39. Winning the championship in the winding stream party
◎I'm rich overnight! ◎
The seventy-two streets and alleys of Lixi Town were all decorated with red silk curtains, and the sound of gongs and drums filled the air, creating a joyous atmosphere. The grand banquet of floating wine cups on a winding stream was about to begin.
Many of the eighty-eight chefs were there hoping to gain the princess's favor, while Yan Yunzhao merely wanted to use this opportunity to join the restaurant guild. Therefore, while everyone rushed to present gifts and offer auspicious greetings to the princess, Yan Yunzhao was busy admiring the sights and sights.
The banquet was held in a beautiful garden with winding, elegant covered bridges adorned with eaves bells and lanterns. Red plum blossoms grew on both sides of a riverside path, appearing from afar like wisps of red smoke, a truly lovely sight.
Today, Yan Yunzhao wore only a pale yellow dress, simple yet elegant, made of soft silk, and a fluffy cloak over it kept her warm. As she strolled through the courtyard, she couldn't help but be stared at by passersby.
Today, this place is full of noble families, and many young ladies and gentlemen are dressed in luxurious clothes. It is rare to see someone as simple and unpretentious as Yan Yunzhao. She attracted the attention of everyone along the way, who thought she was a pretty young lady from a secluded family.
However, Yan Yunzhao was focused on figuring out today's menu and had no time to pay attention to these stares. He simply walked quickly past the crowd toward a quiet place.
If the rumors were true, and all the chefs had a sweet tooth, then eating so many dessert dishes would surely be tiring. Remembering Qing Le's words, Yan Yunzhao decided to take a risk and try something different this time, since refreshing and light dishes would be a better match for the beautiful scenery today.
Doing this will likely only lead to two outcomes: either displeasing your valued customers and ruining your chances of entering the industry, or "fortune favors the bold" and unexpectedly receiving unanimous praise, making your skills stand out.
Yan Yunzhao shook her head, trying to clear the jumbled thoughts in her mind. She sat down and listened to the steward in front of the princess on the high platform in the distance, spouting some familiar opening remarks that made her feel sleepy.
Those words were nothing more than praising the Emperor's boundless grace and the Princess's profound understanding and consideration for the people's sentiments. After a series of subtle praises and congratulations, the main event of the day finally arrived.
Princess Qing'an gracefully took her seat, supported by her attendants like stars around the moon. Yan Yunzhao was far away and should not have been able to see the princess's face clearly. Fortunately, his hearing and eyesight were sharp after his cultivation. He saw that the princess was wearing a veil that was fluttering in the wind. Above the veil were a pair of beautiful eyes that were full of water.
She glanced up at where Yan Yunzhao was, her bright eyes blinking playfully.
Yan Yunzhao ignored her and stopped exchanging glances with her. After rising with everyone around him and offering a few random words of blessing, he washed his hands, burned incense, and prepared to showcase his culinary skills.
The banquet was set up amidst flowers, which was quite elegant. Each table was already prepared in a spacious area, with pots, pans and utensils all provided. The ingredients that each chef had searched and prepared were also arranged according to their numbers. After the maids checked them, the chefs could start cooking.
This culinary competition, ostensibly to celebrate the princess's birthday, was in reality a contest among top chefs from all sides. The winner would gain fame, a thriving business, and the princess's favor. The best outcome would be a recommendation to the palace to become a royal chef.
However, Yan Yunzhao had no interest in these complicated matters; she only wished that the princess would find some solace in the experience.
Originally, Yan Yunzhao only knew how to make some modern-style delicate dishes, but he didn't know much about the good ancient methods. However, after Lady Du of Biyuefang generously taught him, he was now 90% confident.
The banquet dishes are all about elegance, and the plating is essential. Yan Yunzhao had picked some fresh ingredients that could be used for plating and soaked them in dew.
The first course was an appetizer. She ground soybean flour into a fine powder, secretly used magic to enhance its baking, mixed it with honey and fresh milk, and shaped it into eighteen different flower shapes, corresponding to the princess's eighteenth birthday celebration.
Another skillful brush dipped in light-colored ink made from ingredients was used to draw patterns that were lifelike. These eighteen kinds of bean flour cakes were arranged on a white jade porcelain plate with lotus leaves. Ice leaf stems, daisies, and plum blossoms were used to create a scene on the plate with bean flour dyed with ink.
In the center is the most eye-catching element of this dish: a red carp swimming in a painting. The lifelike red carp-shaped bean flour cakes are arranged on a lotus leaf jade plate adorned with clusters of flowers. The eighteen kinds of flower cakes form a scene in themselves, elegant and charming.
