112. Fish Feast
The Xuanji Camp beat Xiao Mufeng with ten sticks, and Rong Se watched with his own eyes as the Imperial Guards beat Cao Xun with thirty sticks. The man was dragged out after he fell unconscious.
"Your Highness," the imperial guards leaned forward and whispered, "Brothers, please keep your hands to yourself. You will only need to lie in bed for three or two months. You will not be disabled."
"well done."
Rong Se withdrew his gaze, said "Go and claim your reward", and left the Forbidden Army Office with Liang Shenyu.
The Xuanji Camp has been on the rise these days, and Rong Se is taking this opportunity to dampen their arrogance. Whether he was personally watching the execution or was the last executioner, his behavior can be described as arrogant.
After this incident, whenever the Xuanji Camp met the Imperial Guards on the narrow road again, they dared not act recklessly. After all, even the commander-in-chief had suffered such a great loss, let alone a small soldier in front of him?
At night, there was a curfew in Jinjing. The streets were dark and deserted, and three figures quietly emerged.
Lan Ying took off the swirling skirt she wore during the day, and now wore a short blue dress with a knife on her waist. She glanced at the intersection in front of her, gestured to the two people behind her, and whispered, "My people have passed the point. It's here. That deputy governor doesn't patrol properly at night. Instead, he often goes out to have sex. If he wants to go back to the government office, he must pass through this alley, but there are people following him."
Today, Prince Xiao was punished, and the one watching the execution was the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Xuanjiying.
Xiao Mufeng had only received ten strokes of the cane, and his back was already bruised and bleeding. He looked alive and well, but in fact he fell on the couch when he returned home, and later developed a high fever. It was obvious that the Xuanjiying were beating him to death.
Yun Chu was still wearing the narrow-sleeved long gown he wore during the day, and he sighed politely, "Girl, I'm not saying anything to you, just handle this little thing yourself. Why do you have to involve me in this murder and robbery in the middle of the night?"
"Don't say such harsh words. How can we kill and rob people? We are not bandits. Besides..." Lan Ying hugged her shoulders and snorted, "Isn't it my second brother's man who was bullied? He is also related to you. It would be bad if you don't come, right?"
After he finished speaking, the night became suddenly quiet, and even one could hear a pin drop.
The Yun brothers' expressions froze for a moment.
"…What?" Yun Chu paused and asked tentatively, "Whose man?"
Lan Ying pursed her lips towards Yun Zhi and said, "Second brother."
Yun Chu also looked over there, his eyes were calm, but there was a sense of invisible pressure, as if to say "you confess yourself".
Yun Zhi's forehead twitched twice, and he reached out to grab Lan Ying's whip and said in a low voice, "You come and explain?"
Lan Ying pulled back her braid and glared at Yun Zhi, "Don't think I don't know that people have moved into your house."
"Just because of this?" Yun Zhi couldn't believe it.
Lan Ying was not surprised and said, "Why not? Think about Dingbei Hou, how did he live in our master's house?"
Yun Zhi: “…”
Yun Chu thought about how Marquis Dingbei had gradually gained a foothold in the palace, and suddenly realized it. He nodded and said, "That's the truth."
Lan Ying nodded in agreement, "Yeah."
"What is it?" Yun Zhi still had a stern face, glanced at Lan Ying, and said in a businesslike tone: "Get down to business."
After that, he walked forward.
It's like trying to cover up one's own mistake.
Lan Ying and Yun Chu were hugging each other's shoulders from behind, their movements and expressions were surprisingly consistent. After the two siblings approached, they stared at Yun Zhi's tall back. Lan Ying whispered, "Look, he didn't even say anything."
Yun Zhi nodded and asked inquiringly, "And he even came in person to beat up the deputy governor."
After a moment's silence, the brother and sister looked at each other and saw the same thing in each other's eyes: It's settled!
The next day, when Rong Se went to court, he learned that the deputy commander of Xuanjiying neglected his duties and visited a brothel last night. When he came out, he was beaten black and blue by someone. Like commander Cao Xun, he was bedridden and submitted a letter of sick leave.
Rong Se looked subtle after hearing the news.
This is the modus operandi.
Seemingly familiar.
After returning home, Rong Se sat on a rocking chair in the room like a master, looking at the three siblings standing side by side in front of him. He waved the sick letter from the deputy commander of Xuanjiying in his hand with a smile on his face.
"Okay, you three. You were busy last night, weren't you?"
The Yun brothers remained calm, only Lan Ying lowered her head out of guilt.
Rong Zhixu, who was sitting on the side, had no idea what had happened. He clutched his handkerchief tightly and whispered, "Uncle..."
Before he could finish his words, Liang Shenyu looked over with a gentle and warning look, and raised his index finger to his lips, making a gesture to keep quiet.
Rong Zhixu had no choice but to swallow back what he was about to say, his eyes tense.
But the three siblings were relatively calm.
Lan Ying murmured, "We were very careful and didn't leave any clues."
"You're still telling the truth. Yesterday, I personally watched the governor being beaten. At night, the deputy governor was also beaten so hard that he couldn't get up. Everyone knows that it was the palace that did it." Rong Se didn't look angry. After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment and suddenly chuckled, "But well done."
Rong Zhixu was stunned.
Liang Shenyu looked calm as if he had known this would happen. He took a sip of tea and said with a smile, "It's good to set an example so that Prince Xiao will know how our palace operates. He will suffer less losses and cause less trouble in the future."
“That’s right.”
Rong Se stood up from the rocking chair and stretched.
