Chapter 258 (Part 2): Tiring

Translated by Gumihou

Edited by Onionpi

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Thankfully, Su Nuan Nuan was able to get rid of her anger just by scolding him. As long as Duan Tingye did not keep pestering her about keeping all her recipes secret, this first madam could still accept most of his idiosyncrasies.

After the scolding session, the three of them had a friendly and open chat about the details of making Buddha Jumps over the Wall and Poached Fish. They also spent some time discussing the best way to propagate the Chilli Peppers. One could clearly see that, between being the heir or becoming a rich man of his own right, the second young master had chosen the latter. To be honest, even if he did not wish to do so, he could see that as long as his older brother did not suddenly drop dead, the heir position would never be his. Breeding sows who could fly in the sky would probably be easier than scheming for the sudden death of this black-bellied brother of his. After thinking through the matter a little more, he knew which route he’d be better off travelling.

Perhaps touched by his brother’s sincere and honest countenance, the little marquis did something unprecedented. He gave proper, useful advice to Second Young Master Duan. Duan Tingxuan urged his brother to keep an eye on long-term gains and to use his wealth to broaden his horizons by making investments at the South China Seas and Liaodong. Not only would this help establish the prosperity of the marquis family, it would also cement the prosperity of the Great Dayin Dynasty via development of land and economy with an eye towards the future.

The discussion this time could be considered very successful. Everyone spoke cordially and the atmosphere was pleasant and friendly. The previous tensed, nearly volcanic relationship between the brothers was completely wiped out in just a few hours of frank talking. If that tension has spirit and intelligence, it would probably have screamed in protest as it died.

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The next day was guaranteed to be busy.

The second prince and fourth prince, still blissfully ignorant of his own background, herded a whole nest of young princes out to storm the An Ping Estate to eat Buddha Jumps over the Wall. On the East Palace side, the crown princess’ maternal family, the people from the Marquis of Chang Ping Estate, had turned up very early to lie in wait at the palace. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince had originally prepared himself to enjoy a nice, peaceful meal at the East Palace suddenly found his courtyard infested by maternal aunts and uncles.

Afraid that his special meal would be snatched by those hungry wolf and tiger brothers of his, he had made sure to arrive very early at the An Ping Estate to secure his jar of Buddha Jumps over the Wall.

This extreme act of sneakiness nearly shook Su Nuan Nuan’s firm belief that Lu Fengyu was the most Extreme Foodie in all of the Great Dayin Dynasty. After all, for the sake of delicious cuisine, Foodie Lu had betrayed his benefactor and suffered being blackmailed by Su Dong Lou. In fact, instead of doing his best to play nice and protect his chrysanthemum, he had even deliberately provoked Su Dong Lou for his own satisfaction so long as they guarantee that he could continue to live and eat good food. This kind of obsession with delicious food should be awarded with the title of Super Extreme Foodie.

However, Su Nuan Nuan found her faith shaken today.

The other princes were just ‘other princes’, ah. Your Royal Highness, you are His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Yesterday you had just received news that one of your brothers was a ‘sleeping agent’, never mind that he was not aware of his own status, but aren’t you supposed to be filled with worry and anxiety now? Shouldn’t you be suffering from a loss of appetite or other visible signs of mental anxiety? Can’t you at least try to be a little bit more moody?

Why are you sitting there and laughing with the fourth prince as though nothing had happened? I know that this current crop of imperial family is quite unusual, but aren’t you being too weird? Being a few cards shy of a whole deck is one thing, but aren’t you playing with a completely different deck of cards now?

Aside from the huge, 50-catty jar, there were two smaller wine jars capable of containing 20 catties of food each. All in, there were nearly a hundred catties of meat, eggs, seafood and other edibles. These were quickly snatched up by their guests. Not only did these foodies snatch food for themselves, they also set their loyal retainers to help them snatch food. Snatch, snatch, snatch, these princes were too shameless, ah. Their lofty imperial aura was all but abandoned, however those who were there to witness this could only grit their teeth in anger but dare not comment about it.

The next day was dedicated as an official visit to An Le Lou’s main restaurant.

They were there to investigate claims that Li Qiushan had, out of selfishness, sent someone who did not really know how to make Buddha Jumps over the Wall to the main branch to sabotage their attempt to recreate the dish. According to the reports, Li Qiushan had sent some half-baked cook who had only haphazardly memorized the recipe to assist the main branch. However, it turned out that the matter was not quite as simple.

The Head Chef of the Capital’s An Le Lou was very talented. However, the poor man had been under too much pressure, trying to perfect all kinds of unusual dishes and satisfy An Le Lou’s customers and his masters. He received scoldings from all and sundry when things went wrong, but gained no recognition when things went well. The pressure on him had been so great that he had lost most of the hair on his head… Fortunately, Duan Tingye still recognised him as a good and loyal worker. The Second Young Master Duan had patted him sympathetically on the chest and informed the Head Chef that once Su Nuan Nuan comes back in the Capital, he will ensure that the Head Chef would have an opportunity to learn the recipes from the great First Madam herself.

This promise was the only thing that kept the Head Chef from resigning in tears…

With the end of his suffering in sight, the Head Chef was able to maintain his position and composure. When Su Nuan Nuan finally arrived at the restaurant, he immediately served her tea and kowtow on the floor three times in the manner of an apprentice giving respects to their master. Su Nuan Nuan wanted to protest, but seeing his nearly maniacal eyes, relented. Whatever makes you happy, thought Su Nuan Nuan privately. The Head Chef did look a lot more relaxed and cheerful after going through the apprenticeship ceremony. [3]

Apparently, the establishment of hierarchy was very important to him. Now that he recognised Su Nuan Nuan as the master, he happily learned everything from her like a particularly enthusiastic acolyte. Having such a devoted disciple was good, but quite exhausting as well. Su Nuan Nuan spent two days working non-stop at the restaurant training up her newly acquired disciple in the art of modern cooking.

However, on the third day she refused to get up early. Duan Tingxuan had already woken up before dawn and was putting on his clothes when she rolled back into the blankets and declared, “You go and take care of your own meals. I just can’t be bothered today, alright? I’m too bloody tired.”

Duan Tingxuan quickly said, “Yes, yes, you go back to sleep and nurture your spirits a little. Who doesn’t know just how tired you’ve been these past two days?” After that he turned to Hong Lian and said, “After a while, you make sure to send a messenger maid to inform the senior madams that your mistress is too tired and won’t be sending them greetings for the next few days.”

“Yes.”

After hearing Hong Lian’s answer, Duan Tingxuan turned to look at his wife, who had fallen back to sleep. Love and affection seemed to surge up inside of him, and he could not resist pressing a final kiss onto her forehead before finally leaving the room.

[Gumihou: Well, I guess it’s good that the Male Lead is being a good person…]

[1] A Couple for One Night, a Hundred Day’s Grace – A couple one night, a couple forever. However, it seems that this only applies to women…

[2] The rest is all described, but I think a dialogue is more dramatic and exciting!

[3] The scene looks more like an outline, so I fleshed it out a little

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