In the kitchen, several cooks were bustling about, washing and chopping vegetables, and tending to fires and stoves while chatting among themselves.
“We’ll be moving to the Inner City soon,” one cook smiled as she chopped vegetables.
The commoners of the capital yearned for the Inner City just as Ling Yin yearned for good food. While not everyone living in the Outer City was from the lower class, those residing in the Inner City were undoubtedly all wealthy. Both in terms of living conditions and security, the Inner City far surpassed the Outer City. There were virtually no slums, and young ladies could shop without fear. They could even venture down quiet alleys confidently, though such behavior wasn’t necessarily recommended.
“Young Master is making something of himself. I heard Madam say that mansion cost five thousand taels,” said the cook washing vegetables.
“Five thousand taels? That’s about the same as our current mansion,” commented the cook tending the fire.
“What do you know?” the vegetable-washing cook spat. “I heard Madam say that mansion is worth at least seven thousand taels, even grander than our current one.”
As for why it only cost five thousand taels, that was obviously due to Young Master’s capabilities. As a Night Watchman, getting a discounted price on a mansion must have been effortless for him.
“Madam told us we’ll be moving to the Inner City in a few days. Let me tell you, it’s so prosperous there.”
Many of the lower-class residents in the Outer City rarely had the chance to visit the Inner City. Without a horse or carriage, walking from the Outer City to the Inner City took one to two hours. Setting out in the afternoon meant arriving near sunset.
The servants were extremely excited about moving to the Inner City, working more diligently these days for fear of being dismissed. Except for Lu E, who had been sold to the Xu family since childhood and could be freely bedded by Young Master Xu, the other servants were on term contracts.
“I’ve noticed something…” the vegetable-chopping cook suddenly interjected. When the other two cooks looked over, she lowered her voice and said:
“Madam keeps bragging about Young Master more and more, always talking about him, but whenever he comes home, she never gives him a friendly face.”
“Ahem…”
Suddenly, a cough from outside interrupted the cooks’ gossip.
“Young Master, why are you here?” the cooks asked in surprise.
The kitchen, being such an oily and dirty place, wasn’t somewhere the masters should visit.
*You old women sure love to gossip… As if Aunt would ever brag about me…* Xu Qi An thought as he held a bowl and nodded, saying, “I’ve created a special recipe. I’m here to help you cook.”
Xu Qi An looked around. The kitchen wasn’t exactly messy, but it wasn’t clean either. After years of cooking fumes, the walls and stoves were coated with a layer of grease that couldn’t be wiped away. However, as long as the pots, bowls, and utensils were washed regularly, it wasn’t a problem.
“What’s that?” The cooks turned their attention to the bowl in his hands, which contained something sticky.
“It’s something good. Don’t look too closely, it’s a secret recipe.” Xu Qi An turned slightly, preventing the cooks from seeing his treasure.
The cooks paid no mind and continued their work. If Young Master wanted to stay, he could stay – he was the master, and they were servants. Servants had no business controlling their masters. Besides, every time Madam argued with him, she ended up rolling her eyes in frustration.
In the family, apart from the Master, probably only the silver-tongued Second Young Master could match Young Master in verbal sparring.
Xu Qi An stood to the side watching. The first dish was stir-fried winter bamboo shoots with meat. As the cook was stir-frying, he added a small spoonful of his “chicken essence.”
Then he picked up some with his chopsticks, tasted it, and nodded slightly.
The umami flavor had increased significantly, though it still couldn’t compare to real chicken essence.
*Inosinic acid and monosodium glutamate complement each other… To achieve the taste from my previous life, I’ll still need to develop MSG…* Xu Qi An was fairly satisfied.
Seeing this, the cook took her chopsticks and picked up a piece of bamboo shoot to taste carefully.
Her eyes instantly widened, forgetting about the cooking.
The flavor was both familiar and strange to her. It had the taste of chicken, but the chicken could never be this savory. Just a small spoonful had elevated the bamboo shoots’ flavor several levels, something that even superior stock couldn’t achieve.
Xu Qi An glanced at her and quickly took over the cooking to prevent the food from burning.
