OR-8 Golden Rice Crust

One tangerine cake... to go, please.

Oh, you're here.

Sending it to Victoria this time as well?

No... Not sending it. I need to go back right away... Though it's hard to say if I even can go back.

This time—

*cough* *cough* *cough*! Just a snack for the road.

Wow, your cough's gotten pretty bad.

I don't think you should be eating sweets right now. I'll boil you up a bowl of loquat soup.

I'm fine, I'm fine... It's not to do with my lungs.

Doesn't matter where the problem is, you've got to take care of yourself. You seen a doctor about it?

Yes, yes. I don't have much time left, apparently.

I'd say I'm beyond having to mind what I eat.

...Huh?

It's fine. Everyone has to die someday.

I've done pretty much everything I needed to get done—

How can you say something like that?!

Didn't you... Didn't you say you still have family in Victoria? They're waiting for you to go home.

Yes... I held onto hope that I could see them again, but it seems

*cough*... that won't be happening...

I might've been a useless good-for-nothing my entire life, but at least I can say I haven't disgraced what little ideals and righteousness I still have in me.

But only now that I'm at the end have I realized I owe them far, far too much...

*sigh* Isn't that just how people are? Things like that happen from time to time. If you try and be the perfect people pleaser, you're a fool.

But surely you still want to go home, right?

I want to see them, but if I don't, they'll have easier lives.

That's just how people are... If you want to get something done, you need to put something down.

Everyone else has put their things down, so I should too...

I have been in your care for so many years now, Young Chef. Even my final few words in this reverie of mine are for your ears only.

Then...

Is there still... something you want?

I want...

You need to pay more attention. Look at this spot you swept, it's still covered in ash.

Make sure not to miss any corners either. Anything dirty has to be cleaned. We are moving out soon, and we cannot leave behind any trouble for the house's next owner.

It is rather late, Mr. Ning. Where are you headed off to?

Oh, don't mind me, just going out for a walk.

Mr. Ning's been acting really odd today.

Why's he spending his Mid-Autumn Festival watching us clean the house instead of gazing at the moon?

That's enough questions out of you. Focus on your sweeping.

With such brilliant moonlight tonight, we should give it a pristine spot to land on.

How did I... get here...

Grandfather's study?

Annals of Yan, Volume 124, Supplement 17... 1062... Since when was there such a book in the Imperial Historical Records?

...Grandfather?

It's been years since there was a criminal thrown into the fifth floor of this prison. What's the story tonight?

Assassinating someone at court. The Imperial Guard themselves are dragging the culprit here.

What a ruthless—!

Shh!

Don't think too hard about it, and don't ask too many questions. Just keep a close eye on the culprit. You and I won't be enough to fix any mistakes.

Not only was the perpetrator highly skilled in kung fu, but they also had intimate knowledge of the Judicial Review Office's layout. They must have been working with Yu Cheng for quite some time.

Yu Cheng asked you to take notes during his trial. This is why you stand here now, and it is also the reason I cannot allow you to participate any further.

Whatever Yu Cheng's plan, you are most certainly a part of it.

Deputy Minister Lin, surely you wouldn't ask if you didn't know the answer already?

Can you not see the truth, or do you simply pretend you can't because you don't dare to?

What makes you so dead-set on the case, Censor Xie Zhen?

Were it not for the scent of mold, this prison would actually be a good place to meditate.

Indeed. While I was waiting here, I managed to figure out many things that have been on my mind.

It was you who set the scrollery on fire.

Was it an answer I gave you here, or one you puzzled out beforehand?

We meet again, Deputy Minister Lin.

Hey, I'm not in the mood to discuss snacks with you right now. I've got people to save!

Calm down, take it easy. Is it any use being so high-strung when you have so much to do?

What do you know—

All I know is that if the heat ain't right, don't take off the lid.

...

*sigh* You can't skip out on meals if you have something big to do. If you don't eat, you're not getting anything done.

Here, try this. Is this the tangerine cake you're looking for?

You... Weren't you always saying I wouldn't be able to find it, even if I searched all of Baizao?

I also said I'm the best chef in all of Baizao. As long as the taste exists, I can replicate it.

And this one's my own creation. It won't count for our bet.

Isn't this the same tangerine cake you made before—

—!

How do you...

