Chapter 200: The Regret of Gaoling Flower

Yu Lingye looked out the window.

It was still snowing heavily outside the window.

This small courtyard is very elegantly decorated, and after the snow falls, it adds a touch of artistic conception.

He looked at the snow outside the window and rarely talked about his childhood:

"When I was young, my father was still on the throne. There was an old imperial chef in the palace. He was very special. The other imperial chefs all had their specialties. For example, some were good at white dishes, while others were good at red dishes."

"This old imperial chef is different. He is good at both traditional and modern cooking."

"Later, this old imperial chef was involved in the struggles among the concubines in the harem."

Yu Lingye laughed.

"The two concubines were fighting, and the old imperial chef was caught in the crossfire and lost his life."

Xie Yingmian thought that the imperial chef was a lame chef.

Yu Lingye added, "That imperial chef had an apprentice who was also affected. He didn't die, but was beaten with a stick and expelled from the palace. That apprentice must be this Third Uncle."

Xie Yingmian said, "Looking at his expression, he seems reluctant to talk about the palace affairs."

"The previous emperor has long passed away, the concubine who fought against him has become a concubine, and the previous dynasty has long since changed. No one remembers a small figure like him. What is he afraid of?"

Yu Lingye mocked, "Of course he's afraid."

"Because, it was his fault back then, and his master died for him. It was an extremely unjust death."

Xie Yingmian didn't expect it to unfold like this.

Yu Lingye said, "He was young and full of energy at the time, and he thought his red and white dishes were comparable to Master's. On a rather important occasion, he used a trick to make Master sick, and he was responsible for the main course that day."

"His goal is to make a splash and prove his strength."

"He was unlucky and encountered a fight between two concubines, and became a victim."

"In order to survive, he used his master as a scapegoat, and his master died in his place."

Xie Yingmian was speechless.

The cook looked so honest, yet he could do such a thing.

It is true that you cannot judge a book by its cover.

Xie Yingmian: "You know it very clearly."

Yu Lingye said in a deep voice, "Because one of the concubines fighting is my mother."

"That main dish was my mother's favorite. Another concubine bribed the eunuch who served the dish and poisoned it. My mother was pregnant, and after eating that dish, she suffered from severe abdominal pain, spotting, and went into premature labor."

"My mother and sister nearly lost their lives. My father was furious and had the imperial concubine banished to the cold palace. The young eunuch who served the dishes and the imperial chef who cooked were beaten to death with sticks. The other kitchen assistants were beaten with thirty sticks and expelled from the palace."

Xie Yingmian asked, "There should be quite a few kitchen helpers. How do you know that this Third Uncle is the apprentice of the deceased imperial chef?"

Yu Lingye: “Not sure.”

“That’s why I asked him to cook those dishes.”

"The village chief has proven that he is."

"What... do you want to do?" Xie Yingmian didn't think Yu Lingye had the leisure to deal with a chef who had left the palace long ago.

Yu Lingye couldn't say what to do.

He was naughty when he was young and liked to wander around the palace.

Because his mother was favored, his father was especially fond of him. Wherever he went, people were afraid of him, fearing that they would offend him and be punished.

The old royal chef is different.

It was also a snowy day when he ran around frantically and arrived at the imperial kitchen.

The weather was extremely cold. He was wandering around, feeling cold and hungry, when he met the old royal chef.

Logically speaking, the old royal chef shouldn't give him random food.

He is a prince, and an extremely favored prince. If anything goes wrong, the old royal chef will be sentenced to death.

The old royal chef looked at him as if an elder looked at a younger one, his eyes full of doting.

The old royal chef was tasting the food and gave him some very delicious noodles and original dishes.

He couldn't forget the taste and sneaked to the imperial kitchen to eat it several times.

After that, he never saw the old imperial chef again.

After questioning, he learned that the old imperial chef had killed his mother and sister, and was beaten to death by his father.

That was the first time Yu Lingye faced death.

"I don't know." Yu Lingye said, "I just want to taste the flavor of my childhood."

The lame cook was very fast.

Yu Lingye looked at the perfectly replicated dish and said in a calm tone, "You are indeed his apprentice."

"Yes." The lame cook burst into tears. "It was me who should have died. It's all my fault. If it weren't for me, Master wouldn't have died."

"I'm afraid of death, I'm a despicable person, I've let my master down, I..."

He burst into tears.

"Your Excellency." The village chief hadn't expected Yu Lingye to know what happened more than a decade ago. "Actually, our family doesn't blame Third Uncle."

"The royal chef who was beaten to death was my grandfather."

"That dish was originally prepared by my grandfather. Even if Third Uncle hadn't been involved, my grandfather, as the head chef, would have died. My grandfather didn't want Third Uncle to die with him, so he took the initiative to take responsibility."

"If it weren't for my third uncle, we would have starved to death over the years. He saved our family and let us live in the big house we always dreamed of. We have no worries about food and clothing and live a good life."

"Although I don't know what you mean, sir, Third Uncle has already repaid what he owed our family. Please don't make things difficult for him."

Yu Lingye didn't want to make things difficult for a little villager.

He really just wanted to taste the flavor of his childhood again.

"Try it." Yu Lingye said to Xie Yingmian, "It's delicious."

Xie Yingmian looked at the cute little tiger buns and picked up one.

The little tiger is made very lifelike.

There is sweet red bean paste inside.

It's sweet and suitable for children.

"It's delicious." Xie Yingmian said.

Yu Lingye's lips curled up into a faint smile.

to be honest.

Now when he eats these, he feels they are a little too sweet.

Sweets were his favorite when he was a child, but he doesn’t eat them much as he grows up.

Yu Lingye: "I loved it when I was a kid."

“What others do is always less than ideal.”

Xie Yingmian understood.

This was Gaoling Zhihua's childhood regret.

This regret was successfully made up for by chance in this small mountain village.

The lame cook listened to their words with wide eyes.

He looked at Yu Lingye: "You..."

"Could it be that you are..."

"You are the one... the one that Master often talks about..."

"I see, that's how it is." The lame cook bowed deeply. "It's fate. This might be fate."

"Please wait a moment, my lord."

"Master has something for you."

The lame cook quickly brought out a recipe book.

"Master said that you really like the dishes he cooks. Those dishes are all his own creations, and no one else can make them. He was worried that you wouldn't be able to eat them after he died, so he gave me the recipe and asked me to find a way to pass them on to you."

"Unfortunately, I lost my connections and was a coward, so I kept the recipe. Now it's time to return it to its original owner."

After the lame cook and the village chief left.

Yu Lingye casually flipped through the cookbook.

Xie Yingmian sighed, "Fate is such a wonderful thing."

"Come to think of it, I never knew you had a younger sister. She..."

Yu Lingye said, "She was born prematurely and is extremely weak. The dry climate in Shangjing is not suitable for her. She has been raised in the hot and humid south since she was a child. When she was young, she was very weak and rarely came back. In recent years, her health has improved and she will come back to stay for a few days during the rainy season."

Yu Lingye's words suddenly stopped.

He pushed the recipe in front of Xie Yingmian: "Look here."