After parting ways with Junior Sister Gu Qingying, Gong Shangyu happily carried the pot of steaming, fragrant meat porridge and made her way toward the Dan Room where Lu Li was, the corners of her lips curling into a sly smile of satisfaction at her successful plan.
Gu Qingying followed behind Senior Sister, her thoughts tangled like a messy ball of thread.
She looked forward to Master tasting her cooking, yet deep down, she felt a bit uneasy, always suspecting this pink-haired fox spirit, Gong Shangyu, was scheming something.
“Master. Are you in?”
Gong Shangyu stood outside the Dan Room, calling out gently.
At that moment, Lu Li was focused on handling medicinal herbs.
Hearing Gong Shangyu’s voice, he decisively set the herbs aside and gently pushed open the door.
When he saw Gong Shangyu standing at the door with a clay pot, he couldn’t help but be a little surprised.
“Bai Yu? You’ve finished copying the sect rules? What is this…”
The moment Gong Shangyu heard this, her face blossomed with a well-behaved yet slightly guilty smile.
She stepped into the Dan Room, placed the clay pot on the small table at the side, and lifted the lid.
Instantly, the rich aroma spread throughout the room.
“Hehe~ Master, this disciple is here to confess her wrongdoings.”
Gong Shangyu’s voice held just the right touch of regret.
“Earlier in Gongxun Hall, I acted rashly and spoke out of turn, unintentionally offending Duan Shishu and causing you trouble. I truly feel uneasy about it.”
“So I specially cooked this pot of warm porridge, firstly to apologize to you, Master, and secondly because I’ve seen how hard you’ve worked these days. I wanted to help nourish you. I hope Master can forgive this disciple’s past mistake.”
After speaking, she even bowed her head slightly, exposing a slender, pale neck, fully displaying the sincere appearance of a disciple earnestly seeking her Master’s forgiveness.
Hearing Gong Shangyu’s words, Gu Qingying, who was hiding in the shadow outside the door, ground her teeth in irritation!
Aaaaah…
Gong Shangyu!
Shameless!
Hmph!
Absolutely shameless!
So this is why you suddenly acted so kind and helped me?
Turns out… you just wanted to use my porridge to curry favor for yourself!
Apologize to Master?
More like you’re making things worse!
Lu Li looked at the appetizing meat porridge and then at his disciple, whose face was filled with remorse, and felt a bit moved inside.
Sigh…this child may be mischievous, but it’s rare for her to admit her mistakes and show such filial piety…
“Mm…Knowing your mistake and correcting it is the greatest good.”
Lu Li spoke gently:
“Since you’ve reflected, let’s put the past behind us.”
“Hehe~ This porridge smells wonderful indeed, Bai Yu, you are truly thoughtful…”
As he spoke, Lu Li picked up a bowl and spoon, intending to serve himself some porridge.
Gong Shangyu was overjoyed, and hurried forward with a flattering expression to take the bowl and spoon from him.
“Hehe~ Master, let your disciple serve you!”
Then, with her body turned slightly to block Lu Li’s view as she ladled the porridge, Gong Shangyu quietly let a pinch of colorless, odorless powder slip from her sleeve, quickly and secretly flicking it into the bowl of hot porridge she was about to serve Lu Li.
Hehehe…
Master, after drinking this special Spirit Porridge with my homemade Yiqing Powder, you’ll have a wonderful rest tonight…
I guarantee you’ll have the most beautiful dreams and remember nothing after~
Gong Shangyu thought triumphantly, her smile growing even more sincere.
Outside, Gu Qingying saw all of Gong Shangyu’s little tricks clearly!
Even if she didn’t know exactly what the powder was, with Gong Shangyu’s foxy character, it definitely wasn’t anything good!
Seeing Gong Shangyu passing the tampered porridge to Lu Li with a beaming smile, Gu Qingying, who had been secretly watching for a while outside the Dan Room, couldn’t bear it any longer!
“Hey…Master!”
With a shout, Gu Qingying rushed in like the wind, her sharp gaze locking onto the steaming porridge on the stove.
