Cheng'er came back and brought back fried rice cakes, which are actually the fried noodles that modern people often eat. Mei Niang asked Mother Cai to spread the rice paste thicker when steaming the rice noodles, steam them, let them cool and cut them into rectangles two fingers wide. They can be put into hot pot or fried. If you change to rice cakes steamed with glutinous rice, it becomes fried rice cakes.
The snow-white rice noodles were stir-fried with tomato sauce, lean pork, carrots, coriander, green onion and garlic, and served on a plate with a few leaves of green lettuce. It was simple and delicious. When Mei Niang saw Cheng Er bring out a few side dishes, she smiled and said, "You don't need side dishes for this, it has chili in it."
Cheng Er smiled and said, "To answer grandma, there is no chili in this fried rice cake, so Mama Cai specially cut some spicy side dishes for it."
“Why not just put the chili?”
"Master Hou doesn't eat chili peppers!"
"… "
Mei Niang had nothing to say. Since Xu Junying lived here, he would have a share of everything he ate from now on.
Asked Cheng'er: "What about you? Cui Xi and Cui Si must be hungry too."
Cheng'er said, "Mother Cai asked someone else to make it. Ping'er and Mrs. Yan are waiting in the back. I'll bring back the fried rice cakes for Lord Hou and Grandma first!"
Xu Junying came out of the inner room, heard Cheng'er's words, and saw a bowl of fresh and bright food on the table. He couldn't help but relax his brows and said with a smile: "I'm really hungry now. This is fried rice cake? I've heard of fried rice popcorn and fried rice candy, but I've never heard of fried rice cake!"
Cui Xi had already set the table, and Mei Niang said, "It's hot, please have a try, Lord!"
Then he said to Cui Xi, "You guys go down first and come back later."
Ping'er will probably be back soon. The fried rice cake won't taste good if it's cold.
Cui Xi took Cui Lian, Cui Si and Cheng'er away. Xu Junying and Mei Niang sat opposite each other at the round table. Xu Junying imitated Mei Niang, taking chopsticks in one hand and a spoon in the other, and put two pieces of fried rice cakes into the bowl. After taking a bite, Xu Junying found that they were fresh, sweet, soft and chewy, with a unique taste. Xu Junying looked up at Mei Niang and thought that she was a good eater. She would be the first to try anything new and delicious. If other courtyards were smart, they would just follow the Qinghua Courtyard's style when they went to the kitchen to order food, and they would be able to eat a lot of good things.
Mei Niang saw Xu Junying looking at her, so she asked, "What does Lord Hou want to tell me?"
Xu Junying smiled: "Nothing... You eat very slowly."
"Eat slowly, you're not going anywhere."
Mei Niang used a spoon to scoop rice cakes into the bowl, thought for a moment, and asked Xu Junying, "Do you want more, Lord Hou? I'll serve you some."
Xu Junying said: "I only took two bites, why don't you want it anymore?"
Mei Niang smiled, scooped a spoonful of rice cake and a spoonful of shredded pork, and filled his bowl: "In fact, it's best to eat by yourself, and you can eat whatever you want. Lord Hou's taste is very different from mine, and I thought you might not like this!"
"I told you, I'm not picky about food!"
Mei Niang put down the spoon and asked again: "How long will Lord Hou live here?"
Xu Junying looked at her and said, "The East Courtyard needs to be renovated. It is the rainiest time of spring, so we can't move. We need to live in the upper room for a while. I usually go out early and come back late, so I am not often at home. It doesn't bother you. You can live as usual. But you and the maidservant can go into the study room over there, but no one else can go in!"
"Got it. We won't go in if nothing happens."
Mei Niang smiled and said, "This is also a blessing from God. Lord Hou should use this place as his new home. The old lady has agreed. There is a garden on the right side of Qinghua Courtyard. There is a Shiqu Pavilion in front of the garden. I can live there. I like the strange-shaped stones there. They are piled together to form a small hill."
"There is a cave in the mountain. Have you gone in?"
"No, it's called a small hill, but it's actually quite big. Although those caves are wonderful and interesting, I didn't dare to go deep into them for fear that I wouldn't be able to get out."
