Tang Dynasty: Slacking off in the Imperial Kitchen, exposed by Si Zi

Chapter 207 Su Mu, did you add the elixir of immortality?

Su Mu cleaned the stove, washed the stone mortar, and put the remaining mung bean powder into a ceramic jar and sealed it.

He was bending down to sweep up the flour crumbs on the ground when the gate rang again.

Li Shimin strode in.

Today, he was wearing a dark, narrow-sleeved robe, with his belt loosely tied. He was clutching a folded folded book in his hand, which was rolled into a tube.

"Su Mu!"

Su Mu didn't even look up.

"If you're hot, don't wear black."

Li Shimin slammed the folding tablet onto the stone table.

"What did you send to the Empress?"

Su Mu swept up the last pinch of flour and poured it into the bucket.

"Mung bean cake, what's wrong?"

Li Shimin sat down on the stone bench, resting his hands on his knees.

"I just came from the Hall of State Affairs."

He spoke faster than usual.

"Guanyinbi, the Empress hasn't had a drop of water all morning, and she won't even smell the cooling soup prescribed by the imperial physician. When I went in, she was leaning against the couch, her face was ashen, and her forehead was covered in cold sweat."

Su Mu leaned the broom against the corner of the wall and sat down on the stone bench.

"and then?"

Li Shimin swallowed.

"Sizi ran in with your plate and forced a piece of mung bean cake into the Queen's mouth."

"I am watching from behind the screen."

"The Empress put the cake in her mouth, and about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed."

Li Shimin paused for a moment and tapped his fingers twice on the table.

"The color has returned to her face."

Su Mu poured a cup of cool tea and pushed it in front of Li Shimin.

"Mung beans clear heat, yams strengthen the spleen, and honey moistens the lungs. When it's hot and you can't eat, it's most likely because dryness is stuck in your chest. This cake doesn't go down your throat; after it dissolves in your mouth, it goes directly to your spleen and stomach, suppressing that internal heat, and you'll naturally feel better."

Li Shimin picked up the teacup but didn't drink it.

"more than."

He put down the cup.

"After the Empress took the second piece, her cough stopped. I ordered the imperial physician to take her pulse, and he said her pulse was much calmer than it was in the morning."

Li Shimin lowered his voice.

"I saw Guanyinbi's complexion clearly. It changed from ashen to pale pink, even more beautiful than if she had applied rouge. And it was just two pieces of mung bean cake."

He stared at Su Mu.

"Su Mu, what did you put in the cake?"

Su Mu took a sip of tea.

"Mung beans, yams, and honey. I already mentioned them."

"You lied to me."

"7

Li Shimin stood up.

"These three things can make a patient who has been bedridden for half a day have a rosy complexion and stop coughing completely after sucking on two pieces of cake?"

"The imperial physicians used so many medicines to suppress the symptoms, and you solved them with just two pieces of mung bean cake?"

He paced back and forth in front of Su Mu a few times.

"Did you put something in the cake, some kind of elixir of immortality? A pill to prolong life? That bowl of snow frog soup you made the Empress ten years younger last time, and now—"

'

Su Mu slammed his teacup down on the table.

"Your Majesty, I am a cook, not a Taoist priest who refines alchemy."

"These are good mung beans, and the honey is good honey, that's all. The right ingredients are more effective than ten bowls of medicinal soup."

"If you don't believe me, take a piece and have the imperial physician test it to see if it contains cinnabar or mercury."

Li Shimin was speechless.

He opened his mouth, then closed it again.

The kitchen still had a faint aroma of mung beans.

There was a piece of mung bean cake that wasn't very good-looking left on the stone table; Su Mu had just casually placed it there.

Li Shimin's gaze fell upon it.

"That piece"

"No."

Su Mu picked up the cake and took a bite.

"The ingredients are limited, so the rest will be reserved for the Empress. If His Majesty wishes to eat, we'll wait for the next batch."

Li Shimin's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

He sat back on the stone bench, crossed his hands and rested them on his chin, staring at Su Mu's profile as he chewed on mung bean cake for a long time.

Footsteps could be heard outside the courtyard.

