Chapter 11: Delicious food and household chores

Yun Ye was greeted with the warmest welcome at the front door. The whole family was waiting at the door to welcome the head of the family back to the house. As soon as he dismounted, the little girls surrounded their brother and told him in a flurry that the bad guys who had bullied them in the past were now kneeling at the door begging for forgiveness.

Seeing this at the door, Yun Ye of course knew what was going on. The beating of He Erni and the spectacle of the court today had caused them great distress, worrying that the Yun family would open old accounts. There was nowhere to escape, nowhere to hide, and they could only come to the door to apologize and hope that they could appease the Yun family’s anger.

Standing high, the vision is different. In the past, the Yun family was just a wealthy family in Chang’an City, with several hundred acres of ancestral land and three or four shops. The few male members of the Yun family worked as minor officials in the government and could be described as uninvolved in worldly affairs. It was only because they were involved with the famous Yun Dingxing that they suffered such a disaster.

Who was Yun Dingxing? The father-in-law of Yang Yong, the crown prince of the Sui Dynasty, was a despicable man with a despicable character. He was known for his corruption and capriciousness in Chang’an, and even Emperor Li Er had worked under him when he was at the height of his power. When Yang Yong met with misfortune, he resolutely joined the ranks of Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty, and was even more zealous than Yang Guang in hunting down his son-in-law’s followers. He personally killed the two sons his daughter had given birth to for Yang Yong. He even killed his own nephew, a true act of bestiality.

Later, he was unlucky, and when he became a villain, he offended too many people, so no one came forward to speak up, and he escaped without a trace. He escaped, and the Yun family in Chang’an City suffered a great misfortune. Whether or not they were involved, as long as they had the surname Yun, they were in the ranks of the crackdown. In addition, Yang Xuangang rebelled, and Yun Dingxing was involved, which doomed the tragic fate of the Yun family. The male members were almost slaughtered, and the women’s property was looted by others, and their fate was miserable.

Yun Ye wanted to kill Yun Dingxing the most, the culprit. If you don’t have the wisdom to match your ambition, don’t play the role of an undercover agent, harming others and yourself. Half of the reason why he came to the Tang Dynasty for no reason may be that the heavens could not bear to see the Yun family’s tragedy and brought him back to save these women and children. Of course, the old lady’s prayers day and night also played a role in helping to fuel the flames.

If you eat my food, spit it out. If you take my things, give them back. If you bully me, you have to be prepared to be bullied in return. Kneeling at the door and hoping to be forgiven? That’s too childish.

Yun Ye did not say a word, picked up Xiao Bei, who was crying and crying outside, dried her tears, and said to the housekeeper, “Find out the details of the Yun family’s previous assets, calculate how much income they should have earned over the years, and double it to make them pay.” After that, he took a group of little girls back to the house. This trivial matter did not require the intervention of the Marquis, and a housekeeper was sufficient. Now, his top priority is to see how the fat pig is being prepared, the whole family is waiting to eat it.

The housekeeper aunt also felt that the noble lord was a bit embarrassed to handle such a matter, and hurriedly went to consult the old lady to see if there were any Yun family properties that had been forgotten. The servants closed the Yun family gate, and the merchants and petty officials outside the gate knelt even more respectfully. The Yun family head had returned…

A big fat pig was hanging on the rack outside the kitchen, cleaned up by the butcher. Yun Ye directed the butcher to disassemble the pork, leaving the ribs, tenderloin, and pork belly fat on purpose, and then finding the lean and fat hind leg meat and ordering it to be chopped into minced meat for later use. Four pig’s feet were obviously not enough, so Yun Ye had already bought a cart of pig’s feet in the West Market. If Old Cheng finds out that I didn’t send him any food, he’ll go crazy. It’s better to cook his share as well so that he won’t beat me up so much.

The cooking utensils made in the barracks had long been sent back. The dishes of the Tang Dynasty were either boiled or grilled. Either they were eaten raw or they were a kind of sashimi. They were not hygienic, and the parasites inside could not be killed, and people would get all kinds of strange diseases. Just thinking about the pork tapeworm running around in the stomach makes the hair stand on end. Later generations were not at ease with hygiene and quarantine, let alone now.

Fried dishes originated in the Song Dynasty, an era of great abundance and material wealth, a paradise for scholars. Since you are in the Tang Dynasty, you have to do everything yourself. If you don’t have a wok, make one. If you don’t have a spatula, make one. If you don’t have seasoning, find it yourself. If you don’t have MSG, you can’t make it now, so you have to make chicken soup. If you don’t have soy sauce, go back to Zhuangzi and make it. When I was a child in the countryside, I learned it early and it wasn’t difficult.

There was no green vegetables, which was a matter of life and death. The soup kitchen did have some, but it only served a limited number of royals, and even the crown prince had to go without sometimes. There was only radish, lotus root, and a plate of garlic sprouts contributed by Xiaoya, which was the little girl’s favorite. Since her brother didn’t eat, she generously contributed it. Then there was tofu and a dozen kinds of dried vegetables. Today’s main dishes were pork, fish, and mutton, so lamb was not needed.

