"What are you doing? Why are you touching my fish?" Bai Feng Jiu was slowly adding some more of the plum sauce to adjust the taste of it on a dish of sweet and sour fish that she found newly cooked on the kitchen table when she heard the voice behind her. 

"Oh, did you cook this? Sorry, I couldn't resist tasting it and although the fish was fried to perfection, the sauce could use some..." her words stopped in mid flow as she had now fully turned around and saw who was behind her. Donghua Dijun, the Supreme God of the Universe, the former Emperor of the Universe, the Master of Tai Chen Palace was standing in front of her, his face inscrutable, staring at her.  She looked behind her hoping against hope that he was talking to someone else but they were the only ones in the kitchen as it was mid afternoon and everyone was resting outside for a few minutes before afternoon shift started.  She had seen the fish on the table and assumed that it had been prepared by one of the cooks.  They frequently left a dish they wanted her to taste out on the table knowing that she frequently came into the kitchen at this time of the afternoon when no one was around.  Master Shi Ran, the head chef in the Palace, had given her special permission to be there realizing how good she was at cooking to allow her to experiment with the different ingredients available in the Palace kitchen.  Feng Jiu loved this time of the day and did not expect anyone else to be there, much less the Master of the Palace.

"What about the sauce?" Donghua asked coldly, one eyebrow raised as if in challenge. He had been bored that afternoon and finding he had time on his hands decided to cook in the kitchen as cooking was one of his forms of relaxation.  However, he couldn't believe the audacity of this servant in touching the food that he had cooked and prepared himself.  Granted, she probably didn't know it was him who had cooked the fish but still to touch a dish cooked by someone else?  

"Xiao Jiu greets Donghua Dijun." Feng Jiu said flustered, staring at him momentarily This was the first time that she had seen the Deity up close, well aside from the time that he had saved her from the mountain beast but even then she barely saw him as he disappeared before she could even talk to him and give her thanks. The pictures in the history books did not do him justice for he was the most magnificent looking man she had seen in her life, his white hair framing a youthful chiseled face that belied his age.   How can one man be this handsome?  She thought to herself.  As his dark eyes slowly met hers, further mesmerizing her, Feng Jiu continued to stare at him unable to look away. As the silence stretched on, Feng Jiu suddenly realized how rude she was for blatantly staring and quickly lowered her gaze to the floor. The God stayed silent and Feng Jiu, who could never sit still if her life depended on it, slowly raised her head to sneak a glance at him.

"The sauce... What was wrong with it?" Donghua finally repeated realizing that the Fairy was probably too scared to answer him judging by the way she was sneaking glances at him now after having stared at him in shock a few moments before. After cooking his signature sweet and sour fish, he had just gone out to get some herbs to garnish it when he saw this fairy maid near his fish putting something on it.  She had tasted in without permission and to further add insult to injury, had decided to adjust its taste without a by your leave from the person who had cooked it.

"Ummm, there's nothing wrong with it Dijun. After all, if it was cooked by your Majesty's hand, it must be perfection itself." Feng Jiu said, as respectfully as she could, all the while chewing on her lower lip. She wanted to smack her head. Why, oh, why, did she have to touch that particular fish. Fourth uncle was correct, she was a busybody, frequently sticking her nose in where it doesn't belong.  She mentally noted that from now on, she would listen to him.

"Oh? Then why were you adding something to it if it was so perfect?" Donghua asked again. Normally, he would have just ignored the fairy since he never spoke to any of them and threw the fish away but for some reason, he found himself wanting to hear what she had to say. I must be really bored. He thought to himself as he patiently waited for her to reply.

"Please forgive me Dijun, I'm from the mountains and we have unsophisticated tastes and it was just different than what I'm used to that's why I thought of adding something to it. However, seeing as you were the one who made it, how could perfection need anything else. I apologize for messing with your fish." she said humbly although at the back of her mind she wanted to really critique the sauce. Feng Jiu prided herself on being a good cook and could not help herself from adding some ingredients to the fish when she had tasted it. Although the appearance of it looked appealing, she found the taste of the sauce horribly atrocious as it was too sweet and too sour at the same time if such a thing was possible. She had spit out the first taste of it and was challenging herself trying to find a way to fix it before suggesting to whoever had cooked it to just throw it away when he had walked back in.

"Do you make a habit of touching other people's food, then?" he asked fully enjoying her discomfiture now as she fidgeted and clutched on her robes noting how even as her words sounded humble enough, the way her face scrunched up as if something left a bitter taste in her mouth clearly showed that she was not impressed. Watching her try to hide her grimace as she praised his sauce, he knew she wanted to say something critical about it but was just barely stopping herself from saying something to offend him. He wondered how far he could goad her.  She was really entertaining him now.  He noted the way she was chewing on her lower lips and the little knot on her forehead. She looks adorable. Now, he had to be the one to hide his grimace as he did not know where that errant thought just came from.

