“That Yang didn’t even need us to lead him out; he went to wait outside the Huang Mansion early this morning,” the reporting officer said, taking a deep breath as the air was thick with the aroma of milk. “He must still be a little bit unwilling to give up, so he’s been circling the outside a few times, trying to find Miss Huang!”

But how could the Huang family, who had just taken Miss Huang away last night, let Young Master Yang get close to her? As soon as he got any closer, the Huang Mansion guards emerged with short sticks and drove him away.

“As a last resort, Young Master Yang could only watch from afar. When Master Xun arrives at 9:00 PM!” The officer said this, subconsciously glancing at Lin Fei before him. Yesterday, Shaoqing Lin had said he would go to see Minister Huang to “warn” him, and that “warning” had indeed worked immediately. This morning, Master Xun had just finished his breakfast in the public kitchen when he was invited to the Huang Mansion without hesitation.

“Young Master Xun hasn’t come out since he went in,” the officer said. “Perhaps Minister Huang invited him to lunch!”

Upon entering the palace, Xun Zhou was warmly entertained by Minister Huang, but the Young Master Yang, who was watching from outside, was furious.

“We saw that Young Master Yang staring fiercely at Young Master Xun as he entered the palace,” the officer gestured. “That look…tsk tsk, he really wanted to bite off a piece of Young Master Xun’s flesh!”

Even the watchers, seeing the look in Young Master Yang’s eyes, couldn’t help but sweat for Xun Zhou.

“Young Master Yang stared fiercely at the entrance of the Huang Mansion until noon. Young Master Xun still hadn’t emerged, so he sneered and left!” the officer said, “We’ve found a few others to follow him from a distance, and I’ll report back first!”

Hearing this, Lin Fei nodded and said to the officer, “Well done!” He paused, then repeated, “Keep a close eye on that Yang!”

The officer replied, “Yes,” and out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the bamboo tubes in Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu’s hands. Just as he was about to turn and leave, he heard Lin Fei say, “We’ve ordered milk tea from the public kitchen. Go get some, then go downstairs and rest!”

With a single stroke of his hand, the officer, who had generously purchased milk tea for the entire yamen, wasn’t just Yu Jijiu next door, but also their own Shaoqing Lin.

The two officers happily replied, “Thank you, sir,” and turned to walk out the door, quickening their pace towards the public kitchen.

It seemed quite a few people were still thinking about yesterday’s caramel milk tea!

Holding the bamboo tube in his hand, Liu Yuan sighed, “There’s nothing more satisfying than a cup of this in autumn and winter!”

The servant who had received the specially “given” milk tea from his superiors thought the same thing. The addition of chewy, springy Zhēnzhū xiǎo yuánzi added a special touch of interest to this already heartwarming and delicious afternoon snack.

As he was about to leave, chewing the Zhēnzhū xiǎo yuánzi and sipping the milk tea, he saw several servants enter, carrying several baskets covered with cloth.

The servant stopped, curious to see what would be served for dinner, when the servants lifted the cloth covering the baskets.

The officers who were about to leave were startled by the sight of those plump and tender pig’s trotters. They quickly turned around and asked Wen Mingtang, who was standing aside and gazing at the pig’s trotters with “focus and affection”: “Master Wen, this is…”

Wen Mingtang glanced at the officer, whose face turned a little pale, and said, “Ingredients for dinner. ” As soon as she said this, the officer’s face turned even paler and he couldn’t help but exclaimed: “Master Wen, this… can this be delicious?”

Although Master Wen’s pork dishes had never disappointed anyone, but pig’s trotters… he had no impression that any chef in Chang’an could cook it well.

The sight of the thick layer of skin covering the pig’s trotters made one instinctively recoil: it was as if one had already tasted the meat buns sold by street vendors, who, to make a few extra coins, had replaced the filling with the cheapest fat. With one bite, the greasy, unbearable feeling washed over him, making him feel dreadful.

Wen Mingtang was well aware of the current aversion to pigs’ trotters in Chang’an City—no, the entirety of the country. Normally, only the poor, who desperately wanted meat but couldn’t bear the expense, would buy these cheap pig’s trotters to satisfy their cravings. But boiling it in plain water with only salt wouldn’t make the meat particularly tasty! Because of this public aversion, the pig’s trotters couldn’t be sold. Most of the pig’s trotters sold at the butcher’s stalls had been sitting around for days, stale and even smelling, making them naturally unpalatable.

However, the pig’s trotters delivered this time had just arrived from the farm, and they were incredibly fresh. Wen Mingtang glanced at the pale-faced officer and said with a smile, “We’ll know when we get to eat at dusk.”

The officer glanced at the spotlessly cleaned trotter, shuddered, and hurried away, clutching his bamboo tube of milk tea.

Ji Caimai, who was doing the accounting behind the counter, looked up at the officer’s departing form and rolled his eyes. “He’s running faster than anyone right now, but he’ll probably eat more than anyone else at dusk!”

The news that dinner that day was going to be the rarely seen “pig’s trotter” quickly spread throughout the Dali Temple as the officer left. So much so that the kitchen staff drew a crowd as they plucked the trotters!

Liu Yuan, who was busy with his case, even stopped by the kitchen on his way to the toilet to take a look. He saw Wen Mingtang pouring Ah Bing’s chopped pig’s trotters into the water, seemingly preparing to blanch them.

Any dish with a lot of meat or vegetables inevitably had to go through this process. Liu Yuan’s eyes darted across the countertop, and he soon spotted a large basin of beans soaked in water amidst a pile of scallions, ginger, and other ingredients.

The beans looked about the size of ordinary peas, but their color was pure white like snow, a delight to the eyes.

“What are these?” Liu Yuan asked curiously, pointing at the beans.

Wen Mingtang’s hands kept moving, not even raising his eyelids: “White kidney beans!”

White kidney beans… Liu Yuan said, “Oh,” nodded, and said, “I don’t recognize them!”

Liu Sicheng, who could even ruin a packet of sour plum drink ingredients, certainly wouldn’t recognize white kidney beans! Tangyuan couldn’t help but chuckle, “If you don’t recognize them, wait until we eat the pig’s trotter soup at dinner, and you’ll know!”

Although Tangyuan had teased him, it wasn’t in vain; at least he knew pig’s trotters were used to make soup! Liu Yuan said, “Oh,” reluctantly withdrew his gaze, and turned to leave the public kitchen. He also wanted to hold a cup of milk tea and watch Master Wen and the others cook like Ji Caimai did, but… he still had a case on his hands!

That task of Master Xun’s was almost completed, and now all he had to do was keep a close eye on the Young Master Yang! Surveillance was the job of the runners, but they, the temple secretaries, and Lin Shaoqing were not idle. Instead, they flipped through the record book borrowed from the Imperial Observatory, which contained records of auspicious dates that had been requested from them over the years.

Auspicious dates naturally included auspicious events such as weddings, but there were more to it than that; for all kinds of things in the world, from outings to even funerals, many people would ask the Imperial Observatory to select so-called auspicious dates.

They were currently looking through the “auspicious dates for funerals” that had been requested from the Imperial Observatory, but not all of them needed to be checked. After all, 90% of the powerful and wealthy in Chang’an would ask the professional officials of the Imperial Observatory to check, so searching for all of them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“Pick out the ones that have been asked to consult the Imperial Observatory several times in a row, and specifically changed the time to midnight!” Lin Fei said.

(End of this chapter)

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