Side Story 35. Hangzhou, Myriad Sky Inn (1)

上有天堂
Up above, there is Heaven.
下有苏杭
Down below, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou.

Hangzhou truly was a beautiful city.
The trio who had set out from Azure Forest finally arrived in Hangzhou.

“Let’s get down!”

Baek Sang-ye shouted that.
The one sitting in the driver’s seat was not a coachman, but Baek Sang-ye.
The treasured imperial princess, precious daughter of the Son of Heaven of Great Ming, had ended up acting as a coachman.
If the Emperor learned of it, he would burst out laughing, and if the civil and military officials learned of it, they would faint dead away.
But Baek Sang-ye had become fairly accustomed to playing coachman.

A great deal had happened before she came to sit in the driver’s seat with a whip in hand.
The coachman they had originally hired was badly injured and could no longer continue the journey with them.
That was because many large and small incidents had happened on the way here.

“Uwk.”

Tsering gagged as she climbed down from the carriage.
Seeing that, Baek Sang-ye made an awkward face.
She had thought her skill with horses had improved quite a bit, but that seemed to have been her own illusion.
Fortunately, Cheongho, who got down after her, looked calm.

“Uuuwk.”

But Cheongho gagged as well.
Only his expression had been calm. He had been just as motion-sick.
Fortunately, Tsering managed not to actually throw up.

“I really thought I was going to die.”

The reason her face had grown a little gaunt was not just motion sickness.

“It feels like Beggars’ Union brats are living in my stomach.”

She meant it felt like beggars had taken up residence in her belly.
Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye looked just as wan.

“It’s all Senior Brother Cheongho’s fault.”

Baek Sang-ye shot Cheongho a sidelong glance.
Instead of answering, Cheongho quietly closed his eyes.

The journey from Azure Forest to Hangzhou had been long.
Hangzhou lay near the eastern edge of the Central Plains, so traveling from Mount Heng meant crossing rough roads here and there.
And on the mountain roads where a carriage might pass, bandits were bound to appear.

A rather fine-looking carriage had shown up without any escort, so the bandits had eagerly rushed in.
If the three of them had simply been outside instead.
If they had been walking around in Azure Forest robes with swords hanging at their waists, the bandits would never have dared attack.
Instead, the bandits blocked the carriage and leveled bows at it.

There was no glorious scene of the Azure Forest trio cutting down bandits in droves and practicing righteous chivalry.
All Cheongho had to do was step down and show them the Green Jade Token.
No matter how shabby the mountain stronghold in the countryside, they still recognized the token of the Green Forest Alliance Lord.
And to those who hesitated, unsure whether it was genuine,
Cheongho released Sword Qi once, and they believed him.

“To think we’d end up giving all our food away to bandits.”

The Green Forest Alliance was still poor.
The lesser strongholds not numbered among the Thirty-Six Strongholds lived little better than slash-and-burn peasants, which was to say, in poverty.
Cheongho had given food to the bandits who knelt and begged, starved to the bone.
Tsering stayed quiet because she remembered Divine Monk’s teaching to practice generosity.
And as a royal, Baek Sang-ye kept her mouth shut because she knew these bandits too were subjects who should be relieved and aided.

“It would have been fine if it had happened once.”
“But it happened five times.”
“And the coachman got hurt then too.”

They had run into such bandits five whole times.
Once, a stray arrow had struck the coachman in the shoulder. The bandits had been thoroughly punished, but that could not undo the coachman’s injury.
The bandits had not been able to rob the trio, but in the end, most of their food had disappeared anyway.
So they had traveled hungry all the way to Hangzhou.

“Let’s go. I think it was called Myriad Sky Inn.”

As soon as they arrived in Hangzhou, Baek Sang-ye disposed of the carriage and horses.
What awaited them, with plenty of gold in hand, would surely be Hangzhou’s finest delicacies.

“Do you think Martial Aunt Jin Li-yeon arrived ahead of us?”
“No. She’d be busy, so probably not.”

Myriad Sky Inn was the place they had arranged to meet Jin Li-yeon.

“If we hang up the flag, she’ll find us soon.”

