The Great Tang's King of Provisions

Chapter 35: The Virtuous Empress of Her Generation, Changsun Wugu

Upon exiting the Taiji Hall, Li Xuanba’s face beamed with pride. Just as he was about to step outside, he sheepishly pulled his right foot back, cast an awkward glance at Li Yuan, and scratched his head. “Dad, which way is the Imperial Kitchen Bureau?” Damn it! He’d only been here a day; carried away by his moment of triumph, he’d forgotten he didn’t know his way around yet. “Hahahaha! Just follow Dad!” Seeing his third son—who was always full of surprises—display this rare, childlike side, Li Yuan laughed heartily, grabbed Li Xuanba’s arm, and headed toward the Imperial Kitchen Bureau! “Long live the Emperor! Long, long, long live the Emperor!” Amid the constant cries of homage along the way, Li Xuanba arrived at the Imperial Kitchen of the Taiji Palace of the Great Tang—known in later generations as the Shangshi Bureau. The place was quite spacious—more than ten times larger than the kitchen at the Plum Blossom Restaurant—and could easily be considered a separate courtyard in its own right. “This humble servant, Huang Yimai, Chief Imperial Chef of the Imperial Kitchen Bureau, pays his respects to Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor, long live, long, long live!” Taken by surprise to see Li Yuan arrive in person at the Imperial Kitchen Bureau, the Chief Imperial Chef hurriedly performed a deep bow before him, his expression somewhat puzzled. As the ruler of the nation, why would the Emperor come to the Imperial Kitchen Bureau? Wasn’t he afraid the censors would criticize him for it? The Chief Imperial Chef’s puzzled expression surprised Li Xuanba as well. The chef at his Plum Blossom Restaurant was a man, yet here at the Taiyi Palace, the Chief Imperial Chef—the head of the Imperial Kitchen—was actually a woman. Moreover, she was quite attractive. With that thought in mind, Li Xuanba took a closer look at Li Yuan. He remembered that his father, when he had nothing better to do, was always fathering illegitimate children—surely this female imperial chef wasn’t one of them, was she? Perhaps noticing Li Xuanba’s peculiar gaze, Li Yuan shot him a glare and waved to Huang Yimai. “This is my son, Xuanba. From now on, he’ll be in charge of everything here. You lot just need to assist him!” “Yes, Your Majesty. I pay my respects to His… His Royal Highness the Prince of Wei,” Huang Yimai replied offhandedly, bowing to Li Xuanba in accordance with etiquette. But then it suddenly dawned on him: there was only one person in the entire Tang Dynasty named Xuanba—Li Xuanba, the Prince of Wei, who had been struck by lightning and killed twelve years ago. “Hey!” Seeing that Huang Yimai had startled himself, Li Xuanba playfully gave a modern-style wave, then, paying no heed to the stunned Huang Yimai, strolled leisurely into the spacious Bureau of Imperial Cuisine. The Imperial Kitchen measured twenty meters long by twenty meters wide, with an area of roughly four hundred square meters. The floor was made of gleaming marble, the walls were lined with white porcelain, and warm sunlight streamed in through the windows at the front and back, making the kitchen appear exceptionally bright. Furthermore, the layout of the kitchen was meticulously designed. Along both walls stood solid-wood cabinets, inside which porcelain bowls and plates were neatly arranged and spotlessly clean. In the very center of the kitchen stood two ten-meter-long solid-wood tables, on which the ingredients for Li Yuan and his companions—all thoroughly washed—were laid out. As for the stove, it was situated on the inner side near the window for ventilation—presumably to prevent fires and allow smoke to escape. After taking a look around, Li Xuanba nodded in satisfaction; the Imperial Kitchen was indeed quite clean and met his hygiene standards. Li Xuanba didn’t even have to think about it—this Imperial Kitchen was where meals were prepared for His Majesty; who would dare to make a mess here? “Chef Huang, do you have any top-quality pork leg here?” After searching the area and failing to find any pork, Li Xuanba had no choice but to ask Huang Yimai. “We