Chapter 23, Sixteenth of the Imperial Kitchen
A moment later, the King of Zhen remembered that it was he who had agreed to let Shan Yuan'an arrange for another person to serve the meal.
Therefore, it is "they" rather than "he".
“…Send it here,” said the King of Zhen.
The attendant, upon receiving the order, went outside and brought the person in.
The familiar and handsome young man gradually came into view, but behind him was an unfamiliar man, tall and burly like a guard. If he were to reach out with his strong arms, he could easily hold the young man tightly in his arms.
One large and one small, one dark and one white, changed from being one foot in front of the other to standing shoulder to shoulder, and stood in front of the table. The King of Zhen's eyelids twitched heavily, feeling that it was extremely dazzling, so he withdrew his gaze and turned to the side.
Shinjuku performed the kneeling ceremony, and Kodukiko, remembering Shinjuku's instructions before he arrived, also knelt down.
"Your humble servant greets Your Majesty."
"...This humble servant greets Your Majesty."
"Rise."
After standing up, Shinju looked up at the Emperor, only to see him standing behind the table with his hands behind his back, revealing only the sharp, chiseled lines of his profile, exuding a sense of aloofness and coldness.
At the banquet, the Emperor did not talk much, but he would take the initiative to talk to him, and they seemed quite familiar with each other.
But now it's like this.
Ultimately, they were ruler and subject. Shinju put aside his unease, lowered his gaze, and began placing dishes on the table.
He didn't let Xiaodunzi do anything; he just let him watch from the side.
Xiao Dunzi obeyed without question, doing exactly what Shinjuku told him to do, as if Shinjuku were not a colleague but a trusted superior.
Today's dishes were also devoid of any ink color, which surprised Shinjuku, who closed his eyes and withdrew his six senses.
Since it was not poisonous, Shinjuku only took a small bite of each of the eighteen dishes on the table.
After putting down his chopsticks, Masaya noticed that the Emperor seemed to frown deeply and turned to face him.
After waiting for a while, still not hearing the emperor speak, Shinju handed the dish to the little boy next to him.
"Where are the chopsticks?" Xiaodunzi asked in a low voice when he saw that Zhensu hadn't given him any chopsticks.
It was then that Masakatsu realized he had forgotten to bring an extra pair of chopsticks.
There were three pairs of chopsticks on the table, but apart from the serving chopsticks used to pick up food and the pair he used to taste the food, there were only the jade chopsticks that were white with a hint of green, which were reserved for the emperor.
You can't use the Emperor's chopsticks... nor can you turn them around and use the other chopsticks, that's against etiquette.
After much deliberation, Shinju couldn't come up with a suitable solution.
He thought, "Then I'll just have to make do with Xiaodunzi."
So Shinjuku handed his chopsticks to Kodama.
He was about to signal to the other person with his eyes that they shouldn't mind, but Xiaodunzi looked at him with a cheerful expression, whether he didn't care or simply didn't notice such a small thing.
He then gave up on reminding him.
But while he remained silent, someone else spoke up.
"Thank you for the meal, please use these." A deep and stern voice suddenly rang out.
Shinju looked up again and saw the Emperor pointing to the serving chopsticks used to pick up food, saying, "Put everything on the plate and taste it again."
According to the usual procedure, one dish must be tasted before another is served. In this way, the serving chopsticks cannot be used for personal purposes. Therefore, Masakatsu considered this method but did not do it.
Since the Emperor had granted the exception, Shinju had no objection and exchanged the serving chopsticks for the pair that Kodun had.
He hadn't expected the emperor to notice these things. It was probably because using chopsticks like this was too unrefined, and it was normal for a monarch accustomed to elegance to disapprove.
Xiaodun hesitated for a moment, but then, appearing completely obedient to Shinjuku, he readily agreed to the change.
After Xiaodunzi had also tasted the dishes, they discussed and selected a few fresh seasonal dishes and a few particularly delicious ones, then packed the rest of the dishes back into the food box.
After a stick of incense had burned, neither Shinju nor Kodunzi felt unwell, so they took their leave from the Emperor.
The Emperor stared intently at the departing figures of the two, one tall and one short, then suddenly released his grip on the jade chopsticks with a crisp "clink."
"Your Majesty, this servant will fetch you a new pair." The attendant eunuch was the first to hear the commotion and quickly walked in from outside the door.
The two who had just stepped out the door stopped upon hearing this and looked back at where the emperor was.
"No need. Let Qing Chuan return with the meal; he has chopsticks. My hands are numb; I'll have him pick up some food for me while I'm at it," said Prince Zhen.
"Should we summon the imperial physician to examine you? Is there anything else that's bothering you?" The attendant eunuch immediately became anxious and hurriedly asked.
Seeing that the eunuch was asking questions but not taking any real action, the emperor was clearly displeased. "He's just tired of writing so many red-inked approvals."
Then, glancing at Shinjuku standing by the door, he slightly raised his chin and said, "Come here."
Shinju had clearly heard what the Emperor had just said and pondered: Is it really necessary for my hand to go numb and I be unable to hold things properly just because I'm writing red ink?
Could it be chronic poisoning? Before he even began serving meals, the imperial physician Guan had already poisoned him countless times. And then there's the staggering number of poisoning incidents recorded in historical texts…
Since the food boxes were all in Xiaodunzi's hands, Shinjuku told him to go back first. Xiaodunzi was stunned on the spot, but still left with his tail hanging low and invisible.