How do you know this recipe?

You were so hung up on my tangerine cake not being sweet enough. It got me wondering what kind of chef would make them that sweet.

Then I thought, what if the one who made them so sweet didn't do it for the taste?

That means...

You said you ate these in Victoria, right?

I'm reminded of a regular customer I had many years ago. He always ordered some tangerine cakes, and said he was going to send some off to his daughter in a foreign land.

I told him they'd spoil long before they got to her.

But he refused to believe me. He'd process it a bit himself, and wrap it up in layer after layer of letter paper. You could barely tell if it was a letter or some food by the end of it.

You knew him!

He came here... I've been searching for him all this time...

Do you... know what happened to him...?

I wouldn't say I knew him. He was just a regular customer of many years.

I vaguely remember him always coming over before it was even bright out to order the cheapest breakfast I had on the menu, then he'd sit by the window, like he was waiting for someone.

Waiting for someone? Who...?

How should I know? See for yourself.

It's you...

It's really you...

You're here.

I never thought I would see you again in my lifetime.

The Judicial Review Office is truly kind. Even us prisoners get a mooncake for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

It's delicious. Want a bite?

No need. I will be having my meals in this prison soon enough. I will have my own to enjoy.

Pity, we still have so much to talk about. It's not quite the same without something to munch on, right?

For decades, you have wanted to ask an old man like me your questions. I suppose today is your lucky day?

You should hate me, Mr. Ning.

You were one step away from being able to go back home without a heavy heart, one step away from enjoying your twilight years with your family.

Just one small step... Hahahahaha.

I really should hate you, when you put it like that. I would like nothing more than to charge at you and tear at your flesh with my teeth.

But on second thought, you have given up decades of your life and your position as Deputy Minister at the Judicial Review Office for me, spending the rest of your years within this cell.

No matter how you look at it, it should be you who hates me.

Hahahaha... You're overthinking it, Mr. Ning.

I said it before, but I was never any good at my job, or at being a decent human being... Not like Gu Quan.

I'm a glutton, you see, the type that loves sniffing out deep, hidden truths. I tore open shells to get at the flesh, and got addicted to the sweet, sweet taste of marrow. I'll do anything for it, even if it leaves my hands bloodied and my teeth shattered.

During all these years, you were the biggest, plumpest shellbeast on my dining table. How could I ever hate you?

Even if I were to hate... It wouldn't be for anything on my side.

Your teeth are still in fine shape. I never saw them chip while they were gnawing on my old bones.

But Yu Cheng, why were you so sure I would have come to see you today?

If I had just walked away from all this, all your plots and plans would have gone to waste, no?

Hahahaha... Because I understand you. I understand you far too well, Mr. Ning.

I simply had to gamble, that during the years you spent bobbing around the hierarchy of mandarins, you would dirty your hands, but still retain your humanity.

You let Gu Quan live on while he was right under your nose, after all, and raised his daughter to boot.

You care about the fate of that child... Those two children, rather. You wanted to see those girls live carefree, innocent lives while you yet live...

You knew that if you did not relent one day, they would never know peace.

And so you came to see me... You had to.

You have looked into these matters already... It seems you managed to find out most of what should have been found out.

How long did it take you?

I only finished deciphering the clues and piecing them all together last year. It shames me to admit as a deputy minister, but my pace was a bit too slow.

Gu Quan, on the other hand? He managed to figure it all out years ago.

I never considered that...

The year he returned to Baizao, you managed to put him under your watch. But you never thought he would copy decades worth of letters from your home.

By peering through all those letters between grand mandarins and nobles, he, a ninth-rank ceremonial officer, found every survivor of that murder case. He unraveled the threads and pieced the truth together.

Gu Quan's diligence knew no bounds. I underestimated him.

Anything more you wish to say, Mr. Ning?

Hahahaha... What is there left to say? What sins must be admitted, I shall admit.

I really did send someone to kill the Minister of Justice who presided over the Grand Preceptor's case.

But not because he accused me of being the Grand Preceptor's collaborator in treason...

Rather, because the Grand Preceptor's treason was a miscarriage of justice all along.

Indulge me in my curiosity, Deputy Minister Lin. When did you figure it out?

I suspected it was you who set Ding Feng Lou alight.

Why? What would I have to do with that incident?

