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

Chapter 216 Mr. Su, what kind of person do you like?

She had almost finished sorting the dried flowers on the table, forming three neat piles. She flicked her fingers a couple of times at the honeysuckle pile, without any particular purpose, just stirring.

"So, do you mind that I'm clumsy with my hands?"

The sheepdog's yawn was halfway through.

"What do you mean?"

Fang Qingjun picked up the last few scattered flower buds and put them into a pile, then patted the pollen off her hands.

"I'm terrible at cooking, as you've seen. Last time I washed vegetables, I peeled off most of the radish, and I couldn't even peel garlic properly."

Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke.

"But—I can learn."

The rocking chair has stopped rocking.

Su Mu sat up, placing both feet on the ground.

He looked at the girl across the stone table who had her head down.

Her ears and neck glowed pink under the light. Her fingers twisted the edge of her sleeve three times, then loosened it, and twisted it again.

Su Mu opened his mouth.

Fang Qingjun didn't give him a chance to speak.

"I've learned how to grind herbs, and you said it's not bad. I'm also learning how to select dried flowers. Honeysuckle should be unopened, and chamomile should have full centers. I've remembered all of that."

Her voice was trembling, but she didn't stutter a single word.

"I can learn to cook too. If you think I'm clumsy, I'll just teach you a couple more times. I'm not afraid of hard work, and I'm not afraid of getting burned."

She lowered her head, and her voice was almost inaudible.

"I—I'm learning to cook."

A gust of wind swept in from over the wall, causing the oil lamp's flame to flicker. Several dried flowers on the table were scattered by the wind, and honeysuckle tumbled to the edge of the table and fell to the ground.

Su Mu didn't pick it up.

He looked at the wooden hairpin on Fang Qingjun's head.

The hairpin was made of ordinary peach wood, without any carvings or jade inlays. Last time she came, she was wearing a gold hairpin with dangling ornaments.

When was it changed?

Su Mu suddenly remembered.

That day, he casually carved a wooden locust flower for her, and she replaced the gold hairpin the next day.

He tapped his fingers twice on his knee.

"Miss Fang."

"Um."

"Do you know who I am?"

Fang Qingjun stopped.

"Miscellaneous servant in the imperial kitchen."

"Yes, the woodshed is for chopping wood."

Su Mu leaned back in his rocking chair.

"You're the daughter of the Prime Minister, a proper lady from a prestigious family. You're telling me you want to learn to cook... If your father finds out, he'll beat me with his scepter!"

Fang Qingjun shrugged.

"I will handle my father's affairs myself."

Su Mu raised an eyebrow; this girl was quite bold today.

"What will you do? How will you handle it?"

Fang Qingjun raised her head.

The light shone directly on her face.

Her cheeks were red, as was the tip of her nose, but her eyes didn't look away.

"I haven't decided yet."

Su Mu almost burst out laughing.

"You're quite honest."

Fang Qingjun turned her face away, speechless at his words. Her earlobes were so red they looked like they were about to bleed, her chin was taut, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.

The courtyard was quiet again.

The waterwheel creaked and turned, scooping water into the reservoir with bamboo tubes, then scooping again and pouring it out with a splash.

Su Mu stared at the stars in the sky for a long time.

"Miss Fang, let me tell you the truth."

Fang Qingjun gripped her sleeve tightly.

"I don't have time to think about these things right now."

His voice was soft, and his tone was even.

"Her Majesty the Empress's medicinal diet is still far from complete, and Yun Gao's treatment has only lasted four days. There's a whole host of things to do. Tomorrow we have to deal with two thousand catties of saltpeter, the day after tomorrow we need to monitor the concentration of the fermentation liquid, and the day after that..."

He counted on his fingers and then gave up.

"In short, there's just too much to handle. If you talk to me about the future at a time like this, my brain just can't process it."

Fang Qingjun loosened her grip.

She kept her head down and didn't say anything.

A while later.

"Then I'll wait."

Three words, so light they could almost be blown away by the wind.

Su Mu tapped his fingers on the back of the chair.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait until you're done with your work."

Fang Qingjun stood up and put the three piles of dried flowers back into the bamboo basket. The honeysuckle was separated with oil paper, and the chamomile was wrapped in gauze.

