Miao Chu

Chapter 261 Yesterday
Soon, several long tables in the kitchen were put together.

The students carried the food they had just bought, placing it on the table one plate after another, and the eunuchs had already served clean bowls and chopsticks.

Zhao Yu asked the students to take their seats, and after exchanging pleasantries, he smiled and picked up his chopsticks to ask, "I heard that the Court of Imperial Sacrifices recently granted you special permission to purchase food from outside so that you could eat better—which of these were purchased from outside, and which were prepared by the kitchen itself?"

Upon hearing this, everyone at the table fell silent, their faces showing strange expressions.

Only the Chief Minister Deng remained oblivious, pointing to several plates of steamed buns and saying, "These are them—I specially bought many steamed buns from outside, each with a different flavor, and they taste quite good. Your Majesty is welcome to try them!"

The steamed buns on the plate were rather small, with a yellowish-brown color—a grayish-yellow. To describe them as "unremarkable" would be an understatement; to the naked eye, it was impossible to tell what made them "taste good."

But Zhao Yu didn't think much of it, nor did he call for the eunuch. Instead, he picked up a steamed bun and put it in his bowl, laughing, "Eat up, everyone—I'll try your Imperial Academy steamed buns too!"

Regardless of distance, whether they were sitting at the table or surrounded by others, all the students stared wide-eyed.

Following closely behind, Chief Minister Deng obeyed the imperial decree and also reached out to pick one up.

After picking up the steamed bun, he first put it in the bowl and adjusted its position so that he could hold it more steadily with his chopsticks before putting it in his mouth.

However, in the midst of this process of letting go and settling down, he suddenly felt vaguely that something was amiss.

These steamed buns are so gray, so yellow, and so small. They look completely different from the ones I've been eating lately, and they even have a strange smell.

It tastes like Lao Chen noodles, but with a slightly sour flavor.

That shouldn't be!

When Deng Jijiu looked up, he saw the emperor putting a steamed bun into his mouth.

Without thinking twice, he quickly lowered his head and took a bite.

***
Inside the public kitchen, Jia Chang couldn't wait any longer and personally stood at the door, constantly urging his subordinates on.

"Are you all blockheads?! What are you standing here for?! Hurry up and go check on them, why are you taking so long?!"

Jiang Xia and the others dared not delay and hurriedly went to the kitchen.

I hadn't run more than a few steps when I saw several people rushing over, each carrying a plate of steamed buns.

"Quick! Run faster, they're waiting inside!!"

Having already run a long way, and now being urged on, one of them stumbled and fell as they approached the door.

Enraged, Jia Chang snatched the large plate from his hand and yelled, "Where is the person in charge?!"

He then shouted at the servant, "I'll settle the score with you when we get back!"

Holding the plate of steamed buns, he had been waiting in comfort, and soon overtook the previous servants, becoming the first to deliver them to the back of the main kitchen.

The side door was kicked open with a "bang".

With a quick glance, Jia Chang spotted the window where steamed buns were being made.

He had never run so fast in his life, and he was almost out of breath. He sprinted over and, when he arrived, he quickly and quietly slipped the plate under him, whispering to the servant at the steamed bun and pancake stall, "If His Majesty comes, give him this!"

The servant hesitated for a moment, then did not answer immediately.

Jia Chang was so angry he gritted his teeth and cursed, "What an idiot! It's one thing to be illiterate, but can't you even understand human language?!"

The servant dared not delay and hurriedly pointed outside, saying, "My lord, my lord! The imperial students just offered him food—His Majesty is already eating!"

This time, it was Jia Chang who was stunned.

A chill ran through him, and he instinctively asked, "There aren't any steamed buns, are there?"

Unable to wait for a reply or even to go outside, he leaned against the counter where steamed buns and flatbreads were placed, propped himself up, and peered out through the wooden window.

—The crowd was so dense that it was impossible to see anything clearly.

Jia Changxin felt a chill, his hand loosened, his foot slipped, and he accidentally stepped into empty air, twisting his ankle.

