The end of the year is almost here, and all the restaurants and teahouses in Xizhou City are closed to let their employees go home to celebrate the New Year.
The clothes that Jiang Yanyi had asked Chen Niangzi to make were all finished. Every worker in Ruyi Tower and Noodle Shop received a new piece of clothing, plus a red envelope containing a hundred coins. All the workers were so happy that their teeth were showing, and they kept saying congratulations on making a fortune.
The old scholar was the only one left at home, and it felt very lonely, so he simply said goodbye to Jiang Yanyi and set up a stall in front of Ruyi Tower to help people write couplets.
He had beautiful handwriting. He wrote the couplets for Ruyi Tower and the noodle shop. Jiang Yanyi also posted a couplet at the door of his shop on Duhufu Street.
In the bright sunshine, people in every household replace the old charms with new ones.
The joy of every household cleaning their homes and bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new can be seen from the red couplets hanging in front of the doors.
The kid who often rolled in the dust in the neighborhood changed into new clothes. If it weren't for the two strands of snot still hanging under his nose, Jiang Yanyi would hardly have recognized him.
They went back to the Chu family to celebrate the New Year. Chu Zhong, Yang Xiu and Bing Shao were originally servants of the Chu family, so they would go back with them. Aunt Guo had broken her arm and it had not healed yet, so Qiu Kui took the initiative to stay and take care of Aunt Guo. Duke Chen said he wanted to go to the Feng Mansion to celebrate the New Year.
Huo Jianjia weighed the pros and cons and felt that she could eat more delicious food by following Jiang Yanyi, so she chose to follow Jiang Yanyi to the Chu family.
As soon as the carriage arrived at the door of the Chu family, the three sisters of the Chu family came out to greet them after receiving the notification from the doorman.
Chu Shubao rolled up her sleeves, with a lot of flour on her face. When she saw Jiang Yanyi, she looked like she saw a savior: "Thank you for coming. I told grandma that we sisters will cook for ourselves during the New Year this year. Grandma wants to eat spring rolls, but I haven't made the dough yet."
Madam Chu was a native southerner. In the past, when the Chu family celebrated the New Year, the family cooks would prepare southern New Year snacks according to Madam Chu's taste. Spring pancakes were not popular in Xizhou during the New Year, and the new cooks hired by the Chu family did not know how to make them. Chu Shubao asked the old servant in the mansion about the craft of making spring pancakes, but unfortunately the old servant was also a half-baked person who could only talk but not cook.
Chu Zhong carried Chu Yangui off the carriage. Jiang Yanyi helped him put the hood of his cloak together to block the wind. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "You were expecting me to come here just so I could make some spring pancakes?"
Chu Shubao sighed and said, "Okay, Yi, don't bully me at this time."
Chu Chengmao stood aside with his arms folded, looking at Chu Shubao with disdain: "Who was it that boasted in front of my grandmother that he learned skills from a master in the kitchen of Ruyi Tower and now knows how to cook any dish?"
Chu Shubao couldn't hold back her face, so she turned around and said, "Second brother, you only care about food, and you still have the nerve to criticize me! Come to the kitchen and help, go and knead the dough!"
Chu Chengmao ruthlessly refused: "It's not me who is boasting."
Chu Shubao was so angry that she kept humming, but the other sisters all started laughing.
It was the first time that Jiang Yanyi brought a maid home, and Huo Jianjia had a birthmark on her face. Only the youngest, Chu Huibao, showed some surprise, while the others were slightly stunned and then did not take the matter seriously.
Chu Huibao looked at her brother and sister's attitudes and quickly put away the strange expression on her face.
Huo Jianjia had been disliked because of the birthmark on her face since she was a child. She had never been treated badly by Jiang Yanyi, and when she returned to the Chu family, the Chu family did not treat her as a monster. Huo Jianjia did not show it on her face, but she was touched in her heart.
Chu Yangui was sent back to his own yard. In order to avoid Chu Shubao's nagging, Chu Chengmao hid in Chu Yangui's room and played chess with him.
