Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2864 Master Qingsong 82.0
“The Earl of Yong’an will likely become the target of everyone’s attacks this time he goes to the capital.” Shen Cha looked at Shen Haolin and Song Yaojia. “This makes things much easier for us. We won’t stand out too much among so many people, right?”

“No one except those in the palace, the Xia family, my father, my uncle, and my youngest uncle would have guessed that those two elders would make a move. But the three in the palace and our family are being watched every move. To be precise, they are being watched by all the royal relatives and nobles in the capital. Once they make a move, those people will follow up with the finishing blow.” Song Yaojia smiled. “But there’s nothing we can do about it. What’s coming will come. Let’s see how the Earl of Yong’an handles it!”

"What else can he do but use his in-laws as a shield?" Jin Miaomiao sneered. "He did the same thing before, pushing his in-laws in front while he hid behind. Now he's doing it again, so he's quite adept at it. However, whether he'll get his way this time is uncertain. Besides, he won't be the only one being criticized this time, right?"

“His youngest son and daughter-in-law are both involved, so they can’t get away with it.”

"Yes."

Jin Miaomiao put down her chopsticks and stretched. Halfway through her stretch, she caught a glimpse of the food boxes on the ground and suddenly remembered that there was a bowl of noodles that Master Mo had just made on the bottom layer of one of the food boxes.

She quickly sat up straight, rummaged through the food box, and took out the large bowl of noodles inside, placing it on the small table.

"smell good!"

"It smells good!" Jin Miaomiao waved to Song Yaojia. "Stop talking about the Earl of Yong'an, Your Highness. It's such a downer. This is Old Mo's mixed noodles. Come and try it."

"Such a big bowl?" Shen Cha looked at the huge bowl, or rather, the huge basin of noodles, and said with a mix of amusement and exasperation, "How worried he was that we would go hungry, making so many noodles for us in the middle of the night."

“Boss, that’s what I said too, but Old Mo said he knows we definitely won’t be able to sleep tonight, and who knows what we’ll do after we finish talking, so being full is better than anything else.” Mei Lin looked at Shen Haolin and Song Yaojia, who had already raised their hands, and used long chopsticks to put half a bowl of noodles into their bowls. “Can the boss eat this? It’s a little oily.”

"I don't want any more, I'll just have a bite from my brother." Shen Cha waved his hand, looked at Jin Miaomiao who was already slurping her food, smiled helplessly, and said, "Who ate that bowl of wontons just now?"

"It's supposed to be a bowl, but there are only four or five small wontons. How can that be enough?" Jin Miaomiao snorted twice and continued to rummage through the noodles in her bowl. "Besides, cursing the Earl of Yong'an for so long takes a lot of energy." She ate her noodles while looking at Song Yaojia. "Your Highness, shall we continue with the story of my advisor and Gongsun Yue? We already mentioned that my advisor asked His Highness the Eagle King for help, right?"

“That’s right!” Song Yaojia said, slowly twirling the noodles with her chopsticks. “Speaking of which, this was Gongsun Yue’s suggestion. It’s not that he couldn’t think of it, but that he didn’t have the face to ask his uncle for help, so he asked Master Qingsong to step in. Jin Yi, Ning Zhou, and Yan Chen didn’t have the same idea. The three of them are experts in criminal law, but when it comes to strategizing, they are far inferior to Gongsun Yue, that charlatan!”

"They probably think it's unnecessary?"

"Yes, they thought they didn't need them, just like you thought before. They felt that the people from the Ministry of Justice, the Court of Judicial Review, and the Prefectural Government were enough. Later, Master Qingsong explained to them the composition of the Gong and Ma families, telling them that those who could be released to do this kind of business, besides being good at talking and having a good brain, were the best in their families when it came to escaping. There were even quite a few vicious bandits among them. The people in the government offices were no match for them at all." Song Yaojia snorted. "They thought Gongsun Yue and the master were exaggerating, but when they went out the next day, they found that they had encountered many accidents on the road, including an assassination attempt. The guards in their mansion and the patrol soldiers who rushed to the scene were no match for the assassins. Only then did the three of them realize that they were ignorant and that what Gongsun Yue and Master Qingsong said was true."

