Ping Yang was not afraid that Fang Zhengzhi would poison the soup base. She knew that no matter how outrageous Fang Zhengzhi was, he would never poison the princesses inside the palace.
Furthermore, Fang Zhengzhi had no reason to poison them.
"Woosh!" Ping Yang did not swish the meat around like Fang Zhengzhi did. Instead, she poured the entire plate of meat into the soup.
The red soup base splashed skywards.
"Ouch ouch ouch..." All of the princesses yelled when they were scalded.
However, they were all attracted by the aroma coming out from the hotpot. They began salivating.
Ping Yang simply picked up one piece of meat and put it in her mouth.
She chewed on it slowly.
Then, her expression changed. Her entire face turned red, almost as if she had been lit on fire.
"Water, water! I need water!"
"Princess, princess, the water is here!" A whole bunch of eunuchs panicked when they heard her. Even though Fang Zhengzhi had made the food, the ingredients had come from the imperial kitchen.
If there was any problem...
The kitchen would be responsible as well.
All of the other princesses stepped back when they heard this.
"Fang Zhengzhi, how dare you poison the food!"
"Capture Fang Zhengzhi!"
"We will not let you off today!"
All of the princesses yelled in terror. After all, Fang Zhengzhi was quite powerful. It was very possible that he would take one or two of them hostage in a fight.
Fang Zhengzhi twitched his lips in scorn. "Poison? Go fly a kite!"
Just as he spoke, he placed a few pieces of meat in his bowl. He cooled them down by blowing on them before placing them in his mouth.
Red oil trickled from the edge of his mouth.
Just at that moment, Ping Yang took a big gulp of water and suppressed the redness in her face.
"Hahaha... how awesome!" Ping Yang yelled as she picked up yet another piece of meat. She placed it in her mouth, "Yummy, very yummy!"
All of the other princesses were stunned by this change. What was going on? Why was she okay all of a sudden?
Could it be that water was the antidote?
"Is it yummy?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at Ping Yang.
"It is!" Ping Yang nodded vigorously.
"Then you should eat some more, hehe!" Fang Zhengzhi looked on as Ping Yang placed more meat in her mouth. She now owed him 200 silvers.
Easy money.
All of the other princesses looked at each other in confusion. They all knew how picky Ping Yang was about food.
What kind of food would make Ping Yang praise it to such an extent?
All of the princesses were curious. After all, the meat on the table was ordinary. Furthermore, nothing had been done to the meat. Could it be that the hotpot was the magical ingredient?
"I will try it as well!"
"Me too!"
"I... I will only try one piece."
All of the princesses could not take it any longer. All of them reached for their chopsticks.
"Wow, how spicy! How yummy!"
"I... I am unable to take the heat. Are there any less spicy ones?"
"Of course. This is tomato flavored. This is not spicy." Fang Zhengzhi began to introduce each flavor to the princesses.
All of the princesses could not resist the temptation any longer.
All of them began to dive in.
Before long, all of them began to attack the food like famished animals.
Each of them tried all eight flavors, then continued to cook the meat in their favorite bases.
They completely forgot about the 100 silvers price tag on every mouthful they had.
All of the eunuchs were stunned to see the princesses attacking the food this way.
Were these princesses?
They looked like famished commoners!
Fang Zhengzhi was not surprised by this. After all, hotpot was a ladies favorite. With no real hotpot in this world, this was a great weapon.
"One should always enjoy a good hotpot with some wine." Fang Zhengzhi waved to some of the salivating eunuchs.
"Yes!" The eunuchs brought bottles of wine over.
The wine in the palace was much better than those in the restaurants. After all, the wine in the palace were all vintages.
Most of the princesses believed Fang Zhengzhi and began to gulp the wine down.
Before long...
They were all flushed and tipsy.
Fang Zhengzhi was beaming. Now that they were tipsy, they would not know how much they ate. At the end of the day, all he had to do was quote an astronomical figure.
Emperor Lin Mubai and Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping were just enjoying the scenery. Then, they smelt the aroma from afar.
This was quite a special aroma. It stuck to them and in that moment...
Both of them felt hungry.
"What is that?" Emperor Lin Mubai was curious.
"It is not the time for meals yet. Why is there such an aroma? Furthermore, what is this? Why have I not smelt it before?" Emperor Lin Mubai thought to himself.
Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping's eyes brightened. He was slightly hungry, but he would not say this in front of the Emperor.
"Will you walk with me?"
"Yes!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping nodded. Does the Emperor not know what this is? Why must he walk over and see it?
Fang Zhengzhi finally understood why women were compared to tigers.
"Hey, that soup... you can't drink it!"
"Ah? Why, it's very yummy..."
"..." Fang Zhengzhi was speechless and exasperated. You can drink it, but can you at least leave a little? How am I supposed to eat without soup?
Just as he was thinking about it, he heard voices approaching.
"The Emperor is here!"
"The Emperor is here!"
"Oh?" Fang Zhengzhi was slightly stunned. His gaze scanned across all of the tipsy princesses. He felt his stomach turn, "Uh oh... will I be charged for this?"
Just as he prepared to run, two figures appeared at the entrance.
