Madam San's Five Flavors Kitchen (Food)

◎Food◎Marriage First, Love Later

Blurb:

Modern-day travel and food blogger Luo Ling transmigrates to the past. To make money, she returns to her old line of work and opens an eatery in Chang’an, becoming the first person in ancient times to offer omakase.

Fragrant bamboo rice, crab-stuffed oranges, poached chicken, pork trotters.

Black sesame cakes, assorted fruit pastries, lotus root in rose syrup, golden-stem wine.

Roasting, braising, stewing, boiling, and marinating: diners leave with their bellies full.

Her little restaurant thrives, earning the admiration of scholars and gourmets alike. Reservations are impossible to come by. Then one day, she meets an obtuse man who isn’t moved by the dishes she has so painstakingly prepared.

He even says

“Food only needs to fill your stomach. Spending so much effort on all these fancy dishes is pointless.”

“The rule in my family is not to eat after the hour of the rooster. These little dishes won’t tempt me to break it.”

Only then does Luo Ling learn that the man is Gu Chenghe, a young general. What a waste of a handsome face, paired with such a tight-lipped personality!

Later, one is forced to marry a princess, while the other is forced to become a dutiful wife.

The two of them think it over and decide to get married to solve both problems at once. They can stay out of each other’s way and use the title of husband and wife to do as they please. What could be better?

Gu Chenghe feels sorry for her: I’ve ruined her life, and she still forces herself to smile every day. I need to treat her even better.

Meanwhile, Luo Ling thinks: A marriage without intimacy? I couldn’t be happier ^^

After the wedding, Luo Ling enjoys midnight snacks to her heart’s content in the courtyard. The mouthwatering aromas of hot pot, barbecue, malatang, hot-and-sour rice noodles, boat congee, shredded chicken, spicy duck snacks, smoked sausages, and cured-meat rice waft over several walls.

Gu Chenghe “happens” to pass by. He sees the entire household gathered in the courtyard: maids, matrons, guards, and pages all eating with grease running down their chins. Even the old madam, who is usually so picky, is eating… and loving it!

He approaches shamelessly. “My dear, could you add another place setting?”

Luo Ling raises an eyebrow. “Doesn’t the general refuse to eat after the hour of the rooster?”

Gu Chenghe answers solemnly, “That was before. Now I think it’s better to eat when the time is right.”

Reading Guide:

1. The female lead has a cooking golden finger and is good at both refined cuisine and home cooking.

2. The dynasty is fictional, and everything is made up! Everything is made up! Everything is made up! Please don’t nitpick the history, thanks!

▽Coming Soon: Historical Romance The Gentleman Steals His Wife

Blurb:

Lin Wan has lovely eyes, but terrible taste in men. Out of the three hundred talented young men on the imperial examination list, she picks the worst one.

The History of Zhou, “Biography of Corrupt Officials,” records: “Shilang Song Yi, born poor and without connections, used river-management projects as a pretext to extort vast sums and commit countless crimes. In the twelfth year of Yuanqi, he was escorted back to the capital and died on the road. The people rejoiced.”

Song Yi’s own death was disgraceful enough, but he also left her a young widow with a ruined reputation.

Soon, she sets her sights on Xie Chao’an, the eldest son of the Xie family, once hailed alongside Song Yi as one of two exceptional talents.

A true gentleman, flawless as white jade.

The Chenjun Xie clan is a family of wealth and prestige, with generations of high-ranking officials. Xie Chao’an, the heir to the family, is a hundred times better than Song Yi.

But she was once the wife of a convicted official. Even if she could shed that stigma, she would still have to stretch up on tiptoe to reach the position of the Xie family’s eldest daughter-in-law.

Fortunately, the Xie family’s second son goes out of his way to help her, and she finally achieves her wish and marries into the family.

A large hand with long, elegant fingers gently lifts the mandarin-duck bridal veil. The red candlelight must have dazzled her eyes.

Otherwise, why would the person holding the wedding silk in front of her be the Xie family’s second son?!

Forced onto the lavish bed, she watches all the lights go out at once. In the darkness, a voice just like her late husband Song Yi’s says, unhurriedly:

“This time, I have endless wealth, noble birth, and the good name of a gentleman. I have everything you want, Wanwan. You should be smiling happily… So why are you trembling?”

“Because you know that the trap you laid to kill me was carefully planned and couldn’t be allowed to fail, don’t you?”

#A love-addled man’s revenge

#When I say I hate you, I mean I hate that you don’t love me

Theme: Never forsake freedom or good food