The tall and majestic mountain gate is hidden in the night, and it is not clear to see the gold painting on it, only a large and suffocating heavy shadow.

Dozens of Beiya forbidden troops camped at the foot of the mountain and took turns to be on duty.

From a distance, I saw someone riding a horse, and the two Ban Jianmo swords of the forbidden army on duty in front of the mountain gate were horizontal in front of him, and shouted: "What person! ”

The voice was extremely fierce and rough, and it was cold and awe-inspiring in the night.

"A certain is the internal guard of the Internal Security Division, and on the order of the envoy of the Internal Security Division, he came to Yuhua Mountain to deploy first." The man on the horse hurriedly flew off his horse and handed the waist card of the Internal Guard Division and a handwritten book to the younger forbidden soldier.

The thick eyebrows and big eyes of the young forbidden soldier were the ones who had just spoken loudly to stop him.

He glanced down, exchanged the two things for the person leading the horse as if he was hot, and said with a smile: "It turned out to be the brother of the Internal Security Division, quick, please come in." ”

The slightly older forbidden soldier next to him stabbed him, and joked with a smile: "What brother, it's obviously a girl, you're blind." ”

The young forbidden soldier glanced at the man more, suddenly realized, his face suddenly turned red, and he hurriedly confessed again and again: "The eyes are clumsy, the eyes are clumsy, the girl is not strange." ”

The man grinned widely, "It's okay. ”

The older forbidden soldier also laughed: "The girl came overnight, it was very hard, hurry up the mountain to rest, there is still a lot of work to come." ”

As he spoke, he and the young forbidden army moved out of the way to the side and added: "Just now, Gu Zongqi of the Internal Security Division sent a message that there would be internal guards going up the mountain at night, and it really came, and the brothers of the Internal Security Division were stationed in the courtyard halfway up the mountain," he raised his hand and pointed: "The girl will go down this mountain road, and it will take about two moments to see it." ”

The girl Qing Lingling thanked her, turned over on her horse, and after entering the mountain gate, she took off her pouch and threw it backhanded, and said with a smile: "Brothers, you have worked hard all night, give you a tea money." ”

The two forbidden soldiers laughed in unison: "The girl is too polite. ”

Seeing the girl walking away, the young forbidden army who had mistaken the girl for a man weighed his bag and laughed: "This internal guard is not as scary as the legend says, and it is quite generous." ”

The elder forbidden soldier next to him hurriedly made a silent action: "You didn't see her killing, it's scary." ”

The young forbidden soldier was surprised: "Brother, have you seen her kill?" ”

The elder forbidden soldier shook his head: "I haven't seen it." ”

"Then how do you know that her murderous appearance is terrifying?"

"I guess."

"You're amazing, how did you guess? Teach me. ”

"Didn't you see the knife on her waist? The smell of blood is heavy. ”

"Does she have a knife on her? Why didn't I see it. ”

"......" The elder forbidden soldier was speechless for a long time, frowning slightly: "Did you see the name written on her waist card?" ”

The young forbidden soldier nodded: "I see, it's called Yao Qi." He paused slightly, shook his head with a smile: "I'm stupid, I didn't recognize such an obvious girl's name." ”

The elder forbidden soldier frowned, and a suspicious shadow flashed in his mind, and he couldn't catch it, and asked softly: "Why doesn't this person seem to be the same before." ”

"Brother, have you seen this person?" The young janitorial soldier asked in surprise.

The elder forbidden soldier said: "We met once a year ago. ”

The young forbidden soldier smiled: "Brother, it's been a year, this person must be old." ”

The elder forbidden soldier let out a "hmm", but he was still suspicious in his heart, and he recalled it carefully for a while, and did not find that the appearance of the girl just now was really different from a year ago, maybe it was really just older.

He let go of his doubts and looked at the night with a solemn face.

After entering the mountain gate of Yuhua Mountain, there are three mountain roads, and the mountain road in the middle is the most spacious and neat, which can accommodate the Luan of Emperor Yong'an to pass through, and leads straight to the palace on the top of the mountain.

This palace occupies a large area from the top of the mountain to the mountainside, the construction is particularly magnificent, in the summer months on Yuhua Mountain, in addition to the Yong'an Emperor, the emperor's relatives, the envoys of various countries live in the palace, the Yong'an Emperor will also give some courtyards in the palace to the important ministers to live, in order to show grace.

