Eagle-eyed and wolf-watching

Chapter 1521 The Queen’s Property!
Ye Mingsheng was a little surprised to hear An Miaoyi give such an answer, while Jing Ren on the side said with a look of surprise:

"Mother, is this your restaurant? Is there anything delicious here?"

When Jingren said this, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help laughing and shook his head, while An Miaoyi pinched Jingren's face and said unhappily:

"Jingren, why do you only think about eating every day? If you put your enthusiasm for eating, drinking and having fun into studying, would your study still be like this now?"

After hearing his mother say this, Jingren, who had just been full of surprise, immediately wilted like an eggplant hit by frost!
But An Miaoyi had no intention of letting him go, and kept chattering and admonishing him. Jingren looked to his father for help. Although Ye Mingsheng also felt that Jingren should be more attentive in his homework, seeing that An Miaoyi had no intention of stopping, the Emperor of Daqian also spoke:
"Miaoyi! Today, our family finally comes out to play, so you should stop now. When we get home, you can educate Jingren properly!"

Although An Miaoyi was speaking excitedly and wanted to continue criticizing Jingren for not studying hard and having a bad attitude, she immediately shut up when she saw Ye Mingsheng speaking.

Ye Mingsheng also changed the subject and criticized Jingren:

“Jingren doesn’t blame your mother for scolding you. You are indeed too playful. You are the eldest brother and the crown prince. You have to set an example for your younger brothers and sisters and make your mother worry less…”

Jingren nodded repeatedly when he heard that. At this time, Ye Mingsheng took the menu from the shopkeeper Wang next to him. However, looking at the menu in his hand, Ye Mingsheng was even more surprised.

Ye Mingsheng has been to five of the eight buildings in Yijing, but this is his first time to visit Xinkangji. Ye Mingsheng prefers Dongfenglou and Hongyunyuan. Dongfenglou is also on Houde Street. Every time Ye Mingsheng came to Houde Street before, he would go to Dongfenglou for dinner, as the dishes there are more to his taste!

If Ye Mingsheng hadn't brought An Miaoyi out today and wanted to take An Miaoyi to revisit the old place, he would not have come to Xin Kangji for dinner. Today was Ye Mingsheng's first time to come to Xin Kangji for dinner. He had never been here before.

And just now An Miaoyi said that Xin Kangji is her property, so Ye Mingsheng is also very interested in the dishes of Xin Kangji.

When you open the menu, you will find that Xin Kangji is really amazing. All major cuisines from the north and the south are included, including Sichuan cuisine's boiled fish, twice-cooked pork, and Kung Pao chicken, as well as Huaiyang cuisine's crab meat lion head, braised eel, and soup dumplings, and Shandong cuisine's nine-turn large intestine, scallion-fried sea cucumber, and braised prawns.

But Ye Mingsheng discovered a problem that was not too big or too small!
At this time, An Miaoyi saw Ye Mingsheng looking at the menu without saying anything, and thought that the dishes on the menu did not suit Ye Mingsheng's taste, so she immediately asked Shopkeeper Wang:
“Do you have Liaoyang dishes here?”

"Yes! We can make Liaoyang's pickled cabbage and pork, chicken stewed with mushrooms, sweet and sour pork, Liaoyang smoked chicken, braised pork slices and so on!"

Hearing this, An Miaoyi looked at Ye Mingsheng, and feeling An Miaoyi's gaze, Ye Mingsheng also spoke:
"Then let's have some boiled fish and sweet and sour pork first!"

After saying this, Ye Mingsheng handed the menu to Jingren who was standing beside him and said with a smile:

“You little greedy cat, you’ve been shouting about being hungry all the way. Now you’re at your mother’s property. Don’t be polite to your mother. Choose a few dishes carefully and order whatever you like. But don’t order too much and waste it…”

Jingren took the menu and immediately started to read it. However, after only looking at it for a few seconds, Jingren said happily:

"Wow! They have so many beef dishes! Stir-fried beef, cumin beef, beef stewed with persimmons, boiled beef, and braised beef!"

Jingren's words were unintentional, but his listeners were intentional. An Miaoyi, who was very sensitive to ZZ, immediately realized something when she heard what her son said, and her face changed slightly. At this time, Jingren had not yet realized the problem, and asked Wang the shopkeeper beside him expectantly:
"I love beef the most! Can you make any beef dishes here?"

