Dai Ziling

Chapter 176 Cooking
Royal study.

In the court hall today, all the ministers were talking about the fire in Yangwang's mansion last night, but most of them were talking about the timely rain later.

King Nandan understands that the word "God's will" is the most convincing word. The eldest prince suffers first, and God blesses him later. He has heard enough of these grand and beautiful words today.The sympathy that was originally moved also disappeared.

Teng Xuanxiao stood aside with her head lowered, thinking about her father's thoughts. The fourth child once said that no matter what happened, she just wanted to be a kind and filial son. This is the best time to gain the trust of her father.

King Nandan pondered for a long time and asked, "Xiao'er, what do you think of what happened last night?"

Teng Xuanxiao turned around respectfully, nodded slightly and said:
"It's not a natural disaster, it's man-made."

King Nandan lowered his voice and asked, "The rain?"

"It's not God's will, it's a coincidence."

"Well, the widow thinks so too. I heard that your eldest brother was taken back to the house by the fourth child."

"Returning to my father, as soon as I received the news last night, my son and my second brother rushed over. At that time, the fourth and fifth brothers were already in the eldest brother's house. The second sister-in-law was killed. The elder brother was very sad and his mind was a little confused, so The fourth child offered to take eldest brother back to his mansion to rest."

King Nandan nodded: "That Ningfu..."

Teng Xuanxiao did not change her face, and replied in a flat tone: "I have never heard of it, but... it is really surprising to be favored by Heng Cang."

King Nandan's face sank: "Heh! This is true, even the widow did not expect Xuanyang's hand to be so long."

Teng Xuanxiao frowned and looked worried: "Father, please calm down. Nothing is as important as your body. Big brother...he has learned his lesson, so please forgive him!"

King Nandan sighed, and said: "You are sincere, you don't even know how to be tactful when you ask for mercy! Forgive me? Look at what good things this rebellious son has done! He even used beauty tricks, so he just embarrasses himself. The banquet Above all, in front of all the officials, the widow's face was completely humiliated by him!"

"Brother did something wrong, but Heng Cang is definitely not a kind person. In Erchen's opinion, the grievances between him and brother are not small. To make things so big, alas! I'm afraid it will not end well!"

"Why, is it possible that he wants to cause another incident because of a woman? How dare he! The army led by Qi Fang had an outbreak of epidemics, and now the soldiers are still recuperating. If we start a war at this time, it will be very bad for Nandan! It is to make Yanyou retreat quickly!"

Teng Xuanxiao hurriedly said: "Father Wang Yingming, that's exactly the case. However, I think that we should plan ahead. In case Hengcang backtracks, we must make plans early."

Teng Xuanxiao cleverly reminded King Nandan of the Yiqi Army, but he ordered to disband it not long ago. If he regrouped at this time, wouldn't it be shooting himself in the foot?

Teng Xuanxiao saw King Nandan's hesitation, and said: "Father, please forgive me for speaking bluntly. I think the two generals Sima and Murong can lead troops to the border. They have experienced many battles and are brave and resourceful. If Yanyou really has evil intentions, it would be good for us to prepare early."

After deliberating for a moment, King Nandan said with a smile: "It makes sense, just use the two of them... You can arrange this matter! As for the woman, don't rush to hand it over, think of an excuse and delay it for a while, waiting for Sima Murong and the others. It’s not too late to rush to the border.”

Teng Xuanxiao nodded again and again: "Yes! It's still my father who is thoughtful, and my son will do it immediately!"

Smiling in satisfaction, King Nandan raised his hand, and Teng Xuanxiao bowed and retreated.

Taiping Pavilion, the residence of foreign envoys in the imperial palace, is far away from the harem, elegant and quiet.

In Heng Cang's independent courtyard, he looked up at the sky with a cold and indifferent expression.

"Your Highness." The attendant who left the banquet last night came in, saw Heng Cang lost his mind, and called out softly.

Turning around slowly, Heng Cang said, "How?"

The attendant looked around, walked up to Heng Cang and whispered in his ear: "The matter has been settled, but I haven't seen Ning Fu. Teng Xuanyang is in the Yi Palace at the moment, and there are people from the imperial palace watching. It is inconvenient for people to investigate."

Heng Cang let out a soft "hum", and asked in a low voice, "Did Teng Xuanyi move?"

The attendant shook his head and said, "Not yet."

"Then wait."

"Yes!"

Just as Teng Xuanyi expected, the purpose of Heng Cang's trip was not only to seek revenge from Teng Xuanyang, but he also wanted to take the opportunity to make things worse and completely destroy King Nandan's trust in Teng Xuanyi.Since Teng Xuanyi has the heart to save his elder brother, the easiest way is to negotiate with himself. Once Yan Youwang's jade pendant is brought out, then...he will definitely be unable to argue!

Heng Cang let out a long breath, and thought to himself: Teng Xuanyi, although you are kind to me, but for the sake of freedom, I have to completely defeat you. Don't worry, if King Nandan can't tolerate you, I will definitely protect you. Your life!

Biyou Pavilion.

Teng Xuanyi played with King Yanyou's jade pendant in his hand, and said to himself: "The texture is good, but the totem is too ugly!"

Zhu Lan glanced sideways and said, "Indeed."

"No wonder you two have such a good relationship, even..."

Zixi closed her mouth halfway through the sentence, but she originally wanted to say "Even the eyes are the same" in the second half of the sentence.

Zhu Lan asked: "What?"

"No...it's nothing. I want to say that you two must be very tired after sleeping on your stomach for so many days. Otherwise, go to the next room..."

Teng Xuanyi put away the jade pendant and asked Zhu Lan: "Are you tired? Do you want to go to the next room..."

