After the White Dew, the weather suddenly turned cold. In the early mornings, dewdrops could already be seen condensing on the leaves.
With the resolution of the high-profile case, the Kaifeng Prefecture collectively felt a great burden lifted. In the ensuing leisure time, there was a strange sense of emptiness and detachment, as if after a long period of intense activity.
Tu Yao personally funded the purchase of two fat sheep, specifically to reward the officials and staff involved in solving the case.
Prime fat lamb was expensive and difficult to obtain, normally costing much more than beef, around sixty coins per jin. With the weather getting colder, prices had continued to rise, now reaching seventy-five coins per jin in the market.
By the end of the year, prices over a hundred coins per jin would not be unusual.
Since this was a special reward for a select group, it would be inconvenient to involve the main kitchen. Yuan Pei and Huo Ping, volunteering to fetch the sheep, came running to the herb garden with big grins on their faces, followed by two lively rams.
“Er Liang, show us your skills!”
Ma Bing: “…”
Looking at the large horns poking at the two men from behind, she couldn’t quite tell whether they were here to herd or to slaughter the sheep.
Perhaps Yuan Pei and Huo Ping themselves felt a bit awkward, as they tried to explain, their voices overlapping in a cacophony of excuses.
The restaurant selling sheep was very busy. The butcher said that at other times, he could prioritize the officials from the Kaifeng Prefecture, but during this season, many of the buyers had connections and backgrounds, making it difficult to offend anyone, so he had to serve them in order.
The two men asked and learned that there were still many ahead of them. If they waited their turn, they wouldn’t make it back in time for lunch, so they decided to bring the live sheep back themselves.
The wind was strong outside the pass, and the people were wild. Even the sheep raised there were not as docile as those inside the pass; they were very aggressive and had bitten at Yuan Pei and Huo Ping’s trousers several times on the way.
Ma Bing looked at the two men and the rams behind them with a pitying gaze and readily agreed.
She immediately changed clothes, rolled up her sleeves, and put on an oilcloth apron. She sharpened her boning knife on a stone, the sound ringing out clearly.
The killing aura emerged.
The two sheep were bound and pressed onto large tables, their necks placed over buckets, unaware that death was approaching.
Ma Bing’s footsteps were as light as a ghost’s. Before the fat sheep could react, they heard the sound of the wind:
It was the sound of their throats being cut.
If the blade was sharp enough, the sheep wouldn’t even feel pain as they bled to death.
As the blood was nearly drained, one of the sheep seemed to finally realize what was happening and began to bleat loudly, struggling desperately.
Sheep loved to follow the herd. Once one started bleating, the other joined in, causing the legs of the two large tables to shake violently.
Seeing the situation getting out of hand, Ma Bing swiftly grabbed the two buckets of sheep’s blood and shouted, “Hold them down!”
Yuan Pei and Huo Ping had never personally participated in slaughtering sheep before; they had only watched others do it from a distance, making it seem easy. Now, when it was their turn, they found the sheep’s strength surprisingly formidable.
An adult ram weighed about two hundred jin. The force of its desperate struggle was beyond imagination. One hundred jin versus two hundred jin, one fighting for survival and the other for a meal—the outcome was clear.
Huo Ping, caught off guard, was kicked in the chest by the bound hooves of the two sheep, causing a surge of blood and energy in his chest, nearly resulting in his death before he could even kill the sheep.
As Yuan Pei was about to laugh, he was startled to find his body suddenly lightened. The other ram had managed to break free from its ropes and, flinging blood droplets, threw him to the ground.
“Ba~ Ba~”
Cute was only the lamb; only those who had faced adult rams could truly understand their terror.
Not to mention their incredible impact, the sharp, intimidating horns and hard hooves alone were enough to be horrifying.
Moreover, sheep could really bite people.
But… could the meat escape once it was already in the mouth?!
Seeing the ram desperately running toward the courtyard gate, Yuan Pei immediately roared and threw himself forward, grabbing the ram’s horns and riding on its back.
