Chapter 10: The Quiver and the Sour Plum Soup (Part 2)

  When Li Cheng heard that Cao Zhi was going to cook, he exclaimed in surprise: "Fourth Master, aren't you going to cook?" Seeing Cao Zhi nodding in agreement, Li Cheng hastily said: "It's not possible. As the saying goes, 'a gentleman keeps a distance from the kitchen', if General Cao finds out, he will definitely severely punish me."

  Cao Zhi waved his hand and said, "How could that be? I was just preparing a plum soup to help my father dispel the summer heat. If Father knew about it, he wouldn't have time to reward me, let alone heavily punish me."

  Li Cheng listened and shook his head: "Fourth Master has a heart of filial piety towards General, we small men should do our best to assist, but Fourth Master still shouldn't go down to the kitchen."

  Cao Zhi heard this and smiled as he asked in return: "Can't you even make a decent sour plum drink?"

  "This... although the little ones won't be able to manage, they can still do it as long as Fourth Master guides them from the side. Fourth Master is still young and going into the kitchen is easy to get hurt." Li Cheng's eyes rolled around and he thought of this compromise method.

  Li Cheng refused to let himself go, and Cao Zhi could only nod in agreement. He then carefully explained the method of making sour plum soup to instruct Li Cheng to cook it.

  Chinese cuisine has a long history and diverse styles, with anything that can be eaten being used as an ingredient to make various dishes. However, during the Han Dynasty, the variety of dishes was not as rich and perfect as in later generations, and only aristocratic families could enjoy good food, while ordinary people mostly boiled their food in plain water and ate it without much variation.

  These military cooks are responsible for the army's meals on a daily basis, and their methods are naturally similar to those of ordinary civilians. They simply boil the food in clear water to cook it through. Today, Cao Zhi instructed them to make a sour plum soup, which really opened the eyes of the soldiers here. The Wu Mei fruit is not uncommon in the Central Plains region, and ordinary people often pick some to eat, so it's not hard to find. In addition to this, other ingredients like sugar are available in the military. However, sugar was an extremely precious commodity at that time, and most of the sugar in the army was supplied for use by the generals, with very little stored.

  Now that Cao Zhi wants to use it, and it's for Cao Cao, Li Cheng naturally took out ten of them. To make sour plum soup, you also need ingredients like hawthorn, osmanthus, licorice root, etc., which were mainly used as medicine during the late Han Dynasty. Since they didn't have these things in the army, Li Cheng sent someone to fetch some from the military supplies department.

  Plum soup is a traditional summer food in Northern Ping, and Cao Zhi had some experience with it before his soul traveled through time. Fortunately, the Chinese plums that the soldiers brought back had been left for several days, and the past few days were extremely hot, so the Chinese plums hanging outside the military tent had already started to dry out. Cao Zhi took them directly and used them, instructing Li Cheng to put the Chinese plums, hawthorns, licorice roots, etc. into boiling water and cook for about half an hour before adding sugar and stirring well.

  Because the freshly cooked sour plum soup is hot, and the weather is sweltering, and there is no ice in the army, it's hard to cool down the sour plum soup. Cao Zhi then told people to pour the sour plum soup into bamboo tubes, seal the opening, and throw them directly into the well water. These well waters are cooler than ordinary water because they are underground, and although the effect of putting them in is not as good as ice, it's a makeshift solution.

  It took Cao Zhi a good hour or more before he was finally delighted to take a bamboo tube of sour plum soup and hurry towards the main account. As for the extra ones, Cao Zhi let Li Cheng and his men divide them up. After all, they had helped him busy himself for over an hour, and it was very hard to bear in such hot weather, so he let them have some sour plum soup as a thank you.

  ……

  When he saw Cao Zhi, the gatekeeper Tian Wei glared at the two soldiers and said in a low voice, "The general has ordered that the fourth son is not allowed to leave the military tent half a step. Do you dare to disobey orders?"

  These two soldiers were personally selected by Dian Wei as his elite troops, and they knew how formidable he was. Now that they saw him get angry, both of them shrank their heads and didn't dare to look at him.

  Cao Zhi stepped forward and said, "General, do not blame them. It was I who secretly came out myself. They only caught up with me here. If you must punish someone, then punish me."

  "This...". Cao Zhi was after all Cao Cao's favorite son, and Dian Wei did not dare to punish him. He could only glare at the two soldiers fiercely and shout: "Whether or not to punish is not for me to decide, I can only report it to the general and let him make the decision."

  Cao Zhi smiled slightly and nodded to the two soldiers, saying: "Don't worry, I will explain it to the general myself. You don't have to be anxious." The two men looked at Cao Zhi with a grateful expression.

  After finishing speaking, Cao Zhi asked Dian Wei: "General Dian, is Father inside? I have an urgent matter to request an audience."

  Dian Wei cupped his fists and replied: "Fourth Master, the general is currently inside discussing matters with Mr. Mao, please wait a moment."

  "Mr. Mao?" In Cao Cao's camp, there was only one person with the surname Mao, and that was Mao Jie. He is currently in charge of logistics in the army, mainly responsible for grain and fodder.

  Cao Zhi heard Cao Cao and Mao Jie discussing something, and he felt that something was not right. He asked: "Father, are you discussing with Mr. Mao about the grain and fodder?"

  This remark indeed asked Dian Wei back, and he was seen standing in the field, scratching his head and saying: "I really don't know about this."

  At this moment, Cao Cao's majestic and calm voice rang out from within: "Is that you, Zhi'er? Come in."

  Having received Cao Cao's order, Zhang Fei finally moved his iron tower-like body and revealed the canopy that had been completely blocked by him. By blocking the canopy with his own body, anyone who wanted to rush into the main tent would have to kill Zhang Fei first, and this small action alone showed Zhang Fei's loyalty.

  Cao Zhi smiled kindly at Dian Wei, then walked into the big tent. He saw a man in his thirties with a serious face sitting at the lower end, frowning. When Cao Cao saw Cao Zhi coming in, he couldn't help but flash a smile on his originally stern face and said: "Zhi-er, you've just been quiet for a few days, how come you're making trouble again?"

  Cao Zhi put on an innocent expression and said, "Father, I didn't do anything wrong. The weather is hot, so I personally made a bowl of sour plum soup to help you dispel the heat, and I came to pay my respects and ask about your well-being."

  "Plum soup?" Upon hearing Cao Zhi's words, Cao Cao stroked his beard with his hand and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes. His gaze quickly fell onto the bamboo tube that Cao Zhi was holding in his hands.

  As soon as he saw Cao Cao's gaze fall on the bamboo tube, he stepped forward and handed over the bamboo tube, revealing a sweet smile, saying: "Father, the sour plum soup is here, try it to see how it tastes?"

  "Oh?" Cao Cao took the bamboo tube and saw that inside, there were yellow Osmanthus flower petals floating on top of a red soup. Although Cao Cao had eaten many delicious foods when he was under He Jin's command, this sour plum soup was his first time seeing it. Since the soup had gone cold, there wasn't any fragrance coming out, but this didn't affect Cao Cao's attention to this dish.