The air seemed to freeze for a moment.
Xiao Che's hand, which was gripping the head chef's collar, was still frozen in mid-air. The overwhelming rage on his face, accusing him of "plotting against the foundation of the state," had not yet subsided, and his eyes still held a chilling, judge-like quality.
The steward, whom he was holding, looked utterly dejected, clearly prepared for his head to roll on the ground in the next second.
The entire Kunning Palace was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
All eyes were focused on the Empress, who was leaning lazily against the soft couch, her face pale, yet she uttered a shocking statement.
Want...want something sour?
That's it?
The entire Kunning Palace was thrown into chaos, and the head chef of the imperial kitchen was almost scared to death, all because... he wanted to eat something sour?
For a moment, Xiao Che's mind went blank.
Slowly, inch by inch, he released his grip on the limp steward. The poor steward slumped to the ground with a thud, gasping for breath, his face streaked with tears of relief.
Xiao Che didn't even glance at him again.
All his attention and thoughts were completely occupied by those simple seven words.
"Sour?" He walked back to Lin Wanwan's side, carefully squatted down, his voice trembling slightly with a hint of confirmation that even he himself didn't realize, "You want something sour?"
Lin Wanwan nodded weakly.
After the nausea subsided, it was replaced by a strange, intense craving for a certain taste. Saliva was flowing uncontrollably from the back of her tongue, and her mind was filled with the tooth-softening flavors of hawthorn, plum, and aged vinegar.
Upon receiving an affirmative answer, the storm in Xiao Che's eyes instantly subsided.
The judge's emoji, burning with raging flames, vanished without a trace, as if doused with a bucket of cold water.
Instead, a completely new emotion arose, a mixture of sudden realization and extreme excitement.
"I want something sour..." he muttered to himself, then suddenly stood up, his eyes gleaming with an unprecedented light, as if a destitute prospector had suddenly discovered the world's largest gold mine!
"Yes! Sour! Sour for a boy, spicy for a girl! If he wants sour food, he must be a prince!" He paced back and forth excitedly, his hands clenched into fists. "My prince! My prince wants sour food!"
His appearance left Lin Wanwan both amused and exasperated. What on earth was going on?
However, she clearly underestimated the "master of tension's" ability to act.
Xiao Che's excitement lasted only three seconds before being replaced by a more serious and significant sense of mission.
He immediately turned to Ruolan beside him and ordered, "Go! Bring me everything from the imperial kitchen that has a sour smell!"
Ruolan dared not delay and immediately accepted the order and left.
Xiao Che called her back, his brows furrowed as he fell into deep thought: "Wait!"
He stroked his chin, a look of extreme distrust on his face: "The vinegar in the palace is all old stuff, bland and tasteless. How could it be worthy of my empress and the imperial heir? The quality is far too inferior!"
As he spoke, a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and a crazy idea instantly took shape.
He turned to the eunuch behind him, who held the imperial edict and was ready to record it, and in a tone that brooked no argument, as if handling a matter of the highest military and national importance, he gave the order in a deep voice:
"By imperial decree! Commander Li Mang of the Imperial Guards is to immediately lead a thousand Imperial Guards to seal off all the well-known vinegar workshops in the capital, including 'Wang Ji,' 'Chen Da,' and 'Baiwei Zhai'! All the finest aged vinegar, rice vinegar, fruit vinegar... all varieties of vinegar produced in these workshops are to be 'requisitioned' for the palace! Remember, the best! If there is even the slightest mistake, you will be beheaded!"
"boom--!"
This imperial decree, like a thunderclap, resounded throughout the quiet Kunning Palace.
All the palace servants, who had just caught their breath, were once again collectively petrified.
The head chef of the imperial kitchen, who had just gotten up from the ground, rolled his eyes and fainted from fright this time.
Seal off...block the vinegar workshop?
A thousand Imperial Guards?!
Just for a dish of vinegar?!
Your Majesty, are you serious?!
Lin Wanwan lay on the soft couch, staring dumbfounded at the man who was solemnly issuing absurd orders. For the first time, she began to wonder whether she or he was the one who was pregnant.
...
Half an hour later, the entire capital was in an uproar.
The Imperial Guards, who usually only mobilized in large numbers when changing guards at the city gates or capturing wanted criminals, appeared like wolves and tigers on the most bustling commercial streets in the capital.
Clad in heavy armor and wielding long spears, their faces grim and their movements swift, they surrounded the century-old vinegar workshops in droves.
"Sir! Sir, spare my life! My family has been loyal and honest for generations, and I have never done anything illegal or disorderly!"
The owner of "Wang's Vinegar Shop," a small old man over fifty, was being held by two tall imperial guards. He was so frightened that tears streamed down his face, and he thought he had committed some heinous crime that would wipe out his entire family.
Li Mang, the commander of the Imperial Guards, a burly man, was also completely dumbfounded. His orders were to "get the vinegar," but looking at the scene before him, he felt like he was being ransacked.
He cleared his throat, trying to make his tone sound less like a robbery: "By...by His Majesty's decree! Where is your best vinegar? Hand it all over! This is...this is a matter of national importance!"
The vinegar shop owner was even more bewildered upon hearing this.
Vinegar? A matter of national importance?
Could it be... could it be that he tasted something in his own jealousy that could overthrow the dynasty?
The people watched from a distance, discussing the matter and making all sorts of bizarre speculations.
"Have you heard? The Wang family's vinegar is poisonous; it killed a minister!"