Jiang Yanyi took off his cold-proof cloak, and Huo Jianjia took it to the greenhouse to help Jiang Yanyi dry it. Jiang Yanyi followed Chu Shubao into the kitchen.
The eldest sister-in-law, Xue, was busy at the stove. When she saw Jiang Yanyi, she also said warmly, "Yanyi is here."
"The lamb chops stewed by my sister-in-law, they smell so good." Jiang Yanyi has a sharp nose and can smell the scent as soon as he enters the house.
Mrs. Xue smiled and said, "The purchasing boy bought a lot, and there is still a rack of lamb chops left. Uncle San said that the smoked lamb chops you made are delicious. I can't make them, so I'm waiting for you to come and take charge of the cooking."
Chu Shubao said quickly: "We need Ah Yi's help to make spring pancakes."
Jiang Yanyi rolled up his sleeves and said, "Let's blanch the remaining lamb chops to remove the blood, and then put them in the pot to cook. We'll set up a pot in the yard to smoke them later. I'll take a look at how the dough is going."
The flour in the bowl for making spring roll wrappers was muddy and would stain your hands if you touched it. Jiang Yanyi said, "You put too much water in the dough. Add more flour."
Chu Shubao quickly added two spoonfuls of flour under Jiang Yanyi's instruction. Jiang Yanyi slowly kneaded the flour into a smooth dough, pinched off a small piece and touched it with the tip of his tongue to taste the salinity.
Someone tugged at the corner of her clothes, and she looked down to see Chu Huibao with a frightened look on her face: "Second sister, you can't eat raw dough!"
Jiang Yanyi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "I didn't eat it."
She threw away the small piece of dough, washed her hands in the basin, and added another spoonful of salt to the dough.
High-gluten flour is needed to make spring rolls. If the gluten content of the dough is not enough after kneading, adding some salt can increase the gluten content.
Chu Shubao tapped Chu Huibao's forehead and said, "You greedy cat, do you think everyone is like you?"
There was flour on her hands, and it left a white fingerprint on Chu Huibao's forehead. Chu Jiabao saw it and laughed silently.
Jiang Yanyi was infected by them and smiled a little more.
Spring pancakes evolved into spring rolls in later generations, but at this time spring pancakes did not need to be fried in a pan. Instead, people could just use a thin pancake to roll up the food they wanted to eat at the dinner table.
After the dough for making spring pancakes is kneaded, there are three more steps: pressing the dough, letting it rest and tossing the dough.
Jiang Yanyi clenched his hand into a half fist, dipped his knuckles in some water and pressed the dough. After the water was fully kneaded into the dough, he dipped his knuckles in more water and continued pressing until the dough could be picked up by hand and pulled out of the basin without breaking at all, which meant that the dough was pressed well.
The dough for making pancakes is different from the dough for making buns and steamed buns. The dough needs to be soaked in cold water and left to rise for half an hour.
During this period, Jiang Yanyi started to prepare the filling for the spring rolls. Although some people ate pork in this era, wealthy families preferred to eat mutton during the New Year. Mother Yang, who took care of the old lady, said that in the past, people in the south of the Yangtze River used to eat spring rolls with mutton filling during the New Year, so the meat filling prepared by Xue and the others was also mutton.
But there are still servants in the mansion, so it’s okay to make some pork filling and share it with the servants.
Jiang Yanyi cut some cabbage shreds and planned to mix them into the meat filling to make it taste richer.
She poured oil into the pot, waited for the oil to heat up, poured the shredded mutton in and stir-fried over high heat, added salt, rice wine and soy sauce. When it was 70% cooked, she added the shredded cabbage and continued to stir-fry. When the cabbage was cooked, she thickened the sauce and removed from the pot.
After making the pork and cabbage filling in the same way, Jiang Yanyi asked Chu Huibao: "Huibao, do you want to eat the one with red bean paste filling?"
Chu Huibao was helping pass plates to the sisters. Upon hearing this, she nodded vigorously: "Yes."
Chu Shubao said sternly, "Watch out for your rotten teeth," but still started preparing the red bean paste filling.