She sniffed hard, and shouted loudly, “I’ve trained so hard my chest is stuck to my back~ What a delicious smell~ Master, do you have something tasty here?”
“Wow! The porridge smells amazing!”
Before Gong Shangyu or Lu Li could react, she dashed forward, and under Gong Shangyu’s astonished gaze, directly picked up the hot clay pot from the table!
“Hey! Shixiong, what are you doing!”
Gong Shangyu shouted, anxious and angry, trying to stop Gu Qingying.
But Gu Qingying ignored her completely, picked up the pot of meat porridge she had just made, and gulped it down like a whale, pouring the entire pot into her own stomach in huge mouthfuls.
“Ah! That was so satisfying…”
Gu Qingying put down the empty pot, let out a long sigh, and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, smacking her lips with lingering enjoyment.
Then her gaze immediately turned and locked onto the bowl of porridge in Gong Shangyu’s hand, the one that hadn’t yet been handed to Lu Li.
“Hehe~ Junior Brother, that bowl of porridge…”
Gu Qingying’s eyes sparkled, her voice filled with innocent longing:
“Let me have it too? Shixiong is still a bit hungry…”
With that, she reached out for Gong Shangyu’s bowl.
Seeing Gu Qingying’s intentions, Gong Shangyu instantly knew what her Junior Sister was trying to do.
Realizing Gu Qingying wanted to grab the bowl she’d secretly added Yiqing Powder to, Gong Shangyu instinctively pulled her hand back, trying to hide the bowl behind her.
Seeing she couldn’t get the bowl from Gong Shangyu, Gu Qingying pretended to lose her balance, and with a lurch, bumped into Gong Shangyu, knocking the bowl from her hand to the floor.
“Crash!”
With a sharp sound, the porcelain bowl slipped from Gong Shangyu’s grasp and shattered on the ground!
The warm porridge, meat, and vegetables splashed everywhere.
“Oops!”
Gu Qingying cried out, her face immediately full of panic and guilt as she put on her best act, softly saying to Gong Shangyu, “Junior Brother…Sorry! Shixiong didn’t mean to! I’ll clean it up!”
She didn’t forget to glance at Gong Shangyu from an angle Lu Li couldn’t see, flashing her a strange, provocative smile.
Then she crouched down, hurriedly picking up the sharp pieces of porcelain, acting very eager to make amends.
Lu Li looked at the mess on the floor and at Gu Qingying’s regretful face, and sighed helplessly:
“Sigh…Forget it, Qingying, it was an accident. Be careful, don’t hurt your hand.”
Yet, just as Lu Li finished speaking
“Ah!”
Gu Qingying drew a sharp breath and jerked her hand back.
Her left index finger had been cut by a sharp shard, and a drop of bright red blood instantly welled up.
But the real problem was, the shard was stained with the porridge and Yiqing Powder Gong Shangyu had just added—and now it had gotten right into her wound!
Immediately, a faint but distinct heat surged through Gu Qingying’s body, mixed with an indescribable tingling that felt like tiny currents, racing from the wound into her system!
Sensing something was off, Gu Qingying froze mid-cleanup.
She shot a fierce glare at Gong Shangyu, who looked full of resentment behind her.
Her eyes clearly asked, Just how much “special ingredient” did you put in that porridge?
I only touched it with a tiny cut and I’m already feeling the effects!
As Gu Qingying silently cursed, the blush on her cheeks—originally just for show—spread uncontrollably, and a wave of inexplicable heat suddenly rose from her lower abdomen, making her breathing hitch.
Lu Li, thinking she was in pain, hurried over, concerned, wanting to check her wound.
“Qingying…Why are you so careless? Let me take a look…”
As Lu Li bent down and his fingertips were about to touch Gu Qingying’s injured finger,
the effects of the powder, now coursing with her blood, began to show.
Gu Qingying felt her heart race at her Master’s approach, her body growing even hotter.
Subconsciously, she pulled her hand back, a trace of fluster barely visible in her eyes.
“I’m fine…Master, please don’t touch me!”
She forced herself to calm down, quickly cleaning up the remaining porridge, terrified her Master might also get affected by touching the shards or porridge.