“Stop the carriage!” Xiao Jinyu lightly tapped the carriage wall and said in a low voice.
The coachman pulled on the reins, and the carriage immediately came to a halt.
Before the attendant outside could come forward to open the carriage door for him, Xiao Jinyu had already pushed it open. He was dressed in a moon-white robe with diagonal silver thread embroidery at the collar, and the slanting rays of the morning sun shone upon it, revealing a water-ripple pattern.
He glanced around, his gaze finally settling on a Jianbing Guazi stall set up by the roadside. The stall owner was a woman in plain-colored clothing, skillfully spreading the batter on the griddle, then flipping it over and brushing on the sauce.
The distance was somewhat far, but after stepping out of the carriage, the fragrance in Xiao Jinyu’s nostrils grew even stronger.
Xiao Jinyu frowned, somewhat repulsed by this physical reaction he hadn’t experienced in a long time. He could only try his best to suppress the urge to eat that arose from his body, lowering his voice as he said to the attendant waiting nearby, “Chang Fu, buy one of those snacks from that stall!”
Upon hearing this, Chang Fu first paused, then was startled.
He thought to himself, could it be that the appetite-stimulating medicinal soup prescribed by the imperial physician this time had taken effect?
“Hurry up!” the tall attendant beside him urged upon seeing him unmoving.
Chang Fu snapped back to reality, no longer dwelling on other matters, and quickly accepted the order to go.
However, accepting the order to buy Jianbing Guazi was one thing; personally standing in such a long line to buy it was another.
“So many people in line?” Chang Fu muttered softly, though he had no intention of cutting in line.
The person in front of him heard his words, turned around with a look of complete understanding, lightly pointed at the few people ahead of him, and whispered, “Young master probably doesn’t know, this line wasn’t originally this long. These people all came back to buy more after finishing theirs!”
Chang Fu followed the direction of his finger and this time noticed the Jianbing Guazi in each person’s hand.
The Jianbing Guazi looked golden on the outside, with what seemed to be slices of meat and vegetables inside, brushed with a reddish-brown sauce that shimmered enticingly.
It seemed this Jianbing Guazi was quite good. Chang Fu unconsciously swallowed his saliva.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but inwardly scorn himself. Having grown up following the young master, what delicacies hadn’t he seen? How could he be tempted by such common street snacks!
The person in front of him was solely focused on sharing his experience: “So, young master, if you can buy two, don’t buy just one; if you can buy four, don’t buy just two. Otherwise, if you still want more after eating, you’ll have to come back and line up again.”
“And lining up doesn’t guarantee you’ll get one either. There’s also the possibility that the batter will run out, leaving none at all.” At this point, the person’s expression looked somewhat dejected.
“Did the young master not manage to buy Jianbing Guazi from this stall before?” Chang Fu asked him.
The person quickly shook his head, his expression turning proud again as he said, “Not at all. Yesterday, the second-to-last Jianbing Guazi was…”
Afterward, Chang Fu listened to the person explain about Jianbing Guazi while waiting in line.
When it was his turn, before Su Ting could even introduce the varieties of Jianbing Guazi, Chang Fu’s words had already slipped out: “Three deluxe upgraded Jianbing Guazi, please!”
Su Ting paused.
The person before her didn’t look like a regular customer, yet unexpectedly, he seemed to know the varieties of Jianbing Guazi so well.
However, surprise aside, Su Ting remained composed as he calculated the bill and collected payment. After inquiring about dietary restrictions, he relayed the order to Su Xi.
"Sister, one of them without coriander."
Su Xi was spreading the batter, her stray hair tucked behind her ears. Only upon hearing Su Ting's words did she look up at the customer before her.
No coriander?
Coriander, also known as cilantro.
Having been here for so long, this was the first time Su Xi had encountered someone who avoided cilantro. It was truly a rare sight.
Nevertheless, Su Xi quickly shifted her gaze and focused on spreading the pancake.
The bamboo spatula traced a swift arc, her movements growing increasingly deft.
Su Xi scooped up the Jianbing Guazi, and Su Ting took it, swiftly wrapping it in oil paper before handing it over. "Customer, freshly made! It's best enjoyed while hot!"
Chang Fu took the oil paper and, with a slight bow of his head, caught a whiff of a mouthwatering aroma. He thought to himself: There might be some sense to queuing up for so long after all.
Wait, they had queued for such a long time!
Their young master had left the city early to see someone off and then hurried to assume his post at the Capital Prefecture. After waiting this long, could the person have already left?
At this thought, Chang Fu tightened his grip on the oil paper and turned to run.
Sure enough.
By the time he arrived, panting heavily, at the spot where the carriage had stopped earlier, both the horse and the person were gone.
Chang Fu gasped for breath, looking left and right with a tense expression.
Just then, a figure carrying a sword and dressed in practical short attire appeared, patted him on the shoulder, and said without much emotion, "The officials from the Ministry of Personnel have already arrived at the Capital Prefecture office. The young master has already gone over."
"Chang Yue, you scared me half to death."
Chang Yue's expression remained largely unchanged.
Still, seeing him appear, Chang Fu breathed a huge sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "Then let's hurry over too! The young master hasn't had breakfast yet!"
Chang Yue knew that Xiao Jinyu had sent him to buy something from the stall, and his gaze fell on the oil paper bag in his hand.
Noticing his look, Chang Fu instinctively hid the Jianbing Guazi behind his back, guarding it protectively. "There are only three portions—one for the young master, one for me, and one for Chang'an. That's it."
"…" Chang Yue expressionlessly shifted his gaze away and turned to leave.
His movements were so swift that before Chang Fu could even catch his breath, he had to break into a light jog to keep up.
"Chang Yue, slow down! The Capital Prefecture office is right there; it's not going anywhere. Walk slower!" Chang Fu struggled to match his pace.
The two made their way toward the Capital Prefecture office.
Coincidentally, Su Xi also overheard news about the new Capital Prefect taking office from the customers' conversations.
"The newly appointed Capital Prefect is that young master from the Xiao residence. Early this morning, I saw the former Attendant-in-Ordinary from the Ministry of Personnel sending people to wait at the office gate, probably to meet the new Prefect," whispered a man dressed as a yamen runner, his skin dark and weathered, to his companion.
"No wonder the officials from the Ministry of Personnel got up so early—they were rushing to curry favor. But the new Capital Prefect, the young master from the Xiao residence, isn't that the son left behind by the Princess of Xunyang?" The other man was also dressed as a yamen runner, with a black mole on his right cheek, giving him a rather honest appearance.
—Thump.
The first man gave the latter a hard knock on the head, cautiously looking around to confirm no one was nearby. Then, lowering his voice and frowning, he said, "He Shou, if you want to die, go ahead, but I still want to live. Why mention the Prin… Princess? Don't you know Bianjing City is full of spies everywhere? If you say the wrong thing, you won't even know how you lost your head."
The person who was knocked on the head looked aggrieved, covering his forehead and whispering in defense, "Boss, it wasn't me who brought it up—it was clearly you who mentioned it first."
"If I bring it up, you just go along with it? If I told you to go crash into a wall and die, would you do it?" the constable called 'Boss' snorted coldly.
The man fell silent.
Seeing him quiet down, the constable called 'Boss' finally returned to his usual expression.
"Are you working at the yamen, sir?" Su Xi asked.