Qiling, Donglai post house.

Qinger returned to the hall and sat at the table gloomily.

"Asked for a snub again?"

The third captain, Zhao Wuji, turned his head and asked Qinger in a low voice, with contemptuous eyes darting across the fierce guard at the door.

Qinger looked unhappy, answering harshly,

"Definitely! It doesn't make sense. We got in the post house but can't go out easily, and we have to listen to the prefect. I just miss our Lady. I can't even go and keep her company!"

Xiao Xiaoshen took the teacup and sipped. He smiled at Qinger with his eyebrows slanting,

"Do you think she needs your company? Just stay in the post house. Don't always sway like a candle between her and the Master."

"Pooh!" Qinger shook her head and scolded, "You are a candle. Your whole family members are candles!"

Xiao Xiaoshen stopped smiling at once. He glanced at the door of the post house and asked Zhao Wuji,

"Uncle Three, don't you feel that our journey in Qiling is not peaceful?"

Zhao Wuji peeled melon seeds and looked around the post house warily. He spoke in an extremely low voice,

"Someone deliberately wants to stop us from contacting the Master. We must find a way. We can't just sit idly by."

There was a lot of noise at the door. Several people's brawl attracted the attention of Zhao Wuji and others at the table.

They went to check and found that a ragged beggar was stopped at the post house by the guards. The beggar held a stick in his right hand and pleaded in a haggard voice,

"Sir, please be good. I am too tired to move. As it is getting dark, please let me come into the post house. I just ask for a bowl of hot water to warm up so that I can go on."

"No way. The post house has been chartered by people from Prefect's Mansion. You go begging elsewhere!"

The guard swang his hands arrogantly and drove the beggar away impolitely.

Seeing Zhao Wuji standing at the door, the beggar's dropped left hand quickly made a gesture that only the Eastern Depot people could understand.

Zhao Wuji understood his meaning and strode out. He said to the rude guard,

"Bro, why not let him in? He is aged, and as the wind is strong at night, please let him go in and rest. It doesn't matter."

Dropping his eyes, the guard thought for a while and then nodded his head to show his agreement.

"Come in, man." Zhao Wuji welcomed the beggar smilingly.

"Thank you very much."

Murmuring, the beggar walked into the post house with the stick, glancing at Zhao Wuji secretly with complicated eyes.

Seeing a beggar come into the hall, the owner of the post house showed a disdainful and disgusted look.

"Oh, sir, why did you bring in a beggar?"

Zhao Wuji stared at him and rebuked harshly,

"What's wrong with the beggar? Is the beggar not a human being? Make a pot of hot tea quickly and bring a plate of steamed buns. I'll pay!"

After Zhao Wuji finished his words, the beggar was seated at an empty table.

The owner didn't dare to say anything more. He returned to the reception desk and asked the waiter to serve the beggar tea, two steamed buns, and a dish.

The beggar started to eat as he liked. He held a steamed bun with one hand and nibbled at it while dipping his forefinger of the other hand in the tea bowl and drawing a few symbols on the smooth table.

Zhao Wuji, at the table next to him, kept focusing on the beggar's every movement. When seeing the symbols on the table, all the people were amazed and shocked except Qinger.

Before long, the beggar left his seat, rubbing his dirty hands carelessly across the table and wiping away the symbols.

Then he put the rest of the steamed buns into his arms, bowed to Zhao Wuji, thanked him, and wobbled out of the post house with a stick.

As soon as the beggar left, Zhao Wuji and the others rushed to the second floor and gathered together in the tenth captain Yuan Qian's room to discuss the matter.

...

Prefect's Mansion.

Gu Yunxi poured a ladle of sticky rice flour into the basin, mixed it with water and leaven, and made them into the dough.

"What are you doing?" The guard at the door asked her.

Gu Yunxi didn't raise her head. She answered while continuing her action,

"I am making 'Sanbai cake'. There are only sticky rice flour, white sugar, and yams here, and they can be mixed and put in the steamer and made into cakes. Because all the three ingredients are white, I name it 'Sanbai cake'."

While waiting for the flour to ferment, Gu Yunxi was busy cutting yams and washing cabbages.

"What do you want to cook?" The guard felt curious and asked, walking a few more steps into the kitchen.

"Braised salted fish, cabbage salad, and pickled radish. Won't use too many of your ingredients, right?"

Gu Yunxi rolled her eyes impatiently.

She thought, "There are not any valuable things in the kitchen, but they are so stingy that even let a guard monitor my cooking process. They are so afraid that others may use too many things of the Fengs!"

Afterward, no matter what Gu Yunxi began to do and whether she was willing to speak or not, the officious guard was always on the alert to ask her about all kinds of things.

Some slight sound came from the hearth. "Bang." It rang irregularly, which seemed peculiar.

Gu Yunxi stopped what she was doing and bent over to look up.

The guard's face turned pale. He said anxiously, "That's just a mouse!"

Gu Yunxi ignored him, pretended not to care, and went on with her work. But she knew clearly in her heart that the guard was deceiving her.

The faint sound was close to the hearth. It was the nature of animals to protect themselves. Would mice make their dens near the hearth? Would they kill themselves and be willing to be burned?

As Gu Yunxi thought, she felt it strange. The unusual sound, the guards' anxious faces, and everything weird showed that there must be some secrets hidden in this seemingly humble kitchen.