Xu Junying smiled and said, "Fortunately you are smart. If you had gone in, it would have been difficult to find the way out. Several men in our family have gotten lost there. Shiquxuan was named by my grandfather. The strange stones in the yard were left by an ancestor. The ancestor liked strange stones, so he brought back all the ones he could find and piled them together. Over time, a mountain of strange stones was formed. You can study and have fun in that yard, but you are not allowed to live there!"
"Why?"
"What the alchemist has seen is not suitable for human habitation!"
Tsk! Superstition!
Mei Niang added: "But we can't just live here like this..."
"How can we live together?" Xu Junying was not satisfied with this statement: "We are husband and wife, living in the same room is reasonable!"
"That's right!" Mei Niang didn't refute him, but agreed with his meaning: "I'm just worried that one day, we will have to move in a hurry and it will be a mess. So let's talk about it first, reserve one or two places, no matter who moves out, it's better than having no preparation at all!"
Xu Junying raised his eyes and found that Mei Niang was smiling particularly seductively. "The East Courtyard is leaking, so it doesn't matter if we don't need it. There won't be any good concubines this year. I have already had the Jingyuan renovated. It looks brand new inside, with all the furniture, curtains and hangings. The old lady said that I can move in anytime. As for this upper room, the Queen Mother will order it, and we can decorate it with red and colorful decorations on the same day to welcome the new bride!"
Xu Junying paused, put down his chopsticks, and said calmly: "I am a family man, and the backyard cannot be without a mistress for a day. Before the newcomer comes in, you have to preside over Qinghua Courtyard and cannot go anywhere. Besides, Heng'er hasn't come back yet. If you leave Qinghua Courtyard too early, Heng'er will never come back! Don't you want Heng'er?"
"Heng'er! Don't want Heng'er..."
Mei Niang sighed, her eyes darkened, her smile faded, and she stood up and walked towards the inner room. Xu Junying stared at her graceful back in a daze, walked to the partition and turned back, her pair of starry eyes as bright as before, flashing with brilliance:
"It's impossible not to have Heng'er! He is my son now, I must raise him myself!"
The beaded curtain swayed gently, and the person disappeared into the gauze curtain. Xu Junying withdrew his gaze, let out a long breath, smiled and shook his head, picked up the chopsticks, and concentrated on the rice cake. After a while, a large bowl of rice cake was eaten up.
Cuisi and Cheng'er came in to clean up the dishes. Cuilian brought wet tea for Lord Hou to rinse his mouth. Cuixi went in to make the bed. Mei Niang said a few words to her. Cuixi came out and took a lamp. Xu Junying said, "Is grandma going to sleep? She just had a meal."
Cui Xi smiled and said, "Grandma said she was sleepy, but she didn't go to sleep right away. She just lay down and read a book."
Xu Junying didn't say anything and also went into the inner room, then went back to the next room to read. Cui Lian brought in a pot of tea, and as Wang Mama had instructed, she warmed another pot on the stove. Lord Hou lived in the upper room, so it was not convenient to keep anyone to accompany him overnight, so several maids tidied the room, turned off the lights, closed the door, and left.
Mei Niang couldn't keep her eyes open after reading for a while. She didn't sleep well last night and didn't take a nap at noon. She would be lying if she didn't feel sleepy. She got up, turned off the lights, crawled into the quilt, and fell asleep soon.
Still thinking the same thing, she was not on guard against Xu Junying. If he treated her as Qin Mei Niang, then she was Lao Qi's person, and brothers shared a wife? As a man in ancient times, he should have this knot in his heart; if he treated her as Cen Mei Mei, then he would not be afraid, and he might dare to pretend to hold her hand and hug her shoulders in front of others, but he would not do such things as forcing her to have sex.
Go to bed early and sleep well, so waking up in the morning is not so painful. Mei Niang was awakened by Cui Xi, and hurriedly got up to wash, dress and change clothes. When she came out, she saw breakfast on the table, so she sat down to eat. Cui Xi said, "Hou Ye got up early and went out, so I served him breakfast, and brought back grandma's breakfast as well, and put it in the hot pot to warm it up."
Mei Niang nodded: "That's fine, I'll just eat breakfast at home before going to Qiuhua Courtyard, so as not to trouble the people over there!"
