Against the Gods

As expected, Rui Yi’s claim was a shock to Yun Wuxin.

She would criticize the so-called best food in the entire Southern Divine Region; the “Rippling Heart Jade Soup” that completely flipped over her understanding of gourmet food as… crude?

“Father took me to the Pavilion of Delightful Dreams to taste the Rippling Heart Jade Soup a month ago,” Yun Wuxin spoke up and said. “As far as I can tell, it really does deserve its fame. Is Auntie Shuhe’s cooking… even better than that?”

Rui Yi’s eyes and posture immediately softened. She clearly had a much better impression of the daughter than the father. “After hearing of your arrival, my young miss set aside everything to prepare some snacks for you two. You may verify the truth by your own senses if you don’t believe me, my lady.”

She walked to the tea table in front of Yun Wuxin and lifted the jade cover.

Speaking of which, the jade cover was imbued with a thin layer of barrier on it to prevent the food’s scent from leaking.

There was a cup of tea, a plate of three slices of milk cake, and another plate of small biscuits.

It was an incredibly simple yet elegant serving.

Visually speaking, it seemed a little too simple for a big shot like Emperor Yun.

However, Yun Che’s nose twitched before his eyes even caught sight of the food.

Yun Che was no tea lover, but the faint aroma that pervaded his senses—first the nose, then the heart itself—felt like it possessed some sort of unnamed magic. Not only was it indescribably refreshing and fragrant, the sweet scents that seemed to be in perfect harmony with each other caused his ears, eyes, mouth, nose, and subsequently his entire body to relax before he realized it.

The pleasure and contentment from inhaling the aroma alone were difficult to describe. It was like being lifted up by a gentle, invisible cloud and cleansed by a spirit rain.

“...” Yun Che realized then that Rui Yi might not be exaggerating after all.

“It... smells… wonderful.”

Yun Che was a hardened man, and he didn’t make it a habit of displaying his emotions. Yun Wuxin, however, was nowhere as collected as he was. She let slip a thoughtless murmur before stumbling to the tea table as if she was pulled by an invisible, gentle hand.

“Please choose anything you like, my lady. You will understand what I mean then.” Rui Yi arranged the bamboo chopsticks for Yun Wuxin before awaiting her reaction. She also side-eyed Yun Che when she thought he wasn’t looking.

Yun Wuxin’s lips parted and closed unconsciously. She grabbed a pair of chopsticks, picked up a slice of milk cake with the utmost care—the incredible fragrance growing even thicker as the distance closed—and put it in her mouth.

“...” 

Then, her movements came to a complete stop.

For a time, she simply stood there and did nothing at all. Eventually, she removed the chopsticks from her lips and began chewing the food very carefully, but otherwise her expression and the rest of her body remained frozen. Even her eyes became glazed like her soul had been sucked out of her body.

Yun Wuxin’s strange reaction triggered a chuckle from Yun Che. “Is it really that amazing?”

“How is it? Does it suit your taste?” Cang Shuhe asked gently.

For a while, Yun Wuxin continued chewing almost as if she couldn’t bear to spare the effort to speak. Finally, she whispered, “Give it a try, father. You’ll understand why I’m like this.”

However, Rui Yi looked away from Yun Che immediately. She was unwilling to open the jade cover on his tea table for him.

While this was going on, Yun Wuxin had grabbed her chopsticks again to pick up the second slice of milk cake and— 

Yun Che consciously leaned backward and waved his hand repeatedly, “I-I can do it myself…”

It was too late. The milk cake was merely centimeters away from his mouth. “Quickly! You will regret it if you don’t eat this!”

He wouldn’t care if this was a private gathering between friends and family, but neither Rui Yi nor Cang Shuhe fell into that category. They were his subjects, and Yun Che wasn’t so lackadaisical that he would forget his status and act like a slouch in front of them.

However, his daughter didn’t think that way, and truth be told he could never keep up a majestic presence before his daughter anyway, especially not if it meant disappointing her. In the end, he opened his mouth and accepted the feeding.

The milk cake passed through his lips and slipped into his mouth. For a moment, gentle fragrance assaulted his taste buds, and the next an impossible amount of pleasure and satisfaction spread across his entire body.

His five senses lurched under the ultimate pleasure, his blood felt like it was singing in joy, and his soul grew light enough to dance to a tune.

He had already tuned his expectation way up beforehand, but the food still managed to surpass it.

It was only now that Yun Wuxin allowed herself to cry out in astonishment, “Oh my god oh my god oh my god! How can food possibly taste so good? It’s so good I feel like I’m dreaming… how in the world did you do it, auntie Shuhe?”

“I’m glad.” Cang Shuhe accepted Yun Wuxin’s overflowing praise with a small but graceful smile. “Unfortunately, this is all I managed to prepare in the given time. If you would like, I can cook you my best pastries and dishes over the next couple days?”

“Mn!” Yun Wuxin responded happily before picking up a biscuit next. Again, she let out a moan that would seem totally exaggerated if it wasn’t actually that good.

