Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 540 Tide
The buns tasted really good. Xu Chuo ordered four trays, and Pei Ye ate three and a half trays by himself, and drank two large cups of hot tea.

Xu Chuo sighed softly, turned to the waiter and said, "Please bring another tray to our table."

"Ah, no need, I'm full." Pei Ye smiled, "Thank you for the hospitality, Master."

Xu Chuo looked at him.

"what's wrong?"

"It's not for you." Xu Chuo pulled back the edge of his cloak and looked out the window. "We have another guest."

"Ah?" Pei Ye was stunned. "Who?"

"The Minister of Revenue Yuan Zhao, courtesy name Youjing, is considered the leader of the poor families in the world today." Xu Chuo glanced at him and said, "You eat his stuff."

"..."

The man walked over with heavy steps.

He was picking the mud off the soles of his feet on the step next to him. When he raised his head, he first saw a pair of eyes that were shining with brilliance.

Pei Ye suspected for a moment that he had practiced some kind of mental spell, but the next moment he realized that it was just a pair of eyes, and apart from these eyes, everything about the man was unattractive.

He was a typical man of 6 feet tall, about 40 years old, wearing expensive but not shiny clothes and boots, with many strands of gray in his messy hair. His appearance was too ordinary. His head was not straight to begin with, and he had two slender eyes. His nose was not straight, and the only distinctive feature was his thick beard, which made him look a bit rough. This face looked like a farmer in a short brown coat, and a horse driver in a bamboo hat. But he didn't look too noble in a purple coat.

There was no expression on his face. He held a scroll in his hand, sat down on the table with his legs crossed, and said, "Hello, Young Master."

"Hello, Lord Yuan."

"Hmm... the buns haven't been served yet?" Yuanzhao glanced at the table, but didn't pay much attention. He raised his hand and handed the memorial to Xu Chuo, "I plan to serve this tomorrow. Please take a look first."

He picked up his teacup, warmed his hands with it, and then drank it slowly in one breath.

Pei Ye was relieved to see that no one was pursuing the matter of the buns. He looked at Xu Chuozhanzhan opposite him. The adult on the side was holding an empty cup, motionless, with his eyes staring at the table in front of him. Pei Ye pursed his lips and became a quiet wooden man.

"Two things." Xu Chuo put down the memorial. "First, there are still some hurdles to cross at the Tianli Court. It will definitely not be possible within ten days at least. Second, I would like to remind Master Yuan that we are tough on the outside but soft on the inside. Remember to leave yourself a way out in your words and deeds, otherwise, if the matter is settled, you will not be able to save yourself."

Yuan Zhao still stared into space and nodded slowly.

Xu Chuo handed the letter back to him.

Yuan Zhao casually put it on the table. When the buns came, he took one and ate it. "I can't keep up with the progress of Tianliyuan. 'The first push is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted.' The scholars have been suppressing us for too long, and our strength is weak. We can only shout once, and we can only shout once."

Xu Chuo nodded: "I know."

Yuanzhao didn't even pick up the chopsticks. He picked up the buns with his hands and put them into his mouth, which did not affect his speech.

"Besides, the 'Practical Affairs Department' is indeed not stable on its own, and is under attack from outside and causes doubts from within." He whispered, "I think it is better to return to the old scholars and stand within the walls of the saints, so as to block some flying foam and gravel."

"It should be so. They hold the power of heaven, and I hold the power of man. Confucianism is the greatest power of man."

Yuanzhao nodded and said nothing more.

"By the way, let me introduce you." Xu Chuo raised his eyes, "This is Pei Ye, the one who came to the front stage."

"Ah, young hero." Yuan Zhao glanced over. When these eyes looked straight at him, Pei Ye felt the oppression of silence even more frightened. But the man seemed to know this. His gaze only lingered for a moment, and he tried to show a kind smile, "I have heard of your great name for a long time."

"I dare not, I dare not." Pei Ye quickly stood up and bowed.

"This is Minister Yuan, our only pillar of support in the court. If he is killed, we will be in big trouble."

Pei Ye was speechless and subconsciously looked at Yuan Zhao, but the man laughed, swallowed a bun, and said, "Between me and Li Du, only one of us will die."

But the smile quickly faded, and this expression seemed quite stingy on the man's face. He turned his head and looked at the boy again: "He is indeed a handsome man... Do you want to let this kid come?"

Xu Chuo nodded, smiled at the young man, and said softly: "Of course, after singing this play, you will truly be the most popular martial artist in Shenjing."

……

Pei Ye didn't quite understand what the two talked about next. It seemed to be related to the ban on recommendations from a few days ago. They were constantly discussing and finalizing some rules and regulations.

