Chapter 13: Eating and Taking Away, Don’t Let the Glutton Intercept It Again!

Li Lizhi let out a cry of surprise. Her hand shook, and the dish nearly crashed to the ground.

The soup dumpling, having had only a tiny bite taken from it, rolled over, and the rest of the broth ran down her chin and onto her collar.

Mortifying.

Utterly mortifying.

The once dignified and graceful princess now had a face glistening with grease, a bright red nose, and droplets of soup clinging to her eyelashes. She looked comical in the extreme.

“Pfft, hahaha!”

Su Mu really couldn’t hold it back and burst into laughter.

He leaned against the stove, laughing so hard he could barely stand straight.

“What did I tell you? Open a window first, then drink the soup. Was Your Highness trying to give your face a facial mask? Though pork skin broth is pretty good for the skin.”

Xiao Sizi was slurping on her second dumpling when she looked up and saw her sister’s state. She couldn’t help giggling too, blowing a little bubble of soup from the corner of her mouth.

“Elder Sister turned into a calico cat! Shame on you!”

Li Lizhi froze completely, the heat rushing to her face until she was flushed so red she looked ready to bleed.

Humiliation! Utter humiliation!

How could she make such an amateur mistake? And in front of this bastard, of all people!

“Y-You… you’re not allowed to laugh!”

Mortified to death, Li Lizhi frantically pulled out a handkerchief to wipe her face. But the broth was greasy, and the more she wiped, the worse the smear became, until her whole face was covered in oily marks.

“All right, all right, stop wiping.”

Su Mu contained his laughter and handed over a damp cloth. “You’re only making it dirtier. Go wash your face at the water vat over there first, then we’ll talk.”

Li Lizhi glared at him fiercely. If looks could kill, Su Mu would have been sliced into ten thousand pieces long ago. She snatched the cloth from his hand and ran to the corner with her back to him to deal with the disaster on her face.

The taste from that first bite still lingered in her mouth.

Even though it was only a tiny bit of wrapper and a squirt of broth into her mouth…

But…

It was truly so delicious!

As Li Lizhi wiped her face, she had to admit it in despair.

That savory richness was something the Imperial Kitchen’s so-called master broths, simmered from old hens, couldn’t even begin to match. This broth was rich and mellow, yet clean and not at all greasy, carrying a soul-stirring meaty fragrance.

Even though she had been scalded, squirted in the face, and mocked by that bastard…

She actually… still wanted to eat more?

Li Lizhi felt she was beyond saving.

After cleaning herself up, Li Lizhi sat back down at the table.

This time, she had learned her lesson and dropped her princess airs.

With some things, once a start was made, all bottom lines fell away.

Mimicking Su Mu, she gently nibbled open a small opening, carefully blew away the steam, and leaned in to take a sip.

The moment the broth entered her mouth, Li Lizhi’s still-smoldering, beautiful eyes widened in astonishment.

All her shame, anger, and embarrassment were cast to the winds in that instant.

It was far too delicious!

Was this the taste of true happiness?

The wrapper was chewy and firm, thoroughly soaked in the rich flavor of the broth.

The meat filling was tender and springy, without the slightest gaminess. And as for that broth, it was practically dancing on the tip of her tongue!

Li Lizhi ate three in one breath, only setting down her chopsticks with great reluctance when her stomach began to feel uncomfortably full.

Su Mu was leaning back on his recliner, picking his teeth. Seeing she was done, he said lazily, “What’s the verdict? Want to pack some up?”

Li Lizhi blushed, but soon nodded with righteous confidence. “Yes.”

She pointed to the empty food box she had brought along. “Fill it completely.”

“Fill it completely?”

Su Mu raised an eyebrow. “There are only a few left in this whole steamer basket. If you take them all, what am I supposed to eat?”

“Y-You… you can make more.”

Li Lizhi unfastened a jade pendant from her waist and slapped it onto the table. “Take this as payment for the meal!”

The pendant was of exquisite quality, carved from mutton-fat white jade^[1] with intricate cloud patterns. At a single glance, it was clearly priceless.

