Housekeeper of the Hundred Blossom Palace

Chapter 111 Meeting the Bear

Nevertheless, that bear man must be his superior, based on Li Yong’s attitude. 

Yui Mei wondered who had the higher position between him and Ming, whom they met just earlier.

She was curious about it, being the Chinese drama fanatic that she was, but right now, satisfying her hungry stomach took precedence.

The way they used the cafeteria was the same as the court ladies.

Yui Mei thought she might as well taste their specialty dish since she was already here. She went to the chef in the kitchen to inquire about it.

“I recommend the meatball soup for today.”

A young guy who was not much older than Yui Mei answered. He was probably the same age as her and had just come of age.

Yui Mei wanted to compare the seasoning of the soup with the ones served to the court ladies, so she could tell Mei Na all about it.

“Today’s a “hit”, it seems. I can smell something delicious.”

Li Yong’s words bothered Yui Mei a bit.

Was there such a thing as hit or miss in a ‘cafeteria’?

“What kind of cook do you have here?”

The gathered court ladies were divided and assigned to their jobs. How about here? What kind of talents gathered in this place?

The cook was apparently a novice, low-ranking soldier.

The head chef was a great veteran, but the people under him frequently changed.

“The taste changes depending on the skills of the newcomer. The veteran watches over him, so it won’t taste bad, but it won’t be delicious, either. But it seems we’re in luck today.”

It made sense. Yui Mei thought about the chefs in charge of preparing the sumo wrestler’s meals. She heard that the taste of the dishes was also influenced by the skill of the person preparing them.

“But why do they have to do it that way?”

“It’s part of the camping plan. If we don’t train the soldiers to cook, then we won’t have a choice but to gnaw on jerky and dried sweet potato during expeditions.”

“I get it now, so it’s important training, too.”

All the same, they wouldn’t be able to let all the novices experience this, but they could give precedence to those who seemed to have the potential.

They got their meals while talking, then they went to a table and sat down.

The baozi was filled with sweet yet spicy meat. She would probably be full just by dipping it into the soup and eating it. 

Li Yong also ordered stir fried meat in addition to this.

As expected of an all male household, all the recommendations were about meat.

“Yeah, it really varies depending on the cafeteria, I guess.”

“Well, the difference between the court ladies’ dining hall must be pretty huge compared to here.”

Li Yong agreed with Yui Mei, whose eyes were twinkling as she passionately stared at the dish before them.

The first difference was the size. The meatballs in the soup were huge compared to theirs.

Perhaps it was because of the difference in palm size, but it was so big that her mouth would be full to bursting if she were to eat it whole.

Yui Mei watched Li Yong stuff his mouth with a whole piece while she split hers in half.

She thought the dishes would be hearty because it was a dish geared towards men. Much to her surprise, the meatballs had a soft mouthfeel, and she unwittingly broke into a huge grin.

The nights were cold ever since the autumn season started, so the warmth of the soup soothed her body.

“So memifious.”

“Swallow first before you speak, you might choke on that.”

Yui Mei had wanted to express her impression immediately, but she got a lesson from Li Yong instead.

He supposedly stuffed a lot more food in his mouth, but it seemed that he already swallowed them all — did he even chew them properly?

But then, he must be as hungry as Yui Mei.

Both of them were starved, so they shouldn’t be nagging each other about such things.

Yui Mei ate the baozi next, and was immediately immersed in pure bliss.

“Wow, you’re a girl who eats with such relish, huh.”

The bearman from earlier said this as he sat down at the table next to Yui Mei’s.

“The Crown Prince’s attendant and a low-ranking court lady, huh. What a strange combo. How did you end up together?”

The bear man poured himself some booze into the cup he was holding and gulped it down.

“Madam Yang asked me to take this girl to Lord Ming. She wanted her to meet him.”

“Oh? So you went to Ming’s?”

He casually said Ming’s name, so he was probably somebody with a higher status than him; nevertheless, Yui Mei didn’t stop eating her soup.

Eating warm food while it was still warm — that was the proper etiquette, after all.

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T/N: Sorry for the super late post, I was a bit exhausted from work so I took a nap — didn’t think it would turn into a deep sleep of several hours. (O.O) Wondering how I would be able to sleep again now T.T

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