“What do you think, Your Majesty?”

A hint of expectation and nervousness entered Cang Shuhe’s eyes. Clearly, she cared about Yun Che’s assessment more than Yun Wuxin’s.

“It’s great.” Yun Che nodded slightly and expressionlessly.

The impossibly tame reaction pissed Rui Yi off so much she nearly crushed a tooth there and then.

“Heartless man! Pretentious bastard!”

Rui Yi didn’t mean to curse him aloud, but she was so frustrated that she accidentally let them slip as a mutter.

Yun Che was the strongest profound practitioner in the Primal Chaos, and his spiritual perception was no exception. He narrowed his eyes slightly and continued, “As far as I can tell, this tea fragrance and pastry are truly second to none. They really are that good.”

“However,” his eyes abruptly turned as cold as ice, “it is equally clear that your attendant training skills are nowhere close to your culinary skills!”

“Have you forgotten to teach her the word ‘death’!?”

Heaven and earth quaked under Emperor Yun’s fury, and even Yun Wuxin was caught off guard by her father’s outburst. She stared at him in astonishment while holding the half piece of biscuit she couldn’t bear to swallow yet between her teeth.

For the first time, Cang Shuhe’s seemingly eternally sweet features gave way to panic. She hurriedly rose to her feet and said, “Please quell your anger, Your Majesty. It is true that I have not disciplined Rui Yi as much as I should because we share a sister’s relationship. She definitely shouldn’t have forgotten her place and offended Your Majesty.”

“Rui Yi! Apologize to His Majesty now!”

She blinked repeatedly at Rui Yi as she rebuked her. She was terrified that Rui Yi would allow her stubbornness to go to her head, and as it turned out her fears weren’t misplaced in the slightest.

Yun Che’s aura was so oppressive that it chilled Rui Yi’s whole body and drove her half a step backward. However, she immediately gritted her teeth and squeezed out the words with almost fatalistic determination, “I will… NOT!”

“Rui Yi!!” Cang Shuhe’s voice grew an octave higher.

Against all odds, Rui Yi somehow managed to take one step toward Yun Che before shouting at him, “Yun Che! I don’t care if you’re the Devil Master or Emperor Yun! You irritate me, and I hate you, understand!?”

Yun Che: (HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUH?) 

“Rui Yi, have you gone ins—” 

“Miss! If I’m going to die anyway, you may as well let me finish what I have to say! If I don’t get it out now and I somehow survive this, I’ll still die from sheer frustration anyway!”

At this point. Rui Yi was going for broke. She took another step forward and raised her voice, “It has been more than a year since you forced the young miss to become the Deep Sea God Emperor and your so-called Consort Grace! And yet, you haven’t visited the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm or summoned her to the Emperor Yun City even once this whole time!”

“Do you even know how many people in the Southern Divine Region, no, the entire God Realm are making fun of the young miss behind her back? Nearly all of them believe that she is just a tool you’re using to control the Southern Divine Region!”

“...” Yun Che’s brow knitted.

“...” Yun Wuxin’s eyes widened even further.

She had gotten used to people groveling before her father with the utmost fear and respect, but this was the first time she saw anyone pointing a finger at her father’s nose in a spitting fury.

“Rui Yi! Get out! Get out now!” At this point, Cang Shuhe was experiencing a full blown panic attack. She dashed up to her attendant and tried to push her out of the bedroom.

However, Rui Yi saw her coming a mile away and easily dodged out of the way. While doing so, she continued to shout angrily at Yun Che, “When you first showed up, I thought that young miss’ eternally suffering has finally come to an end! But no, you ignored her, humiliated her, and even used her like a tool!”

“Even so, the young miss kept toiling with almost no breaks for the past year or so! She… she is the best person in the entire universe, and you, Emperor Yun, are nowhere close to even deserving of her! You—Mm!” 

Yun Che raised a hand, and space itself froze in place. A killing intent sharp enough to penetrate the marrow cut off whatever it was Rui Yi was trying to say.

“I see you’re trying really hard to court death,” Yun Che said coolly.

“Your Majesty… no! No!!” Cang Shuhe rushed over and grabbed Yun Che’s raised arm in a death grip. Her eyes were full of pain and begging.

“What’s… so scary about death!?” Rui Yi continued in a fatalistic tone despite Yun Che’s killing intent. “You know as well as I how much lifespan the young miss has left… if she dies, I’m not living either! You think I am afraid to die!?”

Yun Che: “...”

“I’ll prove it with my death that not everyone will allow you to bully my young miss as you please, even if you’re the so-called great emperor of the God Realm!”

“Hah!” Yun Che let out a faint sneer. “You are surprisingly loyal for a brat, aren’t—” 

“You’re the brat!” Rui Yi cut him off angrily, “You think I don’t know that you’re only thirty some years old? If we’re looking purely at age and experience, you’re not even old enough to be my bratty baby!”

“Pooooo!”

