Border Cook

"Besides, even if An Yunji has outstanding military achievements, how to reward him and whether to give him real power is a matter of the commander's words. There is absolutely no reason to favor the adopted son and suppress the biological son."

"And I have seen clearly that the commander-in-chief now lets An Yunji charge into battle. Firstly, he wants to protect the commander-in-chief, and secondly, he is just making the best use of his resources. The emphasis on him at the celebration banquet is just to tell everyone that the commander-in-chief does not care about relatives, but only about merit."

"And the more the commander of the wing pays attention to him now, the more likely An Yunji will be despised and rejected by everyone if he makes even the slightest mistake in the future."

"After all, the commander is paving the way for you, the commander."

Train good generals to become his right-hand men, and use their loyalty to consolidate the An family's position in the court.

As for what happens next...

An Jingzhong narrowed his eyes. "Adopted son, chess piece, abandoned piece, the difference is just one word. It all depends on your mood."

"The commander is wise." Zhang Mingxin smiled even more servilely.

The two of them spoke in low voices, and as it was very noisy around them, they were not worried that others might hear them.

But at this time, the breeze was blowing gently, and Lu Qiyan's hearing was very strong, so he roughly heard the conversation between the two.

Adopted son, chess piece, abandoned piece...

These six words seem to simply describe a person's life.

Lu Qiyan pursed his lips and his eyes darkened.

After a moment, his eyebrows raised and his eyes were as sharp as torches.

In that case, he might as well tear up the principles and rules of this world and start over!
-
Dexin Garden was brightly lit and servants were busy working.

The dinner on Mid-Autumn Festival night should not have been so late, but because the old woman had insomnia last night, she went to bed late. However, she still opened her eyes on time when she woke up in the morning. By the afternoon, she was so sleepy that she slept until dark.

After waking up, I felt groggy and lacked energy. I walked around the garden for a long time before arranging for someone to set the table.

All the food was served on the table one by one.

Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival. Even though the old lady was the only one having dinner, she still served four meat dishes and four vegetable dishes, four hot dishes and four cold dishes, two soups, and two desserts.

The table was filled to the brim with a dazzling array of delicacies, all of which were delicious and mouth-watering.

Placed in the center is the protagonist of today - moon cake.

Just as Luo and Wang had planned, the mung bean and red bean paste mooncakes were cut into small pieces and decorated with preserved fruits, osmanthus and fresh fruits, which made them look very delicate and beautiful.

Even the old lady with a poor appetite became excited when she saw the snow skin mooncakes. Without waiting for the maid to serve the food, she picked up a piece with chopsticks and put it in the bowl in front of her.

Soft, sweet, fragrant and delicious...

"It tastes good." The old lady nodded. "It looks quite rare, too. Where did you buy it from?"

"Madam," the maid Biyun said, "When we were setting the table just now, I was curious and asked the kitchen. They said that these snowy mooncakes were not bought from outside, but were made by Madam Luo and Madam Wang in the kitchen themselves."

"Did you do it yourself?" The old lady raised her eyebrows. "In that case, then call two people over so that I can reward them." "Yes." Biyun agreed and told the maid at the door to pass on the message.

A moment later, Mrs. Luo and Mrs. Wang came quickly, their faces filled with joy, and they knelt down to greet the old lady, "May the old lady be well."

"Get up." The old lady raised her hand. "I heard from the servants that these mooncakes were made by you two?"

"That's right." The two of them responded quickly.

"It tastes good, but it contains a little too much tapioca starch," said the old lady.

Tapioca flour?
Luo and Wang secretly glanced at each other and exchanged glances.

"We did add some cassava flour. If the old lady doesn't like it, we will put less in later." Mrs. Luo replied hurriedly.

He was even thinking about reporting this matter to He Shunzi.

"Hmm." The old lady put down the chopsticks in her hand, her face unhappy, "When you come to me, you still lie one after another. I really don't know where you get the nerve to do it."

"Go call the steward over and chase these two women who are full of ulterior motives out. Never use them again!"

Seeing that the old lady was angry, Biyun did not dare to delay for a moment and hurried to call Steward Fu.

At this time, Mrs. Luo and Mrs. Wang were so frightened that their faces turned pale. They didn't know what had gone wrong and could not stop kowtowing to the old lady and begging for mercy.

A moment later, Manager Fu came in hurriedly and ordered people to take out Mrs. Luo and Mrs. Wang, who were crying bitterly, and then he apologized to the old lady.

"Please calm down, old lady. It is because I failed to discipline my children properly that I allowed these two to buy food from outside to fool you, old lady."

Steward Fu said with a guilty look on his face, "Please rest assured, old lady. I will send them away right away and hire a capable cook to do the job."

"It doesn't matter whether the food is bought from outside." The old lady raised her hand and looked at Manager Fu, "No matter what kind of food it is, it is made by people. The food bought from outside is also eaten by people outside. If they can eat it, then I, an old woman, can eat it too."

"It's just food bought from outside, pretending to be his own, and claiming credit in front of me, an old woman. It's really abominable. Now think about it, these two cooks are from Jinqiu County, and the food they usually make is local flavor. How can they make any special food? I think the ice jelly last time was also obtained from outside."

Manager Fu's face was filled with more and more shame. "I have inquired carefully just now, and it is indeed obtained from outside. I have eaten some before, but I did not ask more. It is my fault. Please punish me, Madam."

"There's no need to punish her. She just needs to do her job well in the future." The old lady said, "If you're looking for another cook, just look for one who's honest and diligent. The world is in such a mess nowadays, it's probably not easy to find a good cook. Just take your time to find one."

"Yes, thank you, old lady." Steward Fu smiled apologetically, "Then I will not disturb you from having dinner."

"Ah."

After Steward Fu left and the room became quiet again, the old lady picked up her chopsticks again.

Biyun was setting the dishes aside and said, "The old lady asked Manager Fu to find a new cook, but Jinqiu County is a remote and poor place after all, and I'm afraid it won't be possible to find a good one. Why don't I ask someone to call two people from home to serve the old lady, and they will probably be able to make the food more exquisite."

"Since I have come here to find some peace and quiet, if I call people from home over, won't those annoying people come here to bother me again?"

The old lady disagreed immediately, "Besides, people are shaped by the land and water they live in. Since we are going to live here for a long time, we might as well just try the local flavors." (End of this chapter)