On the fifth day after the beginning of winter, leaden clouds hung low over the eaves of the Forbidden City. Snow flakes fell like sieved chaff, only to melt mid-air in the heat rising from the kitchen behind the imperial kitchen. Su Jinli stood before the copper stove, her bamboo apron splattered with oil, the chili-paste oilpaper wrapped around her sleeves softened by the warmth of her palms. Three young eunuchs from the imperial kitchen stood three feet away, their eyes following the movement of her locust wood spatula, their Adam's apples bobbing as if pulled by a string. In the three-foot-diameter iron wok, half-fat, half-lean ground pork sizzled in rapeseed oil, its golden oil coating the green seeds of the Hanyuan peppercorns, sending tiny sparks of fire popping from the bottom.
"Madam Su, the vermicelli is about to stick to the pot!" Princess Shou'an tiptoed over the stove, the hem of her pomegranate-red palace dress nearly brushing against the fire tongs. The young girl had deliberately snuck out of the Cining Palace this morning. The red-gold and kingfisher-inlaid hairpin in her bun was tilted so much it was about to fall off, and there was still a speck of stove ash on the tip of her nose, but she was completely oblivious, staring at the gradually transparent mung bean vermicelli in the pot. "Just now, Steward Zhang said that the imperial kitchen's broth is made with old hens that have been hanging for three hours!"
"No rush." Su Jinli flicked her wrist, scraping the spatula against the bottom of the pot in an arc, flipping the juicy vermicelli over. The light from the silver charcoal stove reflected her drooping eyelashes, casting a faint shadow on her cheekbone. "The essence of this dish is to keep the minced meat firmly attached to the vermicelli tree, like the ants at Xuantan Temple." She remembered last autumn, when Jiang Yan was repairing the riverbank at Gaoyou Lake in Yangzhou. Late at night, wrapped in a straw raincoat, he ate cold steamed buns, pinching the bun skin with his knuckles and saying, "If I had a spoonful of spicy stir-fried minced meat mixed in, it would fill the riverbank half a mile longer." Back then, the wind from the canal swirled the reed catkins, and the frost on his temples was whiter than the snow in the kitchen now.
The Empress stood on the bluestone slab three steps away, her brocade skirt embroidered with gold phoenixes a full two feet from the stove, fearing any splattering oil would burn the newly imported brocade from the Jiangnan Weaving Bureau. She gently waved the round fan with a mutton-fat jade handle, a touch of summer's laziness evident in the cold weather. Pearl necklaces shimmered coldly from her sleeves as she moved. "Look, Concubine Shu," she said, covering her lips with the fan, her voice muffled so only the two of them could hear, "this commoner is truly unpresentable. Even the way she grips the spatula looks like she's using an abacus."
Concubine Shu leaned forward, the collar of her goose-yellow palace dress brushing against the Empress's shawl, and the oriental pearl hairpin on her head nearly caught on the falling pearl curtain. "Your Majesty is right," she glanced at the black jade bracelet on Su Jinli's wrist. It was a seed jade found by the top scholar Jiang Yan, and it shone warmly in the firelight. "She got away with her ant climbing a tree dish at the Imperial Garden Banquet yesterday, but she might fail today—look at the vermicelli noodles, they're almost stuck together!"
Before he could finish his words, the cotton curtains of the kitchen door suddenly flew open, and a figure, clad in bright yellow and covered in snow, burst in. The hem of his dragon robe swept across the vinegar jar in the corner, and a crisp "clang" startled the sparrows from the beams. The emperor rubbed his reddened hands, the pearl pendant on the brim of his hat still clung to icicles, but his eyes were fixed on the iron pot. "What's that fragrance? I smelled it in the Qianqing Palace! It's even more alluring than Eunuch Li's freshly incense-smoked ambergris!"
Su Jinli was about to turn and salute when the emperor snatched the spatula from her hand. The young emperor, now completely devoid of the dignity he held in court, scooped up a large piece of vermicelli wrapped in minced meat with the spatula and thrust it into his mouth without even blowing on it. He scalded his tongue, but he couldn't bear to let go. "Ouch! This is spicy! So flavorful! Even better than the spicy chicken from the imperial kitchen!" As he spoke, oil droplets splattered on the bright yellow dragon-patterned collar of his robe, creating a few dark brown flowers.
"Your Majesty!" the Queen exclaimed, her fan ribs turning white from clenching it tightly. "The dragon's body is more important, how can you use a spatula to take food directly from it?" She gestured to the eunuch next to her to come forward and serve, but she herself did not dare to go near the greasy stove.
"It's okay, it's okay!" The emperor, his mouth full, waved his hand vaguely, his other hand already grabbing the celadon plate on the table. "Su Jinli, quickly serve me a bowl! I want to drink three bowls of glutinous rice porridge with this spicy flavor!" He caught a glimpse of Princess Shou'an's eager eyes and reluctantly scooped a small half of the plate for her. "You only know how to eat. If the Imperial Tutor finds out, he'll read you the 'Instructions for Women' again."
The kitchen's wooden door opened again, and the Empress Dowager entered, supported by a palace maid. Her agarwood cane tapped against the bluestone slabs. The elderly woman, clad in a deep purple cloak woven with gold, her white fox fur collar stained with snow, smiled with a smile. "I heard the Emperor yelling from afar. So he's here stealing a bite." She leaned closer to the stove, sniffing with flaring nostrils. "What an ant climbing a tree! The aroma of peppercorns mixed with the stench of meat is even more appetizing than the bird's nest soup I had the other day!"
Su Jinli quickly scooped a small dish and handed it over. The vermicelli on the white porcelain plate was glistening, with brown-red minced meat dotted on top like ink spots. The chopped green garlic sprinkled on top was still wet with dew. The Empress Dowager took a small sip with a silver spoon, and her eyes immediately lit up with a freshness rarely seen in the deep palace. "Wonderful! Such a homely taste!" She pointed at the porcelain plate in the emperor's hand. "You greedy man, save some for me! Last time, you grabbed most of the chili cheese puffs that Madam Su made!"
The emperor was busy picking at the second plate, and without even looking up when he heard this, he said, "You're the Queen Mother, just try it and you'll know. This goes well with rice! It's a hundred times better than those fancy snacks in the imperial kitchen!" As he spoke, the cuff of his dragon robe accidentally brushed against the soy sauce bottle next to him, and the dark brown sauce spread on the blue bricks, just like the ink stains that Su Jinli accidentally spilled on "Dongjing Menghualu" when she was proofreading in the bookstore last night.
The Empress stood at the doorway of the messy kitchen, the rich aroma of meat, Sichuan peppercorns, and the faint scent of chili peppers like countless fine needles, making her temples throb. She watched the Emperor devouring without regard for his appearance, the Empress Dowager eating with a beaming smile, the sauce staining Princess Shou'an's lips, and then the casual, womanly smile that Su Jinli wore as she wiped her hands on her bamboo apron. A sweet, fishy taste welled up in her throat.
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