"Some people will change after experiencing it once, but there are also those who will not turn back even after hitting a wall."

“Who says otherwise? Fortunately, those three aren’t that kind of people, and fortunately, Gongsun Yue didn’t wait for their consent before directly asking the master to beg my uncle. My uncle assigned a small team to the master and had them obey his orders.” “A small team?” Shen Cha thought for a moment. “Thirty people? That’s a lot. Even if those people are the most vicious, it’s more than enough.”

“That’s right. Ever since he got the manpower, Gongsun Yue’s demeanor has clearly changed. Even knowing someone is watching, he’s still fearless.” Song Yaojia nodded to Jin Miaomiao, then put the rolled-up noodles into his mouth. The moment they entered his mouth, his eyes involuntarily lit up. “Hey, this sauce.”

“It’s very special, isn’t it?” Shen Cha picked up a piece of food from Shen Haolin’s bowl with her chopsticks and said while eating, “It’s Old Master Mo’s exclusive recipe. So many people came to buy it with high prices, but it couldn’t be sold.”

"How much gold can 'heavy money' really be?"

"Hmm," Shen Cha thought for a moment, "Is one thousand taels of silver enough to buy this secret recipe?"

“It is indeed a hefty sum, but I think this secret recipe is worth more than a thousand taels.” Song Yaojia took another bite, looked at Jin Miaomiao, and said, “Can Uncle Wang eat this? It should be fine, right?”

"As long as it's not too oily, salty, or particularly spicy, there's nothing to worry about." Jin Miaomiao shoveled another half bowl of soup into her bowl. "Speaking of which, this actually suits His Highness Prince Ning's taste quite well." She glanced at Song Yaojia. "Has he always had a poor appetite?"

"It's not that he has no appetite, it's just that he doesn't eat much." Shen Cha had eaten with Prince Ning a few times and knew him a little. "He'd try a bite of every dish, take a bigger bite if he was interested, and just one bite if he wasn't, and then leave it. The head chef at the Prince's residence came from the palace and watched the young prince grow up, so he knows his tastes fairly well, but he also said that the young prince is a little different than before." She looked at Song Yaojia, "Is that so?"

"Well, so I was thinking, could Elder Mo teach me how to make this noodle? I'll go back and teach it to the head chef in the manor, or I can make it for Uncle Wang directly."

"Your Highness, a wise man keeps away from the kitchen."

"Hey!" Song Yaojia waved her hand. "That's what civil officials say. We don't have that kind of custom. Not to mention me, even my father and uncle will cook a few big dishes when they're in a good mood!"

“Master’s Eight Treasure Duck is quite famous in Beijing.” Shen Haolin nodded in agreement. “Taibaiju Restaurant also came to ask for the recipe, but no matter how much they asked, they could never make it taste like Master’s.”

“When you eat at home, you don’t have to worry about the cost, so you can use whatever ingredients are good. But it’s different in restaurants.” Song Yaojia waved his hand. “If we follow Uncle’s method, that eight-treasure duck would probably sell for an astronomical price.” He looked at Jin Miaomiao. “Do you think Old Mo will grant my request?”

“Yes, he will.” Before Jin Miaomiao could speak, Shen Cha interjected, “He’s not hiding anything, he just doesn’t want his recipe to be measured in money. But it’s not like that, Brother Yaojia. You really want Uncle Wang to have more food. Let Miaomiao go with you tomorrow. Miaomiao knows more about Uncle Wang’s situation and can explain it to you in a more organized way.”

"Yes, Your Highness, don't worry. There is a genuine need for this, and Elder Mo will not refuse."

Song Yaojia nodded, glanced at the large bowl of noodles, and sighed softly, hoping that his little Uncle Wang would like it!