She must find it!

Looking around, she glanced at the plate of lamb liver on the wooden table.

A plan suddenly emerged in Gu Yunxi's brain.

The water was boiling in the pot, so Gu Yunxi put the lamb liver directly into the water to braise it.

Seeing this, the guard shouted astonishingly, "Oh! The lamb liver is cooked!"

"You don't know. The Master likes spiced braised lamb liver, and he never eats water-boiled ones!"

Gu Yunxi glanced at him coldly. While he wasn't paying attention, she sprinkled more red beans into the pot and then added the pickled meat, yellow rice wine, and other seasonings.

When this was done, she cut the yams into the mud, removed the roots of the cabbages, and cut the leaves into shreds.

The leavens fermented quickly.

It took only half an hour for the sticky rice flour in the basin to be fermented.

Gu Yunxi put the yam mud and the right amount of sugar into the dough, continued to mix them well, rolled them into squares, and put them into the steamer on fire.

Then she whisked the cabbage leaves with sugar, vinegar, sesame paste, and mustard powder.

The unique mellow of the sesame paste stimulated the guard's interest. He sniffed it several times, and his mouth could not help drooling.

"Little bro, what... what kind of dish are you making?"

The guard stared at the big bowl in Gu Yunxi's hands without moving his eyes. He looked rather greedy.

Gu Yunxi smiled softly. She looked satisfied and sped up the action of mixing up. The leaves stained with sesame sauce rolled rhythmically with a pair of chopsticks, sending out a fresh and sweet aroma, which continuously came into the guard's nose.

With his eyes fixed on the content in the big bowl, he swallowed his saliva and repeated his praise,

"Gosh! It is just ordinary cabbage. How can you make such a unique dish!"

"Although the ingredients are quite simple and ordinary, the dish has a refreshing taste. So I name it cabbage salad. Try it, bro!"

Gu Yunxi put some cabbage salad into a small dish and gave it to the guard, smiling.

"Well... Okay, I will taste."

Without refusing, the guard took the dish and chopsticks, picked up a shred of cabbage leaves, and put it into his mouth. Chewing it only once, he was so surprised that his eyes were wide open.

This cabbage salad perfectly combined the spicy mustard and the sweet sesame paste. It was really sweet, spicy, sour, and fragrant. So crisp!

The guard ate up the cabbage salad in the dish quickly. Then he wiped his mouth, lingering in the aftertaste.

Gu Yunxi took out the braised soft lamb livers with a skimmer, sliced them, and put them into a plate.

"Bro, taste the lamb livers I cooked. Compared with those water-boiled ones, how does it taste?"

Having tasted the delicacies made by Gu Yunxi, the guard almost let down his alert.

Seeing her greeting warmly again, he picked up a piece of lamb liver with chopsticks, blew on, and took a bite.

Honestly, these braised lamb livers were more delicious than the water-boiled ones, and the thick ginger flavor thoroughly covered the meat smell itself. So he didn't feel any other mixed taste.

The lamb liver was braised to the right extent. Cut into thin slices, they were soft and smooth as if they would melt in the mouth.

"Delicious! Delicious!"

After finishing one slice, the guard couldn't help but pick up another slice and chew it. The more he chewed, the more delicious it was, and the more he was absorbed in eating it.

"Come on, bro. Have some more! Braised lamb liver with hot yellow rice wine is the best enjoyment in winter!"

While speaking, Gu Yunxi intentionally picked up a clean plate and put a few slices of lamb liver into it, leaving the rest to the guard,

"Bro, have some more! The Master is not allowed to drink because of the official business, so he can't eat up the whole. I will just take a few slices. You enjoy the rest."

A flash appeared in the guard's eyes, and then he made a clean sweep of the delicacy without paying attention to anything around him. Gu Yunxi squinted at him quietly. From the faint smile on her delicate small face emerged some ruthlessness.

Not completely swallowing the lamb liver, the guard kept saying,

“Oh, who doesn't have official business to deal with? We can't drink, either. But the braised lamb liver is also delicious without a drink..."

As he spoke, there were only two slices of lamb liver left. Suddenly his facial expression changed. He put his hand over his belly and cried out in pain,

"Ah, my stomach hurts!"

"Oh, what's wrong?"

Seeing the guard threw the plate and held his stomach with his hand, with his face turning pale, Gu Yunxi smiled to herself.

Lamb liver plus red beans were deadly poisons! Although it was not as poisonous as the arsenic, it could cause fever, nausea, and diarrhea. It made the eater suffer for quite a few days.

"Bro, maybe you stood in the cold wind for too long. As you ate in such a hurry, maybe your stomach can't hold it?"

Gu Yunxi gloated at the guard, who squatted down and twitched painfully, sweating all over. She tried her best not to laugh and pretend to be concerned about him.

"How about fetching you a bowl of hot water? You can drink it and warm the stomach!"

Bending his body, the guard waved his hands toughly to her. His clenched teeth constantly clucked, and as the cold sweat soaked his clothes, he looked as weak and distressed as a drowning man.

"I, I need to... answer the call of nature..."

He gasped for breath and made some mixed muffled sounds from his throat. Then he stood up with difficulty and staggered to the outside of the yard.