The bustle in the building gradually faded away. The time for breakfast passed and the sun began to shine from above. Pei Ye tilted his head to look out the window. There were more vendors pushing carts and setting up stalls on the street, and the traffic was also becoming more frequent.

The two of them stopped talking at this time. Yuanzhao drank the last sip of herbal tea, bowed to the two of them, and stood up and left.

Pei Ye watched him leave, then withdrew his gaze. The woman in front of him wrapped herself in her cloak and stood up.

"Let's go."

"Going back to the museum?"

Xu Chuo looked at him and said, "Hmm? Do you really want to go back to the small building?"

"It's... warmer there." Pei Ye looked at her. In his impression, a woman shouldn't sit by the window on a winter day like this.

Xu Chuo smiled and said, "Today I brought a magical instrument to warm my body."

"Oh."

"We finally got to go out, let's go to another house." Xu Chuo went downstairs first, "--Did you understand what we were talking about just now?"

"…about the imperial examination?"

"Yes, the New Imperial Examination Law. The [Prohibition of Recommendations] is the one that caused the most controversy. We want to implement it, so that the path for scholars from poor families to rise to the top will be smoother and fairer from now on."

This was easy to understand, and Pei Ye nodded.

"I heard that you unveiled the Buddha's face in the Illusion Tower, and behind it was Li Du, right?" Xu Chuo said, "The positions of Shangshu Ling and Zuo Pushe are now vacant, and he is the You Pushe, and has been the 'Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty' for ten years."

Pei Ye nodded silently. He had been thinking about this matter while lying in bed these past two nights. He had always believed in the principle of repaying one's life with another. No matter what one's status was, the victims in Liguan and Dongyu had to be repaid with their lives, and it was definitely not something that could be paid off by copying scriptures and squandering huge sums of money.

But "Prime Minister" is indeed a name that is too high and too heavy. Pei Ye has only been in Shenjing for more than a month. He actually can't think of how to start, so he is willing to discuss with the woman.

"Li Du has a noble family background, is good at writing poetry, and has a handsome appearance. In his early years, he was a secretary of the Central Secretariat, and later he entered the Ministry of Shangshu. He had a smooth career and had hardly ever been a hard-working or dismissed official." Xu Chuo said, "He is much older than Lord Yuan. When Lord Yuan applied for a promotion, he even went to his residence. He was ridiculed in public by the emperor, who said, 'A man of noble appearance is not employed, but a man with a rat's head and rat's eyes is seeking an official position.'" "..."

There were no carriages downstairs, so the two walked along the street. Xu Chuo smiled and said, "The current imperial examination is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, but the current system was created by Li Du. When Li Du took over as prime minister, he made a major reform to the rules of the imperial examinations. In general, it requires not to stick to the classics and history books, but to pay more attention to the actual ability of the candidates."

Pei Ye was slightly startled: "Isn't this... bad?"

"Okay, so 'public recommendation' is so important now." Xu Chuo looked at him with a smile.

"..."

Xu Chuo sighed softly: "After ten years of hard study, it is already precious for a child of a poor family to be able to master the Four Books and Five Classics. It is even more so for him to be able to write articles and understand official administration... But let me ask you, where can they go to prove their 'actual ability'?"

"..."

"For aristocratic families, being a staff member in a certain mansion and doing some official work for a certain master is just like eating and drinking water. When taking the exam, the children of aristocratic families bring recommendations from various mansions, while the poor scholars only carry a box of old books. How can you compare?"

Pei Ye was stunned.

"The 'practical department' mentioned on the table just now refers to this one." The two turned into a quieter street. The stone brick walls were all older colors, and holly trees grew on both sides. Xu Chuo spoke slowly, as if chatting, "There is nothing wrong with what Lord Yuan is pointing to. I just hope that it will be changed to be fairer, such as increasing the opportunities for poor scholars to participate in government affairs in advance, and incorporating 'staff' into the official system... But it always leads to new problems. At the critical moment, the more you do, the more mistakes you make. It is better to choose one side, not the middle, so I advised him to return to the Confucian school."

"Confucian school?"

"It is exactly what Li Du opposed to 'sticking to classics and historical records'." Xu Chuo smiled.

"..."

"It's not very popular, but it's an effective method." Xu Chuo smiled, "Besides, more people will be able to afford a few sets of books."

“…Can this new law be implemented?”

"Any new policy will inevitably encounter resistance, the resistance may vary in size." Xu Chuo straightened his face, "The resistance to the New Law is even greater, or in other words, it is almost as great as a natural barrier."

