c3 (1/2)

You don’t need to have read Da Mo Yao to read Yun Zhong Ge, only that the tiny bits of the throwaway references might not be as relatable. But it does help to read up on your early Han history, gaining some perspective into the political machines of the era when Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che was deciding succession amongst all his sons. There are probably twice as many main and secondary characters in YZG than in DMY, so I might do a character chart soon. But then again, I’m lazy, and a.s.sume you guys can keep track, so I might not. I have to warn you all that Ling gege barely shows up in volume 1 of YZG, so don’t ask me where he is. He’s obviously busy governing a country. He’s the most hitting the soysauce (C-slang for uninvolved bystander) male lead in any book I’ve read. But then he makes such an forever impression it barely matters other than we’re all just waiting with bated breath for him to swan back into Yun Ge’s life.

Chapter 3: Scheme Within A Scheme

All the color vanished from Xu Ping Jun’s face and she shrieked “He Xiao Qi, did you guys fight? Who killed whom? Bing Yi would never kill anyone.”

“A Master Li from Chang An arrived to c.o.c.k fight with Big Brother, and after he lost he tried to buy Big Brother’s chicken. You know Big Brother’s temper, he’s easygoing and no matter how expensive something is he wouldn’t mind, but if someone is his kindred spirit, he’d give it to him for free. But that Master Li was purposely being difficult so no matter how much he offered, Big Brother wouldn’t sell it. He ordered his servants to beat up Big Brother and we all saw it and joined in the fight. It alerted the government officials. To avoid getting us in trouble, Big Brother accepted all the responsibility so the officials arrested him.”

“You…..you…..” Xu Ping Jun was so angry she grabbed He Xiao Qi’s ear “Commoners don’t fight with officials, don’t you guys know that? Was anyone hurt?” “In the beginning Big Brother wouldn’t let us fight, but soon it became a free for all and everyone got so into it. One of the servants died and Big Brother broke that Master’s Li’s leg…… Ouch!” He Xiao Qi yelped and grabbed his ear but Xu Ping Jun had already rushed out of the restaurant.

Yun Ge heard Uncle Chang sigh and tried to casually ask “Uncle Chang, what is that big sister’s relations.h.i.+p to that so-called big brother?”

Uncle Chang sighed again “Working here you’ll get close to that Xu gal. That Liu Bing Yi is famous around here, while the Xu gal has a tough mouth on the outside she’s a tofu heart on the inside. She’s capable and one girl does more than a household of boys. Whereas that Liu Bing Yi, stay as far away as possible. Best if you never talk with him in this entire lifetime. Rumor is his entire family is dead and he’s the only one left. But he darkens his family legacy. He knows how to read and has talent, but refuses to do anything proper. He c.o.c.k fights, dog fights, gambles, he’s the best at all of that. He’s the leader of the hooligans in the outskirts of Chang An. Xu gal’s dad was formerly an official that angered a n.o.ble and endured a “palace punishment”. His wife is now a living widow and her temper is worse than ever…”

“What is…..” Yun Ge heard palace punishment and wondered what it was, but then she heard about a living widowhood and she realized what it meant “Nothing, Uncle Chang, you were saying?”

“Old man Xu now drinks day and night, only caring about wine. He somehow gets along with Liu Bing Yi, but one wonders what they could possibly talk about. Xu gal’s mom loathes Liu Bing Yi, who is so carefree she can’t do anything about him other than ignore him. Xu gal and Liu Bing Yi grew up together, and she’s so good to him, like he was her older brother. Ay! If Xu gal didn’t have that Liu Bing Yi in her life, she’d be much better off. This time Liu Bing Yi is likely done for. Him losing his head is just a slash across the neck, but poor Xu gal!” Uncle Chang finished and hurried off to take care of customers.

Yun Ge thought about it. She was wondering why Ling gege’s personality seemed to have such a monumental change, so it was because of family tragedy and his entire family is dead. “Does killing someone mean getting executed as punishment?”

