God is merciful after all, after a heavy rain, the rice fields in Shuzhou and its surrounding areas came back to life, and the farmers who made a living from the crops in the fields finally had hope.
Rainy days in summer always make people feel sleepy.
&—zwnj;The heavy rain at night washed away the hot summer air. Jiang Yanyi curled up in the silk quilt and didn't want to get up. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of rain outside and the birds singing in the distance. He felt very comfortable.
She turned over and bumped into a solid embrace. She opened her eyes dazedly and found that it was bright outside and Feng Shuo was still sleeping beside her.
She was stunned for a moment, then she sat up and pushed Feng Shuo: "Get up quickly, you'll be late for the court session!"
Feng Shuo stretched out his long arms and pulled her back into the quilt, trapping her in his arms. He rested his chin on her shoulder and said hoarsely with his eyes closed: "Take a day off today."
Jiang Yanyi doesn't have to worry about business matters now. Apart from reading travel notes, he cooks whenever he feels like it. He has so much free time that he even forgets to take a day off.
She nestled in Feng Shuo's arms and said with a smile, "I have been so idle that I don't know how many years it has been."
It is said that the Queen is in charge of the six palaces, but she is the only one in the six palaces. In addition, after Feng Shuo implemented clean government and released a large number of palace maids from the palace, the palace's expense accounts have been streamlined a lot. Fu Xi, the chief eunuch, is a capable person who can handle everything properly. The accounts sent to Jiang Yanyi every month have been checked by him, and Jiang Yanyi only needs to take a look.
When Feng Shuo heard her say that, his eyes froze for a moment. After a moment, he stroked her long silky hair and said, "If you feel bored in the palace, you can go back to the Chu family and stay for a few days."
After all, he felt that he owed her for letting her accompany him in this nine-story palace.
Jiang Yanyi turned over and reached out to touch the newly sprouted stubble on his chin. His black hair covered the embroidered pillow, making her skin look like frost and snow. She half-raised her eyes, like a lazy cat: "Can you bear to let me go back?"
Feng Shuo raised his eyebrows, pressed her waist directly, turned over and pressed her down. His pajamas, which were not fastened to begin with, spread out, revealing his well-fitted chest. His arms were resting on Jiang Yanyi's sides, and the tendons on his arms were stretched tense due to the force, full of explosive power.
He stared at Jiang Yanyi with his dark eyes, looking at the red marks on her collarbone and shoulders that had not yet faded, and his throat rolled, "I can't bear to leave."
&—zwnj;After all the nonsense, it was already noon when the two got up. After lunch, Feng Shuo asked Fu Xi to send someone to move the unfinished memorials in the imperial study to this side. Jiang Yanyi was curled up on the phoenix couch reading a book, while he was processing the memorials at the table opposite.
Because Jiang Yanyi liked to walk barefoot on the ground in summer, when the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were repairing Chengde Hall, Feng Shuo specially ordered the laying of a layer of wooden floor, so that even if Jiang Yanyi walked barefoot, she would not catch a cold.
Jiang Yanyi read a book on the phoenix couch, and when he looked up, he saw Feng Shuo concentrating on reviewing something on the memorial.
The second joint of his middle finger was pressed against the pen, making the knuckle look particularly slender. It was a very common pen-holding posture, but when he did it, it seemed to have a more elegant air.
When this man was concentrating on doing things, he always pursed his lips slightly, with a stern expression that made people dare not disturb him easily. Jiang Yanyi thought about it for a long time and felt that this was probably the legendary sense of abstinence.
She simply stopped reading, supported her head with her hands, half leaned on the phoenix couch and stared at Feng Shuo.
Although Feng Shuo didn't raise his head, he seemed to be aware of Jiang Yanyi's gaze. When he changed to review a memorial, he even said teasingly, "Have you seen enough?"
Thanks to being with him day and night, Jiang Yanyi's earlier shyness had long been polished away. She stood up, propped her elbows on her knees, and held her chin with her palm, and continued to stare at him openly: "No."
Feng Shuo looked up at her in surprise, as if to say that she had made a lot of progress, and then lowered his head to continue processing the memorial.