do, but that’s for us to eat. Your Highness, are you…?” Hearing Li Xuanba ask for pork leg, Huang Yimai hesitated. This pork was meant for people of his own rank—how could someone of the Prince’s stature possibly eat it? “Pfft! ‘You lot’ and ‘us’—all things under heaven exist to nourish people. If you can eat it, of course we can too,” Li Xuanba rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively. If he couldn’t eat this and couldn’t eat that, then what was this young master even doing here in the Tang Dynasty? He might as well just find a lightning bolt to strike him dead—who knows, maybe he’d end up back in his own time. “Excellent! ‘All things under heaven are created to nourish mankind’—my son’s knowledge has truly grown!” “Third Brother, what profound insight! It seems you’ve indeed learned quite a lot in the Immortal Realm.” Li Xuanba’s remark—spoken purely out of gluttony—had barely left his lips when two voices of admiration rang out from outside the Bureau of Imperial Cuisine. One belonged to Li Yuan, who was waiting for him to make a roujiamo, and the other to Li Shimin, who had returned after leaving. “Huh? Second Brother, aren’t you supposed to be preparing for your coronation ceremony? What are you doing here at the Imperial Kitchen Bureau? Don’t worry, I’ll save a few roujiamo for you,” Li Xuanba teased Li Shimin. But the moment he stepped out the main gate of the Imperial Kitchen Bureau, he froze in his tracks. The reason for Li Xuanba’s astonishment was simple: standing beside Li Shimin was a woman in splendid court attire, her face radiant with surprise and joy, her eyes red-rimmed—a beautiful woman with the dignified bearing of a queen, Li Xuanba’s second sister-in-law, the woman Li Shimin called “Guanyin’s Maiden”—the virtuous Empress Changsun Wuguo. “S-Second Sister-in-Law!” Once he had regained his composure, Li Xuanba’s tiger-like eyes instantly reddened, and crystal-clear tears welled up in an instant. His imposing frame—one that had refused to kneel even before Li Yuan—immediately stooped by half as he bowed deeply before Changsun Wugu. Although Li Xuanba was two years older than Changsun Wuguo, back then he had been in a constant daze, oblivious to the ways of the world. In the two years before his “death,” aside from his older sister Li Xiuning, he had relied entirely on Changsun Wuguo—who was to him both a sister-in-law and a mother—to care for him, allowing him to spend what were arguably the happiest two years of his life. A closer look at Mei Hanxue would reveal Changsun Wuguo’s appearance and disposition, for Mei Hanxue resembled Changsun Wuguo in both looks and temperament by about fifty percent. This was one of the reasons Li Xuanba fell for Mei Hanxue at first sight, and it was also one of the reasons Li Yuan agreed to let Mei Hanxue marry Li Xuanba. “Da… Da De, you are truly Da De, wuwu! My Da De,” Li Xuanba bowed. Chang Sun Wugu hurried over with graceful steps, threw her arms around Li Xuanba, looked at him intently for a few moments, and then wept bitterly alongside him. Li Xuanba regarded Changsun Wugu as his mother, and Changsun Wugu, in turn, regarded Li Xuanba as her son. After all, before she gave birth to Li Chengqian, the thing that brought her the greatest joy and sense of fulfillment was taking care of this simple-minded third uncle (her younger brother-in-law). However, when the devastating news arrived that Li Xuanba had been struck dead by a bolt of lightning, she was overcome with grief. Now that she had seen Li Xuanba—whom she regarded as her eldest son—return from the dead, how could she not be overcome with emotion? “Mother, please don’t get too worked up—you have asthma.” “Mother, please calm down—don’t grieve so deeply!” Just as Changsun Wuguo was hugging Li Xuanba, weeping with joy, two crisp, concerned-sounding children’s voices reached Li Xuanba’s ears. Li Xuanba looked up. Through his tear-filled eyes, he saw two adorable little boys, about six or seven years old, standing beside them. Their chubby little hands were tugging at Changsun Wugu’s sleeve as they looked at her with concern and curiously examined him—the very person who had made their mother cry.