The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 20: The Foodies and Master Gossipers

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty. 《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 20: The Foodies and Master Gossipers

Tang Fan walked over, "A-Dong, what's wrong with you, come in and talk."


A-Dong had a small face which was all wrinkled up: "Master Tang, this is the water chestnut cake and tofu roll that my Madam asked me to send."

Water chestnut cakes were cut into small, quadrilateral pieces, and a translucent pastry is embedded with grains of water chestnuts.

Tofu rolls were thin egg skins wrapped in steamed glutinous mushrooms and diced tofu, fried in lard, and browned on the outside and soft and fragrant on the inside, making them very appetizing.

Tang Fan looked at the basket filled to the brim and couldn't help but tease, "Why didn't you steal some today?"

A-Dong sighed and said in a righteous manner, "I'm afraid I won't be able to come and bring you refreshments in two more days."

In fact Master Tang, although he was a foodie, but he was born to take things as they come, and would not be too demanding on the quality of things, having food to eat is best, nothing matters, so when he heard A-Dong's words, he just laughed and said, "Why, did you make a mistake, to be grounded?"

A-Dong shook her head, "No, no, I heard that it's the Master who's coming back with his new concubine outside, the Madam is very unhappy, and Sister A-Chun said that when the Master comes back, the family control won't be in the hands of the Madam, and it's not very convenient for us to come out to send things."

Tang Fan was surprised: "Even if your master comes back, isn't Mrs. Zhang still the lady of the family, how come she can't even do something as trivial as delivering refreshments?"

A-Dong held her chin: "I also heard from Sister A-Chun, she told me not to tell anyone about it, you can't tell anyone after hearing it.

Tang Fan picked up a water chestnut cake and threw it put into the mouth, said the Li Family’s chef is really a first-class chef, while teasing her: “Then you better not tell me, I'm afraid I can't help but gossip once I do."

The ancients were precocious, the little girl was at the age of active wanting to gossip, she anxious to have someone to share the gossip with, how could she not say, seeing Tang Fan refused, she wrinkled her little face tightly: “Then, then you cannot tell anyone I know, then others will not know it was me who said it!"

Tang Fan puffed out a laugh: "Fine, fine, just say it."

Tang Fan smiled: "It's okay, okay, if you want to say it, hurry up."

A-Dong said: "I heard Sister A-Chun said that the Madam has been married to the Li Family for so many years, and she has not been able to give birth to a child. Even the Young Master Li was born from the concubine of the old man. Because of this, the old man always threatened to divorce the Madam, but because the Madam’s family has distant relatives as officials, so the old man has always been scrupulous. The concubine that the old man wants to bring back this time we have heard that she is pregnant, so the Madam is very unhappy during this time. A little of low-key things, Sister A-Chun told me not to come over to deliver things after today, lest I be met by my lord and he use this to reprimand the Madam, so I to not have a misunderstanding, I ran to you to say this.”




Tang was surprised: "Even so, but your Madam has been in charge of the Li Family for so many years, and your master is away in business, and she is running the household for the Li Family, how can your master treat her like a handmaid and give her a divorce whenever he wants?"

And as far as the Li Family wife he met, she didn't look like the kind of person who didn't care a master view and would let people bully her.

After all, A-Dong is still a little girl, hearing the words made her a little confused, thought for a while, before saying, "Sister A-Chun said, a long time ago the Madam's family had some trouble and they need a large amount of money, no one else could help, only our family master took the savings to help the Madam's family, later because of this incident, the family became very poor, the master could continue to study and become an official, so the wife has always felt that she owed the master."

It stands to reason that the next person can't chew the host's tongue, and also talk about this kind of private matters inside the house, but first of all, A-Dong is still young, and Tang Fan lives on his own, and secondly, recently she is also because she feels the Li Family atmosphere is very depressing, so she cannot help to go to Tang Fan to secretly chitchat.

