I want to ruin the country

Zhang Ying took a look and saw four dishes on the two trays: fried tofu with chili peppers, stir-fried bean sprouts, scrambled eggs with wood ear mushrooms, and stir-fried meat with green onions.

He knew in his heart that he had been demoted. No matter how well-mannered he was, he was still a fourth-rank prefect. How could he have been bullied by an eighth-rank official? He couldn't help but get angry.

His face darkened and he asked,

"Huang Yicheng, is this the food for this mansion?"

Huang Bingyao knew that Zhang Ying was blaming him, so he bowed and said with a smile,

"Master Zhang, it's getting late today, and I really don't have anything else to offer. I beg your forgiveness!"

Zhang Yingdao,

"Your posthouse is the largest in the country, how can you be so ill-prepared?"

Huang Bingyao has answered this kind of question countless times. He doesn't even need to draft a lie.

"Master Zhang, several groups of masters came today, so we have run out of supplies. We can only go shopping tomorrow. Please bear with it!"

Zhang Ying wanted to get angry, but he felt it was not appropriate to step down. He was not his superior and could not do anything to him. If he reported him to the emperor over a matter of food and drink, he might become a laughing stock!

Forget it, it would be a disgrace to my reputation to tell others about my anger with a villain!

Zhang Zhidong spoke,

"Huang Yicheng, I wonder if the food is clean?"

"Clean, of course it's clean!"

Zhang Zhidong Road,

"Why do I feel like there's something unclean here?"

Wong Ping Yiu Road,

"Mr. Zhang, what are you talking about? The food is simple because we have no other ingredients, but it is absolutely clean. Please feel free to enjoy it!"

Zhang Zhidong Road,

"Well then, please invite the Imperial Postmaster to eat with us!"

"Master Zhang, you're joking. I've already eaten. You guys should eat first!"

Zhang Ying also felt uncomfortable. If she didn't eat it, she would be hungry. If she ate it, it would be disgusting if there was saliva in it.

When he saw his son's idea was good, he thought, "At least Huang Bingyao knows which dish doesn't make you salivate!" So he said,

"Huang Yicheng, please accompany me for dinner today!"

Huang Bingyao had just eaten a lot of chicken, duck, fish and meat, so how could he eat anything else? He quickly declined.

At this moment, someone outside shouted,

"Anyone alive? Get out there! The Shaanxi governor has been ordered to come to the capital. Hurry and welcome him!"

Huang Bingyao took the opportunity to run out!

Outside, there was a lot of shouting and neighing of horses, it was very noisy and lively.

After settling down for a while, I heard the clatter of knives and spoons in the kitchen, and the aroma of cooking wafted in.

It turned out that the person who came was Sai Ading, the governor of Shaanxi. He was a student of Mu Zhang'a. How could Huang Bingyao not be fully prepared to entertain him?

Neither Zhang Ying nor his father ate. It wasn’t because they thought the food was too simple, but because it looked disgusting.

Zhang Zhidong looked at his father's face and knew that he was unhappy. He said,

"Father, let me go out and take a look!"

Zhang Ying knew his son's temper and that he was not one to suffer any loss, so she instructed him,

"Don't cause trouble. It's not worth it to ruin your reputation over such a small matter!"

"understood!"

Zhang Zhidong came out to take a look. There were several carriages parked in the yard and many more horses at the trough. It seemed that the official who had just arrived was quite a presence.

I wandered back to the kitchen and saw that in just a few moments, seven or eight dishes were already on the chopping board: fish, shrimp, meat, vegetables, roast chicken, pork knuckle, and more.

I immediately got furious. We were here, my father and I, and you said you had nothing left. You used rotten tofu to cook the dishes, and when we pointed it out to you, you even spit in the dishes. You didn't even bring us hot water, and we had to fetch it ourselves.

This is really bullying. Since you are so unkind, don't blame me for being unrighteous.

He turned to the side room and told a few servants,

"Come on, follow me and serve the dishes!"

The servants were also cursing over a bowl of watery tofu and bean sprout soup.

As soon as he heard the young master's call, he followed him out without saying a word.

Coming to the kitchen, Zhang Zhidong waved his hand.

"Take away all the dishes!"

"okay!"

The servants worked together and brought all eight dishes on the chopping board to Zhang Ying's room.

By the time the three people in the kitchen reacted, it was too late.

They chased after him with knives and spoons.

When they saw several people entering Zhang Ying's room, they didn't dare to go in and hurried to tell Huang Bingyao.

When Huang Bingyao heard this, he knew it was troublesome.

He thought that the prefect who came from another place knew that he was trying to frame him, so what could he do? He could only suffer in silence.

Unexpectedly, the young master of this family was a man who would not suffer any loss and actually snatched the food away.

If you go to ask for it, you will be in the wrong. If you refuse, you will lose face.

Besides, if the person in the upper room gets impatient and starts causing trouble for me, I will be in trouble.

Now I won’t cook for the upper room. The adults in the upper room will get anxious and ask about it. If I tell them about the food being snatched away, they will get angry and I will have nothing to do!

He made up his mind and told his subordinates not to cook for now and just sit there and wait!

Zhang Ying felt relieved when she saw her son bringing the food. She ordered,

"You take two away and eat them. Son, take out the wine we brought and let's drink!"

After more than half an hour, a man came out from the upper room and shouted loudly.

"Why haven't you served the food yet? Are you trying to starve our general to death?"

Huang Bingyao ran over quickly and said in a panic,

"Master, listen to me, it's not that we won't serve the food, but the food we just cooked was snatched away by someone!"

Judging from his attire, he should be a housekeeper. When he heard that the food had been snatched away, he flew into a rage.

"Ah, who is so bold as to steal our food?"

Huang Bingyao deliberately sucked his teeth.

"He's a prefect from Guizhou. We can't afford to offend him!"

"Hmph, trash!"

The housekeeper cursed and went back to the house to report.

Then, there was a sound of a cup breaking in the room, and someone cursed,

"This little prefect is going too far. Go and see who is so bold!"

The housekeeper came out and asked Huang Bingyao,

"Where does the prefect live? Take me to find him!"

Huang Bingyao was just what he wanted, and said with a sly smile,

"I'll take you there. It's in the East Flower Hall. He's a fourth-rank prefect and we can't afford to offend him."

When they arrived at the door, Huang Bingyao stepped aside. The housekeeper pushed the door open and stormed into the room, questioning,

"Who is so bold as to steal our general's food?"

No matter how well-mannered Zhang Ying was, he was still a fourth-rank prefect after all. He would be annoyed when someone pushed the door open and asked him loudly.

Seeing that the other person was dressed as a housekeeper and had no official position, he became even more angry, slammed his chopsticks on the table, and cursed,

"You bold slave, who gave you the courage to act so wildly here?"

The housekeeper glared.

"Sa wild, what do you mean by sa wild? Don't even mention you, a small prefect. I've seen many magistrates and governors. I'm just giving you a favor by coming here!"

Zhang Ying said angrily,

"What's your official rank?"