Survival rules for restaurants: cooking and eating melons at the same time

After everyone sat or stood, Gu Qingyun began to register the number of people, positions, ages, and how long they had been in the mansion... After almost finishing the registration, Zhao Huaiqing brought everyone from the Dali Temple to the Qin Mansion.

First, they surrounded the Qin Mansion with three layers of soldiers inside and outside, and then brought a few minor officials and Wu Huan, Xin Hai, and Bai Jinyu into the hall.

At this time, Gu Qingyun had already made a list of names. Except for a few concubines and young ladies who looked sick, he started by asking the servants, who said that many people had been dismissed, but there were still many people in the mansion.

Gu Qingyun first asked Mrs. Qin who were the people doing the shopping in the mansion, and then took a few people to the side room.

The remaining people were divided into those who took care of the young ladies and wives, those who worked as housekeepers, those who cleaned the house, and the cooks... all of them were dispersed to several rooms. They questioned for most of the day, and only finished when the sun was high.

The people who were doing the shopping were all from the eldest lady's house, some were born in the family, and some were later. They quickly explained that the purchase of incense and spices was done by the sixth aunt.

The Sixth Aunt was so frightened that she trembled slightly, and just said that she was only buying things according to the needs of the master's family. Besides, she was the dowry nanny of the First Lady, so how could she be the First Lady?

Gu Qingyun had no choice but to ask again where to put those things after buying them.

Sixth Aunt lowered her head and said that all the things to be purchased had to be bought about half a month in advance, put in the warehouse after purchase, and distributed to each room according to the allocation.

As for who can enter the warehouse, only those with some power and experience can. There are many people in the mansion, and if only one person manages it, it may be too busy. For example, the head maids of each courtyard can enter, and they only need to register when they go out.

This is really confusing. If you want to take some scraps, old cloth, or items that have been stored in the warehouse for a long time, you just need to bribe the person in charge.

Gu Qingyun frowned again and screened all the people who entered and left the warehouse from the day he bought the incense to the day of the banquet. In addition to the head maids of each room, there were also some servants with a little power and several cooks.

It is said that this is because the kitchen and the warehouse are separate. The large warehouse is for vegetables and grains, but all the dried fruits and spices are in this warehouse that has everything. So it makes sense for the few people to come in and out, which is really a bit foolish.

On the other side, Bai Jinyu and Xinhai were testing the poison on themselves with frowning faces. Bai Jinyu ran out as soon as he took a sip. The spice was extremely complex, and it didn't seem like a single spice, but rather a combination of several spices.

The first thing was Datura. He would never forget the smell of this thing. A few years ago, there was a case of an incorrupt corpse in which this spice was found. If he had not reacted quickly, it would have disappeared along with the corpse.

Xinhai couldn't smell anything and had also taken a breath-holding pill, but he noticed that the burning speed was different. It felt extra fast, burning faster than ordinary incense.

Although not much faster, it was a little faster, very much like the lanterns during the New Year. Because some charcoal powder was added, it burned very quickly. Many young ladies would burn out their lanterns before they got home, and would go buy another one.

Gu Qingyun's frown didn't relax for the whole day, and he started to check the cook again.

Almost all of the cooks were family-born children and usually had a high status in the mansion. Although they were not able to call the shots, there were several masters who only ate the meals they cooked, so they had some special face.

Among them was a cook named Li, who was the mistress's own daughter and was brought over from the mansion. Since Miss Qin was born, she had been responsible for preparing all three meals a day. Later, the mistress had Miss Qin San, who was also prepared by this cook.

"Chef Li, how have you been responsible for the meals of the young ladies these days? Why did the eldest and third young ladies pass away one after another?" Gu Qingyun asked while flipping through the scroll.

"I don't know, Master Shaoqing, I am innocent." Cook Li rolled her eyes and fell to her knees before Gu Qingyun could finish his words. She looked very scared.

"I didn't wrong you, I didn't say anything." Gu Qingyun just felt that this person must be a little suspicious, so he looked at her sharply.

Chef Li was shaking like a sieve, and the more she looked, the more suspicious she became.

Just as Bai Jinyu was about to report, she keenly noticed that the fragrance on this person was particularly strong. She took two steps back in fear, covering her nose and shouting, "Shaoqing, it's her, it's her, tie her up quickly."

"My Lord Shaoqing, I am innocent. I don't know what the fragrance is!" Cook Li began to cry. The mistress of the Qin family, who was half lying on the couch, also spoke up for her, "Yes, Cook Li has worked by my side for most of her life. My two daughters rely on her very much and treat her as a good aunt. How could she harm my children?" She was breathing weakly and her voice was a little sad.

"No rush, let someone go to her room and search it carefully." Gu Qingyun said calmly. Today, the people from Dali Temple came suddenly for a visit, and if there was anything, there would be no time to hide it.

Bai Jinyu took a few clerks to Chef Li's yard, and Gu Qingyun took out the purchase list and the people coming in and out about half a year ago as mentioned by Chuntao, the little maid of Miss Qin.

Half a year ago, Cook Li did often go out of the house to join the shopping. It was said that Miss Qin San had just come of age and was always feeling unwell, so she was sent to make some food. The food also said that the spices were not consistent, so she had to buy more and went out frequently.

Every time I come back to register, I only get some star anise and bay leaves, which is not surprising.

The strange thing is that he had to go out every time to buy some insignificant spices. There were plenty of them in the warehouse, except cinnamon, which was not very common. It would have been fine to buy some, but going out so often seemed strange.

After a while, Bai Jinyu returned to the main hall with a few clerks. The clerk was holding a jar. It seemed that the clerk was struggling and no one knew what was inside.

Cook Li fainted when she looked at the jar. Bai Jinyu stepped forward and pinched her philtrum, then she sat up again in a daze.

"This is my exclusive honey spice. Will you compensate me if it is broken? Are you doubting me? What gives you the right?" Chef Li's cheeks were flushed red at this moment, and her eyes were wide open as if she wanted to eat someone.

"Reporting to Lord Shaoqing, there is Mandragora in this thing, and the smell is the same as what I smelled in the Buddhist temple. I can assert that this is the same thing." Bai Jinyu stepped forward and bowed.

"We have caught the perpetrator red-handed. Chef Li has admitted that this item is hers. After inspection by the coroner from the Dali Temple, the item has the same smell as the poison. Please sign and seal your seal, and take the perpetrator away." Gu Qingyun finished writing the file and handed it to Xinhai.

At this time, Chef Li was still struggling hard. Only Mrs. Qin's already thin body became even thinner because of grief. She never thought that it was her trusted subordinate who asked her. She asked tremblingly, "Is this case closed?"

Gu Qingyun shook his head gently. "We haven't confirmed that it was Chef Li who did it, but the poison must have come from Chef Li, so take her back to the Dali Temple for interrogation first, and then investigate further. Madam, please don't be too sad."