A Wild Monk and a Stinky Cook? No! He's the New Top Scholar

[Family life] [Imperial examinations] [Farming] [Lighthearted]

Jiang Zhuo transmigrates and becomes a young monk kicked out of the monastery by the abbot.

With no other choice, he returns home and resumes secular life.

But the moment he steps through the door, he’s confronted by an entire family of oddballs.

A spineless father, a meek mother, grandparents who play favorites, and a brother who loves to show off...

Jiang Zhuo: Fine, fine! This messed-up transmigration life boils down to one thing.

Roll up my sleeves and get to work!

I can make money and take the imperial exams at the same time!

From earning top honors in the county exam to becoming the top candidate in the metropolitan exam, from an editor at the Hanlin Academy to a close confidant of the emperor...

During factional infighting at court, he’s the “wild monk” in the ministers’ mouths.

When the border is under attack, he’s the “stinking cook” everyone talks about.

When he ignores convention and uses his remarkable cooking to win over enemy generals, persuading them to surrender without a single soldier lost...

Only then do the civil and military officials realize that this “wild monk,” who worships neither gods nor Buddhas and respects no authority, is a man of extraordinary talent!

One day, at the morning court assembly,

The emperor frowns from his throne. “Where is Minister Jiang?”

The head eunuch leans in and whispers, “Your Majesty, Grand Secretary Jiang has... gone to the imperial kitchens to cook again.”

The court falls into a flurry of whispers.

The old censors turn green with anger.

A grand secretary of the cabinet, wielding a giant ladle in the imperial kitchens? What kind of decorum is that!

The ministers think, “This is going to be good!”

But the emperor beams. “Well! I’ve actually been missing Minister Jiang’s stinky tofu. It smells awful, but tastes delicious!”

The ministers: “???!!!”

Is this really how things are supposed to work?