Call it a hunch.

Though you might not have used your kung fu at the time, a mask was not enough to prevent me from thinking that person's figure and skills were familiar. Very familiar.

Afterwards, at the Judicial Review Office, you sought me out and managed to cement this particular suspicion in my mind.

Come to think of it, you must have been in close contact with Yu Cheng as early as when I was preparing to impeach him. I never considered the possibility you were already cooperating with him at the time.

From the scrollery fire to the hanging scroll in the Ning Manor, and then on to the fire at Ding Feng Lou. This recent string of mysteries was you trying to lead me along a trail of clues, wasn't it?

That was rather rushed and sloppy, now that I look back.

And the fire at the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies...?

I must regret to inform you that was not my doing, truly. Merely an unexpected turn that happened to align with our goal.

Why did you two do all this?

Ridiculous as it may sound, this all started with an old case. Not a large one, yet not small either.

A case I happened upon by chance after I joined the Department of Discipline and Supervision.

The Minister of Justice, assassinated by a beggar in the middle of the street. A case I could barely believe, yet one hastily closed without meaningful buildup or a satisfying conclusion.

Though the assassin had been executed, his identity, his motive... There were simply too many vague unknowns in the file.

As I dug deeper, I noticed that every thread led towards an even bigger case, a case that had snipped all those threads short.

The Grand Preceptor's treason...

You've investigated that case too.

The betrayal of the three Grand Ministers, a case large enough to shake the court, and one that implicates countless others. Forget finding the truth, even just mentioning the Grand Preceptor's name at the time was the greatest of taboos.

'The Grand Preceptor incited the prince to regicide.' This was all the history books had to say on the matter.

But nobody knows the truth of what happened the night the old True Lung passed away.

Who was it who mobilized the city guard? Who went into the palace?

Only later did I realize I was not the only one looking into this case.

Was this how you got to know Yu Cheng?

Should I rather call it fowlbeasts of a feather, or friendship at first sight?

You said the two of you weren't able to follow the trail, so how did you determine the Grand Preceptor was wrongly accused?

It wasn't our research that lead to this conclusion.

The one who brought everything to light was Gu Quan.

Why?

Do you seriously not know why?

Of course I do. I just wanted to ask you how this 'why' tasted when you said it aloud.

...The people cry out, their hearts uneasy...

Only those who have experienced the struggle know that Yan's current peace and prosperity were hard-won.

It was a very, very long time ago.

The old True Lung was diligent. At the time, Originium industries were beginning to change the structure of this great land. Even during Yan's turbulent times, he did not allow her to fall behind the other nations of Terra.

And so it was that a great hero was infected with Oripathy in his twilight years. Believing his days were numbered, his many policies began to stray into bias and imbalance.

At the time, the prince wished to stop the True Lung... and the Grand Preceptor stood by his side.

This supposed support was her urging the prince to seize the throne?

The old True Lung died the night the prince entered the palace to admonish him. As for the prince? His whereabouts since that night are unknown. Such a tumultuous event demanded an explanation.

...Which required someone to be charged with everything.

Do you think the current True Lung was unaware of all this...?

Hmph.

Changes in the court naturally lead to unrest among the masses. 'The Purge of Traitors'. A very fitting slogan.

The then-young True Lung acted with an iron fist to sweep away many courtiers with evil intent, stabilizing the situation as quickly as possible. This ensured this spell of court intrigue never made it outside the walls of the Forbidden City.

For forty years, I assumed I was the only one aside from the True Lung himself to still remember what transpired.

Until ten or so years after that case ended, that young man stood in front of me once again.

I fear you speak of that time too lightly, Mr. Ning.

It was not only traitors who were 'swept away'. There was also the entirety of the Grand Preceptor's family, twenty-eight in all.

They were all sent to prison. Some committed suicide in their cells to prove their innocence. Those who lived were exiled. I tried to find some trace of them, but it was no use. Couldn't find a single one.

...

Except for a child... Spirited away during the turmoil, still swaddled in a blanket.

I never considered the possibility she still lived, yet never truly believed she had died.

It seems you've met her.

A few days ago. Her appearance is... not too similar. But their personality? It's like two peas in a pod.

Gu Quan never spoke a word about that child's whereabouts during the decade he spent in Baizao, right up until his death...

