Chapter 63 Tangbing Workshop: Instant Noodles Hit the Border

The mountains stretch endlessly, a thousand peaks all white.

October should be the time when autumn is still in full swing, but Juyongguan, due to its high altitude, welcomed the first snow of the year early. The wind, carrying snowflakes, rushed into the Dinghao beacon tower, and the sound of the wind squeezed through the gaps in the bricks and stones, changing its tone and becoming a continuous whistling.

This beacon tower at Juyong Pass is a strategic stronghold. There are eight soldiers stationed here, led by Colonel Chen Zhong, a lowly soldier under General Xi. A few years ago, when the Liao people were starving and came to raid the border, he bravely charged forward and made a great contribution by "breaking through the enemy lines." He was left with a limp, but he was promoted to colonel by General Xi's elder brother, the young Xi.

He was then sent to Juyong Pass, where he guarded the beacon tower every day.

The sky was so dark that it was impossible to tell the time. He and his soldiers had just finished a patrol outside the city. They were all freezing, their clothes soaked with snow water. Shivering, they returned and quickly changed out of their heavy armor, put on old cotton clothes with patches upon patches, and lit a brazier.

The soldiers huddled together, shivering. Only now, having rested, did they realize their hands and feet were numb with cold. Wu Da tightened his tattered clothes, the cotton wadding showing through, and begged one of his comrades with better needlework skills to mend them for him. He complained, "This damn weather this year! It's only late autumn and it's already this cold. Just two months ago, it was so hot that even dogs were panting. And now it's snowing like crazy. I feel like my bones are about to fall apart."

Another man named Li Shi, still shivering from his return, chimed in, "It got cold so early this year. The people who were supposed to distribute cotton-padded clothes to our camp haven't even sent anyone yet. How are we going to get through the night?" As he spoke, he couldn't help but bring his hands closer to the charcoal brazier. However, due to the long day of sweat and snow water soaking in the water, his frostbite from previous years had flared up again. The slight heat caused a sharp pain, and he couldn't help but hiss.

Chen Zhong also removed his helmet and the fur earmuffs, casually wiping his face: "The sky had been overcast for so many days, I had a bad feeling about it, and I knew snow was coming. I sent a messenger back to Youzhou early this morning, and I expect to hear from them soon."

Li Shi then realized that Fei Mao, who usually loved to joke around, was nowhere to be seen. It turned out that he had been sent to deliver a message. He couldn't help but worry about him again: "In such heavy snow, Fei Mao is only wearing a padded jacket. He must be suffering."

Fei Mao was the youngest of the eight guards at the Dinghao beacon tower of Juyong Pass, only seventeen years old, and of mixed Hu (non-Han) descent. His background was also unusual: his father was a Liao man, and his mother was a Han Chinese border dweller who had been abducted. After hearing of his mother's death, he couldn't bear his father's beatings and fled. Two years ago, he risked his life to cross the pass and defect to the Song Dynasty. He was originally to be executed as a spy, but he revealed the identities of more than ten Liao soldiers spying on Song outposts outside the pass, thus earning a great merit. General Xiao Xi intervened and saved him, submitting a memorial to Bianjing (Kaifeng). With the emperor's permission, he was promoted to Chengxin Lang and ordered to guard the Great Wall.

I heard that when he led the Song army to raid the Liao people's outposts, the first one to go was his father's cavalry squad. He watched his own father curse and be taken away by the Song army in a sorry state. He didn't shed a single tear. He just walked alone into the vast wilderness and dug up his mother's abandoned bones.

He tightly bound his mother's remains to his back and carried them all the way back to the Great Wall, where he found a small hillside covered with wild apricot blossoms and reburied her.

Because Fei Mao was fast and could ride a horse standing up with both hands off the reins, and didn't want to use a Liao name anymore, he asked a dozen of his comrades to give him a new name. However, these rough men couldn't think of any good names at all. After arguing for a long time, they felt that he ran as fast as Fei Mao's legs, so they called him Fei Mao.

He didn't mind at all; ever since he returned to the Song Dynasty, he's been all smiles.