“Does it… taste good?” The other two cooks looked at her with interest.
“It’s, it’s delicious! I’ve never eaten such flavorful food before…” the cook said excitedly.
…
In the front hall, Xu Lingyu arrived at mealtime, looking around and asking sweetly, “Where’s Big Brother?”
Usually at this time, Big Brother would already be sitting at the table waiting to eat, teasing Ling Yin by tickling her sides.
Or he would be arguing with his Mother, aunt, and nephew disliking each other.
“It’s his rest day, he might be at the Court of Imperial Entertainment,” said Xu Pingzhi, lowering his head to polish his sword.
“Father’s talking nonsense, Big Brother doesn’t even visit brothels,” Xu Lingyu puffed her cheeks, clearly displeased.
*…Yes, I used to think that too… Your Big Brother who never visited brothels is now the most sought-after man among the Court’s courtesans…*
Xu Pingzhi sighed inwardly and said, “He’s at the Qi Realm now, he no longer needs to maintain celibacy. Visiting the Court is only natural, what man doesn’t go…”
Suddenly feeling killing intent from the side, Xu Pingzhi continued polishing his sword without looking up, quickly correcting himself: “Your father and Second Brother never go there. Ning Yan might have gone, but only for social obligations, he had no choice.
“Come to think of it, the men of our Xu family don’t fancy such places.”
Xu Lingyu believed her father’s words, thinking of her proud Second Brother and honest Big Brother, who indeed weren’t the type to frequent such establishments.
She made a sound of acknowledgment and sat contentedly at the table.
“Mother, I want to go to Guiyue Tower,” Ling Yin crawled out from under the table, startling her aunt.
Her aunt ignored her. Second Uncle Xu earnestly educated his daughter: “Ling Yin, we can’t go to Guiyue Tower too often, it costs money.”
“Big Brother took me there yesterday,” Ling Yin protested.
“Then ask your Big Brother to take you,” Xu Pingzhi waved his hand, unwilling to continue educating his daughter. This daughter was too foolish; even the teachers at Yunlu Academy couldn’t teach her.
Aunt sighed: “They say the chef at Guiyue Tower used to work in the palace, his skills are unmatched in the capital. How wonderful it would be if we could hire such a chef.”
“It smells so good…” Ling Yin suddenly said, twitching her nose and looking toward the door.
A second later, Xu Pingzhi, at the peak of Qi Realm, caught the rich aroma.
Soon after, the cooks brought in the dishes, accompanied by Xu Qi An. However, even Xu Lingyu, who loved her Big Brother the most, didn’t pay attention to him, her gaze fixed firmly on the dishes.
Glistening stir-fried winter bamboo shoots with meat, vinegar-dressed cabbage, yam soup, stir-fried chives with eggs, lotus root stewed with pork ribs, spicy water chestnuts… and the pork knuckles that Xu Qi An had personally fried.
“Today’s dishes smell especially good,” Xu Pingzhi said with surprise.
He beckoned, and a piece of crispy-skinned pork knuckle covered in grayish sauce flew to him. Inhaling the mouth-watering aroma, Xu Pingzhi eagerly put it in his mouth and chewed.
“How can it be so delicious?” he exclaimed in shock.
“Master is being too dramatic,” Aunt pursed her lips. After the cooks arranged the dishes, she picked up some bamboo shoots with her chopsticks. After a few chews, her beautiful eyes widened instantly.
The dishes were the same as always, nothing special, but that savory taste exploded on the taste buds, delivering a sensory impact.
Usually, when cooking, they would at most add a ladle of stock, and even stock had its grades. In reality, it wasn’t as delicious as imagined because, in this era, the stock wasn’t enhanced with MSG and other seasonings, so its flavor-enhancing capabilities were limited.
Including chicken soup or mushrooms, eating mushrooms alone would make people feel umami, but Xu Qi An used the essence extracted from two whole baskets, creating an extremely intense impact on the taste buds.
Aunt looked at the cooks in amazement, her eyes sparkling: “Today’s dishes are quite different from usual, how did you achieve this?”