I'm sure you're now well aware of why he died on the road back to Victoria.

Yu Cheng, you old bastard.

You used Gu Quan's own death to ensure there was no possibility of anyone finding that child, which also gave you an opportunity to investigate me.

At the time I assumed Gu Quan had no success in his exhaustive research into the Grand Preceptor case, which prompted him to leave Baizao in despair.

It was only after many years that I realized it was not the so-called truth that he sought. He had long since found the answers to those troubles you mentioned earlier.

What he hoped I would do was something else entirely.

I don't understand...

Are you telling me you two knew all along that Blaze was the orphan from that case?

Your investigation should have already revealed that Gu Quan and Yu Cheng knew each other.

After taking the child away, Gu Quan kept the secret of her whereabouts to himself for decades. But before he met his untimely end, he confided in the only 'friend' he had, Yu Cheng.

After his death, Yu Cheng immediately began to search for her.

However, he was unable to personally act as deputy minister at the Judicial Review Office. He entrusted the task of performing discreet inquiries to me, far from the center of court politics, so as to not attract attention.

By the time I found her in Victoria, she was already infected.

I could not take her back to Baizao right away. For the sake of protecting her, I had no choice but to place her in the care of a medical organization that treated the Infected.

So it was you...

You were already aligned at the time, I see.

But you were also part of this plan from early on, Deputy Minister Lin.

What do you mean?

How was it you were able to find Blaze's trail? How were you able to come across those files pertaining to her past? Surely you didn't just attribute them to chance?

...

Yu Cheng would not have told you these himself. The risk was too great. There could not be a third person who knew of this in all of Terra.

But he was always searching for a suitable candidate... One with courage, who stood for truth.

He has long since been ready to give his life for this cause. I am happy to dirty my hands doing what must be done in his stead.

But it's not enough. We needed someone pure and innocent, one who could use honest means to lay bare the truth.

It's nearly time.

We still have one last opportunity.

Do you still wish to bring the truth out into the light of day, Deputy Minister Lin?

Yu Cheng... That is the truth behind the Grand Preceptor case you seek.

Do you have any further questions?

You've spoken at length, yet you've said nothing about your role in these events, Mr. Ning.

Why did you send someone to kill the Minister of Justice?

Do you not already have the answer, Deputy Minister Yu? Was it not you who accused me years ago of having the Minister murdered to stop him from investigating and save myself in the chaos?

You need not be in such a hurry to discredit yourself.

There was one question that perplexed me for a long time. Why did Gu Quan stay at your house when he returned to Baizao nearly a decade later?

It was not until I saw that girl at your house did all the puzzle pieces fall into place.

He narrowly escaped with his life, yet he still returned to Baizao, not only to find the truth of what happened, but also to search for the daughter he left behind.

It seems he did not tell you much.

Yes. Most of what follows will be mere speculation. If I'm wrong, feel free to laugh in my face.

I heard that after the Grand Preceptor's suicide following accusations of treason, the entire nation was in uproar and mandarins distanced themselves from her. Yet, one Academy student dared to honor her in public.

It was thus that he stumbled onto the Grand Preceptor's home as the belongings within were being confiscated. In his hurry, all he could take away was a baby girl, just born into the family. As it so happened, his own daughter was recently born as well.

At his wit's end, he tried to flee Baizao with his wife and the two babies. As a scholar with no background, he didn't get far before an Imperial Guard captured him.

Perhaps out of compassion and wanting to keep the Grand Preceptor's bloodline going, the Imperial Guard spared the scholar and the Grand Preceptor's child, instead taking the scholar's daughter.

I do not know what Gu Quan was thinking at the time, but it was most likely he had no other choice.

This child fell into the hands of the Minister of Justice, her bloodline obvious with a modicum of research. But as it turned out, how to handle this child of an outsider was a delicate conundrum indeed.

It was around this time that you, Mr. Ning, long dissatisfied with the Minister's extreme methods, decided to take the ultimate risk: assassination.

The Grand Preceptor's case implicated many, and it seemed fitting that the bloodstained Minister of Justice met his end through retribution. With the court's turmoil resolved, the True Lung allowed the bloodstained curtain to finally fall in this fashion.

The only unresolved question left is that child. Based on how things are now, she was taken into your care. What this entailed is not hard to guess. But as for the why of it...