The two mountains on the left and right are slightly narrower, leading to the courtyards scattered all over Yuhua Mountain.

Most of these courtyards are located below the mountainside of Yuhua Mountain, and they vary in size and scenery, some are the courtyards of courtiers, and some are royal courtyards.

There are no courtyards on Yuhua Mountain, but those who are qualified to accompany them can borrow and live in these royal courtyards.

The location, size, and age of the royal annex are demarcated according to the grade of the borrower.

After Gu Chen finished reading the book of the flying slave, he couldn't help but feel a little frightened, and while instructing the internal guards to take care of the cooks in Yuhua Mountain temporarily, he personally waited at the gate of the courtyard.

Yuhua Mountain is much cooler than the capital, Gu Chen stood at the gate of the courtyard for most of the night, his legs and feet were numb, and finally heard the sound of clattering horses' hooves, stirring up a ripple in the slightly cool night.

A slender man led the horse out of the mountain road on the left, getting closer and closer.

Gu Chen saw that this person was dyed with night dew, and stepped forward with great joy, took the reins very naturally, and looked the person up and down: "Ah Qi, your injury is serious again?" ”

Yao Ji was stunned for a moment: "No, what's wrong?" ”

Gu Chen patrolled Yao Qi's face and sighed: "Look at your white face, you have caught up with the little white face." ”

Yao Qi touched his face, and the expression on his face was a little unnatural: "Is it white?" ”

Gu Chen nodded heavily, and raised his hand to touch Yao Qi's face with great familiarity: "White, very white." ”

Yao Qi's expression became even more unnatural, and he tilted his head and dodged Gu Chen's hand.

Gu Chen was stunned for a moment, and said in surprise: "Hey, rare, Ah Qi is actually embarrassed." ”

"I'm so embarrassed, I'm injured, and I'm bumpy on the horse." Yao Qi's expression flickered, and he coughed unnaturally: "Get me some water to drink, I'm dying of thirst."

Gu Chen tied the horse, shook his head helplessly and smiled: "Call me as soon as you come." ”

Yao Ji didn't stop, walked straight to the yard, and said lightly: "I have an injury, and I came to help you in the starry night, help me get some water to drink, have you been wronged?" ”

Hearing this, the strange feeling in Gu Chen's heart was fleeting, and he sneered: "Don't be funny, your little injury, is it a hurt to you, others don't know you, I don't know you yet?" ”

Yao Ji smiled noncommittally.

The two walked into the house, and the internal guard in the house had already heard the movement, so they hurriedly poured a cup of tea, cooled it and handed it to Yao Qi.

Yao Ji took the cup, the heat spread on her face, she took a sip slowly, and did not make a sound for a long time.

Gu Chen waited for a while, and before Yao Qi could speak first, he considered it and opened his mouth first: "There are not many cooks on Yuhua Mountain now, Your Majesty has his own imperial kitchen, and the concubines and princesses also brought cooks, and other noble families are estimated to have brought useful cooks up the mountain, and those who can use the cooks are nothing more than the forbidden army and the internal security department, as well as the palace attendants and palace maids." The cooks were already on the mountain, and there were twenty-four of them. After receiving the adult's message from the flying slave, I asked the twenty-four people to be detained. ”

"All detained?" Yao Qi screamed in surprise, and as soon as her voice fell, she realized that she had lost her words, and quickly covered it up: "I'm afraid that detaining so many people will cause turmoil and panic." ”

Gu Chen frowned slightly: "Is this still called much?" ”

"That's not much?" Yao Qi took a sip of tea, a pair of apricot eyes were round and bright, and his face was full of anger: "That's not much, that's a lot!" ”

Gu Chen dodged: "Don't be excited, what's the matter, you want to eat people!" ”

Yao Qi raised his hand: "I'm going to beat someone again!" ”

When Gu Chen saw Yao Qi's appearance, the doubts in his heart disappeared, and he hurriedly pressed her hand: "Okay, good, you are amazing, there are still six hours before the holy car arrives at Yuhua Mountain, these twenty-four people say not much, and they say less and too little, you can tell me, how can you find out those two people as quickly as possible?" ”

