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Edited on May 14, 2021.

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"Tao Jie, why do we have to work so early? The head butler won't even let us take a break."

Chu Zhu Yu yawned while asking Tao Jie who was keeping watch over the stove with her.

"Today the general is coming home, the head housekeeper and other servants are busy preparing his arrival." said Tao Jie, while looking at the small fire in the stove.

They are currently stewing the edible swallow's nest soup (Yan Wo). To stew this recipe, the small fire under the stove cannot die out, it should be cooked continuously so that it will taste good.

They are simultaneously preparing many delicious foods other than the Yan Wo.

There are some cooking servants who are very prepared, that once the general arrives, they are ready to do a series of complicated tasks that their superior will tell them to do.

While most of Chu Zhu Yu's work only consists of looking after the small fire, paying attention to the heat, and not letting the fire die out.

Suddenly, the front yard was in turmoil.

Tao Jie popped her head to look around, and noticed a maid running towards them.

"What happened?" Tao Jie pulled the maid and asked her.

"The general arrived, but he immediately disappeared!"

"He arrived and disappeared?" Tao Jie mumbled.

After the little maid catched her breath for a short moment, she explained.

"When the general's carriage arrived at the front door, the head housekeeper could still hear the general's voice from inside the carriage, but when he opened the curtain, the carriage was empty, the general nowhere in sight. Now he's panicking, asking all the maid-servants to look for the general."

Once Tao Jie listened to the situation, she instructed a few of the cooks to help look for the general, while Chu Zhu Yu remained to take care of the fire.

When the people went out, the kitchen became empty. Chu Zhu Yu who was surrounded by delicious foods, could only sigh, accepting her fate.

However, she is also curious about the general's whereabouts. Did someone kidnap him when he was in the carriage?

But that's impossible.

As folks said, General Xiao is skilled in martial arts. So much so that there are only a few people in this world that could match his skill.

While she was thinking these thoughts in her head, someone suddenly hugged her from behind.

In just a moment, Chu Zhu Yu's back was placed in front of a broad chest, with a familiar scent on the side of her neck.

"Jue Qing!" she gasped, although she was uncertain, she was sure about his manner of speaking.

"Hm." he calmly replied.

He buried his head on her shoulder. He missed her so much, he couldn't hold back. On the other hand, Chu Zu Yu's head was blank. She just stayed still as Xiao Zhi Zhi hugged her.

"These few days, did you follow the general to the palace?" she asked him.

Starting from when the general entered the palace, he didn't visit her room.

"I'm very tired." He murmured, hugging her tighter.

She struggled to release herself, but he wouldn't let go, so she said,

"Release me first, I want to see your face."

He finally released her from his chest, she turned around so that she was facing his body, lifting her head to see his face.

His beautiful and elegant face looked so exhausted, his dark circles deepened a lot.

She lifted her hand very naturally, she softly stroked his forehead and said,

"You couldn't sleep these past few days?"

"Hm."

When he came to her room and didn't see her, he almost wanted to flip her entire room to search for her.

"So, how did you find me?" She was curious.

"Your scent."

"Scent?"

"I found you by following your scent."

(E/R: Wow, my dog does that too! 😂)

Fortunately, she was inside the residence. If she wasn't in the residence, he probably won't be able to find her even with his heightened senses.

Thinking about the possibility, Xiao Zhi Zhi asked her, "Zhu Yu, tell me once again that you will never leave me."

Chu Zhu Yu rolled her eyes, she said those words so many times now.

"I will never leave you."

Even though saying this does not guarantee that she will keep her word, she does not dare to say the truth when she looks at his tired face.

Lowering her head, she tried to avoid his eyes and changed the topic, "Do you always accompany the general?"

"Why?"

"I just want to know, is the general really as handsome as people say he is?"

"You want to meet him?"

Chu Zhu Yu strokes her nose,

" I want to. Since I have been in the general's residence for about three months now as a servant maid. I heard that General Xiao currently likes to drink tea, the emperor even rewarded him with four liang, top-grade Jun Shan Yin Zhen tea. "

That is one of the best kinds of tea. When compared to other teas, the Jun Shan Yin Zhen tea is the best in the market.

Chu Zhu Yu is envious. Since it is a top-grade tea, she's afraid that even if she lives in poverty for her entire life, she still won't be able to buy it.

"Do you want to drink it?" Xiao Zhi Zhi stared at Chu Zhu Yu.

"Of course, but it's only for my imagination." She swallowed her saliva, "Not everyone can drink that top-grade tea. If someone secretly drinks it, the consequence could be death."

"No one will behead you." He replied very seriously.

She didn't pay attention to his words, she heard his stomach grumble and asked,

"Are you hungry?"

Xiao Zhi Zhi nodded. "Since afternoon I haven't eaten anything."

If this sound doesn't appear often, he seems to forget that he should eat something. Once he arrived at his residence, he just wanted to hug her.

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier! If you're often hungry like this, your body won't be able to bear it." said Chu Zhu Yu.

She looked at Xiao Zhi Zhi, then she took a quick glance at their surroundings to ensure that no other workers are around.