“The law says so, but then the government officials……will look at who got killed, and who did the killing.” Meng Jue appeared to have a slight smile, but his lowered eyes had not a shadow of amus.e.m.e.nt. Yun Ge asked “What do you mean?”

“For example, commoners and n.o.bles upsetting the law gets different responses. Xu Ping Jun’s father committed a small infraction and was served with the palace punishment. At the same time during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, when one of his top officials Li Gan was killed with an arrow by Huo Qu Bing, if it was anyone else, the entire family out be wiped out. But since the person who did the killing was the Emperor’s prized general Huo Qu Bing, and Wei family had control of the court, all that was said about the death of a duke was “He was killed by a rampaging deer herd…………..”

Thinking about the downtrodden Liu Bing Yi, and about the rich young lord from Chang An, Yun Ge lost her appet.i.te and intended to figure out what happened. She said to Meng Jue “I’m full, you can go do your own thing, no need to keep me company. I’ll go walk around by myself.”

“Sure! I’ll see you tonight. Oh right, do you like the place we stayed?” Yun Ge nodded. “I like it, too. I plan to rent it for the long term as a place to stay here. Let’s do this – you don’t need to find another place to stay, as long as you cook for me every night, you can pay rent that way. I don’t plan to stay here long, so when I’m done I’m leaving. Until then, I can help you out and my taste buds will get a treat.”

Yun Ge thought this was an equally beneficial plan. Even if she looked for a place she might not find one immediately. She agreed.

Yun Ge twirled around Chang An all afternoon, but since she was new there and the people who witnessed what happened were all loathe to talk, Yun Ge got nothing out of her digging for information.

Yun Ge had no choice but to go find Xu Ping Jun to see if she got any news. A brick encircled courtyard with many cracks in the walls, with a dilapidated door that showed the figures of people inside. Yun Ge could hear a violent fight inside, wondering if she should knock on the door and what to say afterwards.

She saw someone walking towards the door so she quickly hid “Don’t tell me what to do. I earned this money, I can spend it as I wish.” A fat older woman rushed to the door crying “Giving birth to a daughter is like owing money, how can my life be so hard? Fine, let’s starve! Forget it then, we’ll all go to the grave with that bad luck loser and that’ll make you happy.”

Yun Ge looked at the older woman and then quietly followed Xu Ping Jun, who quickly walked into a lane and stopped outside a shop. Yun Ge looked at the sign above and it said “p.a.w.n shop.” Xu Ping Jun hesitated and then bit her lip as she walked inside.

Yun Ge listened from outside the door “The color on this jade is ordinary, and the craftsmans.h.i.+p is poor…..” Yun Ge shook her head with a smile. Even though she didn’t care much for material goods, but Third Brother was particular about having the best of everything. All his things were the best of the best. That jade was as good as any accessory Third Brother owned. This p.a.w.n shop owner dared to say it was ordinary, then there could be nothing better in this world.

The owner hesitated and then slowly gave a lowball price, and insisted that it be sold and not p.a.w.ned so that it could not be bought back. Xu Ping Jun nodded and with tears in her eyes “Double for the price for selling, otherwise the deal is off.”

Yun Ge saw Xu Ping Jun hurry off and knew what she needed the money for. She remembered the location of the p.a.w.n shop, then sighed and left. She had all these thoughts in her head but no good ideas. If it was Second Brother, he’d say a few words and have a great idea. If it was Third Brother, he would simply ride his horse past, and who cares if it was a government residence or the inside of a jail, he’d already have rescued the person already.

But why was she so useless? No wonder Third Brother always said she was stupid. She really was stupid.

When she returned to the inn it was completely dark out. Meng Jue’s room was lit and then she remembered she owed him dinner. Despite not being in the mood, she didn’t want to welsh on a promise.

As she pushed up her sleeve to get ready to cook, Meng Jue walked out “Forget about it today, I already asked the owner to make dinner. If you didn’t eat yet, let’s eat together.” Yun Ge walked into the room and picked up the chopstick but she didn’t eat a bite.