At this time, the shopkeeper Wang of Xin Kang Ji did not have much political sensitivity and did not realize what was happening. On the contrary, looking at Jing Ren's expectant expression, he patted his chest and assured:
"Your Highness, we can cook all the dishes you see! We guarantee that you will be satisfied and happy with your meal!"

After hearing what Shopkeeper Wang said, An Miaoyi felt a headache and wished she could ask Qiqige to cover Shopkeeper Wang's mouth immediately. At the same time, she also regretted telling Ye Mingsheng that this was her property!
Ye Mingsheng said nothing, but just picked up the teacup and drank the tea. At this time, Jingren had also ordered the dishes. He ordered a cumin beef, a braised beef in soy sauce, and a scallion-fried sea cucumber.

After Jingren finished ordering, he handed the menu to An Miaoyi and said:

"What do you like to eat, mom?"

An Miaoyi had already realized the problem at this time. She was so upset that she had no appetite. She said casually:

“I don’t have anything I want to eat…”

Feeling the perfunctory tone in An Miaoyi's words, Ye Mingsheng also made direct arrangements:

"I want a crucian carp soup, boiled cabbage, and do you have gourd chicken?"

"Your Majesty, we have Gourd Chicken!"

"Then let's have another gourd chicken! Jingren, let me tell you that this gourd chicken is a Guanzhong dish, your mother's hometown dish, your mother loves it! Jingren, you have to remember this, next time you go to a restaurant with your mother, remember to order this for her!"

"Dad, I remember it!"

When An Miaoyi heard Ye Mingsheng say this, her expression became a little surprised, as if she did not expect Ye Mingsheng to remember these.

Under the personal supervision of Wang, the dishes ordered were quickly served to the table of Ye Mingsheng's family of three. Seeing the golden and crispy sweet and sour pork, Ye Mingsheng immediately picked up his chopsticks and tasted it. Feeling the crispy outside and tender inside of the sweet and sour pork, Ye Mingsheng could not help but nodded. Although Ye Mingsheng is from Liaoyang, he does not defend his shortcomings. Liaoyang cuisine has never been popular in history. It is mainly stewed dishes, basically pork stewed with vermicelli, chicken stewed with mushrooms, and various iron pot stews that are not on the table.
However, because the Fengwu Army rose in Liaoyang and subsequently unified the Central Plains, and many people in the Fengwu Army were from Liaoyang, Liaoyang cuisine also spread to the entire Daqian with these people. Restaurants across Daqian began to serve Liaoyang cuisine, otherwise restaurants in various places did not serve Liaoyang cuisine before.

Because of his early military career, Ye Mingsheng ate relatively quickly, and then sat on a chair and waited quietly·············
An Miaoyi, who was drinking soup, saw Ye Mingsheng like this and knew that Ye Mingsheng was waiting for her, so she stopped immediately. They have been married for so many years, and An Miaoyi also understands what kind of person Ye Mingsheng is, so she also knows more or less what Ye Mingsheng is thinking at this time, and immediately organized her words and said:

"I bought this Xin Kang Ji more than three years ago. At that time, I came to Houde Street to shop and happened to eat at Xin Kang Ji. I thought it was a good place, so I bought Xin Kang Ji!"

"After I bought Xin Kang Ji, I came here two or three times. After you, Your Majesty, became emperor, I have never been here again. I don't know the situation here!"

After saying this, An Miaoyi's eyes showed a bit of helplessness. She really didn't expect that going out for a meal could cause problems.

In Daqian, cattle are important agricultural production tools. One cow can replace the labor of several people and is a very valuable asset. Therefore, in order to promote agricultural development and ensure food for the people, Daqian law also explicitly stipulates that cattle cannot be slaughtered privately. Even if you are the owner of the cow, you have no right to kill the cow and sell beef!

Those who violate the law will be fined at the very least, and sent to prison to do hard labor at the worst. In particularly serious cases, they may even be beheaded!
Currently, the beef on the market in Daqian mainly comes from old cows or cows that have lost their ability to work due to accidents. Sick cows cannot be eaten.

Ordinary farmers can choose to sell their cattle to the government, which then slaughters and sells them. This is a controlled substance. Major restaurants and butcher shops need a license if they want to make beef dishes or sell beef. It is also illegal to do beef business without a license.

The reason why Ye Mingsheng didn't say anything when he first ordered the dishes was that he realized the problem with the beef. This doesn't mean that Ye Mingsheng suspected that Xin Kangji did not have a license to cook beef.