It was rare for Jiang Yanyi to see him speechless after being teased back, and she couldn't help but smile. She took her books and dragged the futon to his desk, put the futon away, and sat down cross-legged next to him.
Feng Shuo just lowered his eyes and looked at her without saying anything.
Jiang Yanyi, on the other hand, was bored and flipped through a few pages of a book. He then rested his chin on his knees and rubbed them gently, like a cat trying to attract its owner's attention.
Feng Shuo couldn't stand her teasing. His breathing became heavier. He grabbed her chin, half leaned over and glanced at her and asked, "Didn't you say your waist was sore when you got up?"
Jiang Yanyi slapped away his hand that was holding his chin, sat up straight and said, "I wanted to ask if you want to eat fried chicken."
She had made fried chicken several times before, and Feng Shuo had an impression of this delicacy, with a crispy skin and incredibly tender meat.
He couldn't help but pull the corner of his lip slightly. His queen was really lovable. It was rare for her to act like a spoiled child and actually wanted to eat fried chicken. He said, "If you want to eat, tell the imperial kitchen to make it."
Jiang Yanyi said, "Aren't you promoting clean governance? As the queen, I naturally have to set an example. I can't finish it all by myself."
The implication was that someone had to eat with her.
Feng Shuo showed his doting, but also a bit of helplessness in his expression: "Let the imperial kitchen prepare it."
Since he said this, he was going to start working with Jiang Yanyi.
Jiang Yanyi was satisfied and called Chenyu to the imperial kitchen to pass on the message. In order to avoid having to cook by herself when she wanted to eat, she did not avoid the chefs in the imperial kitchen when making these delicacies. The imperial chefs tried many times and found that the natural free-range chicken in ancient times might be more delicious, so the fried chicken made now tastes better than the fried chicken in fast food restaurants in later generations.
Half an hour later, the fried chicken was delivered.
The large plate is filled with chicken that is fried until golden and crispy. The royal chefs only use the tenderest wings of the chicken when making fried chicken, and remove the bones and pick out the tendons when processing. There is no bone or residue when eating, and when you bite open the crispy and fragrant outer shell, the chicken inside is so tender that juice can be chewed out.
There were two small dishes filled with seasonings, one was very finely ground cumin powder, and the other was bright red chili powder.
Jiang Yanyi's red soup hotpot has opened up the market throughout the Daxuan Dynasty and has become a high-end food in the eyes of aristocratic families. Many restaurants have also begun to try to cook with chili peppers.
Since peppers were rare in the Central Plains, their market price remained high at first. However, the people in Xizhou had already grown peppers on a large scale, and peppers had even become Xizhou's second industry besides porcelain. With such a huge supply, the market price of peppers in the Central Plains did not last long before it plummeted.
Several provincial capitals near Xizhou saw that Xizhou was becoming increasingly prosperous from the export of porcelain and the sale of chili peppers to the south, and was no longer as poor as before. So they introduced chili seedlings and began to grow chili peppers on a large scale in their local provincial capitals.
If this trend continues, it will be only a matter of time before chili becomes a condiment that ordinary people can afford.
Jiang Yanyi sprinkled a layer of cumin powder on the fried chicken nuggets, and then sprinkled some chili powder. When they ate them, they tasted spicy, fragrant and flavorful.
After a full meal, she could only drink a cup of tea. She couldn't help but sigh: "It would be even better if I had a cup of Coke at this time."
Fried chicken and Coke, that's the perfect match.
Feng Shuo had heard a lot of strange things from her, and now when he heard her talking about Coke, he just asked, "What is Coke?"
Jiang Yanyi said, "It's a kind of sugar water. It's dark brown in color, a bit like medicine juice. There are a lot of bubbles in it. When you drink it, the tip of your tongue feels numb. When the bubbles burst in your throat, there's a burning sensation."
Feng Shuo frowned and said, "It doesn't sound very tasty."
Jiang Yanyi quickly defended Coke: "It tastes good. People who like Coke are just like people who like drinking alcohol. They can't give it up easily."
Feng Shuo still looked uninterested.