Meng Jue asked “Yun Ge, do you have something on your mind?” Yun Ge shook her head and tried to eat, but then she put her chopstick down “Meng Jue, are you familiar with Chang An?”

“My elders have quite a lot of business here. Familiar enough, even with a few government officials.” Yun Ge heard the last sentence and her heart leaped “Then….can you…..can I bother you to…..”

This was Yun Ge’s first time in her life she was asking someone for a favor, and it was to someone she barely knew, so she stuttered and couldn’t say it all. Meng Jue didn’t rush her, just smiling and letting her finish.

“Can I bother you to find out how the government official plans to handle Liu Bing Yi’s case? Is there a way to resolve it? I…..I will repay you in the future.”

Yun Ge was worried that Meng Jue was going to ask her why she cared about a stranger like Liu Bing Yi. She didn’t want to tell anyone at this time that she knew Liu Bing Yi. But strangely enough Meng Jue didn’t ask, just gently saying “Didn’t you say we were friends? Friends need to help each other out. This is a big case and I’ve heard a bit already. Why don’t you eat and I’ll tell you what I know.”

Yun Ge started to gulp down her food and her eyes kept staring at Meng Jue. “Liu Bing Yi offended a man named Li Xu, whose father is a government official. Not a big one, but Li Xu’s older sister is the Flag General and San Le Duke Shang Guan An’s concubine.”

Yun Ge looked confused “Is Shang Guan An a high ranking official?”

“Do you know that the surname of the current Han Emperor is?” Yun Ge shamefully shook her head.

“No big deal if you don’t know.” Meng Jue smiled and put some food in her bowl “This is complicated so I’ll give a quick overview. When the current Emperor ascended the throne he was still young, so Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che selected four Regents for the young Emperor. They are: Shang Guan Jie, San Hong Yang, Jin Ri Chan, and Huo Guang. Of these four, Jin Ri Chan fell ill and died early. The other three are now the top three officials in the Han dynasty. The current Empress is Shang Guan Xiao Mei, the granddaughter of both Shang Guan Jie and Huo Guang. She is only twelve years old this year, but she has been Empress for six years already.”

“So Shang Guan An is a relative to Empress Shang Guan?”

“Empress Shang Guan is the daughter of Shang Guan An. And Shang Guan An’s father is one of the Regents Shang Guan Jie. Plus Shang Guan An’s father-in-law is the other Regent Huo Guang, whose official t.i.tle is the Great General Xi Ma.”

Yun Ge said “ah!” and then she couldn’t eat anymore. All these great general this and that, Yun Ge couldn’t figure out all their t.i.tles and positions. But she understood Empress. Since Empress Shang Guan entered the Palace at age six, that was enough to demonstrate how much power the two families behind her had. No wonder Xu Ping Jun was crying and sold the jade for money. If the person was gone, what used is the jade.

“But Meng Jue, the person wasn’t killed by Liu Bing Yi! Even if he did something wrong, all he did was injure the young lord. Can’t we find out who actually killed the person?”

“Liu Bing Yi is the head of the hooligan band outside Chang An city. If one of his guys killed a servant, with their code of honor, don’t you think they would never let Liu Bing Yi take the fall for them. Lots of them want to turn themselves in, but they have all been kicked out of the government office, claiming their stories are full of holes.”

Yun Ge furrowed her brows “So you’re saying it wasn’t one of Liu Bing Yi’s guys who killed someone……could it be one of the young lord’s men who killed someone? Or maybe there is a deeper conspiracy….”

