What more was there to ask? Turn a big matter into a small one, and a small matter into nothing. Punish those who should be punished, let these border army soldiers hurry into the capital for an imperial audience, and the matter would be over. The clerks thought this, but since Principal Official Zhu had already invoked the Grand Tutor’s authority, they didn’t dare object.
Principal Official Zhu looked at the five kneeling kitchen soldiers and asked, “What exactly did you make? Why would someone call it pig slop?”
One kitchen soldier raised his head and said, “My lord, it was just the meat and vegetables we commonly eat in military camps.” He bore his grievance. “I know our cooking skills are inadequate and cannot compare with the great chefs of restaurants and taverns.”
Principal Official Zhu frowned and said, “What kind of talk is that? The border army’s kitchen soldiers aren’t restaurant chefs either.”
“But those noble young masters eat nothing but delicacies!” another kitchen soldier shouted, raising his head to look at one person.
All eyes at the scene instantly followed his gaze.
Principal Official Zhu slowly and unhurriedly, without rush or panic, slowly turned his head to look at the young officer standing at the entrance, who seemed utterly indifferent to the disputes and clamor before him and was listlessly examining his own fingers.
“Although Captain Xie is a noble young master,” he asked, “fighting the enemy in the hardship of the border army, surely he couldn’t eat delicacies either?”
Xie Yanlai lifted his eyelids to glance at him. Before he could speak, the servant standing beside him dropped to his knees with a thud.
“My lord, this has nothing to do with my young master—it’s my fault,” he said. “Precisely because our young master endured hardship fighting the enemy in the border army, now that we’ve returned to the capital, I wanted him to eat better and have food more to his taste, so I got into a dispute with the kitchen.”
He raised his hand and slapped himself twice.
“My young master was completely unaware. Please punish me, my lord.”
Principal Official Zhu smiled slightly. Without even looking at the servant, he still gazed at Xie Yanlai and asked, “Captain Xie, is that really how it was?”
Xie Yanlai, who had just lifted his eyelids, lowered them again. He didn’t look at his servant, nor did he look at Principal Official Zhu. He neither affirmed nor denied, only said lazily, “Whatever you say it is, that’s what it is.”
Principal Official Zhu sneered coldly. “How would I dare speak carelessly about Young Master Xie’s affairs?”
He no longer addressed him as Captain Xie, but as Young Master Xie. Who knew whether he meant the Young Master Xie before his eyes or that Young Master Xie in the court?
The clerks beside him understood perfectly well that Principal Official Zhu, being one of the Grand Tutor’s men, had nothing good to say about Young Master Xie.
“Since we know what happened,” an official said in a low voice, “let’s go back and mention it to the Grand Tutor as a reminder.”
At this point, there was indeed nothing more to be done here—just some quarrelsome nonsense. Principal Official Zhu glanced at Xie Yanlai. Boy, we’ll talk more at court.
“Fine,” he withdrew his gaze. “Let this matter end here. Take these men away—”
He hadn’t finished speaking when Xie Yanlai, who had been too lazy to speak, spoke up from behind.
“Wait a moment.” He interrupted Principal Official Zhu. “This matter cannot end here.”
Cannot?
Principal Official Zhu and the clerks looked at Xie Yanlai.
The young officer straightened his body. His roguish, lazy air dissipated. He clenched his hands before him and said coldly, “This matter isn’t finished yet.”