"Of course not. I thought it was to be served for dinner so I was just taste testing it to make sure that it was good. Besides it was just left on the table unsupervised, how was I to know it was yours?" she blurted out reproachfully, a hint of censure in her voice. "What I mean is, the other cooks usually let me taste the food before its served in the Palace, so I didn't realize that this was not a dish cooked by them." she backtracked quickly realizing how her previous statement must have sounded to him, as it had sounded incredibly rude even to herself. Again, she wanted to smack her head, this time, for letting her tongue run away from her. This was another thing that her fourth uncle usually warned her about.  She really should have kept track of his admonishment then she wouldn't be in the untenable position she was in now.

Donghua had heard the censure in her voice but did not call her out on it finding himself getting increasingly amused by her. He was about to ask her why the other cooks would let her taste test the food that were being served wanting to continue conversing with her when he heard the door from the other side of the kitchen open and the voice of his godsister Zhi He instructing her attendants. As he was looking at Feng Jiu at that time, he was surprised to see her eyes widen a fraction and before he could say anything further to her, she bobbed her head quickly at him. "Please excuse me Dijun, I think cook is calling me. Let's continue this enjoyable discourse some other time." Feng Jiu said hurriedly and without waiting for his reply, made another curtsy and flew out of the room.

As soon as Feng Jiu was out of the door, she smacked herself on the head. "Let's continue this enjoyable discourse some other time? Why did I say that? Why would Dijun want to continue conversing with me, let alone about this?" Feng Jiu couldn't believe that this was to be her first meeting with him, her first real conversation with him. When Donghua Dijun had saved her from the mountain beast, she had vowed to repay the debt. She had begged Si Ming, the Star Lord, to find a way to help her get a job as a kitchen maid in Tai Chen Palace so that she can be near him and find an opportunity to pay Dijun back. It had taken her quite a while to convince Si Ming as the latter was horrified that the future Queen of Qingqiu, the mighty Fox Realm had wanted to work as an ordinary kitchen maid. Of course, with her perseverance and charm, she had slowly worn him down and convinced him to help her with her hairbrained scheme. She had been working in the Palace for the past year now and this was the first time she had seen him as he had been away for quite some time with the Realms business.  She had heard that he had come back a fortnight ago but this was her first sighting of him.  Since knowing that he was back, she had been rehearsing her first speech to her savior as she waited for the right opportunity to approach him. In her mind, her speech would start with her thanking him for saving her life and praising him to the high Heavens. She would, then, offer her services to him in case he needed something done in order pay him back. But, her speech would definitely not include her insulting his cooking, however inadvertent it may have been. She couldn't believe that this was to be her first real encounter with him. She smacked her head again for the second time. Maybe, he wouldn't remember her, she had been looking down the whole time, hadn't she? In addition, she heard that he rarely paid any attention to the kitchen maids. He probably won't even remember this conversation.  The barely exchanged a few words and she knew she sounded sufficiently humbled.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Zhi He had walked in just as Feng Jiu disappeared through the other door. "Zhi He greets Godbrother Donghua Dijun. I heard that you were in the kitchen and I wanted to ask if you need me to help you with anything?" Donghua merely nodded in acknowledgement not saying anything, his usual cold, placid face in place. For reasons he could not explain even to himself, he was very, very annoyed with the presence of Zhi He in the kitchen today when normally he just ignored her existence, not caring whether she was there or not. He wondered at his reaction and was surprised to realize that he had been enjoying his conversation with the Fairy and viewed Zhi He's entrance as an unwanted intrusion. "Was someone here with you? I thought I heard people speaking before I walked in" Zhi He asked trying desperately to find a topic to converse with him about. She had been pleased to find him alone in the kitchen and had signaled her attendants to remain at the door so that she could have a private conversation with him.

Donghua ignored her as usual, not bothering to answer her question as he picked up a pair of chopstick to try the sauce that the fairy had adjusted. Immediately, he could taste the enhanced flavor of the sauce, making it so much better. He smelled the chopstick wondering what else she had added to it aside from the plum sauce that she had been holding when he came in. Apparently, the fairy knew her ingredients and knew what she was doing. Was she the reason why the food in Tai Chen Palace have been tasting better since he came back? Donghua had noted the improvement in the dishes that had been served to him the past few weeks and had thought nothing of it thinking that they had probably changed the head cook. But hearing the fairly maid say that the cooks have been asking her to taste test the food being served made him curious.

"Did we change the head cook in the kitchen?" he asked suddenly, startling Zhi He who was thinking of what other topic to broach with him.  He was back after a year of being away and she wanted to impress him as to what she has done in his absence.

"No! We still have the same cooks as before. Master Shi Ran is still the head cook. Is there something wrong with the food being served?" Zhi He asked fearfully thinking that something might be wrong as Donghua was not particularly finicky about food as he did not eat a lot.  He never asked her anything related to the food being served in the Palace.  Not that he ever really talked to her.

"Hmm...mmm." Donghua murmured but didn't say anything else. Zhi He sighed in relief.  As much as she wanted Dijun to keep talking to her, she was glad that he did not appear to want to talk about this any more. Zhi He knew next to nothing of what was going on in the kitchens and was afraid that she wouldn't be able to answer if asked something else. She avoided the kitchens as much as possible, hating the smell and the sweltering heat in it. She was only here now because she heard that he was there.  Before she could say anything else, Donghua Dijun swept out carrying the plate of sweet and sour  fish completely ignoring her.