All Hail Cousin Brother

350 Such a Foodie

After breakfast, the sun rose outside, so Yu Youyao went to An Shou Hall with her cousin.

Madam Yao had brought a large family over to greet them.

They were all from the same residence and were only separated by a wall. How could she not know what had happened in the main residence?

However, Madam Yang had been her sister-in-law for many years, so how could she not know what kind of person she was? This concerned the only son of the first branch, Yu Shansi. She did not want to get involved in this mess.

Therefore, after Yu Shansi’s dangerous situation was averted, he sent someone over to ask about her.

After that, when she found out that the eldest branch was not settled, she did not come over personally.

It was only yesterday that Madam Yao had brought a lot of supplements and medicinal herbs to greet Old Madam after the main branch’s matter. She had also taken good care of her nephew. This was considered thorough.

She knew that Madam Yang had spoiled Yu Shansi, so Yu Zongzheng had used the excuse of having migraines to send him to the Tranquil Heart Residence, indirectly banning her.

As Yu Jianjia was seriously ill and needed to recuperate, her courtyard door was closed.

Everyone in the main house was changed one after another.

Old Madam was old and did not have much energy to manage the household. At most, she could manage it a little, but the main branch was in Yu Youyao’s hands.

If it weren’t for the fact that she had seen with her own eyes at the Flower Festival at the Marquis of Changxing’s Residence, she wouldn’t believe that Yu Youyao, a half-grown child, would actually take every step carefully. She had even schemed meticulously, and even the meritorious person in charge of the army was embarrassed.

She wanted to believe that Madam Yang and Yu Jianjia’s fates were not planned by Yu Youyao.

However, the truth was that Yu Youyao had done her best. Everyone in the main family was still praising her for being loyal and caring. Not only had she tried her best to save Fourth Young Master, but she was also kind-hearted and fairly rewarded and punished people.

Not only that!

When she came over in the morning, she had even heard from the servants of the main house that Yu Youyao’s biological mother, Madam Xie, was actually killed by Madam Yang. Since the servants dared to talk about this in the residence, this matter was probably not wrong.

This amazing method really took after Old Madam.

Madam Yao chatted with Old Madam Yu.

Yu Youyao brought Yu Shuangbai and the others to the courtyard to wrap Zongzi.

The sisters gathered together and there was a lively scene.

Yu Shanyan turned to look at Zhou Linghuai and saw him rubbing the beads on his wrist. His gaze landed on his eldest sister, Yu Youyao, and a rare smile appeared on his pale lips.

Yu Shanyan retracted his gaze. “You haven’t been to school for a long time. A few days ago, Mr. Hu Shan even asked when you plan to go back to class.”

Mr. Hu Shan did not hide his appreciation for Zhou Linghuai.

He had also said that Zhou Linghuai was a genius. Just like Song Mingzhao, he was an extraordinary person. If his leg wasn’t broken, he would definitely be a capable person in the future.

Zhou Linghuai shook his head. “Cousin has been learning ‘Heavenly Works’ recently. I’m sorting out the relevant notes. Let’s talk about it later!”

Everyone in the residence knew how much Cousin Zhou doted on his eldest sister.

Yu Shanyan was speechless for a long time, but when he heard “Heavenly Works”, his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat. “Since you’ve prepared annotations, can I make a copy too?”

Zhou Linghuai’s notes were very popular in the residence.

He had originally helped his eldest sister write annotations to the Four Books and Five Classics to help her study. Later on, when his second sister saw it, she went to the main house every day to copy it. Her learning progress had indeed accelerated a lot.

When his second brother found out, he borrowed his second sister’s notes and copied them. During this period of time, he was no longer called out and criticized by Mr. Hu Shan in class.

Seeing that it was rare for his second brother to improve, as his elder brother, he inevitably had to show some concern and ask for the reason.

He couldn’t help but read the notes that his second brother had written. Even though he had learned it herself, after reading it, he couldn’t help but feel that it was unique and make a copy.

In the end, even Third Brother copied it.

Zhou Linghuai said calmly, “Since it’s given to Cousin, it belongs to her. You can just ask her yourself when the time comes.”

When Yu Shanyan heard this, he knew that it was settled.

“Heavenly Works” was a must for the Yu Clan to learn. At his current age, he had to focus on his studies. He would only learn this when he became a High Scholar.

However, Zhou Linghuai’s notes were rare, so he would not let them go.

At this moment, Yu Shanxin leaned over. “Cousin Zhou, Eldest Sister and the others are wrapping Zongzi. Let’s go over and help too!”

Yu Shanyan tilted his head to look at him and frowned. “A gentleman stays far away from the kitchen.”

Yu Shanxin scoffed. “Big Brother, have you become stupid from studying? The Book of Daoism even says that governing a large country is like cooking a small fish. If you don’t cook a small fish, how can you govern a large country?” After saying that, he felt that he had defeated his big brother and turned to look at Cousin Zhou. “Cousin, am I right?”

Yu Shanyan frowned. He also felt that his second brother had improved and was becoming more and more unruly.

However, Zhou Linghuai said calmly, “Everything in the world can’t be generalized. However, from the bottom of my heart, there was a great politician surnamed Su in the previous dynasty. Not only did he love delicious food, but he often cooked it himself.”

Therefore, don’t bite off more than you can chew.

Yu Shanyan immediately couldn’t refute, so he heard Zhou Linghuai continue—

“He has a carefree personality. He has experienced a few ups and downs in his life. When he was demoted to Huangzhou, because he couldn’t afford to eat the local mutton, he found cheap local pork that no one could eat. He cooked his own delicacies and created the world-famous Dongpo pork. He even wrote a recipe that recorded the method of cooking pork. After his method of cooking was spread, the local people fought to imitate him. As the pork was cheap and delicious, the people saved money on buying mutton and expenses. The local people became self-reliant and peaceful.”

When Yu Shanxin heard this, his eyes lit up. “I know that. Later on, this politician was demoted to the south of the mountain. He was so miserable that he didn’t even have to eat pork. He secretly brought the lamb spine that no one wanted home. After cooking it, he sprinkled some wine, salt, and other ingredients over the fire to roast it, creating a world-famous lamb spine. I heard that because the lamb spine was too delicious, even his dogs often competed with him for food…”

For some reason, Yu Shanyan continued Yu Shanxin’s words. “Later, he was demoted to the area of Danzhou (Hainan). It was very poor there, and he couldn’t even eat meat. He extended his hand to the oysters by the sea and even wrote a letter to show off to his younger brother and son, saying, ‘Don’t tell anyone. I’m afraid that those bastards in the capital will snatch my oysters…”

With that, he froze.

When he turned around, he realized that in a short while, they had already arrived at the stone table in the courtyard. His sisters were listening to his stories excitedly.

Yu Youyao was amused and quickly asked her cousin, “What happened after that?”

Zhou Linghuai’s lips curled up slightly. “He was also demoted to Huizhou. As the lychees there were too delicious, he stayed there and didn’t want to leave. Later, his younger brother tried to fish him out, and he even blamed him.”

Yu Youyao’s eyes widened, and she was speechless.

There was actually such a foodie in the world!

She conceded defeat!