She hesitated for a moment, but she ultimately hands out a piece of small cake to him, "Eat this." She hoped that no one will notice that the cake lost one piece.

Xiao Zhi Zhi didn't stretch out his hand, instead, he opened his mouth, waiting for her to feed him the cake. Chu Zhu Yu sighed and surrendered to her fate.

Xiao Zhi Zhi bites a portion of the cake. His thin lips, stained with the icing of the cake, actually exudes a lot of sex appeal.

Chu Zhu Yu felt thirsty and the air around them got hotter.

Once he finished the cake, Xiao Zhi Zhi immediately took another cake, put it into Chu Zhu Yu's hand, and said,

"Feed me."

My gosh! This guy is insatiable!

He should know that the food should be eaten in secret, but he just took another slice like it was nothing! What's worse is that he looked so natural doing it too!

Chu Zhu Yu pondered for a while, and after she fed him the second piece of cake, she said,

"This is the last piece. After this, you are prohibited to eat the things inside here."

As soon as she spoke those words, Chu Zhu Yu's loud voice could be heard from outside the kitchen.

"Will you bake Su Juan, huh?!"

(E/R: Su Juan - rolled short bread)

".............."

(E/R: I'm guessing Xiao Zhi Zhi ate the bread, so Zhu Yu got mad at him and sarcastically asked him if he could bake the bread he ate.)

"Hey, hey! This Yan Wo takes time to stew, you can't deliberately eat it now!"

".............."

"My gosh, if the general knows about this, he will take my head!"

"He won't behead you."

"Just because you say he won't behead me, doesn't mean it's true!" Chu Zhu Yu glared at Xiao Zhi Zhi.

She told herself, do not pity him.

You absolutely cannot be soft-hearted.

If you continuously let him eat like that, tomorrow your head will fly out of your body.

"You better leave now, if Tao Jie and the others enter the kitchen later on and sees you, I will be in big trouble."

The most important part was that Chu Zhu Yu was the one who was letting him "secretly eat" the food, but if she tries to hide him then it's easier to cover up the problem.

"Be good lah, the faster you go out, the better. If you don't have anywhere to go, just go to my room, I will be there soon."

She kept pushing him to get out of the kitchen, but he didn't budge. He refused to go out.

Just outside the kitchen, footsteps can be heard, so Chu Zhu Yu panicked.

That wouldn't be Tao Jie and the others, right? (ಥ_ಥ)

Chu Zhu Yu panicked. She could only say, "You! Hide inside the kitchen, hurry! Find some place to hide, or else when you see an opportunity to escape, do it! You do know martial arts right?"

"Are you worried about me?" His eyes sparkled.

"You ate so many things! I wanted to help you cover it up but it's already too late. Tao Jie is usually very nice to me, so later on I will find an excuse. I will just go with the flow. Anyways, don't let them find you."

She went out of the kitchen and intentionally locked the kitchen door.

"Aiya, Zhu Yu, why did you go out?"

As expected, Tao Jie and the others are already in front of the door, Tao Jie looked at Chu Zhu Yu and said,

"Didn't I tell you to look after the fire? Why did you go out, if the fire died out, what will we do?"

"Tao Jie, inside here...." Chu Zhu Yu desperately thought of an acceptable excuse, "There were lots of mice inside the kitchen!"

"What, mice?!"

Tao jie and the others panicked, they immediately wanted to go inside and look. Chu Zhu Yu got busy stopping them, she wanted to give Xiao Zhi Zhi a bit of time to escape.

"It's so messy inside, I'm afraid the mice are still there. If all of us go in immediately, the mice might get shocked and run away! How about...we enter after a few minutes."

"Zhu Yu, out of the way!" Tao Jie pushed Chu Zhu Yu aside.

"Right! If there are mice inside, we need to be quicker!"

"What happened to the food meant for the general, I'm terrified to even think of it now!"

A few of the chefs who were panicked and confused, followed Tao Jie into the kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, the person who should have disappeared by now, was still inside the kitchen.

In front of so many people, he didn't show any panic, he just stood still, his hand freely eating the Yan Wo.

Chu Zhu Yu's heart cried, she felt that all her effort in telling lies was for nothing. Xiao Zhi Zhi directly walked in front of Chu Zhu Yu, putting the Yan Wo on her hand.

"Feed me."

Is this really the time to eat Yan Wo? She gave the Yan Wo back to Xiao Zhi Zhi, she felt extremely tired, but she still laughed bitterly and made excuses to Tao Jie,

"Tao Jie, he...he was just hungry, so he ate all the food, he didn't mean..."

Wait, why was Tao Jie's expression like that?

Chu Zhu Yu silently thought, not only Tao Jie, but all the chefs and workers, their expressions were weird, some of them even showed fear on their faces.

"Gen...General, what are you doing in the kitchen?"

What? General?

Chu Zhu Yu felt her head hurt. She felt like she was on the verge of fainting.

A moment later, she sees Tao Jie and the others kneeling in front of the man holding the Yan Wo, and simultaneously said,

"We respectfully celebrate the general's return to his residence!"