Chapter 68

Royal jelly.

.

Royal jelly.

A premium liquid made exclusively for the queen by bees.

My wife was about to serve this to a guest.

Emergency situation.

‘Gyaah! No way!’

I screamed in my mind and blocked the chopsticks containing the king's technique.

My body seemed to agree with my thoughts, and the slight disconnect I had felt since becoming this body seemed to vanish as my mind and body moved in perfect unison.

Mind and body as one (心身合一)! A perfectly unified body and mind.

Using this unified body, my next action was to move my hand faster than the beggars known for their speed and eat the leftover half of the sweet and sour pork that my wife had left.

- Slurp

The steaming half of the sweet and sour pork disappeared as if sucked into my mouth.

It was a very dangerous moment, but I managed to stop it somehow.

There was no way I could let some king beggar eat the leftover half of the sweet and sour pork that my wife had left.

It seemed to be a very troublesome action, crossing the line, pretending to leave food for the owner as if it were a rule that beggars couldn't eat food they hadn't begged for.

If the king beggar had eaten the leftover half of the sweet and sour pork that my wife had left, even though I was just an ordinary person with no martial arts skills, I would have had to challenge him to a life-or-death duel to protect my wife and me, no matter the cost.

It was that serious and tense a situation.

Anyway, after somehow stopping it and cold sweat trickled down my back, my wife's urgent telepathic message reached me.

[No, Lord, why did you eat that?]

The king beggar also blinked and looked at me, asking,

"Why did you eat that?"

‘Why did I eat it? Of course! It’s the husband’s right!’

After scolding the ignorant beggar in my mind,

I slowly opened my mouth and explained the situation to the people who were focused on me.

"Rule..."

"Rule? What do you mean by that?"

The king beggar's question, trying to confirm my meaning.

I frowned slightly and answered with a serious expression.

"Isn't it because my wife left some food after taking a bite, according to the rule?"

"Yes, beggars can only eat food they beg for or food left by the owner, so she left some."

Indeed, a beggar-like rule.

"But the owner, the head of the household, means the man, the husband. So, shouldn't I be the one to eat the leftover food?"

In my previous life, this would have been a big deal, but now it's the Song Dynasty.

It's a period when Confucianism is at its peak, so it's not a problem to say this.

And as soon as I finished speaking, I quickly picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and started to suck on it.

- Slurp, slurp

Then I sucked out the sauce and placed the sauce-less sweet and sour pork on top of the plate and stepped back.

"Hmm..."

The king beggar suddenly coughed and looked uncomfortable.

The king beggar said with a somewhat regretful tone,

"Well, husband and wife are one, so there's no need to distinguish so much..."

‘Is this guy finally wanting a life-or-death duel because I was a bit too strong?’

I cut him off firmly.

"No. I can't let you break the rule, Your Majesty. Absolutely not. You have your 'dignity,' after all."

Then my wife's telepathic message came.

[No, Lord, I'm sorry. I overstepped. It was your job to do...]

Looking in the direction of the voice, my wife looked depressed.

My heart sank at her face, and I felt a sense of self-loathing, but now was the time to endure.

"Please try it. Oops! I almost forgot to say this. Ah... I ate it all. You should either throw away the leftovers or give them to the beggars."

"Hmm. Thank you."

The king beggar answered with a somewhat reluctant voice as I finished speaking, then he tried to pick up the sweet and sour pork with his chopsticks. However, he looked very conflicted in front of the sweet and sour pork from which I had only sucked out the juice, and then he said to the beggars behind him,

"Hmm, let's all eat together. Beggars don't distinguish by status when eating."

The two beggars, looking pleased, only moved their buttocks while sitting and took their seats on either side of the king beggar.

Then the king beggar, like distributing food, gave each of them a dumpling and placed a piece of sweet and sour pork on top, saying,

"Let's eat together."

Of course, the piece of sweet and sour pork he placed on the dumpling of the slightly younger beggar, whom he called Chao Ba Lang, was the one from which I had only sucked out the juice.

