“Just what did you add to this? Why does it taste so good?” Yu Yanluo looked at Zu An in shock.
Zu An chuckled and replied, “I’m glad the madam likes it.”
Yu Yanluo’s shock still remained on her beautiful cheeks as she said, “You still have not answered my questions!”
When he saw how she was throwing a playful tantrum, Zu An thought to himself, Pretty girls really are privileged. They’re cute even when they’re annoyed.
But it wasn’t any secret. Zu An replied, “This thing is called MSG. When I saw the madam and learned that your appetite wasn’t good, I had my subordinates look into it. This is the result of their research. It should be able to improve the madam’s appetite.”
“MSG?” Yu Yan licked her lips to savor that previous taste. She said with a sigh, “This thing is miraculous in its ability to make foods tastier. No, that word alone isn’t fitting enough; it makes the food hundreds, even thousands of times better!”
Zu An said with a smile, “Madam, please don’t give it too much importance. Even though this thing seems miraculous, it’s actually not hard to make at all. Dry some edible mushrooms in the sun, then grind them into powder. Then, mix in some dried scallops to add in more savory flavor. The resulting product will greatly enhance the flavors of foods.”
Yu Yanluo blinked. Her expression immediately became extremely strange when she looked at Zu An. She asked, “You are just giving me the recipe?”
Zu An was a bit surprised. He asked, “What’s so special about this? It’s just that I didn’t have much time, so I only managed to make this little bit. I didn’t want the madam to not have anything, so you can just have the recipe. With the Yu clan’s ability, making this MSG shouldn’t be too difficult. That way, madam can still eat when her appetite is poor and doesn’t need to become so thin.”
Yu Yanluo couldn’t help but sigh. “Do you know that what you have just told me so carelessly is actually an incredibly profitable business opportunity?”
“I only care about the madam’s daily life being a bit better. I didn’t think about any of that other stuff.” Zu An chuckled.
Yu Yanluo stared at him for a long time. When she saw that he wasn’t acting at all, she sighed in amazement and said, “You really are different from all the other men in this world. You’ve brought me so many surprises in this brief amount of time! Last time, the Warm Darling was already a huge business opportunity, and yet compared to this MSG, it’s not even worth mentioning. Those Warm Darlings are highly practical, but the ones who would make the most use of them would still be people with some financial means.
“But this MSG is entirely different! According to the production methods you have mentioned earlier, if it is made on a large scale, the production costs will be nearly negligible. This is something that even ordinary families can use. Even though the individual profit margins will be quite a bit lower than the Warm Darlings, when you take the entire market into consideration, the profits as a whole will far surpass the Warm Darlings.”
Zu An stared blankly when he heard that. In the end, he couldn’t help but say, “Madam really is a business genius. Even any random thing can be turned into such a huge opportunity.”
Yu Yanluo said with a smile, “This is just a habit of mine from being in the profession for so long. The true credit should go to your incredible imagination. How about this? If you do not mind, I will take care of this business as well. We will divide the profits fifty-fifty.”
Zu An didn’t act pretentiously. He replied, “I never really had any intentions of doing that, so I’ll leave it all up to the madam. If the madam feels there’s value, please feel free to act accordingly.”
Yu Yanluo sighed in admiration, saying, “I have only met you a few times, and yet you have already gifted me with so many incredible gifts. You might just be my lucky star.”
“It’s quite an honor to be able to serve as the madam’s lucky star.” Zu An gave her a gentleman’s bow.
Yu Yanluo’s smile grew bigger. She said, “Enough; I will just take it to mean there is no opposition then. I will order my subordinates to follow up on this MSG business.”
Zu An smiled and said, “Making money is secondary. As long as the madam’s appetite improves, that’s what I’m looking forward to the most.”
Yu Yanluo blushed slightly. She harrumphed and said, “You really know how to use that mouth of yours; even I am starting to become affected. If you used these tricks to fool ordinary girls, would you not steal all of their hearts?”
Zu An feigned surprise as he replied, “Don’t tell me the madam isn’t a young lady?”
Yu Yanluo was stunned. Then, she laughed so hard her body rocked back and forth. She couldn’t help but hit his shoulder lightly before saying “You look so honest on the outside, but you are actually so slick-mouthed.”
Zu An said with a sigh, “Madam really doesn’t understand me. I’m clearly the type who looks sleazy on the outside, but is actually honest and sincere deep down.”
Yu Yanluo harrumphed. “If you are honest, there are no honest men in this world.” Even though that was what she said, she didn’t actually intend any rebuke toward him at all.
Women really were strange. They would have high evaluations for what an honest person was, and yet they just couldn’t bring themselves to really like honest people. They’d instead like men who were a little bad.
Yu Yanluo didn’t know why, but chatting with Zu An was always a joyful thing. It was something she had never experienced with other men before.
The two of them quickly swept through the food. Yu Yanluo actually didn’t feel fully content at the end. She said, “I have not eaten like this in a long time. You were not able to get enough as a result.”
Zu An chuckled and said, “Don’t worry, I’m pretty tough; I won’t die even if I don’t eat for a day or two, let alone right now where I already ate a lot.”
Yu Yanluo felt a bit of a headache. She asked, “What do we do from now on? I cannot have you going hungry each time.”
“That’s not a problem. Let’s make a hotpot; I’ll bring some ingredients from outside,” Zu An suggested.
“A hotpot?” Yu Yanluo’s pretty brow furrowed. “I am not a huge fan of lamb’s gaminess. I also find hotpot a bit too bland.” She would always lose her appetite during the winter. That was why she wasn’t too interested in a light-flavored hotpot.
“That’s no problem at all. We can have some mala hotpot.” Zu An began to miss the spiciness from his previous world that would make him sweat when he ate it. “Your body fears the cold, so it’s good to eat a bit of spice to dispel the cold.”