Su Mu glanced at it and made no move to take it.

“I don’t want jade.”

He pointed to the pile of unsplit firewood stacked in the corner. “Have someone send me some good charcoal tomorrow. This lousy firewood smokes too much and stings my eyes.”

Li Lizhi was taken aback, then nodded. “Fine. I can’t stand the smoke either. Tomorrow, I will have someone deliver two baskets of silver charcoal^[2].”

It was a pretty good trade.

Su Mu got up and deftly packed the remaining eight soup dumplings into the food box. After a moment’s thought, he took a small bamboo tube and filled it with some specially made aromatic vinegar.

“Keep this in mind: eat them as soon as you get back. Once they get cold, the skin turns hard, the broth vanishes, and they become dense lumps of dough.” Su Mu handed over the food box. “Also, don’t forget to drizzle the vinegar in when you eat to cut through the richness.”

Li Lizhi took the food box; it felt heavy in her hands.

She looked at Su Mu, her gaze somewhat conflicted.

Even though this man was just an odd-job laborer and spoke without any regard for propriety, his culinary skill… truly left no room for complaints.

“Thank you.”

Li Lizhi thanked him softly and took the hand of Xiao Sizi, whose little belly was stuffed round.

“Let’s go. We’re heading back so Mother can have a taste.”

Xiao Sizi let out a burp and waved her chubby little hand at Su Mu. “See you tomorrow, big bwother! Tomorrow I still wanna eat these water-squirting buns!”

Su Mu waved back and watched the two of them leave.

“I just hope the good food those two little gluttons took today doesn’t get intercepted.”

“Sigh. To think that Li Shimin, as the Governor of Asia^[3] and the ruler of a nation, is actually such a glutton. Truly not acting his age…”

Shaking his head, Su Mu returned to the recliner and closed his eyes.

…

…

Li Shimin walked with his hands behind his back, his steps heavy.

He had spent the entire morning in Taiji Palace listening to memorials until his head throbbed.

His stomach was completely empty, and the breakfast sent by the Bureau of Culinary Service was the same old routine, nothing but steamed flatbreads and mutton stew. Just one glance at it had killed his appetite.

Just as he reached the entrance of the hall, his footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

A tangy scent!

It wasn’t the sourness of spoiled food, but an appetizing tang carrying the aroma of aged vinegar, mingled with a rich, savory meat fragrance.

The meat aroma wasn’t overbearing like mutton, yet it was thick and savory, making his mouth water frantically!

Li Shimin did not have the eunuchs announce his arrival and stepped lightly over the threshold.

Inside the hall, Empress Zhangsun, usually so poised and dignified, was holding a delicate little saucer and chopsticks, swiftly popping something into her mouth.

Li Lizhi sat by the edge of the couch without a shred of princess-like decorum, her neck tilted back as she tried to catch a drop of broth running down the corner of her mouth.

Xiao Sizi was the most outrageous of all.

The little dumpling knelt right on the low table, holding a plate as big as her face in both tiny hands as she dug in with all her might, her two little hair buns bobbing along with every movement of her head.

“Ahem!”

Li Shimin cleared his throat with a loud, deliberate cough.

The scene froze instantly.

With a sharp clack, Empress Zhangsun set down her chopsticks, smoothly raising her sleeve to cover the corner of her mouth.

Li Lizhi snapped upright, stiffened her neck, and swallowed that drop of broth down so hard she nearly choked until her eyes rolled back.

Xiao Sizi was the slowest to react. She looked up blankly, a shiny ring of grease smeared around her mouth and her cheeks puffed out round and full.

“Fa… Father?”

Xiao Sizi mumbled through a mouth full of food, hastily pulling the plate to her chest and guarding it fiercely with both arms.

Li Shimin walked over, his face dark.

“In broad daylight, you shut the doors just to keep all the good food to yourselves?”

He sat down by the edge of the couch, his gaze sweeping over the three pairs of darting, guilty eyes before finally settling on the food box sitting in the center of the low table.