Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2722 Still Vigorous in Old Age 106.0
"How many?" Jin Miaomiao picked at her ear, looking at Chu Han blankly. "Fifty portions? Are you sure you didn't misremember?"

"I'm absolutely sure, I haven't misremembered." Chu Han couldn't help but smile when he saw Jin Miaomiao's expression. "Aren't you incredibly surprised? Aren't you utterly incredulous?"

“That’s fifty servings of su luo, for a whole day!” Jin Miaomiao frowned deeply. “Su luo is good and expensive, but it’s not eaten like this, and it’s not suitable for everyone. If you don’t eat it properly, you can easily get sick, and it could be a serious illness.” She reached out and patted Shen Cha. “As for her, I can only allow her to have a bite or two during the hottest days of summer. Otherwise, I don’t let her touch it.”

“Hmm!” Shen Cha nodded. “She said the ingredients for su luo are all kinds of milk, goat milk, cow milk, and camel milk.” She looked at Xiao Fengqi and Qi Zhifeng. “Last time in Linhuang Prefecture, we tried camel milk, didn’t we? The taste was a little strange.”

“Yes, su luo is mainly made from various types of milk. Goat milk is more common and more prevalent where I'm from. But as Lord Jin said, it's too cooling, and if you overindulge, you can easily get sick.” Xiao Fengqi looked at Chu Han. “I don’t know what it’s like in Da Xia. If they sell su luo there, they’ll have small bowls, about this big.” He looked at the teacup on the table and pointed to it. “They also have large portions, the kind that a family can share. It’s a whole pot, about the size of the pot used for brewing tea.”

“It’s like that here too, but in Jiangnan,” Shen Cha hesitated for a moment, “it shouldn’t be like that, their large portion should be about the size of a teacup!”

“Xiao Cha, that’s just your prejudice. Although Jiangnan is known for its refined tastes, it’s not this extreme.” Chu Han was both amused and exasperated by Shen Cha’s words. “However, we don’t differentiate between small and large portions.” He thought for a moment and looked at the teacup. “It’s probably about a size bigger than this.”

"Fifty servings is still too much!" Jin Miaomiao looked at the teacup and estimated its size. "This bowl should be shared by two people."

“That’s what I mean.” Xia Jiu looked at it. “Seriously, the palace couldn’t make that many portions of su luo in a day.”

“It’s impossible to make it even in a year, let alone a day. Although it’s very precious, not many people are willing to eat it.” Song Yaojia nodded. “At most, people would have a small bowl during the hottest part of summer to cool off and feel a little better, but they had to control the amount. When the late Empress Dowager was still alive, she would remind the palace staff every summer not to be greedy for cold things and not to eat too much of this kind of cheese, lest it harm their health.”

“That’s true.” Xia Jiu nodded. “Although the late Empress Dowager chose a different path from us, she still urged us to take care of ourselves. She felt that no matter what, taking care of our health was the most important thing.”

“If you keep listening, you’ll find it even more unbelievable.” Chu Han tapped the table lightly. “I overheard the shopkeeper chatting with this steward-like person. They said that this person has been ordering cheese for three consecutive days, fifty portions each time, and the payment has been made.”

"Ordered for three consecutive days? Fifty servings each time?"

Everyone was shocked. They had lived a life of luxury since childhood and had never worried about food or drink, but it seemed that no one had ever ordered fifty servings of cheese for three consecutive days.

“This isn’t just a minor problem, is it?” Shen Cha counted on her fingers and said, “At current prices, a serving of Su Luo (酥酪) costs about 100 wen. Fifty servings would be 5 guan (贯), and 15 guan for three consecutive days, equivalent to a month’s salary for an ordinary county magistrate. And that’s the current price. Back then, it would probably have cost 30 guan or even more.” She looked at Chu Han, “Right?” “That’s right. Back then, a bowl of Su Luo cost around 150 to 200 wen. Because it was rare, it was extremely expensive. When you were young, it was either a gift from the palace or something your family could make at home. But those who didn’t have those means had to buy it from outside. At that time, there were probably only two or three places selling Su Luo in Yangzhou, and the quality varied. The teahouse we’re in has pretty good quality, so it’s very expensive.” Chu Han looked at Xiao Fengqi and Qi Zhifeng, “Su Luo should be common where you are?”

"It's a rare item. Various kinds of milk are indeed very common, but ice is not. This stuff is rare anywhere and anytime. As for the price, it should be a bit cheaper than in Daxia, but a small portion is still seventy or eighty coins a bowl, and a large portion is about one hundred and twenty or thirty coins."

"This price is a bit too cheap!"

“The raw materials must be very cheap; the expensive part is the ice, which is relatively better.” Xiao Fengqi stroked his chin, a little puzzled, and said, “What kind of family is this? What kind of wealth do they have? Ordering fifty portions at once is already excessive, and they even ordered for three consecutive days.” He looked at Chu Han, “If I were in their shoes, I would definitely be suspicious too.”

“That’s for sure. If you didn’t have doubts, you couldn’t do this job.” Chu Han sighed softly and said, “These kinds of expensive things are mostly eaten by the head of the household. But how big is a family? Does the head of the household have so many people? And there are probably quite a few people who don’t actually like this kind of thing, right?”

"That's true. Many people will find it unpleasant to eat; they'll just try it out of curiosity."

"So, why are they able to order so many? And for three consecutive days, it means the people who eat this really like it, right? Or are they trying to use this to please someone, is that it?"

"Yes, that makes sense." Shen Cha nodded. "So, will you go alone, or will you go with someone from the Prince of Jing's residence?"

“Of course it’s someone from the Prince’s Mansion, just like Bu Hui and the others, they specialize in this kind of thing.” Chu Han raised an eyebrow at Shen Cha and said, “The people around me are not as good as your Shadow Detectives. It’s better to find someone who is good at this kind of thing. Originally, the people who went with me to investigate were not happy and wanted to go on their own. I didn’t object and let them go. But they came back on their own after following half of it.”

"Lost?"

"That's right, we lost them. When they came back, they all looked ashamed and embarrassed to see me."

"Actually, what they did was quite good. It provided cover for the people in the Prince's Mansion. If that person discovered someone was following him, all his attention would be focused on one side, and he wouldn't have time to worry about the others."

“That’s right, that’s why I don’t object to them.” Chu Han snapped his fingers. “My men followed that steward-like guy all the way to a villa outside Yangzhou City. They sneaked in and found that there were actually dozens of children living in the villa.”