Chang’an Small Restaurant

Chapter 1 Encounter at the Palace Gate

"A’Fang—"

"Brother—"

"A’Lan—"

"A’Ye—"

The sounds of joyful weeping could be heard just outside the Anfu Gate of the Imperial Palace.

There had been a scant number of rain falls in Henan Province[1] during the whole spring season. The once-submerged auspicious animal statues in the moat, used to subdue the dangerous waters, had most of their heads exposed to the air; a drought was imminent.

Fortunately, the current ruler was benevolent. First, the spring tax was exempted, and then the administration of justice was ordered to issue fair sentences for their current prisoners. The palace also reduced the amount of vegetables in every meal and released a batch of older maids.

The edict as to which maids had been released was posted long ago. Anyone with a basic sense of family affection would come to pick up their relatives. What if their own daughters and sisters were also released?

While others were busy recognizing their ‘long lost’ relatives, Shen Shaoguang was actively taking in the bustling street in front of her. So this is Chang'an City. The streets were spacious and leveled, with tall elms growing lushly by the roadside. Pedestrians were all around, in various states; some were riding donkey-pulled carts, some were walking leisurely, while others seemed in a hastily hurry. Even the chirping of sparrows on the trees sounded as if they were also celebrating. How wonderful...

Shen Shaoguang carried her cloth-wrapped bag on her shoulders and walked forward.

"If you are from afar, stand there and wait for a carriage. We will be sending you back home soon." Two bailiffs stopped her.

Seeing that their clothes didn’t belong to the uniforms of the imperial guards, Shen Shaoguang accurately guessed follow-up duty following the dismissal of the palace maids belonged to the capital city’s government repository.

Shen Shaoguang stepped forward and gave them a slight bow. She smiled and switched from her usual elegant elocution into a Chang'an dialect, "My home is not far away. I can just go back by myself."

Amidst the sobbing noises heard around them, the bailiffs were dazzled by her brilliant smile. Once they heard her familiar accent, the bailiffs looked at each other and were about to let her go—the order from above only said to allow the ones who had waiting relatives to be taken home while the few remaining who were from farther away should be sent to temporary housing. These women could hitch a trip with the tributes being sent off, but nothing forbade the maids from walking home of their own accord. 

"What's going on?" A green-robed official and a high-ranking scarlet-robed official walked over to oversee the situation.

The bailiffs saluted and replied, "This girl's home is nearby. Seeing that there were no relatives present to pick her up, she requested to walk back by herself."

Shen Shaoguang smiled ingratiatingly at the officials. Her bright almond eyes curved with her smile, adding an innocent touch.

The green-robed official seemed gracious. He looked at the young superior beside him, asking for instructions. Shall we let her go?

The high-ranking official in the scarlet robe had yet reached the age of benevolence. His handsome face remained expressionless as he commanded, "Please show your palace documentation."

Shen Shaoguang already had a bad premonition when the two officials made their way toward her. She inwardly sighed at her lack of luck. Without a choice, she took the palace-issued document from her bag and handed it to the bailiff, who then passed it to the high-ranking official in the scarlet robe.

The high-ranking official looked up at Shen Shaoguang with a sharp gaze; the first line on the document read ‘Native of Luoyang City[2]’.

Shen Shaoguang maintained her innocent smile. I never said I was from Chang'an anyways. As for the distance—well, that's a subjective matter.

The high-ranking official frowned slightly, but he continued reading the document.

The back of the document listed her age and background.

Shen Shaoguang was aware that her past had been laid bare, but she had nothing to fear. The worst they could do was to send her to an uncle or cousin from a branch of their clan in Luoyang, lodged under another person's roof as a foster child. She lived most of her life in the palace, so it was not as if they could send her back to continue working as a palace maid.

Though, she would feel guilty to pull her relatives into this matter. They were forced to take in an indentured servant girl from the palace during the incoming drought, an orphaned daughter of a criminal subject. Without any merits, just trouble after trouble! 

"Why is a young girl like you being released from the palace?" The high-ranking official closed the document and asked slowly.

It wasn’t strange for him to ask such a question; from just a glance at the surroundings, the other court ladies were visibly older than Shen Shaoguang. Some maids even had a full head of gray hair, so Shen Shaoguang was extremely eye-catching within this group. 

Shen Shaoguang curved her eyes and faked a smile. "I was released due to my illness."

This time, not to mention the officials, even the two bailiffs realized this matter was rather particular. This girl was tall and had a well-proportioned figure, coupled with her rosy face under her white face powder, so it was a bit difficult to agree with her self-diagnosis!

But just as Shen Shaoguang predicted, they could not send her back to the palace even though they noticed something amiss. Such reckless actions may implicate royal privacy. Even if it wasn’t royal privacy, the eunuchs were equally formidable.

The official in the scarlet robe took a deep look at Shen Shaoguang, handed the document to the bailiff, and left with his hands behind his back. The green-robed official quickly followed behind him.

The two bailiffs were baffled. What does this mean?

Shen Shaoguang smiled and said to the bailiffs, "Then I shall take my leave."

The bailiffs came back to their senses. After they exchanged looks, they returned the palace documents to Shen Shaoguang and let her go.

In fact, Shen Shaoguang was also a little surprised; she had already mentally prepared herself to be sent to Luoyang City! Could it be that the man in the scarlet robe thought that I was released due to a conspiracy? His mind must have made up eighty episodes of palace intrigue! People with imaginative minds are just so cute!

