Returning from her memories, Xia Zelan found Eunuch Li still complaining in low voices. She couldn’t help but follow his tone: “Eunuch Li has truly worked hard.”

Eunuch Li immediately found Xia Zelan more pleasing, sighing: “Actually the craftsmen in the jade grinding workshop are still decent—just a bit temperamental. This time the supervisor invited a famous jade carver from Suzhou. Every jade piece he makes bears his unique signature. In all my years in the jade carving world, I’ve never seen someone so arrogant. So Miss Xia, today I must trouble you to be extra careful—we absolutely cannot let him find fault!”

Xia Zelan nodded on the surface but privately pursed her lips. For such an important meal, they only hired her as cook—probably Eunuch Li worried that hiring more people would give other jade carvers cause for criticism. But even the jade grinding workshop supervisor was personally hosting, so this side job couldn’t be done carelessly today. Moreover, specially hiring a cook for a welcome banquet was probably unprecedented—that jade carver was definitely no ordinary person.

The two turned a corner and entered an independent small courtyard with its own kitchen. Xia Zelan pushed open the kitchen door to see all needed ingredients laid out fresh and clean, saving her the washing and preparing steps—very thoughtfully arranged. Eunuch Li had other business to attend to, gave some more instructions, and hurried away.

Xia Zelan first put the most time-consuming chicken soup for Clear Soup Fire Square to simmer. This Clear Soup Fire Square was a famous Jiangsu soup. Just the first bone stock method required boiling chicken bones for over an hour, not to mention the second red stock and third white stock methods. She calculated the timing would perfectly match the evening banquet.

After seasoning the first bone stock in an earthen pot, Xia Zelan began picking through the pile of ingredients, selecting what she needed. This dinner wasn’t actually difficult to prepare, but the challenge was that this kitchen wasn’t like the Imperial Food Service with stoves everywhere—here were only two stoves. Getting several dishes ready at roughly the same time would require some planning.

Xia Zelan untied the cloth bundle from her waist, revealing a completely black cleaver. The blade gleamed coldly with wave-like patterns that seemed to flow under the light. Xia Zelan’s expression became gentle. This was the Xia family’s ancestral cleaver, passed from her father to her hands—already fifteen generations. Whenever she cooked and picked up this knife, she would think of her parents.

Sighing softly, Xia Zelan reached toward the handle, but the moment her fingertips touched it, the blade actually began vibrating slightly, emitting a clear humming sound. Xia Zelan jumped back, looking with shock and uncertainty at the still-vibrating cleaver on the cutting board.

Having heard many storyteller tales of protective sword spirits, Xia Zelan’s first reaction was that this stranger had come to steal from the Imperial Workshop. She immediately stepped forward, gripped the cleaver, and fiercely chopped toward the unwelcome intruder…

Lu Zigang had never been to the capital before.

Actually, he had long received assignments from the Imperial Workshop. Usually the Imperial Workshop came to Suzhou to purchase jade materials, and only after carving were they presented to the capital as tribute. His jade carving reputation had grown over the years, and the Imperial Workshop had long urged him to come to the capital for an appointment.

Lu Zigang didn’t want to come to the capital. Though the Imperial Workshop wielded supreme power, he could complete their assignments just as well in Suzhou—jade transport and carrying were convenient. As the industry saying went: “Fine jade gathers in the capital, but craftsmanship leads in Suzhou.” This wasn’t said lightly. What changed his mind was the Mute House boss suddenly deciding to relocate the shop to the capital.

Over these ten years, he had always lived in the Mute House. When the Mute House moved shops, he naturally had to help. So he simply accepted the Imperial Workshop position. After arranging the Mute House shop, he went to the main hall to collect his palace entry token. The jade grinding workshop supervisor had business with him tonight, but seeing it was still early, he decided not to leave the palace.

