Chapter 206 (Part 1): The Two-Faced Couple
Translated by Gumihou
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com
Speaking of which, while chilli peppers could be found pretty much anywhere in the modern world, and a few renminbi will net you a whole bundle. It was a rare and precious spice in this era. In Su Nuan Nuan’s eyes, even a thousand or two thousand silver taels would not be too much for them. However, as she and Duan Tingxuan were undercover as servants now, and their circumstances were just too critical to mess about. No matter what, they could not let anyone know of their true identity.
Not only could they not be seen spending too much money, in fact, for servants to be paying two silver taels for two strings of dried spices was already considered very extravagant. However, this wonderful lady actually said that they were looking down on her by giving her money, so in the end, they spent nothing. Su Nuan Nuan could only keep this thankful feeling hidden in her heart and quietly decided that once King Xiangyang had been taken down, she would send someone over to bestow these good people some gold as thanks.
After lucking out in such a great harvest, Su Nuan Nuan was all too happy and satisfied. She gleefully rushed back to the imperial estate with Duan Tingxuan and just happened to bump into Lu Feng Yu as he was just leaving the kitchen. He smiled at the sight of them, asking, “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Su Nuan Nuan quickly answered, “Is there anything master wish from us? Since Jin Ling is quite famous, we thought we’d take a look at their market place. However, there were just too many people, so we decided to come back. On the way, we encountered an injured old woman and brought her to the physician before sending her home. That is why we’re late.”
Lu Feng Yu was still cheerful, “Nothing much. The snacks after lunch were quite interesting, I really liked them. Someone said that it was made from sweet potatoes? But, no one who served it seemed to know anything more beyond that, so I thought I’d ask you to make some while I observe. But, unexpectedly you were not around.” His eyes slid over to the two strings of chilli peppers and asked, “What are those? Such a pretty red colour, I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.”
Su Nuan Nuan held up her chillies gleefully, “I guess you can call them spices, ba? I encountered them once before and had quite a strong impression of them. When we escorted the old woman back to her home, we unexpectedly saw these growing there. This is an incredible find! Master please be patient, I shall use this to make some incredible dishes for you. I guarantee you’ll want to eat a lot. If you had gone a whole life without tasting this, you would have really wasted your life.”
She shouldn’t have encountered chilli peppers so easily. However, due to a series of unexpected events, she finally got her hands on them. Su Nuan Nuan had no intention of hiding these ‘rare spices’ either and fully intended to make all kinds of dishes with them. After all, with all the cargo ships setting out to sea for all kinds of rare and exotic stuff in these coming years, chilli peppers would be introduced to the general public sooner or later. Therefore, even if she knew about these peppers, it would not be considered a strange thing.
As expected, Lu Feng Yu immediately showed interest in this ‘mysterious spice’. He was fairly hopping with curiosity as he approached the bright red things, “Since you have said it like this, how about letting me have a little taste?”
Before Su Nuan Nuan could say anything, Duan Tingxuan jumped in to say, “Master, you must not! These things have very strong flavours and had to be carefully matched with other things. Otherwise, if eaten on its own, they will disappear too quickly. How would we find more?”
After hearing this, Lu Feng Yu’s heart itched to taste this spice even more. He’d always loved strong flavours and was about to order them to pluck one of the bright red things for him to taste when someone from the outside yelled that King Xiangyang was looking for him.
In the end, he could only reluctantly turn away and do his duty. Even then, he turned back every third step to look wistfully at the red chilli peppers in Su Nuan Nuan’s hands. For the first time, he suddenly felt impatient at King Xiangyang’s special attention. He muttered darkly in his heart: What did that incompetent fool want with me this time? Can’t you do anything on your own? Must you have me run over to your palace for every little thing? Am I your father, ah? Must I supervise everything you do? It’s because of this attitude of yours that you still can’t get anywhere. If it weren’t for that trump card in your hands, I would have gone far away from you by now.
Naturally, all these went unsaid. After all, Lu Feng Yu still did not want to die. Therefore, when he arrived in front of King Xiangyang, he had recovered his usual unflappable ‘Chief of Strategist’ air. Clearly Su Dong Lou’s description of this man being a rotten piece of wood gilded in gold and jade was correct. Under that outstanding appearance was a ruthless and cunning heart that was both hypocritical and shameless.
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com~
When Su Nuan Nuan and Duan Tingxuan entered their house, she watched curiously as her husband hung the dried chillies in a not too conspicuous area, and even covered them with some decorative cloth in a poor attempt to hide it. She narrowed her eyes and said, “I smell something fishy here. Why do I get the feeling that your words to master just now appeared to be filled with some kind of hidden malice? Speak, what are you planning?”
Duan Tingxuan jumped off the bed, and dusted off his hands conspicuously as he looked around for eavesdroppers before sniggering, “I can’t let myself be the only victim of these things. By right, the person it should harm most is Lu Feng Yu. I won’t rest until he has a taste of these things.”
“I swear, can’t you be a bit more serious? I’m counting on these chillies to earn me some merit. You’d better not spoil my plans just for a bit of fun.” Su Nuan felt angry and amused at the same time.
Duan Tingxuan’s lips curled, “You really think you can gain merit with these things? Wu! Well, if you can really make something as deliciously irresistible as you described, even if Lu Feng Yu suffered calamity once, it will all be fine. Didn’t you notice? He valued good food even more than us. Harming him just once won’t dampen his enthusiasm, don’t worry about it.”
Seeing Su Nuan Nuan starting to waver a little at his explanation, the little marquis added persuasively, “Don’t you want to see this venomous snake hop about madly after poisoning himself with those things? Just think of those poor dogs he had killed, aren’t they pitiful? This way, you can avenge their poor souls.”
Su Nuan Nuan’s final thread of reason snapped, and she nodded. “Very well, let’s get back at him just this once. The consequences won’t be anything big anyway. But, how would you know whether he’d really take the bait? What if he doesn’t?”
“He’ll definitely take the bait. After those nonsense I fed him just now, he’d definitely come. If not, I’ll chop off my head and let you play kickball with it. Don’t forget, this is a foodie whose sickness is even more serious than yours…”
[Gumihou: If gluttony is a sickness, Lu Feng Yu is already chronic, lol!]
If you love my translations, do consider supporting me via Patreon~
Patreon Chapters:
$3 Have a Dumpling
Chapter 206.2 – Two Faced-Couple
$5 Slurp Some Longevity Noodles
Chapter 207 – Emotionally Stirred
$10 Chomp on a Duck Thigh
Chapter 208 – Identity Exposed
Chapter 209 – Gourmet Food is the Greatest!
 ^_^
Translated by Gumihou from kitchennovel dot com.
For anyone who wants to chat with me, do come over to discord !
https://discord.gg/EFcAxFt
