Chapter 577: Yulin Brewed Snow Pear

As soon as Li Mao said this, the officials of the Imperial Censorate all changed their expressions.

A certain irritable censor slammed the table and said angrily:

"What do you mean by that? Explain yourself clearly!"

"It means literally." Li Mao sneered.

The two sides were on the verge of a fight. At this moment, the owner of Xianglan Restaurant came up and hurried to smooth things over.

"Oh, sir, you misunderstood..."

The shopkeeper then explained to everyone that he had made some enemies with the government when he was doing business in the local area. The county magistrate at that time held a grudge and slandered his restaurant for poisoning people, and arrested him and locked him up for half a year on this grounds.

Fortunately, the Censorate reviewed the case at that time, and Chief Censor Zhu Lan personally supervised the case. He not only cleared the shopkeeper's grievances, but also dismissed and investigated the county magistrate. The local people applauded.

The shopkeeper was a lucky man. As his business grew bigger and bigger, he opened a restaurant in the capital.

He was full of gratitude to Zhu Lan. At that time, several imperial censors came to him and said that they wanted to hold a farewell banquet for the Lord Zhongcheng. When the shopkeeper heard it, he immediately said that he would take care of it.

Those imperial censors, being court officials, naturally could not eat and drink for free. After discussion, the shopkeeper only charged them the cost price and did not make any profit.

"I see, hahaha!"

Shen Qingzhou was the first to clap his hands and laugh, and said to everyone:

"To put it bluntly, Zhu Zhongcheng works for the people, and the shopkeeper is also expressing his gratitude to the court. All of us are benefiting from Zhu Zhongcheng's help today!"

After he said this, the atmosphere in the entire restaurant suddenly relaxed and everyone started chatting again.

Li Zhengqing glanced at Li Mao, shook his head and said nothing. This cousin was too rash in his words and deeds, and he would suffer sooner or later.

"My Lords, I am so sorry, I was delayed on the way down and am late!"

As a cheerful female voice sounded, Zhu Lan hurried up the stairs and greeted everyone with a smile on his face.

The imperial censors who were hosting the event joked, "Our protagonist today is late, so he should drink three cups as punishment!"

"Of course, of course!" Zhu Lan smiled and apologized repeatedly. She had just been handling some matters at the Censorate, which was why she was late.

Now that the protagonist has arrived, the banquet officially begins.

Since it is a practice, one has to say some polite words to express reluctance.

Of course, it is unknown how many people are sincere and how many are fake.

The dishes carefully prepared by the shopkeeper were served one by one. Zhu Lan had just heard yesterday that several imperial censors had prepared a farewell banquet for him, and he was naturally grateful. Seeing these dishes again now, although they were not delicacies from land and sea, they were full of thoughtfulness.

Zhu Lan naturally sat at the same table with the imperial censors, and soon everyone began to clink glasses and the atmosphere became lively.

Nowadays, the custom of drinking wine is popular in Daliang, and Xianglan Restaurant naturally has it.

As a junior, Shen Qingzhou personally poured a glass of wine for Master Xu and was about to clink glasses with him.

Tutor Xu was old, and his hands were a little unsteady. When he was holding the wine glass, he actually spilled it, leaving a large purple-red stain on the front of his clothes, which was very eye-catching.

Shen Qingzhou hurriedly helped him wipe it, but once the color of wine was stained, it was extremely difficult to wash off.

Master Xu forced a smile and said to everyone, "It's okay, it's okay. I'll have someone dye this dress purple-red, then it won't be visible. Hahaha..."

Others couldn't laugh and felt a little sad.

This old tutor was in his seventies, but he lived in such poverty that he couldn't even afford to buy a new set of clothes.

Shen Qingzhou pulled Master Xu and insisted on buying him a new set of clothes to make amends, saying that it was all his fault for pouring too much wine, which caused Master Xu's clothes to get dirty. If he was not given a chance to apologize, he would not be able to sleep well at night.

Shen Qingzhou's table was next to Zhu Lan's, and this conversation was clearly heard by Zhu Lan.

She glanced sideways, her eyes carrying some deep meaning.

This Master Xu may look honest and upright, but he is by no means an ordinary character.

He and that eunuch Ma were always by Yan Ning's side, and he was also the emperor's teacher. Yan Ning's temperament had changed drastically, and it was very likely that he had contributed to this.

Zhu Lan had long suspected that he had dealings with the Li family and had done a lot of investigations in secret, but had not found any evidence. Even Qiao Youyou's "Sky Eye" had not found any signs of him meeting privately with the Li family.

And just as Master Xu showed to the outside world, his home was only slightly more respectable than being "penniless".

After several investigations, even Zhu Lan had a moment of doubt as to whether this person was a treacherous person pretending to be loyal, or was really incorruptible.

Another dish was served on the table. Zhu Lan collected his thoughts, looked at the dish clearly, and raised his eyebrows slightly.

This dish is called "Yulin Stuffed with Snow Pear". It uses snow pear as a container, stuffed with precious Yulin fish meat, and steamed with secret seasonings. This dish not only has precious ingredients, but also has an extremely complex production process. I have only eaten it in Yuxiang Pavilion.

