Chapter 504: Dumplings Can Also Be Shaped Like Rats

The rumors turned out to be true—before winter had even ended, Constable Luo had arrived in Changjing to take office.

Song You had seen him twice on the streets.

However, both times, Constable Luo had been leading his men in handling cases. While Song You had noticed him, Constable Luo had not noticed Song You.

During this period, Constable Luo was undoubtedly busy.

By nature, he was likely more tactful than Duke of Thunder Zhou had been back in the day, better at handling matters, yet no less upright in his principles. Furthermore, since Prime Minister Yu had deliberately followed the example of Prime Minister Gu, making an exception to transfer him to the capital, expectations for him were high. Constable Luo had no intention of letting Prime Minister Yu down.

The timing of his appointment was also significant.

On a small scale, the New Year was approaching.

On a larger scale, the Emperor remained missing, and the Crown Prince had long since taken over state affairs. The official search for the Emperor—whether by the court or military—had become a mere formality. Everyone knew that once the New Year passed, the Crown Prince would likely face south, back to the north, and ascend to the throne.

The disorder in Changjing—both among the people and within their hearts—needed to be stabilized.

With Prime Minister Yu’s support and the Crown Prince’s backing, Constable Luo worked tirelessly, making arrests day and night. Whether it was local thugs and scoundrels, wandering martial artists, the offspring of nobility, or even rogue ghosts and demons, none were spared.

Each time Song You saw him, Constable Luo was always in a rush, passing by swiftly.

And so, the days passed, bringing them closer to New Year’s Eve.

That night, Song You sat inside his residence, gazing at the brightly lit and festively decorated streets outside. He couldn’t help but sigh.

“Another year has come to an end.”

As soon as he spoke, a soft, delicate voice echoed behind him, “Another year has come to an end...”

Song You turned around and looked at her, letting out another sigh.

The little calico cat swayed her head from side to side, then mimicked him and sighed as well.

“Lady Calico, why don’t you try calculating how many years it has been since we left the mountain?” Song You asked.

“Let me calculate it.” The little cat swayed her head from side to side, looking as if she had some kind of ailment. Then she stopped, looked at him in confusion, and said, “You’re the one who came down the mountain. I merely left the temple.”

“Then let’s count from when we left Jinyang Road.”

“Let’s count from the Beginning of Autumn!”

“That works.”

“What year is it now?”

“It’s the last day of the tenth year of Mingde.”

“Then that means...” The cat tilted her head, thinking for a moment, then quickly answered, “Nine and a half years.”

“Lady Calico, you’re indeed wise.”

“Where have we not been yet?”

“The west.”

“The west!”

“We still haven’t explored the vast northwest and western regions. Yizhou, though in the southwest, is not the farthest southwest either. We haven’t covered all of it yet,” Song You explained to her. “There are still two Five-Directions Soil left.”

“Two Five-Directions Soil!”

“Why is it that when I complimented you on your wisdom today, you didn’t reply with ‘That’s right!’ as usual?”

“Because I am naturally wise...”

The little cat casually sat down and raised a paw to lick it.

Just then, someone arrived outside.

It was Cui Nanxi, accompanied by officials from the Imperial Academy, delivering to him the very first printed copy of

Doctor Cai’s Medical Canon

.

This was the first officially published edition of the medical canon in the world.

Song You held the book in his hands, examining it closely. The little cat also leaned in to take a look—though whether she could actually understand it was another question.

But perhaps that didn’t matter.

After all, Song You himself could barely understand it. At most, he could compare it to the original manuscript to check for differences.

“If Doctor Cai hears in Ghost City that his

Medical Canon

has been successfully published, he must be very happy, right?” Song You turned to the cat and asked.

“I don't know!”

“At least you’re honest.”

“That’s right!”

“We’ll keep this copy,” Song You said, closing the book with a

thud

. “We’ll bring it back to the Daoist temple. If it’s well-preserved, maybe a few hundred or even a thousand years from now, it will still astonish the future generations.”

