“Sour milk!” Murong Xue smiled.
Sour milk? What’s that?
They have heard of cow milk, goat milk and know that cow milk were from cows while goat milk were from goats but sour milk…..could it be possible that there is an animal name Sour?
Xun Feng and Wu Heng looked at each other then turned to look at Murong Xue with a puzzled stare.
Murong Xue smiled, “Sour milk isn’t produced from an animal. I used cow milk to make it. It can ease digestion and it’s good for your stomach. It’s best consumed after eating oily or cold food. I knew we wouldn’t be able to eat any properly prepared food in the mountain so I brought some. Come try it!”
“Thank you very much, Miss Murong!”
Xun Feng and Wu Heng never really liked milk all that much but they were especially interested in it. So they each took a cup to have a taste. The thick liquid flowed from their throats into their stomachs and they instantly felt the warmth course through them. Their eyes brightened and they each gave their praise, “Not bad! Not bad! This is really something!”
Looking at the two gulping down her concoction, Murong Xue smiled. She then held it out before OuYang Shaochen and said, “Come try it too!”
“Sure!” OuYang Shaochen nodded and took a sip.
“Don’t you dare tell me it isn’t good!” Murong Xue glared at him with a threatening gleam in her eyes.
OuYang Shaochen’s eyes lit up with humour and said, “Not bad!”
OuYang Shaochen never liked milk because it held a strong aroma in it. However, the milk Murong Xue had made was rid of the aroma and had a sour taste in it, it made him feel warm inside…..
“That’s more like it!” the corner of Murong Xue’s mouth curled into a small smile.
She then continued to take slow sips from her cup. At that moment, the hot sweet and sour taste of the milk coursed through her. She jolted and looked down at her steaming milk. When she had first opened her bottle, it had already cooled down considerably. How did it become hot?
She looked at OuYang Shaochen. He was holding his cup while gracefully tasting the sour milk. It was such a simple action yet, the way he did it was very elegant.
Steam also rose from his cup of sour milk. Murong Xue’s brow raised, OuYang Shaochen indeed had been the one behind this! But how did he do it? Nonetheless, she admitted to herself that drinking hot sour milk was way better than drinking the cold one.
The Qing Yan Palace had only three guards left. They sat by the fire and casually ate the dried up fish grilled by the fire. Secretly, they admired the people sitting at the other side: Xun Feng and Wu Heng were also guards like them but they were far better off. They sat in front of the fire eating the grilled fish which smelled wonderful and drinking the sour milk. Their lives obviously were more comfortable than theirs.
The ingredient used to make the grilled fish more scrumptious and the sour milk were both from Murong Xue. She had initially been Prince Jing’s first wife-to-be, if he hadn’t fallen in love with Qin Yuyuan, then the person beside him would have been Murong Xue. Her grilled fish, sour milk would have been offered to them instead….
They secretly stole a glance at Qin Yu Yuan. She didn’t know how to defend herself. Whenever their excursion had met danger, she had to rely on them for protection. Even if she didn’t get in their way during those dangers, she had immensely slowed down the pace of this excursion.
She didn’t know how to cook either. They would normally have dried grilled fish and cold water as their meal. Even though they were accustomed to this but that didn’t mean it didn’t do any damage to their stomachs in the long term……..
She also did not have profound general knowledge. She didn’t know that the red fruit was poisonous, when Ah Si ate it, she didn’t try to stop him and that had costed his life…….
If the person beside Prince Jing now had been Murong Xue, she could’ve stopped Ah Si from eating it and he wouldn’t have died….
If they were to compare, Murong Xue was a million times better than Qin Yu Yuan….
The guards were discussing this discreetly but Qin Yuyuan had pieced together their murmurs and found out. Her beautiful face fell downcast: How dare they compared her with Murong Xue, moreover, they had said that she was far better than herself! These guards obviously don’t know where their place is! How dare they criticize her!
Qin Yuyuan gazed teary-eyed at Ye Yichen. She was about to complain to him when she realised he was looking at Murong Xue’s direction, his eyes held shades of mystery, doubt, regret……
Wait, why would he regret? Maybe..he also thought that she was incompetent compared to Murong Xue and was regretting that he had chosen her over Murong Xue!
No no no, how can this be! She was the royal princess of MoBei, the king’s most beloved daughter! As compared to Murong Xue, who was just a rich orphan, she was a million times better than her! How could she lose to her? She must never lose to her!
It was just a simple thing of plucking leaves and scattering it on the fish to make it more delicious and it was just making cow milk into sour milk, she could have done it too!
Qin Yuyuan spun around and without even turning her head back, she took big steps towards Ye Yichen. The wind carried her sullen voice, “Yichen, I’m going for a walk!”
Yichen glanced at her. Thinking she was off to do her private ‘business’, he didn’t pay much attention and calmly responded, “Don’t wander too far!”
“I know!” Qin Yuyuan replied harshly. She then broke into a run and didn’t stop until she was panting and couldn’t run any further. With hatred, she pulled the grass around her: Yichen had really abandoned her! She said she wanted to take a walk, he didn’t even oblige to accompany her, he had only replied her with some nonsense…….
Everything…was because of Murong Xue! That girl didn’t learn how to sew and knit, she didn’t learn how to play chess or paint but she had learnt how to cook atrociously instead! What a joke! And those low-lives actually respect her! The way Yichen had been looking at her was worrying too…
A shadow dashed past her. Qin Yuyuan jolted and immediately turned her head. She saw a white mountain wall. Beneath it was a cave opening, there was a black tombstone beside the entrance. A light breeze blew and the grass swayed from side to side, hiding some parts of the black tombstone, making it hard to read what was on it.
Mountain wall! Black tombstone! Qin Yuyuan’s thoughts raced and she thought about the true purpose of coming to Yu Mountain. Her eyes gleamed: Could this be the place they were looking for?
Ye Yichen and herself had been moving around blindly in Yu Mountain for a day but weren’t even close to finding what they were looking for. Who would have thought she had stumbled upon it by chance! She wanted to hurry back to tell Yichen about it, he would be so happy!
Qin Yuyuan smiled and turned to go back. Suddenly she had a thought: What if she was wrong? Yichen would be so disappointed and those guards would have viewed her with more contempt. She needed to make sure this was the place they were looking for.
Qin Yuyuan stopped smiling and treaded slowly towards the black tombstone. With force, she gripped onto it. It turned out to be soft and she widened her eyes with fear……….