Zhu Lan immediately interrupted: "I see you are tired and injured, you go!"

Scratching the bridge of her nose twice, Zixi heard a faint smell of gunpowder: "Heh...heh, that, are you hungry?"

Only then did Teng Xuanyi and Zhu Lan remember that this girl hadn't had breakfast yet, and Xinruo wasn't here, and there was no servant girl here, who would go out and order someone to bring the food...

"Aren't you hungry? I'm hungry! Which one of you..."

Teng Xuanyi and Zhu Lan stood up at the same time and said in unison: "Let's do it!"

……

Seeing the two Pianpian young masters walking side by side towards the small kitchen, Zixi's cheeks puffed up, and she burst out laughing, are they cooking?It's hilarious just thinking about that image!
Pots and pans, grains, fruits and vegetables, various seasonings...

Teng Xuanyi and Zhu Lan stood side by side in front of the stove, their Adam's apple was throbbing, and there was only one question in their mind: what should we do first?
Zixi likes sweets, Xinruo cooks her food in different ways every day, sweet?
Teng Xuanyi was looking for sugar, Zhulan was looking for honey, and then the two of them stood in front of the stove in a daze.

Zhu Lan really wanted to say: If there are materials, I should be able to do it with spells.But he thought about it again, if that was the case, Teng Xuanyi would have no sense of participation.

Teng Xuanyi said: "For the honey soup... just add some honey to the water and steam it?"

Zhu Lan said: "It should be..."

Teng Xuanyi was very happy when his idea was confirmed. He hurriedly got some water, one spoonful, two spoonfuls, three spoonfuls... until the whole bowl of water became sticky.

"Okay, let's light the fire!
Zhu Lan nodded, squatted down, one, two, three... until the stove was almost full, Zhu Lan put down the dry firewood in his hand.

He flexed his fingers, sparks flew from the stove, he dodged subconsciously, and sat down on the ground with a bang.

Teng Xuanyi gave a thumbs up and said, "It's hot!"

Carefully put the porcelain bowl on the steamer, covered the pot, Teng Xuanyi said proudly:

"It's not that difficult!"

Standing up, patting the dirt on her body, Zhu Lan smiled and said, "For a genius like us, it's certainly not a difficult task. By the way, how long will it take to steam this?"

Teng Xuanyi thought for a while, and said: "It usually takes one or two hours to cook this soup, but this soup...whether it takes two or three sticks of incense!"

"Ah... Then we have to wait for a while, I don't know if Zixi can hold on, but there are still some pastries in the room, although it's uncomfortable to eat them in cold weather, but it's okay to put a cushion?"

"Well, she won't let herself starve to death! If you tell her that there is this hot honey soup, she will definitely be willing to wait! Let's go back to the house and have a sip of tea first!"

"it is good!

The two men talked to each other, and walked out of the small kitchen proudly.

Sitting in the outer hall, Zixi licked the dry pastry with Erlang's legs crossed. Seeing that the two of them came back empty-handed, she couldn't help laughing and said, "Why? You just give me this?"

Ok?
The two looked at each other?this?which?
Zixi curled her lips: "Northwest wind! You are empty-handed, just bring in a gust of wind!"

……

Zhu Lan closed the door, smiled and shook her head: "Of course not, but, wait a while, I promise to give you a surprise."

"Surprise? Just the two of you?"

Teng Xuanyi rolled his eyes dissatisfied, and said, "How about the two of us? You are lucky today. Your Highness will cook in person. Just watch!"

"Tsk tsk tsk, that little girl is looking forward to it!"

Imagining how surprised the girl would be when she ate honey soup for a while, Teng Xuanyi unconsciously raised the corners of her mouth, thinking: If she likes it, I will make it for her every day in the future!

"By the way, Teng Xuanyi, you said you were going to fight last night, um...how did you plan?"

Teng Xuanyi breathed a sigh of relief, she finally brought up the matter, if she kept it in her heart, she really didn't know how to take the initiative to solve the doubts in her heart.

"Zixi, do you feel that I am a little different from before?"

Glancing at Zhulan, Zixi thought, he must have told Teng Xuanyi privately!Really, I won't talk to him about anything in the future!

The mute is suffering from Coptis chinensis and can't tell, Zhu Lan didn't expect Teng Xuanyi to ask so directly, the conscience of heaven and earth, I have never said anything to him!
Zixi said: "Yes...it's a bit different..."

Lowering his head and thinking for a moment, Teng Xuanyi said: "In the past, I thought that I had to rely on myself for everything, and I didn't want to take any shortcuts, but it turns out that my strength alone is too small, especially after going through unimaginable things. After the incident, I figured out, if the shortcut is feasible, why not take it? Instead of wasting time on my so-called persistence, it is better to make a quick decision and spend more time with you."

"Really?"

"if not?"

Zixi knew that Teng Xuanyi was not lying, but this explanation seemed a little shallow...

She nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, I understand! That's fine, since that's the case...Zhulan, can you do me a favor?"

"What's the matter?"

"Help me pluck a few more beards of King Nandan!"

"...This..." Zhu Lan looked at Teng Xuanyi in embarrassment.

Zixi said again: "This shortcut works!"

Teng Xuanyi rubbed her face and said, "Oh, why do I feel a little tired all of a sudden..."

Zhu Lan laughed and pointed to the door: "Why don't you go to the next room to sleep for a while?"

The feeling of digging a hole and jumping by yourself is so aggrieved!Just as Teng Xuanyi was about to open his mouth to round up his words, suddenly there was a scream from outside:
"My God! Who did this!"

(End of this chapter)