Looking down at the list of dignitaries, Lin Fei, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke up, “Du Lingmou really can’t know about this!”

The current Minister of the Central Secretariat, Du Lingmou, was indeed quite capable, but…

“In the past, he was constantly outshone by Wen Xuance, which led to their rift! After Wen Xuance’s misfortune, he immediately submitted a petition demanding severe punishment!” Lin Fei frowned at this.

However, the matter that Wen Xuance had committed—whether it was severely punished or not—no longer made much difference. Whether Du Lingmou submitted a memorial or not also made little difference.

But this person’s relationships were too distinct. With those close to him, he was overly kind, even turning a blind eye and condoning them; with those distant from him, as in the case of Wen Xuance, he didn’t forget to step on them.

“Wen Xuance committed a crime, and the entire Wen family fell into hardship. Master Wen was still a child when she entered the palace,” Lin Fei said. “I heard that he even specifically instructed the people in the palace to make things difficult for Master Wen!” The entire Wen family had been in such a state, and yet he didn’t even let go of a child he had never even met. Du Lingmou really has a “kill all” style towards those who are strangers or enemies!

Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu didn’t know about this yet, and when they heard this, they couldn’t help but fall silent.

“There’s no need to tell Lord Zhao about this!” Lin Fei pointed to the list of dignitaries involved and said, “I will go to the palace to see the Emperor right away!”

With this visit, they probably could not make it back in time for the evening meal, so they could only have Zhao You run the errand! As for how that pig’s trotter should be prepared, Lin Fei was also a little curious.

Unlike the usual braised pork preparation they’d expected, what they encountered at dinnertime was a thick, milky white broth simmering in a clay pot.

Sliced pig’s trotters peeked out from the broth, their skin a striking white. The long simmering had already begun to loosen its bones, and they floated in the broth like petals.

“No wonder it’s called pig’s trotter soup!” Liu Yuan sighed as he approached, seeing the neatly arranged clay pots on the counter.

The trotters, which had seemed intimidating that afternoon, now lay quietly in the casserole. The milky white broth was adorned with fresh chopped green onions. The rich broth and green onions, the white and green colors, made everyone swallow, their appetites aroused.

Those who had previously said they “didn’t dare” or “couldn’t eat even thinking about all those trotters” had now formed a long line, waiting to eat!

The evening meal had just been served, so naturally, the takeaway stall was empty at this time!

Ji Caimai walked to the front of the counter with his hands behind his back, and seeing the officer who was at the front of the line was about to sit down at the food counter to eat after receiving the evening meal, he immediately called out to him, “Didn’t you avoid it when you came to get the milk tea in the afternoon?”

He was not old enough to forget what happened in the afternoon in the blink of an eye. Wasn’t this the officer who shuddered with fear, turned around and ran away, and then spread the news that the evening meal was going to be pig’s trotters to everyone? He ran faster than anyone else in the afternoon, and now he was the first in the line.

The officer who was stopped by Ji Caimai laughed dryly twice, and said hurriedly, “It’s my fault, it’s my fault! Ji Caimai, please spare me!”

Looking at the officer who immediately begged for mercy, Ji Caimai rolled his eyes, “Does your face hurt?”

“It hurts!”

Ji Caimai finally gave up, pacing behind the takeout stall again with his hands behind his back, and sat down.

…

The officer, having admitted his mistake, fearing he would be caught by Ji Caimai again, quickly took his plate and sat down at the counter to eat.

The thick, white pig’s trotter soup came with a small dish of sauce, likely made by Master Wen herself, topped with a thin layer of chili oil.

Once seated, the officer quickly took a spoonful of the soup. The broth was rich and delicious, with a subtle aroma of pepper. As the warm broth sank into his mouth, a surge of warmth washed over him, dispelling the chill from outside.

As expected, the colder the weather, the more suitable it was for soupy meals.

After guzzling several mouthfuls of the delicious soup, the officer put down his spoon and picked up his chopsticks. Just as he was about to scoop up the pig’s trotter soup, he heard someone sighing from a distance.

“What a beautiful piece of pig’s hoof, as white as snow!”

This exclamation nearly made everyone spit out the soup in their mouths! Coughs echoed around them, and everyone looked at Liu Yuan, who was sighing with admiration while holding a piece of pig’s flesh. He ignored the glances, lowered his head, opened his mouth, and took a bite of the pig’s flesh held between his chopsticks. The milky, thick broth told him it must be perfectly dry.

And indeed, it was. The moment his teeth broke through the skin, he could feel its tender texture: soft but not mushy, smooth and refreshing. The gentle chewing revealed a delicate and tender taste. While it looked like fatty meat, it was completely different from the usual greasy texture of fatty meat. It was surprisingly delicate, and even eating it alone with the delicious broth was not greasy at all! There was still a hint of lean meat near the bone, but it was now completely softened, and a gentle pull separated the pig’s flesh from the bone.

After finishing a piece of pig’s trotter, Liu Yuan picked up another, this time dipping it in the sauce Wen Mingtang had prepared. The sauce added a touch of sour and spicy flavor to the already delicious pig’s trotter. The pig’s trotter, which wouldn’t have been greasy on its own, was now even more appetizing with the sour and spicy flavor, making it even more appealing.

After finishing a piece of pig’s trotter plain, Liu Yuan picked up another one, this time dipping it into the sauce prepared by Wen Mingtang. The sauce added a touch of sour and spicy fragrance to the already delicious trotter; the trotter, which did not taste greasy even when eaten plain, now carried a refreshing tang that whetted the appetite, making it all the more irresistible the more one ate!

After several pieces of trotter went down in succession, Liu Yuan finally noticed something in the rich soup nearby—snow-white beans called white kidney beans. Suppressing the urge to keep gnawing on the trotters, Liu Yuan scooped up a spoonful of soup along with the beans and sent it into his mouth. The beans melted like cotton yarn, soft, glutinous, and delicate in texture—simply exquisite.

Just as he was thinking about this, he saw Wen Mingtang behind the counter putting a clay pot wrapped in thick cloth and a bowl of bright red sauce into a food box and handing it to Zhao You, who had come over.

Zhao You was a fast runner and usually did a lot of the errands. These past few days, he was the one who delivered most of the evening meals to Master Xun, but Master Xun was also not a person who liked spicy food. It was obvious that the bowl of bright red sauce was not for Master Xun, but more like for… Lin Shaoqing.

Liu Yuan, Bai Zhu, and the others came to have evening meals today. What was Lin Shaoqing busy with? Why didn’t he come?

Lin Shaoqing, who was missed by Ji Caimai, had just returned to the Jingyun Marquis’s Mansion. He handed his thick cloak to the doorman and walked into the mansion.

Since Lin Fei joined the Dali Temple, it was not surprising for him to come home late on weekdays, but it was not common for him to come back from the palace!

So this time, it was not the Marquis’s wife who came to look for Lin Fei, but the Jingyun Marquis himself!

(End of this chapter)

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