After transmigrating into the book, I helped my mother reconcile with her divorced husband.

The deceased died of suffocation, but not by strangling himself; rather, it was due to laryngeal edema. The cause of laryngeal edema is an allergy, which is caused by an allergen.

Lu Zhiyuan checked the items on the table, including the plate of fish that Liu Ying had brought in, and found nothing unusual. After thinking for a while, she asked Liu Ying to bring her plate of fish over.

She hadn't been in the hall, and her plate of fish hadn't been touched. The so-called sweet and sour fish wasn't made by cutting a whole fish into pieces, but rather by mincing the fish meat, marinating it with seasonings, and then frying it. That official's fish had an extra seasoning—star anise.

Star anise is a common spice, especially suitable for cooking meat. However, some people are allergic to it, and the sweet and sour fish pieces they used only contained a small amount of pepper powder, which must have been sprinkled in during the marinating of the fish. Pepper powder is insoluble in water and is mixed with the fish after being coated with flour.

This method is difficult for the average diner to appreciate, since the essence of sweet and sour fish lies in the words "sweet and sour," and the sweetness of cane sugar and the sourness of aged vinegar will mask the flavor of the fish itself and other seasonings.

Lu Zhiyuan's five senses were specially trained. When she transmigrated into the original owner's body, perhaps due to the system, she also brought these abilities to the original owner.

Are this gentleman's family members present?

"My wife is here."

"Madam, is your husband allergic to star anise?"

The woman nodded: "That's right. My husband has been allergic to star anise since childhood. He almost died when he accidentally ate star anise as a child. Before our marriage, my mother-in-law sent someone to inform me of this, and she has repeatedly reminded me of it since then. Therefore, star anise has never appeared in my home. When His Majesty holds banquets, he also asks the officials attending to make detailed notes. My husband has been an official for many years and has attended the New Year's Eve palace banquet three times, and such an accident has never happened before. Who is trying to kill my husband? I beg Your Majesty and Your Majesty the Empress to do justice for me."

Lu Zhiyuan nodded, glanced around, and asked, "Among the civil and military officials, imperial relatives, and their families attending this banquet, is there anyone else who is allergic to star anise?"

Everywhere she looked, everyone shook their heads. Just as Lu Zhiyuan was about to draw a conclusion, Lu Jinyao stepped forward: "This humble woman, Lu Jinyao, is allergic to star anise!"

Is Lu Jinyao allergic to star anise?

It was not mentioned in the original text, and I had never heard anyone mention it when I was in the Lu family.

The Empress gave Xu Rui a wink, and Xu Rui ordered someone to bring the guest list for the banquet. After checking it, he replied, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, it is indeed recorded on this list that Miss Jin Yao is allergic to star anise."

The Empress nodded and ordered someone to summon the head of the imperial kitchen, asking him how many dishes at today's banquet contained star anise and whose tables they were served. The head of the kitchen wiped the sweat from his brow and said tremblingly, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, none of the dishes served at today's banquet contained star anise."

The crown prince's face darkened: "No star anise?"

"Yes, there are no star anise." The steward wiped his sweat again: "Star anise, cinnamon, bay leaves, and pepper are all commonly used spices, but for today's palace banquet, Her Majesty specifically instructed that no dishes with particularly strong flavors or greasy flavors should be served. The seasonings are mainly scallion and ginger water. Apart from a small amount of pepper powder used during marinating, nothing else is used; it's all the natural flavor of the food."

Lu Zhiyuan picked up a piece of sweet and sour fish: "Which chef made this fish?"

Behind the steward, the pale-faced, seemingly honest and unassuming imperial chef stepped forward.

"I made the fish pieces myself. I swear to God, I absolutely did not put any star anise in them!" The imperial chef was frantic. "The fish was delivered to the palace this morning, kept in running water, and taken out an hour before the banquet to be killed, marinated, and cooked on the spot. The fish meat was taken by me and my apprentice, and I chopped the meat myself. I watched my apprentice prepare the marinade. Apart from a suitable amount of pepper powder, there was only a little bit of scallion and ginger water to remove the fishy smell. If there were star anise, it would be in all the fish pieces, not in some and not others like this."

