Chapter 25.6

Her little head swayed gently as she ate, and she felt so blissful that she could burst into song.

After sampling the dishes, her gaze fixed on the lustrous green sophora leaf cold noodles ³ that were like emeralds.

This was a very famous cold dish of ancient China. She had heard her Thirteenth Uncle mention it before.

Thirteenth Uncle said that on a summer day when it was raining heavily, he once met a poor official in a small restaurant in the Tang Dynasty. Seeing that the official was starving thin, Thirteenth Uncle treated him to a bowl of sophora leaf cold noodles, and the official was very grateful.

Years later, Thirteenth Uncle learned that the down-and-out official was actually the famous poet, Du Fu ⁴ .

Du Fu also wrote a poem, “Cold Noodle Soup with Sophora Leaves”, and the first sentence is as follows: ‘Green are the high Sophora tree leaves, we pluck them and send them to the kitchen.’ ⁵

When he read that poem, Thirteenth Uncle even proudly bragged to her, “Perhaps he wrote this poem to commemorate me, a kind person who had given him a meal.”

In response, Tao Ti shrugged with her arms outstretched and said, “Sure, as long as you’re happy.”

Thirteenth Uncle was never serious—nine out of ten things he said were false. Even though he has indeed lived for nearly 1500 years, who knows if the story with Du Fu wasn’t something he made up?

“What are you thinking about?” Pei Yan’s voice suddenly came to her ears.

Tao Ti snapped out of her memories and gave him a light smile, saying softly, “I-It’s nothing. An elder in my family just suddenly came to mind…”

After a pause, she asked curiously, “Isn’t this sophora leaf cold noodle dish only available in summer? Why do they have it in spring?”

Pei Yan said in a warm tone, “It will be the Cold Food Festival6 soon, so all the stores have prepared some.”

Cold Food Festival? Tao Ti nodded and murmured, “No wonder…”

The so-called sophora leaf cold noodles were similar to the cold noodles of modern times. It was just that in this dish, the juice of sophora leaves have been mixed into the flour, giving the noodles a green colour. In the summer, the dish looked refreshing and light, and even gave off a faint sophora leaf fragrance.

The bowl of noodles before Tao Ti had a topping made of shrimp, which was fragrant and slightly red. Using her chopsticks, she mixed the enticing topping with the noodles, making sure that each strand of noodles was covered with sauce before having a mouthful.

The initial sensation was refreshing and not greasy. The noodles were soft and smooth, and because they were pulled by hand, there was also a bite to them. The bits of shrimp meat were plump, tender and bouncy, and tasted very good.

Very quickly, Tao Ti polished off an entire bowl of sophora leaf cold noodles, then rubbed her stomach with satisfaction, sighing inwardly, As expected of a delicacy that was praised by an ancient literati in poetry!

Pei Yan was also done eating. Slowly, he took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of his mouth, then said, “I have to do something nearby. Will you wait for me here, or stroll around the East market by yourself?”

Tao Ti paused for a moment, then said softly, “Go do what you have to. I’ll walk around by myself.”

Pei Yan nodded and said, “All right. I’ll have Linglong, Fu Xirui, and Zhan Ping accompany you. There will also be guards protecting you in secret… I’ll be back in at most an hour.”

“All right.”

Tao Ti smiled obediently at him, thinking, I can finally shop by myself! With a walking ATM like Pei Yan by her side, she didn’t even dare to look at the goods for more than a second, for fear that he would pay the bill if she took a second look. It was just… pretty stressful!

After stepping out of Chunfeng Inn, Pei Yan gave a few instructions, and the two split up.

Compared to the exotic flavour of the West market, the East market was full of local characteristics. Along the streets, there were people performing acrobatics, buskers playing instruments and singing, fortune tellers, and so on. It was an extremely lively and bustling atmosphere.

Tao Ti took in everything as she strolled, and bought a number of exquisite knick-knacks and interesting novelties.

Somehow, she found herself at a fabric store. There were many opulent carriages parked in the store’s huge courtyard, and a gilded plaque hung on the shop’s luxurious door, with the words, ‘Heavenly Brocade Court’, written on it in a majestic script.

“Wow, how grand!!”

“Madam, Heavenly Brocade Court is a rather famous fabric store in the city. If you are interested, how about going in for a look?” suggested Fu Xirui.

“Sure.”

Tao Ti walked in. The store’s décor was also very grand and opulent. All sorts of silks and fabrics were displayed in neat arrangements. There were already many ladies and maidens choosing the goods, and the seven or eight shop attendants were busy helping them.

Perhaps because Tao Ti was dressed simply, one of the shop attendants only said to her, “Madam, feel free to look around”, before turning to go entertain a group of lavishly dressed customers who had come in behind her.

Feeling a little indignant about this, Linglong harumphed, “Bah, how snobbish.”

However, Tao Ti was happy to be left alone. She said soothingly, “It’s okay, let’s shop by ourselves.”

The first floor stocked ready-made clothes and average-quality silks; top-quality silks were on the second floor.

Tao Ti went up to the second floor and saw a few colours and patterns that were quite good, especially that tea-white brocade with a cloud and crane pattern that was placed on the highest spot—

Pei Yan would definitely look good in this colour.

He had accompanied her all morning but hadn’t bought anything for himself. Should she buy this brocade and give it to him as a gift?

The more Tao Ti thought about it, the more she thought it was a good idea. She called an attendant over and asked him to take down that bolt of brocade.

Footnote:

³ sophora leaf cold noodles: a cold noodle soup dish where the noodles are made with the juice of sophora japonica leaves, also known as the Japanese pagoda tree.

⁴ Du Fu: A Chinese poet and politician of the Tang dynasty, and was frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like the whole country, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.

⁵ While this novel is clearly a work of fiction, Du Fu was a real person, and he did indeed write a poem about these noodles, and the English translation of the poem is as follows:

Cold Noodle Soup with Sophora Leaves

Green are the high Sophora tree leaves,

e pluck them and send them to the kitchen.

Fresh noodles from the nearby market

are combined with the juice and crushed leaves.

They are put in the kettle to ensure they will be quickly done,

I eat more, worrying that it will soon be gone.

Emerald freshness shines together on the chopsticks,

fragrant rice along with reed shoots.

Passing my teeth it is colder than snow,

I urge others, offering them like pearls.

Part of the attraction of this poem is about his undisguised pleasure and his worrying that he would not get his fill. That and his reluctance to share with others might have been considered selfish. Only in the tenth line does he belatedly urge others to eat, dishing out portions as if distributing precious gems. The first half of the poem translated here may have been written as a compliment to the cook—“Your noodles were so good I couldn’t help myself!” As if compensating for the levity of the beginning, the second half of the poem expresses Du Fu’s ambition to deliver this humble dish to the imperial palace. The impulse is telling in light of the lavish feasts that he wrote about in Chang’an.

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