Yao Qi's expression flickered, and after pondering for a moment, he asked, "Where are they now?" ”

Gu Chen pouted at the back: "Behind is a big kitchen dedicated to cooking for the Beiya Forbidden Army, I got them all there, and there are internal guards outside." He paused slightly: "After receiving the Feinu message, I instructed the internal guards to carefully check the calluses on their hands, and there was no problem." They should all be old cooks. He looked at Yao Qi and said, "Ah Qi, you, could it be that you have misjudged?" ”

Yao Qi pursed his lips and said thoughtfully: "Do you know that the cocoon on your hand can also be faked?" ”

“...... What do you mean? Gu Chen said blankly: "Can the calluses on your hands still be faked?" You make one and show me! ”

Yao Qi's face was a little ugly by Gu Chen's face, and he stiffened his neck: "Anyway, the calluses on their hands are not reliable to judge whether they are real chefs or fake chefs, so we still have to think of some other way to screen them." ”

"Something else." Gu Chen snorted and glanced at Yao Qi: "Cook, the most good thing is not knife work and cooking skills, if it is a killer, knife skills must not be bad, but cooking skills may not be." ”

Hearing this, Yao Qi was like an initiation, his eyes lit up, and he slapped the bookcase: "Yes, let them make a dish by themselves!" ”

"One dish per person," Gu Chen glared at the sky outside: "It's so late, everyone is asleep, and so many dishes are cooked, and no one eats it!" ”

Yao Qi pursed his lips: "I'll eat." ”

Gu Chen glanced at Yao Qi: "One person and one dish, you are not afraid of dying?" ”

"How can you survive to death if you eat a bite of a dish?" Yao Qi sighed: "Do you have a pen and paper?"

When the internal guard heard this, he quickly took the pen and paper, sharpened the ink, and placed it on the bookcase.

Yao Ji picked up the pen and was about to put it down, when he suddenly thought of something and put the pen down again.

"What's wrong?" Gu Chen looked at Yao Qi's hand and wondered, "What's wrong with your hand?" ”

Yao Qi stretched out his right hand, and saw a bloody and blurred scar lying across the palm of his hand, which looked particularly shocking.

Gu Chen hissed, hurriedly went to the medicine box, found gold sore medicine and cotton cloth out, grabbed Yao Qi's hand to bandage the wound, and complained babblingly: "You have to ride a fast horse, you can wear out your hands, why don't you say it earlier, let me bandage you." ”

Yao Qi's heart moved, and he just wanted to withdraw his hand, but he only moved his fingers and pressed it.

Gu Chen wrapped Yao Qi's hand like a zongzi, tied a beautiful knot, and patted it twice: "Okay, your hands are inconvenient, you come and I'll write it." ”

Yao Qi thought for a moment, and talked non-stop in one breath, saying twenty-four dishes, and even the requirements were extremely detailed.

Gu Chen also slowly brushed the pen, slowly dried the ink, as if he knew Yao Qi for the first time, looked at her with deep eyes, and smiled: "I've known you for so many years, I didn't know that you were so well-informed, and the dishes you ate were all dishes I hadn't heard of." ”

Yao Qigan laughed dryly twice, pursed his lips and said nothing, looking at that appearance, he was a little weak.

Gu Chen was surprised, his eyes became deeper and deeper, and he glanced up and down at Yao Qi: "Eh, what's wrong with you today, why don't you talk so little, and don't scold people anymore?" ”

Yao Qi snorted: "I'm tired, I can't scold anymore." ”

"I'm out of words." Gu Chen smiled meaninglessly.

Yao Qi muttered: "You try!" ”

Gu Chen shrank his neck, thinking of the scene when he first met Yao Qi, who was arguing with the bastard Zhao San'er on the street of Jinchangfang.

No, it wasn't a quarrel, it was a one-sided crushing slur.

Gu Chen listened to it for a while, and those non-repetitive scolding words were simply unheard of, and they didn't seem to come from a girl's mouth, which was breathtaking.

Since then, when he saw Yao Qi, he couldn't help but feel fear.

was scolded by a girl pointing at her nose, she couldn't raise her head when she scolded, and she didn't scold for half an hour, and even up to the eighteenth generation of her ancestors and the eighteenth generation of her children and grandchildren were pulled out and scolded again, which is a thing that is easy to break people's hearts.

