Be Modest,My Master of Imperial Guards

Chapter 34 Master, I Want It Too

The moon was glowing in the sky. A sheer layer of thin cloud floated around it, allowing bits of star lights to shine through. Misty moonlight shone on the large smooth leaf of the banana tree in the yard, reflecting a delicate and hazy white light, like smoke floating in the air, adding a sense of mystery and seduction to this airless autumn night.

The Southern Residence of the Eastern Depot was way more lively than usual.

The Master had gathered everyone here for dinner tonight. Depot workers carried in two of the largest square tables and pieced them together in the middle of the yard.

It was just dinner time. Cheng Wanli, the Chiliarch, Xiao Xiaoshen, the rank-fourth sword-bearing guard, and ten captains of the Eastern Depot all came.

It was the first celebration of the Double Ninth Festival in the Eastern Depot. Everybody felt especially excited. Everyone brought something, wine, fruit, vegetables, and gifts. All of them were delighted and surprised.

After they all sat down, Gu Yunxi rushed in and put the long oval plate that she was holding onto the center of the table.

"This is the last dish, Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish! I cooked it myself."

She said with a smile. Her clear eyes glanced through the crowd, looking proud.

The tenth captain, Yuan Qian, looked at all the food surprisingly and swallowed his saliva hard,

"Yunxi, tell me, what else was cooked by you? I'll focus on eating them later!"

Gu Yunxi looked down at the table, glancing through the dishes and pointing at them with her slim index finger,

"Um... Braised Meatballs in Brown Sauce, Stewed Pigeon with Ten Delicacies, Stewed Lotus Root with Pork Ribs, Sauteed Pig Kidney, Stir-fried Asparagus and Scallop, Stir-fried Lotus Root with Chinese Yam, and Braised Mutton with Scallion."

"That's a lot! You're so good at cooking!"

Xiao Xiaoshen sat next to Yuan Qian. He raised his eyebrows with proud and teased,

"Of course! Who is Yunxi? Yunxi is the incarnation of the God of Cook up in the Lingxiao Palace of heaven."

"Stop talking!" Gu Yunxi hit on Xiao Xiaoshen's back.

Leng Qingtang sat in the Master's seat. He felt joyful watching the three kids play around across him.

Among them, Gu Yunxi was just the most eye-catching. Every move of hers was caught by Leng Qingtang's eyes.

Especially just now, when she stretched her neck and watched the dishes attentively to call out their names, her unconscious little movement of raising her slim and long fingers was cute and adorable. It made Leng Qingtang's heart throbbing. He almost couldn't contain himself.

Thinking about it, he felt like he was such an animal. He was already approaching his thirties, yet he was obsessed with this lively girl who was still just a flower bud.

"Come here, Yunxi. Sit next to me!"

Leng Qingtang smiled and waved at Gu Yunxi.

Everyone here knew she was a girl, so Leng Qingtang could call her freely in front of them.

Gu Yunxi smiled and walked to him. Taking the spoon and the plate, she scooped up a spoonful of fish meat into the plate from the last dish, Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish, and respectfully put it by the Master's hand.

"You like sweet food. This dish is sweet and sour. It's a nice appetizer. You should try it."

She knew the rules. On this occasion, if the Master hadn't eaten first, no one would have dared to use the chopsticks.

Hearing what she said, Leng Qingtang picked up a piece of fish meat and put it in his mouth.

It was tender on the inside with a crispy crust on the outside. The sauce was sweet, sour, and refreshing. It was truly delicious.

"Nice. It's really delicious!"

Leng Qingtang was surprised. He then looked at her gently. He wanted to pick up the food and feed it to her as they did at noon, yet he couldn't when everyone was here.

"Stop watching. Come on. Dine on!"

Leng Qingtang smiled and said to the crowd,

"No one is going to hold back tonight. We'll drink till we are all drunk!"

The banquet officially started.

Gu Yunxi sat in the empty seat next to the Master. Sun Bing, the depot worker, poured her a glass of fruit wine.

The wine was brought by the eighth captain. Knowing she was taking medicines every day and couldn't drink strong wine, he found her a pot of pear wine to drink for the festival.

Not long ago, Gu Yunxi met the sixth captain and eighth captain of the Eastern Depot. One was tall and thin with a bland face, who was in charge of gathering information. The other was short and fat, looked like a polite scholar. He was good at strategies and was in charge of the arrest and interrogation of the suspects.

