I became the tyrant's only belief.

Chapter 369 Salty
"Yes, sir!" Xiao Shiyi obeyed the order, walked behind Jiang Yao and stood silently like a shadow.

As soon as he came over, Chenxing and Siyue, who were sitting, jumped up as if they had springs in their bodies and silently stood behind him.

With time running out and the task heavy, Jiang Yao didn't delay and left with her three helpers.

Tongniang naturally followed her young mistress.

Seeing that the matter had been discussed to a sufficient degree, Feng Jing wanted to slip back to sleep, but was stopped again by Xiao Jingfan: "Go ask Ji An. He is a medicine man, so he may know something about Thousand Feet Cliff."

"It's so late, can you ask me tomorrow?" Feng Jing's eyelids drooped as he looked like a dejected little dog.

Xiao Jingfan looked up at him, tapping his folding fan lightly in his palm, his voice soft and gentle: "Medicine from the Imperial Hospital—"

"I go!"

No doctor can resist the allure of rare medicinal herbs, especially when they are free.

Feng Jing went about his business honestly, muttering to himself with his head down, but it was impossible to hear what he was saying.

Seeing how much Xiao Jingfan cared about Thousand-Foot Cliff, Du Qian, who hadn't received his assignment, wanted to go back and look through the old intelligence to see if there were any records about Thousand-Foot Cliff.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Jingfan instructed him to do something else.

Xiao Jingfan reached out and pulled out a statement from the confession, handing it to him: "Send someone to this place to rescue Qin Kai's two children and safely deliver them to his late wife's family home."

"Yes." Du Qian immediately sent someone to do it.

The moonlight was cool, and the evening breeze was gentle, making people feel sleepy.

Chu Liuzheng had only casually scrolled through a few gossip posts when, before he came to his senses, almost everyone in the courtyard had already left.

She has nothing to do.

She glanced furtively at the emperor leaning back in his chair and decided to find something to do, like cooking some late-night snacks for everyone who was staying up all night.

"Where are you going?" Zhou Yuande floated over like a ghost, glancing at her sideways.

Chu Liuzheng glanced at his muscular physique and wondered how he could move with such light and graceful steps without knowing any light-body skills.

Want to learn!

But seeing that Eunuch Zhou looked like he was in a bad mood, she didn't dare to bring it up rashly. Instead, she smiled slightly and said, "I'd like to go to the kitchen and make some wontons for everyone as a late-night snack."

"Someone will take care of these things." Zhou Yuande wanted to poke her forehead. What's so great about cooking? She should know what's important!

Seeing Xiao Jingfan get up and walk into the house, he quickly winked at Chu Liuzheng: "Aren't you going to follow and serve him?"

Where have all your eyesight gone?!

Chu Liuzheng glanced at the moon-white figure and thought that this man probably didn't want to see her right now, so there was no need for her to go up to him and make him angry.

But under Zhou Yuande's glare, she had no choice but to follow him.

Then, with a "bang," the door was slammed shut outside.

Luckily, we were far enough away that we didn't bump into each other's faces.

Chu Liuzheng raised his hand to touch his nose, which was itchy from the wind blowing when the door was closed, and turned to look at Zhou Yuande.

You see? It's not that I don't want to serve you, it's just that this gentleman won't let me in.

Zhou Yuande: "..."

He realized that Chu Liuzheng was a blockhead.

The door was closed but not bolted, so why not just find an excuse to push it open and go in?

You have to coax the emperor!
Seeing that Chu Liuzheng looked completely innocent and made no further move, he said impatiently, "Go make your wontons!"

【okay! 】

Chu Liu received the order and went to wrap his own wontons with peace of mind.

She didn't make anything too complicated, just wrapped fresh meat wontons.

Seeing that it was almost time, she put the wontons into the pot, prepared the base sauce in a bowl, and once the wontons floated to the surface, she scooped them out and had the maid waiting outside deliver them to everyone.

She herself had no appetite. She stared at the boiling water for a long time before turning around and adjusting the broth according to Xiao Jingfan's taste. She then cooked a bowl of wontons separately, packed it in a food box, and carried it back to the main courtyard.