Boil the pig’s feet in a casserole. Use ten casseroles, boil over high heat, drain the water, add fresh water, add ginger, green onion, and garlic, wrap the seasoning in gauze, and simmer over low heat. Auntie stood behind and watched carefully, and she also called Run Niang to record it. The old lady said that she couldn’t bear to see her grandson work hard in the kitchen, so she didn’t come. Yun Ye couldn’t understand why it was hard to make a few mouthfuls of food.

After two hours of hard work, it was almost time for dinner. Yun Ye put the finished pig’s trotters, lotus root braised pork, braised pork balls, sweet and sour pork ribs, fried dough twists, fried dough, and chicken nuggets into two sets, and told the housekeeper to send them to the Cheng and Niu families as a token of his appreciation.

The group of little girls behind him had been eating non-stop since Yun Ye started cooking. Auntie couldn’t stop them, saying that it was bad for a young lady to develop a bad habit of being greedy. Yun Ye didn’t care. When he was a child, he didn’t eat a lot when his mother was cooking. When he grew up, he didn’t do well either. Not to mention that the younger sisters had suffered hardships. When they were five or six years old, they had to serve the host family, and they were not well fed or warmly dressed for more than a year. They were in pain before they could even think about stealing food.

The blood sausage was stuffed, the five-spice sausage was stuffed, and the pig kidneys were stir-fried into kidney flowers. The two tables were full, and the old lady was dumbfounded.

The sound of people slurping their food could be heard in the dining room, and the sound of people fighting over food could be heard in the courtyard. Zhuang San’s loud voice was especially loud, and it seemed that the battle was fierce.

“Ye’er, do you and the master eat this kind of food every day?” The old lady thought it was incredible. The braised pork balls were the most appetizing, the sweet and sour pork was also sweet and sour, and the pig’s feet were soft and crispy, with a fragrant aroma that satisfied people from the bottom of their hearts.

“What is this? It’s just some simple home-cooked food. Wait until my grandson grows the few missing spices, then you can really taste it.” Yun Ye bragged.

The delicacy of the food in later generations can only be relived in dreams. I am only a half-hearted cook, so it is no problem to make a few home-cooked dishes, but it is a delusion to make a big dish from the north and south.

Yun Ye had already eaten his fill, and now he was serving the dishes to the old lady. The other elders were not left out either. The little girls each held a pig’s trotter in their mouths and were eating with their faces covered in grease. They were really afraid that they would get sick, so he ordered the servants to boil some hawthorn water and bring it back to them to help them digest.

The family was all smiles and satisfied.

Auntie covered her mouth and burped with embarrassment, then rubbed her chest a few times before saying, “No wonder Ye didn’t eat. After eating such a meal, other meals are really impossible to eat. Ye is enjoying the good life with the old immortal.”

“Haha, Auntie is right. It is indeed a bit unfair that while the Yun family is suffering, I, the youngest nephew, am enjoying the world with my master. But since I have returned, there is no reason for me to enjoy myself and you to suffer. The Yun family enemies kneeling outside the door, who has owed my family a life, who has owed my family money, we must count one by one, without mercy. Since Your Majesty has made such a big fuss about promoting me to the rank of Duke, he will not stop me from seeking revenge. You can decide what to do.”

“The elders and sisters who plan to return to their families told Grandma that I am not an unfeeling person. They drove my Yun family’s daughter out of the house without mercy back then, so they will be taken back with great prosperity. They will not dare to set foot in my Yun family’s home. If they are humiliated when they return to their families, I will make them face a dilemma between life and death!” Just now in the kitchen, my aunt said that several aunts and sisters with children at home wanted to go back because their husbands’ families came to pick them up. In the end, they couldn’t give up their family ties. The men apologized and gave in, forgetting all the suffering they had endured over the years.

“I’m not going back, brother, I’m not going back.” Xiaoxi cried and wailed in Yun Ye’s lap, and the second aunt looked at them with a difficult expression.

“Of course Xiaoxi won’t go back. She’ll live with her brother from now on. I’ll arrange her marriage for her. If they get tired of living here, they can come back to get her.” Yun Ye didn’t spare any feelings. After telling his second aunt, he said goodbye to the old lady and left the dining room with the eight children to go to the garden to digest their food.

“Second brother, what’s wrong with you? You’re not happy in the mansion, so you want to go back and suffer? Ye is a kind person, he likes Xiaoxi, and he is filial. In the past few days, he has really treated us as elders with respect. You’re doing this, aren’t you stabbing him in the heart?” Big Aunt was very angry.

The old lady stopped the eldest’s complaints: “You have to walk your own path. Only your feet know whether your shoes fit. Since you want to go back, go back. Your husband’s family has two more sons. It’s only natural to worry about Ye Ge’er. He’s young and and is a general, so he has a bad temper. Xiao Xi will arrange things very well for him. He will be much better off than staying with you in a small household. Your husband’s family is just looking to get on in the world and become rich again. With you there, Ye Ge’er will always give him some face. Take 300 strings of cash with you when you leave. This is your nephew’s private fund for you, in case of emergency.” After saying that, he got up from the table and left the garden with the help of the maid.