Pampered Poisonous Royal Wife Chapter 163

Chapter 163: Calling a Cat a Tiger

The entire Su Residence was filled with bustle and laughter, warmth rising through the ice and snow.

Steward Qin stood to the side, smiling as he watched everyone make merry. He even slipped over to Yue Wang’s side to encourage him. “His Highness, you are also Madam Su’s junior. Why not go help carry a dish and earn yourself a red packet?”

Yue Wang’s expression drew even tighter, the light in his eyes shifting faintly.

Steward Qin knew well enough to stop at the proper point. After saying his piece, he immediately went to the kitchen to help.

After a lively lunch, Mu Yunyao saw that Jin Lan and the others had all received reward money. A mischievous thought rose in her mind, and she suggested playing leaf cards.

Jin Lan and the others hesitated. “Miss, this is the reward money we only just received. You are not thinking of winning it away again, are you?”

Mu Yunyao blinked innocently. “Leaf cards are not like ice games. When playing cards, everything depends on luck. Could Heaven possibly favor me in particular?”

Jin Lan and the others discussed it among themselves and found the reasoning sound enough. Ice games relied on skill, but leaf cards were different. This was a fine chance to win from Miss. “Very well. If Miss loses later, you must not go complain to Madam.”

“Naturally.” Mu Yunyao agreed with a beaming smile. As soon as she finished speaking, she felt Yue Wang’s cold gaze fall upon her, making her fingers tremble. She quickly turned and asked with a smile, “Would Fourth Master like to play a few rounds as well?”

“I am not very skilled.” Yue Wang’s tone held a trace of hesitation, yet he had already risen and walked to the table, sitting down at Mu Yunyao’s left.

Mu Yunyao had originally wanted to say, In that case, forget it. But seeing him sit down, she silently swallowed the words at the edge of her lips. These days, she found herself increasingly astonished. Her understanding of Yue Wang kept changing, and she truly did not know what the complete Yue Wang was like.

In her previous life, Mu Yunyao had been extremely good at leaf cards. After playing two rounds to regain the feel of it, she thoroughly became the ever-victorious general. Before long, she had managed to win more than half of the red-packet silver that Jin Lan and Jin Qiao had just received.

Jin Lan could not help but wail. “Miss, did you not say leaf cards depended on luck?”

“Naturally. If not luck, then what else could it depend on?” Mu Yunyao blinked back at her with an innocent expression.

Jin Lan muttered under her breath, then pulled Jin Pei over. Her own red packet had barely grown warm in her hands before flying away. As good sisters, the others naturally ought to share hardship with her.

Yet in the next two rounds, Mu Yunyao unexpectedly lost.

Looking at Yue Wang, who played his cards at an unhurried pace, Mu Yunyao could not help blinking. She kept feeling as though Yue Wang could somehow tell exactly what cards she held in her hand. Sure enough, after several more rounds, the broken silver beside Yue Wang had nearly piled beyond the table’s edge.

“Fourth Master, why is it always you who wins?”

A hint of laughter flashed at the bottom of Yue Wang’s eyes. Rarely relaxed, his lips curved faintly, so slightly it was almost imperceptible. “Good luck.”

Mu Yunyao’s breath caught. Seeing Su Qing call for help preparing the meal, she immediately threw down the leaf cards and followed her out.

Jin Lan and the others looked at one another. With Miss holding the table, they still dared to sit there. Now that Miss had left, none of them dared to face that Fourth Master alone. His gaze alone was enough to make one’s heart tremble.

Fortunately, Yue Wang also set down his cards. He had Yu Heng put away the broken silver by the table, then went out to admire the snow in the courtyard.

In the kitchen, Mu Yunyao helped with small tasks while watching Su Qing steam dough figures of the twelve zodiac animals for the offering to Heaven. “I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, so Mother must make the rabbit especially adorable. After we finish the offering, I still want to eat it!”

“I know. Every year, when we steam the twelve zodiac animals, you say the same thing.” Su Qing’s fingers moved deftly, and in just a few motions, a lifelike little rabbit appeared in her hands.