Jiang Yanyi wanted to immediately take out a bottle of Fat House Happy Water to open his eyes, but he was in ancient times and couldn't buy a bottle of happy water for a few dollars.
Moreover, as a beverage that swept the world in later generations, the formula of Coca-Cola is full of mystery. It is said that only three people in the world know the complete formula, and they cannot meet each other privately. When the factory is mass-producing Coca-Cola, the headquarters company numbers each ingredient of Coca-Cola, and each group of workers is only responsible for adding one type of raw material, but they don't even know what that raw material is.
Regardless of whether the rumor is true or not, Coca-Cola has already won in marketing by making this gimmick known to everyone.
However, she remembered that in her previous life, there was a period of time when homemade cola was popular on the Internet. Many well-known bloggers made videos to try it out, and she even went to join in the fun and watch.
Most bloggers who make their own cola follow the recipe from an anime, using only four ingredients: honey, lime, coriander, and carbonated water. Some succeed, some fail, but all say that coriander mixed with lime tastes like cola.
Jiang Yanyi herself used to be a cook, so she was not very confident about this overly simple recipe at the time and even looked up the detailed recipe of Coke.
What impressed her most was that the vanilla in the cola recipe was not grass, but vanilla beans. Jiang Yanyi didn't know whether this kind of raw material, native to the tropical rainforests of Africa, existed in this other world, because she had never seen it. Even if she wanted to send someone to look for it, she couldn't find it.
The reason why Coke is called a carbonated beverage is that bubbles are its soul.
It is also a misunderstanding that many bloggers use soda water instead of carbonated water. Carbonated water is weakly acidic, while soda water is weakly alkaline. This is also the reason why soda water nourishes the stomach, it can neutralize part of the stomach acid.
Using soda water instead of carbonated water will create bubbles, but the taste of the finished cola will become weird.
In ancient times, making carbonated water was a difficult problem. In order to restore the taste of cola as much as possible, some raw materials had to be collected with great effort. She now had her own caravan, which often went out of the country. With some effort, it was very likely that she could find cocoa beans and coffee beans.
In this era, coffee can replace tea, and tea culture is long and profound with unique charm. It is difficult for coffee to open up the market. Jiang Yanyi has no plans to launch coffee, but with cocoa beans, in addition to trying to make cola himself, he can also try making chocolate.
Jiang Yanyi was lost in thought while thinking about this. Feng Shuo raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw the memorial. He looked up and wanted to say something to Jiang Yanyi, but when he saw that she was still holding the teacup, he called her, "What are you thinking about?"
"Huh?" Jiang Yanyi turned around and looked at him when he heard the voice, his expression confused, obviously not hearing what Feng Shuo had just said.
Feng Shuo pointed at the teacup in her hand with his eyes: "The tea is cold."
Jiang Yanyi then let it go in disappointment.
Feng Shuo asked: "What are you thinking about so absent-mindedly?"
She walked over and sat on the futon, sighed and said, "I want to make Coke for you to try, but I don't know if I can find many of the ingredients."
Feng Shuo pinched the back of her white neck and said, "Just take your time to look for it. There's no need to rush in these two days."
Jiang Yanyi thought so too and couldn't help but smile.
Feng Shuo pinched the back of her neck with moderate force. She had been reading for too long and her neck was a little sore. It was surprisingly comfortable to be pinched like this. She even said, "A little lower, at the position of the trapezius muscle. Yes, yes, right, right there!"
Feng Shuo was also amused by her: "Are you scratching yourself here?"
Jiang Yanyi said obediently: "This is much more comfortable than tickling."
Feng Shuo laughed, and continued to massage the back of her neck. He held the memorial in his hand and said, "Your brother has submitted a memorial, asking me to grant him a marriage with Princess Jiawu."
Before in Xizhou, the marriage between Xing'an Hou and Feng Shuo failed. In order to stabilize Xing'an Hou, Feng Shuo acknowledged Yang Zheng as his sister. Now that he has ascended the throne, Yang Zheng has also been given the title of Princess Jiawu and her fiefdom is Huaiyi County. After the empire was settled, she still controls 5,000 soldiers, making her the only princess with military power since the founding of Daxuan.
