20demayo Chapter 43 After eating and drinking to our hearts' content, let's play cards!
Chapter 43 After eating and drinking to our hearts' content, let's play cards!
Chapter 43 After a hearty meal, let's play Pai Gow!
Su Mu found it amusing.
"They're all the same."
Su Mu scooped up a wide rice noodle and slurped it into his mouth. "There are many rules in the palace, and even the cooks dare not take responsibility. The meat is cooked until it's tender for your own good. If they made you something fried or roasted, and you got a stomachache, they would lose their heads."
"So, these people cook not for the taste, but to save their lives."
Li Yuan paused.
Save your life.
These two words really hit home.
Since the Xuanwu Gate Incident, he moved into the Da'an Palace. The people around him changed one after another, and everyone was always on edge. Even that rebellious son—Lian Erlang—when he came to see him, spoke with extreme caution.
Boring.
That's fucking boring.
"The young man sees things clearly."
Li Yuan swallowed the meat in his bowl, picked up the wine pot next to him, and without asking what kind of wine it was, tilted his head back and gulped it down.
It's sour plum drink.
The cool, sweet and sour flavor perfectly cut through the richness of the lamb.
"Tsk, no kick in the alcohol."
Li Yuan smacked his lips, somewhat regretful, but also finding the sweet and sour water paired with the hot pot to have a unique flavor. "Are you a servant here?"
I guess so.
Su Mu wiped the sauce from Xiao Sizi's mouth. "He used to be the head chef, but he offended someone and was relegated to chopping wood here."
Li Yuan snorted coldly: "They're blind."
He then pointed to the plate of frozen tofu: "What is this thing? It looks like a brick."
"Frozen tofu. It soaks up the soup, be careful not to burn your mouth."
Li Yuan picked up a piece.
The moment he bit into the tofu, the hot broth inside gushed out, scalding his tongue and almost making him cry out. But the scalding, savory flavor went down his throat, instantly warming his stomach.
"readily!"
Li Yuan was also enjoying the meal, sweat beading on his forehead. He rolled up his sleeves, revealing a withered forearm.
"This old man—my eldest son—used to be quite controlling."
While cooking the meat, Li Yuan kept rambling on, as if he wanted to pour out all the frustrations of the past few years. "He won't let me eat this, he won't let me touch that. He says it's for filial piety, but really he just wants to prevent me from causing him trouble."
Su Mu added some broth to the pot and casually remarked, "Children are all the same. They think they're useless when they get old and need to be taken care of. But what do old people really want? Isn't it just to be at ease and have a meal they enjoy?"
"right!"
Li Yuan slapped his thigh, the slap so loud it startled the little rhinoceros gnawing on a bone nearby.
"I just want to be free!"
Li Yuan pointed at Su Mu, finding the young man more and more pleasing to the eye. "You've hit the nail on the head! What's the point of worshipping a clay idol all day? I'm retired—retired! Can't I even eat what I want?"
Li Lizhi, who was listening nearby, was terrified.
retire?
Is handing over the throne considered retirement?
Only these two dare to talk like this; one dares to speak, and the other dares to listen.
"So what do you do for a living now?" Su Mu asked.
"I'm free."
Li Yuan stuffed the last piece of meat into his mouth, "I spend all day counting ants in the yard, occasionally watching my old buddies fight cocks and race dogs, it's not very interesting."
"That's great."
Su Mu laughed, "A life of leisure. Unlike me, I still have to take care of these little ones."
He pointed to the three girls whose faces were covered in food.
Li Yuan looked over.
Little Sizi was holding the bowl of plum juice, looking like a little hamster with her cheeks puffing out.
Although Li Lizhi was still a bit reserved, she never stopped eating. The Fang family girl, on the other hand, was sweating profusely, completely losing her composure as a well-bred young lady.
This scene is wonderful.
Even during festivals and family banquets in the Da'an Palace, the atmosphere was never this warm. His grandchildren were like quails in front of him, not daring to utter a sound.
"Grandpa, here's seven of these for you!"
Suddenly, Xiao Sizi picked up a piece of freshly cooled sweet potato noodles from her bowl and tremblingly offered it to Li Yuan's lips.
"This is slippery, it's fun!"
Li Yuan was taken aback.
Looking into those clear, big eyes, the frozen, hard part of his heart seemed to melt a corner of it suddenly by the scalding hot copper pot. He opened his mouth and caught the wide rice noodle.
Soft and chewy, it carries the filial piety of a little granddaughter.
"well."
Li Yuan chewed on the vermicelli, his eyes getting a little hot, and he quickly lowered his head to cover it up by eating.
The sun had completely set, and the cicadas in the yard had stopped chirping, leaving only the occasional crackling of embers from the copper pot.
Li Yuan slumped on a small stool, rubbing his belly without any regard for appearances, and let out a long sigh.
The pent-up frustration that had been building up in my chest for years seemed to have been completely dispelled by this meal of mutton.
"That feels good."
Li Yuan squinted, still reaching for the cup of plum juice in his hand. "It's been so many years since I've had such a satisfying meal."
Li Lizhi rushed forward to help him, but the old man slapped her away.
"Don't move, let me catch my breath."
Li Yuan waved his hand, turned to look at Su Mu who was clearing away the dishes, his eyes filled with warmth, "Hey, little brother, your cooking is amazing. We—we'll keep in touch from now on."
Li Lizhi's legs went weak, and she almost knelt down.
Little brother?
The retired emperor called a woodcutter "brother"?
The generational hierarchy is completely messed up.
She was about to speak up to dissuade him when she saw Su Mu drape the rag over his shoulder and cheerfully agree.
"Alright, sir. You've had your meal, how about you walk off your digestion?"
"How to relieve the boredom? Go for a stroll in the Imperial Garden? That's boring."
Li Yuan curled his lip.
"Why are you taking a stroll?"
Su Mu pulled a square wooden box from the pile of firewood behind him—actually from his system space—and slammed it onto the table.
Splash!
A crisp collision sound.
"What's that noise?" Li Yuan's ears perked up.
Su Mu opened the lid and poured out more than a hundred small, polished wooden blocks onto the table.
These wooden blocks are made of hard jujube wood, with bamboo patterns carved on the back and red, green and blue patterns carved on the front, including stripes, round cakes and several Chinese characters.
Mahjong.
Su Mu casually grabbed two bills and crumpled them in his hands, making a cracking sound. "This is perfect for someone who's bored out of their mind and whose brain is rusty."
Little Sizi, who had been dozing off at the table, immediately brightened up at the sound of the cracking sound and reached out her little hand to grab it: "Fun! Let's build a wall!"
"Go away, that's an adult's toy."
Su Mu brushed the little girl's chubby hand away, looked up at Li Yuan, and said, "Grandpa, do you dare to give it a try? This thing requires strategic deployment and the ability to calculate people's hearts. I think you can do it."
Upon hearing the phrase "arrange troops and deploy them," Li Yuan perked up.
He spent the first half of his life conquering the world on horseback, and the second half being confined in the Da'an Palace counting ants; his hands had long been itching for more.
"Come on! You think you're afraid of me?"
Li Yuan rolled up his sleeve, revealing half of his thin, bony arm. "How do we play?"
Su Mu pressed Fang Qingjun and Li Lizhi onto the bench as well: "We can't do three if we're one short, so you two can join in."
The four people sat around the copper pot that hadn't been removed yet, and Su Mu succinctly explained the rules.
All kinds of eating, bumping, and squashing; all kinds of pure bets and straight runs.
Li Yuan, being the founding emperor, was quick-witted and grasped the essence of the matter after hearing it only once.