Zhu Lan was a little surprised. These imperial censors were not wealthy people, so how could they afford such expensive dishes?

Just as she thought of this, she saw the shopkeeper coming upstairs again and said that this was a dish presented by the restaurant to the guests and asked them to enjoy it slowly.

After saying that, he bowed in the direction of Zhu Lan. Zhu Lan then realized that it was the shopkeeper's thoughtfulness and that he must have specially invited a chef to prepare this dish. He stood up and returned the greeting to him seriously.

At first glance, this dish "Yu Lin Stir-fried Snow Pear" is just a steamed pear, nothing special about it, and many officials looked curious.

Master Xu turned the plate around, not knowing where to start.

Someone asked Shen Qingzhou. Shen Qingzhou came from a wealthy family and had a wide range of knowledge, so he might have eaten this dish.

Shen Qingzhou did not hesitate and immediately picked up a knife to demonstrate to everyone how to eat this dish.

He gently pierces the specially made smile into the top of the pear and rotates it a circle, so that the pear juice and the fish meat inside can be perfectly blended to achieve the best taste.

Someone followed his example, put the cut pear into his mouth, took a light bite, and immediately spat it out with two "Puh".

Shen Qingzhou smiled and said, “The essence of this dish lies in the fish meat. As for the pear shell outside, it has long been covered with spices and is not for eating.”

Everyone suddenly realized what was going on and threw away the pear shells and began to taste the pear flesh carefully.

Based on the principle of caring for the elderly, Shen Qingzhou asked Master Xu if he needed help, after all, he was so old that his hands were shaking.

Master Xu waved his hand, saying that he could do it, and started eating tremblingly.

He asked Shen Qingzhou to teach him again, and then imitated Shen Qingzhou's movements to cut open the top of the pear. Due to his shaking hands, the cut was crooked and very unsightly.

Shen Qingzhou paid attention to his movements, but then his gaze paused slightly, and the smile in his eyes turned into confusion.

"That's right, I did nothing wrong, didn't I?" Master Xu confirmed with Shen Qingzhou again.

“Haha, you are worthy of being the old tutor, you can do it at a glance!” Shen Qingzhou flattered him and quickly concealed the strange look in his eyes.

…

The farewell banquet finally ended, and the officials came forward to say goodbye to Zhu Lan as usual. Zhu Lan watched them leave and planned to stay to express his gratitude to the restaurant owner before leaving.

The officials left one after another, and the huge Xianglan Restaurant soon became empty.

"Master Zhu." A lazy voice sounded in my ears.

Zhu Lan looked back and saw that it was Shen Qingzhou.

He put his hands in his sleeves. Although he is now a school principal, he still can't change his previous lazy appearance.

The two were colleagues in the Imperial Academy and had some friendship. Zhu Lan joked:

"Lord Shen looks healthy. I visited Elder Dong a few days ago and heard him talking about you, saying, 'I wonder if that little monkey can manage the Imperial Academy well.' Now it seems that he was worrying too much."

"Huh, this old man is still so worrying even after retiring." Shen Qingzhou also laughed, leaning against the pillar in the lobby.

"If you ask me, it's boring for Old Dong to stay at home all day raising fish and walking birds. Look at Grand Tutor Xu, he is still so active at his age, attending court and socializing as needed.

Alas, but it is also true that Master Xu’s family is poor, and if it weren’t for the Censorate’s treat today, he wouldn’t be able to eat such good food on weekdays.”

As Shen Qingzhou spoke, he pointed at the leftovers on his table with his chin and said jokingly:

"Look at that 'Yu Lin Brewed Snow Pear'. The old master wanted to lick the plate clean. It's obvious that he lives a very frugal life."

Zhu Lan glanced at Master Xu's plate. There was only a hollow pear shell left on the plate. The fish meat inside had been eaten cleanly, without even a drop of juice left.

But somehow, Zhu Lan suddenly had a strange feeling in his heart, but he couldn't catch it for a moment.

Shen Qingzhou looked like he was smiling, and finally stood up straight, bowed and said:

"Come on, we still have things to do in the Imperial Academy. We'll talk again when Master Zhu returns to Beijing. Let's go."

After saying this, he left in a leisurely manner.

Zhu Lan's gaze was still on the empty pear on the plate, and his expression suddenly froze.

She glanced at other people's plates. Most of them had some soup in them. That was the fish soup that flowed out when the outer layer of the pear was cut. If she wanted to ensure that this extremely delicious fish soup was not wasted, the angle of the knife was extremely critical, and she had to try many times to find the technique.

His own plate was clean, and Shen Qingzhou’s family was rich, so it was normal for him to eat this dish often, so the plate was also clean.

As for Master Xu's plates... they were also as clean as new.

Although his hands were shaking when he cut the meat, he subconsciously wanted to prevent the soup from flowing out, so he chose the most appropriate cutting angle.

How could one become so proficient at it if he didn't enjoy it often?