Quick Transmigration: The Supporting Female Lead Stays Out of It - Chapter 31: Chef 30

Yan Langqing had been feeling uneasy recently, and the source of it all came from Lin Dan, a person she had long forgotten but who had suddenly resurfaced. Yan Langqing had also asked people to pack up her four signature dishes and send them into the palace for her to taste, and the taste was indeed wonderful.

She had tried to recreate these dishes, but found that even using the same ingredients and the same seasonings, she couldn’t replicate Lin Dan’s flavor at all. She must have her own unique methods, which others couldn’t see through or understand. Without her personal guidance, even having the recipe would be in vain.

This peerless skill could only be achieved by those veteran chefs who had been in the industry for decades, or even a lifetime. And how old was Lin Dan? She was two years younger than her, only twenty-two this year, yet she had already surpassed others by far. Yan Langqing had to admit that she was worried, but as an imperial chef, her pride wouldn’t allow her to admit defeat to a mere chef.

She would definitely go to this competition, but she would have to wait until the palace had its days off. However, before the days off, her troubles came. She saw several guards with big knives rushing into the imperial kitchen and fiercely asking, “Who made this Eight Treasures Tofu today? Step forward!”

“It was me.” Yan Langqing stepped forward without flinching. In the palace, she had the emperor’s protection, so she was naturally afraid of nothing.

“Besides you, who else touched that dish?” the guards asked again.

A few palace maids and eunuchs came out one after another, all of whom were Yan Langqing’s confidantes, including the young man who often helped her go out of the palace to search for delicious food.

“Tie them up and send them to the Department of Penalties!” The guards bound them without explanation and dragged them away for interrogation.

Hearing that they were going to be sent to the black prison that resembled hell, Yan Langqing panicked. She struggled and hurriedly asked, “What did we do wrong, Your Excellencies?”

“Don’t you know what you’ve done wrong?” Several guards gagged their mouths and rudely dragged them away.

Today’s matter was neither too serious nor too trivial, only because the emperor had invited several princes from the Mongolian country to a banquet in the palace and discussed the purchase of warhorses with them. One of the princes had already greeted the people in the imperial kitchen, saying that he couldn’t eat peanuts, or he would get sick. The palace person agreed, but then served a portion of Eight Treasures Tofu, which contained peanut butter. The prince got sick after eating it, with red rashes all over his body, and it was extremely itchy. So the banquet was ruined, and the purchase of warhorses was also canceled. Everything had to wait until the prince recovered.

To give an explanation to this prince, the emperor ordered the guards to investigate the matter thoroughly, and the investigation fell on Yan Langqing. Yan Langqing really didn’t know about the prince’s taboo, and no one had told her, but after all, she was in charge of cooking and had personally made that dish. Even if the emperor was reluctant, he could only arrest her for interrogation, so as not to slight the foreign guests.

After finding out that there was no involvement of spies or conspiracy from other countries, but was just a mistake, the Department of Penalties planned to release people. But suddenly, Prince Gong, who managed the Department of Penalties, arrived. Without a word, he threw down two bamboo sticks and gave Yan Langqing and her apprentice, the young eunuch, fifty strokes each.

Yan Langqing was, after all, the emperor’s favorite person, and the executioner raised the sticks and let them down lightly, not daring to hit hard. But her apprentice didn’t have such good luck. After the interrogation, he was already in ragged clothes, covered in bl00d, and no longer looked like a person. After being carried out of the black prison, Yan Langqing’s legs were weak, and tears flowed down uncontrollably. Everyone said that the palace was a place that devoured people, but because she had the emperor’s protection, she had never felt it, but today, she finally understood that this black prison was indeed a big mouth, just waiting to devour people alive.

During the interrogation on the bl00d-stained floor, she vaguely heard Prince Gong say, “My emperor brother instructed me to beat her hard… he angered his darling… Sigh, it’s not a concubine, it’s a chef, with excellent skills…”

Yan Langqing was not a fool and quickly understood that the reason she was punished was because she had provoked someone she shouldn’t have provoked. But who was this person? The first thing she thought of was the chefs in the imperial kitchen, because only by pulling her down could the position of head chef be vacated.

She looked at everyone as if they were bad people now, and she didn’t dare to stay in the imperial kitchen for a moment after returning, she just wanted to go home quickly. But when the order from above really came down, stripping her of her status as imperial chef and sending her back, she was stunned again, filled with resentment and humiliation.

She really didn’t know anything about what happened today; no one had told her that the prince couldn’t eat peanuts. She was framed, but she had no evidence, so she was unable to defend herself. She didn’t even have time to change her bloodied clothes before being escorted into a carriage and sent out of the palace.

The young eunuch who often went out of the palace to select food for her was severely injured and was thrown into the Eunuch Bureau. Whether he could survive was still a question, and even if he survived, he would not be able to return to the imperial kitchen in the future, but could only serve those mad ladies in the cold palace or wash the toilets in the Laundry Bureau. The hard days were yet to come—

The official had beaten her son until he was covered in bl00d, which frightened Zhou Shi, and she kept asking what they should do in the future. The shop was smashed, the signboard was ruined, and the noble had also said that they were not allowed to open for business. Did they have to go and beg Lin Dan, that little b*tch? Zhou Shi felt unwilling no matter what, but if they didn’t beg Lin Dan to come back, their family wouldn’t be any better. The 100,000 taels of silver they had paid out was already their biggest asset, which could be said to have hurt their foundation and vitality, and it would take ten or eight years to recover.

