Chapter 15: After Settling Affairs at Home, Cooking the Delicate Fish

At this moment, Madam Liu was like an enraged mother beast, her gaze chilling to the bone. Yet the scheme she proposed was one Ye Liang could not consent to, for he truly had no confidence in persuading the clan chief.

“There is, in fact, another way; we needn’t trouble the clan chief,” Ye Liang said cautiously, glancing at Madam Liu. “Isn’t your brother employed at the Zhechong Garrison? I heard in the county today that the garrison is once again selecting men for rotational capital duty. The second branch is part of the garrison troops—your brother can simply have him conscripted into the capital.”

“You old fox, so you do have some cunning after all. Good—this is best.” Madam Liu let out a laugh as sharp and harsh as a rooster’s crow.

By now the garrison system was all but collapsed, and the rotational capital duty was near paralyzed. Thus, though such rumors circulated in the county, in truth, there were hardly any troops left to dispatch. This left room for manipulation: those with connections could be exempted without consequence; those without could bribe their way out; only the truly powerless would suffer. Madam Liu’s brother, holding office at Wuze Garrison, would have no trouble maneuvering Ye Shu.

“And as for Liu Kun, send him and his wife up to Overturned Cauldron Mountain to watch the kilns—see to it they don’t return for ten days or half a month,” Ye Liang added.

“Get up, you old fox.” Satisfied, Madam Liu allowed Ye Liang to rise, then turned to Liu Gui, her eyes gleaming with malice. “You, over at the third branch, bide your time and act when the chance comes. Isn’t there that foolish girl Xiang’er? Let her take the blame. Slip something into the little wretch’s water or food…”

Liu Gui shuddered in horror—this was murder!

As he hesitated, Ye Liang coughed beside him. “If all goes as planned, your family will be freed. You’ve saved up a bit over the years. With a clean name and freedom, what life could you not make for yourself?”

At this, Liu Gui’s heart leapt. Who would wish to serve as a slave all their life, with sons and grandsons born into servitude? Though Madam Liu had treated him decently these decades, he had never married, nor had children, all because of his station—his lifelong regret. If freed, he could choose a wife and live out his days as a man should.

“Rest assured, my lord, my lady—I’ll see it done flawlessly!” Liu Gui promised.

Their plotting complete, Liu Gui observed that it was growing late. If he did not return, suspicion might arise, so he took his leave. Back at Ye Chang’s house, he was surprised to find Ye Chang had already returned.

Ye Chang’s expression was somewhat peculiar.

“I sent you to chop wood—where did you slip off to?” Ye Chang grunted. “Pack up. Tomorrow you’re coming with me into the mountains—I’m going to gather herbs.”

Liu Gui was curious about what the clan chief had wanted of Ye Chang, but knowing Ye Chang trusted him not at all, he kept silent.

Madam Liu acted swiftly. The very next evening, after spending half the day in the mountains with Liu Gui collecting mushrooms, Ye Chang returned to find his elder brother Ye Shu waiting anxiously in his small courtyard.

“Is something the matter, brother?” Ye Chang asked.

“Third Brother, while I’m away, look after the house,” Ye Shu said after a long pause. “I know you’re… different from the rest—sharper than I am, sharper even than the clan chief.”

“Brother… what do you mean by this?” Ye Chang was slightly taken aback.

“The garrison’s capital duty falls to me this time,” Ye Shu said, rubbing his head in distress. “By military regulation, I must go to the capital for a month—counting the journey, it’ll be two months before I return. I entrust all to you.”

Ye Chang had some vague notion of the garrison system, but unaware it was crumbling, he simply made a sound of acknowledgment. After a short hesitation, Ye Shu added, “Take care of yourself. With the first branch… peace is best.”

“I understand.” Ye Chang stepped forward to clap Ye Shu’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, brother. It’s only two months’ service. When you return, I promise sister-in-law and the household will be safe and sound!”

