Jiang Chenbi hummed in acknowledgment, and Ying Lan presented the letter.
She opened it and carefully read the contents. Li Qian reported that the women of Phantom Woman Valley had been systematically supplying Human-Face Gu to the outskirts of the capital. They hadn’t identified the specific individuals yet, but they had a general direction.
Jiang Chenbi’s gaze turned icy. She had given Li Qian half a year, and three months had already passed, yet this was all the progress she had made.
It seemed a trip back to the Southern Frontier was necessary.
With an indifferent expression, Jiang Chenbi burned the letter and looked at Ying Lan. “Write a letter to Li Qian on my behalf, telling her I’ll return to the Southern Frontier in three months.”
Ying Lan nodded, silently lighting an incense stick for the young palace lord in her heart.
Jiang Chenbi frowned and asked, “Has Chen Quan made any moves yet?”
Ying Lan replied, “The Minister of Rites hasn’t given any orders yet, so Chen Quan doesn’t dare act rashly.”
Jiang Chenbi narrowed her eyes. Why hadn’t Cui Wangshu made her move? Once the Myriad Nations Conference was over, Luozhou would become the focus of the entire nation. No matter how capable they were, they wouldn’t be able to hide anything then.
But since they had agreed to let her be the one moving the pieces, Jiang Chenbi couldn’t go back on her word and interfere too much.
Rubbing her brow, Jiang Chenbi asked, “What about the Mountain Lord? How’s the matter with the military authority going?”
Ying Lan’s expression wasn’t great. “The Mountain Lord hasn’t sent any word back yet. We don’t know the current progress.”
Jiang Chenbi’s frown deepened. For such a critical mission, Yellow Path Palace always used single-line contact. Unless the Mountain Lord reported, they couldn’t probe rashly, or it might alert the enemy.
After the incident with Lai Niang, Jiang Chenbi had considered whether to keep the single-line contact. Lai Niang had hidden thanks to it, and by the time Yellow Path Palace found out, she had vanished into thin air.
But this mission for the Mountain Lord was far too important. The Empress Dowager, the Cui Family, and the Emperor were all watching. Any carelessness would mean total failure.
Jiang Chenbi took a deep breath and said, “Forget it. Let it be. If it doesn’t succeed within the time limit, the Gu poison will kill it without fail.”
Yellow Path Palace’s use of Gu poison wasn’t rigid. For low-level ordinary members, they implanted Life Gu, which prevented them from leaking information about Yellow Path Palace and allowed tracking their location.
But for high-level ones like the Mountain Lord and Lai Niang, no Life Gu was implanted. It was more like a partnership—Gu was only applied when accepting missions, and if they failed to complete it on time, they wouldn’t get the antidote.
But calling it a partnership was misleading; it was a lifelong binding.
For someone like Jiang Chenbi, it was easy to invite the gods but hard to send them away. If there was profit to be gained from her, one had to be prepared to serve her for life.
After giving general instructions on recent deployments, over on Cui Wangshu’s side, she finally settled down and organized the matters for the Myriad Nations Conference. Next, she just needed to submit the strategy to the capital and wait for the Emperor’s approval before starting work.
That meant during the days waiting for the Emperor’s approval, Cui Wangshu finally had some free time.
She raised her hand to touch the spot on her collarbone, where Jiang Chenbi had left a bite mark. Cui Wangshu’s lips curved up; even being bitten felt like a reward of intimacy from her beloved.
It was still early, so Cui Wangshu went to Yunyu Fang to find Jiang Ci.
Jiang Ci looked at Cui Wangshu, who had come again, and felt a headache coming on. She asked, “Minister, what instructions do you have this time?”
Cui Wangshu sized up Jiang Ci and nodded solemnly. “Teach me how to cook.”
Jiang Ci wore an expression as if she’d seen a ghost. ? Do you know what you’re saying?
After hemming and hawing for a while, Jiang Ci still said sharply, “You, the Minister of Rites who never touches spring water, want to cook? Have you gone mad?”
A flicker of unnaturalness crossed Cui Wangshu’s face. “Who told you I never touch spring water?” She’d even washed bedsheets before.
Jiang Ci smacked her lips doubtfully. “Why do you want to learn this? Don’t tell me it’s for Jiang Chenbi.”
Cui Wangshu: “……”
Seeing Cui Wangshu silent with an expression of ‘So what if it is?’
Jiang Ci: “……”
She was serious. Enough already.
Jiang Ci racked her brains and collapsed inwardly. “Why? Aren’t you two just partners? What are you doing?”
The eerie feeling Jiang Chenbi gave her was still fresh in her memory. She really didn’t want to see her friend with that madwoman; she’d go crazy!
Cui Wangshu frowned. “Why are you reacting so strongly? Can’t I do it?”
Jiang Ci stared at Cui Wangshu and couldn’t hold back. “Do you like her?”
Then she saw a blush bloom on Cui Wangshu’s cool face. She turned her head shyly, touched her ear tip bashfully like a young lady, and asked softly, “Is it that obvious?”
Jiang Ci: “…….” This world has gone mad hahahaha
Jiang Ci wanted to die. Covering her face, she said, “I’m not teaching you…”
“Money.”
Jiang Ci hesitated. “Even with money, no. Look, do I lack money…”
“Ten thousand taels of silver.”
Jiang Ci patted her sleeves, bowed obsequiously, and said, “When do you want to learn, my lady?”
How could one fight against money?
Cui Wangshu shook her head. “Today, first test if she likes your cooking.”