"No, no, I heard that there were letters of treason hidden in the vinegar!"
This farce, which started with the "Empress wanting to eat sour food," was quickly transformed by the people of the capital into several shocking versions of the case, such as "the vinegar workshop hiding poison" and "the vinegar treason case," within just one hour.
At this moment, the evidence from these major cases was being carefully delivered to the palace, jar by jar, and displayed in front of the courtyard of the Kunning Palace.
An unprecedented and unparalleled "vinegar tasting event" has officially begun.
Dozens of long tables were lined up in a row, with hundreds of exquisite white porcelain dishes on them. Each dish contained liquids of varying shades and emitting different sour aromas.
From Shanxi's aged vinegar to Zhenjiang's fragrant vinegar, and various homemade vinegars brewed from fruits and flowers, the variety is dazzling and impressive.
The only judge of this conference, His Majesty Xiao Che, the supreme ruler of the Great Liang Dynasty, stood with his hands behind his back in front of these long tables, his face solemn and his brows furrowed.
Behind him followed a group of trembling eunuchs, carrying water, handkerchiefs, and spittoons, serving him with utmost care.
"This is too astringent, and the aftertaste is lacking." Xiao Che dipped a drop with his silver chopsticks, smacked his lips, and shook his head.
"This one has enough aroma, but the sourness isn't rich enough; it's too light and frivolous."
"What...what is this? It smells weird! Take it away!"
He tasted each dish one by one, selecting each one with such focused and discerning eyes that anyone who didn't know better would think he was reviewing a memorial that would determine the fate of the nation.
Lin Wanwan was helped to sit in a pavilion not far away. Looking at the absurd scene before her, she was completely speechless.
All she wanted was a simple bowl of dumplings dipped in vinegar, but her emperor brought her all the vinegar in the capital.
She secretly looked up at the top of Xiao Che's head again.
Sure enough, the emojis there have been given a brand new look.
A cartoon chemist in a white lab coat and doctoral cap stood solemnly at the lab bench. He held a dropper in one hand and shook a flask filled with various colored liquids in the other, his glasses gleaming with (not really) intelligence. Beside him, a line of text scrolled continuously.
[The acidity is wrong! The aroma is insufficient! My Empress must use the best! .jpg]
When Lin Wanwan saw this meme, she couldn't help but burst out laughing.
The laughter startled Xiao Che, who was engrossed in his work. He turned around and saw the smile on Lin Wanwan's face. Instead of being annoyed, he seemed encouraged and began to savor the food even more enthusiastically.
However, after tasting dozens of famous vinegars hailed as "the best in Beijing," the expression on his handsome face grew increasingly disappointed.
No, none of them could satisfy him.
How could these ordinary items be worthy of his precious empress and future prince?
Just as Xiao Che's patience was about to run out and he was about to order the "incompetent" Imperial Guard commander to be dragged out and flogged, Lin Wanwan finally felt a pang of pity.
She whispered a few instructions to Ruolan.
Soon, Ruolan came out of her small kitchen carrying a very ordinary little tray. On the tray was only a plain blue-and-white porcelain dish containing a light blue liquid.
"Your Majesty," Lin Wanwan said softly, "why not try some of the wine I brewed myself?"
Xiao Che was taken aback, looking at the unremarkable dish of vinegar, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.
If these masterpieces are no good, how could her casually brewed ones be any good?
But seeing Lin Wanwan's encouraging gaze, he still, almost against his will, dipped a little in and put it in his mouth.
The moment it touches the palate, a refreshing and mellow tartness, accompanied by the unique fruity aroma of green plums, bursts forth on his taste buds. It's not as heavy as aged vinegar, nor as sharp as rice vinegar; it's a perfectly balanced sweet and sour flavor that invigorates the senses.
Xiao Che's eyes suddenly lit up.
This is the taste!
He strode over to Lin Wanwan and handed her the dish of vinegar. Lin Wanwan smiled and took a sip; the refreshing sour taste instantly soothed all the discomfort in her stomach, leaving her feeling completely comfortable.
She nodded with satisfaction: "This is it."
Seeing the relieved smile on her face, Xiao Che finally felt a weight lifted from his heart, a weight that had been hanging over him all morning.
Looking at the dish of plum vinegar in his hand, and then at the famous vinegars he had "rejected" in the yard, an unparalleled sense of pride welled up within him.
Look! Look!
No famous masters or great scholars can compare to his empress! His empress is the greatest in the world!
He was overjoyed on the spot, and with a flourish of his hand, he loudly announced to the still bewildered imperial guards and eunuchs in the courtyard:
"By imperial decree! The plum vinegar brewed by the Empress herself is perfectly balanced between sweet and sour, with a delightful aroma, and has won my heart! It is hereby designated as 'National Vinegar'! Furthermore... 'Wang's Vinegar Workshop' shall be awarded one hundred taels of gold to recognize its... merit in brewing vinegar!"
After he finished speaking, the entire room fell silent.
The owner of "Wang's Vinegar Shop," whose name was mentioned, had just been brought back, his legs still weak. Upon hearing of this unexpected windfall, he was stunned for a moment, then knelt down in ecstasy and kowtowed: "Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty!"
Lin Wanwan was utterly speechless as she looked at the man who casually pointed to an unlucky guy as a reward, attributed his own achievements to someone else, and looked proud.
She finally understood that this emperor's logic was never about reasoning.
If he's happy, then that's good.
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