But he had no time to worry about that; enduring the pain, he limped outside.

Pushing through the crowd of students, Jia Chang squeezed to the front. As soon as he looked up, he saw the emperor sitting in the very center, surrounded by people, smiling, holding chopsticks and putting a steamed bun into his mouth.

One bite, and the crust splits open, revealing the filling...

Where's the filling?

Jia Chang's vision went black.

Zhao Yu chewed a couple of times, tilted his head, and looked slightly puzzled.

The steamed bun in my mouth tasted sour, with a musty, stale flavor. It was far from delicious, and even swallowing it was a bit of a struggle.

Could it be because I didn't get to eat the filling?

He took another big bite.

The steamed buns weren't very big to begin with, and after two bites, more than half of them were gone, but the filling was still nowhere to be seen.

Zhao Yu leaned over and took a look.

He was in his prime and not old and blind. After searching carefully, he finally found the "thread".

A dark brown line ran across half of the steamed bun. If he grew another twenty years and his eyesight deteriorated, he probably wouldn't be able to see it clearly anymore.

"This is……"

This one steamed bun is naturally called "Night One Filling Heaven"!

In front of his ministers and students, no matter how unpalatable the food was, Zhao Yu managed to hold back from vomiting.

He forced down the two bites of steamed bun, raised his head, and asked the students beside him, "Is this the kind of steamed bun that the Imperial Academy gets from outside? Is this the usual quality?"

The dissatisfaction in his tone was already quite obvious.

Beside him were the chief priest, the grand master, and a group of academic officials and teachers.

The students remained silent, but all looked at the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy who was sitting beside them.

At the same time, Deng Jijiu had already eaten the steamed bun.

Through the wooden window at the back, Jiang Xia couldn't help but grab the handyman at the steamed bun window and ask, "The steamed buns served to the students, are they leftovers from this morning?"

The servant turned pale and dared not answer.

Yesterday, the front and back gates of the Imperial Academy were not closed, and students came and went at their leisure. Some were scrambling to line up at Song Ji's, while others were buying breakfast from the food alley next door. Those who got up late preferred to buy food prepared by the Imperial Kitchen rather than bother with the steamed buns bought from outside.

The steamed buns sat pitifully in the steamer all morning, and by noon and evening, few people were interested in them.

Things bought with money can't just be thrown away—if there's too much left over, everyone involved will be fined.

So the kitchen staff had no choice but to hang the leftover steamed buns and other food over the well overnight, and reheat them this morning—and still some were left over.

If there are leftover fresh steamed buns today, they can still be sold tomorrow. But if you leave yesterday's old steamed buns out, they'll go bad in this hot weather!
It doesn't matter if it tastes bad, as long as it doesn't cause any health problems.

Just as he was worrying, a student finally came to buy steamed buns, and quite a lot at that. He quickly handed over all the leftover buns from yesterday, and before his secret joy could subside, he was questioned by Master Jia. Now, hearing Jiang Xia's questions, he felt his hands and feet trembling uncontrollably. In front of him, on the table, what the Imperial Academy Scholar Deng picked up was a duck and goose steamed bun that the students had specially placed in front of him.

If duck meat is not handled properly, it is easy for it to have a gamey smell. If the duck meat is left out for a day and a half and then reheated twice, the gamey smell will be even more pronounced – it will not be completely rotten, but rather half rotten and not rotten at all.

When Deng Jijiu took a sip, the stale, foul smell made him choke, and the aftertaste lingered in his throat, almost making him gag.

He forced himself to eat it, quickly swallowing several mouthfuls of water. When he looked up, he saw a table full of people, especially the emperor, all looking over at him.

The steamed buns the students were eating were completely different from what he usually ate. Moreover, Jia Chang had a bad reputation, and recently the matter of purchasing steamed buns had caused quite a scene. Having been in officialdom for many years, Deng Jijiu almost immediately figured out the key to the matter.

He was covered in sweat and quickly stood up to apologize, saying, "I was negligent and the kitchen staff failed in their duties..."