Wang Dequan was out of breath from running.

"Your Majesty! Mr. Su!"

"Her Majesty the Empress said... she wants three more pieces!"

"Her Majesty also said that after finishing this cake, she wants to drink porridge!"

Li Shimin stood up abruptly.

He gripped the edge of the stone table, his knuckles turning white.

Su Mu swallowed the last bite of mung bean cake and patted the crumbs off his hands.

"The porridge issue is easy to handle."

He walked toward the kitchen.

"Wang Dequan, go get some millet and cut half a yam."

Li Shimin followed behind, muttering to himself.

"Mung beans, yams, and honey—just these three things—"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible, just these three things."

Li Shimin followed Su Mu into the kitchen.

Su Mu rinsed the rice and put it in the pot, then chopped the yam with practiced ease. Li Shimin stood by the stove, getting in the way, but his mouth was never idle.

"Su Mu, I would like the Imperial Kitchen to learn how to make this mung bean cake as well."

"Give the recipe to Wang Dequan, and I will have the imperial chefs prepare it accordingly, and make sure it's available in all the palaces. The weather is getting hotter and hotter, and the concubines also need to cool off."

Su Mu slammed the pot lid onto the stove.

"Your Majesty, this is medicine, not a snack."

""

Li Shimin was stunned.

"Eating the wrong things will cause diarrhea."

Su Mu wiped his hands.

"Mung beans are cooling in nature, yam nourishes the spleen, and honey enters the lung meridian. These three ingredients together are specifically designed to counteract the Empress's constitution of internal heat and poor spleen and stomach function."

"Consort Wei has a constitution prone to heat, and eating this will only exacerbate her internal heat. Consort Yang's spleen and stomach are already weak, and if she were given such a strong dose of cold medicine, she would definitely vomit and have diarrhea within three days."

Su Mu lifted the cloth from the stove to cover the porridge pot.

"This is a medicinal mung bean cake, not an ordinary pastry."

"Medicinal cuisine is not a mass-produced meal; each person needs a different prescription, and even the slightest mistake can be fatal. If Your Majesty thinks mung bean cake is delicious and distributes it indiscriminately throughout the palace, I cannot bear the consequences."

Li Shimin opened his mouth twice, but no words came out.

He walked around the kitchen, and finally plopped down on the doorstep.

"You must keep making the Queen's cakes."

"understood."

"Do it every day."

"Um.

""

"Prepare more."

Su Mu turned around, holding a rice spoon in his hand.

"Your Majesty, three pieces. Three pieces a day, not one more."

Li Shimin tapped his fingers twice on his knee.

"Are three pieces enough?"

"enough."

Su Mu didn't explain further. He stared at the fire in the stove, where the porridge was bubbling away in the pot.

Li Shimin sat for a moment, then got up and left.

The courtyard fell silent.

Su Mu leaned against the stove and closed his eyes.

The semi-transparent system panel in my mind was glowing with a cold light.

[System Prompt]

[Host's current location: April, the tenth year of the Zhenguan era of the Tang Dynasty]

[Historical Milestone Warning: Empress Zhangsun died in the Lizheng Palace in June of the tenth year of the Zhenguan era]

[Remaining Time: Approximately 58 days]

Su Mu opened his eyes.

Fifty-eight days.

Less than two months.

Did they manage to pull a life back from the clutches of the King of Hell?

But I'm a cook, not a doctor...

He placed the rice scoop on the edge of the pot, his arm hanging at his side, clenching his fist and then relaxing it.

Mung bean cake can suppress the symptoms, but not the root cause. Empress Zhangsun's illness had dragged on for over a decade, causing deep damage to her lungs; ordinary dietary supplements were merely scratching the surface.

That bowl of snow frog soup last time was a quick fix, treating the symptoms.

To prolong life, one must resort to drastic measures.

Su Mu reached out and tapped to confirm.

The panel has been refreshed.

Side Quest: Defying Fate (Empress Zhangsun's Story)

[Mission Requirement: Before the historical death date, extend Empress Zhangsun's life by at least ten years through continuous medicinal diet intervention.]

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