The green-robed official shared the same thoughts as Shen Shaoguang. Although the new Deputy Magistrate Lin is a bit cold and a little young, he is quite insightful and knows the limits of decorum.

After watching dozens of Prefectural Magistrates and Deputy Magistrates go in and out of office, the only way to remain an official in the capital city was to exercise prudence.

What kind of place was Chang'an City?

Take and throw a random pebble and it would land on three high-ranking officials. A street vendor might have a younger sister, er, or a brother who was a favored concubine in the palace. It was fitting to act with caution.

Shen Shaoguang walked south along the main road. Houses in the southern district were cheaper, and it was important she found housing first.

Her future source of income had already been long planned out— Shen Shaoguang was going to undertake the food service industry.

As the editor of a gourmet food magazine in her previous life, Shen Shaoguang specialized in writing about food and drink. In this life, she was tasked with miscellaneous work in the imperial kitchen for a short while. While her practical cooking skills were limited, her theoretical knowledge was more than enough. This should be enough to support myself—Shen Shaoguang concluded.

The word ‘support’ quickly reminded Shen Shaoguang of money, which led to a recent painful memory. She had emptied most of her savings to get onto the dismissed maid list. That court eunuch who was in charge of swapping the list was so ruthless!

Once she reached Chongxian Lane[4], Shen Shaoguang halted. Her original body’s family had a house here. There was a field of bamboo maintained in the front courtyard—she remembered this clearly because a small green snake slithered out of the bamboo forest, scaring the original owner of this body to tears. Shen Shaoguang's mind then flashed to the memory of the original owner's father drinking wine as he composed poems in front of the bamboo.

Now there is an unknown person drinking and reciting poems in front of those bamboo stalks… Shen Shaoguang fell into a momentary trace.

Chongxian Lane was located in a good area. It was just south of the center of the city and just another lane away from Guangde Lane– the location of the city's government repository. Right next to Guangde Lane was the famous Chang'an West Market[5]. To explain it in more modern terms, this Chongxian Lane was considered to be within the Inner Suburb of the city[6].

Following the traces of her memory, Shen Shaoguang soon found the old house of the Shen Residence. In front of her was a high-walled courtyard with a wutou gate[7]. The doorway was clean and tidy; there were servants coming in and out of the corner gate from time to time. From the outside, she could see the double eaves and a small section of the bamboo’s shadow in the courtyard. Could these bamboo be the same ones?

Originally, she wanted to take a leisurely stroll and look around while heading south. However, after Shen Shaoguang observed the current situation of the food service industry in the Lane and saw Guangming Nunnery, she changed her mind.

This nunnery diagonally faced the back door of the Shen Residence's old house. Shen Shaoguang did not recall a nunnery there in the past, so she assumed someone had donated their old house to a Buddhist nunnery—after all, this was a common occurrence among the nobles in Chang'an.

The Buddhist nun at the reception had sloping eyebrows, hooded eyes, and thin lips; she looked rather difficult to get along with.

On the contrary, Shen Shaoguang felt relieved. If the nun was a beautiful young girl, she would immediately retract her idea of staying here overnight. It would be hard to tell if this nunnery was devoting themselves to Buddha or ‘devoting’ their bodies for money. Think Yu Xuanji[8] or the Mantou Nunnery[9] in <Dream of the Red Chamber>...

The Buddhist nun, who was in charge of the reception, glanced at Shen Shaoguang's worn dress, the two simple silver hairpins in her hair, and thoughtfully landed on her cloth-wrapped bag. This scrutiny reminded Shen Shaoguang of her experiences visiting luxury stores in her previous life.

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Footnotes:

[1] Henan Province -  Is where this story takes place. It’s an area in China, containing a multitude of cities and towns– kinda like a state. Of which is the capital, Chang’an City, where the imperial palace is located. 

[2] Luoyang City - is in Henan Province. The distance between Luoyang and Chang'an is 425 km. The current road distance is 524.5 km. Now think about no cars/planes/trains. Yep, our MC’s ‘home is not too far’...

[3] Deputy Magistrate (少尹) - Established government official ranking during the Tang Dynasty. A Deputy Magistrate is a fourth-ranked official of the Nine-rank system. I believe only the capital city’s Prefectural Magistrate (府尹) has a Deputy Magistrate under the specific title of 少尹. Please don’t quote me on this since my research was shallowly done. 

[4] Chongxian Lane (崇贤坊)- From what my boyfriend found on baidu, this was the area where all the imperial princes live after they come of age. Before their coming of age, these princes would live in the imperial harem with their mothers/nannies. Chongxian is the pinyin of the first two characters 崇贤, while I named the last character 坊 to Lane. Lane because it’s very similar to a street, there’s a couple windings, but otherwise, it’s just a street. However, the author of this novel didn’t really follow through and just used this Lane as any other street. Hence a nunnery being in here…. 

[5] Chang’an West Market – This was a market area where merchants gathered to trade. Located in the western part of the imperial capital.

[6] Inner Suburb (三环) – In modern China, the larger cities are divided into what are known as four rings. Think of a target for an arrow / darts board. The Urban Center, which is the very center, is the innermost part of the city, where all the livest things happen, also where the most expensive housing is. The ring bordering the center would be the Central Area, while the ring bordering the second circle is the Inner Suburb, etc, etc. The closer one is to the center of the city, the better. 

Here’s a very helpful picture and article I found from Research Gate: