Chapter 359 (2/2)
”The heavens only strike the evil. It would seem that Madam Zhang had many misdeeds! She must've been lying too when she said that Yu Hai stole her good fortune. Even the heavens couldn't stand it! She's too evil!”
”When Xiaocao said 'plotted the murder of her own husband and charged with murder', could it be that she meant Madam Zhang? Oh my goodness, I originally thought that this Madam Zhang was only a little mean and unkind, but I never thought that she would turn out to be this evil!”
”Madam Zhang had murdered someone? Who? It couldn't be one of our villagers, could it? We should keep away from her in the future, or else who knows when we'll be harmed by her.”
”I remember now. At that time, I was close with Yu Hai's mother and often visited her when she was sick. At first, she was already on her way to recovery and the physician said she only needed a few more doses of medicine, but when Madam Zhang arrived, her illness immediately took a turn for worse, and she died not long after…Say, could this be Madam Zhang's doing?”
”Could it really be? Wasn't Yu Hai's mother Madam Zhang's older cousin? She took her in when she had no one to turn to, so Madam Zhang wouldn't be so ungrateful as to turn against her, right? What was she after?”
”Tsk tsk! What else could she be after? At that time, Old Yu was still standing tall and looked quite similar to Dahai. Moreover, he was good at catching fish. She was a widow with a child to take care of, and later she became Yu Hai's stepmother…What do you think she was after?”
”If it's like this, then Madam Zhang is not only evil, but she's also an ungrateful wretch. Killing her cousin so she could replace her! Does she have no dignity? Would she have died without a man ah?!” ……
Madam Zhang was originally only unconscious for a short while, but when she heard the crowd's speculations, she was so scared she had not dared to move and played dead on the ground. It was only when Yu Bo received news that he and Yu Dashan both carried the 'unconscious' Madam Zhang back. Otherwise, if she continued to lie on the cold, late-autumn ground, she might actually die from the exposure.
Despite their efforts, Madam Zhang still suffered from a high fever that same night, and even after they hired a physician and fed her the prescribed medicine for a few days, she still did not fully recuperate from the illness. Rumors spread within the village that it was Yu Hai's mother taking revenge on Madam Zhang. Others said that because she had committed so many evil deeds, her youngest son had to suffer the punishment.That was the reason why he could not pa.s.s the college examination.
Yu Bo could not stand that the villagers pointed and talked about him whenever he went out, so he disregarded the still-recuperating Madam Zhang, picked up his bags, and left for the academy in the prefectural city. He would study hard and get good results in two years to wash away the shame of today!
A few more days pa.s.sed, and Royal Prince Yang returned from the capital. When he heard that Little s.h.i.+tou had managed to become a county official, he suggested celebrating the success of the little fellow in Zhenxiu Restaurant, while also insinuating to Yu Xiaocao to fulfill her 'Buddha jumps over the wall' promise.
It was late fall. The business in the prefectural city was going smoothly, and the winter wheat plantation in the farmstead was growing healthily, so Xiaocao was finally free for a few days. For the past few days, Zhu Junyang kept mentioning 'Buddha jumps over the wall'. Furthermore, Tanggu Town was near the sea, which made the ingredients easier to acquire, so Yu Xiaocao began her attempt at creating this complicated dish.
Of course, the expensive ingredients required to make 'Buddha jumps over the wall' like shark's fin, abalone, sea cuc.u.mber and shark's skin would be provided by Royal Prince Yang. Prince Jing's Residence was not lacking in these ingredients, as their storehouse kept quite a lot of even just the top-notch delicacies that were rewarded from the imperial palace.
'Buddha jumps over the wall' consisted of eighteen ingredients: sea cuc.u.mber, abalone, shark's fin, scallops, shark's lips (shark's skin), fish maw, razor clams, ham, pork belly, lamb knuckle, pig trotters, pig tendons, chicken and duck breast and gizzard, s.h.i.+take mushrooms, and winter bamboo shoots.
The process of creating the dish was also extremely complicated. The eighteen ingredients must first be made into their own unique dishes through different methods, then layered dish by dish into a large ceramic pot. Following that, a suitable volume of soup and Shaoxing wine must be poured in and mixed until the soup, wine and dishes combined together. The opening of the ceramic pot must then be covered and sealed tightly with lotus leaves and put over a fire to heat.
The fuel for the fire was also specific. Only the white coal, which was fine and did not produce any smoke, would do. The ceramic pot must first be put over a large and blazing flame to boil, before simmering on a small and warm fire for 5 to 6 hours. Only then would the dish be successfully created.