The competition finally started, yet Tang Doudou didn’t feel that happy because her position on the stage just happened to be parallel to Baili Yu’s. When she got onto the stage, Baili Yu, who had been dozing this entire time, suddenly opened his eyes with a whoosh and looked at her with something that resembled a smile.
It was as if her appearance here was within his predictions. When Tang Doudou sensed this, she felt a chill all over. Could it be that Meng Yu had come to her for help at his prompting?
Yet when faced with his attention, Tang Doudou could only meet his gaze weakly, trying to act as natural as possible with the hope that she was overthinking it. She hoped that Baili Yu was just curious about the new member in his group and didn’t actually recognize her.
It’s unknown if the prayer in her heart worked, but a little while later, Baili Yu closed his eyes again as if he didn’t care about the culinary competition in front of him at all.
As a result, he also ignored Tang Doudou.
Phew! Tang Doudou exhaled deeply. She had been overthinking it after all.
“Doudou, what are you doing? The competition has started!” Meng Yu who was next to Tang Doudou had already started working. When she peeked over and saw Tang Doudou staring at Master without moving, she anxiously walked over and tugged on Tang Doudou’s sleeve. “Don’t look anymore. If you keep looking, you’ll arouse Master’s suspicions!”
“Meng Yu, is it really ok for me to be like this? Why do I feel that your family’s Master recognized me?” Tang Doudou was still a little worried. Baili Yu’s thoughts were so hidden that she had never been able to understand them!
So she was worried about this ah!
Meng Yu laughed with sudden realisation and patted Tang Doudou’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I guarantee that Master won’t recognize you. Not only him, Doudou, even your parents might not necessarily recognize you…”
When Tang Doudou heard this, she was stunned. Was her transformation really that great?
However, the following words Meng Yu said almost made her stumble and fall from the stage.
All she heard was Meng Yu continuing in an immensely proud tone, “You’re a girl right now, Alliance Head Li is a guy. There’s no way Master would be dumb to the point he can’t tell between a guy and a girl.”
In reaction to this, Tang Doudou can only go ‘ha.ha.ha.’ Who says that Baili Yu isn’t dumb? He’s practically stupid as hell, you know? Otherwise, why would he still be unaware of her true gender even after tumbling on the bed with her?
Forget it, it doesn’t really matter whether Baili Yu recognized her or not. Since he hasn’t said anything yet, she’ll just settle the culinary competition before worrying about the rest. Afterwards, she’ll deal with the rest as needed, blocking if troops came and drowning incoming soil with water!
When she thought about the competition, Tang Doudou was filled with enthusiasm again. After glancing at San Yu, she took the knife Meng Yu handed over. “Doudou, prep this meat by getting rid of the bones first!”
Meng Yu was the main chef and Tang Doudou was here as a kitchen helper. Due to the fact that the menu wasn’t altered, Tang Doudou could only help as an aid until the time came for her to act.
However, she was quite passionate about everything in the kitchen. The knife whirled easily in her hand, and started moving with a ‘swish’.
The moment she started, she attracted the whole audience’s attention. It was the first time they had seen this style of cutting so they couldn’t help but wonder who this yellow-robed little lady was. Why had they never seen her in past Heng Xuan Chamber of Commerce competitions?
That swift and neat knifework didn’t seem like it could possibly belong to someone without reputation.
With her unique air and features thrown in the mix, people became more and more curious. There were already people directing their gazes towards the person sitting on the highest seat.
They discovered with shock that the Master who had always been disinterested in these sorts of competitions was currently propping up his chin, engrossed in watching as he gazed with a quiet smile towards the little girl in yellow cutting the ingredients. The deep pupils that had always been so hidden that nothing could be made out currently revealed a pleased expression.
This scene shocked the mass of people. They had never seen Baili Yu reveal an emotion like this towards anyone, and now he was onstage, sending messages of satisfaction and pride towards a little girl of his own family. Everyone thought they were hallucinating.
