Tangyuan Was So Delicious!

"Lord Yang, please take the seat of honor!" Ma Muzhi answered loudly, his face wreathed in smiles as he bowed slightly.

Seeing his solicitous manner, Yang Niansan waved her hands repeatedly. "I couldn't, I couldn't! Lord Chen is the duly appointed Chief Official. I'm merely a newly arrived deputy. How could I overstep my station like that?"

"How could such a thing be permitted? Who gave this humble official the authority?"

"This must not be allowed!"

Her words rang with righteousness, the laws of the Heavenly Court forever on her lips.

And yet.

Yang Niansan's legs seemed to have minds of their own. Following Ma Muzhi's inviting gesture, she strode over as though wind stirred beneath her feet, her steps perfectly natural.

She turned.

She sat.

Her back settled comfortably against the chair, and her hands habitually rested on its armrests.

Her movements flowed like drifting clouds and running water, all in one seamless motion.

The bodily memory of someone accustomed to authority could not be concealed.

Only a mighty being who had spent years seated above the clouds, receiving the homage of ten thousand immortals, could have developed it.

Yang Niansan was just about to speak when her gaze swept over her two colleagues' fixed stares, and realization struck.

"Oh dear!"

"My fault, my fault. I grew used to being carefree in the mortal realm and forgot the rules for a moment."

"Lord Chen, you're the Chief Official. Please, take the seat of honor. I have absolutely no intention of overstepping!"

Yang Niansan sprang from the seat as though launched, tapping her folding fan against her forehead as she hurried aside to make room.

Naturally, Chen Wei would not poke through the paper screen of this attempt to cover up what was already obvious.

When the privileged came to experience the hardships of Immortal Officials, playing along was one's foremost duty.

"Not at all, Lord Yang." Chen Wei chuckled and walked calmly to the seat of honor. "We're a newly established office with little wealth or influence. There's no need for so many rigid rules. We all work under the same roof, so we can be more relaxed."

"As it happens!"

"Lord Yang has taken up her post today, and our office has a new assignment on hand. We'll need everyone to pool their ideas and efforts to see it through properly. Why don't we take this opportunity to discuss our next steps?"

He shifted the conversation neatly onto official business.

At this, Yang Niansan seemed to remember something immensely pleasing and snapped her folding fan shut. "A discussion sounds excellent, of course. But as a newcomer, it would be disrespectful of me to arrive empty-handed."

A faint light flashed.

An exquisite Purple Bamboo Food Box appeared out of thin air on the long white jade table.

"As it happens, I've prepared a modest welcoming gift for you both." Yang Niansan stepped forward and rested her hand on the lid. "Why don't we eat while we talk?"

A welcoming gift?

Ma Muzhi's eyes lit up. Could anything this member of the Immortal Second Generation offered as a welcoming gift possibly be ordinary?

A golden core?

A Peach of Immortality?

Ma Muzhi rubbed his hands, his face alight with delighted surprise. "Oh my! You're far too kind, Lord Yang! We're all brothers here. Why bring treasures? Might I ask... what rare immortal blessing this is?"

Chen Wei also straightened slightly, his gaze turning toward the Purple Bamboo Food Box.

With a smug smile, Yang Niansan flicked the clasp open with her fingertip and lifted the lid. A cloud of steam rose.

Plump, white, perfectly rounded tangyuan floated in the bowls.

"Tangyuan!" Yang Niansan took out two bowls and pushed them toward Chen Wei and Ma Muzhi, her chin raised slightly. "Eat them while they're hot!"

The delighted surprise on Ma Muzhi's face froze into bewilderment.

Tangyuan?

Yang Niansan propped her chin on one hand, her eyes brimming with anticipation. "Go on, try them. Even Her Holiness is very fond of them!"

Her Holiness liked eating these?

Those words sent a jolt through both Chen Wei and Ma Muzhi.

They had thought this was merely the thoughtless whim of a sheltered member of the Immortal Second Generation. But now the Third Holy Mother was involved.

That changed the nature of this bowl of tangyuan.

Chen Wei lifted the Celadon Bowl, took up a spoon, scooped up a round tangyuan, and put it in his mouth.

He bit down gently.

The thin skin broke.

In an instant, syrup sweet enough to reach the depths of his soul rampaged through his mouth.

Sweet.

Sickeningly sweet.

Ma Muzhi ate one too. He genuinely wanted to say, These tangyuan are so sweet!

Chen Wei clenched his teeth and did not spit it out, because this was no ordinary food.

Anything bestowed by a high immortal carried profound meaning.

It was like the Great Heavenly Venerable granting you a cup of bitter wine in Lingxiao Palace. Would you drink it or not?