"I have allocated funds over the years, not to feed the imperial students this!"

As Zhao Yu spoke, he slammed his chopsticks heavily on the table.

Known for his magnanimity, such a statement or action is enough to make his subordinates feel uneasy.

The academic officials hurriedly apologized, and Chancellor Deng made a quick promise, saying, "Your subject will definitely investigate and rectify the situation thoroughly!"

In front of everyone, unaware of what had happened, Zhao Yu naturally wouldn't reprimand him excessively, but he also had no intention of keeping him any longer.

He came in high spirits, but ended up taking two bites of a spoiled steamed bun and leaving disappointed.

***
No sooner had the emperor left than Deng, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy, returned to the teaching quarters and his face darkened. He then summoned the Grand Master of the Imperial Academy.

After some discussion, the Imperial Academy quickly conducted a thorough investigation of the Imperial Academy's kitchen.

It didn't take much effort to find out the origin of the spoiled steamed buns—they were supplied by a food shop recently opened by the cousin of Jia Chang, the assistant director of the Imperial Academy.

The emperor's personal inspection tour was supposed to be a prestigious event, but it ended up revealing his embarrassing backside.

The students of the Imperial Academy and the subsidies for the kitchen were all funded by the imperial court. In the end, the kitchen was turned into this state. As the chief officials, Deng, the Chancellor, and the Grand Master of Ceremonies could not escape responsibility.

The two dared not handle the steamed bun lightly and continued their investigation.

The hiring of staff, the purchase of ingredients, the repair of buildings, the replacement of kitchen utensils, and so on—if you investigate carefully, you can find the figure of that Master Jia behind it all.

Upon reaching this point, Chief Minister Deng stopped.

While sending messengers out to deliver the message, he also handed Jia Chang over to the Dali Temple.

The emperor had just visited the Imperial Academy and smashed his chopsticks when the Imperial Academy sent over a corrupt and bribe-taking official. The Court of Judicial Review was not stupid, so it handled the matter very quickly.

Within a few days, Jia Chang's crimes were fully exposed.

Besides extorting money and accepting bribes, he also set up brokerage firms, vegetable and meat shops, etc. The money was first given to the corresponding brokerage firms, and then those firms would find the actual vegetable and meat shops that supplied the goods.

After being skimmed off layer by layer, the wages of two strings of cash were reduced to only eight hundred coins by the time they reached the actual laborers. Nearly half of that was taken. As for the vegetable and meat shops, they were lucky to get three hundred coins out of the one string of cash they received for purchasing.

His actions were certainly clever, but once something is done, it will inevitably leave traces. How can it withstand scrutiny?
According to the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty, officials who accepted bribes but did not break the law were punished according to the number of bolts of silk they received. For every bolt of silk they received, they were to be flogged ninety times. For every additional bolt, the punishment would be increased by one degree. If the total amount reached thirty bolts, they would be exiled and subjected to hard labor.

Given Jia Chang's greed for wealth, he could easily amass three hundred bolts of silk, enough to exile him to the ends of the earth.

Before the verdict was delivered, Jia Chang had already fainted several times during his trial. During a questioning session that lasted no more than half an hour, he repeatedly burst into tears and was unable to continue at one point.

While the Dali Temple was still interrogating the suspect, the letters from Chief Justice Deng and Jia Chang's family, requesting assistance, arrived almost simultaneously at a house on Junyi Bridge Street.

The house was enormous; it was more like a garden than a residence.

Located right next to the Imperial Palace, Junyiqiao Street is a prime location where land is extremely valuable. The fact that someone could own such a large mansion here speaks volumes about the owner's status.

In the study, the owner of the house opened the two letters one after the other, glanced at them briefly, and then tossed them aside.

A steward was standing next to him, giving a reply.

"...Jia Chang's son knelt outside, weeping and begging the prince to lend a hand for his father's years of hard work, because Master Jia's health was poor and he couldn't withstand a beating, let alone exile..."

