Chapter 63

Elara slept again for nearly an hour in a daze.

Before dawn, Oswyn waited by her bed, standing still so long that his legs went numb.

When Elara finally woke up, she lazily got up with her eyes closed. As Mathias knelt by her bed helping her dress, she felt like a "death stare" was fixed on her.

She lifted her eyelids and looked toward the source of the stare. She saw a pair of furious, almost burning eyes.

Elara blinked slowly, still sleepy, and finally remembered that Oswyn was in her room and she had ordered him to stay.

Hmm... she might have turned him into a pufferfish.

But she hated being disturbed when she hadn't slept enough. This person happened to come in at that moment, so if he got fixed in place, it wasn't her fault.

After Mathias helped her finish washing, Elara slowly walked over to the motionless Oswyn and met his blazing eyes.

"I asked you to come back yesterday because I want you to help me with some medicine recipes. If you agree, just blink once. I will immediately tell Uno to unblock your channels."

Since last night when he was forced to come back, he had waited all morning and stood still for so long. Of course, Oswyn would not agree!

He glared at Elara hard. Even if his eyes started to water, he would not blink or give in to this wicked woman.

Elara shrugged. Her hand, hidden under long sleeves, grabbed a bamboo slip with medicine recipes she copied last night from the table.

She waved it slowly in front of Oswyn so he could see part of the recipes but took it away before he could finish reading.

"Too bad. I finally found some leftover medicine recipes last night. I thought since these don't exist on the market, you would be interested. I saved them for you, planning to give them to you today. But I didn't expect your attitude; you don't want them."

Oswyn, fixed in place, had his eyes unconsciously attracted to the bamboo slip when Elara waved it in front of him.

Even though he was full of anger and soreness, he admitted the last recipe she gave him was indeed effective, even if many herbs were unusual.

He looked at the recipes instinctively just now.

But before he finished reading, the hateful woman took it away again!

Oswyn glared at Elara sharply, knowing she was purposely teasing him. He would not fall for it.

He forced himself to look away from the bamboo slip and stared at her even harder than before.

Unexpectedly, Elara took out another bamboo slip, waved it in front of him, and repeated the same trick and words.

Before he could react, the third, fourth, and fifth slips filled with many new and strange medicine recipes passed before his eyes.

Some even had analysis of new herbs.

Oswyn's eyes nearly blurred from watching so many. His anger slowly faded, replaced by curiosity about these unfamiliar medicine recipes.

Elara saw his expression changing and thought the moment was right. She stacked all five slips in front of Oswyn.

"How about it? If you blink once, I will give you all these recipes."

Oswyn, already dazzled, blinked unconsciously. When he realized what he did, Elara clapped her hands happily.

She told Uno to unblock his channels and took new bamboo slips from the table, pushing them toward him.

"Good, Oswyn. Since the deal is done, you should write down the formulas I want."

Oswyn: "…" That hateful, cunning woman!

---

Outside the residence courtyard

A bright red figure and a servant hid in a corner, occasionally peeking inside.

"You said the man the princess called in has been inside for almost an hour and still hasn't come out?!"

Imani looked at the courtyard with a troubled face. His delicate and proud features showed anxiousness about wanting to go in but not daring.

After personally seeing yesterday how the noble and beautiful princess really liked whipping people, Imani felt sad and hurt.

Such a delicate and pretty person, why would she have this cruel hobby?

If it was anything else, even if it involved spending money or tearing silk, he could go crazy with her. But this was too painful; he just couldn't bear it and ran out yesterday.

However, no matter how sad he felt, he was already inside the princess's residence now. From now on, he belonged to her.

Though he was frightened yesterday, after a night of thinking, he gathered his spirit again.

Since he was already in the princess's backyard, he had to fight for favor!

Yesterday, because he was unprepared, he lost a big chance and maybe left a bad impression on the princess.

Today, he must win back at least ten percent. He could not let those flashy women in the backyard look down on him as soon as he entered!

So early this morning, before dawn, Imani hurriedly sent his servant to wait outside the princess's chamber to watch her movements so he could prepare early.

Unexpectedly, the servant arrived and saw a man already guarding the princess's door. He was a stranger!

Also, this stranger had been inside the princess's chamber for a whole hour and still hadn't come out.

Imani looked at the still-closed door and chewed his fingernails nervously.

Realizing this was not a good habit, he quickly put his hand down, frowned, and thought for a while.

He asked his servant, "How is the red date, white fungus, and lotus seed soup I'm making in the kitchen?"

"Almost done, sir. About half an hour left."

Imani looked at the sky; it was nearly lunchtime.

He glanced again at the closed door, hesitated for two seconds, and carefully ordered the servant.