What you drank was not the flavor, but the rules. It was a test of obedience. If you could not even swallow a bowl of tangyuan Her Holiness enjoyed, how would you swallow karmic consequences on a high immortal's behalf in the future?

With so little understanding, how could you ascend straight to the azure clouds?

At that thought, everything clicked into place for Chen Wei, and he forced the sickeningly sweet tangyuan down into his stomach.

Bang!

He slammed the Celadon Bowl onto the table.

Startled by the sound, Yang Niansan asked tentatively, "Lord Chen, is it not to your taste?"

"It's absolutely delicious!" Chen Wei's eyes blazed, and he forced a trace of moisture into them. "Lord Yang! In my centuries of cultivation, I never dreamed that one day I would taste the very same immortal delicacy as Her Holiness! Such sweetness penetrates the very soul. This is truly one of the great blessings of my immortal life!"

The sudden praise left Yang Niansan momentarily stunned. She covered her mouth and giggled. "Lord Chen, is it truly that delicious?"

"Absolutely! Not a single word of a lie!"

With a solemn expression, Chen Wei tilted his head back in reminiscence. "To be frank, Brother Yang, back when I was studying hard in the mortal realm, before attaining the Dao and ascending, my favorite treat was a mouthful of tangyuan. Whenever winter snow fell, my honored teacher's wife-my teacher's wife, whom I respected as a mother-would cook a steaming pot of tangyuan over the clay stove."

"That sweetness was the only warmth amid those years of studying by a cold window!"

"Tasting Lord Yang's tangyuan today, that familiar sweetness struck straight into my heart. I... I simply love them!"

His words were earnest, his emotions overflowing.

Beside him, Ma Muzhi swallowed his tangyuan with difficulty.

Hearing the Chief Official proclaim his loyalty so fervently, how could he fail to follow suit? He wiped away a tear as well. "To tell the truth, my old mother in the mortal realm also loved cooking such sweet... no, such richly sweet tangyuan on the stove! One bite, and it's filled with a loving mother's care! Delicious! Absolutely delicious!"

"Really?" Looking delighted, Chen Wei pushed the food box toward Ma Muzhi. "Have some more!"

"Thank you, my lord. These tangyuan are so delicious!" Ma Muzhi displayed a happy smile.

To cater to the high immortal's tastes,

These two minor immortal officials, who had clawed and scrambled their way through their careers, had dragged out their teacher's wife and their own mother without a moment's hesitation.

Seeing how moved her two colleagues were, and how much they loved the food, Yang Niansan's eyebrows curved into crescent moons. "Since you both enjoy them so much, have some more!"

Her enthusiasm soaring, she closed her folding fan and waved her sleeve again.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Light flashed repeatedly over the long white jade table.

Three identical Purple Bamboo Food Boxes appeared in a row.

"Don't rush. There's no need to rush." Yang Niansan smiled brilliantly. "This young... official cooked plenty in the mortal realm. Eat to your hearts' content, my lords. There's enough for everyone!"

The moment she finished speaking,

The heartfelt reminiscence on Chen Wei's face froze.

Ma Muzhi's newly raised spoon stopped dead, his wrist trembling uncontrollably.

Just then, Chen Wei set down his spoon, his expression turning solemn. "Lord Yang, Lord Ma and I appreciate your kindness. But when immortals serve in office, personal sentiments must yield to public duties. Let us talk as we eat. Regarding the Flower-Fruit Mountain fruit tree case, our office won its very first battle, and the work was splendidly done!"

"The Star Lord offered extremely high praise for our journey to Flower-Fruit Mountain!"

"This was not merely an affirmation of our investigative methods. It also established a vitally important tone for the future work of our Folk Customs and Morals Inspection Bureau!"

"The revival of the fruit trees accorded with heaven's timing and upheld the heavenly laws!"

"Under the guidance of the Star Lord's exalted directives, our office must continue striving. We must never rest smugly on our laurels!"

A string of grand, hollow, yet utterly faultless official phrases rained down like a barrage of cannon fire.

Ma Muzhi understood.

The Chief Official was using a meeting as a pretext to escape eating tangyuan!

As though granted a pardon, he seized the opportunity to set down his tangyuan, raised both hands, and clapped vigorously!

The abrupt turn toward solemnity left Yang Niansan stunned.

Looking at Chen Wei, whose mouth was full of official jargon, and then at Ma Muzhi, who was applauding desperately beside him, Yang Niansan's eyes filled with incomprehension.

But with everyone behaving like this, wouldn't failing to join in make her seem out of place?

And so Yang Niansan began clapping along.

His expression solemn, Chen Wei raised both hands and pressed them down slightly. "All right, Lord Ma, take this down. Here are my instructions!"