As the sundial pointer shifted, the square became quiet. Only the sound of chopping and cooking came from the cooking sheds on both sides.

As the competition was about to finish, the crowd stopped shouting, and they stared at the field breathlessly.

The team of Da Yi had made Ruyi Dumplings and Dried Eel Roe.

Chef Liu pickled the camel meat that was cut into squares and mixed with starch, soy sauce, Shaoxing rice wine, ginger juice, and garlic juice and handed it to Gu Yunxi.

Gu Yunxi fried the camel meat blocks in hot oil and set them aside when the color became golden.

On the other stove, Chef Han cooked a pot of thick syrup with vegetable oil, icing sugar, and rock sugar.

Gu Yunxi walked over with a white jade comb in her hand. She picked up a strand of syrup from the pot with the comb and poured layers of golden sugar shreds onto the white porcelain plate.

The sugar shreds overlapped each other. When they reached a certain height, she neatly stacked the fried camel meat into the center of the sugar shreds and finally poured some sugar shreds on the camel meat.

This dish, "Gold-Thread Dress", from The Exquisite Collection of Delicacies, was now completed.

With a long sigh of relief, Gu Yunxi became relaxed.

Three dishes were finally completed as expected.

The applause from the spectators was thunderous, and the rich merchants shouted slogans again.

The officials of Da Yi on the jury board were also excited due to these people, and they applauded and praised one after another.

As one of the judges, Shi Ling, the head of the cabinet, ran to the Emperor obsequiously. He held up his thumb and laughed.

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Her Grace completed three dishes in advance, much faster than her opponents."

…

In the team of Ying State, Sakata Aki was still calm. Unlike his assistants who were filled with indignation, he was still calmly holding a shovel and constantly stirring the hot salt grains in the large pot in front of him.

Seeing that the salt was slowly changing color when it was heated, Sakata Aki put the shovel aside. He wrapped the whole piece of camel meat coated with butter, rice wine, bean paste, and powdered sugar with lotus leaves. Then he put it into a wood pot, wrapped it in several thick layers of hot salt, and then grilled it on the willow wood.

"This..."

Chef Fang of Da Yi saw it and smacked his lips disdainfully.

"This guy is too good at deliberately mystifying. Since he makes mud-baked meat, why not use yellow mud to roast to lock the aroma of meat?"

Gu Yunxi stared intently at Sakata Aki's actions. She shook her head and frowned.

"No, he's not making mud-baked meat. He uses the method of salt baking of Central Plains."

"Salt can conduct heat. If the pickled ingredients are buried in the salt that is metamorphic in heat, the water of the ingredients can be drained in a very short period of time, which can maintain the taste."

"Sakata Aki is a master of culinary arts. Not only is he at ease in making his own cuisine, but he also knows a lot about our food culture."

"However, he himself has certain shortcomings. He loves to do everything himself. If he can let his assistants share some of the work for him, he will not be behind us in operation."

Chef Liu looked around and nodded.

"Maybe he doesn't trust his assistants very much."

Gu Yunxi silently stared at Sakata Aki. As she had truly seen his skill, and at this moment, she admired this opponent in her heart.

…

Sakata Aki cut the roasted camel meat into exquisite slices and put them on the plate. Then about 15 minutes passed. The golden gong sounded on the field, and the first cooking competition was officially over.

The team of Ying State made Raw Minced Meat, Steamed Sushi Mizutani, and Salt-baked Camel Meat with lungfish, eel roe, and camel meat.

Using the same ingredients, Gu Yunxi's team made Ruyi Dumplings, Dried Pot Roe, and Gold-Thread Dress.

The eunuchs came and took the delicacies made by both sides to the jury board.

Of the twenty judges, ten were officials of Da Yi and ten were envoys from Da Yi's friendly and dependent countries, namely Ying State that Mr. Yuancang and Mrs. Yuancang represented, Boni, Jinzhou, Lvson, Roufu, Keling, Luocha, Poluoduo, Gaoli, and Buliedian.

The twenty judges, with a variety of delicacies on hand, ate happily.

Huanan Xin on the dragon chair looked at the emptiness in front of him and then looked at the envoys on the left and right sides who were chewing with relish. He became sullen.

"Liang Zhen, you are useless. Why don't you hurry to give me a table!"

If he didn't start quickly, those fragrant foods would soon be divided up.

Eunuch Superintendent immediately understood that the Emperor was expecting those six delicacies and hurriedly prepared the table.

The hardest people were the 100 spectators.

They waited for the last moment of the competition, but they saw that the Emperor led twenty judges to sit firmly under the corridor of the Golden Palace, chewing happily at the table full of delicacies for a long time as if they had forgotten their proper business.

These people stretched out their necks and had a look. Some of them opened their mouths and looked envious while others kept swallowing saliva and really wanted to run and grab some delicious food to eat.

After about 15 minutes, the jury board showed the score. A special person was responsible for calculating the total score.

As the envoys of the Ying State, General Yuancang and his wife naturally gave the highest score to Sakata Aki.

