Shocking! The entire court was drooling with envy because of me.

Soon it was Shen Qing's turn.

She carried the tiger-skin eggs to the judges' stage.

At this moment, Fang Shanren could no longer hold back. He stood up from his seat and rushed to Shen Qing in a few steps.

"Tiger-skin eggs, they smell so good!!"

Fang Shanren's eyes widened; just looking at the bright red appearance made his appetite soar.

So he turned around, picked up his chopsticks, and took a bite of an egg.

After chewing a few times, his eyes lit up, and he stuffed the rest of the eggs into his mouth in one go.

His cheeks were puffed out, his eyes were slightly squinted, and his face showed an expression of extreme enjoyment.

He kept holding up a green sign.

"Good heavens, it's an injustice if this tiger-skin egg doesn't advance!!" he shouted excitedly.

He quickly pulled Shen Qing over to Master Jin, earnestly persuading, "These tiger-skin eggs are absolutely amazing! I've never tasted such delicious eggs in my life. You have to try them, they're incredibly fragrant!!"

Jin frowned; he felt that Fang Shanren was exaggerating too much.

Tiger-skin eggs are nothing more than a common folk snack, not something that can be served in a high-class setting.

Making tiger-skin eggs in a food competition is simply a sign of disrespect for the competition.

"I won't try it." Master Jin raised the red card directly.

He remembered clearly that in the first round, he offered to have Madam Shen cook another dish, but she refused, which was a huge embarrassment to him.

Fang Shanren was completely stunned; Master Jin's refusal was far too decisive.

Well, he can't afford to offend Master Jin either.

He then hurried to Elder Sun, the former head chef of the imperial kitchen: "Elder Sun, these tiger-skin eggs are absolutely amazing! You must try them; they're definitely the best dish of the day!!"

The audience below the stage was stunned by what they saw.

"Has Fang Shanren gone mad?"

"What exactly is the relationship between Madam Shen and Mr. Fang? How could Mr. Fang go to such lengths for Madam Shen?"

"Oh my god, could she be an illegitimate child...?"

"..."

Old Sun curled his lip, glanced at the tiger-skin eggs in Shen Qing's hand with a hint of disdain, and said, "These eggs look pretty good, and they smell nice too."

"However, I don't like to eat whole eggs."

The next moment, he raised the red card.

Saying that he didn't like eating whole eggs was also a way of being perfunctory.

While all three contestants used eggs as the main ingredient, the eggs in their other dishes were so badly presented that they were barely recognizable as eggs.

For example, dishes like crab-like meat sauce, thick omelet, and chicken slices with egg white, etc.

The moment the red card was displayed, the audience erupted in cheers:

"This Lady Shen is finally going to be eliminated!!"

"The remaining judges have no connection with Madam Shen, so they're unlikely to bring out the Golden Chopsticks Token again. Madam Shen is definitely eliminated!"

"Haha, you'd better get a handstand by now. Have you counted how many times you have to say 'I'm a complete idiot'?"

"..."

Situ Liang, his face flushed, struggled to argue amidst the crowd: "The other judges haven't tried it yet, so it's not certain yet!"

"Pshaw! What's uncertain? This Lady Shen will definitely be eliminated!!" The others laughed and joked.

Just then, someone ran up from a distance and squeezed into the crowd. Hearing the discussion, they immediately became anxious: "What? Who do you think will be eliminated??"

"Madam Shen!"

"Two red cards already, Madam Shen is definitely eliminated today!"

"Are these judges out of their minds? In a competition like this, Madam Shen should have been first place!!" the man shouted.

His voice was so loud, and what he said was so arrogant, that many people looked at him.

"You...you're not Minister Yan of the Ministry of Revenue...?" Someone in the audience recognized him.

The visitor was Yan Wenli.

He wasn't particularly interested in the cooking competition. After all, having tasted Shen Qing's cuisine in Ping'an County, he didn't think there could be a chef more skilled than Shen Qing at the competition.

He had just finished court today when he heard a storyteller by the roadside talking about a cooking competition. He said that a woman named Shen made it into the top 100 with a plate of cucumber salad.

His heart warmed at that moment, and he rushed to the scene.

Unexpectedly, the first thing I heard upon arrival was everyone saying that Shen Qing was going to be eliminated.

"I also think Madam Shen deserves first place!!" Another shout rang out from the crowd, it was Situ Liang.

Situ Liang was overjoyed; finally, someone shared his views.

The two loyal fans of Shen Qing immediately got together.

Yan Wenli hurriedly inquired, "What happened? Madam Shen is such a skilled cook, how could she have been eliminated?"

Situ Liang pointed to the stage: "Although Madam Shen's dishes are delicious, the judges just won't even try them."

"Why? Are they out of their minds?"

Situ Liang shrugged: "It's nothing more than thinking that Madam Shen is a woman, that Madam Shen's ingredients are simple, that Madam Shen doesn't take the competition seriously, and even that Madam Shen has a relationship with Fang Shanren..."

There are many reasons, but the current result is that both Master Jin and Old Master Sun don't like Shen Qing.

The attitudes of Mr. Jin and Mr. Sun will influence the other judges.

For example, Grandpa He, Chairman Wu, and others have a very close relationship with Master Jin, and Chef Zhu is also Master Jin's cook.

As for Mr. Qingci, a scholar, although he had some pride, he felt from the bottom of his heart that Shen Qing's dishes were not worthy of being served in a refined setting.

Cold cucumber salad and tiger-skin eggs are not elegant enough.

Yan Wenli's brows were furrowed tightly. How did a perfectly good food competition turn into such a mess?

He looked up at the stage.

At this moment, Fang Shanren was still trying his best to persuade Shen Qing to seize the opportunity.

Both Grandpa He and Chairman Wu raised red cards.

They didn't want to try it, nor did they need to.

After all, it's just a tiger-skin egg; they certainly wouldn't take out their golden chopsticks for a tiger-skin egg!

Shen Qing carried the tiger-skin eggs to Mr. Qingci.

She thought to herself that if they were really eliminated later, she would share the remaining tiger-skin eggs with Master Guo, Situ Liang, and Fang Shanren.

"No matter what, try it first, try it first, you'll definitely regret it if you don't try it!!" Fang Shanren was still trying.

Shen Qing said softly, "Thank you, Mr. Fang. You don't need to trouble yourself. They're not eating, so I'll share some with you later."

"But..." Fang Shanren sighed, it was such a pity.

"It's alright, I have a shop called Zhiweixuan in Ping'an County. You can go there to eat when you have time," Shen Qingqian said with a smile.

Food is supposed to bring joy, so if this food competition is like this, it's better to eliminate her sooner rather than later.

Fang Shanren was seething with frustration. After a long while, he shouted, "I'm putting this out there: if Madam Shen is eliminated today, I'm quitting as a judge!!"