No sooner had Li Shi finished speaking than the sound of rapid hoofbeats echoed in the distance. Chen Zhong immediately gripped his sword, rose alertly to investigate, and peered out from the narrow arrow hole in the beacon tower. He then discovered a convoy of carriages and horses approaching rapidly through the bleak snowstorm.

Wu Da's face darkened, and he set up the repeating crossbow.

When they got closer, Chen Zhongcai breathed a sigh of relief and waved for Wu Dasong to open the trigger—the person running at top speed was wearing Song army armor, with the five-colored flag of the Song Dynasty tied to his back, and a large "Xi" character embroidered on it.

At Juyong Pass, the soldiers might not even recognize their own names, but they would never forget the complicated character "Xi".

"Fei Mao is back! He's really something this time, managing to snatch such a huge cartload from those stingy cowards at the military supply depot!" Li Shi saw it too and jumped up with joy, not caring about the cold, and hurried down to open the city gate. Outside, the snow had quickly piled up to a foot deep. Fei Mao, wearing a thick cotton coat and overlaid with armor made of tanned leather and riveted iron plates, was still covered in snow like a snowman. Even his eyelashes were covered in frost as he entered the high platform of the Great Wall.

He was panting heavily from the cold, and after helping Li Shi catch his breath for a while, he finally smiled and said, "Brother Li, I brought back a lot of good things!"

"What good stuff?" Li Shi frowned. "What good food can the camp cooks make? Naan bread again?" He paused, then suddenly looked expectant. "Did you steal some mare's milk? If we have mare's milk, that's not bad."

The Great Wall is so long, and there are hundreds or even thousands of soldiers stationed there. Whether they can get a share of something as limited as mare's milk depends on two things: first, their captain's reputation and connections; and second, whether their men can defeat their comrades on the other beacon towers. Li Shi felt a pang of sadness at the thought of mare's milk. His eight men were mostly skinny, skilled archers, easily sent flying by a single ramming attack from the black boar on the neighboring beacon tower, a boar wider than a door. They had been losing the battle for mare's milk for a whole year.

"Even better than mare's milk!" Fei Mao seemed to have already had a hearty meal in the camp, and he was even swallowing his saliva as he spoke.

Li Shi couldn't help but become curious, his heart itching with curiosity, but he still pretended to be nonchalant: "Look at you! You've never seen the world before!"

"You've definitely never seen it either!"

Sure enough, the sound of knocking came from below. Li Shi hurriedly started to crank the thick crane arm again. The brothers who were carrying supplies could not keep up with Fei Mao. They almost died on the way as they chased after him. They were panting heavily as they packed the winter clothes, charcoal, and enough food for eight people for a month into large baskets and hoisted them up along the rope on the wooden gear with a creaking sound.

Then they braved the snow and went to the beacon tower ahead.

Li Shi and the others took turns carrying the baskets one by one to the narrow watchtower. They opened one basket first, and sure enough, inside were a batch of thick winter clothes, fur vests and hats, and fur boots with studs! Li Shi's eyes lit up, and he touched the fabrics, reluctant to let go: "It's amazing! What I asked for came true! Wow, it even feels like new cotton! Fei Mao has done a great job again!"

Chen Zhong laughed and said, "Let's give him credit! We won't have to suffer from the cold this year."

Fei Mao removed his armor. The wind and snow were like knives, and his face was red from the cold. As soon as he entered a warm place, several bloody cuts appeared on his face. He casually wiped the blood away, casually dabbed some ashes from the fire pit to stop the bleeding, and said smugly, "I almost got sat on to death by that fat Black Pig while trying to snatch these new cotton-padded clothes! The people from the Dog Bureau came early this year, and I almost failed to get them!"

Wu Da gritted his teeth: "As soon as it gets cold, each station sends people back to the camp to urge for food supplies. The cunning Captain Meng of the 'Xu' unit sends Black Pig every time! It's infuriating. Because Black Pig is big and strong, they can drink mare's milk and eat milk tofu every year! After a winter, they won't lose weight, and they might even gain two ounces of meat."

However, they at least had the Flying Horsemen, who rode swiftly and never got lost, even in blizzards, often getting ahead of the enemy. The military supply depot had to be kept under close watch on good items like new cotton-padded clothes and mare's milk; otherwise, their own beacon towers would be left with only old cotton clothes, while the good stuff would be taken by others.

