Synopsis
Banished to the Cold Palace, I opened a little eatery to keep myself alive. My first dish was guo bao rou—crispy sweet-and-sour pork. It had barely left the wok when the noble consort burst in, crying. She pointed at my wok, tears streaming down her face. “I’ll pay ten times your price. Please, just let me have a bite.” My second dish was red-braised chicken. Its aroma drifted all the way to the Imperial Guards’ barracks. The men who should have been out on patrol crowded my gate instead. Their captain flung down his cap in fury. “Do you call yourselves Imperial Guards?” The guards looked at him with reddened eyes. “Captain, just smell it. That aroma… We’ll take whatever punishment you give us.” Early on the third morning, before I could open for business, I heard someone tapping a bowl outside. I opened the gate. There stood the emperor, his dragon robes all rumpled. Holding up an empty bowl, he said in a low voice, “I hear…”