As Jiang Yanyi sorted out most of the issues, it was nearly dark, and the customers in the shop had all left.

Yang Xiu took the cart full of chickens into the backyard, waiting for Jiang Yanyi to deal with them.

Chu Shubao continued writing her business plan in the room while Jiang Yanyi went to help in the kitchen.

Although Jiang Yanyi had been craving chicken feet for a long time, she hadn’t lost her mind to the point of slaughtering over ten chickens at once.

She decided to keep a few hens for making soup, which would be perfect.

Since she had a large yard now, it was possible to set aside a space and let them live a bit longer.

Jiang Yanyi picked a big rooster and had Yang Xiu kill and pluck it.

When Chef Yao saw the processed rooster, he couldn’t help but praise it: “This chicken is raised well. It’ll make great soup for nourishing blood and energy; it’s just right for warming up.”

Jiang Yanyi replied, “I plan to stir-fry it.”

Chef Yao thought she intended to make dry pot chicken and shook his head, saying, “That would waste such a good chicken.”

Jiang Yanyi, however, insisted, “This dish is called ‘Rooster Pot’; it has to be made with rooster meat to taste good.”

Speaking of which, this dish had a story behind it: a chef named the dish with his name as a prefix, calling it “XX Rooster Pot,” because his name was the same as a place in the mountains. Outsiders mistakenly thought Rooster Pot was a local specialty.

In her previous life, Jiang Yanyi had once been asked by her college roommate why, as someone from the mountain city, she could make hot pot but not Rooster Pot.

At that time, she didn’t know that “XX Rooster Pot” wasn’t a local dish, so she hurriedly self-studied the recipe.

Looking back now, it felt amusing and almost surreal.

The two most important steps in making Rooster Pot are preparing the old oil and the sauce.

The old oil is incredibly fragrant and is made from four types of oils and a dozen spices.

The four types are sesame oil, lard, beef fat, and chicken fat.

The other three types of oil are easy to find, but beef fat is hard to come by. Occasionally, when there are butchers selling beef, it’s from older cattle.

Because Jiang Yanyi often bought meat from the horse butcher, she developed a good relationship with him, allowing him to set aside some beef fat for her in advance.

When preparing the old oil, she adds all four types of oil to the pot, with the beef fat being the last one.

Once it’s heated to about 30% temperature, she adds ginger, green onions, and garlic to sauté until fragrant, then follows with green peppercorns and cloves to stir-fry for spiciness.

Finally, various spices are added, and she keeps the heat low, ensuring the oil doesn’t exceed 50% temperature, simmering for half an hour to infuse the oil with all the spice aromas, making it several times more fragrant than ordinary frying.

The sauce is made by sautéing over a medium heat sesame oil with over a dozen spices for about half an hour, then adding rock sugar for sweetness and a splash of yellow wine for aroma.

After cutting the chicken, she washes it clean, marinates it with cooking wine and ginger to remove any fishiness, and then marinates it again with the prepared sauce for about fifteen minutes to let the flavors soak in.

Once the chicken has marinated, she heats the old oil in the pot over high heat, adds the chicken pieces to stir-fry until just cooked, then adds cloves, peppercorns, ginger, and garlic for fragrance.

She then adds lotus root, potatoes, tofu skin, bamboo shoots, black fungus, and soaked instant noodles, sprinkling salt and cooking wine to enhance the aroma.

Finally, she pours in a ladle of broth and simmers for a bit, and a pot of fragrant Rooster Pot is ready to serve.

Jiang Yanyi found a small clay pot and filled it with the Rooster Pot, garnishing it with a few sprigs of cilantro before sending Yang Xiu to deliver it.

Considering that these chickens were delivered from the neighboring Wang family, Yang Xiu didn’t complain at all as he ran errands.

Perhaps the smell of the old oil was simply irresistible; without Jiang Yanyi having to call everyone for dinner, the people in the shop all gathered at the kitchen door waiting to eat.

When Chu Shubao saw the instant noodles in the Rooster Pot, her eyes instantly lit up.

When it was time to eat, while others were grabbing meat, she focused exclusively on picking up noodles with remarkable precision.

Staying too long at the Chu family made Chu Yanguo seem suspicious to the old matriarch, so Jiang Yanyi had asked Chu Zhong to bring Chu Yanguo back home a few days ago, sending delicious food to the Chu family from time to time.

Jiang Yanyi picked up a piece of chicken for Chu Yanguo, and seeing Chu Shubao eating noodles vigorously, she added a piece for her too: “Eat more meat.”

Chu Shubao shook her head, slurping the noodles. “I think the best thing in this pot is the noodles!”

Unlike the noodles cooked in the “mào cài” at lunch, this time the noodles were stir-fried until dry, coated in rich oil and sauce, easily soaking up flavors.

The essence of all the aromas from the old oil and various ingredients had completely merged into the noodles, making them the highlight of the whole Rooster Pot.

Jiang Yanyi found it amusing; since Chu Shubao liked it, she let her be.

During the meal, they inevitably talked about Chu Yanguo’s studies.

News about Feng Shuo’s rebellion had spread like wildfire, and Chi Qing, being Feng Shuo’s military advisor, was too busy to provide much guidance to Chu Yanguo.

Chu Yanguo was stubborn by nature, but Chi Qing’s words could be sharp.

He had worn down Chu Yanguo’s previously wild spirit significantly, making him more restrained.

When Jiang Yanyi inquired, he answered honestly, “I’ve finished studying the Analects. Senior Brother said the Master will come to test me when he has time, but I don’t know when that will be; I’m currently reading the Doctrine of the Mean.”

Old Scholar also slurped up the instant noodles.