After breakfast, I went to Qiuhua Courtyard. I hadn't seen Heng'er for a day, so the little guy would pretend to be angry. I just heard him screaming loudly in the corridor. When he saw Mei Niang coming, he shrank into the arms of his nurse, lowered his eyes and ignored her. Mei Niang found him very interesting, so she wanted to tease him even more. She touched his little nose with her finger. He dodged left and right, but finally couldn't avoid it anymore, so he finally rushed over with a giggle. The mother and son played in the corridor for a long time and were very happy. When Mrs. Zheng woke up, Mei Niang took Heng'er in to pay her respects. Mrs. Zheng's habit was to sit on the head of the bed for half an hour after waking up before getting out of bed, so Mei Niang thought it was much easier to pay her respects. She didn't need to help her wash her face and comb her hair, and she could just say a few nice words and come out. Old Mrs. Xu was different. She wanted many granddaughters-in-law to surround her, wipe her face, wash her hands and comb her hair, and it took her a long time to choose a dress. She knew how to enjoy it very much. It must be very good to be surrounded by stars and grandchildren.
Heng'er no longer cried about separation. He kissed Mei Niang on the cheek obediently and waved his hand, letting Mei Niang leave with peace of mind.
After arriving at Ziyun Hall and sitting down, the maids waited for Cuixi to serve tea. After watching the eldest lady drink a few sips, they began to step forward. They asked and answered questions again, handed over the cards, re-dealt the cards, and asked for permission to exchange the slips. Mei Niang was busy but not chaotic in doing these daily "work". She was discussing with Chen Mama, who was in charge of grain management, about donating spring grain in accordance with the government's request. Suddenly, she saw Bai Jingyu and her maid Xiangyu walking in. She was startled for a moment and was about to stand up to greet them. Bai Jingyu hurriedly took a few steps and came to the front to bow and salute: "Blessings, sister-in-law! Sister-in-law is busy, please sit down. I'm just passing by and came to see you!"
Mei Niang smiled and said, "Glad you're here! Sit down first. I'll be free after talking to Mother Chen about this—Cui Xi, have some tea!"
Bai Jingyu sat aside, took the fragrant tea handed to him by Cui Xi with a smile, took a sip, and put it on the table.
Mother Chen said, "The official document only says that families with farms should donate some. In previous years, our mansion also donated this much. It doesn't matter what kind of rice or grain it is. In places affected by disasters and without a harvest, the victims should chant the Buddha's name whenever they have a bite to eat, especially at this time of year, and they can't be picky!"
Mei Niang said, "You can't give them the moldy grain from the previous year! In fact, our mansion has documents exempting various taxes. Since we want to donate and have a good reputation, we must do it well and live up to our conscience. Our mansion has many farms, and the surplus grain every year is stored in the warehouse. It is not released even when it is moldy. Now no one can eat it, but we give it to the victims. Who taught you to do such a wicked thing?"
Mother Chen glanced at Bai Jingyu unconsciously, lowered her head and said nothing. Bai Jingyu couldn't sit still anymore, and hurriedly smiled and said, "This matter has always been based on the method of the previous generation. It is said that there must be no shortage of grain in the warehouse. The surplus grain every year is only moved to another warehouse for storage. It is necessary to prepare for natural disasters in a certain year so that the family can use it. The matter of donating grain was decided by the second master, and he was even rewarded at that time... It was said that only the grain older than the year before last should be donated!"
Mei Niang lowered her eyes and thought for a moment. The wealthy families had a very strong sense of self-preservation. Even if they were extremely wealthy, they were unwilling to share some of their wealth. Perhaps this was a common practice in this dynasty, and it would be difficult to change them.
Then he said to Bai Jingyu, "Maybe the elders had their considerations, or maybe they used a very good method to preserve grains in the past, preventing them from getting moldy or having insects. Just now, Mother Chen brought some grains from the year before last, and the corns were infested with insects and moldy. How can we eat them? Mother Chen, it must be because you didn't manage the grains well and let them go bad!"
Mother Chen's face wrinkled like a chrysanthemum: "Damn you servants! These grains were fine two years ago, but they only started to grow worms last year."
Mei Niang said: "Let's put this aside for now. I'll go back to the first wife and see what to do. We'll talk about it tomorrow!" (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.) (To be continued)