Chapter 20 The General’s Preferences Butler Zhao shook his head and added, “…
Yang Qing stacked the freshly washed dishes, looked at Zhao Chunfang, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm not leaving."
Butler Zhao was about to say something and was about to send Zhao Chunfang away. Suddenly, Zhao Chunfang gritted his teeth and spread out his hands: "Then give me back the money I spent on the fish, a total of two taels of silver."
Butler Zhao was stunned for a moment, then agreed, took out a silver ingot from his sleeve and put it in Zhao Chunfang's hand.
Liu Yeshu thought that even if it was top-quality mandarin fish, two taels of silver would be enough to buy several of them. Zhao Chunfang was obviously asking for too much.
After receiving the money, Zhao Chunfang clenched her teeth, as if the money was hot. She glared at Liu Yeshu with a dagger-like gaze, took a deep breath, suppressed her anger, and turned away.
Butler Zhao then turned to Liu Yeshu and said with a wry smile, "Miss Liu, I'm afraid you'll have to come with me to the warehouse again."
Along the way, Liu Yeshu took the initiative to ask about the daily affairs related to the kitchen.
"The General's Mansion purchases food every five days. You need to submit the menu to me three days in advance so I can arrange the purchase," Butler Zhao instructed carefully. "Also, His Highness the General doesn't like to eat offal."
Liu Yeshu nodded when he heard this, and then asked, "General, would you like to eat pig blood or duck blood?"
"Try not to." Butler Zhao shook his head and added, "The general has always disliked bloody things, so it's best to avoid them."
Liu Yeshu thanked him: "Thank you for your guidance, Butler Zhao."
Seeing that Liu Yeshu was willing to learn and her attitude was very serious, Butler Zhao couldn't help but admire her even more.
"By the way, Miss Liu, I have something else to tell you." Butler Zhao seemed to remember something and added, "Next month is the general's birthday, and a banquet will be held at the mansion. When the time comes, the dishes for the banquet will rely on your cooking skills."
Liu Yeshu nodded. Such a big event required careful preparation to make it a success. She couldn't help but start thinking about what to prepare.
Seeing her expression becoming serious, Butler Zhao smiled and said, "Don't be too nervous. You've just moved in a month ago, so get familiar with the environment first. You only need to take care of the general's meals. Yang Qing will prepare meals for everyone else. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
Wait... Liu Yeshu caught the key words: "Moving to the General's Mansion...?"
Butler Zhao said, "It has always been the case that the general's personal chef can live in the mansion."
Butler Zhao was also puzzled. Most people would be eager to live in the general's mansion, which was also an important reason why those people were scrambling to become the general's private chef.
"Miss Liu, do you have any concerns?"
Liu Yeshu smiled and said, "I have a vegetable garden at home, and the autumn harvest is coming soon. I need help with the farmland. I think I'll stay in Huangtun for the time being. Butler Zhao, don't worry, I won't delay the general's three meals a day."
Oh… Butler Zhao then remembered that Miss Liu had said she wanted to share the joys and sorrows with her family. He couldn't bear to reject her filial piety, so he nodded and said, "It's amazing that you still want to help the family in the fields." He then sighed, "Then again, the general has quite a bit of land, but he doesn't have time to farm it, so it's all lying idle now."
After taking out the silver to make up for the two taels of silver that Zhao Chunfang needed, Butler Zhao closed the door of the warehouse and asked Liu Yeshu if he needed him to go to the government office with him.
Liu Yeshu wanted to decline politely, but she heard Butler Zhao say slowly, "Miss Liu, don't you want to know which busybody reported this?"
"Then I'll trouble you, Steward Zhao. I'll go back home to get the remaining silver. Please wait for me for a moment."
How could Housekeeper Zhao be bothered? Today, he had found a satisfactory private chef for the general and also kept Yang Qing. His recent troubles and annoyances were completely swept away.
*
Liu Yeshu followed Butler Zhao to the government office, still holding her breath. Although she appeared calm on the surface, her heart was already in turmoil.
Butler Zhao accompanied them all the way. When they reached the government office, he suddenly stopped and said to Liu Yeshu, "I'm going to find out what's going on. Please wait a moment."
