A Bite of Douluo Continent

So spicy!

However, after he recovered from the initial shock, he found the spiciness irresistible.

The broth clinging to the fish slowly flowed onto his taste buds, bringing a fiery, burning sensation. Along with this burning sensation came a fresh and delicious taste of fish that he had never experienced before.

He had eaten fish before, but he had never tasted such fresh and delicious fish before. The subtle freshness and the unique spicy flavor he had never experienced before blended together without any sense of disharmony. Instead, it gave him a feeling of great pleasure.

Valley this…

Xu Jiyun slowly chewed the fish meat in his mouth, feeling the tender fish meat constantly bursting with delicious juices, his face showing a bit of numbness.

I'm stunned... Could this guy be a food-type Soul Master?

Shouldn't such a young five-ring Soul King powerhouse spend all his time cultivating?

How did they manage to develop such culinary skills?

Xu Jiyun picked up another chopstick and put it into his mouth, chewing slowly with a blank expression.

I must say, the more you eat, the more addictive it becomes; the taste is absolutely amazing.

No wonder the intelligence from Xingluo City emphasized that the daily visitor flow for the Cold Food Festival was as high as a thousand...

Such craftsmanship is not surprising at all.

"Pan-fried honey-glazed ribs, please enjoy."

While Xu Jiyun was pondering, Qi Han had already brought out the second dish and placed it in front of him.

After a brief silence, Xu Jiyun finally came to his senses.

This dish was ordered by my younger sister.

The chopped chili fish head was for his younger sister, and he, as the older brother, felt embarrassed to keep eating it. Fortunately, his own meal was served at that moment.

Feeling the rich and fragrant aroma, Xu Jiyun couldn't help but take a few deep breaths, completely absorbed in the aroma.

In that instant, his desire to investigate the details of the Cold Food Festival faded somewhat, and the rich aroma instantly whetted Xu Jiyun's appetite, who was already hungry after a busy day.

He wasn't particularly concerned with his appetite, but if the delicious food of the Cold Food Festival was laid out before him, that was a different story.

"Ouch... So spicy!" Xu Yueyue had clearly never eaten such spicy food before. After a few bites of the chopped chili fish head, her face flushed slightly. She fanned her mouth with her small hand before looking at the pan-fried honey ribs on Xu Jiyun's plate with bright eyes. "Brother, can I have a bite?"

"Okay." Xu Jiyun had just picked up his knife and fork and skillfully cut out a small piece when he heard Xu Yueyue's words. He then smiled and fed the piece he had just cut into the girl's mouth.

"Awoo!"

Xu Yueyue took a bite of the honey rib, its cut surface slightly red and tender, seemingly so soft it could drip juice, from her fork. She chewed it gently a couple of times, feeling the pure meatiness fill her mouth, and her eyes lit up instantly.

Although both are meat, this pan-fried honey-glazed ribs are completely different from the Dongpo pork knuckle I had for lunch. The surface of the meat is brownish-red with a rich aroma, slightly firmer but not charred. Soaked in black pepper sauce, it offers a unique taste experience. Combined with the tender meat inside, which is almost dripping with juice but not at all raw, it is simply wonderful.

This pan-fried honey-glazed ribs was also delicious; I'll definitely order this next time!

Xu Yueyue's eyes lit up a bit, and she turned back to continue enjoying her chopped chili fish head.

After feeding a bite of honey rib to his younger sister, Xu Jiyun cut off another bite and put it in his mouth. As he chewed, the look of astonishment in his eyes grew stronger.

Such delicious food…

How about we come here for a meal every day from now on? It'll be a good opportunity to keep an eye on Qi Han's every move.

Hmm...good idea.

Xu Jiyun quickly made a decision.

Chapter 477 Memorial to the Emperor

Without further incident, as Qi Han served the dishes to the brother and sister one by one, a pile of empty plates soon appeared on the table.

After the meal, Xu Jiyun paid the bill and left Hanshi with his sister. However, the meaningful look in his eyes before he left made Qi Han feel a little strange.

I have a feeling... this hardcore siscon is going to cause me trouble again.

Forget it, forget it.

Qi Han sighed softly as he looked at the progress of side quest eleven on the quest panel, which had gone from zero to one.

With a thousand repeat customers, I wonder if we can complete the main quest nine by the end of the month.

It seems the hope is a bit slim now.

Dinner hours passed quickly, and apart from the brother and sister, no other customers came. It seemed that they only had two orders that day, a start that was even worse than when they were in Shrek City.

Indeed, location has a significant impact on business.

Somewhat reluctantly, they closed the shop and ended business. Qi Han, unusually, went to bed early and quickly fell asleep while holding Gulu.

Since he started offering late-night snacks, he hasn't gone to bed this early.

While Qi Han slept soundly, someone else couldn't sleep.

...

Xu Jiyun paced back and forth in his palace, his brows furrowed tightly. All the information about Han Shi and Qi Han in his mind kept piecing together, trying to find out Qi Han's true purpose in coming to the Sun and Moon Continent.

Every now and then, he would smack his lips, his thoughts drifting to the delicious food he had just tasted that evening, before suddenly pulling himself back to reality.

The important matter is the priority.

He has been maintaining this posture for over an hour since returning from the Cold Food Festival.

In the end, Xu Jiyun sat down in his chair, somewhat dejected.

