Yan Langqing has been feeling a little uneasy lately, and the source of all this comes from Lin Dan, the person whom she had long forgotten but suddenly showed up. Yan Langqing also had her four signature dishes packed and sent to the palace for tasting, and they were indeed delicious.
She once tried to recreate these dishes, but found that even with the same ingredients and seasonings, she could not produce the taste of Lin Dan's dishes. She must have her own unique methods that others cannot see through or understand. Without her personal guidance, it would be useless even if you get the recipe.
Only experienced chefs who have been in the profession for decades or even a lifetime can achieve such superb skills. And how old is Lin Dan? She is two years younger than her, only twenty-two this year, but she has already surpassed others by far. Yan Langqing had to admit that she was nervous inside, but as the royal chef, her self-esteem would not allow her to admit defeat to an ordinary chef.
She would definitely go to this competition, but she would have to wait until the palace was closed. However, before she could rest, she was in trouble. She saw several guards rushing into the imperial kitchen with swords in hand, and asked angrily: "Who made this eight-treasure tofu today? Come out!"
"It's me." Yan Langqing took a step forward calmly. In the palace, she has the emperor's protection everywhere, so naturally she is not afraid of anything.
"Besides you, who else touched that dish?" the guard asked again.
Several palace maids and eunuchs came forward one after another. They were all Yan Langqing's confidants, including the young man who often helped her go out of the palace to look for delicious food.
"Tie him up and send him to the Ministry of Punishment!" Several guards tied the man up without saying a word and dragged him away for interrogation.
Hearing that he was going to be sent to the dark prison that was like hell, Yan Langqing panicked and asked anxiously while struggling: "My lords, what have we done wrong?"
"Don't you know whether you have done anything wrong or not?" Several guards covered their mouths and dragged them away roughly.
Today's matter is neither serious nor trivial, because the emperor is hosting a banquet in the palace for several princes from Mongolia and discussing the purchase of war horses with them. One of the princes had already informed the palace servants in the imperial kitchen that he could not eat peanuts, otherwise he would get sick. The palace maid agreed nicely, but turned around and served a portion of eight-treasure tofu mixed with peanut butter. The prince became ill as soon as he ate it, and red rashes broke out all over his body, itching very badly. So the banquet was ruined and the purchase of the war horse was also off the table. Everything had to wait until the prince recovered from his illness.
In order to give an explanation to the prince, the emperor ordered the guards to investigate the matter thoroughly, and the investigation led them to Yan Langqing. Yan Langqing really didn't know the prince's taboo, and no one had told her, but she was the chef after all, and she had cooked the dish herself. Even if the emperor was reluctant, he had to arrest the person and interrogate him to avoid mistreating the state guest.
After finding out that there was no espionage or conspiracy involved and it was just a mistake, the Ministry of Punishment planned to release the person. But Prince Gong, who was in charge of the Ministry of Punishment, suddenly arrived and without saying a word, threw down two bamboo sticks and beat Yan Langqing and her apprentice, the young eunuch, with fifty lashes each.
After all, Yan Langqing was a favorite of the emperor, so the executioner lifted him high and let him go gently, not daring to hit him too hard. But her apprentice was not so lucky. After the interrogation, his clothes were torn and bloody, and he looked like a monster. After being carried out of the dark cell, Yan Langqing's legs and feet went limp and tears flowed uncontrollably. Others said that the palace was a cannibalistic place, but because she had the emperor to protect her, she never felt that way. But today, she finally understood that this dark cell was indeed a big mouth, just waiting to eat people alive.
When she was interrogated on the bloody floor, she vaguely heard Prince Gong say, "My brother ordered that I beat her severely... I messed with his treasure... Hey, she's not a concubine at all, she's a cook with excellent cooking skills..."
Yan Langqing was not a stupid person. She quickly realized that the reason she was being executed was because she had provoked someone she shouldn't have provoked. But who is this person? The first people she thought of were the chefs in the imperial kitchen, because only by dragging her down would the position of head chef be vacated.
Everyone now looked like a bad person to her. After returning to the imperial kitchen, she didn't dare to stay there for a moment and just wanted to go home quickly. But when the emperor really issued an order to strip her of her status as the imperial chef in the palace and send her back, she was stunned again, her heart full of resentment and humiliation.
She really had no idea what happened today, and no one told her that the prince could not eat peanuts. She was framed, but she had no evidence, so she could not defend herself. She was put on a carriage and sent out of the palace without even having time to change her bloody clothes.
The young eunuch who often went out of the palace to select delicacies for her was seriously injured and thrown into the Ye Ting. It was unclear whether he could survive. Even if he survived, he would not be able to return to the imperial kitchen in the future. He could only go to the cold palace to serve those crazy concubines, or go to the laundry department to clean toilets. Hard days were still ahead.