They rubbed their eyes and discovered that they weren’t hallucinating, this was reality!
If this young lady was Baili Yu’s new flame, then how could the buzz about his marriage with Li Xueyi be explained?
It’s said that people of the Plum Garden had even been seen yesterday going to Fragrant Celebration House to consult about the banquet matters…
“Resplendent Imperial UncleT/N.”
Finally, someone in the audience was no longer able to hold himself back. The person in the very center was a certain young man about thirty years old. He wore a bright yellow embroidered robe with gorgeous decorative designs. His hair was combed up to reveal a broad forehead and dignified features. Just from the objects placed at his side, one can tell that he was not someone ordinary. That in addition with the imposing aura he gave off indicated that he was definitely someone of high ranking. His tone was mild but steady, and the moment he spoke, the chattering immediately died down.
The air was so abnormal that even the kitchen maids that were focused on the competition forget to concentrate and glanced over. However, two people didn’t look. One of them was Tang Doudou who was absorbed in the knifework while the other one was that young girl clothed in gray, San Yu. Right now, she was still calmly and methodically stir-frying the sauce. When the aroma floated over, Tang Doudou hastily lifted her head to look. When she saw the ingredients prepared on the long table, she immediately knew what San Yu was planning on making.
“When did Resplendent Imperial Uncle’s Chamber of Commerce obtain such a skillful person? Why didn’t she come out to compete last time in the Plum Garden Gathering?” The young man put down the teacup in his hand and leisurely asked Baili Yu.
The stage was very far away from the audience. Although he wasn’t speaking quietly, it still wasn’t loud enough to transmit all the way to the stage. Otherwise, if Tang Doudou had heard the way this person addressed Baili Yu, she would probably have been so shocked that the blade in her hand would have dropped to the ground.
Who could have imagined that the richest person on earth, Baili Yu, was actually a member of the Wind Spirit Imperial Household? From that person’s respectful tone, it can be surmised that his status wasn’t low either.
It must been known that this man was the current emperor of Wind Spirit Imperial Court, Xi Qiulin.
No wonder Xi Qiuyue admitted defeat without a sound when he was demoted to being a Common Person Wang. So it turns out it wasn’t that he had lost the imposing air he gained from the battlefield, but that the person he offended was also someone of the Imperial Household.
This family sure is chaotic enough.
Not to mention, Baili Yu looked much younger than that pair of uncle and nephew. With their family names being different, there was no way people could have ever linked them together.
“From the looks of it, she’s probably a new arrival.” Unexpectedly, Baili Yu slightly knitted his brows and pondered for a while before replying in a slightly unconfident tone.
Everyone was speechless. You aren’t even sure about the matters inside your own household? Can you dare to be any more muddled?
However, everyone kept this criticism hidden in their hearts without daring to vocalize it. Although Xi Qiulin was courteous towards Baili Yu, he was, for better or for worse, the monarch of a nation. Thus, his status in front of Baili Yu was much better than that of others. Right now, he laughed heartily, then said, “After such a long time, Resplendent Imperial Uncle still has such humor!”
“Humor?” Baili Yu didn’t deny it as he smiled a little. Lifting his hand to gesture towards the maid playing the music, he ordered quietly, “Go bring Qing Yin over.”
The maid gave a slight nod before withdrawing.
Baili Yu made no indication of continuing this topic, so it counted as Xi Qiulin having made a slight embarrassment out of himself. Xi Qiulin withdrew his gaze, but the depths of his eyes flashed cold with much displeasure towards Baili Yu’s attitude.
Yet he could not do anything about it.
“Your Majesty…”
“Watch the competition.” Xi Qiulin’s mild words carried a tone that could not be questioned. The attendant that was just about to speak immediately closed his mouth, not daring to refute.
Bai Lianhua almost twisted her handkerchief to sheds as she took this entire scene in. Other people might not have noticed, but she had recognized Tang Doudou with one glance.
