A Lonesome Fragrance Waiting to be Appreciated 1

28

"Yes."

"Is she taking her medicine?"

"We've already bought the items on Chen Guanzhi's prescription and it's currently being boiled."

Chu Beijie scowled, "She rebelled against me and yet she still gets a famous doctor and boiled medicine. Nice timing to get sick. Unfortunately for her, I'm a warrior from the blood-stained deserts, not a naive boy from flowery plains. When she gets better, tell her to stop playing her games in my residence."

Chu Moran could sense his master's wrath and he remained as quiet as possible, nodding, "Yes."

He was about to leave when Chu Beijie looked up from his documents again, as if he had another thought. "The King gave me two boxes of Yumei Tianxiang pills. Since we don't have any high-ranking females in this residence, I thought they'd go to waste. Now that we have an ailed woman here, we can give those to her."

Pingting really was sick. Although she was naturally healthy, she had never quite recovered from the cold she had from the last outing, which had been followed by a series of numerous incidents. Her strength was steadily leaving her body. During the last short conversation she had with Chu Beijie, her clothes were almost soaked in sweat and she could barely stand anymore.

Chu Moran was in charge of looking after Pingting. Unable to guess his Master's true intentions, he didn't dare to act too nice or too mean to her. After a long while of considering, he finally put her in a small building in a secluded part of the Ducal Residence.

Every day, Chu Moran would report Pingting's health. "Miss Hong was rather drowsy today."

"Miss Hong had some porridge."

"Miss Hong coughed a little less last night, but she had a high fever this morning."

Chu Beijie didn't say anything and pretended not to hear.

On the fifth day however, Chu Beijie felt rather edgy. When he heard Chu Moran say "Miss Hong coughed again today..." he suddenly turned furious. "Cough!Cough! Cough! Why is she still coughing? Haven't you already given her the Yumei Tianxiang Pills? That Chen Guanzhi is also to blame...he can't even cure a girl."

Chu Moran left and the next day, he was keen not to make the same mistake as yesterday, "Her coughing has gotten a lot better. She should be able to get up soon."

"And when is that?"

Chu Moran hadn't expected his Master to answer, nevertheless to even ask a question. "Maybe... around ten days," he said uncertainly, as how was he supposed to know?

Chu Beijie harrumphed once, not acknowledging or denying his statement.

By the tenth day, before Chu Moran could begin his daily report, Chu Beijie stood up and declared, "Let's go and visit her to see whether her 'desperate measure' has come to an end." He briskly strolled out of the office, and headed to the room Pingting was living in.

The building had a little courtyard outside it and small, unknown red flowers were planted there.

Chu Beijie briskly walked right up to the door but suddenly paused and moved towards the window. He heard a conversation, one of the voices very familiar.

"Anything else?"

"Way more." A soft, gentle voice, with a hint of humour. "For example, when making bone soup, cut the bone in parallel, horizontally, revealing a line of marrow. Don't break it and bind it with chestnut, or you'll lose its unique flavour. Mix rhodiola, cynomorium, powdered lemongrass roots, fry the mixture and put it into the soup. Add the bones and wait for it to be half-cooked before adding fresh lotus roots and carrot. After that, close the lid and boil lightly until fully cooked."

"Strange, I've been working in the kitchens for many years, but I've never heard of such a recipe. Wow, I'm hungry just by listening to that."

Chu Beijie continued listening for a while. They were all top cooking techniques, despite most of them hadn't been heard of.

Pingting felt a little better and somehow she had started a discussion about cuisine with Mother Zhang, who had been bringing her medicine ever since she was sick. Her passion was back and she gave away some of her food preparation techniques. Neither of them had heard Chu Beijie outside, so when Mother Zhang looked up and saw him, she broke into a cold sweat.

"Ah! Duke..." Mother Zhang jumped up and managed a wobbly bow.

Chu Beijie didn't even look at Mother Zhang, his eyes were fixed on Pingting's cheek, which still hadn't returned to its usual pinkish radiance.

Mother Zhang nervously excused herself, "I...should be getting back to the kitchen." She hurriedly picked up the medicine bowls and backed away, nearly tripping over.

The room was even quieter, now that one had left, and it seemed an empty sort of coldness. Chu Beijie's handsome chiselled features were expressionless and he had the same temperature as a winter day.

Pingting met his eyes, but she quickly lowered them when she felt her heart thump madly.