Domestic God of the inner sanctum

He is known as Zao Jun, the Kitchen God, a fair-faced celestial who spends only a few days in the heavenly court of the Jade Emperor. For most of the year, he presides over the heart and hearth of earthly households, guarding the livestock, the servants, and most of all, the cooking stoves.

He is privy to the darkest secrets, and he sees all.

He listens to the backroom gossip, the quarrels among the womenfolk. He witnesses the trickery of malingering servants, the secret stashes of food hidden for a stolen feast, the cutting of corners in the making of a complicated dish, the whispered rumors, the scandalous truths.