Yan Yunzhao also came up with a saying for this set of pastries, with each of the seventeen flowers corresponding to auspicious qualities, and wrote a blessing on it: May the princess live a long and healthy life, like the fragrant orchids and irises of Li and Yuan.
Looking around, all eighty-eight skilled chefs were putting their best effort into their dishes, while the princess and other young ladies and gentlemen from noble families were watching from afar. We cannot let our guard down.
Yan Yunzhao had practiced the subsequent dishes countless times, his mastery of heat control and knife skills was unparalleled, and he had even developed his own unique insights. Dishes included Jade Cicada and Locust Leaf Delight, Hibiscus Soup, Steamed Rice with Dragon Eye Beef and Cheese, and Shrimp, Fish, Bamboo Shoots, and Fern Root... all paired with a cup of jasmine tea infused with honey. Since the young girl disliked bitter flavors, Yan Yunzhao cleverly prepared a pot of lightly sweet tea. Though common, it was refreshingly light and helped cut through the richness of the dishes.
Whether it's delicacies from land and sea, or ordinary dishes transformed into extraordinary flavors, or beautiful, delicious soups and sweet cakes that nourish the skin, they all have a variety of flavors, including sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, and salty. Of course, steamed rice and red date cakes are indispensable.
Looking at the large table of exquisite dishes he had prepared, Yan Yunzhao clapped his hands in satisfaction, full of confidence.
The rich aroma wafted for miles, and the chef at the next table glanced at it from afar. Unable to contain himself, he teased, "I've long heard that Boss Yan is quite ingenious in opening his shop and always likes to be unconventional, but it seems he's misapplied his skills. Although your dishes have many varieties, they've lost sight of the essence: why didn't you even bother to find out what the princess likes to eat?"
"And that steamed red date cake, such a coarse thing, how could you serve it to the princess?"
This man was a royal chef whom the princess had brought from the capital. He was known as "Chef Zhao the God of Cookery" and looked to be in his forties. He was a seasoned expert.
His words were barbed and full of belittling intent, which made several chefs nearby linger over the dishes and sneer repeatedly. Only Madam Du gave her a comforting smile.
Yan Yunzhao ignored those people and simply returned the greeting with a smile to Lady Du.
She has always been confident in her cooking. If the chef herself doesn't approve of it, how can she expect the person tasting it to feel any connection to it?
Although the red date steamed cake is a common dessert, Yan Yunzhao made a special trip to Jiangnan a few days ago to learn the recipe from the old steamed cake brand in the hometown of Princess Ding, all to fulfill the princess's longing for home.
After the last incense stick burned out, the maid struck the gong, and the cooks were to put down what they were doing and present the dishes, waiting for the princess to taste them one by one.
Everyone held their breath, their hearts pounding: which chef's dish would the princess invite to taste first? They had heard that a royal chef, personally appointed by His Majesty, would be by their side on this trip; they wondered if ordinary people were destined to receive such an honor.
No matter who makes the dish, the first bite is always the most amazing. After that, the flavors become cloying and your stomach is full, so you can't really tell the difference.
Chef Zhao, who had just been teasing Yan Yunzhao, now looked confident and assured that the princess would serve him the first dish.
It is unknown what the princess whispered to her personal maid, but under everyone's watchful eyes, the maid went straight to Chef Zhao—Yan Yunzhao, who was standing next to her—and gave a graceful bow: "My princess invites Miss Yan to try her dishes."
The chefs were in an uproar, and Chef Zhao's expression changed in a series of unpredictable changes. All eyes fell on Yan Yunzhao: How could such a young girl, who was still wet behind the ears, be so favored by the princess?
Whether they were unwilling or gritted their teeth, they could only watch helplessly as a group of maids carried Yan Yunzhao's dishes upstairs.
However, this trip also allowed everyone to see the dishes clearly, and they had to admit they were impressed: the side dishes were cut as fine as silver threads and laid out in a staggered manner; a silver ear fungus and bird's nest floating on the soup surface resembled a golden peony, as if a spring garden scene was gathered on the plate; the white shrimp in the celadon plate were wrapped in soft egg white, and the tender tofu was like snowflakes, which looked elegant and the aroma filled the table before even touching the chopsticks.
Yan Yunzhao remained calm and composed, wondering what the princess thought. After sitting for a while, he saw the other chefs behind him offering him some of the dishes. He then distributed the untouched dishes to the dozen or so young masters and ladies who accompanied him.
The chefs had lost their appetite for the elegant feast; after all, food they prepared never tasted as good as food prepared by others. Everyone had come for fame or rewards, so they were naturally focused on the princess's actions. They were overjoyed whenever a few maids whispered to the princess and then glanced at them.
Compared to them, Yan Yunzhao appeared extremely calm, brewing a pot of tea and drinking cup after cup. It wasn't that she was confident because of her acquaintance with the princess, but rather that regardless of the outcome, she was very satisfied with the dishes she had prepared that day.
