Buy me a Ko Fi

Join me in Discord

The Small Canteen Of Dali Temple Chapter 51: Hongyou Chaoshu (8)

Was there a reason?

Lin Fei tapped his fingers lightly on the table and said, “We’ll find out when we bring Li Ruizhi here.”

He originally thought that Li Ruizhi might be prepared after their trip yesterday, so Liu Yuan made a special trip to Duke Huai’an’s house. He brought many servants with him, even Zhao You.

However, after arriving at Duke Huai’an Palace, Liu Yuan realized that he had been worrying too much. Li Ruizhi had already been waiting for him in front of the mansion.

“Last night, Liu Sicheng and Lin Shaoqing came over to inquire, and I knew I couldn’t hide it anymore.” Li Ruizhi raised his hand and willingly put on the shackles brought by the bailiffs, with a bitter smile, saying, “The sage is right, if you don’t want others to know, you shouldn’t do it yourself. I did something wrong, and it seems I can’t escape from it.”

Liu Yuan glanced at him with a complicated expression: “… let’s go!”

Since he resorted to poisoning and assassination, he should have anticipated today.

Thanks to Li Ruizhi’s cooperation, the return trip took only half an hour.

After taking the person back to the prison of Dali Temple, Liu Yuan thought for a while and went to find Ji Caimai.

Although the chef’s evening meal was still serving rice, the thought of Master Wang’s evening meal really made him not have the slightest interest in eating evening meal.

But everyone had to eat, so he went to Xunji to buy something just to ask Master Wen if she would make midnight snacks today.

If he wanted to have a late-night snack made by Master Wen, the space in his stomach must be reserved.

Ji Caimai’s door was slightly ajar. Liu Yuan knocked on the door. When he pushed the door open, he saw Ji Caimai sitting there in a daze with his eyebrows furrowed.

“Ji Caimai, what’s going on?” Liu Yuan asked when he saw this.

Ji Caimai glanced at him and said, “There’s news from the Internal Affairs Department.”

“Isn’t the Internal Affairs Yamen always indifferent to things? How come there is news about the affairs of the Yamen’s public chef?” Liu Yuan said, and asked casually, “What do they want to care about?”

Ji Caimai said: “The distribution of ingredients for the government kitchens of various ministries in the capital will now be coordinated by the internal affairs.”

As soon as these words came out, Liu Yuan rolled his eyes: “Who the hell came up with this idea?? Are you so idle? They have robbed you of your purchasing work and want to drive you home to farm?”

Ji Caimai said: “The purchasing officer is still responsible for inventory and supervision.” He pointed to the full list of things written on the table. The paper said, “The rules are all listed below.”

Liu Yuan only glanced at it and felt a headache when he saw the dense words on it. He didn’t look at it anymore, and turned to ask Ji Caimai: “In addition to counting and supervision, there are also a lot of rules?”

Ji Caimai nodded and said, “It stipulates that the public kitchen cannot eat the same food for three days or something.”

“Well, that’s a good thing!” Liu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh, “As long as all the dishes cooked taste the same as those cooked by Master Sun and Master Wang, I don’t think anyone will refuse such a rule.”

Sure enough, it seemed that people like Liu Yuan only knew how to eat, and people who didn’t work in the kitchen didn’t understand the twists and turns.

It also depends on what ingredients the Internal Affairs Office sends over,” Ji Caimai said, raising an eyebrow, “In the past, whenever there was any movement in the Internal Affairs, those few who were close to me would inform me in advance. But now, with this sudden turn of events, even the people in the Internal Affairs Office don’t know what’s going on, and it caught everyone off guard.”

Liu Yuan shrugged and didn’t mind, “Who cares what’s going on? Isn’t it better to have fewer troubles?”

Ji Cai rolled his eyes at him and asked him: “Why did you come in to see me?”

This sentence reminded Liu Yuan, and he hurriedly said: “Let’s ask Master Wen if she can make late-night snacks today.”

Ji Caimai pointed to one of the lines in the dense text and said: “We can’t provide late-night snacks.”

Liu Yuan was stunned by this sentence. He was shocked: “Which bastard made these rules?”

Ji Caimai pointed in the direction of the Internal Affairs Office and said: “Those bastards there made it.”

The thought of having to eat Master Wang’s evening meal soon gave him a headache.

Because the order from the Internal Affairs Yamen came suddenly, the vegetables on Zhuangzi were also handed over to the Internal Affairs Yamen for dispatch.

Public chefs like Wen Mingtang only have to wait for the ingredients delivered by the internal affairs office every day.

“But there are bad things as well as good ones,” Ji Caimai pointed to the bottom line and said, “If these gangsters from the public kitchen violate too many rules, they can be removed.”

This actually freed Liu Yuan from the pain of not being able to have late-night snacks, and he exclaimed with delight, “Is it true?”

Ji Caimai nodded: “It’s true.”

This was probably the only piece of news in this series of news that can be considered good news.

After leaving Ji Caimai’s place, he went to the public kitchen for dinner. Liu Yuan had a sullen expression as he casually ordered a few dishes that didn’t look too unappetizing. Master Wang behind the counter prepared the dishes and handed over the bowls and plates.

The moment he took the bowl and plate, Liu Yuan caught a glimpse of the smile on Master Wang’s face from the corner of his eye. He frowned and said subconsciously: “Master Wang, why are you smiling? What makes you so happy?”

The smile on Master Wang’s face suddenly froze, and he said dryly: “No…it’s nothing!”

In response, Liu Yuan gave him a disdainful look, and then he said, “Your laughter always makes people feel uneasy!”

Master Wang, who had done something wrong, suddenly panicked. Just as he was about to say a few words, he saw Liu Yuan walking away with the plate.

It seemed like it was just a casual comment! Master Wang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and murmured: “It scared me to death!”

These Dali Temple officials were really scary sometimes.

After finishing the evening meal, Liu Yuan and Lin Fei went to see Li Ruizhi who was in prison.

“Are you asking me why I poisoned my uncle?” Before Lin Fei could speak, Li Ruizhi took the initiative and said, “My family is poor, so it would be fine if I didn’t live a good life, but after seeing such a good life, how could I go back and live a life of poverty? My uncle had adopted me long ago, but he delayed and refused to report it to the court. I was afraid that if he delayed it any longer, not only would the title be lost, but also the family wealth would be lost. After weighing the two considerations, I decided to give up the title and to keep the money.”

The reason makes sense and was not far-fetched at all.

Lin Fei looked at Li Ruizhi, nodded, and said, “You were indeed the one who poisoned Duke Huai’an. Are the deaths of Yan San and others related to you?”

After a brief hesitation, Li Ruizhi shook his head and said, “Why should I kill Yan San and the others?”

Lin Fei looked at him and said, “If you hadn’t killed Yan San, why did Zhang Zeduan’s maids Huang Ying, and others help cover up and push Zhang Zeduan out to be the scapegoat?”

Li Ruizhi’s eyes flashed, and he said: “I don’t understand what Lin Shaoqing is talking about.”

Lin Fei said: “The only ones who have done evil are Duke Huai’an and Zhang Zeduan. Duke Huai’an was seriously poisoned and had only a few days to live. He was like a dead man. In the end, there is only one Zhang Zeduan left. If he is identified as the murderer, these people will be eliminated.”

Li Ruizhi lowered his eyelids: “I don’t understand what Lin Shaoqing is talking about.”

Lin Fei didn’t understand Li Ruizhi’s understanding. Not surprised, he just paused and said: “It doesn’t matter, if you don’t understand, someone will understand.”

Li Ruizhi’s face changed slightly.


Leave a comment