10 - Cold Melon

Chapter 10 – Cold melon

Bai Yuxiao learned to cook this dish of ginseng seabass soup from an auntie staying in a riverside village when she was on one of her missions. The husband of the auntie was a village fisherman who fished in the river mouth and Bai Yuxiao remembered the taste ever since she took a sip.

The fish soup is delicious and refreshing and has the benefits of nourishing skin and blood. Bai Yuxiao had once described this dish to Zhaolu and Shuang’er and it made them drooled. As a mistress, Bai Yuxiao always took care of her own people, so she promised to bring a fish home on this trip. It just so happened that on the way back, she had to pass the auntie’s house, therefore, she bought a fish from the auntie.

Since she had to send supplements, she would just send the Wangye a bowl of soup as she was not bothered to waste time on it.

Isn’t that the best of both worlds?

According to the reports, Si Liujing had returned to the Imperial City and resting in the main courtyard of his royal mansion. To the outside world, he was recuperating but in fact, he had not been idle and the Emperor had also exempted him from attending morning court sessions.

For the past few days, he stayed in the front hall of the main courtyard to hold discussions with the two Lord Governors together with Fu Teng and the others. He also ordered people to secretly investigate the matter and find the mastermind who wanted him assassinated.

He speculated that the attack was related to the salt tax case in Jiangnan that his Emperor Father had ordered him to investigate three months ago. He had investigated the case for two months and just made some progress. However, right at this time, he was ambushed when he left the Imperial City.

Since the Wangye was busy and the concubines could not see him, so they sent over nourishing supplements that they had prepared personally, which is also considered as appropriate. Thus from morning onwards, there was a succession of soups delivered and because those were nourishing soups, the Wangye had no reason to refuse.

All the concubines in the royal mansion harbored hopes that their soups would make an impression on the Wangye .

By lunchtime, the table was full of soups sent by the concubines from the inner courtyards. There were chicken soups, ribs soup, fish soup, etc., together with all kinds of dishes.

Si Liujing scrutinized every bowl of soup one by one. He was used to the tricks of these women in the inner courtyards and as long as they did not go overboard, he did not mind if they sent over some supplements. So he ordered the servants to divide the soups for the officials and subordinates to have a taste.

The subordinates were happy as the soups were meticulously prepared by the concubines with the best ingredients. It seemed they were blessed with good food today.

Si Liujing was having a meal in the inner hall of the study when another bowl of soup was brought in. He frowned and was thinking – – Is there no end to this? Just as he was about to order the bowl of soup to be sent out, he caught a wisp of the delicious aroma. His curiosity was aroused and ordered the servant who brought in the soup to lift the lid. When the lid was lifted, a sweet and fresh fragrant aroma immediately assailed his nostrils.

“What kind of soup is this?”

The servant responded respectfully. “Replying to Wangye , this is seabass soup.”

Picking up a spoon, Si Liujing scooped up a little soup to put into his mouth and his eyes instantly lit up. Although the soup was light, it tasted extremely delicious and sweet. He had only taken a sip and it was so delicious that his gluttony stomach started to get excited.

“Which courtyard sent this soup?”

“Replying to Wangye , it is Bai Liangdi from Wutong Courtyard.”

Si Liujing thought for a while and found that he had no impression of Bai Liangdi . Of course, he could not even remember how she looked like but it was of no importance since he did not plan to think more about it. It was only that he felt the soup tasted delicious. When he was recuperating from his injuries during that one month outside the royal mansion, he had tasted this kind of fish soup before. It was only on a whim that he wanted a taste of it and he had only casually enquired.

“Leave the soup here.”

“Yes, Wangye .”

Si Liujing drank the soup with a silver spoon and found the cleanly deboned fish to be tender and it melted in the mouth. This delicious and sweet soup reminded him of Shui’er. The woman had served him whole-heartedly for a month and she even gave herself to him. Initially, he thought she wanted riches and honor but did not expect she would leave without saying goodbye.

At that time, she did not only return the jade pendant but she also left behind a large bag of items. In the letter, it was stated that the items were found on the assassins’ bodies and they were collected as clues for his investigation. Among the items was a set of clothing used by the masked assassins.

When he thought of her stripping off clothes from a man and t was from a bloody corpse, it amused him but he had more praise for her. According to Sixth Brother, when they received the secret report, they rushed over to the scene of the attack but it was already cleaned up. Except for the bodies of the guards who followed him at that time, not even one body of the assassins was left behind and it was to eliminate all clues to make it impossible for any investigation to be conducted.