Compared to mare's milk, Fei Mao always chose to grab cotton-padded clothes for them first.

"Why is there another basket? Fei Mao is really something this year! What is this?" Li Shi had already put on his thick cotton coat and noticed a huge basket next to him. He couldn't help but curiously go over to take a look. "You didn't really steal the black pig's milk and bring so many mare's milk bricks, did you?"

"Take a look," Fei Mao said, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, arms crossed and refusing to speak.

Chen Zhong stepped forward, lifted the lid, and saw that the contents were rather strange. There were round, deep-fried dry soup cakes wrapped in oiled paper, as well as some earthenware jars. Some jars contained dried and chopped vegetables, while others contained solidified, fragrant fat and grease, with chunks of meat seemingly visible inside! Some jars were filled with powdered dried ginger and dogwood, which emitted a pungent and spicy aroma as soon as they were opened, making his nose itch and causing him to sneeze several times.

Hearing Chen Zhongzhi sneeze, Li Shi and the others gathered around. They were all dumbfounded when they saw what was happening. They looked at each other, examining the soup dumplings and the jar from all angles, but still couldn't figure it out.

It wasn't until Chen Zhong, with his sharp eyes, spotted a picture with words on it at the bottom of the basket that these eight roughnecks, who couldn't even come up with four characters, curiously craned their necks and huddled together to look at the picture.

The first picture was of a steaming teapot with two characters written next to it, which they didn't recognize. Chen Zhong struggled to decipher them and said, "It looks like it says something about water. Look, this isn't the character for water! What's wrong? You don't even recognize the character for water?"

Everyone shook their heads, not recognizing him.

Fei Mao got cocky and walked over with his chin held high, saying, "Don't you understand? Those are the words 'boiling water'!"

The second one shows the dried soup noodles placed in a bowl, along with a handful of chopped vegetables, a piece of oil, and four characters written on it. Chen Zhong couldn't explain it anymore; it was too difficult. Fei Mao became even more smug, pointing at the characters and saying, "It says 'pour boiling water over it!' And the water must completely cover the soup noodles."

Li Shi was puzzled: "You only went for most of the day, how did you learn so many characters?"

Fei Mao said, "I'm smart."

Wu rolled his eyes: "Do you even need to ask? He doesn't even know how to read. This kid eats alone, he must have already eaten this 'boiling water soup pancake' once in the camp! Of course he knows what it is."

The third step is to cover the bowl with a plate or dish and count to two hundred.

The fourth sheet is lifted and stirred, resulting in a steaming bowl of soup noodles, which is then ready to eat!

The roughnecks craned their necks and widened their eyes: "Just pour water on it and wait a bit, and it turns into hot soup noodles? Is it really that amazing?"

Fei Mao chuckled and pointed at them: "Never seen anything like this before, have you?"

Chen Zhong kicked him in the butt.

So everyone asked Fei Mao to teach them how to make the boiled soup dumplings, and Wu Da hurriedly went downstairs to fetch some cow dung. There was a tradition of storing firewood along the Great Wall, because if any disaster suddenly occurred, they would immediately light beacon fires to warn Youzhou. This was something that needed to be inspected daily, just like weapons and armor, and there could not be the slightest mistake.

The soldiers would start stockpiling firewood and charcoal in the spring and summer, and it would be delivered regularly from Youzhou City. They also developed the habit of collecting and drying cow and horse dung to use as firewood, just like the Liao people, so they never lacked firewood.

Before long, a large pot of melted snow water was ready.

Everyone then pulled out their own large earthenware bowls and, following Fei Mao's instructions and the diagram, first took out dried soup cakes, then grabbed a handful of mixed vegetables, and scooped out a spoonful of oil paste—that oil paste smelled so good! Even before adding water, Li Shi could already smell it, and he silently began to swallow.

Everyone passed around the jars one by one until they were all ready, then they passed around the teapots and added boiling water to each person.