"Okay, time to cook." He casually threw the sick note back on the table, took off his hair crown, took out a jade hairpin from his collar, and skillfully tied his hair up. As he walked out, he said, "We'll have fish for lunch. If you have something to do, go and get busy. If you don't have anything to do, come and help."
Yun Zhi and Liang Shenyu both had official business, and Yun Chu also had his own affairs to deal with. Only Lan Ying's underworld business did not require him to worry about it personally, so he dragged Rong Zhixu to the kitchen, saying that he was there to help, but in fact he was there to watch the fun.
Rong Se never let the two little girls fight.
Now that the river is frozen, there are even fewer fish. The half-man-high grouper in the bathroom today was a tribute sent by coastal officials. The whole fish was frozen like a treasure and delivered to Jinjing by express horse. It was originally intended for the emperor to eat, but Rongse had not seen such a big sea fish for a long time, so he made a prompt decision and took the whole fish away.
His reputation for tyranny has spread far and wide, so what's wrong with eating a tribute fish?
"Blue Warbler—" Rong Se called, "Use your knife."
The fish was too big and not completely thawed, so Rong Se had to chop it with an axe, but with Bluebird it was much easier. He pointed to the fish's head, made a few cuts on the fish, and said, "Cut it like this."
Lan Ying nodded, pulled out the curved knife from her waist, and quickly cut the grouper into several pieces. Then, while wiping the knife, she watched Rong Se continue to cut the fish and asked, "Master, we can't eat the fish head, right? Hey, you don't throw away the fish bones?"
"Why can't we eat it?" Rong Se said with a smile, "Those who cook turtles only take its skirt and don't know that the flavor is in the meat; those who steam shad only take its belly and don't know that the freshness is in the back. There are taboos in cooking, and one of them is to avoid overeating. There is marrow in the bones of fish and meat in the head of fish. As long as the fishy smell is removed, they are all edible. Fish, chicken and duck are all very fat in the books. The oil is in the meat and not in the soup, so the flavor remains and does not dissipate. For example, the palace banquets are called luxurious things, and the dishes in the officialdom have many names. Sixteen dishes and four snacks are nothing more than a false name for honoring guests. People who can't cook use these fancy names as gimmicks. It's all nonsense to take only one piece of a fish as expensive. He doesn't cook because he doesn't know how to cook."①
Lan Ying was confused by Rong Se's pedantic remarks and nodded, not quite understanding. "There are so many things to learn when cooking..."
"What else?" Rong Se asked back.
He is a blogger who reproduces ancient food, so naturally he often reads the classics that record ancient food. Besides, being a chef is also a profession, and there are always some rules in his profession.
"You shouldn't be hasty in everything, especially in eating."② Rongse spoke clearly and slowly, "Little girl, there is still a lot to learn. I know you are good at cooking and have a lot of experience. Don't underestimate me because I am just a cook. There is a lot of knowledge in eating, so don't underestimate it."
Lan Ying was confused by what he said, but she still nodded very seriously, as if she had really understood something from it.
"Here." Rong Se pushed the stone mortar to Lan Ying, and at the same time pushed the white, tender and transparent fish meat that he had cut into small pieces after deboning it over to Lan Ying, "Mash it into a paste."
Lan Ying immediately rolled up her sleeves and started to stir. While Rong Se was carrying the fish head into the house to make chopped pepper fish head, she whispered to Rong Zhixu, "This is still the easiest. The master said so much, and I could understand every word. But when you put them together, I didn't understand a single word."
Rong Zhixu smiled with her hands covering her lips, and said softly, "If you don't understand, then you don't understand. It's good for you to be like this."
Lan Ying immediately smiled brightly and nodded heavily.
Rongse was always very careful with food and ingredients. He would carefully carve a whole fish head like a sculpture and finally steam it. The fish skin was very tough so it was cut into strips and braised. The fish paste minced by Lanying was used to make fish balls and the remaining fish fillets were made into boiled fish. The fish marrow was called dragon marrow in ancient times. Only a small amount of the dragon marrow from this fish was presented as a tribute for the emperor to taste.
Rong Se split the fish bones and took out a small dish of crystal clear fish.
It was impossible to eat it raw, so after thinking it over, Rongse put the fish together with minced fish and rolled them into fish balls.
In short, the fish was clearly exploited by Rong Se, and only the scales and bone scraps were left.
Originally, fish scales could be fried, but the fish was too big, and the scales were hard and frozen, so they didn’t taste very good and were a waste of effort, so they were thrown away.
The lunch at the Regent's Palace was particularly sumptuous. The chopped pepper fish head took up two large plates, and the boiled fish fillets and fish balls filled the pots. There were also braised fish skin, sweet and sour fish fillets, and fried fish fillets.
In the palace, Rong Jing also had a fish feast on his table, steamed fish with ginger juice. Not only was the soup bland, but the ginger flavor was too strong, forcing down the fishy smell, leaving no aroma at all, not to mention the other dishes of stewed and fried fish.
Rong Jing frowned as he looked at the whole little fish and asked the palace maid beside him, "Didn't they say that today's tribute is a big fish? Where is the fish?"
The palace maid lowered her brows, hesitated for a moment, and whispered, "Then, the tribute was taken away by the Regent Palace... These are..."
I didn't dare to say the remaining three words.
Rong Jing's face suddenly darkened, and he sniffed the fishy smell that filled the room. He clenched his fists in anger and said coldly, "How can I eat something that smells so fishy? Only the emperor's uncle would treasure this thing. Take it away!"
The palace maid was so frightened that she quickly responded, "Yes, come quickly, get out!"
Rong Jing didn't mind if he didn't see it, but he still felt itchy with hatred.
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