Chapter 155 - Leaving Reluctantly (1/2)

In the afternoon, Xiaocao had gone over to Madam Mao’s to buy two ducks. She let the duck blood flow into a small basin and used the duck offal to braise along with the pig intestines.

At this moment, the braised food had just finished cooking and the whole courtyard was enveloped in its tantalizing smell. As the emperor emeritus entered the residence, he forcefully breathed in the air and an intoxicated expression appeared on his face. He muttered to himself, “This is the exact smell! The only braised pig head meat that tastes authentic is the one that this little girl makes!”

When he saw the vermicelli drying in the courtyard, he guffawed heartily, “I knew that the little lass would be able to make it happen! Isn’t that right?! Girl, little girl! Add a ‘pork stewed with vermicelli’ to the table!!”

Yu Xiaocao came out of the kitchen to see the fuss and greeted both the Zhao Family members and the emperor emeritus. She then rolled her eyes at the person who had added another request, “Fifth Lord, if you can conjure up some pork right now, then I will make you some pork stewed with vermicelli!”

“Look at you, you’re claiming you’re poor in front of this lord!! Last time I gave you quite a bit of money for that recipe, don’t tell me you can’t afford to eat pork then? Hey! You’re becoming more and more gutsy nowadays, little girl, ah. You even dare to roll your eyes at this lord, eh?” Although the emperor emeritus wasn’t young anymore, his eyes and ears were still quite sharp. He naturally didn’t miss Xiaocao rolling her eyes at him.

By now, Yu Xiaocao already had a good idea of what the emperor emeritus’s personality was like. If he truly wanted to punish her for her transgressions, then she already would have been punished a billion times by now. She daringly made a funny face at the emperor emeritus and grinned provokingly, “How so? You’re old, so you must have been seeing things——the duck blood and vermicelli soup will soon be done. Fifth Lord, please sit down for now.”

Fang Zizhen was stunned silly by his adopted daughter’s reckless conduct. She was being impudent to the highest authority in the land, the emperor emeritus, who was known for being brutal and callous when needed. In order to preserve his adopted daughter’s life, he hurriedly pleaded for leniency, “Fifth Lord, this little girl doesn’t know the consequences of her actions. She’s still a child, please don’t lower yourself to her level.”

The emperor emeritus imitated Xiaocao’s conduct and rolled his eyes at Fang Zizhen, “Do you really need to butt in? For the sake of the duck blood and vermicelli soup, I’ll forgive you this time——cut a portion of the braised pig head meat and pig ears for now, and mix in some garlic paste too!!”

Yu Xiaocao was so busy in the kitchen that she couldn’t do much else, so Xiaolian took out the braised pig head, pig ear strips with chili oil, pig intestines with scallions, spicy and numbing pig tripe, stir-fried pig liver, and five-spiced spicy duck to the guests. Every dish was piled high and there was even enough for the imperial guards to eat too. As for the court eunuch who brought the imperial decree, Zhang Quan, he had been ordered back to the capital by the emperor emeritus after lunch.

Originally, the amount of food that was prepared was quite abundant. However, both the emperor emeritus and Fang Zizhen had ultra-sized stomachs. In addition, there were four people from the Zhao Family there too, so it was a bit lacking. The two burners on the kitchen stove were both on high heat. One of them was stewing some duck soup and the other one was being used by Yu Xiaocao, who was brandishing a spatula, to saute a few vegetable dishes.

“Come in, come in, come in! Don’t be polite! Try some of the fruits of the little lass Xiaocao’s labor!!” The emperor emeritus had taken charge of this meal as he sat on a simple and crude wooden stool. His eyes stared at the table full of food. and he started wielding his chopsticks without regard for the others.

The Yu Family’s new dining table wasn’t very big, so it was a bit crowded from seating six large, brawny men. With the imposing emperor emeritus at the table, the rest of the people couldn’t fully express themselves. Luckily, the emperor emeritus didn’t have many airs and the way he ate increased other people’s appetites. When he was pleased from eating the food, he would even grab a chopstick bite of the dish for General Zhao Zimo to share. General Zhao felt quite overwhelmed by his favor.

With his mouth full of delectable pig head meat, crispy pig ears, and fatty intestines, the emperor emeritus felt like he had finally tasted the flavor he had been craving for. He really wanted to settle down at Dongshan Village as a longtime resident!

When he had eaten almost to his fill, the emperor emeritus looked at the vermicelli drying in the courtyard. He remarked with emotion in his voice, “I really miss the taste of pork stewed with vermicelli ah! It’s been on my mind for decades, and I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to taste it again in this lifetime…”

General Zhao Zimo looked at the former chief of the volunteer army, who had once been vigorous and full of energy. Now, the man’s hair had turned completely white and there were a lot of wrinkles on his face. His back also wasn’t as straight and brawny as before. A sorrowful feeling settled in his heart and the thought of a ‘hero who is past his prime’ flickered through his mind. He quietly asked, “Is it difficult to make pork stewed with vermicelli? I know what pork is, but I’ve never heard of vermicelli. This official is ignorant and inexperienced, so this is the first time I’ve heard of that.”

“Look!” The emperor emeritus faced the bamboo poles that held the drying strips and pouted, “That is vermicelli. I didn’t expect that by just mentioning it, the little girl really figured out how to make them. Although I can tell that the thickness of the noodles are not very even, the taste should still be the same! Now that everything else is prepared, we only lack the pork ah! If we had some fatty streaky pork, that would be even better! Ah! Dongshan Village is still a bit too desolate, it doesn’t even have a place to buy meat from!”

Fang Zizhen was also quite interested in the ‘pork stewed with vermicelli’ that the emperor emeritus kept mentioning. He suddenly had an idea and smiled, “Fifth Lord, although there isn’t a place to buy meat from in Dongshan Village, there are still people who raise pigs here ah! If you really want to eat some, we could buy a big, fat pig and then slaughter it…”

“Mingzhe!!” Zhao Zimo wasn’t quite sure what to do with his occasionally unreliable apprentice. He really didn’t know how this confused man managed to survive decades during the chaos of the start of the dynasty. The man didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut and use his brain.

Fang Zizhen lowered his head sadly like a child who had said something wrong. He stealthily glanced at his master and then quickly looked down again.

Zhao Zimo glared at him fiercely. What kind of rotten idea did this dumb schmuck come up with? The current emperor promoted being frugal and economical and had a great reputation among the commoners. If they especially slaughtered a pig right now and the word came out, that would damage the imperial family’s reputation! This stupid rascal, did he want to become a conniving favored official ah?