If I recall correctly, Mr. Ning, you enjoyed the tutelage of the Grand Preceptor as well, correct?

O Yu Cheng, had you not been absorbed in Judicial work or confined to this cell, I shudder to think what that meticulous mind of yours might have accomplished.

It's terrifying, truly terrifying.

You flatter me. I'm nothing more than a fool compared to Gu Quan. It is simply because I have met far too many people in my capacity as Deputy Minister of the Judicial Review Office. The more one sees, the more one learns.

Now that I think about it, the dish Gu Quan offered to the True Lung at the Feast of a Hundred Delicacies wasn't merely an act of suicide—it was him reconciling with the truth.

Before he passed, he did not tell me the truth, but he did divulge the whereabouts of the Grand Preceptor's orphan. He must have hoped that once I found the truth for myself, I would also choose reconciliation.

Yet I could not.

All I could do was use my methods to find the people still left, the ones you care for, and force you to spit out the truth.

All things considered, Mr. Ning, you are no villain, perhaps just a coward...

Hate me all you want.

...

To see that child once more has always been a wish of mine...

I will go and seek an audience with His Majesty.

You... You know everything?

I only just found out...

I still want to ask you—

How are you... so calm about all this...?

It was a suspicion I hid away in my heart for many, many years... One I have finally found proof for.

Like a thorn stuck in your palm. It may bleed a bit when you pluck it out, but you'll feel much better afterward.

Why...

Why won't you say something?

I don't know how it came to all this...

Should I feel sad or angry right now...?

I don't know... All I know is that my mind's a mess and my heart feels like it's being stabbed... Who the hell am I supposed to set ablaze with this fire crawling up my throat?!

Well, I have a question for you.

Blaze... Can you tell me about Gu Quan? My... my father. What sort of man was he?

He... He was an idiot, a nerd, and a liar!

I hate lies! I've seen too damn many of them! Greedy lies, cowardly lies, sneaky lies...

But never one that demanded a lifetime of commitment, one that cost him his own daughter and himself, all to protect someone who had nothing to do with him.

How... How could he be so stupid?

It reminds me of a story I once read...

There once was a guard who watched over a rest station by the river. One day, he saw a flood coming from upstream. He wanted to run upstream and tell the people there to close the sluice gates.

But he had only run halfway when he saw the river was rising too quickly. It was too late to close the gates. So he immediately decided to turn and warn the villagers downstream to flee.

Back and forth he ran, until finally he was consumed and swept away by the flood. He didn't manage to do anything or save anyone.

Get to the point already...

Would you... Would you say this man's deeds sound familiar?

Fine, I get it! Well, I don't really get all the details of your windy-ass story, but you're talking shit about him, aren't you?

He wasn't a bad guy, okay?! He was just... Urgh!

I know you've got good reasons to blame him, duh, but if he was the one who threw you away, why would he spend so much time coming back to look for you—

I thought I would be the one consoling you, not the other way around...

Blaze... You're infected, right?

Wait, when did you figure that out—

Man, you're too... you're too damn clever by half!

Sorry, I didn't mean anything untoward... I was just thinking that it really should have been my fate to be...

The hell are you even talking about?!

What? You think you've done something wrong and deserve a worse fate?

Please, my life is awesome. I've got lots of buddies, and I've found a dream of mine...

If anything, you're the one who got it bad! Growing up all by yourself in that big old mansion, alone and miserable.

It almost sounds like you're roasting me...

I'm not—

But I understand... I understand what you mean.

Oh, right... I still haven't asked you what your name actually is.

Zhuhuang... Gu Zhuhuang. It's the name Dad... he gave me.

Wow... I forget how long it's been since I last told someone my real name.

Well, that's it. That's the last of my secrets.

'A blazing candle to ward against the dark'... Zhu for a candle, Huang for a blaze, and the family name Gu to ward you. It really does sound like a name he would pick.

Blaze... Would you say I've only really gotten to know you now, after all this?

I... I guess so, yeah.

Wait, no, I've still got lots to tell you, and I need to bring you to Victoria to have a look around. My mom—err, or rather... your birth mother. You should probably go see her...

...She's still alive?

Who said she was dead?! She's still hale and hearty! She lives in a small town out in western Victoria.

