Translator: ChowvanLee

  “Okay.” Zhang Deshui said hurriedly.

  “Then you have to prepare ingredients for me.” Ye Xiaoxian added, and then gave Zhang Deshui a piece of paper that listed detailedly what she needed.

  Without further ado, Zhang Deshui went to prepare ingredients for her……

  Usually, when State Preceptor came back from the court, he would practise martial art for a while as a way of stretching his body.

  When the chief steward brought him snacks, he asked as usual, “Is everything ok in this residence today?”


  “Nothing special. Everything is under control.” Chief steward answered.

  “Okay, good then.” Since there was nothing happened, the State Preceptor didn’t care much.

  He liked to practise martial art when he came back home from the court every morning. Sometimes, he would play with the crested myna he raised. He had a wife and three sons. His wife was the same age as him. When he was young, he listened to his family and married her. After she gave birth to three children, he feels nothing for her. Apart from have-to-go family dinners, he hardly dined with his wife.

  His three sons grew up and held positions above fifth-rank in the imperial court. They had had their own residences and moved away from them.

  So he was living an unrestrained life.

  “By the way, Lord State Preceptor, Zhang Deshui went look for Madam Xiao again. Probably for recipes. He has been working in the Ministry of Rites recently and might be having difficulty. I heard that the newly-appointed minister is quite picky, and he isn’t satisfied with the dishes made of the six domestic animals.

  State Preceptor said while practising, “A newcomer. It’s normal that he wants to satisfy the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. That’s understandable.”


  The chief steward laughed. “So, Zhang Deshui is forced to ask for help from Madam Xiao. It seems that Madam Xiao isn’t good enough to help him out. She is good at making common dishes and desserts, as for the six domestic animals…… I think it’s beyond her capability. Zhang Deshui is in a hurry to seek solutions. He just asked me to buy beef and and pork, saying that Madam Xiao needs these.

  “Just leave it. Madam Xiao is bored in the residence anyway.” The State Preceptor said.

  “Mmm, I feel the same way, so I agreed to buy the ingredients.”
……

  Little Ye got the ingredients but didn’t go to the kitchen of the State Preceptor’s residence. Instead, she cooked in the kitchen of her small yard.

  She first made roast lamb and roast suckling pig. She wouldn’t let Zhang Deshui study and emulate by her side and only let a few of her maids assist her in the kitchen.

  Zhang Deshui was so anxious that he asked Little Ye to let him in several times, but she refused.

  Little Ye said, “I’m a ‘guest’ of the State Preceptor’s residence. You’re a male cook. It is inappropriate if we make food in one kitchen. It would have a negative effect on my reputation.”


  Zhang Deshui had to stay in the yard. He walked around with his hands behind his back. After a while, he asked the maid guarding the door, “What’s going on inside?”


  The maid went in and took a look. “They’re wiping something on the sheep’s body.”


  “That is marination.” Zhang Deshui said roughly.

  After a while, Zhang Deshui asked again, “What about now?”


  The maid checked and said, “They are roasting the sheep on the fire.”


  “How?” Zhang Deshui asked.

  “Just…… over the fire?”


  Zhang Deshui was so mad.

  ‘Of course it’s on the fire. Could they roast it in the water?’


  What Zhang Deshui meant was whether it was a fierce fire or a small fire or it was grilled? Did they roast it on a broiler?

  He asked a question, and the maid gave an answer. He became more and more anxious. He wanted to break in, but was stopped by the maids. They told him he couldn’t get into the kitchen.

  He could hardly wait to see what was going on.

  Ye Xiaoxian had told him all the ingredients, but chefs knew that the usage of ingredients was very important. It was of great importance to put them in at the exact time and quantity……

  The sheep and pig were being roasted all day.

  At night, people were supposed to go to bed, but the wind was strong. When the wind blew, the smell of roasted meat spread all over State Preceptor’s residence. Many people were unable to fall asleep because of the smell of the roasted meat.

  The State Preceptor couldn’t sleep, either. He called the chief steward and asked when the meat would be ready. If it was done, he would have a plate of it.

  Even the State Preceptor’s wife couldn’t sleep. Mrs. State Preceptor had been neglected for years. To save face, she disguised herself as a person who believed in Buddhism. By doing so, other people thought that she didn’t care about State Preceptor, too, so no one would think that she was unwanted.

  However, when she smelled the roasted meat, she wanted to taste it. Therefore, she sent an old maid to take a look. She asked her to bring a plate of meat back in her name if the meat was ready.

  The people in Ye Xiaoxian’s yard were unable to sleep.

  Because of the smell of the meat, people came over from time to time to ask if there was anything they could help with. In fact, they just want to get the meat of this roast lamb and roast pig.

  Later, all wings sent servants over, but Little Ye didn’t let them in. She told them that the meat would have to roast for a while longer, so those people were waiting outside.

  The chief steward was surprised when he saw Mrs. State Preceptor’s maid. “Why are you here? Did Madam send you here?”


  “Yes. Madam said the meat smells good, so she asked me to come over and get some to eat. But Madam is a vegetarian, she wouldn’t eat it.”


  The chief steward didn’t want to expose her. Actually, she was exposing herself. The chief steward already knew that Madam ate meat and she had eaten chicken drumsticks secretly many times.

  Zhang Deshui had been walking around outside the kitchen. The smell of roast lamb made him fretful. Every now and then, he asked the maid what was going on in the kitchen. Eventually, the maid was annoyed and shut the door.

  Jin Xiaoyu got into the kitchen to see what Little Ye was doing, and went out to check the situation in the courtyard. Then she was amused by this scene.

  “Little Ye, when is the meat done? There are many people outside, holding lanterns and waiting for your roast lamb.”


  Little Ye was absolutely strict with dishes. As long as she felt it not done, she wouldn’t take the meat out no matter who was here.

  After fifteen minutes, she started sprinkling sesames on the meat. And then she let out a long sigh. “Alright. Let’s take it out.”


  Usually, the courtyard was quiet but now it was lit up by more than ten lanterns.

  People swarmed over Ye Xiaoxian when they heard the meat was ready.

  When Zhang Deshui saw the roasted lamb and roast suckling pig, he couldn’t help but sighed, “The color, the texture. They are so good. Don’t know how they taste.”


  Ye Xiaoxian was distributing the roast lamb and roast pig. She intentionally cut the meat into small pieces to ensure that everybody could have some. The chief steward and Mrs. State Preceptor left right away after getting the meat.

  Ye Xiaoxian gave the remaining part to her maids after people from other wings were gone. Although they might not have enough meat, she had to make sure that everyone had some. She was grateful that they had stayed here for such a long time. Besides, they had to serve Little Ye when she bathed later. At this moment, she smelled like roasted meat all over her body.