Side Story 49. Baek Sang-ye Vs. Cheongho (2)

People whispered among themselves.
The dozens of people gathered here in the outer compound of Seok Family Manor were all either those who had advanced to the main round or those serving as their assistants.
In other words, they were people for whom the enormous prize offered by Seok Family Manor no longer felt all that far away.
Naturally, they cared a great deal about how the tournament bracket had turned out.

The first match was tomorrow.
The ones competing would be Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye.

The second match was the day after tomorrow.
The ones competing would be Ma Bi-hong and Ahim.

The general assessment among those present regarding the two upcoming matches was roughly this.

“The first match is nothing special, and the next one might basically be the finals.”

There were already assessments of who had made what dishes and how much each person had stood out.
There was even secret gambling over who would win each match and who would take the championship.

And unfortunately, Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye’s expected odds of victory were not very high.
They were not merely low, but among the lowest.
The basis for that judgment was, more than anything, their age.
Both were youths who had not yet reached twenty.
How much culinary training could they possibly have accumulated?
Their performances so far had not been particularly remarkable either.

But Ahim and Ma Bi-hong were different.

“One is a special-grade chef… and the other is a mysterious man from the Western Regions.”

Ma Bi-hong did not particularly try to hide his identity.
Because there was no point. Most people serious about cooking knew Ma Bi-hong.
A legendary genius who had become a special-grade chef in Beijing at the age of twenty.
He had even been invited to the Forbidden City and prepared a banquet table for the Emperor.
The title the current Emperor had bestowed upon him was Azure Dragon’s One Flavor.
He was currently the most promising young chef.

Though his assessment fell slightly short of Ma Bi-hong’s, Ahim was no ordinary person either.
They said Ahim had traveled through the Central Plains for several years, competing in cooking against all sorts of people in all sorts of places.
Testimonies about that mysterious man from the Western Regions were emerging from here and there.

And how impressive were the results he had shown in this Number One Cooking Competition Under Heaven?
Wang Ho-cheol, the strictest judge.
He shed tears after eating Ahim’s food.
More than one judge had wept, saying, “I have never tasted food this delicious before.”
That was an achievement even Ma Bi-hong, a special-grade chef, hadn’t shown. So people looked forward most of all to the day after tomorrow, when the two giants would compete.

“Then the winner between Ahim and Ma Bi-hong will face one of those kids.”
“I’m jealous.”

In other words, Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye were being looked down upon by comparison.
Those gazes were so obvious they could be clearly felt.
But Cheongho and Baek Sang-ye did not care.

“I thought we would have to settle things once.”
“Hm.”

While the two were burning with fighting spirit.
A judge stepped forward.

“I will announce the theme of tomorrow’s match!”

What dish would they have to make in tomorrow’s match?
Fortunately, it seemed they would be told the theme one day in advance.

“Chicken! Chicken! You will make a dish using chicken as the main ingredient!”

Chicken!
Hearing that, Baek Sang-ye smiled faintly.
It was an easy theme.
There were hundreds, thousands of dishes one could make with chicken.
Many of Baek Sang-ye’s favorite dishes were even chicken dishes.

“Let’s go, Tsering.”
“Yes, Chef!”

She took Tsering, her assistant, and led her away.
For the sake of victory in tomorrow’s match, they would have to study hard tonight.

What would be good?
Naturally, the first things Baek Sang-ye thought of were the chicken dishes she had eaten in the imperial palace.

She discussed what dish to make with Tsering.

“How about putting bird’s nest on top of the chicken?”
“You… eat bird’s nests?”
“Yes, they’re quite delicious.”
“How do you eat that? Isn’t it straw?”

At Tsering’s question, Baek Sang-ye laughed.
There was a kind of swallow called the golden-thread swiftlet that lived on cliffs in the southern seas.
That swallow ate seaweed and used the components of that seaweed and its own bodily fluids to make its nest.

“Ugh.”
“You little, do you know how precious an ingredient that is?”

