Chapter 451: Madam Furong

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

As the two highest-ranking people at this banquet, these people only dared to speak to them after the Empress and Noble Consort Ji took the initiative to greet them. Otherwise, other than the Crown Princess Consort, no one else had the right to talk to them.

In particular, Noble Consort Ji’s cold face kept people at bay. No one dared to even look in her direction, let alone get close to her. This also made it convenient for Xiaoxiao to slack off the entire time, eat, and stare blankly. Needless to say, the Empress’s meal was not bad. It was delicious with a hint of familiarity. Xiaoxiao was quite satisfied.

However, how could there be a free lunch in the world? When she saw the servants coming to the Empress in a panic to report that something had happened in the kitchen and that the chef in charge of the kitchen had injured her hand, Xiaoxiao knew that this matter was most likely related to her.

As expected, the next moment, she saw a few servants running over with someone in a panic. “Your Majesty, how can this be good? Madam Furong is injured, but the dishes at the banquet today haven’t been served yet.” “You didn’t even do the job assigned by Her Majesty. You have to be severely punished!”

Xiaoxiao and Madam Furong, who was surrounded by the palace servants, looked at each other and fell silent.

The Empress said in distress, “What should we do? I specially invited you over because I heard that your culinary skills are not bad. The banquet hasn’t ended yet, and His Majesty hasn’t arrived yet. Should I announce that the banquet is over? If that’s the case, where will I put my face?”

The nanny beside her immediately said, “What a coincidence. I heard that the princess’s culinary skills have surpassed her father. She’s even better than Chef Gu. Why doesn’t she help you?”

The Empress looked troubled. “That’s not good, right?”

The nanny immediately said, “How can that be? It’s obvious that the princess is a kind person who doesn’t care about putting on airs. It’s just a matter of lending a hand. Not only can she show her talent in front of everyone, but she can also help the empress resolve her urgent needs. Why not?”

Xiaoxiao felt that the two of them might have treated her as a fool, and they were quite stupid. Although she really wanted to see the Empress and the others acting awkwardly when no one took over, Furong’s hand would probably be crippled if she didn’t deal with the bleeding on her wrist.

Just as the nanny was still racking her brains to persuade her, everyone was surprised to find that Xiaoxiao had already stood up and started to roll up her sleeves. “Alright.”

“Then let Madam Furong lead the way and tell me about the dishes.” The Empress was surprised by her straightforwardness. However, on second thought, she felt that this farm girl was indeed short-sighted. She really treated cooking as a “talent”, so she waved her hand and got someone to arrange it.

“She’s probably anxious when she sees that the others are proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.”

The Empress said to Noble Consort Ji, “Why don’t she think about it? Which woman from a proper noble family will personally cook?”

The kitchen was smokey. Wasn’t she rushing to become an old hag? Noble Consort Ji nodded in agreement and didn’t remind the Empress that Grand Secretary Gu had almost rushed to take in the Xiao Family’s daughter as his personal disciple not long ago because of her talent.

She turned to look at Xiaoxiao’s table just now. Her expression did not change but she was very exasperated. This child was a little picky with her food.

Xiaoxiao’s footsteps were very fast. Before the palace servants could find a chance to urge her, she followed the silent Madam Furong to the kitchen.

Seeing the two of them cooperate, the palace servants felt that their mission was completed and heaved a sigh of relief. The empress had said that everyone would be punished if they could not do this job well.

Hence, the palace servants did not think much of it when they asked Xiaoxiao and Madam Furong to discuss the recipes first and not let anyone follow them. The imperial chefs in the palace were the same. They liked to hide their cooking as if everyone wanted to learn it secretly.

The palace servants were guarding the door, but they did not know that Madam Furong, who had a serious expression and did not like to talk to others just now, was fawning over Xiaoxiao and apologizing.

“Little Master… I know my mistake. I shouldn’t have come to this stupid palace…”

Xiaoxiao reached into her sleeve and felt around. At the same time, she said,

“You make it sound as if you can reject her.”

No matter how famous Mrs. Shen’s elegant abode was or how difficult it was to hire Madam Furong, that was only relative to ordinary people. If she dared to reject the Empress’s request, the entire elegant abode, the Shen Family, and the Li Family would suffer.

It was not like Xiaoxiao did not understand this, so she naturally could not blame Furong.

Furong was stunned. Then, she saw Xiaoxiao carefully lift her hand and untie the cloth wrapped around Furlong’s wound layer by layer.

Xiaoxiao’s movements were very light, afraid that she would hurt Furong. When she unveiled the last layer, she even blew at the wound like she was coaxing a child. Furong blinked and sat obediently. Seeing Xiaoxiao take out a bottle of medicine from her pocket as if she was performing a magic trick, “What hurt you?”

At this point, Furong couldn’t help but be angry. “Chef’s knife.”

“It is too fake. I was cutting vegetables on the chopping board when someone suddenly bumped into me. Moreover, she bumped into my arm.”

Fortunately, I reacted quickly. Otherwise, with my knife skills, it’s not impossible for my hand to be severed!”

Xiaoxiao found the knife she was talking about. This thing was well maintained and did not rust. As long as Furong’s luck was not too bad, there was a high chance that there would be no danger of tetanus. Xiaoxiao washed her wound and applied the medicine produced in the space.

After applying the medicine, Xiaoxiao looked up and realized that Furong’s eyes were a little red. “Did I hurt you?”

Furong shook her head. “Master, you’re the best.”

In the past, she always felt that her master was young and it would be awkward for her to be respectful. She liked to call her “Little Master” to muddle through. However, today, she really felt care and love from Xiaoxiao.

It was strange. She was clearly younger than her, so why did she really think that she was an elder?

At the thought of this, Furong compared their heights and felt even more depressed. Why did Xiaoxiao grow so much taller!

Xiaoxiao did not notice her small actions because she was filled with dissatisfaction with the Empress’s gang.

In order to find trouble with her, this group of people would really do anything.

An innocent person was injured just like that.

She had never felt that cooking was embarrassing. To be able to make delicious food and share it with the person she loved was the happiest thing for her. She did not care if others understood it.

Furong was surprised to see Xiaoxiao roll up her sleeves. “Master, are you really going to cook?”

Xiaoxiao looked at the high-grade ingredients that represented money in the kitchen happily, “That’s right. Otherwise, would I let you cook with injuries?” Furong tilted her head. “Even I can tell that they did this to cause trouble for you. You’re so smart. It’s impossible for you not to notice.”

For example, the helpers in the kitchen seemed to have disappeared together.

It was easy to understand how complicated the dishes at the Empress’s banquet were. With just the two of them, no, to be precise, she could only be considered a cripple now. Hence, Master had to complete the remaining dishes alone?

Was this the method that the Empress and her people had thought of to make things difficult for her?