It is not as easy to apply for a license for a beef business as it is for a brothel or a gambling house. Basically, as long as you pay some deposit, have a normal business location, and promise not to purchase beef from unofficial channels, you can basically get it. A restaurant as big and high-end as Xin Kangji must have a license for beef business!

But the problem is that there are many different ways to cook beef on Xin Kang Ji’s menu, which makes Ye Mingsheng doubt whether Xin Kang Ji has a large supply of beef!

You should know that every month the government of Yijing receives no more than a dozen old cows and those that have lost their labor force due to accidents, and at most twenty cows. Therefore, there are not many pounds of beef after slaughtering. When distributing them to these restaurants and butcher shops, each family can only get a little bit of beef, about a dozen pounds each!
Ye Mingsheng also eats out from time to time. He has been to several of the other restaurants in the Eighth Building. Due to the limited raw materials of beef, the cooking methods are very monotonous. For example, Hongyunyuan only has one way of cooking beef, which is braised beef. Dongfenglou has three kinds of beef, such as cumin beef, roast beef, and braised beef.

To be honest, Ye Mingsheng himself likes to eat beef. The palace supplies dozens of kilograms of beef every month to satisfy Ye Mingsheng and other royal family members, so Ye Mingsheng is very familiar with these situations...

Xin Kangji has more than a dozen cooking methods, which is really exaggerated. This also makes Ye Mingsheng doubt the source of Xin Kangji's beef and whether there is a possibility of privately killing cattle.

Feeling the helplessness in An Miaoyi's eyes, Ye Mingsheng also shook his wife's hand and said:

"Nothing! I know it has nothing to do with you!"

"Miaoyi, eat that gourd chicken quickly! It won't taste good if it gets cold!"

Only after hearing Ye Mingsheng say this did An Miaoyi feel relieved.

An incense stick later, the family finished their meal. Although Ye Mingsheng and Jingren were big eaters, An Miaoyi had a small appetite, so after the family of three ate eight dishes, there were still a lot of leftovers. Ye Mingsheng asked Zhang Hu to pack up the food and feed it to the palace maids and eunuchs when they returned to the palace!

You have to know that due to productivity reasons, meat is very rare in this era. An ordinary family may only have some meat in the dumplings during the Chinese New Year dinner every year. It is difficult to have any oil or water at other times.

So even if it was leftovers, as long as there was meat in it, it was a very good meal for the palace maids and eunuchs. In fact, it was not just these palace maids and eunuchs. When Ye Mingsheng was in the imperial army in his early years, when he was still a captain, his salary was not high. In addition, the prices in Luoan were also high, so he could not afford to eat anything good.

Ye Mingsheng remembered one time, the commander above him went out to drink with others, and brought back the leftovers including half a smoked chicken, a few slices of braised beef, a pig's trotter, a few chicken legs and half a fish to the barracks. They divided the food among the captains immediately. The soldiers wanted to eat but it was not their turn. Ye Mingsheng grabbed a chicken leg and two slices of braised beef and ate them with relish...

After leaving Xin Kang Ji, Ye Mingsheng looked at An Miaoyi and said with a smile:

"Miaoyi finally came out, your husband will go shopping with you today, I will pay for whatever you want to buy!"

Hearing Ye Mingsheng say this, An Miaoyi also teased:
"The sun is rising from the west! Your Majesty, you have become generous too!"

Ye Mingsheng said self-deprecatingly upon hearing this:
"There's nothing we can do about being poor, we can only save money. But since we're out today, I'll let you buy as much as you want, Miaoyi, and have a good time!"

"How much silver do you have, Your Majesty? I'm a big spender!"

"As long as Miaoyi, you don't buy this street, it should be fine!"

While joking, the family of three walked into a jewelry store on Houde Street, and Ye Mingsheng saw how these rich daughters bought things.

When other people buy jewelry, they may just buy the piece they like, but An Miaoyi is not like that. If she doesn't like a piece, she will give it up, and then she will take all the rest. She bought five jade bracelets, seven gold and jade necklaces, and some ear studs and other small items in one go, spending hundreds of taels of Ye Mingsheng's silver in one go!
Ye Mingsheng also cried out in pain about this. He didn't know why An Miaoyi bought so many things. Can one person wear so many things?

Although he had such doubts in his mind, since he had just boasted about it, Ye Mingsheng could only pay for An Miaoyi with banknotes...