When he saw that the time was up and she hadn't returned yet, he decided to take out the buns first to avoid overcooking and affecting the taste.
Ranran was moved, her Shifu was so attentive, remembering every word she said!
So she quickly picked a bun with a red mark on it, blew on it, and handed it to her Shifu, "Shifu, you don't like chopped green onions, so these with red marks are filled with a different filling that I made. Try it while it's hot and see if it suits your taste?"
After saying that, she couldn't wait and picked up one herself, broke it open, let out the steam, took a big bite, and then looked eagerly at her master, motioning him to eat while it's hot.
The corner of Su Yishui's lips curled slightly, like a smile but not. Following her example, he opened the bun, and ate it slowly one bite at a time.
After the master and disciple finished one bun each, not letting down the aroma of the buns fresh out of the pot, Rannan suddenly remembered the proper business, and quickly relayed the news about Mu Qingge's visit to Wangxiang Pass with the imperial decree.
Although she suspected that her Shifu had a complicated relationship with Mu Qingge, her master seemed calm and composed right now, seemingly not agitated at all. He just used his chopsticks to pick up another bun and asked Rannan to prepare some sauce for dipping.
Rannan was meticulous, following the ratio in "Playing Classics" she prepared an oil and vinegar sauce for her Shifu.
This time it seemed to suit Shifu's taste, as he leisurely dipped the sauce and ate another bun. Then, he suddenly asked, "How did you know that I don't like green onions?"
…Uh, this…
Ranran suddenly realized that Shifu had never specifically told her to exclude onions and garlic when cooking. Although "Playing Classics" had detailed annotations, Shifu would still eat the dishes even when she made them with onions and garlic…
"And, how did you brew the "Detain Heaven's Immortal"? That's a fine wine created by Mu Qingge herself."
Since they left Cuiwei Mountain, Shifu had never brought up this topic. She didn't expect him to suddenly mention it now, catching her off guard.
Now, she couldn't really say it was just her guess. After hesitating for a while, she could only uneasily reveal that she had accidentally discovered the hidden compartment in the study.
Su Yishui, with lowered eyes, continued to eat a bun while listening to his young disciple struggle to explain the section on "Fierce Beasts" in "Playing Classics."
Of course, she couldn't go into too much detail about the embarrassing incident from long ago, where Shifu had been teased by the female demon, to avoid Shifu getting angry right now.
The specifics would have to wait until Shifu returned to Xishan, and he could read it for himself.
However, Shifu would not let her off easily. With a flat expression, he demanded that she recite word for word, what was written about him. Under his relentless prodding, Rannan had to awkwardly recount everything in detail.
After reciting everything exactly as it was from the book, she was somewhat afraid to look up at her Shifu's face.
But her Shifu remained silent for a long while, so she tentatively raised her head—only to see Su Yishui's handsome face devoid of the raging fury she had imagined.
Seeing her finally lift her head, he then said very mildly "When cooking in future, you don't need to specially exclude onions and garlic. I'm not picky about those anymore. Using sea salt to marinate longan fruit was a method out of necessity to preserve them, because there was no sugar. I don't like to eat it."
Rannan was somewhat surprised. Her former Grandmaster's painstakingly observations, turned out to be all wrong? Come to think of it, her Shifu was the son of a prince, how could he possibly enjoy snacks favored by commoners?
Just then, Second Uncle Master, Yutong, walked in. "Master, Mu Qingge and disciples from Jiuhua Sect have arrived at Wangxiang Pass and are currently being welcomed at the general's residence by Qin Xuanjiu. Qin Xuanjiu has sent someone to invite you over."
Upon hearing this, Rannan heaved a sigh of relief. Her entrapping former Grandmaster had finally proved somewhat useful by getting her out of a bind.
Yutong had overheard a little, and seeing Rannan looking crestfallen after her lecture, she comforted her, "You don't know about your Master's childhood circumstances, naturally, you have some misunderstandings… Although he was the Prince's son, he wasn't acknowledged until he was ten. Before that, his days with the Lady were quite impoverished… My Master once told my brother, that one time, the Lady got some rare longan fruits during an outing and wanted to save them for him. But she was afraid they'd spoil on the way back, so she used sea salt to preserve them. When she brought them back, the Master found the taste peculiar but didn't say anything to avoid hurting the Lady's feelings, so he quietly ate them all…"
Rannan's eyes widened as she listened. She had not expected Shifu's childhood to be like this. But thinking about it, he was just an illegitimate son of the Prince's concubine. If the Prince had ignored him before, wouldn't he have been worse off than children from poor families?
"Then… why did Mu Qingge say that whenever he got angry in the past, eating sea-salted longan fruits would improve his mood?"
Yu Tong shook her head, indicating she didn't know either.
However, as Rannan thought about it, her heart skipped a beat. She knew Shifu had been forced to join Mu Qingge's sect. As a teenager at a rebellious age, he had to live with Mu Qingge's unpredictable temperament, inevitably having to endure humiliation.
So every time Mu Qingge provoked and angered him, feeding him those salted longan fruits that represented bitter days, it was akin to *Goujian, the King of Yue, tasting gall in silence, patiently biding his time.