Xu Lingyu and Xu Pingzhi also stopped their chopsticks, waiting with interest for the cooks’ answer.
Only Ling Yin didn’t care; she only cared about how much delicious food she could get into her stomach.
“It’s Young Master’s secret recipe…” the cooks quickly waved their hands.
Everyone suddenly looked at Xu Qi An, and Xu Pingzhi asked in surprise: “Where did you get this recipe?”
Xu Lingyu and Aunt looked at him curiously.
Xu Qi An continued eating quickly while explaining: “I just felt our home cooking was bland, and Guiyue Tower’s food is too expensive, so I experimented with some things. Looks like the taste isn’t bad.”
Second Uncle Xu nodded slightly, then turned to look at the table and exclaimed: “Ling Yin!”
Ling Yin had climbed onto the table and was pulling the dishes closer to herself.
“They’re all mine,” she said crisply, furrowing her brows.
…
Xu Qi An arrived at the yamen at the Hour of Mao, and until noon, he didn’t do anything except deal with the returning bronze and silver gong-bearers who had been imprisoned.
They had already learned about the Ministry of Works Minister’s downfall from their colleagues yesterday, as well as the case that determined their fate.
If it weren’t for Xu Qi An’s role in between, many of their fates might have changed.
Having finally dealt with them, Xu Qi An tied on his bronze gong and hung his sword – his afternoon duty was street patrol.
“Ning Yan, you haven’t been to the Court of Imperial Entertainment for a while,” the usually quiet Zhu Guangxiao suddenly said.
*Because now I have the illusion that it’s not me visiting the courtesans, but them visiting me…* Xu Qi An said helplessly: “I feel I’m almost at the peak of Qi Realm, I’m planning to attempt breaking through to the Spirit Realm.”
Peak of Qi Realm… Zhu Guangxiao and Song Tingfeng stared at him blankly.
They were both at the peak of Qi Realm, which wasn’t difficult. As long as one accumulated practice in breathing techniques, reaching the peak was just a matter of time.
The difficult part was accumulating merits to exchange for visualization charts.
But Xu Qi An had only joined the Night Watch for barely two months, and he was already at the peak of Qi Realm – what kind of talent was this?
“Then you better accumulate some merits,” Song Tingfeng said sourly, then added gloomily: “But with what you’ve accumulated since the Sangbo case until now, it seems like it’s already enough.”
“Mm.” Xu Qi An casually changed the subject: “I plan to save up for two weeks before going to the Court.”
The Court of Imperial Entertainment was always their best topic for livening up the atmosphere. Song Tingfeng winked: “Then Courtesan Fu Xiang will suffer.”
*She won’t suffer, she’ll just overflow, just like the right side…* Xu Qi An glanced to the right.
As they walked and talked, reaching the yamen entrance, the three men’s attention was drawn to a tall, sturdy monk in green robes.
His robes were slightly worn, he wore a large string of prayer beads around his neck, and his bald head had two rows of scars. His expression was one of deep suffering.
It was Monk Heng Yuan.
Seeing Xu Qi An come out, Heng Yuan’s eyes brightened, and he strode forward, palms pressed together: “Lord Xu.”
*No lending, get lost…* Xu Qi An interrupted him, saying helplessly: “Venerable Heng Yuan, I have official duties. Let’s keep this brief. This official only earns five taels of silver per month, my purse is quite thin.”
As he spoke, his gaze dropped to see Heng Yuan’s cloth shoes were already tattered, with two toes poking out.
*So he’s here to borrow money from Ning Yan…* Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao glared at Heng Yuan unfavorably.
Seeing Xu Qi An’s outright refusal, Heng Yuan remained silent for a long while, then bowed and said: “This poor monk understands.”
Watching the big monk’s lonely departing figure, Xu Qi An was inexplicably reminded of his father from his middle school days, who had traveled far to bring him food at school, only to leave with the same lonely figure after being complained impatiently for not bringing the food on time.
“Hey… wait,” Xu Qi An called out to him, letting out a sigh: “How much do you want to borrow this time? Let’s be clear upfront – if it’s too much, I won’t lend it. I don’t have much silver recently.”