18 Chapter Seventeen

Yu You Lei froze for a moment, then looked down at her stomach.

That's right.

She. . . Hadn't eaten anything but fruits for the whole day, and it was natural she felt hungry.

Yu You Lei resumed her act as a weak and tired young girl, and called for You Ping.

Outside, You Ping was startled awake by her Young Miss's call. She immediately stood up and entered the room, bowing before the weak figure on the bed.

"Yes, Young Miss?" Looking down, You Ping tried to hide her guilt from falling asleep.

"I'm hungry." Yu You Lei stated simply. As if to back up her statement, her stomach rumbled loudly at that exact moment.

"This servant will go prepare food immediately!" Jumping at the chance to redeem herself, You Ping bowed once more and ran off to get food from the kitchens.

Groaning at the discomfort, Yu You Lei could only hope her food would arrive soon.

A few minutes later, Yu You Lei heard footsteps very close to her door. She furrowed her brows, wondering whether heavy footsteps were common in this world.

However, thinking of her guards, it didn't seem to be the case. Was this a trait of the people in the General's manor, then?

As she was pondering this, a knock on her door accompanied by You Ping's voice reached Yu You Lei's ears.

"Young Miss, this servant is coming in now."

Yu You Lei nodded, and upon remembering You Ping couldn't see her, said, "Yes."

Even before the door opened, a strong smell assaulted Yu You Lei's nose. She could barely hold herself back from gagging the moment the door opened.

You Ping stepped inside the room with a tray in her hands, and bowed slightly before placing the tray on Yu You Lei's table.

The horrible smell seemed to he coming from the food on the tray!

Yu You Lei sat up and forced herself to peer into the bowls.

Some white rice, vegetables and meat sat peacefully inside the bowls, and they were the culprits responsible for the disgusting smell.

Picking up her chopsticks with shaky hands, Yu You Lei took one bite of the rice and meat, then immediately spat it out as elegantly as she could bring herself to.

The rice was not cooked properly, and it tasted bland as could be! Was the meat rotten before it was cooked? How could someone ruin meat to that extent? And the food was cold! It was obviously made much earlier, and was only brought out to eat now.

Yu You Lei was brought up with a silver spoon in her mouth, and still lived luxuriously even when travelling the world. Even if she was training in the wilderness, she would personally make food which was comparable to the best of chefs. When had she ever tasted such terrible food?

"Young Miss?" You Ping was puzzled. Yu You Lei suddenly spit out the food like that, was there something wrong with it? It couldn't be, right?

The Fifth Young Miss had always been eating the same quality food from the same cooks her whole life, and always seemed to enjoy it! These cooks were the best Yu Jiang Jun could hire, and the food they made was inferior only to the royal cooks'.

You Ping was almost unable to control herself every time she smelt that mouth-watering fragrance, and was very familiar with it. The food made today wasn't too different from all those other times, so why did the Fifth Young Miss spit it out?

Wiping her mouth as subtly as she could, Yu You Lei waved You Ping off and coughed a few times.

"Water. . ." Yu You Lei managed to squeeze out this one sentence before returning to trying her best not to gag.

You Ping ran off and returned with a cup of water a few minutes later, which Yu You Lei downed without hesitation.

Wheezing slightly, Yu You Lei couldn't forget that horrible taste in her mouth no matter how hard dhe tried. She stared at the food on the table for a moment longer before waving for You Ping to bring it away.

Closing her eyes and leaning back to rest, Yu You Lei took a few moments to recover from her 'near-death' experience.

"Y-young Miss. . ." A meek voice caused her eyes to snap open, and she turned to You Ping tiredly.

"If Young Miss doesn't want this, c-could this servant possibly. . ." You Ping began timidly, knowing very well what she was asking wasn't allowed. However, the scent coming from the dishes was just too irresistible!

Even Bai Wu and the others who were hidden in the trees outside felt that the fragrance was very pleasing to the nose, and they were very experienced in terms of food.

"No!" Yu You Lei immediately replied, scaring You Ping. You Ping thought the arrogant Fifth Young Miss she knew was back, but. . .

What Yu You Lei said next was unexpected, and proved her wrong!

"How could I let my servant eat something as horrible as this? Bring me to the kitchens, this Young Miss will personally prepare some food, and I guarantee you will love it!" Yu You Lei proclaimed, causing You Ping to become even more scared.

Who didn't know Yu You Lei couldn't cook? It would be a miracle if she didn't burn the kitchen down or accidentally poison the food!

However, seeing the determined expression on Yu You Lei's face, You Ping could only reluctantly lead her to the kitchens.

Upon arriving there, Yu You Lei immediately chased everyone out of the kitchens and claimed it as her own territory.

Nobody, not even the guards, knew what she did inside. However, they could very clearly hear the sounds of a knife furiously chopping away at something, and couldn't help but shiver.

An hour later, Yu You Lei stepped out of the kitchen holding a tray in her hand.

The people waiting outside let out a breath of relief when they saw the kitchen was still intact.

Waving for the cooks to continue their work, Yu You Lei ignored the protests of You Ping and personally carried the food back to her room. Since the kitchens weren't too far from her courtyard, it didn't take too much effort on her part.

Setting the tray on the table, Yu You Lei forced You Ping to take a seat at the table with her with a single glare.

She stared at You Ping, and then stared at the food, obviously hinting for You Ping to eat it.

You Ping could only cry on the inside as she slowly brought the food to her mouth.

Mother, Father, I'm sorry, You Ping will leave first!