One made broth from that bird’s nest and poured it over braised chicken.
It was one of Baek Sang-ye’s favorite chicken dishes.

“How expensive is it?”
“One geun of bird’s nest costs one geun of gold.”
“……?”

It meant it was worth the same as its weight in gold.
Tsering was shocked to hear that a mere bird’s nest was that expensive.

“But would they have an ingredient like that here…? Wouldn’t that be too excessive?”
“Ah, y-you think so?”

Tsering’s gaze was so strange that Baek Sang-ye flinched in surprise.
Even so, it seemed bird’s nest was too extravagant an ingredient.

“Fine. Then how about reducing a rich broth made from dried sea cucumber and dried abalone, stuffing that into the chicken’s belly, and roasting it?”
“Dried sea cucumber and dried abalone…”

Tsering shut her mouth.
She didn’t know much about bird’s nest, but even she knew about dried sea cucumber and dried abalone.
Both were extremely precious ingredients.
They were even called dry goods, meaning ‘dry money.’
They were so expensive that they were practically used like currency.
Even Tsering, who came from Tibet, knew how precious they were.

“Senior Sister, the Baek Clan must really be rich. You seem familiar with ingredients like that.”
“…Ah.”

Tsering’s expression was subtle.
For some reason, Baek Sang-ye found herself being cautious around her junior sister.

“I ate them sometimes. Not often.”
“I see.”

In truth, the Baek Clan almost never indulged in luxury with ingredients like that.
Baek Sang-ye felt guilty, as though she had needlessly given Tsering the wrong impression about the Baek Clan.
Then something suddenly occurred to her.
That Tsering had lived with beggars in the Central Plains.
That poverty might have been extraordinarily harsh for a girl who was still young.

“…Do you dislike extravagant things?”

For a Daoist, poverty and simplicity were virtues.
To Baek Sang-ye’s question, Tsering gave an unexpected answer.

“No, not really. Among beggars, there were a lot of kids who hated rich people on sight, but I wasn’t like that. What crime is it to be born with money?”
“Ah.”

Baek Sang-ye felt relieved, but it seemed that relief had come a little too early.

“Rich people are fine, but to be honest, I dislike people in power and officials.”
“U-uh?”
“You know, children born into powerful households. Not martial clans.”
“Ah.”

Baek Sang-ye stiffened with a flinch.
Who could compare to an imperial princess when it came to being born noble from birth?

“Honestly, it’s strange for people to have higher and lower positions decided from birth. Well… I also have some bad memories personally.”

There were people in power in Tibet as well.
And what Tsering, who had suffered in the Central Plains, hated most were constables and officials.
It was not as if she had only seen their tyranny once or twice.

“They’re awful. Hehe.”

Hearing Tsering’s words, Baek Sang-ye felt as though a huge boulder had dropped into her chest.
If someone else had said such a thing, Baek Sang-ye would not have been shaken at all.
But now, she could not help it.
Baek Sang-ye was hiding her identity, and Tsering was her junior sister.

“Still, officials and people in power aren’t what I hate most in the world.”
“T-then?”
“I hate people who lie the most.”

Tsering smiled brightly.
There was not even a hair’s breadth of suspicion toward Baek Sang-ye in Tsering’s voice.
That only made Baek Sang-ye’s heart begin pounding even harder.

“The Divine Monk said that it’s hard for a person to be honest about everything, but even so, one must be honest.”
“Yes, one should be honest.”
“You know. The scriptures also say that people who lie a lot fall into Tongue-Pulling Hell.”

Kindly, Tsering even made a gesture as if pulling out a person’s tongue.
Tsering, who had been smiling playfully, grew a little flustered and examined Baek Sang-ye’s face.

“But why are you sweating so much, Senior Sister?”
“No, am I?”
“The nape of your neck is damp. Are you feeling unwell?”
“It’s because I’m feeling a little hot.”
“It’s not hot at all, though…?”

