Chapter 52: The Old Prince Next Door 5

The third steward of the Marquis of Ruyang Estate was surnamed Liu, and everyone called him Steward Liu.

On this stretch of Pingkang Street, there were only four grand, deep-set estates that Steward Liu thought worth taking seriously.

There was the Marquis of Ruyang Estate, where his own master lived, the Duke of Yi Household across the street, Widow Su, who had bought the rear courtyard residence from his household, and the one no one could afford to offend most of all, Prince Chen’s estate, separated from the widow’s home by only a single wall.

Of those, Prince Chen’s estate was untouchable. If you ran into someone from Prince Chen’s estate and they were in a good mood, you could go up and greet them. If they were in a bad mood, you took a detour. As for the Duke of Yi Household, aside from a few stewards, Steward Liu had no need to pay attention to anyone else there.

And Widow Su was the sort of person you absolutely could not provoke. She belonged to the Duke of Yi Household. Even if she had moved out, who would dare try bullying Widow Su?

For the sake of its own reputation alone, the Duke of Yi Household could twist your head right off.

But today, Steward Liu had come knocking at the widow’s door, and he truly had not come with good intentions.

That overbearing fragrance of braised meat had left the old madam in the estate craving it badly.

And the Marchioness had hinted even more directly that Widow Su was on bad terms with the Duke of Yi Household. Otherwise, she would never have publicly questioned the Duke of Yi over the frightened horse incident. So she had sent him here to threaten and tempt her into handing over the braised meat recipe.

In truth, this was also a test, a way to sound out exactly what kind of attitude the Duke of Yi Household had toward Widow Su.

If the frightened horse incident had not caused any real bad blood between Widow Su and the Duke of Yi Household, then the Marquis of Ruyang Estate would continue as before, ignoring Su’s life entirely. But if the Duke of Yi Household stepped forward for Widow Su over a mere braised meat recipe…

Then Widow Su likely would not be living on Pingkang Street much longer. With no one protecting her, and being a young and beautiful widow, who knew whose hidden mistress she might end up becoming in the future?

The Marquis of Ruyang Estate had long since been rotten at the core. With such an overpowering aroma, there was no way the braised meat recipe would fail to make money. Wasn’t the Marchioness of Ruyang simply taking a risky step and sending Steward Liu to test the waters?

What Steward Liu had never expected, though, was that Prince Chen’s estate had also set its sights on the braised meat recipe.

And with that, Steward Liu no longer dared to go inside.

He quickly cupped his hands and bowed. “Greetings, Master Gui¹.”

Seeing that Steward Liu had come alone and had not brought a single gift, Gui Xi immediately knew that, as far as Widow Su was concerned, this man was an unwelcome guest. He gave a cold snort, flicked the horsetail whisk² in his hand in a circle, and shot Steward Liu a sidelong glare.

“What? Has the Marquis of Ruyang Estate run out of food? You’re actually scheming against a widow?” Those words were far too severe. If they got out, the masters of the Marquis of Ruyang Estate would lose face for a couple of days at most, but he, the one sent by the mistress of the household to handle this, would probably lose his life.

“Master Gui, please spare your words. If that gets out, my masters won’t be able to show their faces again. My mistress sent me to buy a little braised meat to take back and honor the old madam with it. It really isn’t what you said.” As he spoke, he even pulled out the ten taels of silver from his own purse to show Gui Xi.

Gui Xi sneered, but did not keep pressing him. It was enough that the man understood what he meant. There was no point tangling with him any further.

Good thing he had come when he did. Otherwise, who knew what grievance Widow Su would have suffered?

“Then come in with this servant. Isn’t it a coincidence? Our prince also said the smell was tempting and ordered this servant to come personally and trade for some braised meat.” As he spoke, he had the young eunuch behind him show Steward Liu the things they had brought for Su Huandan.

At that moment, Steward Liu was truly stuck between advancing and retreating, but there was no way for him to leave either.

He followed Gui Xi to knock on Su Huandan’s front gate and was welcomed inside. Before long, he saw Widow Su again when she came out to meet them.

