Echoes of My Heart Throughout the Court

Little Bai Ze’s eyes were filled with the image of the chef cooking shredded dried tofu.

This “shredded tofu,” you see, is made from tofu sheets cut into fine strips—it’s a specialty of Yangzhou cuisine.

The crown prince crouched beside him, enthusiastically explaining, “Let me tell you, good shredded tofu has to be made from Yangzhou’s dried tofu. It’s thin, resilient, and absorbs flavors exceptionally well. Tofu from other places just lacks the same depth. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to bring it here, so we have to settle for dried tofu from the capital, which is a real pity.”

“But I specially brought back the best chef in Yangzhou for this dish. He can slice a single piece of dried tofu into thirty-six strands, each as fine as a horsehair. Ordinary chefs can only manage sixteen, and the most skilled ones barely reach twenty.”

Xu Yanmiao watched the chef skillfully transform the tofu into delicate strands, soaking them twice to remove any beany odor. Then, the strands were tossed into a pot of rich, oil-skimmed broth. The tofu absorbed the essence of chicken soup before the chef added finely sliced ham, bamboo shoots, silverfish, wood ear mushrooms, button mushrooms, seaweed, egg crepe, and chicken strips. The dish was cooked and simmered repeatedly, allowing the eight flavors to seep into the tofu.

“I’m telling you,” the crown prince said, wiping the corner of his mouth, “this is the most common preparation. Since it’s your first time trying it, we went with this version. There are other variations like crispy fish in gravy, crispy fish with soy, crab roe, kidney flowers, and chicken skin—all excellent. My personal favorite is adding shrimp and scallops—one word: fresh!”

Xu Yanmiao could only nod along.

When the soft, flavorful shredded tofu dish was finally served, Xu Yanmiao devoured a full bowl in no time. Not satisfied, he even lifted the bowl to drink all the soup.

The crown prince, more restrained, poured himself a cup of strong tea. He alternated between sipping tea and eating tofu, his actions deliberate and refined.

The crown prince’s mouth quirked upward in a subtle smile.

[Huh? Why’s he smiling?]

The crown prince didn’t hide it; instead, his grin grew even more unabashed. A plausible explanation popped into his head as he began, “You…”

[He looks so cheerful—probably still unaware that his own younger sister has stabbed him in the back.]

[The imperial envoys spreading word of his achievements must be almost done with the northern regions by now.]

The crown prince’s smile froze.

His chopsticks trembled, dropping the silvery strands of fish onto the table, causing the soup to splash.

Noticing Xu Yanmiao’s peculiar expression, the crown prince gripped his chopsticks more firmly and shot him a sideways glance, as if the spilled soup had been an act of feigned anger. “Xu Yanmiao, why are you staring at me?”

[Huh? I only glanced a couple of times!]

“Slap!”

The crown prince clasped his hands together, trapping a mosquito mid-flight above the shredded tofu. Its crushed body lay bloodied in his palm. It seemed as though he’d been solely focused on killing the mosquito and not at all on Xu Yanmiao’s bewildered inner thoughts.

Of course, the crown prince knew Xu Yanmiao hadn’t been staring at him the whole time. He’d merely glanced out of curiosity when the prince drank his tea and again when his chopsticks splashed the soup. ṟÃ𐌽ɵᛒÈȘ

But, as they say, the best defense is a good offense.

Across from him, Xu Yanmiao stared at two drops of chili oil that had fallen onto the wooden table, quickly composing a response to avoid any awkwardness. “I saw Your Highness smiling so brightly and couldn’t help but look a bit longer, curious if something joyful happened during your trip to Yangzhou.”

The crown prince wiped his hands clean before using his chopsticks to stir the silky strands of shredded tofu, his smile unchanging. “Yangzhou was quite entertaining, but I found it even more amusing to watch you fret over whether to drink the tea.”

He promptly picked up a spoonful of tofu strands and delivered it smoothly to his mouth.

[Ah, a perfect counterplay!]

While Xu Yanmiao calmly analyzed the situation, the crown prince also maintained composure—though just barely. He gripped his slender chopsticks so tightly with his thumb and forefinger that they nearly snapped in half.

[Almost done spreading the word in the northern regions? Of course they started there—because he was in the south, in Yangzhou, at the time!]

[As expected of a task personally entrusted to the Jinyiwei commander by the emperor—He’s utterly clueless about any of this. Hah!]

“Crack!”

