To the outside world, it looked like the newly minted Martial Uncle was deeply, profoundly dedicated to her culinary cultivation.
She was a whirlwind of activity. She chopped vegetables with the speed of a Gatling gun.
She perfected the Dao of the Iron Wok, practising her swings until her muscles ached and the sheer kinetic force of her cleaver could shatter a granite boulder without her breaking a sweat.
She fed Jiu Zui until the Drunken Sovereign was practically crying tears of joy every evening.
But internally, Lin Ji'an was a mess.
She was hiding.
She was hiding from the embarrassment of the bathing chamber. She was hiding from the terrifying, unprecedented political weight of her new title.
But mostly, she was hiding from Xie Wangchen.