When boiling water was poured over them, the dry soup dumplings sizzled slightly, and the brown fat melted instantly. Li Shi and his companions rummaged through drawers and cabinets looking for something to cover them. Seeing their foolish expressions, Chen Zhong wished he could cover them with his helmet, so he went to the kitchen downstairs, took the lid of the large pot on the stove, and ordered everyone to place their bowls side by side before putting the lid on.

All eight bowls were covered with just one large pot lid.

They counted to two hundred drumbeats together, and Li Shi couldn't wait to lift the pot lid. The rich aroma, along with the steam, instantly filled the small beacon tower, so enticing that they were completely captivated. Except for Fei Mao, all seven of them were stunned for a moment, and no one reached out to grab a bowl.

The journey to Juyongguan was arduous, especially in winter. The surrounding wilderness was barren, and the snow could cover a horse's legs, making it difficult to deliver any kind of military rations. To facilitate transport, most of the rations were dehydrated naan bread, which was light and kept for a long time, but even when heated over a fire, it wouldn't soften. Soaking it in hot water was also an option, but that made it even less palatable. However, in those hateful beacon towers, there was plenty of mare's milk to soak the naan bread in.

Not to mention these piping hot soup dumplings, which also contain chunks of meat and vegetables.

"It smells so good, like a dream." Li Shi rubbed his eyes, which were blurred by the rising steam, and slowly reached out to touch the ceramic bowl. It was hot, burning his hand!

"It's like magic! Just rinse it with water and you're good to go, and it smells strangely delicious!" Wu Da swallowed hard, his beady eyes practically turning green, eager to try it. "Brothers, why don't we stop just watching and have a taste first!"

As he spoke, he reached for the bowl, picked up a mouthful with his chopsticks, and put it in his mouth. After just one bite, he was overwhelmed by the deliciousness. He couldn't bear to swallow it, and his words became slurred with delight: "Delicious! Delicious! So delicious! It's even better than the mutton soup with flatbread that they only serve during the New Year in the camp..."

The others also started eating, and Li Shicai took a bite and immediately exclaimed, "What...what is this taste! Is this pork? Braised pork? I think I'm eating braised pork. How can this braised pork taste so good? There's not a trace of fishy smell...I've never eaten anything so delicious since I was born!"

He was stunned after saying that, and his eyes inexplicably welled up with tears. This bite of soup dumpling really brought out all the bitterness and hardship he had endured over the years.

Fei Mao had already eaten it once at the camp, so he wasn't as excited about eating another bowl, but it was still delicious. His bloody cut on his face still hurt, but he couldn't help but slurp up the soup dumplings soaked in thick broth. Seeing that Li Shi was about to cry, he deliberately teased, "Brother Li, are you about to cry? It's just a bowl of hot soup dumplings, why are you so excited?" But even as he said that, his chopsticks didn't stop moving. The bowl of hot soup dumplings was quickly emptied, and he couldn't help but lick the rim of the bowl, as if he was still savoring the taste.

You never get tired of this stuff, and this time he really got it. He snatched three different flavored oil jars. The one they were eating earlier was brown with braised pork, the other was yellow with chicken bone flavor, and there was also a greenish-blue oil block with peppercorns and pickled cabbage floating on top. He lifted the lid of each one to smell it, and since it smelled so good, he took them all!

This caused the military officer in the military supply depot to roll his eyes at him.

Chen Zhong's stomach was full and warm, and there was still some hot soup left at the bottom of the bowl. He couldn't bear to finish it all at once, so he swallowed it down in small sips. He looked at the snow foam rolling in from outside and thought, "This is so good. It's been so many years since I've had such a good hot soup dumpling on a snowy day. With such a warm bowl of soup, it's as if I can withstand any bitterness or cold."

Moreover, where did this delicious and convenient boiled water soup come from? The chef who made this is incredibly clever!

No, not only is he quick-witted, but his skills are also superb!

Could it be that General Xi has hired a capable new chef for the camp? But what chef with a brain that's been kicked by a donkey would be willing to stay in this bitterly cold place?

