Adorable Food Goddess

Inside the Lan Xuan Attic of Heavenly Residence.

Liu Li finished the three cold drinks at once and sighed with satisfaction.

The prince, still taking his time in tasting his, smiled at her. “If you like the cold drinks so much, why don’t you get this chef to work in the Imperial kitchen? That way you can have him make whatever you want, whenever you want.”

The cold drink really was special and delicious. It would be popular in the palace.

Liu Li’s big eyes gleamed with mischief. “That’s a good idea! Get him inside the palace, so that I can torture him anytime. Ha!”

She wanted to teach Li Yao a lesson. He could not just disrespect and humiliate her without any consequence. She had to admit, though, that the cold drinks were really tasty and the palace’s master chef wasn’t even able to make something like it. His skills would justify her bringing him to the palace under her control. She could turn him into a plaything whenever she’s unhappy. That would teach Li Yao to bow at her feet.

Liu Li spirits lifted the more she thought about this.

After a short while, the dishes started to come up.

Little Lu announced the dishes’ names as he presented them.

“Mandarin duck snow roll…”

“Iron plate mushroom…”

“Eel slices with oyster sauce…”

“Lotus leaves yellow thorn fish…”

“Please have them slowly, sirs. There are a few more dishes coming up.”

The prince carefully looked at the deliciously smelling dishes in front of them, folding his paper fan.

They looked as delicate as the emperor’s food, the decorations and placements artfully and beautifully arranged. The carving design was especially amazing and life-like. The overall look of the dishes was doing wonders to his appetite.

Liu Li picked a flower made of carrots and cradled it in her palm. She said admiringly, “This is so beautiful, what is it made of?”

Little Lu answered, “It is made of purple carrots, sir. Our head chef is really good at carving. He could carve anything and everything flying in the sky and running on the ground. He could even carve flowers with tofu!”

Liu Li’s mouth set into a straight line when she heard that this was done by Li Yao. She threw the carrot back to the plate and scoffed, “It’s mediocre. Compared with the emperor’s…”

The prince coughed twice, warning Liu Li.

Little Lu worked not to scowl.  This brat was so amazed just a moment ago, but when he heard that it was made by Li Yao, she immediately changed her mind? Really? What kind of person does that?

Little Lu came back to the kitchen. Ye Jiayao immediately asked, “How was it?”

Little Lu told the truth, acting out Liu Li’s despicable expressions.

Ye Jiayao sighed, her heart heavy. That spoiled princess was not budging. She said, “You take this to him and say that it’s compliments from the chef.”

Inside the room, Liu Li was talking shit about the dishes as she enjoyed them.

The prince laughed at how ridiculous she was being. “Well, since his dishes are so terrible, you can’t hire him to the palace.”

Liu Li shook her head. “Hiring him to the palace has nothing to do with his skills. I want to hire him to make it easier for me to torture him.”

The prince nearly choked on his food at the word ‘torture’.

“Liu Li, I think you shouldn’t be too hard on him. He didn’t know who you were. It’s not right to punish him for something unintentional. Just let him apologize to you and let it go. Okay?” the prince said.

“No, no! He humiliated me – no one has ever done that. I’m not going to just forgive him that easily,” Liu Li said, pouting.

The prince couldn’t help but smile.

The waiter brought up a soup made by half of a papaya and set it down in front of Liu Li. “Sir, this papaya braised snow clams was given to you by our head chef. We haven’t put this on the menu yet, so you’d be the first one to try it.”

The prince asked in confusion, “Why don’t I get one?”

Little Lu responded, “Sir, our head chef said that this is only effective for the young. It will have a counter effect on you. Our head chef is doing another special dish and it will come up soon.”

The prince still didn’t understand why it was only effective to Liu Li.

Liu Li’s face turned a bit red. Is it because the dish is made for women and he knew that she was really a girl? 

Did Li Yao make this as a token of his apology?  Hmph.  Her forgiveness wouldn’t be bought with just a cheap dessert. Liu Li wanted to tell the waiter to take it down and throw it away, but the carved papaya and the sparkling, crystal-clear snow clams were too tempting.

Whatever. I’ll try it first and if they taste bad, I will throw it away.

She ate a spoonful and was immediately impressed by the sweet taste. The clams had the fragrance of papaya and it melted decadently in her mouth.

Delicious!

In fact, it was too delicious that it made her angry. She was a princess who lived in a magnificent palace and ate the most delicate food in the world, but she has never tasted anything as good as this. It felt like other civilians have better gourmet’s luck than her.

Little Lu looked at the young man with barely concealed anticipation and carefully reminded, “Sir, that papaya is also edible.”

Liu Li rolled her eyes at him. “Go away. I don’t need you looking over my shoulder as I eat. Call your head chef here.”

“The head chef is still cooking. Do I need to call him now?” Little Lu said.