Liu Yeshu nodded and watched Butler Zhao walk towards the long-faced official guarding the gate. The official stood at the gate, his brows slightly furrowed, as if he was a little surprised by Butler Zhao's arrival. But when he saw that it was someone from the General's Mansion, he bowed and said in a slightly more gentle tone: "Butler Zhao, why did you come here in person?"
Butler Zhao bowed in return, pointed at Liu Yeshu to the long-faced official, and whispered a few words.
The long-faced officer glanced at Butler Zhao, looking slightly embarrassed. "This matter... the authorities are only responsible for judging cases. As for the identity of the informant, it's not something they can easily reveal. However, since she's from the General's Mansion... I won't hide it from you." He lowered his voice and said solemnly, "It was another convicted slave from her village who reported her for setting up a stall in the occupied area. As for reporting that convicted slaves were prohibited from doing business... it was the shop she blocked with her stall."
"What?" Liu Yeshu was stunned when he heard the second half of the sentence.
Although Liu Yeshu did not name the other criminal slaves from the same village, she could guess who they were.
But... the shop that was blocking the way was Mo's brother-in-law's noodle shop. She had never set up her stall in front of other people's houses.
Butler Zhao glanced back at Liu Yeshu and asked in a low voice, "Blocking the shop? Do you have any grudge against this shop?"
Liu Yeshu's brow furrowed, a chill running down her spine. Suddenly, she could only recall the usual smiles on Brother-in-Law Mo's face. He always looked after her business and helped her drive away the thugs. She had never suspected he would do such a backstabbing.
"I've never had any grudge against him," Liu Yeshu's voice trembled a little, but she still tried to remain calm, "It's just... I just didn't expect it."
The long-faced official saw Liu Yeshu's expression, but didn't say much. He continued, "It's not right for you criminals to do business. Now that the fine has been paid, just don't cause any more trouble in the future." After he said that, he bowed and turned to enter the yamen.
Liu Yeshu agreed, but still felt something was wrong - the business of kimchi and sesame eggs did not compete with the noodle shop, but instead brought more customers to the noodle shop. Even from the perspective of profit, brother-in-law Mo had no reason to report himself.
Butler Zhao patted Liu Yeshu's shoulder comfortingly and said, "You can only know a person's face but not his heart. You should be more careful in the future. Now go back to the mansion. We need to prepare dinner for the general."
Liu Yeshu forced herself to pull away and watched the sky gradually darken.
Back at Qi's residence, the stove was lit and the water in the pot slowly boiled. She took fresh tofu from the basket and expertly cut it into neat cubes. She added the chopped tofu, enoki mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms to the water, sprinkled them with chopped green onions and salt, and the soup was incredibly delicious. Steam rose, carrying the rich aroma of mushrooms.
"First, a tofu and mushroom soup, and then a cucumber salad."
She picked out two eggs, cracked them, added an appropriate amount of warm water, and stirred thoroughly. Pour the egg mixture into the steamer. Once the pot was sufficiently hot, Liu Yeshu placed the steamer in the basket, closed the lid, and waited for the steamed eggs to form. A few chopped scallions were sprinkled over the steamed eggs, creating a light eggy aroma and a tender, melt-in-your-mouth texture.
The last dish is stir-fried bean sprouts, which are fresh, crisp and fragrant.
As Butler Zhao entered the kitchen, he smelled the refreshing aroma of food.
He walked over to the stove, leaned over to examine it, and said, "Tonight's dishes are fresh and elegant. The general has been drying them in the barracks all afternoon. He will like them."
Liu Yeshu smiled and said, "General, perhaps you had a greasy meal at noon, so I'll make some light and refreshing dishes."
Butler Zhao nodded with satisfaction, carefully placed the three dishes and a soup on the tray, and carried it to the front hall.
While Qi Yu was having dinner, he leaned over and said, "General, I have accompanied Miss Liu to pay the fine this afternoon." He then told Qi Yu in detail about the person who secretly reported to the police and Liu Yeshu's reaction in the afternoon.
"Keep an eye on it and don't let anything else happen." Qi Yu didn't react much and just casually mentioned this after dinner.