Officials of Da Yi were ordered in advance by Huanan Xin. With the purpose of friendly exchanges, the scores given to Gu Yunxi and Sakata Aki were no different.

Other judges from dependent and friendly countries admired Sakata Aki's handmade Steamed Sushi Mizutani. They believed that the combination of eel roe and fried goose liver was simply the extreme of the world's two precious ingredients.

Some were attracted by the shining Gold-Thread Dress in the sun. They thought that the camel meat was tender after being fried and the shape with syrup was not only beautiful but also appropriately interpreted the meaning of the food name.

In the end, some of the foreign judges suggested that because Sakata Aki's Raw Minced Meat and Steamed Sushi Mizutani were made in the same way that the lungfish and eel roe were plated in raw and cold form, this affected his overall score.

After calculation, Sakata Aki and Gu Yunxi broke even in the first competition, with 18 scores respectively.

Amid the lively cheers and applause, General Yuancang left expressionlessly.

Sakata Aki's four assistants looked resentful and unwilling. They pointed to the jury board and complained loudly in Ying language, meaning that the results were unfair.

"No arguing!"

Sakata Aki wrapped his arms around his chest and shouted to stop those people.

"It's only the first competition. What are you panicking about?"

Seeing it on the opposite side, Gu Yunxi walked steadily and bowed her head gently.

"It's a drawn game. Sir, thank you for your kindness."

Sakata Aki was shocked and smiled.

"You're very good. In the next two games, I won't pull my punches anymore."

"Great. I'll also do my best."

It seemed that he recognized her as an opponent!

Gu Yunxi's eyes were as bright as the moon. She turned and walked towards the Golden Palace.

Sakata Aki saw that she was held by the man in the yellow dragon robe and left with a smile surrounded by many officials and palace maids. His handsome and elegant facial features were instantly engulfed by coldness.

"You guys try to find out what kind of seasoning she used in that Dried Eel Roe."

…

General Yuancang and his wife sat on the wooden sedan and left the Palace without saying a word. At the side, Mrs. Yuancang gently advised him that this was just a game and he didn’t need to take it too seriously.

As the sedan suddenly stopped, they staggered forward and back inside.

"What is going on, you a*shol*s!"

General Yuancang opened the wooden lattice and scolded the people carrying the sedan in Ying language.

The interpreter of Ying State who was following on the side was stunned by a figure in front of him and said slowly.

"General, the little Commandery Princess we saw at that dinner party stops us."

"What?"

Yuancang was surprised and stretched his neck out of the window. He saw Commandery Princess Jingle come with her hands crossed gracefully.

With her pink lips curved slightly, the girl smiled charmingly.

"May I ask you a question, General? Are you annoyed by the outcome of this competition? I live in the Palace and know something about Concubine Yun."

―

The moon was bright.

Gu Yunxi took a bath in milk with pearls and flowers and washed away the cooking smell.

Sitting in front of the dresser and facing the moonlight outside the window, she felt comfortable and happy.

Zhiqi stood on the side to comb her hair, listening to her talking with interest about today's competition.

"Your Grace, I have something to report. It's about Ruiji."

Outside the curtain of the bedroom, Lei's slightly mysterious shrill voice came.

"Come in."

Gu Yunxi turned around and saw that the eunuch raised the curtain, bowed all the way, and gave her a piece of paper from his sleeve.

"Your Grace, this is what Ruiji asked me to bring to you. Should we give her these things written on the paper?"

Gu Yunxi read the paper, which mentioned a few spices.

"Sandalwood, cananga odorata, geranium, cardamom, and ambergris."

Gu Yunxi sneered, folded the paper in half, and returned it to the eunuch. She praised.

"Ruiji is really a master of perfume. These spices for the pleasure of men and women can be given to her. It is necessary to arrange a reliable person to go outside the Palace and find them."

"Your Grace, I heard that His Majesty went to Miaoyin Hall last night and stayed in the side hall for four hours.

However, this morning, the people of Miaoyin Hall blocked the message. So Ruiji..."

"Guess what? Shi Yuanqing's reaction and this prescription from Ruiji show that she has already succeeded, right?"

Gu Yunxi smiled.

"Shi Yuanqing is face-saving in the matter of His Majesty's favor. If it hadn't been for suppressing me, she would never have asked Ruiji to go to her palace and had another opponent."

"Today, she acted out of normal behavior and blocked last night's news, which must show that something happened to her in Miaoyin Hall last night and it made her lose face."

"She can block the news in her palace, but I don’t believe she could control Jingshi Office. The file will be written clearly in black and white."

Hearing this, Lei laughed.

"Later, I will ask someone to inquire about it in Jingshi Office."

Gu Yunxi glanced at him and squinted.

"Why do you need to spend that money? I don't care who slept with His Majesty last night. Anyway, it's right to help Ruiji to throw her on top and replace me."

"Give her what she wants early and tell her I want her to drag Noble Concubine Hui down quickly!"