The host, sitting behind the table, interrupted upon hearing this, saying, "He made a fool of himself, and now I have to help him??"

As he spoke, the host slammed his hand on the table and cursed, "Doesn't he have a brain? Look at what that guy surnamed Deng said. The man had just been imprisoned, and everyone at the Imperial Academy was celebrating! He's only been gone for two years, how did he manage to ruin his reputation like this? I heard he almost got into a fight with some old men at the Imperial Academy a while ago."

He waved his hand and said, "Get rid of them quickly!"

The person in charge hurriedly agreed and went out the door.

As he reached the door, the man turned around and saw his master inside holding a glass mirror, looking at an antique porcelain bowl in front of him, seemingly unaffected by anything. He couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

That antique porcelain bowl was the one Jia Chang had sent last time.

Over the course of two years, the former certainly amassed a great deal, and also sent a considerable amount of money back. But when trouble arose, the prince not only ignored him completely, but also showed no mercy to his youngest son...

Over the years, the prince has taken advantage of the fact that after the late emperor's death, the emperor was an adopted nephew, thus lowering his generation, and the empress dowager could not easily control her brother-in-law.

But as the emperor's reign became more stable and his actions more frequent, the prince's life gradually became less comfortable.

The flaws that weren't apparent when things were going smoothly suddenly surfaced when trouble struck.

It's hard to say how much of Jia Chang's greed was intended to bribe the Prince of Lu's mansion, his powerful backer. Yet, he ended up in such a sorry state, with the prince not even bothering to say a word in his defense.

It's truly chilling...

***
Jia Chang was suspended from his post, dismissed, and escorted to the Dali Temple. The series of actions were carried out very quickly. Just two days later, a new assistant director of the Imperial Academy took office.

As soon as the new official took office, he began to implement sweeping reforms.

With a change in purchasing and errand staff, the kitchen was not completely transformed, but it was quite obvious that within a few days, the quality of the food service improved significantly.

After observing the new Imperial Academy Vice Director for two days and inquiring about his personality and conduct, Master Cao once again brought steamed buns to the door.

The new official politely accepted the steamed buns, personally saw Master Cao out the door, and returned to his room, where he ate all eight steamed buns in one day.

With the precedent of Jia Chang being severely reprimanded by everyone at the Imperial Academy, the new official dared not act recklessly. He ordered the heads of the three dormitories, both inside and outside the academy, to collect the opinions of the students and send them back for reference. He also had people find some restaurants and food stalls that made steamed buns to compare with the opinions.

The opinions collected from dozens of schools were surprisingly consistent: almost every student was clamoring to eat "Song Ji" steamed buns.

Not only did everyone want to eat Songji steamed buns, but they also asked for the purchase of rice noodle rolls, glutinous rice, shumai, steamed rice cakes, drinks, and other Songji delicacies.

The Imperial Academy's kitchen is primarily staffed by public cooks, so it wouldn't look good if they bought too much food from outside at once. However, the information regarding the steamed buns has already been approved, so it's not a problem.

Within two days, someone from the Imperial College came to Song Miao's door, asking for a price quote and buying samples of steamed buns.

As long as there are no underhanded tactics, Song Ji's food is never afraid of others.

The Imperial Academy's kitchen compared various eateries and food stalls, and found that Song's Steamed Buns, although not particularly competitive in price, stood out in terms of taste, ingredients, variety, and so on. Considering the strong demand from teachers and students, the kitchen signed a contract with Song's that afternoon, and from the next day onwards, it would supply the Imperial Academy with various kinds of steamed buns every day.

On the same day, around 3 PM, after finishing his class, Master Cao was not in a hurry to go home. Instead, he hurriedly called a carriage and was taken to the entrance of Song's shop.

He strode confidently, head held high, chest puffed out, and entered Song's shop with an air of arrogance.

"Little Song, I've been using my brain and getting quite stressed lately. I'd like to have some meat for lunch tomorrow to replenish my energy, preferably fatty meat—is it convenient for you here? Would that be alright?"

(End of this chapter)