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Tie Cheng shivered.

”Are you going to lie even to your master?” shouted Meng Fuyao with a stern expression.

Helplessly, Tie Cheng swallowed his saliva. 'My master's so sharp that few in the universe are able to match up to her. It won't be possible to fool her. Furthermore, since Little Seven has become a laborer in the imperial kitchen, Meng Fuyao will definitely come across him. By then, I won't be able to keep anything from her.”

With a sigh, he told her about how he met Little Seven.

At first, Meng Fuyao listened to him quietly. When she heard of how Little Seven was going to be castrated, her expression finally changed.

Grabbing Tie Cheng, she asked him sternly, ”It happened? It really happened?”

Tie Cheng gave a vague answer. ”He was about to kill someone back then, and he wore his clothes very quickly. I didn't get a clear look, but I saw… blood.”

Releasing her grip, Meng Fuyao pushed Tie Cheng out of the room. When she turned back, she knocked her head against the wall. ”That freaking child, freaking child, freaking child, freaking child…”

And no one knew who she was referring to.

Tie Cheng's jaw was agape, and he felt pitiful looking at how she banged so hard that flakes of paint were coming off the wall. But he did not dare to stop her. Suddenly, the curtain to the inner room was flipped open, and Shadow Blade dashed out and used his body to block the wall.

Meng Fuyao's head banged directly on his chest.

While she did not express the pain when she banged against the wall, she shouted ”aiyo” when her head came into contact with Shadow Blade's chest. Her eyes resembled that of a wolf, but the rims of her eyeballs were already red.

As he lowered his head, Shadow Blade looked hurt, but that expression vanished in a second. His fingers gently brushed away the flakes that were stuck on her forehead, and he said in a low tone, ”The wall's pitiful, don't bang against it. Bang against me instead.”

Meng Fuyao could not help but laugh, and tears streamed down her face.

As she stood stiffly, tears dropped from her eyes like beads of pearls. Some rolled across her fair cheeks, and some directly fell beneath Shadow Blade's collar. His collar became wet and heavy, just like how his feelings were.

Looking at the hurt yet stubborn girl, who refused to slouch and become weak even when she cried, Shadow Blade felt a wave of emotions sweep past him. In the end, he gently held her shoulders and said, ”Please, if you want to cry, do it without any fears. You crying this way is instead making others more hurt.”

Meng Fuyao pushed him away, but he tightened his grip. ”I'm only lending you my shoulder. Do you think that I will bear to lend my heart to you?”

Teary-eyed, Meng Fuyao smiled and sighed, and she rested her head on his shoulder. Shadow Blade made sure to not cross the line when holding her, and as he looked up, he revealed his exquisite jawline. Dazedly and with much sadness, he stared at the turbulent weather and the snowflakes in the horizon. Moments later, he felt that the cloth on his shoulders became even wetter than his collar, and he could vaguely feel that person shamelessly using his clothes to wipe off her mucus. After that, she ensued her, crying. ”I'm so unfortunate, yet so lucky…”

Shadow Blade stiffened and looked pitifully at his miserable collar. Slowly, he let out a sigh.

'I am lucky as well to have met you, though… it is also my misfortune.'

As the new gardener was able to plant vegetables, the Empress cherished his talent and instructed him to stay. She gave him the responsibility of teaching the concubines the art of planting vegetables and instructed her attendants to find another talented gardener for Consort Xian.

Before that, she had instructed Tie Cheng. ”There is no need to let Zhan Beiye know of this,” she said.

With a poker face, Tie Cheng nodded—this expression had remained so ever since his master cried on Shadow Blade's shoulders. When Meng Fuyao looked over, she could clearly see what was written on his face: not another one!

Meng Fuyao sighed, and she had no intention to explain to this freaking child. She was simply not in the mood.

A few days later, in the middle of a meal, Meng Fuyao flipped over her table, and it crashed to the floor with a loud bang.

The entire room of concubines was shocked. All of them placed their chopsticks down, left the table, and shivered as they knelt on the floor.

In an angry tone, Meng Fuyao shouted, ”What kind of bird's nest cabbage is this? The bird's nest looks like strands of noodles, and the cabbage has been done up like a vegetable!”

Everyone went: ”…”

The head eunuch of the imperial kitchen quickly came to ask for forgiveness with a scrunched-up face. 'Well… bird's nest do look like noodle strands… and cabbages and vegetables are pretty similar…' he thought.

”The fire was too small! The quality of the water used was poor! That will affect the quality of the dishes!” Meng Fuyao continued to lash out her anger, and she added, ”Who brought the firewood? Who started the fire? Who collected the water? The degree of the fire is most important for this dish! You need the coal that is burned from the ten-year-old Paulownia firewood found on Mountain Jade River, the water from Ningdai Springs - which has to be downstream as upstream water is only suitable for brewing tea. So who chopped the firewood and collected the water! Everything's not right with just one mouth!”

The eunuch wiped away his cold sweat… what a picky eater…

”Your Highness, the person who carried the firewood, burned the coal and brought the water, is a new eunuch called Little Seven. Your poor servant has not educated him well. Your Highness, I plead for your forgiveness…” answered the head eunuch answered. He turned around and barked his orders. ”Get that Little Seven here to admit his wrongdoing before Her Highness!”