Meng Ju nodded “Even if it wasn’t exactly like this, you’re not terribly off. Liu Bing Yi knew the young master Li’s background and was trying to control himself, but when the other side picked a fight, Liu Bing Yi must already suspect it wasn’t really over a c.o.c.k fight dispute. When Emperor Wu of Han was on the throne, he kept raising taxes for his military expansion spend. This caused the populace to suffer greatly and the population to almost dwindle in half. The current Emperor keeps lowering taxes to give the populace a reprieve and returned it to the taxation amounts set by his grandfather Emperor Wen of Han. But the scholarly officials in court are in a schism over it, splitting into factions. Huo Guang is one faction, Xang Hong Yang is another factor, and Shang Guan Jie is yet another faction.”

Meng Jue lowered his eyes and stared at his tea cup, seemingly deep in his own thoughts. He talked about Emperor Wu, then Emperor Wen, and then raising and lowering taxes. Yun Ge understood the gist of it but mostly she didn’t understand much. Even though it didn’t sound like it had anything to do with Liu Bing Yi, but must be related, so Yun Ge tried hard to listen carefully.

Meng Jue raised his head and looked at Yun Ge, his dark eyes seemingly speaking to her, like it was searching for something, or hinting at something. Yun Ge didn’t understand so she looked apologetically at Meng Jue “I’m sorry, I only understood the taxation stuff, I don’t know about those various factions.”

Meng Jue appear to snap out of it and his eyes returned to normal. He said with a casual smile “I was off on a tangent. Simply put is this. This area is under the control of Shang Guan Jie, who has not lowered taxes for his people per the Emperor’s decree. The people are mostly illiterate and easy to fool, but Liu Bing Yi is not stupid. He has been raising questions about why the taxes are not lowered. If things get big, Shang Guan Jie will be in trouble. Perhaps Li Xu was also used, but things worked out perfectly and now Shang Guan Jie can sit back and watch a troublemaker removed for him.”

Yun Ge sat there in a daze, not moving, while Meng Jue just silently stared at her. So this was a trap, a deadly trap. Shang Guan Jie, Shang Guan An, these foreign names represent the highest levels of power. A commoner will never be able to oppose them.

Yun Ge stood up “Meng Jue, can you lend me some money? I might need a lot, a lot. I want to buy the jailer to see Ling…..to see Liu Bing Yi. I also need to buy something else.” Meng Jue sipped his tea “No problems with borrowing money, but money is not enough to save someone. Does your family have any ideas?”

Yun Ge got teary “If this was Xi Yu, or even further West in any of those exotic countries, likely my daddy can help me. My daddy may not be a n.o.ble and is just a commoner, but I always felt like there is nothing my daddy can’t do. But this is the Han dynasty, this is Chang An. My mom and my daddy have never been here. My Second and Third Brothers have never been here. And…..and they will never come here.”

When Yun Ge was talking, Meng Jue kept staring at her eyes, as if a.s.sessing the truth of her words. His expression didn’t change, but his eyes showed a twinge of disappointment.

Yun Ge sat down with a dejected sigh “Awhile ago I was mad at my mom and my daddy, but now I wish my daddy or my brothers were high officials in the Han dynasty. But even if they had power, they can’t top an Empress! Unless it was the Emperor himself. I wish I had practiced my martial arts skills, so I can go break into a jail and save a person. Knowing how to cook is useless.”

Meng Jue smiled “Jail breaking is a major offense. You might be willing to break in, but Liu Bing Yi might not be willing to be a fugitive for life with you. You would never be able to return home, and must constantly be on the move.”

Yun Ge looked sad and her head kept dropping further and further down “Cooking?” Meng Jue suddenly said “I have an idea. Do you want to try it?” Yun Ge jumped up “I’m willing! I’m willing to do anything!”

“You eat first and I’ll tell you after dinner.” “I’ll eat, I promise to eat, so can you tell me as we’re eating?”

Yun Ge pleaded with Meng Jue, who had no choice but to agree “Right now only one person, the Great General Huo Guang can change this situation around. Like you said, someone died, but it wasn’t by Liu Bing Yi’s hands.”