They were both quite easy-going. When Gu Yunxi just arrived at the Eastern Depot, they didn't come back because they were out on a mission. They later heard the news that the Master took Gu Yunxi as his apprentice. They specially came to the Southern Residence to pay her a visit. Gu Yunxi was touched by their kind act for quite some time.

Jiang Xiong, the seventh captain, liked fun best. He was the most talkative when being in a crowd.

As soon as the banquet started, he held the wine glass and stood up from his seat,

"Everybody please be quiet. I want to say something. This year there's a joyous event in the Eastern Depot. Our Master took a competent and little pretty apprentice. Since she came to the Eastern Depot, we all felt that the Eastern Depot is more lively than before!"

"Speaking of which, I must propose a toast to the Master on everyone's behalf. Thank you, Master, for bringing such a wonderful bro to us!"

Everyone here knew Gu Yunxi's little secret, yet Jiang Xiong called her "bro" to show that they all saw her as their own.

Jiang Xiong just finished the speech passionately. Zhao Wuji, the third captain, immediately sneered. He patted on the back of his head and made fun of Jiang Xiong in a husky voice,

"Jiang Xiong, who are you to toast the Master on our behalf? How big is your face to represent more than ten of us here?"

"Exactly! We're not getting represented...."

"We'll make a toast to the Master by ourselves later. No need to represent us! You go have fun somewhere else!"

"Hahaha..."

The crowd laughed.

Jiang Xiong held the wine glass in his hand. He hadn't drunk the wine, yet he was already blushing. Looking around, he squinted his eyes and rebutted awkwardly,

"Who am I? I'm Mr. Charming! The Master and Yunxi all like to hear me talk!"

"Haha..."

Leng Qingtang and Gu Yunxi laughed at the same time. They looked at each other, both surprised at how synchronizing they were.

The crowd were kicking up a fuss again,

"Oh come on! Sit down quickly!"

"We can't bear it anymore!"

Seeing this, Leng Qingtang held the wine glass and stood up. He smiled gently like a breath of fresh air,

"Thank you, captain, please!"

"Master, please!"

Jiang Xiong and the Master toasted at each other. Jiang Xiong drank the glass empty. His face was glowing and he couldn't thank the Master enough.

After finishing the glass, Leng Qingtang didn't sit down immediately. Gu Yunxi understood him. She held the flagon and refilled his empty glass.

He looked down and smiled at her.

Seeing the Master holding the wine glass high, everybody knew he had something to say. They all stood up and listened carefully. Gu Yunxi also stood up with the crowd, holding a glass of pear wine.

"Captains, today is the Double Ninth Festival. I prepared the drink and invited you all to come and enjoy yourselves. You have all followed me for many years, leaving your families and old lives behind. Without your loyalty, the Eastern Depot wouldn't be as strong as today. I here toast to your all to say thank you. I'll drink up first!"

The crowd was surprisingly quiet.

Tonight was the first time they heard Leng Qingtang say something like this. It indeed brought him closer to the crowd.

Looking again at all the people, Leng Qingtang stopped smiling and said seriously,

"On the occasion of this festival, let's all toast to our faraway parents, wives, and kids! And to those who are no longer with us. To our families!"

"Father, Mother, I toast to your all."

Staring at the wine glass, Leng Qingtang's expression darkened. His hand was slightly shaking as if he was not holding a glass of wine, but an abnormally heavy rock.

For him, the thousands of innocent lives were all in this glass of wine. It was surely heavy.

"To parents! To families!"

Everybody held the glass and said synchronously. They then turned around and poured the wine onto the ground.

Gu Yunxi poured a glass of wine. She turned to the Master quietly and looked at him.

Under the moonlight, his figure was slim and handsome. In the depth of his eyes flowed a touch of sheen. In his quietness hid a sense of seriousness. It was a rather confusing look.

This indifferent and distanced person stood alone in the dark night. His features were well-shaped and well-arranged. His arrogance stance could compare to the sky and the earth.

A strange feeling rushed into her heart. It was subtle and beautiful. She didn't realize that she had memorized this beautiful image into her heart and secretly had some unnamable feelings towards him.