"..."

"When you went to the Illusion Tower, you saw the Fourth Prince writing the Will of Heaven, and you also met the Tang Dynasty family. That is an unbreakable sky curtain. Many times we are enemies with the entire Tang Dynasty." Xu Chuo said, "This is what I try my best to avoid, and in this case... the resistance is Li Du."

The woman looked at him with a smile: "Look, we are in the same dilemma. The Prime Minister of the Tang Dynasty is standing in front of you. You want to kill the person under this title, and I want to implement my new policy... but this name is blocking me."

Pei Ye looked at her in a daze. It was not his turn to find a solution now.

But the woman actually asked: "Do you have any solution?"

Pei Ye shook his head.

Xu Chuo sighed softly: "Then we have no choice but to change the prime minister."

"..."

The woman stopped and looked across the street. Pei Ye also stopped beside her.

This is not the end of the long street, and there is nothing special on the opposite side, just a small garden.

There seemed to be some rockery and a small pond inside, but winter had already arrived and only cold stones and withered grass were left. Compared with the gardens Pei Ye had visited in the capital during the past few days, it was not only shabby but even a bit crude.

However, there were still a few children wearing tiger-head hats jumping and playing inside, running back and forth between the few stones, and having a particularly intense time.

There were also magicians and martial artists performing tricks and fighting in front of the garden. On one side were various fancy tricks and unique skills, and on the other side were a few people fighting with swords. The adults gathered around, chatting, laughing and cheering.

"I don't know why this place is so popular with them." Xu Chuo looked at it quietly for a while, and suddenly laughed, "For many years, there have always been people performing here."

Pei Ye didn't find it strange: "This is an open space with people around, so it must be a place for performing arts."

"……Yeah?"

"Hmm."

For the vast majority of low-level people, this is indeed the most common way to make a living. Anyone who gets a knight's certificate can have a place to eat, and those who have no experience or ambitions can earn money wherever they go. Any open space with people is a natural stage. The faces of the performers in the capital are often from all over the world, and it is difficult for them to be familiar with each other. This is also the reason.

Xu Chuo tilted his head, as if he understood, looked at him, and said with interest: "So you know all this, then let me ask you, how do they swallow those 'iron balls' that are so big and solid - I even weighed one in my hand -?"

"How could I swallow it?" Pei Ye laughed. He found the woman's ignorance on such matters inexplicably interesting. "Did you see it with your own eyes?"

"Of course, he opened his mouth wide for inspection." Xu Chuo looked at him, "Of course, I know you have a high level of cultivation, and there are countless ways to do it. But they don't seem to have much cultivation, and they really put it in their mouths."

"I did put it in, but I didn't swallow it." Pei Ye smiled and pointed at his throat. "There is a bend between the esophagus and the mouth. A skilled artist hides the iron ball here, as if it were swallowed and then spit out. It doesn't require any training. When practicing, you should first train your throat by swallowing and spitting out other objects. This skill requires relaxation and overcoming the instinct to swallow. If you make a mistake in the former, you will fail, and if you make a mistake in the latter, you will die."

"Well……"

"Those with advanced kung fu skills can even swallow a second or even a third ball. When he jumps, you can hear the iron balls colliding inside, right?"

Xu Chuo clapped his hands and said, "That's right!"

Pei Ye smiled: "In fact, the general magic tricks are nothing more than 'sword, pill, bean, ring'. The sword is to swallow the sword, the pill is to swallow the iron ball, the bean is to pick beans by the immortal, and the ring is to set a chain of rings. All of them can be performed without any cultivation."

Xu Chuo opened her eyes wide and nodded slowly. At this moment, she was pretending to be a handsome young man, and with this expression, she looked like someone who had never seen the world and was pampered.

Then she looked at him with a smile: "I thought you only knew how to use a sword - now it's good, if we fail, you can have your martial arts skills crippled or something, and you still have these means to make a living."

Then she sighed: "I don't know anything anymore."

"How could that be?" Pei Ye said, "You...are good at writing, so you can make a living by copying books and writing."

"...That's right." Xu Chuo nodded and said slowly, "Besides, I'm pretty, so I should get a good price if I sell myself."

"...Where are we going?" Pei Ye quickly changed the subject.

"Hmm? It's here." Xu Chuo raised his head and looked at the old plaque above. Pei Ye was stunned for a moment before turning back to look at the quiet house gate that he had always faced away from.

"In the residence of the former Prime Minister Xu Ji, there should be a letter of recommendation written to the Tianli Court more than ten years ago. Let's go in and look for it and give it to you."

(End of this chapter)