What's even more devastating is that the girl scolded people without a dirty child, it was full of words!

But those who don't know enough to read and write probably can't even understand it!

Thinking of this, Gu Chen shook his head again and again in horror, no longer cheap, cut a slightly thick and opaque white paper into slender strips, copied the twenty-four dishes dictated by Fang Cai Yao Ji one by one on the slip of paper, made twenty-four paper lots, put them in a white porcelain bowl, and handed them to the internal guard next to him.

Yao Qi watched Gu Chen's movements, and ordered with a solemn expression: "Let the twenty-four cooks each catch a lot, cook a dish according to the requirements of the lot, send a few people to watch them cook, and tell them that if the sage wants to choose a few cooks to come out, whether they can be favored by the sage depends on this dish." ”

Gu Chen instantly understood Yao Ji's intentions, raised his eyebrows and smiled: "If you are greedy, just say it directly, you are calling it a false holy decree, and you are going to lose your head." ”

Yao Qi smiled indifferently, she had done a lot of things to lose her head, and she didn't care about this one more, she smiled and said, "I'm afraid of losing my head, don't eat it for a while." ”

Gu Chen finally regained his familiar feeling, and sighed: "If I don't eat, I still accompany you to lose your head, wouldn't it be a great loss for me." ”

He thought about it again and again, but he still didn't dare to fake this matter, so he personally took the white porcelain bowl to the courtyard behind him, and stared at the twenty-four cooks to draw lots.

The courtyard at the back is the public kitchen that cooks for the Beiya Forbidden Army, and a large stove room occupies most of the courtyard, and there are more than 30 eye stoves in it, which is enough for these people to show their strength.

Yao Qi looked at Gu Chen's disappearing back, took another sip of tea, and asked the internal guard next to him in a deep voice: "Where is the flying slave?" ”

Neiwei was stunned for a moment: "It's in the ear room next to it, Yao joins the army and wants to pass on the message?" ”

Yao Ji said noncommittally "um": "Go and see." ”

The internal guard hurriedly led the way.

The west ear room was a utility room, and there was originally a lot of firewood, but after the people of the internal security department moved in, they moved all the firewood to the courtyard at the back, and put two iron cages in the vacant place.

In each cage were four snow-white fins with their necks stretched out and cooing.

These flying slaves are all specially used to transmit messages in the Department of Internal Guards, all of them are clean and smart, their blood-red eyes are dripping and rolling, and their wings are strong and powerful.

Yao Qi glanced around the cage a few times, turned his head to the inner guard and said, "Do you have a pen and paper?" ”

The internal guard nodded: "Yes, Yao joins the army for a while." ”

Yao Qi thanked him.

A short time later, footsteps were heard at the door of the transept.

Yao Qi turned her head and saw Gu Chen walking in with a pen and paper, her face sank slightly, and her expression was as usual in an instant: "Yo, Mr. Gu personally sent the pen and paper, I was flattered, what's the matter, the lot is over?" ”

Gu Chen didn't miss the fleeting panic on Yao Qi's face, but he didn't think deeply, and sneered: "I heard that you are going to pass on the book, didn't I rush to serve you, you are still sarcastic about me, my heart." He pretended to grab the placket of his shirt and made a look of grief: "It's cold." ”

"It's a dead man who is cold." Yao Ji sneered and took the pen and paper as usual.

Seeing that Yao Qi was about to write, Gu Chen hurriedly turned his head with interest, not seeing what she had written.

After a moment's effort, Yao Ji put down his pen.

Hearing the movement behind him, Gu Chen turned his head to take a look, and went to open the cage with a smile: "I'll catch you the fastest flyer." ”

The Flying Slave thrashed violently in the cage, making a rapid cooing sound.

In just a moment, Gu Chen grabbed a snow-white flying slave and came out, a pair of blood-red eyes turned quickly, and the cooing sound was louder than that of other flying slaves.

Yao Qi glanced at the flying slave, tied the bamboo tube to the flying slave's leg, and said lightly: "Okay, let it go." ”

Gu Chen walked to the door of the ear room and raised his hands into the air.

The flying slave fluttered his wings and flew away into the sky, turning in the dark and dark night sky, making a pale white shimmer, and flapping his wings in the direction of Chang'an City.

