Chu Ning Must Be Teasing Imperial We On Purpose!

Inside the separate kitchen set up in Qianqing Palace.

Everything had already been moved here, including all kinds of ingredients and cooking utensils.

Ye Qinglian had still followed along, wanting to see with her own eyes how Chu Ning cooked.

It was just that delicious...

"Chu Ning, you can't use firewood, or we'll be discovered..."

"It's fine, this wood I prepared specially won't produce smoke."

"Mm."

Ye Qinglian nodded slightly.

He'd thought it through well enough.

He had to think it through!

Chu Ning was suffering too.

These ingredients couldn't be handled with ordinary firewood—forget everything else, even just heating the Heavenly Derived Spirit Liquid was impossible.

The fire had to come from him.

But after Xiao Bing noticed something was off last time, Chu Ning had learned his lesson and prepared this wood as a cover.

Boil water, prep ingredients, start with the soup first!

Thirteen dishes, and he was switching to new recipes.

Make what his wife liked to eat; swap out what she didn't for something else.

Raising a kid was hard work, and lately Ye Qinglian's appetite had been good too—he had to make more, didn't he?

The woman in the Dragon Robe looked over curiously.

"These ingredients are quite novel. What are they?"

"This is True Dragon Marrow, this is Boneless Ray Fish, and this is Sky Azure Ox."

"This Soft Bone Rabbit is pretty rare—its meat is tender and has a unique fragrance. I'll make Spicy Rabbit Head..."

"As for this one..."

Chu Ning introduced with a smile, while Ye Qinglian beside him just shook her head.

True Dragon Marrow? Sky Azure Ox?

Those were Ancient Divine Beasts that only existed in books?

And the Soft Bone Rabbit—though its name sounded ordinary, it grew extremely slowly. According to the records in the Strange Beast Chronicles, an adult Soft Bone Rabbit weighed only about five jin, growing one jin over a hundred thousand years. It was listed as an Ancient Ferocious Beast.

Not a single one of these could be found anywhere on the Tianxuan Continent. How could Chu Ning possibly have them?

But since this cheap husband wanted to talk, let him talk. As long as the taste was good, that was all that mattered.

Before long, the ingredients were prepped.

It took no more than a quarter of an hour.

Over a dozen ingredients were ready, not counting the other seasonings.

"You're really planning to make all of them? There won't be enough time, will there?"

"Why wouldn't there be? Like I said, I'll definitely be done before mealtime. Don't you believe me?"

Ye Qinglian let out a scoff. "With you rushing like this, the flavor probably won't be good. That golden medicinal dish you made—Imperial We ate it for the first time—it would need slow simmering for hours. How can you finish in time?"

"Still don't believe me. What if I told you I finish half an hour early every day before sending it to you?"

"Chu Ning, there's no need to show off. That dish really was excellent. If you focus on making just one, Imperial We will be very pleased. Don't push yourself. If you do it this way, the taste will likely suffer."

Chu Ning looked over with a smile.

"Like I said, let's make a bet. If I win, I get to kiss our kid once, and the taste will be the same as what you had?"

At this, Ye Qinglian hesitated.

He was that confident? Could he really pull it off?

Then she'd have to see how he did it.

"You're so certain. What chance does Imperial We have of winning?"

Seeing that Ye Qinglian wasn't interested, Chu Ning sighed.

"Qinglian, you're a big emperor—have a little confidence in your own judgment, won't you?"

Ye Qinglian said nothing.

It wasn't that she lacked confidence in herself.

It was that she didn't know Chu Ning well enough.

After all, the way he'd just chopped and prepped the ingredients was no simple feat—it was genuinely skilled.

Without decades of experience, there was absolutely no way he could do that. Absolutely none.

Chu Ning's culinary skills were quite solid.

The flames in the stove suddenly surged, turning a cyan-purple color, and Ye Qinglian watched in wonder.

This flame felt extremely hot—was it produced by burning that kind of wood?

The dragon marrow was already in the pot, boiling over fierce heat to soften it, while Chu Ning was channeling his own strength to accelerate the cooking process.