Money could make even ghosts push the millstone; Jiang Ci felt she pushed better than a ghost. Wasn’t it just making a table of dishes?
Jiang Ci said fawningly, “Sure. Any foods she avoids? This humble one will go make them now.”
Cui Wangshu thought for a moment. “Nothing spicy, and nothing too sweet and cloying, but she can’t eat bland food either.”
Jiang Ci smiled ingratiatingly, cursing inwardly about her pickiness, but outwardly still fawning. “No problem, just minor requests. I’ll go now. Remember to bring the banknotes, great benefactor, or I’ll poison your beloved.”
Cui Wangshu: “……”
Watching Jiang Ci turn and leave, Cui Wangshu couldn’t help but chuckle. Her peripheral vision caught the chessboard nearby, so she walked over to study the chess manual.
Jiang Ci was picky about food herself and usually cooked, so she had excellent culinary skills. In her words, not everything was worthy of her tasting.
As dinnertime approached, Jiang Ci came in carrying a four-layer food box, still smelling of smoke and fire.
She set the food box on the table and opened it, introducing each dish one by one. “Blanched vegetable hearts, soy sauce steamed ribs, and…”
Cui Wangshu looked at the appetizing dishes, which smelled enticing too, and nodded. “You’ve worked hard.”
Jiang Ci grinned. “Not hard. Where’s my banknote?”
Cui Wangshu smiled helplessly and took out the banknote from her bosom. “I won’t owe you.”
Jiang Ci covered the food box, her eyes full of that stack of banknotes. Seeing Cui Wangshu still sitting there, she frowned. “Why are you still here? Go find her. What if she starves?”
Cui Wangshu: “……”
Not wanting to argue, Cui Wangshu picked up the food box and left Miaoqu Pavilion.
At the Yellow Path Palace Merchant Guild.
Jiang Chenbi lounged motionless on the imperial concubine couch. Ying Lan fretted over the large table of food and rice—the palace lord wasn’t dining again!
For Jiang Chenbi, she wouldn’t stand if she could sit, and wouldn’t sit if she could lie down. She was exhausted day after day and didn’t even want to eat.
Ying Lan wanted to say something when there was a knock at the door. A guard came in and whispered to her. Ying Lan’s eyes lit up. “Invite them up quickly.”
Jiang Chenbi frowned slightly. “What’s the matter?”
Ying Lan curved her eyes in a smile. “Nothing, just someone delivering something.”
Jiang Chenbi glanced oddly but rolled over and closed her eyes again.
Actually, these past few days of nonstop activity had tired her out too. Yesterday, her heart had ached so much that she’d used intimacy to distract herself, leaving no energy to think about those things.
“Creak—”
Jiang Chenbi thought Ying Lan had left and didn’t even open her eyes.
But the footsteps grew wrong—they were deliberately light and heading straight for her.
Just as Jiang Chenbi was about to turn, someone embraced her waist and pulled her back. Her nose filled with a familiar cold fragrance.
She looked up to see Cui Wangshu squatting beside the concubine couch, enclosing her, with gentle eyes and a tender smile on her lips.
Jiang Chenbi’s eyes brightened. “Why are you here?”
Cui Wangshu couldn’t resist touching her face and said softly, “To keep you company for dinner.”
The corners of Jiang Chenbi’s lips, just lifting, stiffened. She hesitated. “No need, right?”
Cui Wangshu helped her up. “Try what I brought today?”
Brought?
Jiang Chenbi’s gaze fell on the food box on the table, and her heart skipped. So… Cui Wangshu had specially brought her dinner?
Sitting at the table, Cui Wangshu opened the food box, and the aroma wafted out. It seemed… pretty good.
Hesitantly, Jiang Chenbi picked up a bit of blanched greens and put it in her mouth. Her eyes lit up.
The greens were tender and watery, the sauce flavorful without being greasy, truly tempting her to take another bite.
Seeing her eyes sparkle, Cui Wangshu knew she liked it and pointed to the soy sauce steamed ribs. “Try this one?”
Buoyed by the success of the greens, Jiang Chenbi briskly picked up a piece of rib and ate it.
The soy sauce was perfectly balanced, cutting the richness of the ribs without overpowering, and the taro below was soft and glutinous.
The other dishes were good too, especially with Cui Wangshu coaxing her like a child, urging her bite after bite. In the end, she ate half a bowl of rice, finishing the blanched greens, with some ribs and other meats left.
Jiang Chenbi wiped her mouth, seemingly unable to believe she’d eaten all that.
Cui Wangshu’s lips curved as she packed away the food box, more determined than ever to learn cooking from Jiang Ci.
Jiang Chenbi asked curiously, “Where’d you find such a great chef? I can’t even hire one with money.”
Cui Wangshu winked mysteriously with her right eye. “Secret.”
Jiang Chenbi puffed her cheeks, displeased.
Cui Wangshu wiped her hands, squatted down, looked up at Jiang Chenbi, held her hand in her palm, and said tenderly, “If you like it, I’ll bring it every day from now on and eat with you, okay?”
Jiang Chenbi was shocked inwardly, startled by Cui Wangshu’s words.
Before, apart from intimacy, they rarely had much contact, let alone dining together.
At the Shangshu Residence, they only spent nights together; days had no overlap.
In Tongzhou, meetings were fleeting—only that kiss at the Great Wind Inn, nothing more.
But now in Luozhou, their interactions grew, not limited to bed, but weaving into daily life.
Jiang Chenbi withdrew her hand to touch Cui Wangshu’s forehead, frowning seriously. “No fever…”
Cui Wangshu: “……”