The jade grinding workshop was divided into two major factions: Northern Jade and Southern Jade. Northern Jade was led by northern craftsmen, with simple workmanship and grand styling, while Southern Jade was headed by Suzhou craftsmen, generally making delicate, exquisite small jade pieces. Many Southern Jade master craftsmen in the Imperial Workshop were Lu Zigang’s friends from Suzhou—he wanted to visit them.

He declined a young eunuch’s guidance, but unexpectedly the jade grinding workshop was surprisingly large. All workshops were numbered using combinations of heavenly stems and earthly branches, but the ordering was scrambled. To prevent outsiders from quickly understanding the layout, Lu Zigang felt he had entered a great maze. Craftsmen were mostly at work now—he couldn’t find anyone to ask for directions.

Lu Zigang had considered knocking on doors to ask, but as a fellow jade carver, he knew jade carving required completing work in one breath. If someone disturbed you while carving, it might ruin your entire jade-working flow. So Lu Zigang preferred to continue being lost.

While wandering aimlessly like a headless fly, Lu Zigang suddenly smelled a fragrance. Having often gone hungry as a child, Lu Zigang was very sensitive to food aromas. He accurately followed this scent to an independent small courtyard.

Just as he stepped through the courtyard gate, he suddenly felt the Wu knife he always carried begin vibrating, even emitting slight humming sounds. Lu Zigang was only stunned for a moment before his eyes lit up, unable to suppress the wild joy surging in his heart.

Possessing only the Wu knife, he constantly thought about the whereabouts of the other Kun knife. The Wu knife was delicate, only usable for jade carving—making small jade objects. It wasn’t suitable for larger decorative pieces, so he had always wondered about the Kun knife’s location, pestering the boss with questions for a long time. He learned that when the Kun knife was not far from the Wu knife, after perhaps thousands of years of separation, they might produce sword-singing sounds.

As a child he had listened to this as a joke, but after staying long at the Mute House and witnessing countless incredible things, under his deliberate searching, he had found some clues in ancient texts. Legend told that during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the King of Chu ordered Mo Ye to forge twin swords. Mo Ye kept the male sword and presented the female sword to the King of Chu, leaving only the female sword to wail alone in its case. Several ancient texts recorded this event. Though accounts varied, they were fundamentally similar. So Lu Zigang held great hope that someday he could reunite the Kunwu knives.

He just hadn’t expected this moment to come so quickly. But thinking again, his wild joy dimmed somewhat. Where was this place? This was the jade grinding workshop of the Imperial Workshop in the imperial palace, where virtually the world’s finest jade carvers gathered. Perhaps some jade carver like himself had obtained the Kun knife used for cutting jade.

However, Lu Zigang’s dejected expression immediately recovered. Having the Kun knife owned by someone wasn’t a bad thing. In all his years at the Mute House, what he couldn’t bear most was watching those spiritual antiques silently gathering dust on shelves. Things were made to be used—otherwise what value did they have?

These thoughts flashed lightning-quick through Lu Zigang’s mind. After a brief daze, he quickened his pace forward. He very much wanted to meet the jade carver who possessed the Kun knife and exchange experiences. This small courtyard couldn’t hide anyone. The further forward he walked, the louder the Wu knife’s humming in his chest became.

Lu Zigang was frustrated. Because going further forward, that was a kitchen!

Kitchen was kitchen—perhaps that jade carver was eating something, but carrying a large jade-cutting knife while eating… Though Lu Zigang was puzzled, he still quickened his pace into the kitchen. He first saw a young woman standing in the kitchen, glanced around, then stared in disbelief. If he wasn’t mistaken, that knife on the cutting board with the same black material as the Wu knife should be the Kun knife! How did it look so much like a cleaver…

This surprise shocked Lu Zigang on the spot, directly causing him to still be in a daze when the young woman grabbed the Kun knife and swung it toward him…

Don’t think girls who cook are all gentle and virtuous. Actually, girls who calmly wield knives to chop meat and hack fish are subconsciously more ferocious… That’s not the same level as those refined ladies embroidering flowers and handling needles in their chambers! This was the truth Lu Zigang instantly comprehended.