"I believe you." Lu Zhiyuan picked up two pieces of fish for comparison. One piece had a delicate texture, while the other had a coarse texture. The delicate texture indicated that the chef's knife skills were excellent; after mincing the fish into a paste, the meat was restored to its original "fish meat" form, which was the essence of the dish. The other piece of fish had obvious grains, proving that the chef's knife skills were average.

As they spoke, Liuying brought over the sweet and sour fish from the Crown Prince's table. The Crown Prince disliked sweet and sour flavors, but didn't want others to speculate about his preferences, so he only tasted a bite or two of each dish, regardless of whether he liked it or not. This plate of sweet and sour fish was missing half a piece.

Lu Zhiyuan picked up a piece of fish to show everyone; the piece on the prince's plate was also delicate.

Clearly, the sweet and sour fish pieces with star anise were made separately.

The Emperor didn't speak, the Empress didn't speak, the Crown Prince didn't speak, and even the aggrieved party didn't say anything. It was Lu Jinyao who spoke.

"Sister remembers that younger sister is good at cooking and has no dietary restrictions. Could this sweet and sour fish be something you made for yourself? Or did the firefly come to the wrong place?"

“Miss Jinyao, this is the New Year’s Eve banquet hosted by the Emperor and the Empress. My young lady was invited to attend, so how could she have brought her own food? Even if she did, it wouldn’t be sweet and sour fish, especially since it’s so cold that it was carried all the way from Ronghua Palace here. Besides, I am a maid of the Xie family. My eyes are not blurry, my ears are not deaf, and my brain is not rusty. I would never serve my young lady’s food to someone else.”

“Liu Ying is right.” Xiao Yebai stepped forward: “Miss Zhiyuan’s seat is next to His Highness the Crown Prince. Even if she was seated at the wrong table, she should have been seated at Lord Xie’s table. Is Miss Jinyao deliberately trying to confuse right and wrong and turn black into white?”

"Your Highness Ye Bai, Jin Yao was just saying it casually, I didn't mean anything by it." Lu Jin Yao hid behind Prince Yue: "Jin Yao just thought of my sister's cooking when she saw this fish. The fish meat looks a lot like what my sister chopped."

Now, not only Lu Zhiyuan smiled, but Xiao Yebai, Liu Ying, A Luo, and even His Highness the Crown Prince smiled.

Lu Jinyao frowned, wondering what they were laughing at.

His Highness the Crown Prince kindly asked, "Do you really understand A-Yuan's cooking skills?"

Lu Jinyao turned her face away guiltily: "What do you mean by that, Your Highness?"

“Miss Jinyao, only you could chop fish like this. My young lady’s knife skills are superb. Not only His Highness the Crown Prince knows this, but His Highness Xiao and Her Majesty the Empress also know it.”

"Not bad." The Empress nodded. "A few days ago, I didn't have a good appetite, and Yuan'er came to visit me and specially prepared a table full of dishes for me. Braised eggplant, sweet and sour pork, boiled meatballs, braised lion's head meatballs—not only did I eat them, but His Majesty did too. Yuan'er's knife skills and cooking skills are comparable to, if not better than, the imperial chefs in the palace. Lu Jinyao, you say Yuan'er's knife skills are bad, have you ever actually seen Yuan'er's knife skills?"

Lu Jinyao stammered, "I am merely a distant relative of the Lu family. How could I be qualified to eat the dishes my sister makes? I have only seen the dishes my sister made for the Marquis and the Old Madam. Her knife skills and cooking were unbearable to watch. Judging from today's events, it seems that my sister, who often resides in the separate courtyard, harbors resentment and deliberately made the food look like that."