Tang Fan suddenly felt that there was still such an inner feeling of sadness. This is the first time he saw Li Man having a concubine and he was planning to divorce his wife, Tang Fan would inevitably think of Zheng Cheng and Zheng Sun's affairs, but now it seems that Li Man was able to help his wife's family by scattering all his family's money, which was also very righteous.

There is an effect to each and every cause, if what A-Dong said is true, as a man, Tang Fan understands Li Man's psychology: Attending Imperial examination for a person who studies is more important than their own lives, when the couple were in love, he was able to take out a large amount of the family money for his wife's family troubles, as a result of livelihood problems had cause him to give up studying, business, but with the transfer of time, the couple's feelings slowly faded, he began to realize that him not continuing to study for the examination decision was wrong, businessmen have money again, after all, social status of a businessman is not as noble as the scholars, so Li Man’s regrets in his heart, is also common sense, after all, not everyone is willing to pay, not seeking returns.

But in the end, these are the Li Family affairs, and Tang Fan has nothing to do with them, Master Tang listened to an ear gossip, for the way to make up for Li Man's course of mind, on A-Dong this little girl, he certainly will not make any comments, but said: "A-Dong, what you say to me is just that and ends here, you cannot go outside to say nonsense, otherwise your master and Madam will found out, you will taste your bitterness."

A-Dong nodded like a chicken pecking rice: "I'm not saying anything to anyone but you!"

Tang Fan took another piece of water chestnut cake into his mouth and nodded, “That's right."

He had never had much of a frame, and even a little girl like A-Dong could be chatted so casual in private after a few days together.

A-Dong, who realized that Tang Fan mouth hadn't stopped chewing, pulled the basket over for a look, dumbfounded.

All the water chestnut cakes inside have been wiped out!

But she was clearly watching Master Tang eat very slowly!

Noticing the little girl's dazed look, Master Tang smiled wryly, "I'm late from the magistrate's office today, so I haven't had time to eat my dinner."

A-Dong was very young, and the adult lectured him, "Master Tang, you can't do this, after all, cakes can't fill your stomach for a proper meal, you should eat some congee, rice and so on!"

The only thing I can do is cook some millet congee. If I drink congee every day, I'm afraid I'll be starving at the court.

Tang Fan expressed his sympathy and rolled up his sleeves: "Do you have any food in the kitchen at home? I will cook something for you.”

Before Tang Fan can stop her and she ran to the kitchen.

A-Dong although young, but she was sold into the Li Family as a slave since childhood, although the Li Family Madam will not be harsh on the servants, but A-Dong still has to do work, not to mention, the poor children who enter the family in servitude, fire making and cooking that is basic skills.

In less than half an hour, a bowl of fragrant scallion and egg fried rice was pushed out.

The rice was steamed and scrambled, the two eggs were scavenged by her in the Tang Fan’s stoves, and the scallions were bought on the street last time Tang Fan was in a mood to shop for groceries, a bit stale, but barely functional.

From this point of view, A-Dong is definitely a qualified little cook.

He winked and complimented without stint: "A-Dong, you are really Yi Ya reincarnated!"

Tang Fan is bewildered: "What is a Yiya, can it be eaten?"

[1] Yiya was a famous emperor Palace chef in the State of Qi circa 630 BC this was before the reunification of all of china under Qin Emperor




Tang Fan: "... It's not important, but you've been delayed here for too long, so you should go back, or else it's time for your family Madam asking around to find you."

He actually liked the little girl A-Dong, at least she was easier to get along with her than A-Xia.

Every day in the prefecture magistrate courthouse in the face of mountains of files, into the eyes of either the case of seizure of property, or the case of murder and injury, makes one life suffer more psychological gloom, once at home can be a place for a calming chat, in fact, is also a way to relax, but A-Dong is not Tang Fan servant so she cannot always stay here.

A-Dong spat out her tongue, "It's okay, I'm still young anyway, there's nothing to go back to, Sister A-Chun will make a n excuse for me, but I'd better go back, lest Sister A-Chun reprimands me!"