Shinju then walked to the emperor's side, instantly closing and opening his eyes, releasing his six senses.
In fact, when Shinjuku released his six senses before, the emperor was by his side on two occasions, but each time he could only see an extremely vigorous crimson-purple color, like flames rising slowly, or like ethereal mist.
This time was no exception; it was still a deep purple-red, without a trace of ink.
Shinju's brows furrowed slightly.
This is not right. Because the colors that ordinary people perceive under their six senses should include red, orange, green, and blue, especially the red and blue colors that represent the meridians, which ordinary people should definitely have.
However, the emperor only had one color on his body, and it was a deep purple, the rarest color among the six senses... Zhen Su believed that this was very likely a restriction placed on the chosen one by this small world, using purple energy to protect the array's eye, to prevent outsiders from spying on the operation of the King Hui array, and to prevent it from falling apart.
Therefore, even if the ink spots are not visible, Shinju cannot say for sure that there is no residual poison in the emperor's body.
If the location of the poison cannot be seen, it is either impossible to forcibly remove the poison or extremely difficult to succeed. He can't possibly touch the emperor's entire body just to find the poison spot.
Seeing the Emperor's urging look, Shinju stopped hesitating and opened the food box. However, when he saw the chopsticks he had used and the serving chopsticks that Xiaodun had used, he hesitated again.
The eunuch was stunned. He had been rambling on and on, trying to dissuade the emperor from his absurd idea, but the emperor ignored him completely and even gestured for him to leave. The eunuch had no choice but to walk out of the side room with a dejected look on his face.
Masakatsu decided to pose the difficult question to the Emperor: "Which pair will Your Majesty choose?"
Then he saw the Emperor give him a look that said, "What do you think?"
It seems he was wrong. The Emperor wasn't particularly refined or particular. Masahiro shook his head in disagreement, his gaze unconsciously falling on the Emperor's thin red lips.
But we've already kissed anyway.
Shinju gave up thinking, picked up his chopsticks, and looked at the Emperor.
Just before Shinjuku looked over, the Emperor's slightly upturned lips instantly disappeared.
Then, whenever the emperor's gaze fell upon a particular dish, Shinju would pick it up for him, catch it in the bowl below, and bring it to the emperor's lips.
Shinju stood right beside the Emperor, his peripheral vision filled with the lower half of the Emperor's face. He was so close that he could clearly see even the Emperor's molars and red tongue. The Emperor didn't touch the chopsticks; the Emperor's slow, deliberate biting and tucking, his restrained chewing, and his silent swallowing all stirred Shinju's heart, taking on a strange and inexplicable meaning.
They fed each other in perfect harmony, neither of them looking at the other. Their gazes gradually became unfocused, and their minds wandered off to who-knows-where.
Before we knew it, the porcelain plates for serving dishes and the bowls for serving staple foods were empty.
Only then did Shinju realize that he had been blindly picking at the food, while the Emperor had eaten it all without saying a word.
He vividly remembered that the emperor ate very little at the banquet, and he had heard Uncle Wu say that the emperor had never been a big eater. He would only eat a few large bowls of rice if there was braised pork knuckle to pour over it.
The Emperor ate so much this time, I wonder if he'll get too full. But this is his first time serving someone a meal, so his lack of skill is understandable. The problem is that the Emperor insisted on having him serve him.
After the meal, one should wipe one's lips and rinse one's mouth. Seeing that the emperor did not make any move or speak, Masakuni simply waited and did not move.
At this moment, the Emperor also came to his senses. He moved his gaze away from Masakuni's white, jade-like, yet empty earlobes, and personally picked up a handkerchief to wipe his mouth and rinse his mouth with a teacup. He held the teacup quite steadily, which made Masakuni look at the Emperor with suspicion.
Without blinking, the Emperor said, "My hand feels much better. Thank you for serving me today."
"...Your Majesty is too kind. It is merely my duty." With that, Shinju bowed and took his leave.
Little did he know that once Masakatsu left, the emperor, left alone in the palace, ground his canine teeth into his tongue, his phoenix eyes narrowed, and the intense interest and malice in his eyes finally spilled out uncontrollably.
Back at the Imperial Kitchen, Shinju found Xiaodunzi standing like a door god at the entrance of the kitchen. As soon as he saw him return, Xiaodunzi rushed over.
"Qingqing, Qing Chuanshan, you're back!"
"Um."
Shinjuku was about to deal with the food box in his hand when Kodama snatched it away and handed it to the servant who was in charge of cleaning up.
Masakatsu was somewhat relieved. He hadn't expected that although Tsutsumi was a bit simple-minded, he was quick to apply what he learned to other situations and was by no means stupid.
With Xiaodunzi being so obedient, things will be much easier for him. If the food is poisoned next time, it probably won't affect his actions.
However, quite some time has passed, and the "supply" of poison has still not been restored. Hearing that Eunuch Lin has been released, perhaps they will plan to poison again soon, given the course of history; poisonings are bound to happen frequently.
However, just as Masakatsu was thinking this, he received a bolt from the blue the next day.
— Guan Shiyi was arrested.
A note from the author:
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