Chapter 119: Chapter 119: New Mission, Rob the Rich to Help Myself

Given Han Li’s condition, the others didn’t give him a hard time.

The rotation was temporarily suspended. For the next few days, Han Li was to stick to Yu An day and night.

Fortunately, special Beastmen from the Bird Clan delivered letters, so a reply from Housekeeper Han would arrive soon.

"What if Uncle Han doesn’t know what’s wrong with me, and I can’t find the reason in the Book Collection Pavilion either?"

"My condolences, then," Lan Ying said with a shrug. "Don’t worry, An’an and the rest of us will never forget you. I’ll bring the Zaizai to visit your grave every year."

Seeing Han Li about to burst into tears again, Yu An couldn’t take it anymore and smacked Lan Ying away.

’You make him cry, you console him!’

After lunch, Yu An went to the Book Collection Pavilion with her little train of followers, and they ran into the Third Prince on the way.

He was talking about something with his Beast Father. A closer look nearly gave Yu An a fright.

’Was this bruised and swollen pig-face really the same elegant, incomparably handsome Third Prince?’

’I heard the noble ladies of the Imperial City were fighting to have the Third Prince as their Beast Husband. The aesthetic taste of the females in the Imperial City is really...’

As she was pondering this, the Third Prince spotted them.

To be precise, it was after seeing Da Hu and the others that his expression changed drastically. With a look like he’d seen a ghost, he grabbed his Beast Father and ran.

Yu An was completely confused. Out of her sight, the four little ones retracted their sinister smiles and put on soft, cute expressions for her.

Da Hu blinked and asked, "Female Mother, why did that person run away when he saw us?"

Yu An replied casually, "Maybe he left the gas on at home."

"Oh," Xiao Yu said with understanding. "Then he really should run faster, or it’ll explode."

Xiao Hu and Little Serpent nodded in agreement.

Yu An, walking ahead, didn’t see it, but Mo Yan and the other men saw that their Zaizai’s expressions weren’t very friendly.

’The Zaizai beat us to our revenge plan. Seeing the Third Prince beaten to such a pulp, it’s almost hard to bring ourselves to do anything more...’

’As if!’

’We’ll go together later, fathers and sons!’

The Third Prince dragged his Beast Father all the way home without stopping, leaving them both panting for breath.

His Beast Father was completely baffled. "That Yu An may have been pardoned by your Mother Empress, but the stain on her reputation is real. She has no chance of inheriting the throne, so why are you afraid of her?"

"Also, where did you get those injuries? Why do you want to live outside the palace? Cui Su’s two daughters are useless. You should be trying to impress your Mother Empress!"

The Third Prince was too embarrassed to admit he’d been beaten up by four young cubs. He was dead set on leaving to lay low, and his Beast Father couldn’t talk him out of it, so he had to agree.

The Book Collection Pavilion didn’t have the book Yu An was looking for, so the family returned empty-handed. In front of the children, Han Li held back his sorrow, only breaking down and crying in Yu An’s arms after the door was closed.

"There, there," Yu An said, stroking his head. "No more crying. I’m here with you. Everything will be okay."

"Here, this is the Calming Soup I just made. Drink it and get a good night’s sleep."

Han Li nodded tearfully and drank it all in one gulp. A moment later, his large frame was wrapped around her in a dependent embrace, and Yu An found it a little hard to breathe.

But she understood and decided to be more patient with him.

’If it really is an illness I can’t diagnose...’

These thoughts gave Yu An a bit of insomnia. Just as she was about to gently ask Han Li if there was anything else he wanted to do, she heard his steady breathing.

Yu An looked down—

’Alright, he’s asleep. That soup is really effective.’

Han Li was asleep, but she couldn’t fall asleep. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning, just as she was starting to feel drowsy, that the mission board in her space issued a new task.

[Sell Mashed Potato with Noodles/Rice Noodles/Rice within seven days. Total revenue must reach five thousand Gold Coins.]

When it came to this, Yu An was suddenly wide awake.