Looking at the two sisters, Jiang Yanyi smiled and shook his head.
The dough has risen, she poured out the water and began to shake the dough. This step is more laborious, she has to grab the dough with one hand, let it fall three inches from the palm of her hand, and then shake it back into the palm of her hand until the dough is firm. Whether the dough in your hand is easy to shake when making spring pancakes depends on this step.
Since they were going to make spring rolls, the griddle was set up early in the Chu family's kitchen. The griddle was heated and brushed with a thin layer of oil. Jiang Yanyi took the dough in his hand and turned it clockwise on the griddle, then gathered it into his palm, and the excess dough was gathered back, leaving only a thin layer of dough stuck to the griddle.
After a while, the edge of the spring pancake curled up, and with a touch of hand, a piece of pancake skin was ready.
After Jiang Yanyi had finished baking most of the spring pancakes, Chu Jiabao thought it was fun and wanted to try it too. Jiang Yanyi handed the remaining dough to her. Chu Jiabao was so flustered that she accidentally slammed the entire dough on the griddle, making everyone in the kitchen laugh.
Jiang Yanyi wanted to make some fried spring rolls. She wrapped the fillings in a dough, sealed the mouth with flour, and fried them in a pan until golden brown. The spring roll shell was crispy, and the cabbage and meat filling inside was fragrant and juicy.
She fried a plate each of mutton and cabbage filling, pork and cabbage filling, and red bean paste filling.
After the lamb chops were cooked, a pot was set up in the yard and brown sugar was fried with tea leaves and spices for smoking. Since it was New Year's Eve, fish was a must at the table, so Jiang Yanyi also made a dish called "Abundance Every Year".
When cutting the sea bass into pieces, Jiang Yanyi asked the three sisters of the Chu family and Xue to cut a piece of the fish, so that everyone could complete the dish together.
Spread the cut fish flat on an oiled plate, put onion and ginger, drizzle with the prepared sauce, and steam it in a pot for half a quarter of an hour. The sea bass is already fragrant when it is out of the pot, but there is a lot of distilled water in the plate.
Jiang Yanyi poured out the distilled water, replaced the fish on a clean plate, and placed freshly cut scallion and ginger shreds on it. He put oil in the pan and heated up the green peppercorns and pepper powder, then poured the oil over the scallion and ginger shreds. With a "sizzle", the scallion and sesame aromas came out.
The main dish, glutinous rice balls, were also made by the sisters together. Some were filled with pure black sesame, while others were filled with almond crumbs, peanut crumbs, walnut crumbs and brown sugar.
Chu Huibao couldn't wrap the filling tightly, so Chu Shubao asked her to make a solid dumpling. Seeing that Chu Huibao was too frustrated, Chu Shubao teased her: "Huibao, if you eat the solid dumplings you made yourself, your rotten tooth will be healed next year."
These words successfully distracted Chu Huibao's attention.
When it was time for dinner, the whole family was eating dumplings. Chu Huibao broke all the dumplings in her bowl, and the black sesame, peanut and brown sugar fillings all flowed into the soup.
“No…” Chu Huibao didn’t find any solid glutinous rice balls in her bowl, and looked eagerly at Chu Shubao and Chu Jiabao.
Liu scolded her: "Huibao, just eat. Why are you always staring at your sister's bowl?"
Chu Huibao held the chopsticks and said, "I'm looking for the solid glutinous rice balls I made."
Chu Chengmao, who had just finished eating a dumpling, looked unhappy: "So you made it. I was wondering why there was no stuffing in that dumpling just now."
Chu Huibao pouted and was about to cry when she heard this: "My second brother ate my glutinous rice balls, and my cavities can't be healed..."
Chu Chengmao was confused, and Chu Shubao quickly picked up a fried spring roll for Chu Huibao: "Little sister, eat this."
Madam Chu looked at the little movements of her children and grandchildren and asked, "What's going on?"
Mrs. Xue laughed and said, "Shubao teased Huibao that if she ate the solid dumplings she made herself, her cavities would be cured next year."
As soon as these words came out, everyone at the table laughed.