“I got it aaaaahhh!”
Wang Heng: “…”
Ma Bing: “…”
Along with the two apprentices, their gazes toward the two men and the sheep in the courtyard carried a sense of sympathy.
They pitied both the seemingly brainless colleagues and the two sheep that had to endure great suffering before death.
A sheep’s death is nothing more than a nod to the ground; why must it suffer so?
How unfair is the way of heaven!
Xie Yu, having finished his official duties, hurried to the herb garden. Before he even entered the gate, he heard Yuan Pei’s ear-splitting scream.
Turning a corner, he saw his trusted subordinate riding a ram, running wildly around the courtyard, while the other was on all fours, eyes closed, using a grappling technique to wrestle with another sheep on the table.
Wang Heng and the two apprentices had long been scared into the house by the frenzied sheep and the seemingly abnormal people, peeking through the window cracks with only three heads visible.
They occasionally shouted, “What if we use some sedatives?”
Killing sheep shouldn’t look like a crime scene; it was unnecessary, really unnecessary.
Ma Bing somehow got a handful of pumpkin seeds, climbed up a tree in no time, sat on a branch swinging her legs, and began cracking seeds while sneering, “Those who know it understand it’s humans eating sheep, but those who don’t might think the sheep are eating humans!”
These two were also well-known figures in Kaifeng; if this got out, it would be a laughingstock!
Xie Yu: “…”
He stood silently for a moment, then took a step back, slowly blinking his eyes, which were sore from long hours of handling documents, and re-entered the herb garden.
“Big ah ah ah man hmm hmm…”
Yuan Pei on the ram even managed to greet him.
Xie Yu: “…”
It was a clear autumn day, and a living person was riding a sheep.
He looked at the sheep’s blood on the ground and felt a sense of concern:
With officials like this, could the Kaifeng Prefecture really be okay?
After a long period of chaos, the sheep finally died.
As for Yuan Pei and Huo Ping, they looked as if they had also died.
The two lay on the ground panting for half a day, like their bodies had been hollowed out, and were reluctantly sent to fetch water buckets to clean the ground.
Ma Bing then jumped down from the tree and quickly skinned and washed the two sheep that had been completely bled out.
“Sheep from outside the pass have thick fur,” she praised, “the hides from these two can be tanned into coats.”
Beyond the frontier, animal brains were the finest tanning agents. When evenly applied to the hides, they would quickly soften them.
But sheep brains were also a rare delicacy. In Kaifeng, everything was available, and there were all kinds of materials for tanning hides, so there was no need to waste sheep brains unnecessarily.
The look in Xie Yu’s eyes toward her was filled with softness and amazement.
How much had this girl experienced to develop such seemingly omnipotent skills?
Ma Bing sent Song Tui Guan, Zhuang Peng, A De, and others who arrived later to start a fire, set up racks, wash chili peppers, and cut radishes. Her every move exuded the aura of a great general commanding the battlefield.
Except for peeling garlic, which was exclusively claimed by Xie Yu.
Anyone who tried to help would inevitably receive a sharp glare.
“Eating roasted lamb is more exciting. Look at this fat!” Ma Bing patted the prepared lamb meat with satisfaction, indeed thick with fat.
Sheep of this quality could not be raised in the plains.
Before long, this fat would melt into glistening oil flowers, making the whole lamb shine.
“As for the other sheep,” Ma Bing said decisively, “half will be stewed with radish, which is nourishing and good for the qi. The other half will be braised, with thick sauce, poured over rice, how fragrant that will be!”
Lamb is warming in nature and particularly prone to causing internal heat at the beginning of autumn. Roasting it is like adding fuel to the fire, but… it’s fragrant!
It was inevitable that they would ask Wang Heng and others to prepare some heat-clearing teas, such as dandelion, honeysuckle, chrysanthemum, etc., brewing several pots of concentrated tea.
Everyone followed her suggestions, imagining the delicious meal, then swallowed their saliva in unison, and their hands moved faster.