Lu Zigang had never been chased by someone with a knife in his life. Though the attack came suddenly, since the opponent was a woman after all, he only needed to slightly sidestep to dodge. Feeling a blade wind whoosh past his ear, he was so startled he quickly said: “Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! Don’t attack!”

Xia Zelan stopped her hand, not because of what he said, but because of his accent. The familiar hometown dialect he spoke in his panic immediately brought Xia Zelan back to her senses, and she began looking him up and down.

This young man was about twenty-something years old, with refined features, wearing elegant blue robes with extraordinary bearing—clearly not a villain. Though Xia Zelan felt somewhat embarrassed about swinging a knife without asking questions, she still frowned righteously: “This isn’t a place for random trespassing.”

Lu Zigang also knew his actions were rash. He didn’t waste words explaining but simply took out the delicate Wu knife from his chest.

Xia Zelan immediately felt the humming from the cleaver in her hands intensify, involuntarily placing the knife on the cutting board. She could naturally see the identical styling of these two knives, asking in surprise: “My father never told me there was a matching fruit knife!”

Fruit knife? Lu Zigang immediately felt dizzy. After a long time he found his voice again, slowly explaining the origin of the Kunwu knives, but the other party showed little interest and turned to pick up the Kun knife to start chopping vegetables.

Though her movements were skillfully pleasing to watch, to Lu Zigang they were extremely jarring. That was the Kun knife passed down from ancient times! He couldn’t help saying: “This knife is for cutting jade, not for chopping vegetables!”

Xia Zelan, with her back to him, could still feel that sharp gaze. She turned with a light laugh: “Staring at me won’t help. This knife was passed down in my family. I don’t care what you say it means—in my eyes, this is just a cleaver.”

Lu Zigang was stunned, knowing she had a point. In her eyes, his Wu knife was a fruit knife! Even knowing this logic, Lu Zigang couldn’t adjust immediately, only feeling this girl was too unreasonable, instinctively arguing: “The Kunwu knives are jade carving tools…”

Hearing this, Xia Zelan paused: “You’re not the jade carver the supervisor is hosting tonight, are you? The one who must leave signatures on his works?”

Lu Zigang heard challenge in her words and couldn’t help responding gravely: “What’s wrong with leaving signatures? Jade objects, like calligraphy and paintings, are also artworks. Why can calligraphy and paintings bear signatures and even increase in value due to famous signatures, but jade objects cannot? I insist on being the first in the world to do this!”

Such arrogant words—Lu Zigang had never spoken them before. Previously when others asked, he would deflect with dignified reasons. But today, facing this unknown woman, Lu Zigang suddenly felt he couldn’t treat this casually.

This was indeed his understanding over the years. The Mute House collected many historically famous jade objects. He had copied and handled them year after year, yet didn’t know who had carved these exquisite pieces. He didn’t want his works to meet the same fate. He wanted his name to become historical marks alongside these jade objects.

Due to Lu Zigang’s words, Xia Zelan couldn’t help but stop her vegetable chopping. Such arrogant words, yet they didn’t sound as grating as expected—instead inspiring admiration. She naturally knew why calligraphy and paintings could bear signatures while jade objects could not. That was because calligraphy and painting authors were mostly scholars and intellectuals, with higher-status ones possibly being nobles and generals. But jade carvers, however famous, were merely craftsmen. This person’s actions actually aimed to elevate craftsmen’s status—truly courageous.

Since ancient times, people were divided into four classes: scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants. Scholars first, farmers second, artisans third, merchants lowest. The hierarchy was strict and insurmountable. Xia Zelan had been considered a merchant’s child since childhood. Though her family had money, she wasn’t allowed to wear silk and satin, only coarse cloth. So regarding Lu Zigang’s approach, though she felt it improper, she couldn’t help but admire it. Thinking this way, her expression softened and became gentler.