Chapter 9 · Survival Menu - Chapter 9: Put Her on the Fire

The kitchen's already moving when I push through the door. Smoke and steam everywhere. Nanny Liu's yelling at someone about garlic. Cicada's got her sleeves rolled up, scrubbing a wok like her life depends on it. Maybe it does.

I don't get three steps before Nanny Liu spots me.

"A-Su." She's got that look. The one that means someone upstairs just made her day worse. "Prep station. Now."

I nod. Keep my face blank. My hands are steady when I tie my apron but my pulse is hammering in my ears. The feast order came down an hour ago. Let A-Su cook. Four words that put a target on my back and a knife in my hand.

Yan Xiao tried to pull me out last night. Grabbed my wrist in the dark and said run. I wrote two words in the steam on the table. I'm staying.

He looked at me like I'd just signed my own death warrant. Maybe I did.

Nanny Liu points at the ingredients laid out on my station. "Braised pork belly. Slow-cooked. The Emperor wants it done the old way." She pauses. Her voice drops. "The way your—the way it used to be done.