Eating lamb without garlic is like losing half the flavor, which is definitely a consensus among most northerners.
Two whole sheep required a large amount of garlic.
Unfortunately, Xie Yu seemed accustomed to delicate work, peeling garlic like embroidery. Ma Bing crossed her arms and watched for a while before finally joining in.
The two squatted in a corner peeling garlic.
Xie Yu stole a few glances at her with the corner of his eye and felt quite satisfied.
Ma Bing also glanced at him a few times, once again thinking that if this person ended up working in the back kitchen of a restaurant, he might starve…
Well, at least he had that face; standing at the door to attract customers would be good.
“You’ve been busy these days,” Ma Bing said casually, throwing the peeled garlic cloves into a small basket in front of her.
For several days in a row, there was no sign of Xie Yu in the Kaifeng Prefecture. Either he was patrolling the streets or meeting someone after patrolling, leaving early and returning late.
Xie Yu looked at the garlic cloves she had peeled, white and plump, already piling up into a small mountain.
Then he looked at his own… well, no need to look anymore.
Xie Yu pursed his lips slightly, “The Tian family matter is almost settled.”
Ma Bing was momentarily stunned before she came to her senses.
A month had passed, and she had almost forgotten his promise.
Xie Yu looked at her eyes, a bit annoyed, yet somewhat amused, his whole face saying: You actually don’t believe me?
What a heartless girl!
Ma Bing awkwardly touched her nose, not knowing what to say.
Believe?
Well, a little, otherwise she wouldn’t have been inactive for so long.
But if it was complete trust, not quite.
She couldn’t and dared not place all her hopes on someone else. Perhaps she just wanted to give herself and the other person a chance, taking the rare opportunity to enjoy a normal life.
And in fact, for the past month, she hadn’t been haunted by hatred day and night like before, feeling as light as a dream.
Without turning her head, Ma Bing could feel the wounded look in the young marquis’s eyes.
She uncomfortably cleared her throat, hesitated for a moment, and then poured all the garlic she had peeled into his basket:
It’s all counted as your peeling!
Xie Yu: “…”
That’s it?!
Ma Bing glared: What else do you want!
“Hey, everyone is busy now?”
As he spoke, Tu Yao brought Madam Zhao with him. The former was holding a large bamboo basket, while the latter carried a small basket, a faint fishy smell drifting with the wind.
“Crabs?!”
At Ma Bing’s exclamation, several people suddenly turned their heads, the movement startlingly large.
Tu Yao and his wife were startled, feeling as if they had walked into a den of thieves.
The two put down the baskets, “Yes, some students gave them to us. Half male and half female. The males have full, fatty shells, and the females are filled with roe. They are heavy, each weighing about six or seven taels.”
With the Mid-Autumn Festival approaching, the crabs were indeed getting fat.
These should be the first batch of the fattest ones.
The small basket carried by Madam Zhao was full of clusters of purple and green grapes, also given as gifts.
“Crabs and grapes are both cooling foods. Just the two of us wouldn’t be able to eat so much,” Madam Zhao smiled. “We thought you were having lamb here, so we brought them over to contribute to the feast.”
Ma Bing smiled, “That’s perfect. I was just worried everyone would get heaty from eating lamb.”
Lamb is warming in nature, while crabs are cooling, balancing each other out.
As for grapes, although they are not suitable to eat with crabs, there was only a small basket, so each person would get only a little, which was not a problem.
Tu Yao and Madam Zhao didn’t do any work, mainly because they had lived a life of ease for many years and were quite useless in daily chores, so everyone was too lazy to bother with them.
When Tu Yao and Madam Zhao sat down with Wang Heng to discuss health matters, Ma Bing had already directed Huo Ping and others to start roasting the marinated whole lamb and cooking the large pieces of lamb in two pots.
The white radishes were cut into chunks and would be added when the lamb was half-cooked.