“But this Huo Guang is Shang Guan An’s father-in-law, why would he help me?” Meng Jue played with his cup “In the royal family, a relative and an enemy are a thin line apart, constantly changing. Rumor is Huo Guang enjoys his fine dining. If you can gain his attention, you can argue your case with him. If you succeed, Liu Bing Yi might not get executed. But if you fail, you might offend the Huo family and the consequences are…… Do you understand?”

Yun Ge nodded “I understand. Even if the chance is miniscule, I want to try it.”

“I’ll buy a connection in the government office so Liu Bing Yi isn’t mistreated in jail. Then we can try to gain Huo Guang’s attention so that he comes to eat your cooking. That is all I can do, the rest is up to you.”

Yun Ge stood up and respectfully bowed to Meng Jue, her heart full of grat.i.tude “Thank you!”

“Why so polite?” Meng Jue stretched and returned half a bow “Why are you so concerned about Liu Bing Yi? Isn’t he a stranger to you?” Yun Ge sighed and because of her grat.i.tude to Meng Jue didn’t want to keep this from him “He and I, when we were kids…..he was a good friend of mine. We haven’t seen each other in many years, so he has already forgotten me. And I don’t intend to tell him about our past.”

Meng Jue was silent for a moment and then said “Yes! It’s been many years, so it’s understandable that he doesn’t recognize you.”

Who knows how Meng Jue did it, but within a short period of time he got the hottest dancers, the most talented poets, and big and small officials all to come out to sample Qi Li Xiang’s cuisine. Even the Inner Person of the eldest princess came to try Yun Ge’s cooking.

Yun Ge’s face would turn red when she thought about her bugging Meng Jue to explain who an Inner Person was and what his official t.i.tle was. Meng Jue didn’t blink an eye and answered “An Inner Person is not an official t.i.tle, it’s a way to identify his status. He is someone who uses his body to serve the princess. It’s a male version of a concubine to the Emperor. This Inner Person is Ding Wai Ren and he’s currently the favorite of the princess. You be careful, but don’t worry much. He took my money and won’t cause you any trouble.”

Meng Jue suggested Yun Ge just cook and leave everything else to Uncle Chang, and since Yun Ge loved cooking and disliked socializing, she took Meng Jue’s advice. Under Meng Jue’s orders, Uncle Chang purposely concealed Yun Ge’s ident.i.ty and gender, so none of the guests ever met Yun Ge.

With Yun Ge’s cooking and Meng Jue’s coordination, news of this mysterious new chef spread like wildfire in Chang An. Qi Li Xiang also became famous because of Yun Ge and opened a restaurant within Chang An. Within a short time its name recognition was inching close to the one hundred year old Yi Ping Ju.

Yi Ping Ju and Qi Li Xiang agreed to hold a compet.i.tion with five judges to determine whose cuisine reigned supreme. Meng Jue suggested two hidden judging booths to sell to a personage who wanted to be a judge but because of their lofty ident.i.ty didn’t want to be known.

Yi Ping Ju has over a hundred years tradition in Chang An and many rich kids grew up eating there. Qi Li Xiang was just a small restaurant outside Chang An, so the owner of Yi Ping Ju agreed with Meng Jue’s suggestion since the more n.o.ble judge the better it is for them to win.

Under the mutual cooperation of Yi Ping Ju and Qi Li Xiang, this cooking compet.i.tion became the talk of the town from the highest officials to the lowest beggars, all wondering if the lofty Yi Ping Ju would win or the ordinary Qi Li Xiang.

Some thought Yi Ping Ju had the history, the experienced chefs, the high quality ingredients, and managed to weather a hundred years in Chang An, of course it would win. Others bet on Qi Li Xiang, with its innovative new dishes, and the fact that its new chef became so famous so quickly in Chang An meant that there was likely a powerful backer.

With all this discussion, the gambling houses all took bets on the outcome. Yun Ge could care less about the outcome, and inside she really didn’t like all this heightened interest and fancy jabber. All she was worried about was whether Huo Guang would come. “Meng Jue, do you think this is enough to interest Huo Guang to come?”