Return of the Immortal Emperor Daddy-Chapter 181: Imperial Kitchen
Wu Tian and the little one didn’t let the incident with the Sword Emperor change their minds about going out for roast duck.
They arrived at Convenient Workshop, a renowned "time-honored Chinese brand" in Longjing with a 600-year history dating back to the Ming Dynasty. The restaurant’s decor was in a classic ancient style, and its roast duck was famous for being crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and exceptionally delicious. After finding a table, Wu Tian ordered some of their most famous dishes: Flower Crispy Cake, Vegetable Crispy Cake, and Crispy Deboned Duck.
However, they waited for a long time, but no food was served, which made Wu Tian’s brows furrow slightly. The little one was also getting displeased. "Waitress! Waitress!" she called out. "I’m summoning you! Hurry and appear!"
The little girl’s adorable face immediately drew everyone’s attention. A waitress quickly approached and asked what the matter was.
Wu Tian remained seated and asked calmly, "We ordered a while ago. Why has it taken so long for our food to arrive?"
"This..." the waitress said awkwardly. "Are you aware that today is the day the Sword Emperor gives his lecture?"
The Martial Arts World was supposed to be a secret from the public, but the Sword Emperor held shares in many of Longjing’s major industries. This Convenient Workshop was naturally no exception.
"So what?" Wu Tian said coldly.
The temperature throughout Convenient Workshop suddenly dropped, causing some customers to shiver. They muttered among themselves that the restaurant’s heating system must be malfunctioning. The owner noticed as well and quickly sent someone to fix it, but after a long inspection, the maintenance staff couldn’t find anything wrong.
"Because of the Sword Emperor’s lecture, many disciples from various sects have come to the city, including some Elders and Sect Leaders. And today, something happened right here in our restaurant," the waitress explained with a sigh. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶
"What happened?"
Wu Tian could tell this matter had nothing to do with the Sword Emperor. He also noticed that none of the other customers had any food on their tables either, which piqued his curiosity.
From the waitress’s explanation, Wu Tian and his daughter finally understood the situation.
It turned out that Convenient Workshop had a roast duck chef named Master Zhan. His name, Zhan, meant "battle," which sounded quite domineering, yet he was just an ordinary chef. When he was young, he had saved a beggar from starvation by feeding him roast duck for a long time. Later, the beggar was found by his long-lost family. It turned out the beggar came from the Imperial Kitchen.
In ancient times, the Imperial Kitchen was responsible for cooking for the Emperor. In modern times, it had moved out of the Imperial Palace and established itself as a Jianghu sect. Before the beggar left, he made a pact with Master Zhan: if they each had a son and a daughter in the future, the children would be married. If their children were of the same gender, they would become sworn siblings.
Unexpectedly, after they parted ways, they never saw each other again. The beggar passed away, but he left behind a daughter, Hua Lingxiu. She was incredibly talented and had become quite accomplished in the culinary arts. A month ago, she arrived to honor the agreement and fell in love with Master Zhan’s son, Zhan Yan.
Unfortunately, the head of the Imperial Kitchen, Sect Leader Zhang Xiguan, disagreed with the union because his own son, Zhang Jiuling, had also taken a liking to Hua Lingxiu. Now, members of the Imperial Kitchen had come to Convenient Workshop to find Master Zhan and Zhan Yan. They were demanding that they voluntarily renounce the old agreement and that Zhan Yan never see Hua Lingxiu again. Because of this confrontation, Master Zhan had no time to make roast duck, leaving all the customers in the restaurant waiting.
"What kind of sect is this Imperial Kitchen? They’re going too far!"
"Exactly! What does their old agreement have to do with him?"
"Isn’t this like a school principal trying to meddle in a student’s marriage?"
"This is ridiculous."
Hearing the waitress’s story, the surrounding customers grew angry. Most people still had a sense of justice, and they were filled with righteous indignation over the matter.
"Interesting, very interesting," Wu Tian said, somewhat amused.
Actually, resolving this should be simple. This so-called Imperial Kitchen’s most outstanding quality among the various sects is likely its culinary skill. Of course, to become a Jianghu sect, they must have some other tricks up their sleeves, like their knife work, for example.
"Let’s go have a look, okay? If they keep this up, I’m going to starve today!" Seeing Wu Tian’s calm expression and lack of interest in intervening, the little girl threw her arms around him. "Do you want to watch your own daughter starve to death? You’d be too cruel!"
Wu Tian smiled faintly, remaining unmoved. He was long accustomed to the little girl’s antics. At first, he truly had no defense against her dramatic pleas. But he had since figured out that as long as you ignored her, her attacks were harmless. This was the essence of the martial arts principle: "Let him be strong, the gentle breeze blows over the hill. Let him be fierce, the bright moon shines upon the great river."
The little girl was crestfallen, realizing this move no longer worked on her father. My daddy really is a Saint Fighter. The same move never works on a Saint Fighter twice!
But how could she give up so easily? She deployed her second tactic. "MWAH!" She planted a loud kiss on Wu Tian’s cheek. Seeing him still unmoved, she prepared for a second one.
"Enough," Wu Tian said with a sigh of resignation. He felt that if this continued, the little girl would be kissing him until nightfall. She might kiss a layer of his skin off. Besides, he wanted to intervene now anyway—not out of kindness, but because this Imperial Kitchen was beginning to annoy him. It was noon, he was hungry for roast duck, and they were making him wait. In Wu Tian’s eyes, the Imperial Kitchen’s crime was unforgivable.
"Can you really handle it?" the waitress asked hesitantly when she saw Wu Tian was about to step in. The Imperial Kitchen was a Jianghu sect, after all. Convenient Workshop was technically backed by the Sword Emperor, but the waitress knew he would never intervene for the sake of ants. In the Sword Emperor’s eyes, most people were nothing but ants.
"I can," Wu Tian stated simply.
"That’s right! And I’m the Sect Leader of Wudang," the little girl added, digging in her pocket and pulling out a token. "See? The Wudang Sect Leader’s token is right here!"
The token was forged from Xuan Iron, and one glance was enough to tell it was no ordinary item.
"Okay, please follow me," the waitress said, her face lighting up with joy. Master Zhan was the roast duck chef at Convenient Workshop and was kind to everyone. Though she wasn’t related to him, the waitress looked up to him as an elder.
She led them to the kitchen, which was located in the back courtyard. By now, the courtyard was already crowded with people. Among them were the men from the Imperial Kitchen. They were all dressed in chef’s attire, but their faces were fierce and menacing. Those in the know would recognize them as chefs. Those who weren’t might think they specialized in making buns out of human flesh.
