Chapter 81: The Head Cook
Phoenix Ripple Courtyard lost several people in a single day.
Xiang Hui followed Shen Si Jier back to the Shen family, while Xiafu was caught stealing and driven off to the estate’s farmlands with her brother and sister-in-law.
The next day, when Shen Shi went to Brocade Prosperity Hall to pay her respects, Madam Ning naturally inquired about the matter.
As the esteemed wife of a duke, she couldn’t even manage her own dowry maids, allowing the courtyard to descend into chaos.
Madam Ning was deeply disappointed in Shen Shi. After offering a few tactful reprimands, she sighed inwardly at the decline of household management.
Shen Shi returned to her courtyard with a heavy heart and complained that Granny Zhao wasn’t doing her job.
“Among all the courtyards in this mansion, why is it only our Phoenix Ripple Courtyard that’s constantly plagued with trouble? The maids are all mischievous troublemakers, and the matrons’ assignments aren’t strict enough. How could such thieving riffraff even be allowed to serve in the courtyard?”
Both Xiafu and Xiang Hui had been promoted because Shen Shi favored them. Who would have thought they’d turn out to be so brazen?
Granny Zhao was filled with grievances but could only furrow her brow and ponder a solution.
Unlike Shen Shi, she had never liked clever, sharp-witted girls and decided to assign tasks according to her own preferences.
“This old servant was indeed negligent. Clever, standout maids tend to have unstable temperaments. They don’t last long serving in the courtyard and are bound to cause trouble sooner or later. This old servant thinks that from now on, Zhi Qing should serve in the rooms, while only steady, reliable ones should remain in the courtyard. As for those pretty, eye-catching girls, just send them all to the kitchen courtyard.”
Shen Shi thought this made sense and nodded in agreement.
The maids in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard, having enjoyed only a few days of peace, were reassigned once again.
Xiangyun, a third-rank maid, was assigned to manage the tea room.
Originally a floor sweeper in the courtyard, she didn’t know how to tend the fire or brew tea, so Huan Huan was left to assist her.
Pear Moon and Autumn Abundance were sent back to the kitchen courtyard to serve under Granny Fan as before.
After Granny Zhao announced the assignments, no one was happy. Some simply slacked off, while others found ways to idle away their time.
Pear Moon, however, didn’t mind much and stayed by the cutting board, slicing tofu into fine shreds.
Early this morning, Steward Sun Cai’s wife had come to deliver a message, informing all courtyards about the Main Kitchen’s recruitment of apprentices.
To Pear Moon’s surprise, several people from Phoenix Ripple Courtyard wanted to go.
With so much happening in the courtyard lately, many had begun thinking of leaving.
But upon hearing that only four would be selected and that there would be a public competition, they all hung their heads in shame and gave up.
“This time, the Main Kitchen isn’t recruiting as before—not for menial tasks like washing vegetables, but to select apprentices for the cooks. They need to know how to make cold dishes, drinks, pastries, and soups, and must showcase their skills publicly. Only if a cook takes a liking to them will they be selected.”
With these two sentences, their enthusiasm waned, and only Pear Moon remained as a candidate.
Steward Sun Cai’s wife registered her name, and the competition was set for the fifteenth day of the sixth month.
“Good heavens! If they can do all that, they could already manage pastry-making and snacks. Why would they go to the Main Kitchen to be someone’s apprentice? Those cooks are just lazy, tricking clever girls into doing their work. My dear Xiao Yue, is there any dish, soup, or side you can’t make? What do you need to learn from them?”
Granny Fan looked disdainful; she really didn’t want Pear Moon to go.
After all, with Pear Moon tending the small stove, she could fill in gaps anytime, anywhere.
In her eyes, Pear Moon was capable of cooking and stewing soups—what need was there for a master?
“Granny Fan, that’s not quite right. What little I know really isn’t much. You haven’t seen the skills of Granny Qin, the head of the Main Kitchen. Back when the old duke was alive and the mansion welcomed the imperial carriage, Granny Qin took charge of the imperial banquet. Her Mandarin Duck Five Treasures Stew earned praise from the late emperor.”
Pear Moon hadn’t witnessed this glory herself but had heard it from the old matrons in the mansion.
That was when Ningguo Mansion was at its peak, a time Old Madam Ning and Madam Ning often mentioned with a sigh.
Only by entering the mansion’s Main Kitchen and learning from a master like Granny Qin could one truly become a cook.
Granny Fan squinted, her face full of confusion.
“Mandarin Duck Five Treasures Stew—I’ve never even heard the name. When Aunt Cao was here, she never mentioned it either.”
A cook like Aunt Cao was considered top-tier in the capital.
The grand dishes she prepared mainly featured lamb, goose, pork, duck, chicken, and fish.
The Cao family, for generations, had been renowned for their official mansion cuisine, far surpassing the chefs of even the finest restaurants.