***
The Chu family was in great joy, and although the Feng Mansion also put up New Year's paper-cuts, it was still too quiet. The servants in the mansion knew their master's temper, and they would not show joy on their faces even during the New Year. Everyone was quietly doing their own things, and there was no sign of celebrating the festival at all.
Feng Shuo was alone in the study handling official business when the housekeeper Fu Xi came in and said that the Grand Empress Dowager had prepared dinner and asked Feng Shuo to go over for the New Year dinner. Feng Shuo knew very well that the Grand Empress Dowager hated him so much that she would never let him go for the New Year dinner. It was most likely Nanny Song's idea.
If he didn't go, he could still have a thought in his heart. If he went, he would just be beaten and scolded by the Grand Concubine Dowager during the New Year.
Feng Shuo closed his eyes. In the eyes of outsiders, he was a powerful vassal king. But when he really looked back, what else was left in his life except a desolate place
The only person who could soften his heart should be celebrating the New Year at the Chu family right now. It always seems to be more lively wherever she is.
Perhaps because he felt that the study was too quiet, Feng Shuo asked Xing Yao: "Did you get anything out of the former palace maid?"
Xing Yao clasped his fists and said, "You are very stubborn, as if you want to die."
Feng Shuo closed the document he was halfway through and said, "I will personally go to interrogate the case."
There was no trace of the New Year atmosphere in the dungeon of Feng Mansion. The torches on the wall reflected the undried bloodstains on the ground, making it look a bit eerie for no reason.
When Fang Zhi was dragged out by the jailer, she was already covered in blood.
When the jailer saw her tied to the rack, he poured a bucket of cold water on her, and Fang Zhi finally woke up.
Seeing Feng Shuo, Fang Zhi sneered and said, "The prince came in person to interrogate on New Year's Eve. He doesn't think it's unlucky."
Feng Shuo looked cold and fierce: "I have thought about it carefully, and finally I let you live through this year. But I heard that there were spies in Marquis Mu Wu's army. As long as you tell me how Marquis Mu Wu lost the battle, I will spare your life."
After the Mu family was defeated, the military power fell into the hands of the Gao family, the Empress Dowager's in-laws. These people from the previous dynasty would not help the Gao family to obtain military power in order to strengthen Feng Shiyan's power. They must know some hidden story.
Fang Zhi burst into laughter. Her whole body was covered with wounds from the torture, and she could hardly breathe from laughing. "The Mu family's affairs are indeed a stain on the emperor, but why should I help you use this stain to overthrow him? The bastard of the Feng family is not worthy of ruling the country of Da Qi!"
Xing Yao whipped her and said, "Watch your mouth!"
After being whipped, Fang Zhi didn't have the strength to speak for a long time.
Her words just now made Feng Shuo guess that she must know something. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Your honorable Princess Daqi is on her way back to the capital. If you tell the truth, I will do you a favor and send you back to her."
Fang Zhi's throat moved, and she laughed while coughing up blood: "King of Liaonan, do you know why the Grand Empress Dowager has been crazy for many years?"
Feng Shuo didn't say anything, but his eyes suddenly became sharp.
Fang Zhi sneered, "Because I have been using crazy drugs on her for more than ten years!"
The veins on the back of Feng Shuo's hands were bulging, and he actually crushed the armrest of the yellow pear wood armchair.
The angrier he got, the happier Fang Zhi laughed. "Fang Qing, the maidservant beside the Grand Concubine, is my sister. Over the years, the Grand Concubine, who took the madness drug, has always obeyed her every word... uh..."
Her throat was tightly locked and the air was so thin that Fang Zhi's eyes turned white, but she kept grinning and smiling viciously at Feng Shuo.
Feng Shuo's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the face in front of him that was blurred by blood and whose features could not be seen clearly. He wished he could skin her alive.
In the end, reason prevailed. Feng Shuo took a step back, and Fang Zhi lowered her head and couldn't stop coughing.
Xing Yao called out worriedly: "Prince..."