Sending away the bouncy A-Dong, Tang Fan tasted the bowl of egg fried rice and found that it was really quite good, at least it was better than the one he made himself.

After the fall of the Tang Family, in order to enable his sister to get married in extravagant style, Tang Fan sent the two remaining maids and servants to his sister's husband's family, and there was no one else around him, and since he lived alone and had a simple life, Tang Fan always hired short workers to clean the house at intervals, and when he had time, he cooked himself, and when he ate is not very regular, he mostly worked outside. Although Master Tang loved to eat, the only thing he could make was a light and tasteless white porridge, which made one shed a tear of sympathy.

But now, in order to be able to have a hot meal when he got home, he was seriously considering buying a servant who could cook to come back as a cook.

She doesn't want to have the Li Family’s chef's skills, but at the very least, she need to be up to A-Dong’s level, right?

The head of the A-Dong carrying the basket humming a small song went back to the Li Family, just as she set foot in the small courtyard, she then ran into A-Chun coming from the main Madam's room, the latter glared at A-Dong, A-Dong vainly spit out her tongue, smiled ingratiatingly at the A-Chun: " Sister A-Chun, have you eaten, I go to the kitchen to see, bring you some over?"

A-Chun poked her in the head: ''You went to Master Tang's place to be lazy again? Master Tang makes you so busy, I have no time to reprimand you little girl, don't think I don't know that you stole the snacks you took the snacks in the past will steal them, Master Tang does not care about you, don't kick your nose in the face, this time the Madam is in a bad mood, we should also be more alert!"

"Yes, yes, I know!" The first time I saw her, I knew that she was always hard of heart, so I just said yes, looked at the food in her hand, did not move a few chopsticks: "Madam again refused to eat? But isn't Sister A-Xia on duty today, so why are you the one delivering the meal?"

A-Chun sighed, pulled her aside, and whispered, "A-Xia has been very sad since she was rejected by Master Tang last time, and her work has been in a state of disarray, so I am afraid that she will run foul with the Madam, so I helped her share some of it. As for the matter of the Madam, we are not to be involved by much, you should not go to Master Tang for a while, the master will be back soon with his men, and a new courtyard will definitely need to be used by then, you work smart, go help clean up more!"

A-Dong naturally responded in one breath, and said, "Sister A-Chun, then you go and eat first, I'll just guard here."

A-Chun said, “There is still food in there!"

A-Dong pushed her out the door: "I'll go collect, I'll collect!"

A-Chun had no choice but to go to the kitchen with her.

She had just left on her front foot, and A-Xia came back.

A-Dong giggled, "Sister A-Xia, you look terrible, aren't you feeling well?"

Ever since Tang Fan rejected A-Xia's offer to be his concubine, she had been looking sickly, but today, her face was a little paler than yesterday.

A-Xia smiled bitterly, "It's nothing, it's just that the little days have come and the stomach is a little upset."





A-Dong blinked, she was not old enough to go through these things, but she had heard and understood it naturally, “Then you go and rest, I'll do it here."

"It's okay," A-Xia rubbed her head, "Where is A-Chun?"

A-Dong: "Sister A-Chun is too busy and hasn’t eaten yet, I let her go first."

A-Xia: "What did the Madam say?"

A-Dong: "Sister A-Chun said that the Madam had eaten a few bites, and there were some dishes confiscated inside, and I was going to collect them!"

A-Xia: “Then I'll go in and put it away, and you can take me to the kitchen later, won't you?"

A-Dong: "Yes!"

She looked at A-Xia walked in, thinking that women small moon cycles life is really hard, Sister A-Xia even walked without her usual stride, so it must be very painful, and thought that in a few years she will have to go through this kind of horrible things, A-Dong could not help but shudder.

The author has something to say: the future of Master Tang went away on a business trip, only to return in a few days, Master Tang is really pathetic, is a foodie, and can only cook white porridge.






- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -



Small theatre.

The last time I said I wanted to talk about the Ming Dynasty Harem, because the author was too lazy to keep skipping, today I find that this can't be skipped.