She bent down, picked up the few flower buds that had fallen to the ground, blew off the dust, checked their condition, and threw them into the trash can.

The movements were swift and the hands didn't shake.

"I'll deliver the medicinal herbs as usual tomorrow. There's half a jar of pearl powder left, enough for three days. I'll grind another batch of angelica root; will the fineness from last time be alright?"

Su Mu hummed in agreement.

Fang Qingjun picked up the bamboo basket and walked towards the courtyard gate.

After taking a few steps, I stopped.

"Mr. Su."

"Um."

"What you just said, I didn't mean it was a rejection, did I?"

Su Mu remained silent for two seconds.

"I said I didn't have time to think about it, but I didn't say I wouldn't let you wait."

Fang Qingjun's back stiffened for a moment.

Then her shoulders gradually relaxed, and her steps became much lighter.

She didn't turn around, and left the courtyard with her bamboo basket.

The bolt clicked off very softly.

Su Mu lay on the rocking chair, his hands behind his head.

The Milky Way stretched overhead, bright and far away.

He muttered something to himself.

"Learning to cook—peeling a radish like you're shaving your head, it'll take forever."

After muttering to himself, he smiled slightly.

It quickly went back up.

Just as dawn broke, the courtyard gate was pounded on with a loud bang.

Su Mu turned over and covered his head with the blanket.

The banging on the door didn't stop; in fact, it became even more frequent.

Interspersed with Wang Dequan's shrill shouts.

"Mr. Su! The saltpeter has arrived!"

Su Mu threw off the covers and sat up.

Pushing open the door, the sun hadn't yet climbed over the palace walls, but the passageway was already packed with people.

Twenty large black-glazed vats were lined up in a row, stretching from the courtyard gate to the end of the passageway. Two imperial guards squatted beside each vat, their brows covered in sweat.

Behind the vat were four oxcarts.

The cart was piled high with sacks of burlap, weighing down the cows' legs.

Li Shimin stood beside the oxcart, his belt neatly tied, holding a memorial he had just finished reviewing in his hand.

"Two thousand three hundred catties, three hundred catties too much."

He stuffed the memorial into his sleeve.

"The Ministry of Works screened them overnight, and I personally ordered Yan Lide to oversee the screening. All the ones that were not pure enough were returned to the mine."

Su Mu walked to the oxcart, untied the rope of a sack, and reached inside to grab a handful.

The saltpeter grains were translucent, with clearly defined edges, and a genuine coolness emanated from his fingertips. He crushed one and examined the cross-section closely.

Clean.

There are no yellow spots or discolored powder.

"That makes sense now."

Li Shimin raised his chin slightly.

Su Mu ignored his smugness and turned to direct the Imperial Guards to move the large vat into the courtyard.

Twenty jars filled half of the backyard.

Su Mu then had ten copper basins of varying sizes brought out from the kitchen; they were all made overnight by the Imperial Workshop.

A copper basin was placed inside a large vat, with saltpeter poured into the gaps, and cold water poured over the outer layer.

The crackling sounds rose and fell in waves.

White mist rose from the mouth of the tank, particularly striking in the May heat.

With twenty vats making ice simultaneously, the temperature in the entire yard dropped significantly.

The little girl was brought over by her wet nurse, and she was still rubbing her eyes.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, a blast of cool air hit my face, instantly waking the little girl from her drowsiness.

"Wow!!"

She slid down from her wet nurse's arms, stepped barefoot onto the bluestone slab, and ran to the nearest vat, peering inside.

The ice layer in the copper basin was spreading from the edge to the center, and the surface of the water was covered with tiny ice flowers.

"Wow! So many iced ducks!"

Su Mu stirred the ice water in the vat with one hand, without turning his head.

"Go put your shoes on."

"No! The ground feels so cool and comfortable!"

What followed was a whole morning of physical labor.

The crushed ice was scraped out of the copper basin and poured into a large wooden basin that had been prepared beforehand, then covered with a thick cotton cloth to keep it warm.

A vat of nitrate water is evaporated and recycled, then the water is changed and frozen again.

Twenty vats worked in shifts, and the crushed ice accumulated more and more.

By noon, all eight large wooden basins were full.

The ice shards were piled up high, and white mist was billowing out from the places that the cotton cloth couldn't cover.

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