Be Modest,My Master of Imperial Guards

Chapter 42 Got into Trouble

After the Master left, Gu Yunxi couldn't sleep well. Resting for a while, she went to wash herself, changed into the clothes of guards, and ran to the kitchenette to prepare lunch.

The three cooks in Southern Residence showed great respect to her. They followed whatever she wanted to do and gave her the best of whatever ingredients she wanted to use.

Today, she would cook honey stuffed ribs, chestnut roast chicken, and sour r****h duck soup for the Master. She was assisted by the three cooks, who gave her some advice on the selection of accessories and the cooking temperature.

The three kinds of raw meat essence, after being cut, were dipped in cold water sprinkled with salt for a moment so that the blood in the meat was drawn out. To prevent her blood phobia, Gu Yunxi asked the cooks to do this for her.

The sodden ribs, chicken, and duck were piled separately and blanched one by one in boiling water.

The process of making honey stuffed ribs was relatively complex. One needed to put the blanched rib chops in the casserole, add green onion, ginger, bay leaf, nutmeg, and rice wine, heaving them with the sauced pork in the big fire for an hour.

Casserole ignited, Gu Yun used this time to stew the chicken.

Pour some oil into the iron pan. Heat the oil and pour it into the pulverized sugar. Add the chicken nuggets and turn them through quickly until they turned brown like the sugar color. Add the ingredients of pork ribs to the chicken pot. Add water. Sprinkle the oil-yellow chestnuts and stew them together.

Next came sour r****h duck soup. This soup was slightly spicy and sour. The duck meat was cold in nature, helping to cool the blood. In late autumn, if one had made the duck meat into the soup, it would have nourished the stomach without making him inflamed.

Put green onion and ginger slices in the crock. Put blanched duck cutlets into it and sprinkle a little yellow rice wine. Add water over the duck cutlets. Cover the lid and stew for a moment.

After stewing the duck soup, Gu Yunxi went to prepare the chestnut roast chicken.

There wasn't much soy sauce soup in the wok. The pot was steaming, with the chestnut oil fragrance flowing out. The chicken was easy to cook, and the meat would have become old if it had been stewed too much, which would affect the taste.

Gu Yunxi put a pinch of salt into the iron pot, stirred the spoon a few times, and took all the chicken chestnuts out of the pot, putting them into a big plate.

Then she took a look at the duck soup in the crock. Water boiling and soup white, with the right heating temperature, it was the proper time to put in the sour r****h. Sour r****h cubes were made with white vinegar and sugar in the kitchenette and were always on hand. The color of the square r****h cubes was white, and their taste was rather sour and fresh, quite different from those bought on the street. After the pickled sour r****h, bamboo shoots and black fungus were added to duck soup, and they continued to be stewed. At this time, Gu Yunxi started to fry two seasonal vegetables.

When she turned back to look at the heated wok, the pork ribs inside were completely cooked. She took them out with a rack and filtered the soup.

She put the oil in a clean iron pan and added the honey without waiting for the oil to heat.

This process was different from making chestnut chicken because the braised pork ribs at that time had been mixed with the color of the miso meat. If one had waited for the oil to be hot and then sprinkled with honey, the honey color would have become darker and deepen the color of the ribs. Besides, frying the ribs with scorched honey would also remove their characteristic meat flavor.

Gu Yunxi constantly stirred the oil with a frying spoon. After the honey and vegetable oil at the bottom of the pan naturally integrated and changed color, she put the ribs into it one by one. After frying, the ribs became hard on the outside, with a layer of red sauce, which were then taken out and put on a clean plate for later use.

The final procedure was making the sauce.

Mix starch with water and set aside. Put a small amount of vegetable oil into the wok and heat it. Add water, vinegar, salt, water starch and boil juice. Heat them with big fire to make the soup. When the soup became thick, poured into the fried ribs. Stir and fry for several times out of the pot, and then put them into the plate.

For two people to eat, two of meat and two of vegetables plus a soup were a reasonable collocation, appearing neither too poor nor too waste.

The three cooks were shocked. They only felt that Yun Guaner, whose body was delicate and whose voice was rather soft like a girl's, became as omnipotent as a deity when he entered the kitchen. His magic of cooking was fully displayed on the kitchen table.

He knew everything about each dish, which came first and which came last, and how to spend his time wisely. Not only did he not waste any ingredients, but also his timing was very accurate.