*勾践 Goujian was a king who forced himself to taste bitter bile, in order to remember his days of humiliation
This kind of endurance and testing of one's limits… even the most raging anger could be extinguished by that sour and bitter taste, teaching the young man patience and resilience, like a spring ice river about to crack, calm on the surface but turbulent below…
But Mu Qingge had misunderstood, thinking he liked them, so every time he got angry, she would use them to placate him…
Ranran was startled by her own thoughts. At the same time, she felt a sense of inexplicable sadness: perhaps Grandmaster Mu's behavior at that time was just her being playful, but it made a sensitive and melancholic young man feel deeply humiliated.
This kind of two-way disparity, a master-disciple relationship running counter to each other, was really lamentable...
Thinking about how Shifu would slowly swallow those unpalatable longan fruits in front of Mu Qingge, he was probably thinking about how to dismember her into pieces?
In this way, it could be explained why he would stand by and watch while Mu Qingge was besieged, with her soul scattered in the wind.
Ranran sighed again. The "Fierce Beasts" chapter in "Playing Classics" had been completely wrong. Throughout it all, perhaps only the part about "Retaliation for small offences" was accurate…
Perhaps because he couldn't let go of the memories of oppression from Mu Qingge, that's why Shifu was now so cold and distant from her. When Shifu finally arrived at the General's residence with his disciples who had all eaten their fill of buns, it was already noon.
Wei Fang, who had been accompanying Mu Qingge in her wait, was very fed up! Seeing Su Yishui arriving late, he immediately raised his eyebrows and coldly snorted, "Su Yishui, making us all wait for you, you have quite the arrogance!"
Su Yishui completely ignored him. He looked at Qin Xuanjiu, who was serving Mu Qingge diligently, he went straight to the point and asked, "General Qin, what's the matter that you wanted to see me about?"
This time, Qin Xuanjiu had finally given a few glances by his esteemed Master. As he explained the process of how he became a disciple, his respected Master seemed to recall some long-forgotten memories, remembering bits and pieces.
However, those past memories were still hazy, and his respected Master couldn't recall most of it; she mainly relied on what Qin Xuanjiu told her.
Considering there were too many people around his respected master, including even disciples from Jiuhua Sect, Qin Xuanjiu kept his guard up and didn't mention the Soul Hosting stone that contained the Demon Son's power.
He would have to wait until there were no others around, to talk to his Master about this hidden secret.
Although he didn't mention it, the fact that there were demons coveting this place was enough to arouse curiosity. Mu Qingge was instructed by His Majesty Su Yu to investigate the water demon matter.
Initially, she wasn't very concerned, but when she saw Qin Xuanjiu, who claimed to be her closed-door disciple, and learned that Su Yishui was also present, Mu Qingge finally took things seriously.
However, since even Su Yishui couldn't detect the mastermind behind the scenes, she was also at a loss, and could only wait for the hidden hand to act again so she could investigate further.
After Qin Xuanjiu helped his respected Master settle in, he passed through the garden and saw Ranran standing at the garden gate, holding a vassal of wine, asking him, "General Qin, I brought back a newly brewed "Detain Heaven's Immortal" from Cuiwei Mountain. I remember you enjoyed it, so I especially brought you some."
Upon hearing this, Qin Xuanjiu's eyes brightened. He praised the Xue girl for her thoughtfulness, took the wine bag and eagerly drank a sip.
However, after that sip, Qin Xuanjiu's eyes gradually glazed over, his sturdy tower of a body swayed unsteadily, and finally, he fell backward and passed out.
At that moment, Yu Chen rushed out from the corner and promptly caught Qin Xuanjiu, dragging him into the nearby room.
Su Yishui was waiting in the room, very much at ease.
He casually drew a talisman, then flicked his fingers to ignite it, burning it to ashes. He dissolved the ashes into a bowl of clear water and had Yu Chen pour it into the mouth of Qin Xuanjiu, who was lying on the ground. Then he had Yu Chen remove Qin Xuanjiu's shoes, and drew another rune under his feet.
Ranran watched fearfully from the side, suspecting whether she inadvertently became an accomplice to a major crime and helped her Shifu to murder a high-ranking official of the court.
Just now, Shifu only asked her to serve wine, not to knock out General Qin!
Su Yishui looked at her big eyes rolling nervously and guessed her unease.
After he finished writing the spell under the foot, he told Ranran that he had only cast a "Forgetful curse" on Qin Xuanjiu, and the talisman under his foot was just a protective charm to ward off evil.
Since the Emperor has invited disciples from Jiuhua Sect to Wangxiang Pass, they will surely cause chaos again now that they have gotten mixed up in this. So Su Yishui simply added a "lock" to Qin Xuanjiu's mouth.
He would temporarily forget about the Soul Hosting stone so that he won't have to engage with the Jiuhua Sect people. Although this charm only lasts for three days, it should be enough.
After they put Qin Xuanjiu's shoes back on, Yuchen brought him back to the Moon Gate where he passed out just now. Qin Xuanjiu woke up clutching the wine bag.
He shook his head dazedly and muttered, "Why is this wine so strong…"
But before he could finish speaking, the young girl standing before him snatched away the bag of wine, saying, "Perhaps it wasn't brewed well. I'll bring another bag for the General in future."
The young girl ran away so fast, that Qin Xuanjiu hadn't reacted yet when she had disappeared from sight.