At the mention of the Empress and Empress Dowager of the Ming Dynasty, one might think that the Ming Dynasty harem has little existence in history, and at least one might think that it is not as imposing as the Tang and Song dynasties, but in fact it is not.

To give a typical example, the Empress Zhang of Renzong Emperor

Renzong Emperor is Zhu Gaochu, his father was Zhu Di, and Empress Zhang is Zhu Di's daughter-in-law.

When Zhu Gaochu was still a crown prince, he was too fat to ride and shoot, and Zhu Di was so upset with him that he wanted to abolish him from the crown prince title but thanks to Young Lady Zhang machination that he survived.

Who is Zhu Di? The first thing you need to do is to get a good deal of information about the situation. He was a man who helped his father fight against invaders, and he personally fought for the throne but for his nephew. Such a person has a strong and hard character, and he will never get along well with a lazy person. However, Young Lady Zhang was loved by Zhu Di and Empress Xu, and she also got recorded into the history book, this is quite remarkable.



This is why it is very important to marry a good wife, for a good wife can determine its stability, and keep the family safe......

Far away, it was continue to bid say that Young Lady Zhang had to play her card and wait until she was established as the Empress, history has a saying that, "Chinese and foreign affairs, no one knows", what is this concept?

The Zhang Family knows about all the state affairs, big and small, and whoever told her about it was naturally her husband Zhu Gaochu.

Zhu Gaochu not only took the initiative to tell her, but also to ask for her opinion, and looking at the Song Dynasty, even the famous Empress Dowager Liu did not receive such treatment of being her husband close confidant.

By the time Zhu Gaochu hung up his breaches and died, Empress Zhang’s son Zhu Zhanji was conferred as the emperor, the Empress Zhang’s became Empress Dowager, but also this does not mean she was far away from political affairs, about the dynastic affairs, the son still went to consult the mother, Empress Dowager Zhang’s also did not hesitate to educate the emperor and exert influence on the previous dynasty.

Of course, the impact is subtle, and she did not a rush to intervene.

So it's easy to get the illusion that the Ming Dynasty harem] is all about them people who are doing nothing, even if you keep a name such as an Imperial Noble Consort it a kind of domineering palace consort, and it has little impact on history.

In fact, it is not, Ming Dynasty in such matters as the establishment of a crown prince, is consulted and conferred thanks to the support of the Empress Dowager, a strong Empress Dowager can completely control the dynasty, such as Empress Dowager Zhang’s, and later, such as Empress Dowager Sun.

Just because most of the Ming Dynasty harem were chosen from ordinary families, they themselves had limited knowledge, most of them began to study only after entering the palace, and all of them studied the Four Books for Women that the Taizu Emperor told them to study, so it was easy to develop the habit of non-intervention.

Like Empress Dowager Zhang’s, she had enough seniority, vision and prestige, and the ministers had asked her to be the one to take over after her husband died, only that Empress Dowager Zhang herself refused to be Empress Regent. (The minister asked the Empress Dowager to pull the curtain up and listen to the government affairs, and the Empress Dowager said, "I cannot break the ancestral law.”

Throughout the life of Empress Dowager Zhang, although the husband was not handsome (body fat), in addition to his many concubines, but Empress Dowager Zhang herself was smart and powerful, even her husband's throne was dependent on her helping him keeping it, in the husband's death she still continued to be the Empress Dowager, as the Empress Dowager, son and grandson owed her filial obedience, but also listen to her advice.

The first time I mentioned her, I said, "Wow, that Imperial Noble Consort who is 16 years older than the emperor and is still being pampered by the emperor".

In fact, the Imperial Noble Consort where the exclusive favor, although Zhu Jianshen liked her, but the women who have slept with him are still a large in number, and also have a large number of sons, can an Imperial Noble Consort heart still be really very happy?

So like a man who drinks water and knows the warmth and cold, I think that people like Empress Dowager Zhang are the real winners in life.





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