Butler Zhao agreed, but he was a little confused. Was the person he was supposed to keep an eye on Miss Liu, or was he the one who reported the matter to the police?
As if he had heard what Butler Zhao wanted to ask, Qi Yu put down his chopsticks and added, "Keep an eye on her. This Miss Liu has quite a few secrets."
*
Zhao Chunfang wandered around all day, her mood still unimproving. She took the three taels of silver and bought herself a gold-plated hairpin in the East Market, which she then secretly hid. Only when the setting sun began to shine did she angrily return to the village, kick open the door, and slam the basket to the ground.
Wang Dazhu heard the noise and rushed forward: "Chunfang, what's going on? Is it..."
"Get out of here!" Zhao Chunfang yelled. "Useless thing! If you had some skills, why would I have to grovel and taste food for others?"
Wang Dazhu shrank his neck and dared not say anything.
Zhao Chunfang was impatiently throwing things around in the room, making so much noise that Wang Dazhu didn't dare to go in. She tiptoed to the innermost part of the jewelry box and locked it with the key.
Someone coughed softly at the gate: "Chunfang, I heard you went to the General's Mansion. How was it?"
It was Sergeant Sun! Zhao Chunfang burst into tears: "Brother Sun, you don't know! That girl from the Liu family actually used some shameful means to squeeze me out!"
Sergeant Sun frowned: "What do you mean?"
Zhao Chunfang took the opportunity to cry, "My cooking is obviously better, but the general chose her. Tell me, is there something fishy going on here?"
"She's from an official family, how could she possibly be better than you at cooking?" Sergeant Sun pondered. "This is indeed strange. I'll go and ask around."
After seeing off Sergeant Sun, Zhao Chunfang was about to close the door when her neighbor, Aunt Wang, came over and said, "Chunfang, I heard that you and that girl from the Liu family went to the General's Mansion to try out the food. How was it?"
Zhao Chunfang rolled her eyes and lowered her voice, "Aunt Wang, let me tell you, that girl from the Liu family is not going to be a cook at all!"
Aunt Wang immediately became interested: "Oh? What are they going to do?"
Zhao Chunfang pretended to be mysterious: "I heard that the general has taken a fancy to her and is planning to take her as his concubine!"
"Is this true?" Aunt Wang exclaimed.
Zhao Chunfang nodded vigorously, "Absolutely true! Think about it, a young girl, a former official's daughter, who has never done any housework, how could she possibly do better than me? If anything, it's only because of my pretty face!"
The village was in need of gossip. The gossip about Chu Yurou being bitten by a snake in the neighboring Huangtu Village had been turned over and over and chewed to pieces.
These words were like a stone dropped into a calm lake, stirring up ripples. Within half a day, the entire village knew this "astonishing" news.
*
After living in the mansion for many days, Liu Yeshu had already gotten used to this busy life. At dawn, she got up, tiptoed to the kitchen of the general's mansion, and began to prepare breakfast for the general.
The morning light was just breaking, and the air still carried a hint of the night's coolness. The warmth of the stove fire and the wafting fragrance quickly dispelled the chill, and the kitchen was suddenly filled with the aroma of food.
Yang Qing came in the morning light, pushed open the wooden door of the kitchen, and saw that Liu Yeshu had been busy for a while. A hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes, but he just snorted coldly, then walked silently to the stove and started his work.
"Good morning, Brother Yang." Liu Yeshu was busy preparing the soup. She greeted him without even looking up, her tone as gentle as usual.
Yang Qing just responded coldly, his hands kept moving and his expression was indifferent.
Soon, Butler Zhao came into the kitchen. He took a deep breath and praised, "What a nice smell! Miss Liu, what did you do?"
Liu Yeshu smiled as she brought over a bowl of steaming porridge. "This is yam and lily porridge, refreshing and nourishing. There are also a few side dishes, all light and refreshing."
Butler Zhao nodded in praise and personally carried the tray to the front hall.
Seeing Butler Zhao leave, Liu Yeshu turned to look at Yang Qing who was cleaning the kitchen, and her voice became cold.
"Brother Yang, what are you doing with the hair from my turban lately?"
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