‘What a cunning old man.’

The beggars' tasting began.

The first thing that happened was the king beggar's cough.

"Hmm... Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Oh, what is this?"

The king beggar, who had blown on the hot sweet and sour pork and inhaled the sharp scent of vinegar into his lungs, started coughing as if trying to clear his lungs.

While he was coughing, the first impression of the sweet and sour pork from the beggar who had eaten it first, Zong Ta Zhu, came from the side.

"Crunchy (酥)!"

"Sweet (甜)!"

"Sour (酸)!"

His impression that it was crunchy, sweet, and sour.

He seemed to be impressed by the shock of the three flavors and textures hitting his tongue at the same time, nodding his head and praising my sweet and sour pork with a delighted look.

"Hero, your sword skills were amazing, but this dish is truly remarkable. The combination of crunchy, sweet, and sour is wonderful. It really makes my mouth water."

Then he started eating the sweet and sour pork and dumplings one after another.

He seemed to really enjoy the sweet and sour pork.

However, unlike him, Chao Ba Lang, who was next to him, had a different opinion after eating the sweet and sour pork that had been touched by my saliva.

"It's sweet, but... Hmm?"

Then he moved his tongue strangely and licked his lips.

Seeing this, I felt an incredibly bad mood.

I wanted to run over and kick him in the face.

But I was relieved that this didn't happen because of the leftover half of the sweet and sour pork that my wife had left.

I had protected my wife at the cost of my own sacrifice, so it was fortunate in a way?

Between their impressions, the king beggar's voice was heard again.

"Ah, it's sour. Cough!"

At his age, he would naturally feel the sourness more strongly, like eating a lemon.

But at the same time, the temptation of sweetness, which he would feel more strongly at his age, would naturally make him want to eat more.

The king beggar, blowing on the hot sweet and sour pork and tasting the vinegar again, coughed and repeated the process of putting the sweet and sour pork in his mouth, blowing on it, and coughing.

He also stuck out his tongue, saying it was sour.

The king beggar's face, wrinkled with coughing and eating.

‘Sir, if you find it hard to breathe, you can stop for a moment.’

I silently wished for the king beggar's peace (安塋).

After the king beggar, who was wrinkling his face, and the delighted beggars finished eating, the beggars were divided into those who looked somewhat displeased and those who were very satisfied.

On the way to see them off, Zong Ta Zhu, who seemed very satisfied, told me with a grateful expression,

"Hero, don't worry about your reputation in the martial world. Since you've treated us to such precious food twice, I'll take special care of it."

In the game, repeatedly doing tasks to improve NPC reputation is called reputation grinding, but now he was telling me not to worry about such things.

However, contrary to his bold promise, the king beggar's voice, full of spite, was heard.

"Tsk, how can the reputation of the Beggar Sect be swayed by personal gain! We just report the facts! I received good treatment from Hero and the daughter of the Zhuge family. Cough."

The king beggar, who seemed very spiteful, bowed to my wife and me and immediately turned around and led the way out the front door.

He probably felt spiteful because he didn't enjoy the meal.

‘Anyway, the elders of the martial world...’

As I saw off the king beggar, Zong Ta Zhu's telepathic message reached my ear.

[Hero, don't mind the old man. He's just spiteful because he couldn't enjoy the delicious food alone. Anyway, old people are always greedy for food... And other famous sects give them alcohol and spread good rumors, or they hide the news of their disciples causing trouble. Tsk tsk... Since I've had your precious dishes twice, contact me when you need information from the Beggar Sect. I'll give you two free times since I've had it twice.]

Regardless of the reason, I had obtained two free opportunities for promotion or information from the Beggar Sect, so I thought I would use them somehow in the future.

As I watched the beggars leave, my wife's hesitant voice reached me.

"Lord, I'm sorry. I overstepped just now."

She seemed to have been thinking about what happened