This shameless bastard! For the sake of seducing Baili gege, he actually dressed up as a woman! And he had to be even prettier than her! When Bai Lianhua thought about the fact that he was going to take her Baili gege as a bride in half a month, she became even more infuriated!
It’s actually ‘take as bride’ rather than ‘become a bride’!
This is just humiliating Baili gege!
What exactly is he doing this for!?
Bai Lianhua glared hatefully at Tang Doudou. It’s no good, she couldn’t continue just watch like this. If she continued to let things develop, Baili gege would really be snatched away.
Once they got married, it would truly be too late.
Previously, due to the fact that she was helping Aunt prepare for the culinary competition, she ran out of time to deal with this matter. Later, she had heard that Li Xueyi almost died in a large fire in the outskirts of the city and was overjoyed. Even though he wasn’t burned to death, he was definitely injured severely. Otherwise, Bai Feiyun wouldn’t have invested so much time and effort in treating him. It was best if that charming vixen face was completely burned off…
But who would have expected that before she even had enough time to enjoy her happiness, Tang Doudou had jumped out again all lively to strut around.
And angering her to the brink of vomiting blood.
Seeing how Li Xueyi seemed completely fine, Bai Lianhua started holding a grudge against Bai Feiyun. Whose cousin is he exactly!? She had never seen him help her before. On the contrary, due to being related to him, she could never get Baili gege to like her!
Women who harbored envy are truly scary. Bai Lianhua’s line of thought was getting more and more abnormal. When Bai Lianhua saw Tang Doudou revealing her cutting skills on the stage and taking the limelight, she got even more enraged, yet she still kept a natural expression on her face. Out of the corner of her eyes, she glanced at the people that were quietly watching the competition next to her. Suddenly, her gaze fixated on Xi Qiuyue that was sitting at the side, playing with his wine cup out of boredom.
“Your Majesty, Sangfroid Prince.” The two had not been very far apart. Bai Lianhua had sent a meaningful look towards the Miss of Bai Residence and switched seats with her so now, they were even closer.
Xi Qiuyue was so shocked his hand shook and the wine cup almost fell to the floor due to the fact that someone had suddenly called out to him out of the blue with a voice soft to the point of being mushy. He turned his head to look over. When he saw Bai Lianhua, he asked in surprise, “Was it Miss Bai that called ben wang?”
Bai Lianhua nodded with a pleasant smile on her face. “Never thought that Your Majesty, Sangfroid Prince, would still remember Lianhua.”
“How could ben wang possibly not remember? That rain of blades and dance of blossoms that Miss Bai performed in the palace last time still remains fresh in ben wang’s memory!”
“Just small tricks, I’ve let Your Majesty, Sangfroid Prince, see a joke.” Bai Lianhua chatted with Xi Qiuyue in a very natural manner for a while before she shifted the topic towards Tang Doudou who was on the stage. “Wang ye, look at that young girl on the stage. Doesn’t she slightly resemble Li Xueyi of the Alliance Head Residence?”
Xi Qiuyue had already been suspecting this earlier. He thought it was for sure, but didn’t dare to be certain. Now that he heard what Bai Lianhua said, he immediately slapped his leg!
“Ben wang was just saying that she looked familiar. I never expected that you noticed as well! So it really is that little brat!”
Seeing his expression of sudden realization, Bai Lianhua knew that her goal had already been reached. However, for the sake of arousing suspicion, she hastily grabbed Xi Qiuyue’s sleeve and said in a quiet voice, “Wang ye, don’t be too stirred up…”
As she spoke, she indicated with her eyes towards Xi Qiulin who was sitting not too far away. Xi Qiuyue nodded gratefully. “Thanks.”
Bai Lianhua gave him a faint smile. “Wang ye is being too polite. We should just watch the competition.”
Xi Qiuyue turned back around, but his mood wasn’t as calm and bored as it was before after knowing it was that brat. What was the reason behind him sacrificing his gender?
Could it be…
__________