Before noon, the Master did return. After drinking a cup of tea, Gu Yunxi asked people to put the lunch on the table.

"Are you cooking again?" Seeing her hair a little messy, Leng Qingtang sat at the table, asking seriously.

He had changed into a black robe, with his hair tied up high.

"I... I like cooking for you."

Glancing at his handsome face and finding he also fixed his eyes on her side, Gu Yunxi hurriedly lowered her head, answered in a delicate voice.

Leng Qingtang extended an arm to her, and she walked to him to hold his big hand. With an arm hooking, he held her whole body in his arms.

"Master, if you like these, I can cook for you every day. "

She sat on his thighs, smiled shamefacedly, buried her head in his chest and, leaned back.

After all, she was just a girl. Even the less obvious expressions were enough to make her blush while she poured out.

Then the Master's voice, showing movement and surprise, appeared beside her ear again,

"Okay! Good! As long as it's cooked by you, even a humble meal is as good as a delicacy."

"Let me serve you some rice. Don't let the newly cooked turn cold."

Getting away from the Master's arms, Gu Yunxi filled a bowl of rice for him and herself. Then they began to have lunch.

The Master was in a rather good mood today, and he ate one more bowl of rice than before.

Seeing him eating happily, Gu Yunxi felt sweet in the heart.

While eating, she thought the love between men and women was just like so. To care mutually and warm each other with sincerity.

As Leng Qingtang was about to finish the second bowl of rice, Chiliarch Cheng Wanli came in.

He was rather surprised when he saw the Master had lunch face-to-face with Gu Yunxi.

The girl, if had changed into her original women's wear and sat in the room, must have become the wife of the Master!

Cheng Wanli felt gloomy and displeased.

Feeling that two especially sharp eyes from the big black face were penetrating her, Gu Yunxi's hands, which were holding the bowl, immediately trembled. She bit the heads of the chopsticks and lowered her head with an unnatural expression.

She knew that Chiliarch Cheng didn't like her.

"Why do you stop eating?"

Leng Qingtang noticed Gu Yunxi's strangeness, picked up a chop of honey-stuffed ribs and brought it to her bowl with a mild smile, squinting,

"Keep eating."

He turned to Cheng Wanli, who was standing beside the table, "What's the matter?"

"Something... happened in the capital."

Cheng Wanli's eyes dimmed, glancing at Gu Yunxi either intentionally or unintentionally.

"Say it!"

"Just now, a spy reported to me that in the capital, people are saying that the Eastern Depot plotted against the Western Depot. The conflicts between the two Commanders-in-chief would lead to the downfall of the country..."

"What?"

This news made Leng Qingtang put down the bowl and chopsticks. He raised his eyebrows to listen to Chiliarch Cheng's statements of the event.

Seeing the Master put down the bowl and chopsticks, Gu Yunxi also stopped eating and sat beside him in a decent way.

"What on earth is going on? Make it clear!"

It was a matter of great importance. Leng Qingtang frowned and urged Cheng Wanli to explain in detail.

"Our spy returned just now, saying that rumor has it that someone found people from the Western Depot fainted in Qingfeng Temple in the north of the city. And the situation in the Main Hall was more intolerable to the eye."

"Last night we had already acted very cautiously, and Ming Lan's person also changed into casual clothes. How did the irrelevant people know the identities of those from the two depots?"

Leng Qingtang found the problem and asked to the point.

"According to the spy, people told one another that there were two lines of blood words beside those fainted people in the Main Hall of the temple. The words deliberately pointed out the identity of Commander-in-chief of the Western Depot, and in the two lines of words... you were also mentioned!"

"What did the two lines say?" Leng Qingtang said emphatically.

Cheng Wanli showed reluctance on his face. He paused and then answered,

"Commander-in-chief from the Eastern Depot enforced justice on behalf of Heaven while the evil Master from the Western Depot sowed the wind and reaped the whirlwind."

As soon as he finished his words, Leng Qingtang squinted his eyes. Gloom emerged on his white and handsome face. He couldn't control his surging anger.

Cheng Wanli had intended to say more, but he was frightened by the gloomy look of the Master and didn't dare to speak anything.