An Emperor Level Chef—no joke—his control over ingredients and heat had reached perfection!

In no time at all, the first dish of Dragon Marrow Jade Precious Soup was finished and ladled into an earthenware pot.

"Want a taste?"

Ye Qinglian hesitated for a moment, then gave in to curiosity, stepped forward, took the spoon, and tried a sip.

The flavor was rich and thick, exactly the kind of texture that came from simmering for hours—and it tasted just like the soup she'd had before!

But this dish had been finished in less than half an hour, hadn't it?

How was that possible?

Ye Qinglian composed her expression, keeping her face calm.

"The taste is a bit off, but it'll do."

Chu Ning was taken aback, deeply puzzled.

"That can't be right—I used the exact same technique as before..."

"Then give this portion to Xiao Bing. Don't drink it yourself—she eats a lot anyway. I'll make another batch..."

Ye Qinglian immediately stopped him!

"No... no need. Actually, it's passable."

"You're carrying a child, and you'll be my wife someday. 'Passable' isn't good enough—at least not in something I'm skilled at. Absolutely not!"

Besides, if the flavor changed, it could mean the dish was a failure. If the medicinal properties of the dragon marrow and Heavenly Dream Ice Lotus hadn't blended properly, it could seriously affect Ye Qinglian's health!

The higher the grade of the dish, the more precise the execution had to be. Any mistake, and Chu Ning couldn't afford the consequences!

With that, he moved to make another batch. Seeing he was serious, Ye Qinglian quickly called out.

Her face flushed slightly, hesitant.

"Well... actually, there's nothing wrong with the dish. It's just that my tastes have changed a bit—I'm craving something spicy..."

Chu Ning paused, then caught on.

He'd really thought the flavor was off!

Being tsundere, huh? Not going to praise me, are you?

Fine, fine, play it that way...

"Mm, then I won't make this dish anymore. I'll switch to other flavors—having the same soup all the time isn't great anyway."

Ye Qinglian grew anxious and quickly spoke up: "Don't! This one's actually fine. Every time I drink it, I feel much better physically. Even if other..."

"Since Qinglian says your tastes have changed, I have to follow your preferences. If this dish isn't perfect for you anymore, then there's no point in making it..."

Ye Qinglian regretted it!

She shouldn't have said anything. This soup was her favorite. Even after two days, she still couldn't get tired of it. Whenever she spaced out, she'd think of that flavor!

And now he was saying this was the last time? No way!

Ye Qinglian cleared her throat lightly, her face reddening further: "Actually... making it every day is fine. It's pretty perfect."

"Pretty perfect? So it's still not perfect?"

"Perfect, perfect, alright! Imperial We loves drinking this soup. Don't you dare change it!"

She couldn't hold it together anymore!

She needed this soup for her pregnancy. He was the father of the child, and since he could make it, he'd better keep making it for Imperial We!

Otherwise, she wouldn't eat at all—one corpse, three lives—he'd be the one crying!

But as she finished, she noticed the smile creeping up Chu Ning's lips, and her eyes went wide!

"You're mocking Imperial We!"

Chu Ning immediately wiped the smile off his face and looked at her seriously.

"It's not mockery. Since I'm to be your husband and the father of your child, I naturally have to do my best. And now that you're pregnant, I should follow your tastes."

"If you say it doesn't taste good, I can switch to something else. If you say it tastes good, I can make it anytime."

"It all depends on your heart. I just want you to have the best."

Ye Qinglian was stunned, lost in thought for a moment, then abruptly turned her head away, clenching her fists tightly.

"Get back to your cooking. Delaying Imperial We's meal—your crime is unforgivable!"

What nonsense was he spouting? She'd already warned him!

Watching his figure busy at the stove, Ye Qinglian's mind churned restlessly, her face still flushed.

I shouldn't have come!

This guy is definitely doing it on purpose...

Deliberately provoking her!

Pfft! This dog of a man is just after my kingdom, isn't he?

You think once you get me, all this will be yours? Don't even think about it, no way!