The crown prince looked down and saw that his chopsticks had snapped, with a wooden splinter floating in the chicken soup.

When he looked up, he noticed Xu Yanmiao’s expression was somewhat complicated.

“Just remembered something unpleasant,” the crown prince muttered, glancing twice at Xu Yanmiao before clapping his hands abruptly. “Xu Yanmiao, back when you helped Xiangyang deal with my old man…”

Xu Yanmiao immediately clarified with all seriousness, “At the time, I didn’t know the princess’s identity.”

“Same difference! That’s not important!” The crown prince propped his chin on his hand. “Why don’t you help me come up with an idea? After all, we’ve shared the bond of petting a tiger together.”

Xu Yanmiao recalled the warm feeling of stroking the tiger’s neck and back that day, then glanced down at his bowl of shredded tofu. The light, fresh aroma of the dish still lingered in his nose.

[Damn it,] Xu Yanmiao thought bitterly. [This is why officials shouldn’t accept bribes. You eat someone’s food, and suddenly your hands are tied. I was so careful, and I still couldn’t escape the corruption of the bureaucracy.]

The crown prince was about to laugh but suppressed it just in time. He personally scooped a large, overflowing bowl of shredded tofu and placed it in front of Xu Yanmiao, declaring grandly, “If you help me, I’ll make sure you have all the shredded tofu you want! And on top of that, there’s stewed lion’s head meatballs, radish cakes, sweet soy-marinated radish heads—and I’ll even take you to Yangzhou!”

“And…” The crown prince glanced around, his eyes landing on Xu Yanmiao’s rocking chair. On it stood a fluffy lion-like cat, its back arched, angrily meowing at the shadows on the wall.

Yes, they were having this meal at Xu Yanmiao’s house.

The crown prince pointed at the cat and declared with firm conviction, “From now on, I’ll take care of your son’s baths. I’ll provide all the soap! I’ll handle its grooming brushes, nail clippers, and sandpaper for sharpening its claws. I’ll even buy it dried fish. Every time I visit your house, I’ll bring dried fish as a gift!”

Xu Yanmiao froze.

[What a devious plan—he’s actually targeting my precious boy!]

The crown prince smiled smugly and raised a finger. “Just this once, I swear on the heavens, I won’t betray you.”

Xu Yanmiao hesitantly asked, “What exactly does Your Highness want to do?”

The crown prince glanced around and lowered his voice. “My father has been secretly scheming against me, thinking I don’t know. I must retaliate.”

“I want to make him think I’ve become a useless hedonist!”

[Huh? He still needs to make him think that? Hasn’t he already…]

The crown prince coldly ignored that unspoken thought and continued, “I also want him to believe I’m obsessed with indulgence and completely extravagant!”

“Well, then—” The crown prince’s face lit up with anticipation. “Xu Lang, can you make it happen?”

“It’s possible, but…”

“You won’t have to attend early court sessions while you’re helping me.”

Skipping court wasn’t a major concern for Xu Yanmiao. He ultimately agreed because the crown prince had already said so much. Refusing at this point would have been a direct affront to the heir apparent’s dignity.

“At least it’s not something major. Otherwise, I’d have no choice but to risk losing my head instead of saving face,” Xu Yanmiao muttered as he headed toward the Eastern Palace, instructing the crown prince’s staff to prepare some items.

[The crown prince says he wants to appear completely extravagant, but I can’t actually use anything too expensive. Otherwise, when the emperor starts pointing fingers, I’ll be the one who gets blamed.]

[It’s best if it looks valuable but isn’t actually worth much—or at least not too much.]

[What could fit that description…]

[Got it!]

Xu Yanmiao’s eyes lit up.

He wasn’t skilled in many things, but he did know how to make śarīra¹!

Don’t laugh—it was indeed śarīra. This item even had a patent registered under the name “Method for Making Śarīra Products.” He didn’t know how to make glass or concrete, but making śarīra was one of the few modern techniques he had knowledge of.

After all, being able to make this stuff sounded pretty cool when you talked about it.Truth be told, Xu Yanmiao had once considered that if his official career ever went south, he could sell śarīra. He could make them in any color, and they didn’t even need to be made from human bones—chicken bones, cow bones, those worked just fine.

1. “Śarīra: Form is no different from emptiness; emptiness is no different from form. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form.”

   Excerpt from The Heart Sutra

   “Form is no different from emptiness; emptiness is no different from form. Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form.”

   ↩︎

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