The door to the main room was closed, and a dim yellow light shone through the window screen, indicating that the people inside were not asleep.

Zhou Yuande wasn't guarding the door; he must have gone back to his room to rest. Chu Liuzheng's plan to deliver the late-night snack fell through. He sighed softly, picked up the food box, and knocked three times on the door.

"Young master, I've come to deliver a midnight snack."

No one answered, and no one came to open the door.

Chu Liuzheng waited a moment, then knocked twice more.

Still, no one answered.

Chu Liuzheng stared at the pattern on the door for a while, thinking that the person inside probably wasn't hungry, so he simply turned around and left.

But before he could take two steps, he heard a creak behind him and the door opened.

"Come in."

Hearing that voice as cold as ice, Chu Liuzheng could imagine the ugly expression on the man's face behind him, and suddenly felt that he was being nosy.

I won't starve if I skip a meal or two. I should have just ignored my professional ethics and not come.

She couldn't help but sigh inwardly again.

Sigh, she wants to keep her hard-won job while also satisfying the big boss. It's so difficult for her!
Upon entering the house, Chu Liuzheng placed the food box on the table, opened the lid, took out the wontons inside, and then handed over the chopsticks.

Looking at the steam rising from the wonton bowl, she gently reminded, "They're fresh out of the pot, be careful they're hot."

"Hmm." Xiao Jingfan reached out and took the chopsticks, lowered his eyes, picked up a wonton, blew on it lightly, and ate it slowly and deliberately.

In the candlelight, a handsome face appeared even more otherworldly.

Chu Liuzheng stood to the side. In the past, she would have been focused on watching the beauty eat, but now, her eyes wandered around, not looking at anyone eating wontons.

I've never thought this person ate so slowly.

Just as Chu Liuzheng was intently staring at the candle, he suddenly heard a voice say, "It's salty."

Her body reacted faster than her brain; she immediately poured a glass of water and reached for the dishes, saying, "Please have some water and calm down. I'll have the kitchen make another bowl and bring it to you—"

The words stopped abruptly as a large hand encircled her slender, white wrist. The palm was cool yet burning hot, making Chu Liuzheng shudder and instinctively flinch away.

But they couldn't shake him off.

His large hand gripped her tightly, his aggressive gaze moving from her wrist down her arm, skimming over her smooth neck, chin, lips, and nose, before settling on her astonished almond-shaped eyes.

"You—" Chu Liuzheng bit his tongue, trying hard to say something.

Xiao Jingfan shifted his gaze and instead examined the hand he was holding.

As expected of the ointment carried by the legendary doctor, it was remarkably effective; the area scalded by the boiling oil only left a shallow mark.

"Remember to apply the medicine."

"Huh?" Chu Liuzheng was taken aback. "Oh."

My heart, which had been pounding, slowly calmed down. "Okay."

Hearing her agree, Xiao Jingfan released her, gesturing for her to continue clearing the dishes.

Chu Liuzheng pursed his lips, the cool touch still lingering on his wrist.

She neatly cleared away the dishes and chopsticks, picked up the food box, and said softly, "I'll have the kitchen make another bowl that's not salty and send it over right away."

"I don't want to eat." Xiao Jingfan got up and walked into the inner room. "Go out and close the door behind you."

"Yes," Chu Liuzheng replied.

Although the man looked very unhappy, she decided not to cause any more trouble.

Back in the kitchen, Chu Liuzheng took out the half-full bowl of wontons from the food box, sat on the bench, and stared at it with his hands supporting his cheeks.

"Can you get full just by looking without eating?"

The kitchen was quiet, and the sudden sound startled her. She quickly turned around and asked, "Who's there?"

"Me? Who else could it be?" Feng Jing walked in with an empty bowl and chopsticks, and put them in the sink to wash.

Chu Liuzheng patted his pounding heart. Seeing that he had eaten quite cleanly, he couldn't help but ask, "Was my wonton too salty tonight?"