Yan Shouye gritted his teeth and said, “What’s there to beg for? She has a backer, and we do too, and our backer is still the emperor. When Langqing comes back, I’ll let her ask the emperor for help, and everything will be fine. Our Langqing is going to be a consort in the future.”

“Didn’t you say she was going to be a Marquis’s wife before?” Zhou Shi finally felt a little relieved.

“Marquis’s wife is nothing; it’s better to be a consort. I’ve been suppressing Langqing all these years and not letting her marry. You still think I’m delaying her future. Look now, if I hadn’t restrained her, how could she have had her current good fortune? When Langqing comes back, we’ll get through this hurdle, and I’ll also have her go to the emperor to file a lawsuit and have the Marquis of Weiyuan and the others dealt with, to avenge me!” Yan Shouye spoke more and more emotionally, propping up his upper body and shouting, “Come here, go to the door and see if Miss is back!”

Immediately, a maid ran out, and after a moment, ran back in a hurry, her voice hoarse, “It’s not good, it’s not good! Miss, Miss came back covered in bl00d, and was also stripped of her position as imperial chef!”

The palace person who sent Yan Langqing back had received Prince Gong’s instructions and told them everything that had happened to her, that she had made a big mistake and been dismissed from the palace. They were still standing at the door, not giving the Yan family any face. The passersby were all neighbors who lived nearby and had been bullied by Zhou Shi and Yan Shouye, and they couldn’t help but show expressions of schadenfreude. Serves you right! Thinking you’re so great because your daughter is an imperial chef, and not treating others like people, you didn’t expect to have this day, did you!

Yan Langqing was so ashamed that she couldn’t face anyone, and covered her head with a thin blanket before letting the servants carry her out of the carriage and go home. Seeing her father, who was also lying on the bed, she was immediately shocked.

Yan Shouye was completely panicked, and only then did he tell them about bullying Lin Dan and her mother and daughter, and burning down the Hometown Restaurant, and he hated, “How did I know that she had only been back in the capital for two or three months, and had already made so many great people, and that all of them were willing to stand up for her. If I had known this, I…” I wouldn’t have provoked her!

But in the end, Yan Shouye was unwilling to say the last sentence. He pondered for a moment and said thoughtfully, “We can’t rely on the emperor in our family. Langqing, go send a letter to Tang Peng and ask him to help you. You may not know, but the last time, Tang Peng had a banquet at the Hometown Restaurant for several princes from the Mongolian country and was severely humiliated by Lin Dan. He is disgusted with Lin Dan. I said that I wanted to burn down the shop and asked him to help deal with the officials in Southern City, and he agreed immediately. Furthermore, he also treats me so kindly because he is looking at your face. If you open your mouth, there’s no reason for him not to agree. Our family can’t not open the shop, or what will we eat and drink? But if we want to reopen the shop, we have to have a backer, right? Tang Peng is, after all, the Deputy Minister of War and the son of the Yongding Marquis’s Mansion. Looking at his face, Prince Cheng wouldn’t come to smash the signboard again.”

He rambled on and on, but Yan Langqing only heard the words “Mongolian country,” her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately asked, “The princes from the Mongolian country ate at Lin Dan’s place? Does she have any connection with the princes?”

“How could she possibly have any connection with the princes? It was Young Master Tang who took those people there. In the past few years, Young Master Tang had joined forces with the Mongolian country to fight against the Xiongnu, and the two sides were allies, and their relationship was very good.” Yan Shouye was going to donate an official position, so he naturally understood a lot about the court affairs.

“It’s the Young Master? So it’s the Young Master!” Yan Langqing was completely stunned, and tears fell from her eyes in an instant. She had thought that it was the people in the imperial kitchen who had joined forces to frame her, but it turned out that Young Master Tang was also involved. That was right, besides Young Master Tang, who could invite the princes from the Mongolian country, who could reach into the palace?

And Prince Cheng, Prince Gong, they were all standing up for Lin Dan. She had worked so hard to make a living in the palace and had made so many contributions to her family, but it had all been ruined in a day and a night. Why was this?

Yan Langqing was overwhelmed with grief and roared, “Father, didn’t I tell you to live a peaceful life and not to cause trouble? Did you treat my words as if they were wind? That year, because you and your family made a fuss, I was kicked out of the Marquis’s Mansion by the Marquis and was also resented by the Young Master until now. Now that you’ve made a fuss again, I’ve been kicked out of the palace by the emperor and lost all face. Are you satisfied now? How many more times are you going to drag me down?”

Looking at his daughter, who was half‑reclined on the chair and wailing, Yan Shouye was both ashamed and regretful, but he was utterly helpless. He could only stammer, “Your father also didn’t expect that Lin Dan would be a thorny hedgehog, untouchable. Or, or, why don’t you still send a letter to Tang Peng, he will surely help you.”