After Huan Meng Yue, many other individuals entered the wooden hut but their results were all not good.
A greater half of them were eliminated and invited away by the royal guards.
Only a small number of them managed to obtain a palace token like Huan Meng Yue and stood at the outer regions of the hut awaiting to enter the palace.
It was now Huan Qing Yan’s turn.
When Huan Meng Yue’s voice came at her, “Young Mistress, do not try to lie when you are inside. There were a hundred rare ingredients inside, even if you have the recipes handed down by Imperial Chef Huan, you might not know all of them. Do you need Meng Yue to give you some hints?” she retorted, “It’s fine. This Young Mistress does not have a backdoor like Lord Ninth to assist. I will leave it to the heavens to judge if I could pass or not.”
When Lord Ninth was mentioned, the looks of disdain from the surrounding people became even more pronounced.
Huan Qing Yan entered the little wooden hut.
The tester was an elderly spirit chef who seemed to be in his twilight years. Huan Qing Yan had some impression of him, her Papa had interacted with him a few times in the past.
When Huan Qing Yan was inside, the elderly spirit chef repeated the requirements for passing the test.
“There’s a hundred different types of spirit energy ingredients in front of you, ranging from ordinary to rare ones. The candidate who could identify more than eighty and above would pass the first round of test, if you get less than eighty correct, please leave this hut voluntarily. You can begin!”
Huan Qing Yan lowered her head and looked at the ingredients in front of her. She was unable to recognize at least half of them.
But, no problem!
She casually picked the first ingredient up, “Ding. Discover Black Border Grass Root. Grass Type. 80 Spirit Energy Points.
“Ding. Discover Viney Water Cabbage. Vegetable Type. 50 Spirit Energy Points.”
……
From the start to the end, Huan Qing Yan said all the names of the hundred ingredients without pause.
Not only that, she even mentioned the ingredient type and accurately stated the amount of spirit points the ingredients contained.
The gaze of the elderly spirit chef got brighter and wider as Huan Qing Yan progressed.
At the end, he said excitedly, “Little lass, what is your name? Whom did you learn your spirit chef skills from? Do you have a proper master?”
Showing the intention of accepting a disciple.
Huan Qing Yan smiled and said, “Imperial Chef Zhang, you cannot recognize me? I am Huan Qing Yan, my father is Huan Bei Ming…”
The elder spirit chef exclaimed in shock followed by a sigh of sorrow, “So you are Imperial Chef Huan’s daughter. Imperial Chef Huan was a true role model among us Imperial Chefs. Although this old man is much older than Huan Bei Ming, my culinary skills could never reach the level of Imperial Chef Huan. No wonder despite your young age, you have obtained such good skills. This old man is truly impressed!”
“Imperial Chef Zhang, you are being too humble.”
After that, the elderly spirit chef said, “That young lady who came in first managed to identify ninety ingredients. When I asked her name, her surname was also Huan, is she related to the Huan Family?” It seems that he had given up on her but not on the other.
Huan Qing Yan thought for a moment before displaying a look of embarrassment, “That woman did grow up in our Huan Estate as my studying companion. After my dad’s passing, my mother cared for her wellbeing and arranged a marriage for her. Yet, on the day when the marriage was confirmed, she awoke her spirit treasure and decided to leave the family to accompany Lord Ninth… Now, she has broken all ties with the Huan Family.”
The elderly spirit chef frowned, isn’t these the typical actions of an ingrate? Leaving immediately after awakening the spirit treasure, and leaving with Lord Ninth on top of it. Wait a minute!
Is she that unsavory woman of rumors that was widely talked about within the capital?
After some deep thoughts, the elderly spirit chef set aside his intention for a disciple.
He would not accept a woman of such character as his disciple even if it was given to him for free.
“Ok. Here’s your palace token, No. 69. Take that and enter the palace for another round of selection, this old man looks forward to your performance…”
Huan Qing Yan received the palace token with thanks.
Once Huan Qing Yan left the wooden hut, she caught the sense of shock within Huan Meng Yue’s eyes.
What followed after that was a light sneer on Huan Meng Yue’s face before she ignored Huan Qing Yan.
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