Among the capital’s wealthy and official households, having a cook like Aunt Cao was considered the height of refinement.
Apart from Phoenix Ripple Courtyard, both Brocade Prosperity Hall and Crane Longevity Hall had their own small kitchens.
The skills of the cooks in these small kitchens were mostly on par with Aunt Cao’s.
Granny Qin, the head chef of the Main Kitchen, followed a different culinary path, adhering to the standards of the imperial palace chefs.
Her meat dishes primarily featured lamb, rarely using pork. Beyond chicken, duck, and goose, she used quail, turtledove, rabbit, and venison.
Her greatest expertise lay in preparing fresh fish, crab, shrimp, and other seafood delicacies.
Granny Qin oversaw the Main Kitchen with a complete set of rules for banquet preparation.
Display platters, fruits, appetizers, soups, pastries, and rice dishes—each had its own intricacies in pairing and presentation.
If one were to study it earnestly, it would take years just to get started.
How could it be as simple as just one Mandarin Duck Five Treasures Stew!
Pear Moon casually spoke a few words as she sliced tofu into fine shreds, leaving Granny Fan utterly stunned.
“Goodness! I only thought the mistress was hard to please, but I never knew dining had such intricacies! You little girl Xiao Yue, you’re so heartless. It’s fine if you climb the ladder yourself, but you’re leaving your Granny Fan behind. How am I supposed to deal with that picky mistress tomorrow? If she asks for Pearl Soup and Jade Rice, what am I supposed to serve her?”
As she spoke, Granny Fan’s eyes reddened, tears staining her apron, her distress palpable.
Pear Moon set down her knife, took Granny Fan by the hand, and sat her down by the stove, explaining the situation in detail.
“Granny Fan, in Phoenix Ripple Courtyard, regardless of skill, you’re the kindest person. You never scold or mistreat us, and you often provide extra food. If everyone got along peacefully, I’d want to stay in the small stove room and cook too. But I’m different from you, Granny Fan. I’m not part of Madam Shen’s dowry entourage. The mistress looks down on me, and the head steward, Granny Zhao, dislikes me too. I can’t stay in this courtyard for long—I have no choice but to leave.”
Pear Moon spoke the truth, her words sincere and heartfelt. Granny Fan listened, her heart aching, tears threatening to fall again.
“Xiao Yue, you’re clever and skilled. Though you’re young, your abilities far surpass mine—it shames this old woman. All these days in the kitchen, I’ve been the one called the cook, but which refined dish or soup haven’t you handled? For all my years, I’ve spent my life tending fires and chopping vegetables, yet I can’t even prepare a proper banquet. Xiao Yue, it’s not that Granny Fan doesn’t want you to advance. But if you’re chosen for the Main Kitchen and the mistress’s meals are delayed, what if Granny Zhao comes looking for trouble?”
This was indeed a concern, and Pear Moon felt some worry too.
If she were truly selected for the Main Kitchen, Phoenix Ripple Courtyard would still need to release her.
If they refused to let her go, the masters couldn’t exactly force the issue openly.
In Phoenix Ripple Courtyard, neither Madam Shen nor Granny Zhao cared about the fate of a lowly maid.
If they decided to cause trouble, she’d suffer more than she could bear.
Lately, Granny Fan’s cooking had improved, but she still couldn’t handle grand dishes, and there weren’t many people who could help her.
An idea struck Pear Moon. She returned to her room and fetched Aunt Cao’s recipe book.
“This was left by Aunt Cao. I’ve read it from cover to cover. You already know how to cook, Granny Fan. Learning from this won’t be hard. There are fifty or sixty dishes in here. If you master just half of them, what would you have to fear?”
Granny Fan had seen this thing before and hadn’t paid much attention at the time, nearly using it as kindling. She fretted, “I don’t know how to read, so even if I look at it, it’s useless!”
Pear Moon pouted with a reproachful expression and complained, “You keep saying you can’t read, but am I a scholar? Mom doesn’t know how to read either, but she can have the maids read it to her. This is your livelihood—how can you be too lazy to learn? If you had some decent skills, you could earn a good living in the marketplace!”
This was absolutely true. If one mastered these elaborate dishes, they could become a sought-after cook in the taverns and eateries of the city.
Granny Fan seemed half-convinced, squinting as she held up the booklet, deciding to give learning a try.
After persuading Granny Fan, Pear Moon took the southern tofu strips she had cut with a dipping sauce and stirred them into cold water to separate them.
Assorted Tofu Soup was a dish that tested one’s knife skills; without a steady hand, it wouldn’t turn out well.
Unfortunately, her cuts weren’t fine enough, lacking the ethereal, cloud-like appearance seen from a distance.
Pear Moon sighed, turned back to hang up the chicken broth, rolled up her sleeves, and went to cut the other half of the tofu.
There were still over ten days until the selection, and her knife skills still needed refinement.