The radishes didn’t need to be cut too small. Simmered slowly with the meat, when the edges melted and the inside became soft, one bite would reveal how the radish’s mildness balanced the greasiness of the meat, and the richness of the meat enhanced the radish’s fragrance. They complemented each other, both melting in the mouth, truly wonderful.
The lamb stewed with radish could have more broth. Even if one had a poor appetite, a bowl of hot soup would be very nourishing.
But braised lamb was different; it needed to be a bit drier, emphasizing tender meat and rich sauce. It was fragrant and sweet to eat plain and perfect for mixing with rice.
The crabs were kept in the water tank and would be steamed with ginger slices when the meat dishes were almost ready.
About two hours later, the food was ready.
Stewing and roasting the meat took time. Xie Yu seemed addicted to peeling garlic, still squatting there peeling it.
Ma Bing watched for a while, then sighed and went back, squatting next to him and asking seriously, “Minister Xie, are you planning to pack this garlic to take home for your parents for the Mid-Autumn Festival?”
He had already peeled almost a basketful; even with more people, they couldn’t eat it all!
Xie Yu: “…”
The young marquis was always quite concerned about saving face.
He stood up casually, took out a handkerchief to wipe his hands, and said solemnly, “Garlic warms the middle and disperses stagnation, regulating the spleen and stomach.”
Ma Bing raised her eyebrows in surprise.
Has he been studying medicine?
The young marquis felt a bit proud, his eyes sparkling and his mouth curving upward uncontrollably.
Ma Bing thought his little expression was really endearing and didn’t have the heart to mention the heartburn from eating too much garlic. She immediately changed the subject, “You said the matter with the Tian family, can it really be resolved?”
Xie Yu finally shifted his focus from the garlic and nodded.
“Tian Song obviously had many fields and properties of unclear origin, mainly under the names of his confidants, and also under the names of his eldest son and wife. Tian Song came from a humble background, and his wife’s dowry was limited. Relying solely on his salary over the years, there was no way he could have acquired them…”
In fact, if thoroughly investigated, perhaps eight out of ten officials in the court would be implicated.
Such matters, as long as they did not violate the law or cross the bottom line of the court, were generally not investigated.
But once someone did investigate, they would find evidence without fail!
“When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter. As long as the Tian family’s big tree can be uprooted, the related monkeys will naturally be unable to escape.”
Where did the property come from?
And where did the proceeds from all these years go? Into whose pockets?
What did they do with all that illicit silver?
Once the court decided to take serious action, no one could escape.
During these days, Gao Lao Liu had continuously sent messages, most of which were useful, but some were not. The most problematic were the ones that mixed important and trivial matters, creating chaos.
He had spent a lot of effort organizing them properly, submitting them to the palace late last night and coming out early this morning.
The orange-red flames of the bonfire rose, licking the whole lamb hanging above, making it glisten.
The thick fat melted, turning into transparent “drops,” slowly sliding down the fibers, finally dangling on the hanging lamb spine, reflecting the inverted flames for a moment before reluctantly falling down.
“Pop~”
The flames, aided by the fat, instantly shot up high, the subtle crackling of the firewood stirring the bonfire, and the faint smoke mixed with fragrance spreading far away, staining everyone’s hair and clothes.
The flames cast half of Ma Bing’s face in alternating light and shadow.
After a long time, she slowly exhaled, “Thank you.”
She had never imagined that one day someone would actually help her.
The feeling of having someone fight alongside her was unfamiliar and strange, so beautiful it was hard to believe.
Before, she fought alone, each time trying to take down someone required exhausting her wits. Although she eventually succeeded, it was always too passive.
Because she only took down isolated individuals. What would they reveal, how much, and whether it could involve the old events of the past, all depended on the court’s will.
Too passive.
But she had no choice.
But now, it seemed everything had changed…
“Er Liang!” Yuan Pei shouted from the side, “Are the crabs done yet? I can already smell the aroma!”
Seeing Ma Bing lost in thought, Xie Yu stood up voluntarily and extended his hand to her, “Come on.”
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