Once everything's wrapped up here, I'll take you to her.

Sh-She definitely wants to see you...

A-Alright...

Why're you crying?

I-I'm not...

But you... You're the one who's about to break into tears any second now...

I'm just... happy.

I never thought I'd suddenly find myself a little sister after all these years.

Who's ever heard of sisters like us...?

And besides, we don't know yet who's the little one.

I've been through a lot today. Can't you let me have this one?

And there you were, consoling me...

Look, I just wanted to say...

From now on, you're not alone anymore, okay?

Man... Isn't that lovely?

Out of the myriad flavors in this land, the taste of reunion is the sweetest of them all.

Really, now... Dammit, what am I tearing up for...

That's the last of my worries settled.

Oh, right, that Judicial officer at the Forbidden City last night...

Leizi...

She was being held up by that Imperial Guard lady when she sent me flying out of the City.

What should we do now?

This isn't over quite yet...

I need to go and finish off what I should have done in the first place.

You... What are you planning to do?

...

Demand an explanation... for everyone's sake.

Where you off to?

Got a meal to deliver.

If you're going, then who's going to mind the restaurant?

At this hour? It's past closing time.

Gonna open tomorrow?

That depends on my mood tomorrow. Hard to say right now.

Why do I get the feeling that you want to call it quits?

Fine by me, but you still owe me six months of wages. Settle that and I'll let you go.

Tsch... You're so money-minded! How about all those staff meals I cooked for you, they must be worth a few months of debt...

Fine, fine... On the right of the stove in the kitchen, the third brick from the corner. The last of my spare cash is under that brick. Take it.

...

I've been with you for quite a few years now.

Yep, fifteen whole years. You've stuck around the longest out of all your associates, Candleholder. Means we were really fated to be, haha.

If I kept reminding myself that I was a Candleholder of the Sui Regulator, I'm afraid I wouldn't have stayed that long.

*sigh* To be honest, it's been years since I reminded myself who I really am too.

Not like I was trying to remember or not, mind you. Whether as a man or beast, I've found this life full of delightful flavors. Nothing to complain about.

Best you keep not remembering.

I fear if you do, you'll forget the tastes of man. Your palate will grow dull and numb, and your cooking skills will go to waste.

*sigh*... Yeah, I wouldn't be too happy with that either.

But if there's one thing I'll never forget, it's that my trouble-making brothers and sisters still need to eat.

Not to mention the one that's most troublesome of all... Though considering how long it's been since we last saw each other, it's hard to say what he's like now.

You know the consequences of delivering this particular meal today, right?

Uh... Yeah, more or less.

It's obvious, like not keeping cotton by the stove. The Sui Regulator's not going to be happy if we have a family reunion.

Also, if a fight breaks out at such a delicate moment, you might not be seeing me tomorrow.

...

*sigh*... I've made a lot of food and met a lot of people these past few years.

My wish was for every customer who walks through those doors to have a tasty meal and a life with fewer regrets.

The four flavors of the kitchen. The four emotions of the heart. Sorrowful partings and joyful reunions. They're not that much different.

But just as fresh fins have their bones and maluses have no scent, this land is filled with regrets.

Eat when you're hungry, sleep when you're tired... and when you miss your family, maybe it's as simple as going to them.

Are... Are you really willing to let this go...

There are a lot of things I don't want to let go of, but I can't hold onto them forever either.

Jiang... Mind looking after the shop for me while I'm gone?

You've been watching me cook for so long, you must have picked something up by now. If any customers come by, look after them for me, will you?

'Savors at Yu's', the 'House of Aftertaste'... It ended up being a fitting name.

The mortal realm really lingers on the tongue.

Captain, my report. The Patrol Battalion has dispatched all their men, and sweep searches are underway in eight districts. Still no sign of the target.

It's been an entire day...

Before day breaks, we must—

Heard you were looking for me?

Who's there?!

Out of the way.

What's this? Here to surrender?

Good, you've saved me the effort of searching the entire city for you.

I don't care if you want to take me in for what I did at the Feast or who I am... Now's not the time for it.

I've got urgent business, so best you move it.

Hah...

I've never been this pissed off before. If you really want to get in my way, then come and try me.

Hmph...

...What are you going to do?

I'm here to deliver a bowl of longevity noodles to the True Lung.