Gu Yunxi never met her parents and didn't have any memories of them. When she was bullied in the Garden, she used to resent her parents who gave birth to her and then abandoned her.

Then she was brought to the Eastern Depot by the Master and was accompanied by him day and night. She even got to meet all these people.

Watching the crowd having fun, playing games, and drinking. Her heart was filled with endless warmth.

The moment that she poured the wine out, Gu Yunxi wanted to say to her parents that she no longer resented them. Even though she was abandoned by them, she still had the Master and these brothers. Their care and protection for her made her no longer lonely.

Sun Bing served the boiled carbs onto the table.

The crabs were all fat and plump. They were put inside the bamboo basket, forming a bright yellow tiny spiky mountain. It was really eye-catching.

Leng Qingtang grabbed one first and put it into Gu Yunxi's plate. He then gave one to everybody on the table. There was only one set of tools for eating the carb. It was in the Master's hand.

Gu Yunxi rarely ate crabs, so she didn't know how to shell it. She just touched the crab and was pricked by the pointy spikes on the crab shell.

Quietly moaned, Gu Yunxi frowned with dissatisfaction. She looked down to check her finger. When she looked up again, she saw a whole piece of oily orange-red crab roe on her plate.

She turned her head and looked at the Master. He was picking out the crab meat from the shell using a needle. His movement was careful and elegant.

Between his slim and pale fingers were the orange plum crab and the long and shiny iron needle. This delicate and elegant picture made Gu Yunxi's heart fill with warmth.

"Thank you, Master."

Gu Yunxi secretly moved close to Leng Qingtang and said. He smiled without making any noise and put all the crab meat that he just picked out into her plate.

Gu Yunxi quietly put the crab in her hand into the Master's plate. She ate his crab, and she should at least compensate him.

Gu Yunxi scooped up the crab roe and put it in her mouth. It was soft, sweet, delicious, and smooth. It immediately melted in her mouth. After she swallowed it, the unique fragrance of freshwater crab was still lingering in her mouth and wouldn't go away.

Gu Yunxi quickly finished the crab roe and had some crab meat. Then the Master handed over some more crab roe.

She looked at him surprisingly. He smiled and answered,

"I don't like this. You can have some more."

This was a nice white lie.

She slowly turned back her head. Looking at the fresh crab roe and white crab meat in her plate with watery eyes, Gu Yunxi was so grateful for the Master's thoughtful care.

The Master was also staring at her. He was deeply touched by her shy look.

Looking at these two going all romantic, the full table just pretended to ignore them. Cheng Wanli, who was sitting on the other side of the Master, looked down, yet he couldn't say anything.

At the Master's current position, it would be the most normal thing to have a woman by his side.

Xiao Xiaoshen and Yuan Qian, the tenth captain, were younger compared to the rest at the Eastern Depot. They were just at the age of making trouble.

Watching the Master and Gu Yunxi casting amorous glances at each other, Xiao Xiaoshen who was sitting across them elbowed Yuan Qian and squinted his eyes at the Master's direction.

He knew that even though the Master treated his enemy cruelly, he was nice to his own people. And Yuan Qian was the youngest among all. The Master wouldn't have been really angry if Yuan Qian had joked with him.

Yuan Qian understood quickly. He sat on the chair and held his plate high. He raised his voice and shouted at the Master,

"Master, I want some of the crab meat you shelled too!"

Leng Qingtang was surprised. He looked up at Yuan Qian.

"Master, I want it, too!"

Yuan Qian twisted his upper body at the Master and repeated. His voice was too sweet and sickening. It was full of the gesture of coquetry.

Leng Qingtang smiled calmly. He looked steady and elegant.

He gave all the newly picked-out crab meat to Gu Yunxi and handed over the half empty crab shell to Yuan Qian's plate.

He tried hard to hold the laughter. He ordered seriously,

"Here you are. Make sure to eat them all. Leave nothing behind!"

"Master..."

Yuan Qian knew he was making a fool of himself. He blushed embarrassedly. He held the plate with the empty crab shell. He didn't know whether to put it down or not.

The crowd laughed so hard. The one who laughed hardest was the initiator Xiao Xiaoshen,

Yuan Qian couldn't hold it anymore. He smashed the empty crab shell on Xiao Xiaoshen's head and cursed him smilingly,

"Xiao Xiaoshen, you little sh*t! How dare you make fun of me!"