Feng Shuo used all his self-control to not chop the prisoner into pieces. He said cruelly, "Find a doctor to treat her wounds. I will make this vicious woman know what it means to be unable to live or die. Since she likes to give people medicine so much, I will make her into a medicine man!"
The medicine man doesn't just try out ordinary medicines, some non-lethal poisons also need someone to try them, it's really worse than death.
After coming out of the dungeon, Fang Zhi's words kept lingering in Feng Shuo's ears, and he felt heavy in his heart.
He had always thought that his mother had been ill for so many years, and that she was controlled by drugs...
Feng Shuo didn't even have time to change his clothes before going to Mingtan Courtyard where the Grand Empress Dowager lived.
Compared with other places in Feng Mansion, Mingtan Courtyard has a much more lively atmosphere. A table of delicious delicacies is prepared in the warm room. The Grand Empress Dowager is sitting beside the table, but she doesn't move her chopsticks, as if she is waiting for someone.
Feng Shuo was standing at the door of the warm room. Before he could even say "Mother", the Grand Empress Dowager saw him first.
"My son..."
Time never defeats beauty. When the Grand Empress Dowager smiles, she looks no different from a teenage girl.
The word "Emperor's son" made Feng Shuo feel dazed. For a moment he couldn't tell whether it was a dream or the Grand Empress Dowager really recognized him.
The Grand Concubine stood up. The smile on her face froze when she saw the blood on Feng Shuo's hand and turned into worry: "My son, are you hurt?"
"Mother." Feng Shuo stood there in a daze, still unable to believe that the Grand Concubine Dowager had really regained consciousness.
"Madame Song, please call a doctor quickly!" The Grand Concubine Dowager anxiously ordered Madame Song.
Feng Shuo finally woke up as if from a dream, and walked into the warm room: "I'm not injured, mother."
He washed his hands in the basin to remove any blood stains before sitting down next to the Grand Concubine.
The Grand Empress Dowager looked the same, but her eyes were still old. She looked at her son who was already able to stand up straight, and tears slowly welled up in her eyes: "Are you busy with official duties? I asked Nanny Song to send a message to Fuxi, asking you to come over for dinner. The food is a little cold now..."
She measured Feng Shuo's height with her hand and found that he was very different from the skinny child in her memory. She couldn't help feeling sad. "My son is this big now. All these years, I always felt like I was dreaming and couldn't wake up... Now that I'm awake, I don't dare to see you. I treated you badly and made my son suffer all these years..."
Feng Shuo's heart ached badly. He shook his head and knelt in front of the Grand Concubine Dowager, resting his head on her lap. Thousands of words were stuck in his heart, but in the end, all he could say was, "Mother... I miss you."
This sentence made the Grand Concubine burst into tears and choked up, "Hurry up, mother has steamed your favorite rice cake."
When Feng Shuo raised his head, although he was smiling, his eyes were red. The Grand Empress Dowager also wiped her tears several times with a handkerchief and put all the dishes on the table into his bowl.
"Mother heard that you are engaged to a capable girl."
"She is very good, and my mother will like her when she sees her."
"The girl my son likes is the best girl in the world. How could mother not like her?"
***
Jiang Yanyi stayed up all night at the Chu family's house. She waited from the afternoon till the evening but didn't hear Feng Shuo coming to her house. She couldn't help but suspect that Feng Shuo's previous words were just a joke.
In the evening, some people set off fireworks in the city, and Chu Chengmao also set off some fireworks in the yard. Chu Huibao, who was having the most fun, was full and satisfied, and was the first to clamor for bed.
Jiang Yanyi pushed Chu Yangui out to watch the fireworks. Chu Chengmao stood against the corridor with his arms folded. When the fireworks exploded, he stared in one direction in a daze.
Jiang Yanyi had heard that the Lady of Xing'an Marquis was asking around for Chu Chengmao's whereabouts and creating situations where they might meet by chance.
However, the Jixiang Inn is in the east, but Chu Chengmao was looking to the south, so Jiang Yanyi was a little confused.
The author has something to say: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2021-01-23 23:59:48~2021-01-24 23:10:49~
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