“Mala hotpot?” Yu Yanluo’s eyes lit up. “That sounds quite interesting. I’ll have to give it a try then.” She called over a servant to clean things up, then continued training with Zu An again.
…
For some reason, time seemed to pass extremely quickly. Two days passed just like that.
Yu Yanluo nodded in satisfaction, saying, “Not bad. Your current self should be able to convince those in the Duke Manor now.”
“It’s all thanks to the madam’s careful guidance,” Zu An said sincerely. He wouldn’t have felt so grateful if it were just because of his Jian Yanyou disguise, though. The main reason was because he had gained many insights into the field of art from observing Yu Yanluo’s incredible skill.
Even though he had already been able to replicate the original quite well in his drawings, he had lacked a bit of ‘soul’ in his art. That was why a true master of art would easily see through his mistakes.
Now that he had observed Yu Yanluo’s dao, he could borrow her mastery to gain a lot of enlightenment in that field. Now, if he tried to impersonate someone else in the future, there wouldn’t be any holes in his disguise at all.
“As expected of transcendent aptitude; you learn everything quickly.” Yu Yanluo smiled. “I will call over Gong Pan later. He was Yanyou’s personal guard captain. If you can fool him, there will be no issues when you head to the Duke Manor. Then, you can have him escort you there.”
“We’re moving that quickly?” Zu An felt a bit conflicted when he heard what she said.
Yu Yanluo said with a chuckle, “Do not worry; there is no need for you to lose that much confidence in yourself just because I saw through your first disguise. Your disguise’s level is already extremely high. Furthermore, you have even received my guidance. If I did not already know what happened, I might even be fooled by you.”
“I’m not worried about the Duke Manor, but rather…” Zu An was about to say something, but stopped. He asked, “Can the madam call over a servant? Preferably male.”
“Why?” Yu Yanluo was confused. “I do not keep any male servants near my dwelling. Suddenly calling one over would be a bit strange.”
“Uh… I have a use for one.” Zu An immediately felt a bit embarrassed. He couldn’t just tell her that he had to pretend to be a girl and fool the servant, right? Damn this Kawaii Waifu Voice Changer!
Seeing how Zu An was hesitant, Yu Yanluo’s expression became strange. “You do not swing that way… Right?”
Zu An was speechless.
“Of course not!” he exclaimed. He felt a huge headache. The two of them had lived and eaten together for some time, so they had already become close friends. In the end, he decided to explain it to her. “This disguise technique is a bit special. Before changing into the target, I have to… pretend to be a woman and fool another man. Only then can I use it.”
He couldn’t explain the Kawaii Waifu Voice Changer, so he had to say it was part of the transformation skill.
Yu Yanluo’s eyes opened wide. A smile appeared on the corners of her lips, before growing bigger and bigger. In the end, her body was rocking back and forth, unable to contain her laughter.
She laughed while apologizing. “Sorry! I normally do not laugh at other people, unless… I really cannot stop myself, ha ha ha…”
Zu An’s expression was extremely awful. That technique really was complete social suicide.
After she had a good laugh, Yu Yanluo called over a male servant. She personally watched the process of Zu An changing into a cute girl to fool him, thoroughly enjoying the entire process.
That servant felt so light that it was as if he were floating. The madam never allows any men to approach her room, but I was actually called over today!
And what’s that sweet sounding girl’s relationship with the madam? Her voice is so pretty; she must be really cute.
Also, why was the madam laughing the entire time? Even though she was clearly trying to hide it, I could still hear her. Could it be that the madam favors me? After all, she rarely smiles even toward other people.
My ancestors are definitely blessing me right now! I definitely need to light some incense for them once I get back.
Zu An had already changed into Jian Yanyou’s appearance. He gave Yu Yanluo an annoyed look, exclaiming, “Have you had enough yet?”
Yu Yanluo covered her mouth, replying, “But this really is funny.”
Zu An was speechless. He coughed lightly and said, “You can call over Gong Pan now.”
Yu Yanluo realized that the matter at hand was more important too. She suppressed her urge to laugh and sent someone to call in Gong Pan.
…
Gong Pan arrived outside the room soon afterward. He said, “I greet the madam. May I ask why you have called me here?”
Yu Yanluo gestured for Zu An to follow her. Then, she slowly opened the door, replying, “Commander Gong, do you see who we have here?”
Gong Pan raised his head. When he saw the man next to her, his eyes were filled with shock. He exclaimed, “Commandery Duke!”
“It has been a long time.” Zu An smiled. He said those words in the tone he had practiced for days.
“Duke, it really is you!” Gong Pan was surprised and overjoyed to hear that familiar voice. He quickly ran over to cling to Zu An; the fully grown man started to bawl out his heart right there and then.
“Hurry and get back up; how can you cry like this?” Zu An quickly supported him to his feet.
“Duke, you have no idea! Ever since you left, all of us have either scattered apart or passed away…” Gong Pan rubbed his eyes. “Ah, let us not talk about these things anymore. The duke’s return is the most important and the happiest thing!”
Yu Yanluo said, “Yanyou is seriously injured right now. Not only has his cultivation dropped, he is missing many of his memories too. I will have to trouble Captain Gong to take care of him.”
Gong Pan exclaimed earnestly, “With me here, anyone who dares to harm the duke will have to walk over my dead body!”
Zu An quickly added a few more words of encouragement.
…
Yu Yanluo brought over some members of the Yu clan, and they escorted Zu An to the Duke Manor together with Gong Pan.
After all of the recent disturbances, Cloudcenter Commandery’s various factions all had their ears pricked, paying attention to the slightest news. Soon, a piece of shocking news began to sweep through Cloudcenter Commandery’s court.
The missing Cloudcenter Duke had returned!