When asked, Fei Mao didn't know either, but he did know there were no new cooks in the camp: "They're still baking naan bread! The person distributing the rations said that General Xiao Xi led his troops out for a feast, seizing fifty horses from the Liao people and thirty cattle from the Jin people. The Liao horses were tall and strong, selling for seventy taels each. General Xiao Xi sold them to cattle and horse merchants, earning several thousand taels. He then gave this money to the supervisor of the military supplies treasury, ordering him to buy it from a newly built noodle shop outside. That shop was also newly built, and the person in charge was a young woman!"

Li Shi, licking his bowl, sighed, "General Xi is off having another feast. Our General Xi is so clever; he only robs a little each year, never going so far as to wipe them out completely. He waits until they have new calves and sheep the following year, then he figures out they'll raise them and rob them again. Sometimes, after raiding one pasture, he'll go raid another the next year. That's how it was when I was farming with my father back home. We'd cultivate a field for a year, then leave it fallow the following year, otherwise the crops wouldn't grow well."

"That's right. Otherwise, like Yue Fei's army in Yanzhou, they always accidentally fight too fiercely and even invade the enemy's stronghold. The emperors of the Liao and Jin dynasties would write letters to scold the emperor, saying that the two countries had agreed to friendly relations and trade, so how could they be so untrustworthy? I heard that the emperor gets scolded for this every year. After being scolded, he has to issue a golden edict to Yanzhou to call back General Yue, who is furious about the fighting."

"It's hilarious, how many gold medals have they accumulated by now?"

"It must be at least five or six yuan."

"That's quite a lot, but is it pure gold?" Fei Mao chuckled. "Such a large piece of gold, melting it down and exchanging it for grain could get you a lot!"

"How do you know? General Yue really melted them down. He just replaced the Yue Family Army's swords with a batch of steel-clad blades a while ago!"

"Hahaha... Brother Li, quickly rub my stomach, it hurts from laughing!"

"Rub your hair my ass."

Everyone burst into laughter, but Chen Zhong, out of the corner of his eye, noticed Wu Da staring intently at the basket of flatbread. He immediately reacted, lunging forward to cover the basket, and warily scanned the room: "Since it was bought extra, I'm afraid there isn't much. Wu Da! Let go of me! There's only one basket of this good stuff; how can we eat it every day? Next month the snow will be even heavier, the roads will be difficult to travel, and the spies might not even get enough food if they go to the camp to steal... no... get any more rations. We need to be careful with our food! We'll eat it once every three days... no, no, once every five days. Tomorrow we'll only have naan bread!"

The crowd howled with a mixture of sorrow and hope.

A series of howls peeked through the dimly lit window, interspersed with the soft burps of people in the long, snowy night.

***

Shen Miao also received news from Zheng Neizhi that the soup noodle workshop had started operating. The letter from Youzhou was very brief, basically saying "everything is going smoothly." She was naturally very happy, which meant that if things continued to go smoothly, she might be able to receive dividends next year!

Zheng Neizhi urged her to come up with recipes for a few more flavors, saying that these instant soup dumplings were incredibly popular in Youzhou City. Only a few batches were made, and they sold out in a day or two. They couldn't even keep up with the demand. The Cui Niangzi that Xie had met that day had indeed gone to Youzhou to manage the soup dumpling workshop. She used the alias Tang Wan and arrived in Youzhou in August. As soon as she arrived, she won over the managers of the major merchants in Youzhou City and opened up the sales channels in just two days.

Nowadays, the soup cake workshop not only supplies military camps, but also supplies restaurants, grain shops, and general stores. In Youzhou City, various ethnic groups live together, and many border people who go out to hunt or herd horses, as well as merchants who travel to trade, carry the soup cakes home by the box.

This "Lady Tang" was full of energy. After opening up sales channels in Youzhou City, she braved the snow, took her assistants and gifts, and carried General Xiao Xi's letter of recommendation, and went directly to the official horse farm, thirty miles outside Youzhou City, to discuss business.

Since the redemption of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, the Song Dynasty has also built thirty-two warhorse farms in various border prefectures, specifically for breeding warhorses for the imperial court. Currently, they house 300,000 horses. The breeding stock is mostly Qin horses from Shaanxi, Khitan horses seized from the Liao Dynasty, and Jingdong horses from the Jingdong region; there are also Western Xia horses, Guang horses, and Jurchen horses seized from the Jin Dynasty. These horses are their ancestors, and they cannot afford to go hungry even for a day. The people who raise these horses are not so precious; it is common for them to suffer from cold and hunger while grazing in rotation.

