The Female Supporting Role Shows Out

Chapter 31

Translator: NovelMultiverse | Editor: NovelMultiverse

Yan Langqing had been feeling uneasy recently. The root cause of all her worries came from Lin Dan, a person who had long been forgotten by her but suddenly entered into the picture again. Yan Langqing had gotten people to pack Lin Dan's four signature dishes into the palace, and she found that they were all really delicious.

She tried to remake those dishes but found that even with the same ingredients and condiments, she was unable to recreate the same taste as Lin Dan. Yan Langqing was sure that Lin Dan had developed unique cooking techniques that were difficult to follow or master without Lin Dan's guidance. It would be useless even if she had gotten hold of the recipe.

It was an extraordinary skill that only the old chefs who had been in the industry for decades or even a lifetime possessed. As for Lin Dan, she was merely two years younger than Yan Langqing and was only twenty-two years old, but she had already far surpassed her. She had to admit that she felt uneasy, but as an imperial chef, she would never concede defeat to an ordinary chef.

She was definitely going to have a competition with Lin Dan, but she had to wait till her day off. However, troubles came even before she could wait. Several guards rushed into the imperial kitchen with big swords and asked aggressively, "Who was the one who made this Eight-Treasure Tofu today? Come forward!"

"It's me." Yan Langqing stepped forward calmly. In the palace, she was protected by the Emperor and naturally was not afraid of anything.

"Apart from you, who else has handled that dish?" the guard asked again.

Several maids and eunuchs stepped forward one after another, and they were all Yan Langqing's close aides. Among them was the young man who often left the palace to help her find delicacies outside the palace.

"Tie them up and send them to the Department of Justice!" Several guards tied them up without making any explanations and dragged them away for interrogation.

Yan Langqing started to panic when she heard that her aides were going to be put into the dark and hellish jail. She asked urgently while struggling, "Sirs, what have we done wrong?"

"Don't you know what you're guilty of?" The guards gagged their mouths and dragged them away rudely.

What actually happened was nothing serious yet not to be taken lightly at the same time. The Emperor had hosted a few princes from Mongolia in the palace and was discussing purchasing war horses from them. One of the princes had already informed a servant from the imperial kitchen that he was allergic to peanuts, but the Eight-Treasure Tofu was served instead which contained peanut sauce. The prince had an allergic reaction as soon as he ate it and developed a red rash all over his body with an unbearable itch. As a result, the banquet was ruined, and discussion on the purchase of the warhorses was unsuccessful. Everything had to hold until the prince had recovered.

In order to give the prince an explanation, the Emperor ordered the guards to thoroughly investigate the matter and found Yan Langqing responsible for it. Although Yan Langqing was not told about the prince's allergy, she was the chef who made the dish after all. She had to be interrogated to appease the guests even if the Emperor was reluctant to do so.

After discovering that the incident was merely a mistake and did not involve any spies or conspiracies from the other countries, the Department of Justice had released them. But Prince Gong, who was the head of the Department, suddenly arrived. Without a word, he threw two bamboo sticks and punished Yan Langqing and her apprentice, which was the young eunuch, each with fifty heavy sticks.

As Yan Langqing had won the favor of the Emperor, the executioner held back and did not dare to beat her hard. However, her apprentice did not enjoy such privileges. At the end of the interrogation, his clothes were torn and bloody and he was completely in ruins. After being taken out of the jail, Yan Langqing's legs were jelly, and tears started to roll uncontrollably. People had said that the palace was a place full of schemes, but she had never felt it under the Emperor's protection until today. She realized that the dark cell was indeed like a big mouth, waiting to tear people apart and devour lives.