Baek Sang-ye forced the corners of her mouth up.
But she couldn’t help her heart pounding and her hands and feet turning cold.
Originally, hiding her identity and coming out into Kangho had been nothing more than amusement.
But at this moment, Baek Sang-ye realized that her lie could no longer be taken back.

‘I mustn’t be found out until the end…’

If her lie was discovered, Tsering might look at Baek Sang-ye with disgust.
Thinking of that made her feel as if her heart were being squeezed.

“Quickly, let’s think about tomorrow’s dish.”
“Yes…”

She forced herself to move things along.

That night, Baek Sang-ye could not fall asleep easily.
For tomorrow’s match, she ought to prepare in perfect condition, but,

‘…….’

In the end, she stayed awake through the night.

And then the day of the competition dawned.
The outer compound of Seok Family Manor was astonishingly vast.
Vast enough that it was possible to build an arena for a cooking competition there.

Like a sparring stage for martial artists, a circular space paved with bluestone stood at the center.
Around it were arranged audience seats and VIP seats.

“Waaaaaa!”
“Hey, girl! I put all my money on you!”

The audience seats were packed with people.
The heat of the crowd could not even be compared to the previous matches.
Tsering linked arms with Baek Sang-ye, who was standing there blankly.

“Senior Sister, you’re really feeling fine, right?”
“I’m fine, fine.”

Baek Sang-ye forced herself to put on a determined expression.
Yes, for now, she had to focus on what was before her.
Cheongho, standing under the white-side flag on the opposite side, did not seem the least bit nervous.

“Silence!”

Someone shouted that and struck a gong.
The audience seats quieted down.
The Seok Family Manor Lord, seated in the VIP seats, rose.

“At last, the sixteen stars aiming to become number one under heaven have gathered here.”

She had felt it before, but the Seok Family Manor Lord’s voice was booming in a way that did not match his frame.

“As I lived, I came to realize the meaning of life, and the meaning of life was eating and shitting.”

It was an expression vulgar enough to be crude.

“People eat joy and shit out laughter, eat sorrow and excrete tears. They eat anger and excrete murder, war.”

Such nonsense all of a sudden.
In Baek Sang-ye’s mind, the assessment of Seok Sung as a ‘senile old man’ came to mind.

“In any case, I am a man who likes eating as much as shitting. I especially love delicious food, which is why my belly turned out like this.”

Despite his thin frame, his belly jutted out, giving him a ridiculous appearance.

“That is why I gathered you all here to find the finest flavor under heaven, and powerful figures who wish to taste that finest flavor under heaven have also come.”

Seok Sung introduced the people seated in the VIP seats.
The figures present were truly impressive.
The Provincial Governor of Zhejiang, the Military Governor, and an Eastern Depot Eunuch.

‘An Eastern Depot Eunuch?’

Baek Sang-ye was startled and lowered her head.
Enough that Tsering beside her was startled too.

“What’s wrong?”
“……”

Why was an Eastern Depot Eunuch, who should be guarding the Forbidden City, here?
A eunuch of that rank could be said to hold the highest position among the eunuchs who served at the Emperor’s side.
And the Eastern Depot was an armed intelligence organization directly under the Emperor.
Together with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, it could be called one of the Emperor’s twin swords.
And if he was a eunuch of that Eastern Depot, he was also someone who knew Baek Sang-ye’s face.

‘No, not even the eunuch knows my disguised face.’

The process by which Baek Sang-ye had left for Kangho had been carried out in utmost secrecy.
She had to receive the protection of either the Eastern Depot or the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the Emperor had chosen the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
Her identity laundering, disguise arts, and every step of the process had been carried out separately from the Eastern Depot, only through the Embroidered Uniform Guards.

Baek Sang-ye naturally raised her head again.
She had hardly ever met the Eastern Depot Eunuch in person either.

‘If I act naturally, he won’t know. And so what if he does?’

Just as Baek Sang-ye thought that and furtively turned her eyes,
the Eastern Depot Eunuch was looking at Baek Sang-ye with a puzzled expression.

“The time limit is half an hour! Begin!”

And the gong rang to announce the start of the match.