Having watched Chu Yanguo grow up, he felt quite proud and said to Jiang Yanyi, “The young master is talented; it’s remarkable that he finished the Analects so quickly.”

With Chu Yanguo praised, Jiang Yanyi felt happy and boldly said, “Study hard, and tomorrow I’ll stew an old hen to nourish your body!”

Outside, she was already planning how to use the remaining chickens in the temporary chicken coop, from the chicken feet to the wing tips.

Feng Manor.

Although Duke Chen was reluctant to involve himself in worldly matters, he still offered guidance when it came to Feng Shuo’s rebellion.

His whereabouts were kept confidential, especially since years ago, he had exchanged two death row prisoners for the Mu brothers.

If he hadn’t retired early, his political enemies would have likely exposed this incident and had him imprisoned.

He sought the truth about the death of Mu Wuhou back then, and those wishing to conceal the truth would surely thwart his efforts.

They might even send assassins upon discovering his whereabouts.

The fewer people who knew his true identity, the better.

Thus, when he appeared in Feng Shuo’s study, apart from Feng Shuo and Chi Qing, there was no one else in the room.

“…News from the emperor indicates that the only way to exchange for someone from the Chu family is to offer Xi Pin.” Chi Qing said with a frown, “Chu Changping is honorable and won’t agree to save only his own son. Chu Chengmao is brave as well; he cried out on the battlefield, asking Chu Changping to exchange him for his cousin’s newborn son.”

After Lu Lingyuan was saved, Jiang Yanxi felt a weight lift from her heart and focused on rescuing Minister Jiang.

Upon learning she was to be sent as a hostage to the emperor, she seemed to understand that escape was futile, so she cooperated fully.

Feng Shuo looked at the defensive map but didn’t raise his head.

His eyes were cold and stern: “Didn’t the emperor send a spy to rescue people? Cut off the spy’s fingers and send them back, claiming they belong to Xi Pin, and see if he will divulge any information.”

This method wasn’t truly aimed at deceiving the new emperor but was meant to intimidate him, making it clear that his envoy had been caught and that the next fingers to be cut off might belong to Jiang Yanxi.

Chi Qing sighed, “I thought my approach was already quite sinister, but you’re even more cunning.”

Feng Shuo shot him a glance, prompting him to promptly fall silent.

A moment later, Chi Qing turned to Duke Chen, who was leisurely sipping tea, and said, “Old man, can’t you say something?”

Duke Chen lifted his eyelids and shot Chi Qing a glance, “You’re all talking well enough; what do you need me for?”

Chi Qing was left speechless with frustration.

Duke Chen’s gaze flicked to the map on Feng Shuo’s table, “Taking Yuzhou isn’t a long-term solution for securing the grain route. It’s not hard to intercept the grain transport by water from Yuzhou.”

Feng Shuo replied, “Xizhou is cold and barren; it’s not a grain-producing region, and the surrounding counties aren’t prosperous either. If we forcefully requisition grain, it will surely lead to widespread discontent among the populace, and the real tragedy would be starvation. For now, we can only do our best to secure the grain route.”

Of course, there was a more secure method.

He could lead his army back to Yuzhou, which was adjacent to Hengzhou, where he had the strongest army and most abundant supplies.

No one could challenge him there.

But doing so would mean abandoning Xizhou, essentially giving up the entire northern territory.

If Xizhou fell, the twenty-seven cities in the three southern states would have no army capable of resisting a Turkic invasion.

At that point, the entire northern border would undoubtedly be strewn with corpses and blood.

Currently, he appeared to be the most powerful among the rebel kings, but once the grain route was cut off, it would be as if someone had grasped his throat.

Unfortunately, this was an unsolvable deadlock unless he was willing to bear the infamy of a thousand generations and abandon the entire northern region.

Just as the atmosphere grew tense, Xing Yao entered, saying that the Jiang family had sent over some food.

Even with the sand pot lid on, the aroma had already wafted out.

Feng Shuo, feeling fatigued from reviewing the documents, ordered Xing Yao to set the table.

Duke Chen was the first to pick up his chopsticks, quickly grabbing a piece of meat and putting it into his mouth.

The chicken, marinated and then stir-fried, was fragrant and tender, and he praised, “This chicken is delicious!”

Seeing the two of them devouring their food, Feng Shuo struggled to suppress his impulse to throw them out, maintaining his composure as he began to eat.

The study was quite far from Jiang Yanyi’s courtyard, and his taste buds were not very sensitive, which only added to Feng Shuo’s displeasure.

Noticing Feng Shuo’s gloomy demeanor throughout the meal, Chi Qing wisely chose to skip the meat and only pick the vegetables that Feng Shuo disliked.

Yet, Feng Shuo’s expression didn’t improve, leading Chi Qing to suspect that Feng Shuo was unwilling to let others eat the dishes Jiang Yanyi had made.

Although reason told him to stop eating, his hand couldn’t control itself.

Duke Chen, savoring the chicken, suddenly remembered the ten or so chickens he raised in his cottage: “Did you send someone to bring back the chickens I raised? I won’t have the time to care for them while living here with the little disciple. Each one was raised by me from a chick, and we have a deep bond.”

Feng Shuo replied, “They’ve already been sent to Jiang Ji.”

Chi Qing, suddenly realizing something, glanced between the chicken in the sand pot and Duke Chen, hesitating to speak.

Duke Chen shot Chi Qing a glare, “What are you looking at your master for?”

Chi Qing pointed at the piece of chicken in his bowl, “This could possibly be one of the chickens you raised.”

Duke Chen froze for a moment, then without hesitation, he ate the piece of meat.

Chi Qing remarked, “Aren’t you all emotionally attached?”

Duke Chen smacked his lips, “Yeah, I’ll need to have that girl kill a couple more chickens tomorrow to accompany it.”