“Today is New Year’s Eve. Lady Calico, go call the swallow down. Let’s go out for a bit, buy some meat and vegetables, and come back to make dumplings.”

Just as he finished speaking, the swallow flew in from outside.

“Poof!”

The swallow transformed into human form and stood there obediently.

“What are dumplings?” The little calico cat stared curiously at the Daoist.

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

At this time in history, early forms of dumplings already existed, but they weren’t called that yet, nor was there a tradition of eating them for the New Year—not in the north or the south.

Song You just suddenly felt like eating them.

And so, they set out to buy vegetables and meat.

In the depths of winter, there weren’t many vegetables available. Song You walked up and down the street once and only found two kinds suitable for dumpling fillings—cabbage and wood-ear mushrooms[1]. He then bought a cut of pork with a three-to-seven fat-to-lean ratio, asking the butcher to finely mince it. Wrapped in a leaf and tied with straw, he carried it back home.

The dried wood-ear mushrooms were soaked and chopped, while the cabbage was washed and minced.

Each was mixed with the ground meat and seasoned, creating two different types of dumpling filling.

“Looks like

baozi

!” Lady Calico stood beside him, eyes wide and unblinking.

“There’s quite a difference.”

Carrying the prepared meat filling, Song You stepped outside to the table in the courtyard, where the swallow had already wiped the surface clean.

The doors were wide open, and being New Year’s Eve, the streets outside were packed with people.

Lady Calico followed him closely, sticking to his side wherever he went. Whatever he did, she watched intently, refusing to miss a single detail.

“If you studied magic as seriously as this, you wouldn’t keep losing to the swallow.”

“I study magic very seriously!”

“Oh?”

“The swallow is really strong!”

“That’s true.”

“But I’m also really strong!”

“Alright, alright...”

By now, Song You had finished kneading the dough. He found a rolling pin and dusted the table with a thin layer of flour.

He tore off a piece of dough and rolled it into a dumpling wrapper—thicker in the center, thinner at the edges.

Patiently, he taught the two little demons how to wrap dumplings, then focused entirely on rolling out the wrappers, leaving the two of them to do the wrapping. He didn’t care if they turned out ugly or beautiful, simply continuing to roll out more dough.

Outside, people bustled about, lively shouts filling the air—vendors hawking their goods, dragon and lion dancers performing in the streets, a scene of pure festivity.

Inside, three figures worked busily at the table.

At first, the two little demons were slow, constantly pausing to ask questions or check each other’s progress. They couldn’t even keep up with Song You’s speed. Occasionally, he would stop and glance outside at the vibrant city.

But gradually, they improved. As demons, their dexterity and speed soon kicked in, and before long, they were working at the same pace as him.

And so, the roles reversed—now it was the passersby outside stopping to watch them.

“Why do they have to be shaped like this?” Lady Calico asked, puzzled. “Why not just make them like

baozi

?”

“Because dumplings are meant to be boiled. If you shape them like

baozi

, it would feel a bit strange,” Song You explained. “But there are other ways to fold them, like willow-leaf dumplings, though I don’t know how. If you prefer, you can shape them however you like—as long as they cook properly.”

“...!” The little girl’s expression suddenly sharpened with determination.

Song You immediately had a bad feeling.

And sure enough, Lady Calico’s clever hands worked their magic. Before long, fish-shaped dumplings and rat-shaped dumplings neatly filled the table, each stuffed with meat filling and arranged in perfect rows.

“...”

Though Song You felt helpless, he didn’t say anything. Once they had finished wrapping all the dumplings, he waited until dinnertime, then set a pot of water to boil and dumped them all in at once. Soon, the dumplings floated to the surface, signaling they were cooked.

By now, night had fallen. The warm glow of the stove fire flickered against the walls, and the oil lamp on the kitchen counter swayed gently, casting dancing shadows across the room. Steam curled from the boiling pot, filling the air with a delicious aroma.

