Those days when I exiled the paralyzed, deposed crown prince to farm

"My lord, this chicken is really good-looking. Unlike our local chickens, no matter how we feed them, they never get fat and their eggs are small."

The craftsmen arrived early to work, hammering and mending here and there.

Aman left him here so that Zhao Ye could personally oversee the work and prevent the craftsmen from cutting corners.

A craftsman, who had some free time, came over to help him repair the fence. His gaze fell on Zhao Ye's leg: "Young master, your leg has probably been lame for quite some time now."

Zhao Ye paused in tying the rope, then nodded: "Yes, it's been a while."

The craftsman looked around, then suddenly shoved something into his hand: "Is this what you wanted, young master?"

A dark, filthy stone, gleaming with a cold, silvery light under the sunlight, appeared in Zhao Ye's palm.

The craftsman lowered his voice: "This is the finest iron ore. If you are satisfied, young master, just nod your head."

Zhao Ye gripped the iron ore in his hand and nodded slowly.

Ordinary people were not allowed to possess ironware in their homes. They could only have the common ironware they used at home, and nothing else.

Iron mines were strictly controlled by the government, and the smelting technology for iron ore was kept secret by the imperial court.

However, Zhao Ye was once the crown prince, and he had been familiar with iron ore smelting technology since childhood.

The craftsman breathed a sigh of relief: "The mines are very strict with inspections; it's already extremely difficult to bring out even this small piece."

He wants iron, lots of iron.

Iron ore is indispensable for forging weapons and arrows.

Zhao Ye didn't speak, but turned around and hid the iron ore. From then on, every day, the bearded craftsman would bring some iron ore to Zhao Ye.

Occasionally, it may be pyrite of poor quality.

Feng's Food Shop in Yong'an County has been packed with people every day since it opened.

Diners lined up early, waiting for Ah Man to take down the partition and start business. If they arrived late and missed today's dishes, they would have to wait until tomorrow.

Ah Man is always innovating and comes up with many new and interesting things. Even ordinary ingredients can be transformed into something wonderful by Ah Man's skillful hands.

As soon as the partition was pushed open, an enticing aroma wafted out.

This street has many restaurants and teahouses, especially in the morning before the sun rises, the various aromas are so tempting that they make your mouth water.

Ah Man's restaurant was packed with people even before it opened.

"What dish did you prepare today, young lady? It smells a little different from usual."

"We opened early today. We made some wild vegetable and egg buns this morning, but we won't serve the main meal until noon." Ah Man and Madam Jia carried out the steaming steamer together.

The wild vegetables were freshly picked yesterday. There are also steamed bun shops along this long street. Ah Man has bought and tried them all, but they were either too thick-skinned and had too little filling, or the filling wasn't fragrant enough, or they were too greasy or too bland.

There are some delicious foods, but they are relatively expensive.

"Wild vegetable and egg buns?"

"This is the first time I've seen this."

"Not only do they have wild vegetable and egg buns, but also chicken and mung bean noodle buns, and red bean paste buns!"

Liu Sheng stood on a small stool and hung up the bamboo raft for today's dishes. A-Man's specialty was braised pork intestines.

Diners have been craving it ever since they tried it once.

Ah Man also launched a series of spicy braised cold dishes, even vegetarian dishes can be braised.

Braised peanuts and braised rice noodles—Ah Man can braise almost anything edible. There are also different levels of spiciness to choose from, depending on the diner's preference.

"Grandma, could you please bring me a basket of chicken and mung bean buns?"

"Okay, coming right up!"

Ah Man charges eight coins for a basket of vegetarian buns and twelve coins for a basket of meat buns. Each basket contains eight buns the size of a child's fist.

If you have a bowl of hot soy milk on a winter morning, it's just wonderful.

In summer, most people don't like to drink hot drinks; they just want something cold to cool them down.

Everyone leaves early in the morning, rushing to work in the fields before the sun comes out. When the sun is at its highest, they finish work and go home to avoid the sun.

Passing by Ah Man's eatery, I'm always drawn in by the aroma.

The diners came over to try it out. They ordered xiaolongbao (soup dumplings). The skin was very thin, and when you bit into it, the delicious soup soaked into the dough, and the fragrance of wild vegetables flowed between your lips and teeth.

"Young lady, your steamed buns are truly exceptional! We've eaten plenty of steamed buns in the county town, including wild vegetable buns, but this is the first time we've tasted anything as fresh and delicious as yours!"

Ah Man smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it."

Moreover, Ah Man's filling is generous, and the flour used is the white flour rewarded by the system. Compared to other shops that mix coarse flour to reduce costs, the buns are naturally much better in terms of both texture and taste.

The vegetables in Ah Man's backyard were growing well. Ah Man pickled some sauerkraut at home and then stir-fried it with lard. When you ate the oily steamed buns, it felt like your heart was warm.

They used to only have this feeling when they ate meat buns, but now even vegetable buns can taste like meat, but they are not greasy and the texture is not heavy.

Instead, it will have a fresh, natural fragrance of wild vegetables.

And those steamed buns with pickled cabbage and diced chicken—once you take a bite, you can't stop.

Ah Man also introduced a dipping sauce, made by mixing crushed wild scallions with chili oil and adding a little aged vinegar. When eating steamed buns, you can dip them in the sauce for a delicious combination of sour, spicy, salty, and savory flavors.

Ah Man also cooked a big pot of bone broth, adding nourishing and mild Chinese medicinal herbs. The broth was thick and white, with a medicinal aroma, and sprinkled with chopped green onions.

They were initially worried that the bone broth would be greasy and leave a sticky feeling in their mouths, but after tasting it, they found that it was fragrant and delicious, and not greasy at all.

"Little girl, another bowl, please!"

Yagyu was quick and efficient, able to make soup fast and walk very steadily without spilling a drop.

"Sir, this is your complimentary cold drink for today. You're heading off to work soon, and the sun's high; this will help you cool off!"

"You ordered a basket of wild vegetable buns, a basket of diced chicken buns, and a bowl of pork bone soup, which totals twenty-four coins!"

I spent twenty-four coins in just one morning, which is quite a lot.

The main reason is that Ah Man's xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) are big enough and the bone broth is plentiful. I don't know if it's just the diners' imagination, but they always feel that after a bowl of bone broth, they have inexhaustible energy and are incredibly excited.

Actually, this is the efficacy of the Chinese medicinal herbs inside. Ah Man found an old doctor to prescribe the formula, and then went to the pharmacy to get the herbs.

"You little rascal, you're quite good at keeping accounts."

Yu'er is not only able to help wipe the table and clear the dishes, but she can also do the accounting.

He was quick and accurate at calculating accounts, and when he was too busy, Liu Sheng would help him with the calculations. The two little guys helped Aman a lot.

Ah Man was in charge of the cooking, the old lady was in charge of serving the food and taking care of the diners, and the two children assisted her. The division of labor was clear and the work was well-organized.