LOT – Chapter 154 Stealing Cakes in the Middle of the Night

The Grand Preceptor felt so wronged that he had nowhere to vent his feelings. The problem was, he couldn’t explain—if he did, he’d blow his cover.

The Xuande Emperor looked at the Grand Preceptor, whose eyes were brimming with tears, and gave him a comforting glance.

For the sake of the country, for the sake of important matters, this burden had to be carried by the Grand Preceptor!

Lin Mo was now especially curious about what kind of taste the cake that the Grand Preceptor liked could possibly have.

The more she thought about it, the more she imagined the cake must be delicious. Maybe things you’ve never eaten always seem tempting in your imagination.

“Do you think if I asked the Grand Preceptor for some cake, he’d give it to me? I really want to taste the kind of cake that the Grand Preceptor has people rush back home to fetch. It must taste amazing.”

Suddenly, Lin Mo’s mind drifted to all kinds of modern cakes: scallion pancakes, thin pancakes, meat-filled pancakes, radish pancakes… just thinking about them made her mouth water.

To put on a full performance, the Grand Preceptor really had someone bring a big bag of cakes from home. The taste might not be extraordinary, but it wasn’t bad either, after all, it came from his home kitchen.

And he genuinely liked this kind of thin pancake.

Bai Xiao whispered to her, “How about we secretly try some tonight? The Grand Preceptor keeps the cakes in that little kitchen at the back. These cakes smell especially fragrant when baked. He can eat three in one sitting.”

“Think about it, the food for high-ranking officials is usually limited, and at his age, his appetite is gradually decreasing. If he can eat three in one sitting, the cakes must be really delicious.”

Hearing Bai Xiao say this made Lin Mo’s mouth water.

Lin Mo got a little excited. “Let’s just go and try a little tonight.”

It wasn’t stealing—just tasting. They weren’t taking all the cakes, just sampling them.

Everyone present had complicated expressions on their faces, especially the Lin family father and son.

Isn’t there food at home? It’s just a cake—what kind of cake can’t be made at home? If you can’t make it, you can buy it from the street. And now you want to sneak into someone else’s place at night to eat it? And so many people heard this? Are you guys not afraid of embarrassment for even a single day?

But they really weren’t embarrassed, because they didn’t know anyone could hear their inner thoughts.

The Grand Preceptor’s emotions were extremely complicated now—so tonight, his cakes were basically doomed.

It wasn’t just Lin Mo and Bai Xiao who were curious; other officials, including the emperor, were also very curious about what the cakes tasted like.

The Xuande Emperor licked his lips. Everything in the palace was made with exquisite attention, and though the palace itself wasn’t rich, appearances still had to be maintained.

But having eaten the Imperial Kitchen’s dishes for so many years, even the most delicious things grew tiresome.

As the emperor, asking his minister for two cakes shouldn’t be excessive, right? Besides, the Grand Preceptor had been guiding him since he was a child. By seniority, he was his elder, and it wasn’t unreasonable for an elder to ask for some food.

The more he thought about it, the more the emperor felt this was a reasonable plan.

After the crowd dispersed, Lin Mo and Bai Xiao excitedly started planning their cake-snatching scheme for tonight, while the others clustered around the Grand Preceptor, flattering him.

“Grand Preceptor, is your cake really that good? You even had someone bring it over specially. Is it really that tasty?”

Grand Preceptor: “…Go away. Don’t you realize others don’t know, but you don’t either?” That was just an excuse—these people were deliberately asking.

The Grand Tutor nudged him with his shoulder and said with a smile, “Don’t be so stingy. We’ve been colleagues working together for so many years; asking for two cakes isn’t much. You can eat three in one sitting—imagine how good the taste must be.”

“If you don’t give them to us now, by tonight, those two little troublemakers might steal them, and who knows if any will be left.”

Grand Preceptor: …Well, that kind of makes sense.

Soon, Eunuch Li arrived with the emperor’s request. “Grand Preceptor, His Majesty is very curious about the cake’s taste, so he specially sent me to take two pieces.”

Everyone present: …Seriously?!

It had to be admitted—Lin Mo and Bai Xiao, by themselves, had eaten away a large portion of the Grand Preceptor’s cakes.

To try these cakes, the officials even arranged a small gathering.

But they didn’t take all the cakes; after all, the two little thieves still needed to taste some.

At this moment, the two little thieves somehow retrieved the two sets of night outfits they had prepared earlier—the stylish night thief outfits.

Bai Xiao asked seriously, “Are you ready?”

Lin Mo nodded earnestly. “Don’t worry, I’m ready!”

Soon, the two of them struggled to climb up the wall. Passing palace maids and eunuchs thought: …there really was no need to do this. Why choose such a difficult route?

Even if these two little rascals passed by, they would pretend not to see them. There really was no need to climb the wall so arduously.

Tonight, everyone even made a point of hiding to clear the way for the two little rascals.

A guard watched the two struggle and said awkwardly, “Should I help them? Seeing them like this somehow makes me feel a little sad.”

It was truly pitiful—so much effort just for two cakes.

Another guard said, “Better not. If you help, you’ll expose them.”

These two were truly in the spotlight; everyone was secretly watching from the corners.

There was a perfectly good path, but they insisted on climbing the wall.

Everyone pretended to be blind as they watched seriously.

After much effort, the two finally reached the back quarters.

Seeing that they had arrived, everyone hiding secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The Crown Prince patted his chest. “When I sneaked into the Imperial Kitchen as a child, I never felt this nervous.”

The Second and Third Princes nodded. “Exactly.”

They had never seen such clumsy people. Even climbing a wall was so awkward; it was terrifying to watch, and the onlookers wished they could go help.

Lin Mo and Bai Xiao were entirely focused on the cakes they hadn’t yet eaten, paying no attention to the watchers.

Seeing the cakes placed in the center, Lin Mo swallowed. “Is this the cake that bewitched the Grand Preceptor?”

Bai Xiao: “Looks really tasty!”

It looked a bit like a modern scallion pancake, pan-fried with minced meat on top. Just looking at it made their mouths water.

They exchanged a mischievous glance and chuckled. “Shall we try it? Just a taste.”