As the music and dance began, and after a hearty meal, a maidservant gracefully walked to the center of the table, signaling for silence, and announced, "Today, all the skilled chefs have displayed their talents, and the Princess is very satisfied. However, as usual, we will still choose a champion and award him one hundred taels of gold."
Yan Yunzhao paused in his tea-drinking, and a chorus of exclamations arose around him: In previous years, he had only heard of rewarding antique paintings and cultural artifacts, and ten taels of gold was already a considerable sum, but this year they were going to reward a hundred taels!
A hundred taels of gold is no small sum; it's enough to buy a city. Everyone swallowed hard and looked up at the person at the very front.
With a flick of her delicate hand, the princess presented a sprig of plum blossom in a porcelain vase, which was then carried down the platform on a tray. The maid walked extremely slowly, each step seemingly treading on the hearts of everyone present. Yet, her unhurried pace only fueled their itch; perhaps it would have been better to simply announce her name from the platform!
Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the maid walked past row after row of people and stopped in front of Yan Yunzhao, who was sitting at the end of the table.
"Miss Yan, congratulations on winning the championship of the Flowing Wine Cup Banquet."
The maidservant smiled and curtsied, placing the porcelain vase on her table.
Yan Yunzhao's brain buzzed, and he almost choked on his tea.
Gold... how many ounces was it again? Hers?
Gradually, she was brought back to her senses by the sounds of praise and cheerful music around her. She blankly accepted the plum blossom, and the maidservant immediately clapped her hands with a smile, and dozens of chests of gold were brought to her.
If we were to name the most disgruntled person at the banquet, Chef Zhao would undoubtedly be number one. Among the eighty-eight chefs, he was the most experienced and held the highest position. Seeing the reward he had been hoping for for several years being given so lightly to a novice young girl, he couldn't bear it at all. He was so angry that he puffed out his beard and glared at her, and simply excused himself from the banquet, claiming that he was feeling unwell.
After all, it was a princess's birthday banquet. Although it was said that eighty-eight chefs would celebrate together, most people were still reluctant to stay and felt constrained because of their status. Once Chef Zhao started, the other chefs also felt it was inappropriate to stay any longer and quietly left their seats from the side and back. Only Yan Yunzhao was still immersed in the sudden wealth and was in a daze for a long time.
The small shop had high expenses, and money was tight. Yan Yunzhao used to carefully plan every expense, but now that she suddenly had so much more money, she didn't even know how to spend it.
In a daze, before leaving, Lady Du came to congratulate Yan Yunzhao and exchanged pleasantries for a while.
"I said before that you were very talented and had a lot of ingenuity, and now it seems that I was right about you."
Lady Du smiled broadly, genuinely happy for her.
Although they had only known each other for a short time, Lady Du was truly her mentor, and Yan Yunzhao was naturally extremely grateful: "Not at all, it's just because Lady Du is so generous in giving me her guidance."
After a few words of laughter and conversation, Lady Du also left the table.
The banquet of floating wine cups on a winding stream had only just begun. Naturally, the talented scholars sat along the stream, drinking and reciting poems. One person would compose the first line, and whoever could complete the second line would retrieve a wine cup from the stream. Yan Yunzhao had no interest in enjoying this activity at this time. Seeing that the princess was not there, he left his seat to go and find her.
According to the maid, the princess went back to her room to change her clothes. Yan Yunzhao waited in the side hall for a short while before a girl in a plain dress came skipping out from behind.
"Sister Yan!"
Qing Le had been calling her Miss Yan, but now she called her Sister Yan, which didn't seem awkward at all. Yan Yunzhao smiled and responded.
Remembering that Qing Le was no longer an ordinary girl, she should have bowed to the princess, but before she could raise her hand, Qing Le immediately pressed it back down: "Do you still want to pretend we're not familiar?"
Yan Yunzhao couldn't help but chuckle: "No, it's just that I don't want others to think that I got this championship through back channels. You've named me the champion and awarded me a hundred taels of gold, isn't that a bit unfair?"
She would rather not win the championship or receive a hundred taels of gold; she only hoped that her victory this time was legitimate.
"Of course not! I'm not the kind of person who would do favoritism or corruption!" Qing Le's bright eyes widened as she tried her best to prove herself.
"Sister Yan, your cooking skills are excellent, we can all see that. The dishes you made this time are much more interesting than usual, they look beautiful and taste delicious, every single one is to my liking, especially that steamed white rice and red date cake! It's exactly the same as my mother's!"
Qing Le wrapped her arm around her wrist in a half-coquettish manner, and said pleadingly, "Sister Yan, how about... you come back to the capital with me, okay?"
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