"When the praying mantis catches the cicada, the yellow sparrow is behind us. We have all been plotted. Someone deliberately stirred conflicts between the Eastern Depot and the Western Depot. The two lines of words were the tools he used to frame me. He let Ming Lan thought the words were written by me on purpose after I plotted against him, and made the thing last night known to all. Thus, he successfully intensified the contradiction between the two Masters!

Leng Qingtang stood up stably after finishing his words slowly. He hovered in the room with his hands back, thought it over and over again but still felt it incredible.

"Have you sent any spies to the northern suburbs to check?"

"Yes!" Cheng Wanli nodded his head in an affirming tone,

"When people of our side arrived at Qingfeng Temple, those of Ming Lan's side had already withdrawn. We didn't find the handwriting others rumored on the scene. Maybe they were removed by people from the Western Depot. But the rumor went viral in the capital. It couldn't only be a false rumor!"

Leng Qingtang stood still and thought in his mind.

According to the usual analysis, the effect of Xiaoyao Ball had never deviated too much. After inhaling the psychedelic smoke of Xiaoyao Ball, Ming Lan and his group of people should have woken up two hours before dawn.

At that time, there were few people in the northern suburbs. Ming Lan suffered losses secretly, and the two nasty things were in his possession. He knew clearly he was in the wrong. In the short run, he wouldn't dare to challenge the Eastern Depot aboveboard. This private competition ended up with nothing definite.

But the current situation was changed by the mysterious man hiding in the darkness!

He secretly plotted against Ming Lan after the people from the Eastern Depot so he could make them sleep until dawn, deliberately attracting the attention of woodcutters and hunters who came to the mountain.

Quite a clever scheme. It killed two birds with one stone.

Suddenly, Leng Qingtang thought of the strange sound he heard outside Qingfeng Temple last night.

All those practicing martial arts had sharp ears. At that time, the faintest sound made him mistake it for the sound of the night wind, but now it seemed that someone was hiding in the shadows. And that man was supposed to be the one who started the whole thing!

"Master..."

Gu Yunxi walked to him, feeling sorrowful, "It's all because of me. I'm the one who got the Eastern Depot into trouble."

The Master's anger shocked her. She couldn't help but shoulder all the responsibility by herself. She simply thought that it was the fact that Ming Lan sent her jewelry that led to the Master's displeasure and his scheme to punish him. But unexpectedly, someone else involved and caused the trouble.

"It isn't your fault. Don't think too much about it."

Turning to Gu Yunxi, who was rather uneasy, Leng Qingtang consoled her kindly.

He knew it was not her fault.

Once, Ming Lan relied on his identity as a chief eunuch in Yongning Palace to do evil things. He often bullied little eunuchs and maids. Just a few days after he was promoted to rank-second Commander-in-chief, he incredibly played tricks on the Eastern Depot again.

Leng Qingtang's aim was to punish Ming Lan as he coveted Gu Yunxi. However, he hadn't thought that someone else would spy on them and take advantage of this loophole!

"Master, will people from the Western Depot trouble us again?" Gu Yunxi asked anxiously.

Leng Qingtang shook his head as if absorbed in thought,

"No. He is now fully occupied with how to prevent others from revealing the matter. He will definitely ignore the Eastern Depot. Yet in this case, those innocent common people will suffer..."

Cheng Wanli thought for a long time, still failing to straighten out his thinking,

"Master, what on earth is the purpose of that man?"

"I cannot figure out now whether he aimed at the Palace!"

Finishing his words resolutely, Leng Qingtang looked straight ahead somewhere. The flashing and sharp eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the thick wall in an instant and directly reach the outside of the yard.

"Tonight I will bring Yunxi to the Master's Mansion."

The sudden decision made both Cheng Wanli and Gu Yunxi astonished.

Such being the case, even though Cheng Wanli was very unwilling, he couldn't refute him.

It would have been the best if the Master had found a quiet place to avoid the trouble, but if so, Chiliarch, as the second person in charge of the Eastern Depot, must have stayed here to coordinate the work.

In any case, Gu Yunxi's company by the Master's side always disturbed him.

On second thought, last night, more than one guard saw her in and out of the Eastern Depot in women's wear. There were many different opinions on whether she was dressed as a man or he was a man dressed as a woman. It had become a popular topic of discussion in the Eastern Depot. It would be to the Master's disadvantage to keep her in the Eastern Depot.

Thinking again and again, Cheng Wanli had no idea at all, only feeling increasingly agitated.

Let it be. As for how things would go, just let nature take its course.