Those people never expected that a ‘savior’ would suddenly appear and ruined their mission. The bag of items that Shui’er left him was a great help and he admired her.

That woman is indeed clever and it made him more curious about her.

The jade pendant was the only token that could prove she had saved him but she did not plan to ask him for anything in return. Now thinking back, Si Liujing realized that he knew nothing about this woman. He did not even think about asking her, just because he believed she would follow him. It was not important for him to ask but as a result, he lost all clues to find her.

He even realized that during the month he spent with her, those days were the most pleasant and happiest days he had since he was born. Although there were no hordes of servants, no fine clothing, or good food, those simple days were the coziest and the most relaxing.

She knew very well his status as a Wangye but she was not afraid of offending him. In front of him, she laughed whenever she wanted and said whatever she wanted without showing any commoner’s reverence for him. She displayed her true temperament and to say she disrespects him, it did not hold water since she did her best when she took care of him. Although when she talks glibly it was abominable, it could not be denied he felt very pleased.

Her bright laughter kept emerging in his mind together with her lovable coyness when she snuggled in his arms and her shamelessness and mischievousness as well as her delicate cries begging for mercy under him.

His palms could still feel the silky feeling when he caressed her and the violent waves he experienced when they became as one and all of these were deeply preserved in his memory.

This kind of woman is hard to forget and involuntarily, he would always think of her especially in the dead of night.

Maybe her looks are mediocre and she is just a woman who wanders around the Jianghu* .

(Wanders around the Jianghu means someone who makes a living by either performing arts like playing musical instruments or performing stunts on the streets, practicing and selling medicine, telling fortunes, etc.)

But he still wants to see her, wants to know more about her and once this hope started, it began to expand little by little.

Si Liujing decided to send someone to look for her. He wanted to know who she is and how she looks like. Perhaps only by finding her, he could erase the feeling of missing her.

During this time, Si Liujing was busy with government affairs and was also secretly tracking down the mastermind, simultaneously, he was searching everywhere for the whereabouts of Shui’er.

While he was extremely busy, he had no idea that the woman he was searching high and low for was living in his rear courtyard, eating well and drinking well, enjoying a sweet life.

At the same time, Bai Yuxiao was also very busy. She sneaked out of the mansion last night with her qinggong and only came back early in the morning carrying a cold-melon on her back.

(Cold-melon is the ancient name for watermelon. It was named as such because the melon is cooling in nature.)

At this moment, she and Zhaolu are enjoying the cut cold-melon in the hexagonal pavilion by the lotus pond.

“Young Miss, this melon is delicious!”

“During this season, eating this is the most refreshing. It’s delicious and juicy!”

Bai Yuxiao is not a mistress that only cares about her enjoyment. Whatever delicious food she has would inevitably be shared with the people in her courtyard.

As Zhaolu ate, she exclaimed. “I’ve never eaten melons with so much juice! It’s even more refreshing after being chilled and this can quench one’s thirst!”

“This melon is called ‘cold’ melon and it only grows in the South. This is not found in the North.”

These melons were sent as tributes to the palace. When the Emperor received these tributes, he would give them out as rewards to the inner courtyards and all the princes. When Ling Wang Mansion received the melons, they would be distributed to the inner courtyards. After dividing and distributing the melons down the levels and if each courtyard could receive a few slices of the cold-melon, it would be considered as good.

Thanks to the loving-kindness of their Young Miss, Zhaolu could not forget the cold-melon’s taste after taking a bite yesterday. But who would have expected their Young Miss to slip out of the mansion in the middle of the night and return with a big cold-melon?

Bai Yuxiao got the cold-melon from Third Senior Sister . Last night, she had gone to Third Senior Sister, Hua Qianqian’s place to discuss a case. As soon as she entered, she saw two big cold-melons on the table. It turned out that the melons were given by a certain big merchant to Third Senior Sister who wanted to curry favor with her. He had specially purchased the melons from the south and the thick-skinned, brazen Bai Yuxiao immediately requested for one.

Satisfying a craving is such immense joy!

Zhaolu ate the melon with a face full of happiness.

To have a smart and generous mistress is much more blessed than to be a maid of a noble lady!

“Young Miss, Zhaolu will follow Young Miss all her life.”

“Are you following the melon for following me?”

“Of course, I will follow Young Miss!” Zhaolu flattered and was admonished by Bai Yuxiao for being a greedy glutton.