Chapter 45 Suzheng Voice
It was their free time, and the cooks were not busy. They were chatting while cleaning up the pots and pans.
Seeing Cui Fufeng accompanying the county lady, Aunt Xuanji, who was checking in the kitchen, hurried over and took out a carefully placed atlas and gave it to him: "Thank you very much, Cui Shaoqing, for borrowing the atlas from your house. Now that it is returned intact, I dare not damage it."
Cui Fufeng took it with a smile: "The county lady's business is my business, aunt, you don't have to be polite."
Aunt Xuanji had a relieved smile on her face, and the other kitchen helpers were secretly exchanging mysterious smiles. Although they didn't say anything, ambiguous emotions were already surging in the kitchen.
Qian Deng coughed awkwardly and flipped through the album. It was filled with illustrations of various pastry patterns, figures, and landscapes. Seventy-two dough figurines formed a lively and prosperous vegetarian steamed rice dish. He couldn't help but think of the set from the banquet that day. He exclaimed, "The kitchen isn't very staffed. How long did it take you all to put together this set?"
"Luckily, the gentlemen knew we were busy and came to help. Young Master Xue is skilled in painting, and he taught us how to sculpt the dough figurines. Young Master Meng is knowledgeable about herbs and spices, and he helped us mix the various sauces. Young Master Jin even invited the most renowned pastry craftsman in the capital. Otherwise, how would we have been able to make such delicate things as sashes, skirts, and hair?"
Qian Deng was lost in thought: "What kind of juice did Mr. Meng mix?"
Cook Ah Liu explained, "The colors of pastry sculptures vary, and they are made using a variety of fruits and vegetables. For example, red is made with amaranth juice, green is made with spinach, and yellow uses turmeric..."
"How many did you make? Did you use them all together?"
"Since the dishes are small steamed vegetarian dough figurines and the offerings are mostly white, we don't need a lot. But Mr. Meng is very careful. He drains every juice cleanly and thickens it thoroughly, then packs it in jars and sends it to us. He even takes away and cleans the jars himself afterwards. It's really troublesome for him."
Qian Deng asked again: "Are the juices and water used together? Are they also used for dyeing?"
"Yes, we worked together with the pastry chef invited by Jin Langjun, using various juices and flour to make pastries. We steamed them in groups of several. It took us a whole day to finish steaming them." Everyone in the kitchen remembered this busy event a few days ago and answered without hesitation.
This means that Meng Lanxi was not present when the pastries were being made, and the sauce he brought was not tampered with in any way. It was used freely in the kitchen and there was nothing unusual about it.
“Have you ever eaten the noodles made from them?”
Ayuan, the youngest helper, scratched his head sheepishly and said, "I tried it. After the noodles were removed from the banquet, most of them were distributed to the people. I picked up a small remaining noodle figurine and tried it. The yellow skirt and green coat look nice, but it tastes dry and hard. It looks good but it doesn't taste good."
"Nonsense! They're looking at the dishes. They use unleavened flour, along with spices, to add color and flavor to the meal. You greedy brat, you don't even understand that!"
Amidst the laughter, Qiandeng and Cui Fufeng asked for some more details, and when they found no other clues, they left the kitchen.
Aunt Xuanji's eyes were still filled with earnestness as she looked at them, and Qiandeng could only lower his head and flip through the atlas in his hand as he walked, pretending to study the patterns to cover up his embarrassment.
As she flipped through the pages, she looked at the various pastry patterns and pondered, "So, these seventy-two people in the Sound Department are all famous people in history."
Cui Fufeng was naturally well-versed in these historical anecdotes. "Exactly. Look, my Lady. Nuwa plays the xiao, Xiangling plays the zither; the one playing the qin is Boya, the one playing the flute is Nanyue; Wang Zhaojun plays the pipa, the one playing the konghou is Liu Lanzhi; the one singing is Han E and Qin Qing, the one dancing is Luoshen Luzhu... Each one has a unique appearance and clothing, and they can be identified at a glance."