The shepherd supervisor only tasted the instant soup noodles once before ordering two thousand boxes, which were then delivered in batches. He later signed a long-term supply contract with the workshop.

After all, the grasslands are so vast that the minor officials in charge of herding horses would take several days to return from their grazing areas, which is why such a convenient device was needed.

I've heard that one of the main reasons the Emperor has been determined to open up the Western Regions in recent years is that he wants the Ferghana horses from Dayuan. If he could bring them back and crossbreed them with the Song Dynasty's warhorses to breed new, excellent horses, they would surely surpass the warhorses held by the Liao and Jin dynasties.

At present, none of the three kingdoms of Liao, Jin and Song can do anything to each other, but the emperor said, "The Great Song has no immediate worries but has long-term concerns." He repeatedly issued edicts to the military governors of various prefectures, urging them to take advantage of this peaceful time without major wars to diligently train troops, innovate weapons, and raise more horses.

Shen Miao had heard the first half of this story from Zheng Neizhi, and the second half from the diners drinking and boasting in the shop. She wholeheartedly agreed; although this official was ruthless towards the aristocratic families, it was undeniable that he was clear-headed and farsighted, a good candidate to be a wise ruler!

And then there was Cui Niangzi, whom Shen Miao had only briefly met at Xie Family Manor. She was astonished when Zheng Neizhi recounted her story. Cui Niangzi, who had seemed lifeless and frail on the boat, had now been reborn in Youzhou City, becoming incredibly successful in business! Despite her young age, she knew that in a new place, even with powerful backers, one must first win over the local bullies, offering them incentives to let them know she was there to make money alongside everyone, thus establishing a foothold before exploring new sales channels.

Moreover, this Lady Cui has a good eye; she knows to cooperate with the official horse farm—with the Xi family, who control the Youzhou camp, cooperating with the official horse farm is the easiest thing for her! Most importantly, an official horse farm is a lucrative place, and it certainly won't be stingy with its money.

Shen Miao looked at her with newfound respect and deeply reflected on her past self who had doubted the judgment of the eldest daughter-in-law of the Xie family.

After seeing Zheng Neizhi off, Ninth Brother and Ji Brother were still running around the city wall and hadn't returned yet. Taking advantage of the early hour and few customers, Chen Miao sat back down behind the counter to work on the abacus. The beads clattered together, making a series of crisp sounds that soothed her. She felt as if a rain of copper coins was falling before her eyes with each click of the abacus. Just thinking that she would get a share of every dumpling sold in Youzhou made her secretly happy.

The calculations were so detailed they almost made me laugh out loud.

After she finished tallying yesterday's income, two familiar figures suddenly entered the shop. Shen Miao looked up, quickly put the ledger back in the drawer, and greeted them with a smile from behind the counter: "Greetings, Mr. Wang and Mr. Liang. Is it the same as always? Would you like to take three slices of roast duck with you?"

"Yes, Madam Lao, please choose the tenderest meat."

"They're all very tender, you can rest assured."

This young man, surnamed Wang, appeared to be in his thirties and had a long, glossy black beard. He always wore a plain, unadorned long gown when he came, but he was quite generous with his money. The first few times, he came to the shop with his wife to eat roast duck, and then packed a few to take away. Later, he came to buy duck more often, but no longer ate at the shop. Still later, he often came to buy duck with this old man surnamed Liang.

Old Liang was very old, with sparse, gray hair, as if he had lost all his beard because of baldness. His back was slightly hunched, but he must have been very wealthy. Although he wore plain, unremarkable clothes like Wang Langjun, he was plump and had fair skin, unlike an ordinary person.

Especially his perfectly aligned teeth, which is extremely rare. Shen Miao thought to herself, at this age, most ordinary people would have lost all their teeth. Judging from the families Shen Miao had dealt with, those who still had a good set of teeth were all wealthy.