Mu Yunyao rested her chin in her palm, smiling sweetly from the side. “If it is not made adorable, how could it be worthy of me?”

“Your face is nothing like a rabbit’s. It is more like the last animal among the twelve zodiac signs.” As Su Qing spoke, she reached out and scraped a bit of flour across the tip of Mu Yunyao’s nose.

Mu Yunyao wrinkled her nose. She did not wipe away the flour on its tip, instead making a fuss at Su Qing. “Who says so? Mother, touch it and see. Is my face not exceedingly thin-skinned—so delicate it might break with a breath?”

“It is clearly as thick as a city wall!”

“Who says so? I need someone to judge fairly. Where is Steward Qin?” As Mu Yunyao spoke, she turned around to look for someone. Steward Qin was nowhere in sight. Instead, she saw Yue Wang walking slowly in with his hands behind his back. She immediately closed her mouth and nearly bit her tongue. Why did this man seem to linger like a ghost that would not disperse?

Yue Wang had long since heard the exchange between Mu Yunyao and Su Qing. His gaze fell upon the steamer. A full set of twelve zodiac animals had already been made, each with a different shape, all of them charming.

Su Qing also saw Yue Wang and quickly smiled. “Why has Young Master Ning come here as well? The kitchen is stuffy. Do not let it soil your clothes.”

“Madam, may I help?”

Su Qing’s face filled with surprise. In the Da Li Dynasty, gentlemen were expected to keep away from the kitchen. A person of Young Master Ning’s status likely had never known what a kitchen looked like in his life. “This…”

Yue Wang had already gone to wash his hands in the basin nearby. He picked up a lump of dough and kneaded it lightly between his fingers. Before long, he had shaped a round little calico cat. The cat was curled into a half circle, eyes slightly narrowed, tail wrapped around its body, as though sleeping soundly. It looked especially adorable.

Su Qing was even more astonished. “I truly would not have expected Young Master Ning to possess such skill!”

“I carved small objects before. Dough should not be very different.” After saying this, he placed the calico cat in the steamer, right beside the rabbit Su Qing had finished not long ago. Once he set it down, he even glanced at Mu Yunyao.

Mu Yunyao felt a prickle of displeasure. She pointed to the cat and said, “Fourth Master, is what you made a tiger?”

Yue Wang’s brows moved faintly, and he looked over with an expression that was almost a smile and yet not quite one.

Su Qing could not help laughing. “Where in the world is there such a dainty little tiger? This is a cat. I am afraid it would not even be enough for a tiger to swallow in one mouthful.”

“Mother, to me it looks very much like a tiger…” Mu Yunyao refused to admit she had seen wrong.

Yue Wang said nothing. He picked up a larger lump of dough and, in a few movements, shaped a tiger. To emphasise its identity, he took the small knife beside him and carefully carved the character Wang upon the tiger’s forehead. Then, with complete composure, he placed the tiger beside the calico cat.

With that, the contrast became especially sharp. That tiger truly looked as though it could open its mouth and swallow the cat whole.

Yue Wang looked toward Mu Yunyao, who had puffed up in indignation, and the light in his eyes shifted faintly. “Would Miss Mu like to shape one as well?”

Mu Yunyao could not resist lifting her head to glare fiercely at Yue Wang.

Su Qing burst into laughter, tears glimmering at the corners of her eyes. “You must not let her try. She cannot even knead steamed buns properly, let alone shape animals. Ask her to make a cat, and she can turn it straight into a toad!”

“Mother!” Mu Yunyao’s cheeks flushed. How could Mother expose her shortcomings like that—and in front of Yue Wang, no less? This was far too embarrassing.

Yue Wang looked at Mu Yunyao’s faintly reddened cheeks. The movement in his gaze gradually softened, and his heart, too, seemed to quiet along with it. Before, no matter what he did, there had always been a thread of violence and killing intent lodged within him. Yet now, there was only stillness—so quiet and lovely that the corners of his lips could not help rising.

Su Qing also felt she had teased her a little too much. “Enough, enough. Mother will stop talking. Hurry and steam these qiaomo figures. We still need them for the offering to Heaven later.”

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