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“Thank you for your trouble, then,” Ye Shu forced a smile. “When I return, I’ll bring you something from Chang’an.”

After a few words of mutual exhortation, Ye Shu returned home. From his few words, Ye Chang sensed deep concern—not just an entrustment of household affairs, but a worry that trouble might arise in his brother’s absence with no one to resolve it. Ye Chang found this rather amusing; in these past days he’d realized his elder brother was truly an honest man, but only that—ordinary in ability, less shrewd even than his sister-in-law, Madam Fang.

In the days that followed, Ye Shu busied himself preparing for the journey while Ye Chang took Liu Gui into the mountains each day, searching for wood ear, shiitake, lingzhi, and other medicinal fungi. Perhaps due to the ongoing drought, even these once-common mushrooms had grown scarce; after several days’ search, he had gathered only a few pounds.

When the day of Ye Shu’s departure arrived, Ye Chang invited Ye Shu, his wife Fang, and their children over the night before.

The couple had been married for some years and had a son and a daughter. The boy, Ci Nu, was about five, chasing after Ye Chang and calling him Eleventh Uncle; the girl was just over two, resembling her mother—delicate and lovely, if a little thin. Upon entering the third branch courtyard, they were met with a delicious aroma.

“Eleventh Uncle is cooking something tasty!” Ci Nu exclaimed joyfully.

“You guessed right, Young Master Ci Nu. Eleventh Uncle is cooking himself!” Xiang’er, crouched in the courtyard picking vegetables, said with a grin. “I tried to help, but he chased me out. When did Eleventh Uncle learn to cook? He even had the carpenter make him a spatula—said he wanted to stir-fry!”

Indeed, Ye Chang was stir-frying.

Though Tang dynasty cuisine was already highly developed, stir-frying—the most common technique in later ages—had yet to become widespread. Having grown tired of Xiang’er’s cooking, Ye Chang finally took the opportunity of Ye Shu’s departure to cook for everyone himself.

Ingredients were somewhat limited; there was sour, sweet, and bitter, but spice was lacking. The Tang people used prickly ash and dogwood for heat, but they paled in comparison to true chili peppers. Still, since he was not aiming for later Hunan or Sichuan cuisine, it hardly mattered.

The first dish was the famed Song’s Fish Soup. Though Wuze was hilly and short on water, it still retained small ponds where lakes once were. Ye Chang had procured two fish: one, a mandarin fish, was cooked with shiitake, dried bamboo shoots, shredded pork, scallions, yellow wine, vinegar, and soy sauce, resulting in a golden, gem-like broth.

“Eleventh Uncle, what is this dish?”

Each took a small bowl to sample. After tasting it, Ci Nu leapt up. “It’s delicious! I want more!”

“Ci Nu!” Fang gently tapped his hand in mild reproach. The boy stared, puzzled, until she added, “Your Eleventh Uncle hasn’t eaten yet!”

“I tasted plenty at the stove,” Ye Chang laughed. “Eat your fill, but save room—there’s better yet to come!”

Little Ci Nu hesitated—the fish soup was so good, but what if the next dish was even better and he was too full?

As he pondered this critical dilemma, his little sister pushed her bowl forward. “Chi, chi!”

Everyone laughed—the little girl’s speech was not yet clear, pronouncing “eat” as “chi.” Seeing them all eat so happily, Ye Chang’s heart swelled with joy.

His second dish was served. Fang made a sound of surprise. “Sunflower Meatballs?”

“Sister-in-law, you know this dish?” Ye Chang was taken aback—he’d assumed all his cooking was new to this era.

“When Emperor Yang of the previous dynasty toured Jiangnan, he named four famous dishes after the sights of Yangzhou—Sunflower Hill gave its name to these meatballs. In our dynasty, the most skilled at this dish is the chef of Duke Xun’s household. When did you learn its recipe, Eleventh Brother?”

Ye Chang was intrigued. He had no memory of Fang’s family background, but if she could so casually recount the dish’s history, she must once have come from a grand household. Yet she had married into the Ye family… There must be a story there.

