A Record of Culinary Splendor in Bianjing

Lin Yufeng opens her eyes to find herself in Bianjing as Lin Erniang, an orphan with the same name. Her parents and relatives have almost all perished, either in the plague or in the massacre and looting carried out by bandits who came down from the mountains. Her only older brother is also caught in a flash flood while taking her to the capital to seek help from their relatives.

Lin Yufeng enters the capital alone to visit her relatives, only to be turned away at the door.

With no relatives to rely on and not a copper to her name, she nevertheless makes a good life for herself in the capital thanks to her skillful hands and talent for cooking delicious food.

Envoys from every nation arrive at court, and people gather from the far corners of the realm. She leisurely takes in the prosperous splendor of the capital.

She brews tea and makes friends, braises meat in wine, and shares the countless delights of ancient cuisine.

Note:

1. The title was inspired by The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendor. I really love the feeling of a bustling, prosperous age.

2. I'm terrible at writing blurbs, so feel free to skim this one. It's a cozy food-and-farming story about living a leisurely life in Bianjing, cooking and eating to your heart's content.

3. I'm not good at writing romance, and the male lead appears late. I can't promise the romantic scenes will be any good...

4. This is a partly fictional setting, inspired by the Song dynasty but with both real and invented elements.

My completed novels, My Cafeteria's Food Is the Best in the World, The Imperial Kitchen's Chef Goes Viral, and The Fields I Grow Are Good for Your Health, are available in my author collection. Here are some upcoming novels:

Upcoming 1: Kyoto Business Journal

[Blurb]

When Xu Ruhai of the Bianliang Marquis household passes away, Xu Changge's family, a humble branch of the third household, suddenly loses its protection.

Her father, Xu Yuanqing, is dead. Her mother, Qin Shuangru, is frail. Her second younger brother, Xu Changli, is mischievous, and her third younger sister, Xu Changle, is a crybaby. The first and second branches join forces to pressure the third branch, hoping to seize all the family property.

Xu Changge has just realized that she was born into this ancient world after transmigrating as a fetus.

The family can be divided, but the wealth must stay!

She runs restaurants, cloth shops, and general stores; tends carefully to the farmland outside the capital; builds relationships with the noblewomen of the city; and teaches her younger siblings proper morals and knowledge...

Running a household starts with putting your heart into it!

Years later, the unremarkable Xu family branch rises to prominence, to everyone's astonishment. The Xu family's legitimate son places second in the imperial examinations; its second daughter becomes a well-known silver-shop owner in the capital; and Madam Qin remarries and brings a county deputy magistrate from the capital into the family...

As for Xu Changge, the eldest daughter of the Xu family's principal branch, the emperor summons her to court to tutor the princes and princesses.

Emperor: Lady Xu, what do you think of my children?

Xu Changge: Very capable. A ruler who can embrace all the streams is a blessing to the nation.

(Farming, food, business, court politics, and prosperity. Read the full blurb in my author collection.)

Upcoming 2: Riding by Night with a Lantern

[Blurb]

Li Shuyi, the third daughter of the Chancellor's household, is betrothed to Qi Handan, a young general from a military family.

But everyone knows that ten years ago, during the turmoil in the capital, the entire Qi household went to battle and died fighting. Only Qi Handan survived. He returned home with one leg crippled, half deaf and half blind, dragging his disabled body behind him.

Qi Handan will never ride a horse again, nor lift a halberd. He has no place on the battlefield.

Though Qi Handan holds the honorary title of young general, he has no actual military authority. He lives off government provisions and wastes away his days.

Since then, Qi Handan has become violent, willful, sensitive, suspicious, and impossible to get along with. Children in the Qi household cry at night, and the whole place is terrifying and oppressive.

Everyone says that the Chancellor's third daughter is as good as ruined, marrying a man like that.

But when Li Shuyi arrives at the Qi residence, she sits in the bridal chamber on her wedding day, dressed in red. The curtain beside her is pulled aside, revealing a soldier with a face covered in red sores.

A long horse whinnies outside the window. A cool wind rustles. A young man in black, his long hair tied back, rides toward her on a blue-gray steed, one eye covered.

His left hand, calloused and thickly scarred, grips a long sword, while his right hand pulls the reins.

"If you accept me, I'll treat you well. If you betray me, I'll take your heart."

Only that day does Li Shuyi learn that even with one crippled leg, a man can still ride like thunder and cut down generals as easily as soldiers.

The Grim-faced Demon of the Battlefield × the Chancellor's Delicate Daughter

Theme: Put your heart into building a life, and happiness will follow