Chapter 1900 (1/2)
As expected, Rui Yi’s claim was a shock to Yun Wuxin.
She would criticize the so-called best food in the entire Southern Divine Region; the “Rippling Heart Jade Soup” that completely flipped over her understanding of gourmet food as… crude?
“Father took me to the Pavilion of Delightful Dreams to taste the Rippling Heart Jade Soup a month ago,” Yun Wuxin spoke up and said. “As far as I can tell, it really does deserve its fame. Is Auntie Shuhe’s cooking… even better than that?”
Rui Yi’s eyes and posture immediately softened. She clearly had a much better impression of the daughter than the father. “After hearing of your arrival, my young miss set aside everything to prepare some snacks for you two. You may verify the truth by your own senses if you don’t believe me, my lady.”
She walked to the tea table in front of Yun Wuxin and lifted the jade cover.
Speaking of which, the jade cover was imbued with a thin layer of barrier on it to prevent the food’s scent from leaking.
There was a cup of tea, a plate of three slices of milk cake, and another plate of small biscuits.
It was an incredibly simple yet elegant serving.
Visually speaking, it seemed a little too simple for a big shot like Emperor Yun.
However, Yun Che’s nose twitched before his eyes even caught sight of the food.
Yun Che was no tea lover, but the faint aroma that pervaded his senses—first the nose, then the heart itself—felt like it possessed some sort of unnamed magic. Not only was it indescribably refreshing and fragrant, the sweet scents that seemed to be in perfect harmony with each other caused his ears, eyes, mouth, nose, and subsequently his entire body to relax before he realized it.
The pleasure and contentment from inhaling the aroma alone were difficult to describe. It was like being lifted up by a gentle, invisible cloud and cleansed by a spirit rain.
“...” Yun Che realized then that Rui Yi might not be exaggerating after all.
“It... smells… wonderful.”
Yun Che was a hardened man, and he didn’t make it a habit of displaying his emotions. Yun Wuxin, however, was nowhere as collected as he was. She let slip a thoughtless murmur before stumbling to the tea table as if she was pulled by an invisible, gentle hand.
“Please choose anything you like, my lady. You will understand what I mean then.” Rui Yi arranged the bamboo chopsticks for Yun Wuxin before awaiting her reaction. She also side-eyed Yun Che when she thought he wasn’t looking.
Yun Wuxin’s lips parted and closed unconsciously. She grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up a slice of milk cake with the utmost care—the incredible fragrance growing even thicker as the distance closed—and put it in her mouth.
“...”
Then, her movements came to a complete stop.
For a time, she simply stood there and did nothing at all. Eventually, she removed the chopsticks from her lips and began chewing the food very carefully, but otherwise her expression and the rest of her body remained frozen. Even her eyes became glazed like her soul had been sucked out of her body.
Yun Wuxin’s strange reaction triggered a chuckle from Yun Che. “Is it really that amazing?”
“How is it? Does it suit your taste?” Cang Shuhe asked gently.
For a while, Yun Wuxin continued chewing almost as if she couldn’t bear to spare the effort to speak. Finally, she whispered, “Give it a try, father. You’ll understand why I’m like this.”
However, Rui Yi looked away from Yun Che immediately. She was unwilling to open the jade cover on his tea table for him.
While this was going on, Yun Wuxin had grabbed her chopsticks again to pick up the second slice of milk cake and—
Yun Che consciously leaned backward and waved his hand repeatedly, “I-I can do it myself…”
It was too late. The milk cake was merely centimeters away from his mouth. “Quickly! You will regret it if you don’t eat this!”
He wouldn’t care if this was a private gathering between friends and family, but neither Rui Yi nor Cang Shuhe fell into that category. They were his subjects, and Yun Che wasn’t so lackadaisical that he would forget his status and act like a slouch in front of them.
However, his daughter didn’t think that way, and truth be told he could never keep up a majestic presence before his daughter anyway, especially not if it meant disappointing her. In the end, he opened his mouth and accepted the feeding.
The milk cake passed through his lips and slipped into his mouth. For a moment, gentle fragrance assaulted his taste buds, and the next an impossible amount of pleasure and satisfaction spread across his entire body.
His five senses lurched under the ultimate pleasure, his blood felt like it was singing in joy, and his soul grew light enough to dance to a tune.
He had already tuned his expectation way up beforehand, but the food still managed to surpass it.
It was only now that Yun Wuxin allowed herself to cry out in astonishment, “Oh my god oh my god oh my god! How can food possibly taste so good? It’s so good I feel like I’m dreaming… how in the world did you do it, auntie Shuhe?”
“I’m glad.” Cang Shuhe accepted Yun Wuxin’s overflowing praise with a small but graceful smile. “Unfortunately, this is all I managed to prepare in the given time. If you would like, I can cook you my best pastries and dishes over the next couple days?”
“Mn!” Yun Wuxin responded happily before picking up a biscuit next. Again, she let out a moan that would seem totally exaggerated if it wasn’t actually that good.
“What do you think, Your Majesty?”
A hint of expectation and nervousness entered Cang Shuhe’s eyes. Clearly, she cared about Yun Che’s assessment more than Yun Wuxin’s.
“It’s great.” Yun Che nodded slightly and expressionlessly.
The impossibly tame reaction pissed Rui Yi off so much she nearly crushed a tooth there and then.
“Heartless man! Pretentious bastard!”
Rui Yi didn’t mean to curse him aloud, but she was so frustrated that she accidentally let them slip as a mutter.
Yun Che was the strongest profound practitioner in the Primal Chaos, and his spiritual perception was no exception. He narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, “As far as I can tell, this tea fragrance and pastry are truly second to none. They really are that good.”
“However,” his eyes abruptly turned as cold as ice, “it is equally clear that your attendant training skills are nowhere close to your culinary skills!”
“Have you forgotten to teach her the word ‘death’!?”
Heaven and earth quaked under Emperor Yun’s fury, and even Yun Wuxin was caught off guard by her father’s outburst. She stared at him in astonishment while holding the half piece of biscuit she couldn’t bear to swallow yet between her teeth.
For the first time, Cang Shuhe’s seemingly eternally sweet features gave way to panic. She hurriedly rose to her feet and said, “Please quell your anger, Your Majesty. It is true that I have not disciplined Rui Yi as much as I should because we share a sister’s relationship. She definitely shouldn’t have forgotten her place and offended Your Majesty.”
“Rui Yi! Apologize to His Majesty now!”
She blinked repeatedly at Rui Yi as she rebuked her. She was terrified that Rui Yi would allow her stubbornness to go to her head, and as it turned out her fears weren’t misplaced in the slightest.
Yun Che’s aura was so oppressive that it chilled Rui Yi’s whole body and drove her half a step backward. However, she immediately gritted her teeth and squeezed out the words with almost fatalistic determination, “I will… NOT!”
“Rui Yi!!” Cang Shuhe’s voice grew an octave higher.
Against all odds, Rui Yi somehow managed to take one step toward Yun Che before shouting at him, “Yun Che! I don’t care if you’re the Devil Master or Emperor Yun! You irritate me, and I hate you, understand!?”
Yun Che: (HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?)
“Rui Yi, have you gone ins—”