“When I learned it, they called it ‘Lion’s Head’,” Ye Chang replied, not pressing further. Everyone has their secrets. Though he’d only known Fang for a few days, he could feel her deep affection for her husband, children, and even himself.

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The third dish was Mountain Bamboo Shoots with Seven Flavors—though Dehui had not yet been born to name “Wenzheng Mountain House,” Ye Chang naturally called his creation “The Seven Sages of Bamboo Grove,” as Overturned Cauldron Mountain was precisely where the Seven Sages had once retreated. The children and Ye Shu didn’t understand, but Fang smiled knowingly.

The fourth dish was the renowned Dongpo Pork—though not the later Zhejiang style, but rather a winter pork from Yongxiu in northern Jiangxi, braised slowly in a clay pot with pork tied by rice straw (or dried wheat straw instead). In an age when meat was scarce, such rich but not greasy, fragrant pork was most welcome—though by now, Ci Nu and his sister could only rub their bellies, the earlier dishes having filled them.

The last was a pot of shiitake chicken soup. Just as Ye Chang brought it out, a voice called from outside, “Is Eleventh Master Ye at home?”

The voice was familiar. Liu Gui went to open the door—Ye Chang was not unkind to him; though he and Xiang’er could not sit at the table, they each had their own portion set aside.

It was Qin Qinshou and Lin Xicheng who entered.

“Well, Manager Qin, what an unexpected guest!” Ye Chang greeted in surprise. “Come, you arrive at just the right moment—join us if you don’t mind.”

Fang quickly handed her daughter to Xiang’er and went inside to fetch bowls and chopsticks. If it were just family, etiquette was relaxed, but with guests, she had to be proper.

Qin Qinshou, unreserved, sat at the table and sampled the dishes. “Eleventh Master, you have a fine cook at home!”

“That would be myself,” Ye Chang replied with satisfaction.

“You cook? Remarkable! I never expected such skill from you—why, open a restaurant in Chang’an and even ministers and generals would be drawn by the aroma!”

Qin Qinshou’s surprise grew as Ye Chang owned up to his handiwork.

A strange sound interrupted them—Lin Xicheng, standing aside (for as a guest’s servant he could not sit), was swallowing his saliva audibly.

“Sister-in-law, bring a bowl for this sturdy fellow as well,” Ye Chang said.

Unaccustomed to Tang dining customs, Ye Chang had arranged a round table, so everyone could sit together—though he hadn’t yet changed the custom of sitting cross-legged on floor mats, which he found uncomfortable. Fang ladled out a bowl for Lin Xicheng, who devoured it eagerly, making little Ci Nu laugh.

Qin Qinshou, for his part, was composed; though the dishes were delicious, he sampled each and then set down his chopsticks. “Master Ye, you are truly a man of surprises.”

“Oh? How so, Manager Qin?” Ye Chang asked.

“I came today upon hearing of your construction of the Rainbow Canal,” Qin Qinshou replied, frank and direct. “Your feat has caused a stir in Xiuwu. When I heard, I hurried over—seeing it myself, I found your ingenuity rivals that of Lu Ban. That you purchased the bamboo for the rainbow pipes from me fills me with pride. I came to pay my respects, never expecting to be treated to a meal as fine as Yi Ya’s. How could I not be astonished and impressed?”

Ye Chang modestly deflected the praise.

He did not fully believe Qin’s explanation—it was hardly possible for news of the Rainbow Canal to spread countywide so quickly. Qin must have made inquiries on purpose; clearly, he had other motives in seeking him out.

“In the twenty-fourth year of the Kaiyuan era, Xiuwu to Qinyang suffered a terrible drought. Had your Rainbow Canal technique existed then, the disaster would not have been so dire. This method, surely bestowed by the immortals—Master Ye, would you be willing to spread it widely, to benefit all the people?”

As he finished, Qin Qinshou’s eyes shone with ambition.

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