…………
Zhou was terrified when her son was beaten by the government officials and was covered in blood. She kept asking what to do next. The store was smashed, the sign was destroyed, and the nobleman also said that they were not allowed to open the store. Did they have to kneel down and beg that little bitch Lin Dan? No matter how Zhou thought about it, she was unwilling to accept this. However, if she did not ask Lin Dan to come back, her family would not be well off. The 100,000 taels of silver they had paid out were already their greatest asset. It was a huge loss of strength and vitality, and it would take at least eight or ten years to recover.
Yan Shouye gritted his teeth and said, "Why beg? She has a backer, and so does our family. Our backer is still the emperor. When Lang Qing comes back, I'll ask her to beg the emperor and everything will be fine. Our Lang Qing will be the empress in the future."
"Didn't you say before that she was going to be the marquis's wife?" Zhou finally felt relieved.
"The Marquis's wife is nothing, it's better to be the Empress. I have been suppressing Lang Qing and not letting her get married for these years, and you still think I am hindering her future. Now look, if I hadn't restrained her, would she have had such good fortune today? When Lang Qing comes back, this hurdle in our family will be over. I will also let her file a complaint in front of the emperor and punish the people of Weiyuan Marquis to avenge me!" Yan Shouye became more and more excited as he spoke, and he raised his upper body and shouted, "Someone, go to the door to see if the young lady is back!"
Immediately, a maid ran out, and a moment later she ran back in a hurry, her voice hoarse: "Oh no, oh no! Miss, Miss came back covered in blood, and she was also stripped of her position as the imperial chef!"
The palace servant who brought Yan Langqing back received instructions from Prince Gong and told the Yan family the whole story of how she had committed a serious mistake and was banished from the palace. He did this while standing at the gate, not giving the Yan family any face at all. The passers-by were all neighbors living nearby, and they had often been bullied by Zhou and Yan Shouye, so they couldn't help but show a gloating look on their faces. Should! You thought you were great because your daughter became the royal chef, and you didn't treat others as human beings. You didn't expect that you would end up like this!
Yan Langqing was too embarrassed to face anyone, so he covered his head with a thin blanket and let the servants carry him out of the car. When he returned home, he was shocked to see his father who was also lying on the hospital bed.
Yan Shouye was completely panicked, and he told everyone about the bullying of Lin Dan and her daughter and the burning of the hometown restaurant. He said hatefully: "How could I have known that she had made friends with so many big shots just two or three months after returning to Beijing, and that all of them were willing to stand up for her. If I had known this, I..." I would not have provoked her!
But Yan Shouye was ultimately unwilling to say this last sentence. He thought for a moment and said in a deep voice, "We can't rely on the emperor. Langqing, go and send a letter to Tang Peng and ask him to help you. You may not know that last time Tang Peng hosted a few Mongolian princes at his hometown restaurant, Lin Dan gave him a lot of face. He was annoyed with Lin Dan. When I asked him to help with the government in Nancheng when I wanted to burn the restaurant, he agreed without hesitation. Besides, he was so tolerant of me because of your face. If you ask, there is no reason for him to refuse. We can't not open a restaurant, otherwise what will we eat and drink? But if we want to reopen the restaurant, we must have a backer, right? Tang Peng is the Minister of War after all, and the son of the Yongding Marquis's Mansion. For his sake, Prince Cheng will not come to destroy the signboard again."
He said a lot of random things, but Yan Langqing only heard the four words "Mongolia". He was startled and immediately asked, "Has the prince of Mongolia eaten at Lin Dan's place? Is she friends with several princes?"
"How could she have any friendship with those princes? It was Prince Tang who brought those people there. A few years ago, Prince Tang had joined forces with Mongolia to fight against the Huns. The two sides were friendly forces and had a very good relationship." Yan Shouye planned to donate money to become an official, so he was naturally very familiar with the affairs of the court.
"It's the Prince? It turns out to be the Prince!" Yan Langqing was completely stunned, and tears fell as soon as he blinked. She originally thought that people from the imperial kitchen had conspired to frame her, but it turned out that Prince Tang was also involved. Yes, except for the Crown Prince, who can invite the Prince of Mongolia, who can get his hands into the palace?
There were also Prince Cheng and Prince Gong, who both stood up for Lin Dan. She worked hard to make a living in the palace and made so many contributions to the family, but it was all destroyed overnight. Why did this happen?
Yan Langqing was filled with grief and roared, "Dad, didn't I tell you to live a peaceful life and not cause trouble? You ignored my words, didn't you? When you guys made a scene, I was kicked out of the mansion by the Marquis, and the prince still holds a grudge against me. Now that you guys are making a scene again, I've been kicked out of the palace by the emperor and lost all my face. Are you satisfied now? How many times are you going to drag me down?"
Looking at his daughter half lying on the chair and crying, Yan Shouye felt guilty and regretful, but he had no choice but to stammer, "Dad didn't expect Lin Dan to be such a prickly hedgehog. Don't touch her. Otherwise, why don't you send a letter to Tang Peng? He will definitely help you."
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