There is currently very little useful information about the Cold Food Festival, making it impossible to find anything by following the clues.

His subordinates have already begun secretly investigating Qi Han's whereabouts outside of Mingdu. Hopefully, after the intelligence is gathered in a few days, they will be able to see some clues.

Thinking of this, Xu Jiyun turned up the brightness of the soul guide lamp on the table and continued to write something.

Such an important matter must be reported to the important officials in the court and his father, the emperor, as soon as possible.

Therefore, he needed to prepare his memorial for the morning court session in advance, ensuring that the wording was perfect and that he wouldn't give his elder brother any chance.

If he were the only prince, Xu Jiyun might have handled this matter differently.

For example, one could temporarily suppress the matter, send someone to investigate it thoroughly before submitting a report, thus gaining more credit for oneself.

But with the eldest prince present, doing so would be too risky.

The struggle for the crown prince position has now become a contest between him and the eldest prince, as the other princes have long since lost their eligibility to compete for the position.

The seemingly friendly but actually extremely shrewd older brother has probably already had people watching him day and night.

Therefore, the other party must already know about my decision to go out for a meal with my fifth sister today.

If I'm not mistaken, he probably also connected the two characters "寒食" (Hanshi, meaning Cold Food Festival) to the meaning of the festival.

If he chooses to suppress this matter, and the eldest prince takes this opportunity to impeach him for having ulterior motives, then even if he had ten mouths, he wouldn't be able to explain himself.

Therefore, I must submit a memorial tomorrow, and I must do so before the eldest prince.

After Gu figured out the key points, Xu Jiyun sighed almost imperceptibly.

The current struggle for the throne among the princes of the Sun and Moon Imperial Family is somewhat similar to the tradition of the Dai family, the former imperial family of the Star Luo Empire, only it is not as bloody. At most, the loser is exiled to other remote cities, and there is no threat to their life.

But falling from heaven to hell is equally cruel, a result Xu Jiyun could not accept. He still had his mother and a younger sister. If he failed, his already frail mother would inevitably be implicated, and his sister would likely be married off to some nobleman and become a bargaining chip for the royal family. In order to prevent all of this from happening, he had no choice but to fight for his life.

Two and a half years ago, when all the princes were still hesitating and observing, he was the first to step forward and risk his life to go to Douluo Continent. It was for this reason that he was lucky. Fortunately, he was able to return smoothly and went from being a nobody to the only prince who could compete with the eldest prince.

As night deepened, the ink on the memorial before Xu Jiyun grew increasingly thick.

...

"Father, I have something to report!"

The next morning, as soon as the Emperor announced the start of the court session, Xu Jiyun, who was prepared, immediately came out, holding a prepared memorial in both hands.

Out of the corner of his eye, Xu Jiyun saw the eldest prince about to take a step and his almost broken smile, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

I knew this guy was prepared!

Fortunately, I was one step ahead.

"Oh?" The Sun and Moon Emperor, who had just settled into his seat, was slightly taken aback, then smiled and looked at his third son. "Ji Yun is in such a hurry, this matter seems to be quite significant. Tell me about it?"

As Xu Jiyun handed the memorial to the attendant responsible for delivering it to the emperor, he said, "Father, do you remember that in the intelligence on Douluo Continent that your son and I compiled, we mentioned a seemingly insignificant restaurant twice?"

"Hmm?" The emperor narrowed his eyes. "I have some recollection of it."

The ministers standing behind Xu Jiyun had different expressions after hearing his words.

Traveling across the ocean to Douluo Continent and spending two years gathering and compiling detailed intelligence about it is Xu Jiyun's greatest achievement to date, and the capital that allows him to contend with the First Prince.

However, this capital is not without flaws.

When Xu Jiyun entered the court that day and presented this intelligence report, every minister present received a copy and also heard the Second Prince's questioning.

Faced with the Third Prince's return with unparalleled achievements, the Second Prince was immediately confined to the palace for a year by the enraged emperor and is still not allowed to leave. However, the Second Prince's questioning is, in a sense, reasonable.

It's absurd that such an important intelligence report devoted so much space to a restaurant, and even mentioned it twice.

The tragic fate of the Second Prince was still fresh in everyone's mind, so naturally no one would impeach the Third Prince for this reason. Even though the struggle among the princes was fierce, the First Prince never used this to attack the Third Prince.

Originally, everyone had chosen to selectively ignore this matter, but now, half a year later, the Third Prince himself has brought it up again?

Isn't this just deliberately exposing the only flaw in your achievement to everyone's eyes?

Why did the Third Prince suddenly make such an unwise move?

Ignoring the various expressions of the officials behind him, Xu Jiyun spoke again, "Father, a restaurant called Hanshi appeared in Mingdu two days ago."

"Your subject has personally gone to investigate. It is no coincidence that the two parties have the same shop name. Your subject is more than 90% certain that the Cold Food Restaurant that appeared in Shrek City and Star Luo City in the intelligence and the Cold Food Restaurant that appeared in Mingdu at this moment are from the same source."

As Xu Jiyun's voice fell, the vast court suddenly fell into a deathly silence, which was soon broken by the clamor of the officials.

"How is this possible?!"

Xu Jiyun's previous speculations were now echoing in the minds of every minister, and everyone's expression changed.

If the two are indeed the same restaurant, the implications are truly terrifying.