"Keep watching here. As soon as the princess's door opens, deliver the soup to her."

"Remember! You must casually and naturally mention that I almost burned my hand making this soup. But don't make it obvious or the princess will get annoyed. Understand?"

The servant nodded repeatedly at his serious look.

Imani thought carefully again, running through all the strategies he learned for competing for favor in the backyard.

Only then did he let the servant leave.

After the servant left, Imani continued standing there, looking sadly and worried at the closed door.

Once he got used to this, he believed he could do it too!

He already told his family to buy the best healing and anesthetic medicines. Once they arrived, he could take the medicine and find the princess right away.

Imani clenched his hand slightly and set the goal of becoming the "number one favorite in the backyard" again after almost losing it yesterday.

He looked at the closed door one last time, then slowly left with hesitation.

Though he looked distant and unapproachable, giving off a very elegant vibe, Arieck noticed that Izekiel's bowl of tofu was getting emptier right before his eyes!

Arieck held his own empty bowl, then glanced at the almost empty soup pot. He looked again at the tofu in Izekiel's bowl, which was disappearing quickly. He stayed silent for a while, then raised his hand and tapped the young man in white who was still calmly eating the tofu. He smiled with some helplessness and said:

"Izekiel, every time I'm with you, people say I act wild and don't follow manners. But what they don't know is that my wildness only brings me about three layers of comfort. The other seven layers of benefits, you mysterious and quiet 'keeper of manners' always take for yourself."

But if he really kept to manners, would he leave no tofu at all? Hmph! Even though he scooped half of it in one go just now, and this tofu was a sample, so the amount was small… still, that big pot was cooked by him with hard work! And Izekiel did not even thank the cook!

Arieck watched Izekiel ignore him and keep looking down at his tofu. He could only look away helplessly.

Rubbing his still-empty stomach, he did not mind the leftover soup in the pot. He used a spoon to scoop up every tiny piece of tofu crumbs and carefully ate them. After finishing, Arieck stood and brought the wooden box over again, taking out the letter pouch hidden at the bottom.

When he tasted this new and strange food, he guessed it must be related to the young lady in white. Now opening the letter, he saw it was true!

"It really is that young lady in white…"

Arieck smiled, then his voice lowered as he quickly read the letter. His eyebrows lifted high.

"Oh! Izekiel, I told you that young lady is a strange one! We just left Plumera City, and she already created this thing called tofu to work with my Lan Yi Pavilion. Yesterday when she came to negotiate, she even said she could solve another difficult problem. And this time she was willing to write down the solution for us to study! If we cannot figure it out, she said we could send someone to learn from her! Haha! That young lady in white really has big skills and big confidence! Plus, she doesn't want gold or silver as payment for solving the problem this time, but…"

Arieck stopped for effect and looked at Izekiel, who had already put down his bowl and chopsticks. "Hey, Izekiel, guess what this interesting young lady wants this time?"

Izekiel ignored Arieck's teasing and pulled out a fine embroidered handkerchief from his sleeve to wipe his mouth. Then he asked plainly, "What does she want?"

"She wants a spy planted by my Lan Yi Pavilion in people like Lord Gregory of Plumera! Haha! That young lady in white is really interesting! And very bold!"

Arieck finished reading the letter, laughing while handing the silk scroll to Izekiel. Then he picked up the "tofu recipe manual," which he had only looked at halfway, and started reading it carefully.

"Heh, that young lady in white wants to trade the tofu and several related dishes' recipes with my Lan Yi Pavilion for two shops inside Plumera City. And she even knows how to make hundreds of bushels of bean powder a day to make tofu?"

Arieck's eyebrows rose again as he quickly finished reading. Then he asked Izekiel, "What do you think of this deal the young lady in white is offering?"

Izekiel finished reading the letter, took the silk scroll from Arieck, and answered calmly:

"If she agrees to trade the way to produce high-output bean powder every day and the tofu-making process, Lan Yi Pavilion will give her two shops in Plumera City for free. She can choose any locations. Also, within Plumera City, Lan Yi Pavilion will stop making tofu and buy only from her. She does not need to provide the dishes anymore. The profit sharing for the dishes will stay the same as before, with her getting thirty percent for each dish."

Arieck was stunned for a moment, then laughed out loud. "Izekiel, it is rare to see you so generous! You gave away all these rich terms without blinking! That young lady in white really is a strange one!"

But actually, after reading the letter, Arieck's own plan was similar to Izekiel's.

Not only was the tofu new and delicious, but if it could be sold across the continent, it would surely become a best-seller and make a lot of money! More importantly, that young lady in white could solve the Lan Yi Pavilion's second difficult problem within just a few days!