Gu Chen looked at the direction where Fei Nu was going, his eyes flashed slightly, and asked, "Did you send a letter to your lord?" ”

Yao Qi said "um": "The flying slave of the Internal Security Division, if you don't send a message to an adult, who else can you send a message to?" ”

Gu Chen smiled and said, "The busy work behind is in full swing, why don't you go and take a look?" ”

Yao Qi said briskly: "Let's go, take a look." ”

Hearing that Emperor Yong'an was going to choose a few cooks to come out, these cooks who were originally just cooking for the forbidden army and the palace people suddenly became excited, and they all geared up, using all their skills to show their skills, and the blue eyes of Emperor Yong'an, who was so knowledgeable.

If you can become an imperial chef, you will glorify your ancestors.

The yard was filled with the sound of washing vegetables and chopping vegetables.

The noisy sound resounded halfway up the mountain for a while, and the stove room was in full swing, and the pale white cooking smoke rose into the air, and the steaming heat spread in the courtyard.

He Zhenfu entered the courtyard, a few lamps fell a dim halo, he saw Yao Qi old god sitting and drinking tea, he laughed: "I saw the yard behind me smoking, I thought who set the house on fire, it turned out that you came." ”

Yao Qi's face was serious: "I said this, I deliberately came to the house to get my feelings, am I so bad?" ”

He Zhenfu smiled and fell: "Your trick must be more damaging than ordering a house." ”

Yao Qi smiled dryly, pursed his lips and did not speak.

Seeing that Yao Ji did not ridicule him for the first time, He Zhenfu looked at her with a ghost-like gaze, if it weren't for the fact that men and women would not kiss her, he would have pinched her face: "Yao joined the army, is this still you?" ”

Hearing this, Yao Qi immediately raised his eyebrows and sighed: "I made some supper for the big guy, and I will serve it later, don't eat it if you have the ability." ”

He Zhenfu blinked in surprise, and in an instant, he understood the meaning of Yao Qi's words, and his face was about to burst into laughter: "I know that you have a lot of losses, and I am still worried about Gu Zongqi, so you have a way to do it as soon as you come." ”

Yao Qi was a little embarrassed, thought for a moment, and then shook his head: "Not necessarily, since they have the courage to Li Dai Taozhuang, they must have made complete preparations, and the people sent here are only afraid that they are also people with advanced cooking skills, so this method may not work." ”

He Zhenfu was very optimistic, patted his thigh heavily, and smiled easily: "It's okay, if you can eat a good meal, you can also earn it." He took a sip of tea and said: "You don't know, yesterday I rushed to Yuhua Mountain in one go, and I didn't even bother to eat, so I started to work. ”

Hearing this, Yao Qi's eyes flashed, he lowered his head and took a sip of tea, hiding the fleeting coldness in his eyes, before slowly raising his head and asking with a little meaning: "I don't know what happened to Jingli." ”

He Zhenfu said casually: "Jingli, what can happen to Jingli, it's okay." Nothing is bigger now than the things on Yuhua Mountain. ”

Yao Qi didn't ask anything more, and followed He Zhenfu's words: "That's what I said." She cheered up and looked back, only to see a large area of white heat diffusing in the stove room, like a sea of clouds rolling, drifting into the yard, such a big smoke, no wonder He Zhenfu thought the yard was on fire.

She settled down and said, "Let's go, go and see how the cooks' supper is doing." ”

When I walked into the big kitchen, I saw that these twenty-four people were all dressed decently, and the oil stains on the aprons tied around their waists seemed to be slapping the faces of these people in the internal health department, saying that they were real chefs.

From their one-glance and extraordinarily methodical movements, it is indeed impossible to tell who is the real cook and who is the fake cook.

Some people are fast and have already put the vegetables in the pot, while some people are slow and are still struggling to cut the vegetables.

Yao Qi's apricot eyes were not as smart as before, slightly wooden, and his expression was a little nervous, and He Zhenfu walked behind everyone one after the other, stopping from time to time to take a look, smelling the taste, and admiring.

Before Yao Qi and the others came in, Gu Chen had been in the stove room for a long time, his body was dyed with oil smoke, and fine beads of sweat oozed from his forehead, staring at the chef in the room with a good look.