’The Imperial City is crawling with rich people. Nothing wrong with charging a premium, right?’

She thought for a moment and quickly came up with a plan.

One that could rob the rich to feed the poor, while also being affordable for ordinary Beastmen.

"Rob the rich to feed the poor? An’an, you’re going to give away the money you earn?"

First thing in the morning, Yu An woke Han Li up, and the two of them burrowed into the kitchen to work on the rice noodles for the mashed potato dish.

The regular noodles and rice were easy enough, but she had never made the rice noodles before, so they needed to be made from scratch.

"No way," Yu An said irritably. "This is my hard-earned money."

Han Li was confused. "Then what did you mean by ’robbing the rich to feed the poor’..."

Yu An pointed to herself. "I’m the poor one being fed. I’m very poor!"

Han Li: "..."

Yu An chose to use rice noodles with the mashed potatoes. The texture of the rice noodles was pliable and resilient, a perfect match for the creamy mashed potatoes.

Making rice noodles required rice. The pre-soaked rice was ground into a paste and filtered to remove excess water, which resulted in a thick rice dough. This was then pressed through a noodle maker to create fresh rice noodles.

The regular noodles were ready, and the rice was steaming. Yu An put the potatoes Han Li had cut into a pot to steam. Once cooked, she mashed them, adding salt and milk before mixing well and setting them aside.

Next was stir-frying the flavoring. Minced garlic was sautéed in hot oil until fragrant. She added chili powder and other seasonings, stir-fried them evenly, and then poured in the mashed potatoes.

Yu An also made a non-spicy version. The rice noodles were cooked first, then the mashed potato mixture was poured over them and tossed well. The sticky mashed potatoes coated the chewy rice noodles, and one bite was pure satisfaction!

Mo Yan soon got up and took over. The others went to mass-produce the rice noodles, and the "donkey turning the millstone" mode was activated once again in the courtyard.

Chef Jiao was full of praise for the mashed potatoes. When he heard Yu An was going to set up a stall outside the palace to sell them, he enthusiastically volunteered to help.

"Don’t worry, Princess, I’ll just cook the noodles and rice noodles. I won’t try to steal the recipe."

Chef Jiao was already very satisfied with Mo Yan teaching him a recipe yesterday; he would never become insatiably greedy.

"You don’t need to steal it," Yu An said, stunning him. "I’m going to release the recipe to the public in seven days so everyone can learn it."

Chef Jiao could hardly believe it. "Princess, I... I didn’t mishear you just now, did I?"

"You heard me right. There’s something you don’t know. I’m actually acting on the orders of the Beast God..."

It was the same old reason. Yu An recited it smoothly: "It’s just that my previous reputation wasn’t very good, so I don’t know if the common people will believe what I say."

"That’s easy to solve," Chef Jiao said, slapping his thigh. "I may just be a cook, but I have some fame in the Imperial City. I’ll tell the people, and once they taste the food the Princess makes, they’ll definitely believe it."

Chef Jiao was being modest. The moment he appeared, he instantly attracted a lot of attention.

With his endorsement, plus the fragrant aroma of the mashed potatoes, the onlooking Beastmen gathered around, half-believing and half-doubting.

The first Beastman in line was a huge fan of Chef Jiao. With a feeling of trepidation, he bought a serving of mashed potato with noodles.

The price was high, but still within his budget. He carefully took a bite, and his eyes instantly widened!

...

The Third Prince had assumed Yu An would stay quietly in the palace, which was why he had left to lay low.

As he was strolling down the street, he saw a dense crowd of people in the distance.

At the same time, an undeniable fragrance drifted over.

The Third Prince’s stomach suddenly rumbled. Thinking some deli had come up with a new dish, he took his attendant over to buy some.

The Beastmen were all lined up, but the Third Prince had no intention of queuing. Of course, no one dared to stop him, so he walked unimpeded right to the front.

"What are you selling here? Give me..."

Wait a second—

The Third Prince’s eyes flew open. "Yu An? What are you doing here?!"