“There is a table of dishes today that I need you to cook. Let’s not have three dishes a month on the menu. How about I advance the recipes for the next six months to you?” Shopkeeper Feng said eagerly.
“That’s not impossible.”
When Shopkeeper Feng saw that she had agreed, he said to the other cooks: “You all will listen to Mrs. Mu today.”
Everyone knew the importance of distinguished guests in a restaurant, so no one objected.
Bei Yutang entered the kitchen and started cooking, while other chefs helped her. During this period, Bei Yutang was insinuating them, and the things she asked were very limited.
She was busy all day and didn’t stop until the lights came on.
Bei Yutang was not in a hurry to leave. Shopkeeper Feng finished his work and came over to thank her.
“Shopkeeper Feng, who is here?” Bei Yutang asked.
Looking at her fat body and pockmarked face, perhaps Bei Yutang’s face was too harmless and with her help today, Shopkeeper Feng quietly revealed some information, “It’s the Gu family of the Southern Tang Kingdom.”
“The Gu family? Are they famous? They are from the Southern Tang Kingdom. How come they can still stage such a big battle in our Great Zhou Dynasty?” Bei Yutang asked curiously.
Shopkeeper Feng was a little surprised when he saw that she didn’t even know about the Gu family, but after thinking about it, he thought that it was normal. After all, she was a peasant woman and lived in a remote place, so she didn’t know much about the Gu family.
He didn’t know it at first, but only after hearing his employer talk about it did he realize how powerful the Gu family was.
“You don’t know this. The current head of the Gu family is a good friend of the Eldest Prince of our Great Zhou Dynasty. The Gu family has many properties in our Great Zhou Dynasty. There are Gu family shops in all the counties and prefectures of the Great Zhou Dynasty.”
“Our Fengyang County is too small, so naturally, they don’t have one. It’s normal that you don’t know. Speaking of the Gu family, ten years ago they were still a little-known, down-and-out nobleman. However, a genius girl came out of the Gu family, who is now the head of the Gu family. Under her leadership, the Gu family’s business is booming. It is said that no one in the court or in the world dares to offend the Gu family.”
“This Miss Gu is a legendary figure. It is said that she has a close friendship with our Eldest Prince. There are even rumors that the future Eldest Prince’s wife must be Gu Pianran. However, I heard that King Jin of the Southern Tang Kingdom also fell in love with Miss Gu.”
Bei Yutang poured wine for Shopkeeper Feng. After he drank one glass after another, he started talking more.
Listening to the familiar names from his mouth, her heart throbbed. She wanted to crush those people to ashes, but now she was still too weak and could only endure it.
“Is this Miss Gu engaged to someone now?” Bei Yutang asked.
She now wanted to know who Gu Pianran chose to be her husband among so many men.
Is it Gu Fanzhi, the Fourth Prince of the Southern Tang Kingdom, Xue Qian, the descendant of the Divine Doctor Valley, Qin Yuxuan, the Leader of the Martial Arts Alliance, You Ming, the Leader of the Cult, or An Ye, the number one killer in the world?
“She hasn’t gotten engaged yet.” Shopkeeper Feng’s mouth was a little knotted. “The Eldest Lady of the Gu family wants to marry Prince Jin. But because his princess has just left for a year, she is afraid of being criticized, so she has been delaying it.”
“What did you say?!” Bei Yutang stood up from her seat in shock, staring at Shopkeeper Feng with her eyes.
Shopkeeper Feng was a little confused after drinking. He frowned and asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
“How long did you just say that Princess Jin of the Southern Tang Kingdom was gone?” Bei Yutang’s hands were trembling.
She was afraid that she had misheard it, and she was even more afraid that he had remembered the wrong time.
Shopkeeper Feng stuck out his big tongue and said: “One, one year.”
*****
Translator’s Little Encyclopedia:
Chinese Era Name (Part 1)
Chinese era names were titles adopted for the purpose of identifying and numbering years in Imperial China. Era names originated as mottos or slogans chosen by the reigning monarch and usually reflected the political, economic, and/or social landscapes at the time.
The process of declaring an era name was referred to in traditional Chinese historical texts as jiànyuán (建元). Proclaiming a new era name to replace an existing era name was known as gǎiyuán (改元; lit. “change the origin”). Instituting a new era name would reset the numbering of the year back to year one, known as yuán nián (元年; lit. “year of origin”). On the first day of the Chinese calendar, the numbering of the year would increase by one. To name a year using an era name only requires counting years from the first year of the era.
For example, 609 CE was the fifth year of Daye (大業; lit. “great endeavor”), as the era began in 605 CE; traditional Chinese sources would therefore refer to 609 CE as Dàyè wǔ nián (大業五年, the fifth year of Daye).
The numbering of the year would still increase on the first day of the Chinese calendar each year, regardless of the month in which the era name was adopted. For example, as the Emperor Daizong of Tang replaced the era name Yongtai (永泰; lit. “perpetual peace”) with Dali (大曆; lit. “great era”) in the eleventh month of the Chinese calendar in 766 CE, the first year of Dali thus only consisted of the last two months of that particular year; the second year of Dali began on the first day of the Chinese calendar the following year, just two months after its initiation.
(To be continued…)
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Meow meow On TPH Chapter 26.1