Fresh crucian carp shredded meat and celery and green stream soup.
The daily banquets at the Marquis' Mansion were so extravagant, with extremely fine workmanship, jade plates, delicacies, good color and taste, eating like phoenix marrow and dragon liver, which made people have endless aftertaste. It was just that I didn't know how much silver it would cost for such a meal, but it was definitely not a small amount.
After the meal, a little maid brought a cup of fragrant tea on a small tea tray and handed it to Zhu Ping'an.
Zhu Pingan noticed that the old lady of the Marquis's mansion had not yet served tea, but this little maid served him a cup of tea first. He noticed from the corner of his eye that several young ladies of the Marquis's mansion, including Fatty Zhou, were looking at him with inquiring and amusing eyes, as if they were waiting for him, a country bumpkin, to make a fool of himself.
From the looks in their eyes, Zhu Ping'an knew at a glance that this cup of tea was brought on purpose.
After being reborn in the Ming Dynasty, although I have never rinsed my mouth with tea after meals, I have read "Dream of Red Mansions" and know about the habit of these wealthy families to rinse their mouths with tea after meals.
So, he could only disappoint everyone. Zhu Ping'an took the teacup and curled the corners of his lips slightly.
Look, that bumpkin took the teacup, haha, he wouldn't really drink it as tea, haha...
The Sixth Miss of the Marquis' Mansion stared at Zhu Ping'an with her big eyes without blinking, and many little stars flashed in her eyes with excitement.
Zhu Ping'an took the teacup and lifted it up as expected. In the jade-white porcelain bowl, pieces of tender tea were like sparrow tongues, dark green in color, and bursts of faint fragrance came from the green liquid. What a good tea, but it was a luxury to just use it to rinse the mouth.
In front of everyone's eyes, Zhu Ping'an picked up the teacup and took a big sip, a really big sip.
I took such a big sip...
It's like a cow chewing a peony, so useless...
In the living room, except for Li Shu and her servant, everyone else had a smile on their lips, waiting to see Zhu Ping'an's joke. Especially the sixth young lady of the Marquis's Mansion had already shifted her gaze from Zhu Ping'an to Li Shu, waiting to see what Li Shu's expression would be when Zhu Ping'an made a fool of himself.
But what disappointed the Sixth Miss of the Marquisate was that Li Shu did not show any nervous expression on her face. In Li Shu's mind, even if Zhu Ping'an did not know that it was mouthwash tea, so what? This Marquisate was just a group of toads in the well guarding the little glory left by their ancestors. They were a group of toads who were complacent and self-righteous.
But the next scene disappointed the Sixth Miss of the Marquis' Mansion and others once again.
After Zhu Pingan took a big sip of tea, he looked at the maid who brought the tea. Under Zhu Pingan's gaze, the maid slowly brought out the gargle, and then Zhu Pingan rinsed his mouth with tea and handed the teacup back to the maid.
This bad guy always likes to play tricks on people like this. Li Shu smiled slightly and then rinsed her mouth with tea.
After rinsing her mouth, a maid brought another cup of tea, which was the tea for drinking.
Li Shu picked up the teacup, pinched the tea lid with her slender hands and tapped the rim of the cup a few times, blew lightly on her cherry lips, put the teacup to her lips, sniffed it lightly, and then put it down again.
"Fifth sister. Why don't you drink it? Are you not used to it? Why don't you ask someone to make you a bowl of sugar water?"
The Sixth Miss of the Marquis' Mansion blinked her big watery eyes and asked like a curious baby. Her expression was full of sisterly concern, but her words easily reminded people of the fact that Li Shu came from the countryside, with a hint of contempt.
"Yeah, I'm not used to drinking it."
Hearing this, Li Shu looked at Sixth Sister with her big watery eyes, as if smiling but not laughing, with a faint, playful smile on her lips.
Before the Sixth Miss of the Marquisate could smile, Li Shu continued:
"The tea is slightly curved, like a sparrow's tongue, with golden leaves and tender green. The tea is bright in color and has a noble aroma. Is this the authentic Huangshan Maofeng?"
The Sixth Miss of the Marquis' Mansion was a little surprised, "Fifth Sister has good eyesight."
"Just look at the shriveled tea buds in the cup, the tender green color is tinged with a hint of yellow, and the aroma smells dull. This Huangshan Maofeng tea is probably old tea?" Li Shu held an embroidered handkerchief in her slender jade hands and gently wiped her lips, a hint of obvious disgust deliberately overflowing from her ink-black eyes.
The Sixth Miss of the Marquis' Mansion opened her mouth slightly in surprise. She didn't expect that Li Shu could tell that this was Huangshan Maofeng, and she didn't expect that Li Shu could also tell that this was old tea.
"You should drink fresh tea and aged wine. When I was at home, I tried to drink fresh tea, but I couldn't get used to the aged tea. In previous years, people at home drank fresh tea, but why are they drinking aged tea now?"
Li Shu put down the embroidered handkerchief, and stared at the sixth sister with her clear eyes. She smiled and spoke softly. Then she turned to the little maidservant standing behind her and said nonchalantly, "Hua'er, tell them to send two carts of new tea this year by carrier pigeon. Oh, remember to ask for pre-rain Longjing. After the new tea is picked in the spring, send two more carts."
"Yes, miss."
Upon hearing this, the chubby little maid puffed up her chest, responded with full energy, turned around and walked out, looking very proud, with her feet lifted high.
Everyone in the Hou Mansion... ..
This girl's temper really hasn't changed at all. Zhu Ping'an glanced at Li Shu, who was covering her mouth with her hands and had a very ladylike temperament, and curled his lips silently.
The dinner at the Marquis' Mansion ended like this, and everyone left. Except for the old lady of the Marquis' Mansion saying "Please take a seat" at the beginning, she never said anything to Zhu Ping'an again, and she didn't intend to treat Zhu Ping'an as the son-in-law of the Marquis' Mansion at all.
Of course, Zhu Ping'an didn't take it to heart at all.
After the dinner, Zhu Ping'an followed the same route back to the guest room. Maids and servants came and went from time to time along the way, but the looks these maids and servants gave Zhu Ping'an were somewhat strange, as if they were mocking him.
These maids and servants knew the masters of the mansion very well. When they saw Zhu Ping'an, who was obviously a stranger, they knew that Zhu Ping'an was the fifth uncle who had just arrived. To them, the most powerful person in the mansion was of course the old lady, and then the eldest master who inherited the title of Marquis of Linhuai. However, the richest person in the mansion was still the third master. Many of the mansion's annual cash flow expenses were covered by the third master. Every year, the stewards sent by the mansion to the third master would bring silver to the mansion in carriages.
However, what they couldn't understand was that the Third Master's most beloved daughter, the Fifth Lady, was promised to a poor scholar from the countryside. This news was known to everyone in the Marquis's Mansion at the time, and many servants and managers felt unfair, thinking that the poor scholar from the countryside was not as good as them. Out of envy and jealousy, many versions of the story about the Fifth Master spread in the Marquis's Mansion.
Things like marrying into the wife's family or marrying into the family's family, anyway, every version of the story is not a good one.
So, now that they saw the Fifth Uncle in person, they couldn't help but think of those versions of the story about the Fifth Uncle. They didn't dare to say anything, but they despised him in their hearts. (To be continued.)