The crowd watched as the Emperor made his way around the new dish. Originally they thought that he was just going to complain that it was not to his liking before even trying it, but even they could tell that it was something interesting.

Han Bing watched with a cold aura surrounding him. To all the n.o.bles who glanced his way they would never know what he was thinking about. How much he dared the Emperor to not enjoy that bowl of soup in front of him. Mostly though he wished that he could punch that two face Emperor away so that he could enjoy Mai's cooking instead.

The Emperor brought the small spoon to his lips to first taste the broth. It was lighter then he was expecting with a mushroom taste at the beginning the melded into a spicy aftertaste. Not expecting such a transition in the taste the Emperor was greatly surprised. This alone was enough to put Mai on a different battle ground then most of the other chefs.

The Emperor watch as Mai stood with in a calm and composed matter, as if she already knew that she was the winner of this contest. Almost as if there was no food that she couldn't masterfully place in front of him. "A true master has appeared in front of me" he thought to himself. "I need to get them to become my personal chef… whatever Han Bing offered them I will double, no triple."

This was before he had even tried the noodles that were in the dish but as a master chef would say "you can tell how good someone's cooking is by their broth." He opened his mouth wide and shoved in a pile of noodles. Unlike most soup noodles they hadn't gotten gooey or squishy but maintained there chewy texture as he bit down on them.

At this point the Emperor was so engrossed by examining the new dish that he had never seen before that he hadn't realize how much time had gone by. The crowd was silent as they had never before seen this happen before. If you looked close enough you would see a proud smile on Han Bings face.

"What is this dish called?" The Emperor asked excitedly at Mai.

"Spicy Pork Noodle Soup your majesty" was the only reply that Mai gave.

She didn't go into what made it special or any other details that could sway the Emperor's mind. This also greatly surprised him as he had threatened her with freedom if she lost. If anything she should be begging to win right now. Yet there she stood proud as a knight that had won a war.

"It is simply amazing" the Emperor could help but mumble.

There was no change on Mai's face when she heard his complement but her eyes lit up for half a second as if saying of course.

This girl is so composed if half of my official acted like her then everything would run so smoothly" the Emperor thought to himself.

"I announce this dish the winner of this years cooking contest." The emperor exclaimed loudly. The crowd was in pure shock by the turn of events that had just occurred. The cook with table sc.r.a.ps had actually won the contest.

"Because you overcame such difficult odds I am willing to give you the head chef position at the palace in addition to opening a new restaurant that you will be the owner of" The Emperor continued on. Even more mummers could be heard in the crowd as this had never before happen. A lot of them stared at the small bowl of soup in wonder of what it contained.

The Emperor waited to see the look of grat.i.tude on the little girls face when he offered her the position of head chef but it never came. Instead it remained exactly the way it was before. This was not the reaction he was expecting as it was every chefs dream to work in the highest establishment with the highest grade food and there would be no other place like the imperial palace.

"No thank you, your majesty. I am happy where I am." Mai replied very politely and bowed "Thank you for making me this years champion." Mai had said all of this loud enough for the crowd to hear but added at the end in a voice that only the Emperor could hear "I won our little game."

Slightly outraged but with nothing that could be done as he had already announced the winner he agreed with her. The Emperor's eyes narrowed as he thought about losing a fun toy to Han Bing but knew that he would get her back soon.

_____________

Bai Hao had been watching from the sidelines to see which chef had subjected him to the fun encounter with the Emperor earlier. When he saw that it was a small girl he couldn't help but get excited about the ways that he was going to get her back.

His eyes were glued onto her the entire match and even cursed when the chef beside her had fixed her stove problem. He had expected the Emperor to make her lose so that he could keep her around, yet to his great surprised she had actually won the contest.

He couldn't understand what the Emperor had been thinking making her the champion. This also ruined his plans of tormenting her in the palace. However even if he was no longer the head chef of Han Bing's manor he could still get inside unlike many other. A plan was starting to form in his mind about the worse thing that he could do to her.