Yun Wuxin spat out the half-eaten biscuit she had been holding between her teeth.

“Noooooo what have I done!” Yun Wuxin exclaimed in regret immediately after. Her heart was literally aching at the loss of the biscuit. She had never felt more wasteful than she did right now.

The half-eaten biscuit wasn’t the only one who had suffered. At least half of Yun Che’s killing intent had been extinguished by Yun Wuxin’s spitting act as well.

The young woman lifted the part of the dress that had been dirtied by the spit and said in a miserable voice, “I’m so sorry for wasting your delicious snack, Auntie Shuhe…”

Suddenly, she perked up as if she remembered something. “Auntie Rui Yi, can you take me to the dressing room? Father told me that there exists a dress called the ‘Illusory Water Sea Dress’ in the Ten Directions Deep Sea Realm, and that it’s the gift of the realm’s infinite sea. I’ve been looking forward to seeing it for a very long time.”

“Eh?” Rui Yi was prepared to die by Yun Che’s hands so that Cang Shuhe could finally give up on the loathsome man, but Yun Wuxin’s interruption had disrupted her momentum completely.

“What are you waiting for, Rui Yi? Take the princess to the dressing room already!” Still clutching Yun Che’s wrist, Cang Shuhe urged again, “Go!”

“Come on!” Yun Wuxin was already pulling Rui Yi’s sleeve and dragging her toward the exit already.

And so Yun Wuxin half-dragged a confused Rui Yi out of the door and finally vanished from Yun Che’s sight.

Yun Che’s palm was still suspended in the air, but he didn’t kill Rui Yi.

Cang Shuhe’s nerves finally loosened up as she let out a long sigh of relief. She then bowed her head before Yun Che and said, “Thank you for showing mercy, Your Majesty. I promise I will discipline her more strictly from now on… if that is insufficient, I can order her to keep out of your sight as well.”

Expression unchanged, Yun Che said slowly, “On the day I met you for the first time, I was at the height of my infamy and inauspiciousness. The god emperors and even your own brother feared me to the soul.”

“However, you barely reacted when we first met or when I was treating you. I couldn’t sense any fear from you at all.”

“Later on, I forced your body to adapt to the Deep Sea divine power and put you through an unimaginable amount of pain. You could clearly feel your lifespan shortening to a flicker throughout the process as well. However, you remained as calm as a pool of dead water.”

He stared at Cang Shuhe’s eyes before continuing, “That is why I thought you to be a woman of extreme indifference. Until yesterday, I had believed that all but the smallest vestiges of your emotions had died with your ten thousand years of suffering.”

Cang Shuhe: “...”

“But… that wasn’t the case. Your terror and panic were almost tangible when I expressed the intent to kill your attendant…” he looked down at her chest. “Even now, your heartbeat is still out of control.”

He had clearly made an error in judgment.

Cang Shuhe looked up. “Is this why you’ve neglected me all this time, Your Majesty?”

“...” Yun Che didn’t answer her.

Cang Shuhe lowered her gaze before replying, “It was a cold and painful ten thousand years. Without her constant companionship, I wouldn’t have lasted long enough to meet Your Majesty.”

“She may be my personal attendant in name, but we are really closer than blood-related sisters. One might even say that our bond has transcended common comprehension.”

“I think I understand,” Yun Che replied. “You think I didn’t notice she was glaring at me like she could swallow me the whole time? She really can’t stand you suffering even the slightest bit of injustice. Hmph!”

Yun Che’s words caused a faint ripple across Cang Shuhe’s eyes. “You’ve forgiven her, Your Majesty?”

“I am the Great Emperor of the God Realm after all. Like I would lower myself to the level of a bra—” he paused for a second before correcting himself, “—an old hag!”

Cang Shuhe burst into a giggle. “Oh, Your Majesty. The Empress or Consort Ice will leave you out to dry if they knew what you just said.”

Cang Shuhe’s smiling face was incredibly beautiful. It was as infectious as the autumn wind and clouds.

In fact, Yun Che had regretted his words the second they escaped his lips… it wasn’t his intention, but he had still offended Chi Wuyao, Mu Xuanyin and even Cang Shuhe herself all in one go.

That damned little… attendant! She may have a screw loose, but I suppose it’s a little petty to kill her for wanting to defend her mistress’s honor to the death. There is no way that I’m letting her go without some punishment, however!

Just you wait. I swear by my title I’ll make you cry!

“Naturally, my Empress and consorts do not belong to the same level as she.” Yun Che paused for a moment before adding, “By the way… you won’t tell them what I said, will you?”

Cang Shuhe neither nodded nor shook her head. Instead, she smiled like a deep spring of infinite wonders that could draw in one’s eyes and thoughts until they drowned themselves in it, “Your Majesty, do you know that the biggest mistake countless men have made in history is in believing that a woman will keep their secrets?”

Yun Che laughed in spite of himself.

For the first time, he realized that basking in Cang Shuhe’s gaze and listening to her voice were a pleasure.