Liu Li said angrily, “Are you deaf? I told you to bring him here. Go.”

Little Lu ran away.

Ye Jiayao stayed calm. She really couldn’t get out of this so she just has to face it. Before she trudged upstairs, she requested Little Lu to do something for her.

She stood outside Lan Xuan Attic and did her best to tidy herself before knocking on the door.

She smiled and greeted politely, “I am Li Yao, wishing you two sirs peace.”

Liu Li mocked, “Li Yao, weren’t you so cocky yesterday? Why are you acting so nice now?”

Ye Jiayao said patiently, “You must be joking. I am always humble and polite, especially to customers who come often. However, if I meet provocative troublemakers, I wouldn’t give in. If no one offends me, I offend no one.”

Ye Jiayao raised her brow, adopting a confused look, and continued to Liu Li, “What did you say about yesterday?”

Liu Li saw his questioning eyes and got so angry.

“Did I meet you yesterday, sir? That’s not possible because, with your look and attitude, you must be the best among people, and I definitely would’ve remembered you.” Ye Jiayao tried to look as if she was thinking hard. “I’m sure that I haven’t seen you before.”

Liu Li was furious. “Do you think that I’d let you go if you pretend to lose your memory?”

The princess had thought that Li Yao would be scared and more respecting of her now that he knew her real identity. It had never occurred to her that he would pretend that he didn’t know her.

Ye Jiayao said innocently, “Sir, I truly have never seen you before. Is it possible that you remembered the wrong person?”

The prince smiled and looked at this good-looking chef, interested at how things would unfold.

“Why are you are still pretending? I even talked to your manager yesterday and all your friends saw that!” Liu Li shouted angrily.

“Is that so? Shall I call the manager and the staff members here to ask?” Ye Jiayao asked for permission.

Manager Qian and Little Lu were called in.

Ye Jiayao asked, “Manager Qian, this young sir said that you had spoken with him. Do you remember him? How about you, Little Lu?”

Manager Qian remembered Li Yao’s previous warnings. He knew that this person had a special status and he couldn’t just confess that he had offended him. He pretended to study Liu Li closely. “No, I’m sorry. I definitely remember the customers who come here, and I haven’t seen him before.”

Little Lu also shook his head.

Liu Li felt like she was going to go berserk with anger. She said to the prince hysterically, “They are lying! They made up this lie together to make me look bad!”

“Sir, why would we lie? It is true that a guy who was a similar age as you stirred up some trouble in the restaurant yesterday just because he couldn’t get a cold drink. He berated the staff and swore so much like a street punk. I taught him a lesson. But you don’t look like that guy, sir, you are so elegant and posh,” Ye Jiayao said.

“Right, right! That young man had a terrible attitude. Everyone in the restaurant was not happy about him at that time,” Manager Qian added.

Liu Li was taken aback. Should she confess or not?

Liu Li persisted, “How do you explain the incident on the street yesterday then? Xia Chunyu also saw you! How do you explain that?”

“There was truly an accident in the down-up street. My wallet was swiped and replaced with another one, and a guy tried to set me up by making it look like that  I  stole his wallet. Sir, are you saying that you’re the one who stole my wallet ?”

Liu Li didn’t understand what was going on. “Nonsense! It was you who stole my wallet!”

Ye Jiayao frowned mockingly. “I would never steal from someone. Manager Qian, am I that kind of person?”

Manager Qian replied, “Our head chef here would always share with others the reward he’d get from the customers. How could he ever steal money?”

Little Lu also said loyally, “Our head chef can easily get money from making cold drinks. Why would he need to steal?”

Ye Jiayao smiled and said kindly, “So, I thought that the whole wallet incident was a mistake, and sir only wanted to prank me.”

Liu Li pounced on what Li Yao said. “Ha! So, you do know me?”

Ye Jiayao was getting tired of this. “I was doing you a favor by denying that I know you.”

“A favor? You are cunning and crafty, full of lies. You are full of shit,” Liu Li rebuked, pointing insultingly at Li Yao.

The prince asked Liu Li to settle down. When Liu Li approached him with her story, he was already skeptical because the princess was famous for her antics in the palace. Everyone, even him, has become the victim of her pettiness and lies. It turned out now that he was right to withhold his judgment.

He was impressed at how Li Yao could face Liu Li so calmly even after knowing her true identity. The way he handled the confrontation clearly showed that the princess was being unreasonable. After so many years, Li Yao was the first person who was able to win arguments against Liu Li and make her so mad.

He actually wanted to congratulate Li Yao on a job well done! He had exacted revenge for those who were hurt by Liu Li in the palace.

Winning against Liu Li was not an easy feat. It looked like this Li Yao was also smart on top of his other skills in the kitchen. He looked so pretty, too. The prince kind of liked him.

But if I don’t punish him, Liu Li won’t give up. What should I do to him?