Using a skimmer, Song You scooped up the dumplings and divided them into three bowls.

He made sure to set aside all the rat-shaped dumplings for Lady Calico’s bowl—after all, she had put in so much effort shaping them.

Without bothering with extra lanterns, the three of them each took a small bowl in hand and sat at the doorway, eating their steaming hot dumplings while watching the crowded night streets, where countless lanterns merged into a river of light.

“Do your dumplings taste good?”

“They’re delicious!”

“And the rat-shaped ones?”

“Delicious!”

“Aren’t they just lumps of dough?”

“They’re the best!”

“...”

Song You shook his head and continued focusing on his bowl.

The food still carried the familiar flavors he was used to. Combined with the special occasion and the bustling sights before him, memories surfaced with ease.

The only thing missing tonight was fireworks.

With the old Emperor missing and the nation technically without a ruler, extravagant celebrations were deemed inappropriate—even on New Year’s Eve.

Yet, people’s enthusiasm could not be dampened. Countless residents stepped out of their homes, some carrying their own lanterns, others simply borrowing the glow of others, savoring this rare festive night. The shops and taverns of Changjing remained brightly lit, their business hours stretching into the unknown.

As for the Emperor, whose life or death remained uncertain, he was nothing more than an idle topic of conversation and mild concern for the common folk.

Song You ate as he observed the night.

Once he finished his dumplings, he slept soundly.

In the middle of the night, faint sounds drifted up from downstairs—sometimes resembling the chopping of meat, sometimes the slicing of vegetables, at times the scooping of water.

Song You only knew that the little cat was no longer by his side—but where she had gone, he neither cared to think nor bothered to check.

With a simple turn of his body, he went back to sleep.

***

A nation could not go a day without the sun, while a country could not go a day without a Ruler.

On the tenth day of the first month of the eleventh year of Mingde, after repeated pleas from the entire court of civil and military officials, the Crown Prince—who refused three times but could not refuse any longer—reluctantly ascended the throne.

He retained the existing reign title and granted a general amnesty across the empire. Along with his ascension, two imperial decrees were issued.

The first decree was to repopulate the north.

After years of war, many northern prefectures had been devastated, their populations nearly wiped out by continuous battles and destruction. Other regions also suffered great losses.

An empty prefecture was not only a waste of land but also difficult to govern.

Now that peace had been restored in the north, and with the tribes beyond the northern frontier unable to pose a threat for at least another century, the real issue lay in the south—where the population had grown dense, farmland was scarce, and last year’s natural disasters and supernatural plagues had left many people destitute, on the verge of becoming refugees.

For some time, the court had planned to relocate these struggling southerners to the north, but such an operation required coordination from multiple provincial governors.

With the Emperor missing, issuing such an order had been impossible.

But now that the new Emperor had ascended, he wasted no time in declaring the decree, which was to reward Chen Ziyi.

Chen Ziyi’s achievements were already unparalleled. Apart from the founding generals of the dynasty, the title of Marquis of Wuan was nearly the highest honor a military commander could receive.

However, last year’s internal turmoil in Great Yan had nearly cost the Emperor his throne—Prince Shun had almost seized power.

It was Chen Ziyi who responded to the imperial order, led his forces south to restore order, retook Changjing, and secured the rightful succession, ultimately paving the way for the new Emperor’s ascension.

He had practically saved the empire with his own hands.

His contributions to the new Emperor were no less than those of the founding heroes of the dynasty. Moreover, he had sustained serious injuries in the process and remained bedridden to this day. A reward was inevitable.

Even without visiting a teahouse to gather news, Song You, still half-asleep upstairs, overheard the commotion outside. Pedestrians were discussing the matter with great excitement—the new Emperor had granted Chen Ziyi the title of “Imperial Guardian Duke.”

It was, after all, a title only an Emperor could bestow.

1. Wood-ear mushrooms are a dark-to-light brown fungi that looks like a small crinkled ear. ☜