They had prepared a green flag marked with three trees.
They were to hang it in the window of the appointed inn, and the other party would come find them.

“In the meantime, let’s eat and rest. Senior Sister, what do you want to eat?”
“Me? Let’s see.”
“I want to try that famous Dongpo pork.”

Tsering, who had spent her whole life in Tibet, had fallen completely under the spell of Central Plains cuisine.
It was only natural. Places with more people and more money would naturally have more developed food culture.

“Dongpo pork is really delicious.”

Dongpo pork was a pork dish said to have been created by Master Su Dongpo.
Pork with the skin still on was cut into cubes, steamed once and fried once, then put into a large pot and braised.
With spices, dark soy sauce, sugar, and the like, it was slowly braised with great care until done.
So tender that it could be cut apart with chopsticks like tofu, Dongpo pork was said to melt in the mouth the moment it was eaten.

“They say you can taste the finest Zhejiang cuisine in Hangzhou….”

Baek Sang-ye’s eyes sparkled too.
Truthfully, she had always had an interest in fine food.
As royalty, she had been exposed to every kind of delicacy from childhood.

“If I had to choose one, it would have to be West Lake Vinegar Fish.”

It was a dish whose name could be rendered literally as steamed fish of West Lake.
A large West Lake fish was steamed and served with a sweet-and-sour sauce made from vinegar and sugar.
Its thick flesh was said to have an especially rich sweetness.

“What about you, Senior Brother?”
“……”

Cheongho gave no answer, as though he had no real interest.
But the two of them were already used to Cheongho being like that, so they quickly moved on.
Their enthusiasm for Hangzhou food did not fade, and filled with anticipation, they arrived at Myriad Sky Inn.

“It looks pretty decent!”

Myriad Sky Inn was not very large, but it looked respectable. It was not all falling apart, and if one had to classify it, it looked like a fairly high-end inn.
If so, it was only reasonable to assume the cooking would be decent as well.

They hurried inside.
But the moment they opened the inn’s doors and stepped in, they felt a bad premonition.

“Why is it so empty….”

There were far too few customers.
The first floor of an inn was usually used as a dining hall.
Myriad Sky Inn was built the same way.
But despite it being lunchtime, there were hardly any people.
Though the place was spacious, only about three people were eating noodles.

“Why wouldn’t it be empty… no need to rub salt in my wounds.”

Tsering’s keen hearing caught someone muttering.
It was an old man who seemed to be the innkeeper.
Judging by the worry all over his face, it was probably because there were so few customers. He likely thought no one could hear him.
Tsering somehow felt sorry and kept her mouth shut.

“Three people? Hurry and have a seat.”

The old innkeeper forced a smile and seated the trio.
Well then, with so few customers, the food ought to come out quickly, shouldn’t it.
The instant the three sat down thinking exactly that, a thunderbolt of a statement came crashing down.

“The cook ran off, so right now there’s only one thing I can make. Very, very delicious noodles. I could do stir-fried vegetables too, but I’ve got to cook by myself, so if possible just have the noodles. Dear me, to think I’d suffer like this at my age….”
“I’ll have noodles.”

The first to raise a hand and answer was Cheongho.
Tsering and Baek Sang-ye were still sitting there with their mouths hanging open.

“Good, one bowl of noodles. And what about the other two?”
“What, only noodles?”
“That’s right. They’re not just any noodles. They’re fantastically delicious noodles.”
“As if there’s such a thing!”

Baek Sang-ye and Tsering truly were about to get up and leave.
They had been waiting for the famed food of Hangzhou, and all that was available was noodles? What sense did that make?
But the instincts of an old man who had run an inn his whole life in Hangzhou were extraordinary.
The old man’s face crumpled up like a dried zucchini.
Who knew a person’s face could become that pitiful so quickly.

“As I said… my one and only cook left a few days ago. Old and sick as I am, how can I stand in the kitchen too? I simply can’t manage dishes that take much work.”
“If you found someone to help….”
“I had one. My wife, of course. But my old lady suffered a stroke three years ago and collapsed. I ought to be looking after her, but if I don’t work, won’t we all starve to death together? I have to work… I have to….”

