80 Standing within the Wings

The head cook, Fa Rong, hated her job.

If she was able to, she would have almost certainly led her own coup against the magistrates, ministers, and bureaucrats.

They were more fickle than the children's moods underneath her.

On some days, all the ministers felt as if they wanted the same dish, forcing their kitchen to outsource on some resources and purchase extra ingredients from the markets, while on other days, some decided that in the middle of the cooking process, that it would be prudent of them and proper to send missives to the kitchens demanding that their meals be changed.

But truly, the worst ones of them all would be those who, after receiving their meals, demand that the food be taken back as they had decided that they weren't in the mood for the particular dish, made on their instructions, anyway, and that they would like something lighter, sweeter, and more floral, because the weather outside was so lovely and their innards deserved the same treatment as their eyes and skin, and that truly... blah, blah, blah.

If Fa Rong had her way, then all those ministers would be dead, and she wouldn't be hiding behind the true chief of the culinary departments of the Imperial palace.

Her particular subsection of kitchens had been delegated to preparing the meals of the internal ministers and those individuals only, the late wife of the Emperor only coming in contact with her cooking when she had taken her lunch when in a political meeting with one of the finance ministers.

And then she had introduced the Emperor to the food.

Fai Guang, her own superior, had quickly caught wind of the situation and had immediately drawn up a process of testing the food for all the different types of poisons, needles, and all other such methods that would ensure that anything that Fa Rong's kitchen would produce would be safe and sound for His Highness to consume without negative consequence.

He was the one to speak for them all, and was currently stood at the doors of one of the many Imperial halls, standing there silently as he waited to be called upon to give his counsel and take his instructions one what would be served to the ambassador on his Imperial visit to the kingdom.

To Fa Rong, the menu had already been set and was simply waited to be made, and she knew that it would be the same for all the other kitchens that would be obligated to help with the feasts, banquets and grand meals that would be held.

They were dealing with a nation that loved their heat and contained scarce resources, leaving fewer dishes of rice and vegetable based meals, substituting them with soups, meats, and more spicier delights to be able to live under the harsh heat of their home.

What little grains that they had was often made into flour, rather than boiled as rice, creating a special reputation of breads that made the kingdom infamous - a menu and set of meals that ran opposite what their own lands favoured for their meals.

Rice dishes were extremely prevalent within the palace, with quite a culture of sea food as well that was served on special festival days. Soups were far less consumed, never mind breads. Some may describe the palette of Fa Rong's kingdom as bland and annoyingly subtle, but it hardly mattered to her.

She would serve the ministers what they desired and would eat whatever she liked whenever they did not look.