Su Huandan as she was now would earn praise from anyone who saw her for being stunningly beautiful. She truly was beautiful, alluring to the extreme.

“My respects, Eunuch Gui. I truly never expected you to come. We’re neighbors, after all. It’s only a little braised meat, so why talk of exchanging anything? I had already planned to send some to all the neighbors anyway.” As she spoke, she clapped her hands. The cook, the maid tending the fire, and Xia Chan, the maid Su Huandan had kept after she once carried her on her back, each entered carrying a tray.

On the trays were plain earthenware jars with lids, each about the size to hold two jin. They were filled to the brim, meat and braising stock together, three rough pottery jars in all.

Smiling, Su Huandan pointed at the earthenware jars and said, “Don’t be fooled by how plain these jars look. They’re coarse pottery, so they can be set directly over the fire. After you’ve finished the braised meat inside, don’t throw away the stock. The stock can be used again and again. As long as you preserve it well, you can add other meats to it, or even boiled eggs and tofu, and braise them. That way the household gets another dish too, doesn’t it? It’s a pity there isn’t any lotus root right now. That tastes wonderful braised as well. And if anyone in the household suffers from coldness in the body³, boil some pigeon eggs first, then braise them for an hour. The flavor is excellent, and they warm the body too.”

Eating pigeon or pigeon eggs in winter really did help nourish the body somewhat for people with cold constitutions, since pigeon was considered a very warming food.

People who were prone to excess heat⁴ should avoid it.

At those words, Gui Xi’s eyes narrowed into smiling slits at once. His prince was especially sensitive to the cold. Pigeon soup was served every single day, and he was practically sick of drinking it by now. If it could be braised instead, without reducing the warming properties of the pigeon meat, that was good news, very good news indeed.

“Madam, you’re generous, but my prince cannot very well take advantage of you. You absolutely must accept these things. Otherwise, if my prince ever wishes to get some delicacies from your home again, this servant will be too embarrassed to come to your door.” Not long after, Gui Xi left carrying the earthenware jars and took Steward Liu away with him as well.

Xia Chan had also originally been a maid from the Duke of Yi Household. But after her mother died, her father remarried, and there was no place for her in that home anymore. After she began following the original Su Huandan, she had remained wholeheartedly devoted. She was not especially quick-witted, but she was an extremely loyal servant.

It was Xia Chan who delivered the braised meat to the Duke of Yi Household.

But halfway there, Concubine⁵ Qiu, having gotten wind of it, rushed over. Without a word, she ordered people to smash the earthenware jar. The whole estate had already been full of the scent of the braised meat from Su Huandan’s home. Now that a whole jar of meat and braising stock had been shattered, the smell became even stronger. Quite a few servants looked at the meat and stock on the ground and cried out inwardly over what a waste it was.

Concubine Qiu did not even glance at the braised meat smashed on the ground. With a cold laugh, she ordered the rough servant women behind her to tie up Xia Chan.

“Bring this wretch along too. This concubine is going over to that Widow Su’s place and ask why she’s stealing the Duke’s estate’s braised meat recipe.” Concubine Qiu was exactly the sort of person who became wildly arrogant the moment she got a taste of success.

Since Duke of Yi hadn’t punished her over the last startled-horse incident, she became convinced that the ducal estate could no longer tolerate Widow Su. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have gone at Su Huandan so hysterically.

Taking a whole group of people with her, she charged straight to Su Huandan’s home, smashing and beating things up. The only thing she didn’t do was set the place on fire.

The commotion was so huge that both the Marquis of Ruyang Estate and Prince Chen’s estate learned of it at once.

The madam of the Marquis of Ruyang Estate patted her chest in lingering fear, thinking how lucky it was that Steward Liu had run into people from Prince Chen’s estate and hadn’t tried to seize the braised meat recipe, or the ones getting attacked at their door would have been the Marquis of Ruyang Estate.

She hadn’t gotten the full story, so she didn’t know that the one who had barged into Su Huandan’s home was not the duchess, but merely a concubine. On Prince Chen’s side, Prince Chen naturally knew the truth and let out a cold snort. He didn’t say a word, but Gui Xi understood and hurried next door.

Translator’s Notes