Yao Qi and He Zhenfu looked relaxed, but in fact, their minds were so tense that they didn't even dare to blink their eyes, and they didn't let go of any clues.

"Zila" sound, the fresh meat was put into the pot, splashed a little oily, and fell on the back of one of the people's hands, the person's face did not change, as if he didn't know, the action did not even stop, the fresh meat turned out, and fell into the pot without a trace, and the mellow aroma overflowed.

He Zhenfu's gaze fell on the hand of the person beside the man, looked at it a few more times, and then walked forward.

Yuhua Mountain is much cooler than in the capital, but the stove room is extremely stuffy, ordinary people stand in it for a while, it is so hot that they are covered in sweat, not to mention that these people have to close to the stove, scorched by the raging flames, and the sweat has already soaked their clothes.

The smell of food, the smell of oil, and the smell of sweat are mixed, and the smell in this stove room is really not so good.

Yao Ji carefully examined everyone's expressions.

Most of them frowned and seemed extraordinarily nervous.

A few people looked relaxed and seemed to be confident.

There were also a few people who were a little far away from the stove, not knowing whether they were disgusted by the smell or afraid of the splashing of oily hot hands.

Yao Qi took a few extra glances at these people and made a note of their appearances.

Yao Qi and the three of them glanced at each other through the fireworks, and then walked out together with a sigh.

He Zhenfu: "How is it, what do you see?" ”

Yao Qi said to those people: "What are those people called?" ”

Gu Chen and He Zhenfu flipped through the roster and circled on it.

Gu Chen said: "I have just instructed, prepare the dishes, and paste your name on the plate for screening." ”

Now it seems that there is nothing to do, the three of them went back to the front yard together, now the most important place is Yuhua Mountain, the most important thing is the safety of the saint, He Zhenfu just cruised around the mountain, and naturally talked about the things on Yuhua Mountain first.

"This mountain is too big, and the forbidden army can't deploy defenses in all places, so they can only guard it tightly around the palace, and there are inevitably loopholes in the deep mountains. When it comes to summer vacation, hunting is a common thing, and if the saint wants to hunt in person this time, he is afraid, "He Zhenfu's words are not finished, but the unfinished meaning, everyone knows it."

Hearing this, Gu Chen raised his head and glanced at Yao Qi, but Yao Qi lowered his eyes and didn't know what he was thinking.

Gu Chen was a little surprised, it was not the first time that he and Yao Qi had gone to Yuhua Mountain, they were quite familiar with the situation here, and they also knew that He Zhenfu was telling the truth.

Since he knew that there was a lot of danger in the mountains now, and Yao Qi had always had a lot of ideas, why did he have no words at this time.

Gu Chen didn't think deeply, he only condensed and said: "It can only be the day of the saint's hunting, with more forbidden troops." ”

Yao Qi faintly felt that the situation was critical, although the scope of the hunt was delineated in advance, the forbidden army would also carefully investigate first, and a large number of forbidden troops would patrol the mountains on the day of the hunt. But if there is a problem in the forbidden army, such a large mountain range, just find a place to cat, and people can be caught off guard and suffer a dark loss.

Emperor Yong'an is a person who will repay his eyes, and what he is best at is anger, if he suffers a secret loss, he is afraid that the forbidden army and the internal security department will not be able to fall well.

Thinking of this, Yao Qi said slowly: "Open guns are easy to dodge and dark arrows are difficult to prevent, relying on the protection of the forbidden army alone, there will inevitably be omissions." The Praetorian Army cannot be counted on alone. ”

He Zhenfu said: "Then, the Internal Security Department is just such a person, who can you count on if you don't expect the forbidden army?" He looked at Yao Qi: "What other way does Ah Qi have?" ”

Yao Qi smiled quite self-knowingly: "Method, I don't have such a useful brain, other ways should let the envoy spend his brains." ”

Gu Chen and He Zhenfu snorted and smiled at each other.

I've never seen such an unmotivated person!

As he spoke, the guards came and went, and the twenty-four cooks had already made supper.

Gu Chen was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered: "Let them come in one by one!" ”

The internal guard answered, and after a while, there was a bustling sound outside.

Gu Chen and the three of them smelled the fragrance of the vegetables, rubbing their hands, salivating.

new