The day I became the Cheng family's live-in son-in-law, I was demonstrating to Li Shimin how to boil a belt in hotpot broth.
Old Cheng slammed his palm down on the table: "Dear son-in-law! I have to invest in this spicy red-oil broth!"
The next day, Cheng Yaojin came waving a spiked club, demanding I open a chain of restaurants, while Yuchi Gong arrived with a stack of banknotes to invest in a private kitchen.
I lounged in a grand armchair, directing the servants as they made milk tea, when Princess Changle suddenly kicked the door open:
"Um... Father wants to know if the imperial kitchen can serve spicy dry pot."
I looked at the franchise applications the entire court had sent me and fell into deep thought. Had I somehow led the Tang Dynasty astray? I use my culinary skills to stir up the golden age of the Tang Dynasty.
