefruit candy on the counter and started to complain: "Seven hundred coins is too expensive. Pour out half of it for me."

No wonder the Jieyoumen on the mountain was built so prosperously. Even their own people were cheated. How could they not have money to repair the house?

The shopkeeper was still smiling. He unwrapped the package and poured out half of it. When he weighed it on the scale, he found that it was one pound heavier. He did not forget to pick out a small candy from the scale plate.

The little fish was dumbfounded by the smooth movements.

"You're so stingy, aren't you afraid that I won't come to your shop to buy candy in the future?"

The shopkeeper smiled at her and said confidently, "The girl will come."

As long as the door to worry about something is not broken, she will always come.

Xiaoyu understood what he meant. She put down the three hundred and fifty coins, took the half pound of grapefruit candy he had packed, and left without looking back.

Unscrupulous businessman.