He seemed to be born with a smiling face, always smiling whether he was speaking or not, making him approachable. But Shen Miao always felt there was something strange about him. Just looking at him, he seemed to have enjoyed half a lifetime of wealth and luxury, with a noble air, but when he spoke with Wang Langjun, he seemed somewhat inferior.

But the young master Wang respected him greatly and always took his advice as the standard.

It's quite contradictory.

But this was the guests' private matter, and Shen Miao never asked too many questions about the diners; she only cared about selling ducks.

Tang Er carefully packed the two pieces of good duck into the three-tiered food box inlaid with mother-of-pearl and various treasures that Old Man Liang had brought. He also wrapped up the remaining duck carcass, as Old Man Liang always insisted on taking it home to make soup instead of frying it.

Just by looking at the food box, Shen Miao knew that they were definitely not ordinary people. They were either extremely wealthy like the Xie family or the Feng family.

But it seems there are no prominent families with the surname Liang in Bianjing.

Shen Miao felt strange, but she didn't show it. She smiled and presented the packed food box to Old Man Liang. Usually, he would give the money and leave at this time, but this time he didn't leave after taking it. Instead, he asked, "I heard that Madam Shen is entrusted to come and prepare banquets for two days every month?"

"Yes, only twice a month, after all, I also have to take care of my own shop," Shen Miao said with a smile. "Usually, regular customers will make appointments with me in advance. But the dates for this month have already been booked."

Ever since the Feng family invited her once, Shen Miao has been going there every few days to earn extra money. During the Mid-Autumn Festival and Double Ninth Festival, families were practically fighting tooth and nail to invite her to host their banquets, especially the Feng family, who invited her almost every month, completely winning her heart with their money.

"Does Madam Shen have any free time on the eighth day of next month?"

"Yes, I've only booked one place next month." Shen Miao thought for a moment. At the beginning of next month, she was going to Bai Laosan's family in Baijia Village, Chenliu Town, to host a banquet! Bai Laosan's brother, who was also the eldest daughter of Bai Laoer's family, was getting married that day.

Bai Laosan invited her to cook just one main dish—a whole roasted lamb. Although the payment Bai Laosan offered was not as generous as the Feng family's, only a few strings of cash, Shen Miao still readily agreed. After all, Bai Laosan had patronized her business on her very first day setting up her stall in Bianjing, and even after she opened and expanded her shop, he continued to visit her frequently.

Shen Miao actually wanted to take this opportunity to take Ji Ge'er and Xiang Jie'er to the outskirts of Bianjing City for a stroll, as a kind of autumn outing.

"Then we've arranged for the eighth day of the eleventh month with Madam Shen. Here's the deposit." Old Man Liang took out a small silver coin from his pocket.

Shen Miao took it; it was heavy, weighing at least five ounces! She immediately smiled even more sincerely and brightly: "Thank you for trusting me, Elder Liang. May I ask where your house is? I'd like to know when to visit and what kind of vehicle to take."

Old Master Liang laughed and said, "It's not far, just on Imperial Street. I'll send a carriage to pick up my wife later."

That's great! It saves us the cost of a long carriage! Shen Miao smiled and thanked him again. Young Master Wang and Old Man Liang nodded slightly in acknowledgment and then boarded the carriage and left.

Shen Miao attentively escorted them to the door, and the unassuming blue-canopied carriage was indeed heading towards the Imperial Street.

No wonder the families living on Imperial Street are so wealthy!

Shen Miao lovingly touched the silver ingot, turned around and looked around. Seeing that everyone was busy and no one was paying attention, she quickly slipped into the cellar to hide the money.

The young man sitting in the carriage that was slowly making its way to the Imperial Street was none other than Wang Yong, the Prefect of Kaifeng. When the carriage arrived at the entrance of the Kaifeng Prefectural Government Office, he bowed and bid farewell to "Old Master Liang" before getting off: "Elder Liang, I, Wang, will take my leave now."

"I dare not, Prefect Wang, please take your time." Liang Qian also followed etiquette and got out of his carriage to see Wang Yong off. He watched Wang Yong enter the government office before getting back into his carriage.

The carriage continued forward, passing through the Imperial Street and turning into the vermilion-lacquered, copper-studded gate on the east side.

That's the Donghua Gate of the Imperial Palace.