Qiandeng looked at the image above, recalling the Suzhengyin part displayed on the table when entertaining the prince that night, and suddenly realized: "The one with the snake tail is naturally Nuwa, the one wrapped in the silver fox cloak must be Zhaojun, Luzhu is naturally the green clothes, and Boya is wearing the wild brown clothes..."
Musicians were of low status, so their clothing was mostly blue, yellow, and black. Deities like Xiangling and Luoshen wore plain clothes adorned with gold foil. Of all the people, only Nongyu, a princess, wore a scarlet dress, played the flute, and attracted a phoenix, sitting reclining atop it, her skirts flowing and ribbons swirling.
"Playing the flute to attract the phoenix... Attracting the phoenix." Qian Deng murmured as if he had come to an understanding. "Perhaps, I know how the murderer will act and accurately poison the person he wants to kill."
Cui Fufeng was stunned, and his eyes lit up as he looked at her: "The county lady already knows?"
"Well... I think there are some clues, but I'm not sure yet." Qian Deng did not look happy, but instead had a worried look between his brows.
She frowned and thought for a moment, then let out a sigh and said, "Forget it. The truth must come out and the murderer must be brought to justice. No matter what, I can't let him go."
Cui Fufeng studied her expression and asked thoughtfully, "So, since Jin Tang died from the same poison, and both times the poisoning was so sophisticated, surely they were both killed by the same person?"
Qian Deng nodded slowly and whispered, "I just hope that he did this alone and has no accomplices, otherwise..."
Having experienced so many hardships with her and faced countless life and death situations, Cui Fufeng had never seen such hesitation and confusion on her face.
He hesitated in his heart. Could it be that the county lady really cared so much about Meng Lanxi?
On second thought, if we are talking about accomplices, then could it be that the county lady is referring to that person...
Thinking about the distinctly different feelings between the county lord and Ling Tianshui after the night he was in danger in the mountains, Cui Fufeng looked up at Qian Deng's dim and gloomy face. He was momentarily lost in thought. Qian Deng returned the atlas to him, avoiding his gaze and changing the subject: "After Lan Xiurong and Feng Yi escaped, the court has been searching for them, right? Have they found any trace of them?"
"Both the Imperial Guards and the Northern Yamen Forbidden Army were involved in this incident, but their whereabouts remain unknown," Cui Fufeng said. "Beyond the jungle are deep mountains. If they've fled to Mount Zhongnan, it's likely they'll be difficult to track down, and we won't be able to find them for a while."
Qian Deng nodded silently, then thought about it and asked again, "Where are the mastiffs in the Dali Temple? The ones that came looking for me last time."
"There are many mountain streams over there, and there is a river below, so tracking the scent is extremely difficult."
As the two were talking, Liuli came over to report and led Ling Tianshui in.
Hearing them discussing this, Ling Tianshui said calmly, "They've already escaped, there's no point in rushing. If they're capable, they can continue to hide. When they can no longer be restrained, that's when we'll capture them."
His tone was very different from usual. Qiandeng and Cui Fufeng couldn't help but look at each other and noticed something was wrong.
Ling Tianshui looked at Cui Fufeng and said, "Shaoqing Cui, I met one of Ji Linyou's subordinates today. He remembered that Ji Linyou had a dispute with Jintang before. I wondered if it was related to the case, so I asked him to go to the Dali Temple to explain the situation."
Cui Fufeng knew what was meant. He looked at Qian Deng deeply, then stood up and said goodbye: "In that case, I'll go over and ask."
After Cui Fufeng left, Qiandeng also dismissed the maids. Only the two of them were left in the courtyard, along with the rustling sound of the wind caressing the lush green banana leaves.
Qian Deng avoided his gaze, leaned on the railing, and asked knowingly, "What's wrong?"
He took out a transfer order and slapped it in front of her, staring at her fiercely: "Why are you transferring me to Changhua Palace?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com