Tsering and Baek Sang-ye sat back down.
They could not bring themselves to storm off.

“I-I’ll have one bowl of noodles.”
“Me too….”

For now, they would get through one meal with noodles and go eat something delicious later. That was the plan.

“Right then, three bowls of noodles!”

The innkeeper, who had looked ready to cry a moment ago, turned away with lively steps.
Baek Sang-ye looked despondent.

“They said Martial Aunt Jin has been in Hangzhou for several months, right?”

Tsering said that as though trying to change the mood.

“That’s right. They said she’s already recovered quite a few of them all by herself.”

“Them” referred to Guihon Jades.
Cheongho quietly took out his Guihon Compass.
The needle moved weakly. There was probably no Guihon Jade within a radius of one li.

“Then Martial Aunt Jin must know all the good places to eat in Hangzhou.”
“True. I want to see her soon.”
“Senior Sister Yu Su-rin talked about Martial Aunt Jin so much.”

Yu Su-rin seemed to revere her Martial Aunt Jin Li-yeon greatly. The trio had heard so many stories about Jin Li-yeon from Yu Su-rin that their ears might as well have bled.

Grrrrr—

At that moment, a sound like that came from Baek Sang-ye’s stomach.
She was hungry. A little while ago, she had been disappointed that only noodles were available, but now it hardly mattered.
At that point, she felt she could even eat an empty dumpling with pleasure.

“Oh, it’s coming.”

Tsering muttered.
The innkeeper was coming out from the kitchen carrying noodles.
They had briefly hoped it was already theirs, but there was only one bowl.
Someone else had ordered noodles first.
The savory smell was enough to stir their appetites. It seemed the claim about his noodles being excellent might actually be true.

“There you go, enjoy it!”

The noodles were delivered to the lone customer.
Only then did the trio realize that customer was quite striking.
For a moment, he looked like a warrior.
But there was no visible weapon.
Rather absurdly, he had an iron cooking pot strapped to his back like a turtle shell, and for all they knew, it might be some peculiar hidden weapon.
He wore clothes with the sleeves tied tight, a red headscarf on his head, and some strip of white cloth wrapped around his forearm.
His large, fierce eyes, thick brows, and wild mane of hair made a strong impression.

“I’m jealous….”

Tsering envied the man who had gotten the noodles.
Instead of wolfing them down, the man first smelled the broth.
Then, with crisp, disciplined movements, he picked up one bite of noodles and slurped them into his mouth.
He chewed, then swallowed.
And then he spoke.

“These noodles are trash.”

The innkeeper, who had been walking away, stopped dead.

“…Sir, what did you just say?”

Turning back, the innkeeper looked as though he could hardly believe his ears.
But the man who had eaten the noodles repeated himself without so much as blinking.

“I said these noodles taste no better than trash.”
“……”

A vein swelled on the innkeeper’s forehead.
The inn, which had grown lively after the trio came in, fell silent in an instant.
Everyone was staring at the innkeeper and the customer.

“So…?”
“I can’t eat this, so refund my money.”

The innkeeper strode forward.
Then he slammed his hand down on the man’s table and shouted,

“Are you fucking kidding me right now, you bastard!”

It was a presence on a completely different level from the pitiful act he had been putting on a moment ago.
But the man was no easy customer either.

“I came here because they said Myriad Sky Inn was the finest of Hangzhou’s Three Flavor Houses. But it couldn’t be more disappointing.”
“Didn’t you hear the cook ran off? You order one bowl of noodles worth three coppers and then make all this fuss!”

Honestly, the old man had a point. What could anyone expect from a bowl of noodles?

“I don’t care about that. Either way, these noodles are trash.”
“Ha! I’ve been making noodles for thirty years, thirty years! And some brat who doesn’t know shit comes in and—”
“If I made noodles, they’d be a hundred times better than yours, innkeeper.”
“Good grief. Isn’t this just a lunatic.”

The innkeeper’s words were correct.
That customer was definitely a strange man.

“Then let’s settle it with a contest.”
“W-what?”
“If I make noodles better than yours, refund what I paid for this bowl!”

The man sprang to his feet and shouted.
The trio watched the clash between the two with gleaming, excited eyes.