It was Emperor Lin Mubai and Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping.
"Gree... greetings fa... father!"
"Greetings fa... father."
All of the princesses fell to their knees. However, some of the princesses could not get back on their feet.
Emperor Lin Mubai was furious.
When did his garden become a place for such things? Furthermore, the people who were drunk were princesses, his daughters!
How humiliating!
Just as he was about to speak, he saw Fang Zhengzhi holding a pair of chopsticks. There was a half eaten piece of meat at the corner of Fang Zhengzhi's mouth.
Fang Zhengzhi, how outrageous of you! How dare you toy with the Emperor's daughters!
Emperor Lin Mubai squinted. He could smell the alcohol in the air. It was clear that Fang Zhengzhi had gotten all his daughters drunk.
Just as he was about to rage...
He saw a figure in red float in front of him.
"Father, come quickly. You have to try this hotpot! It is absolutely delicious!" Ping Yang tugged at Emperor Lin Mubai's hand and led him to the table.
Emperor Lin Mubai's eyelids jumped. He curiosity was piqued as he looked at the steaming hotpot. This is the origin of the aroma?
"Father, have a bite!" Ping Yang picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and fed it to Emperor Lin Mubai.
Emperor Lin Mubai really wanted to avoid it.
After all, he had noticed the rolling leaves in the pot. He really wanted to ask if the things inside were edible.
However...
Ping Yang had already passed the meat to him. He had no other choice but to nibble on it.
"Is it nice?" Ping Yang looked on in anticipation after seeing Emperor Lin Mubai chew on the meat.
"Mm... not bad." Emperor Lin Mubai nodded. Before Ping Yang could feed him again, he picked up a chopstick and began eating.
"Prime Minister, you should have a taste as well."
Emperor Lin Mubai turned to Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping after eating three slices of meat.
"Yes!" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping glanced at Fang Zhengzhi. Then, he too took a seat at the table.
His eyes brightened the moment he ate it.
"You should always enjoy a hotpot with wine." Ping Yang looked at Emperor Lin Mubai and followed in Fang Zhengzhi's footsteps.
"Is that so? Hahaha... okay then, bring me some wine. All of you should have some!" Emperor Lin Mubai patted Ping Yang's head as he chuckled.
"Thank... thank you father!"
All of the princesses, who were scared out of their wits, climbed to their feet. Their clothes were drenched in sweat after that rude awakening.
"Come over and join me."
"Yes!"
All of the princesses were ecstatic when they heard it.
Then, the eunuchs all saw something that terrified them.
Under the leadership of Emperor Lin Mubai, Princess Ping Yang, Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping, as well as the other princesses began to dig into the hotpot.
Fang Zhengzhi chuckled to himself by the side.
Before long, all the food was cleaned. Emperor Lin Mubai stood up, clearly satisfied.
"What is this called?"
"Your highness, this is a hotpot." One of the eunuchs replied instantly.
"Hotpot? Hotpot can be done this way? Nicely done, very nicely done. Which chef thought of such a wonderful method? I must reward him." Emperor Lin Mubai nodded in satisfaction.
"About this..." The eunuch turned to look at the beaming Fang Zhengzhi.
"Father, this was not done by a chef. This was done by Fang Zhengzhi." Ping Yang's lips twitched.
Fang Zhengzhi did this?
Emperor Lin Mubai's expression changed.
Initially, he had thought of finishing his meal before berating Fang Zhengzhi for intoxicating his daughters. Only now did he realize...
Fang Zhengzhi was in his garden and surrounded by his daughters for a reason.
"I see." Emperor Lin Mubai nodded. He looked at the other princesses with a complicated expression.
However, since he had said it, he could not take it back.
After all, an Emperor does not joke.
"Reward Fang Zhengzhi with 1000 silvers!"
"Thank you your highness."
Fang Zhengzhi thanked him immediately. Then, he rubbed his hands as he looked at the empty plates. "Your highness... I'm afraid 2000 silvers is not enough."
"Not enough?" This was the first time Emperor Lin Mubai had heard an official tell him that his reward was too little. How can 1000 silvers for a meal be too little?
"Fang Zhengzhi, how outrageous of you! How can you say that the Emperor's reward is too little?" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping stood up in fury.
"Left Prime Minister please cool down. You can get angry later. You also owe me quite a few silvers. Let me calculate... mm, you had a total of 35 mouthfuls. Taking away the first complimentary mouthful, you owe me 3,400 silvers!" Fang Zhengzhi said sincerely.
"What?! 3,400 silvers. What are you talking about?"
"Is the Left Prime Minister trying to go back on a deal? Word travels fast in the capital!" Fang Zhengzhi shrugged his shoulders innocently.
"Father, it's like that. We had a bet with Fang Zhengzhi. We said that he couldn't cook. We agreed that the first mouthful would be free, but every subsequent mouthful would be 100 silvers." Ping Yang explained.
"One mouthful for 100 silvers?" Left Prime Minister Yu Yiping was stunned. This was daylight robbery!
Furthermore...
He was robbing the palace!
More importantly, Fang Zhengzhi was audaciously robbing the Emperor as well as the Emperor's right hand man!