Jiang Yanyi recalled Chu Chengmao's incompetence in the Jade House when she returned to Beijing last year. She did not find it strange that he wanted to marry Yang Zheng. She asked, "What are your plans, Your Majesty?"
Feng Shuo said: "In order to help others, we must first ask Princess Jiawu's wishes."
Jiang Yanyi put her head on his knees, and squinted her eyes because he was kneading the back of her neck with such strength that she felt comfortable. "Then I'll go and find out what Princess Jiawu has to say."
Feng Shuo nodded in approval.
***
Jiang Yanyi still cared about Chu Chengmao's lifelong affairs, and a few days later she invited Yang Zheng to the palace.
After a few days of scorching sun, the cool air brought by the previous rainstorm disappeared in an instant. After Yang Zheng finished a bowl of iced rose ice powder dumplings, she exclaimed that they were very satisfying and said with a smile: "I heard a few days ago that the Queen's Building has launched a new iced cold drink, which is very delicious. I went there several times but never had a taste. Today, I am in the Queen's Palace and I can finally have a good time."
"Queen's Building?" Jiang Yanyi was a little confused. After she made the rose icy glutinous rice balls, she thought it would be a jerk not to make money, so she immediately gave the recipe to Xue and asked her to sell rose glutinous rice balls in Ruyi Building as well, which could attract many diners in the summer. How come a Queen's Building suddenly appeared
Yang Zheng explained, "It's the Ruyi Tower you opened in the capital. I don't know where the news came from, saying that Ruyi Tower was opened by you, and that the reason His Majesty and you were able to get married was because he ate a few dishes in Ruyi Tower and found the dishes there amazing, so he got to know you. Now people call Ruyi Tower the Queen's Tower, and many people go there to admire its reputation."
Jiang Yanyi had not expected that someone would fabricate such a story about Ruyi Tower. He was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, but then he thought of the business and asked in a roundabout way, "Is the Marquis of Xing'an in good health?"
Yang Zheng said: "The imperial physician from the Imperial Hospital often checks father's pulse, and he is much better now."
Jiang Yanyi smiled and said, "I heard that the matchmakers who came to the Marquis' Mansion to propose marriages recently almost trampled down the threshold of the Marquis' Mansion. Do the princess and the Marquis have any favorite candidates?"
Yang Zheng smiled cheerfully: "My father is in poor health, and I am his only daughter. I want to stay with him for two more years."
The implication is that I don't like it.
Jiang Yanyi sighed and said, "You are a straightforward person, so I will tell you the truth. General Jinwu has requested His Majesty to grant you marriage. Although he is my brother, marriage is a matter of my own will. His Majesty will agree only if you are interested. I invited the princess to the palace today to ask her what she thinks of General Jinwu."
General Jin Wu is a second-rank military officer, and he got to this position at a young age. It can be said that Chu Chengmao is the first person in all dynasties.
Feng Shuo promoted him to this position, partly because Chu Changping gave way to Chu Chengmao, because the family could not have two generals with heavy troops. Chu Changping had made great contributions in following Feng Shuo, and according to his military merits, he could have been made a Duke, but Chu Changping privately refused the favor, so Feng Shuo only made him Marquis of Jing'an, which could be considered as avoiding the problem of attracting attention.
When Yang Zheng heard Jiang Yanyi's words, she was slightly startled. She didn't know what she was thinking about. She was silent for a while before she said, "Thank you, Your Majesty, for your consideration. Yang Zheng is willing to be a wife of the Chu family."
Hearing this answer, Jiang Yanyi breathed a sigh of relief. She was really afraid that Yang Zheng would not turn back.
As for Chu Chengmao, he doesn't have any major problems, but he does have a lot of minor ones. He is too obsessed with face and suffers in vain. He has a sharp tongue and can never please girls.
You could say he deserved it, but when Jiang Yanyi was still married, seeing Chu Chengmao being bothered by official business every day, he still squeezed out time to find some rare toys to send to Yang Zheng. Every time Yang Zheng returned them, he would be depressed and pretend nothing had happened, like a big abandoned dog, which was quite pitiful.
***
When Yang Zheng said goodbye to Jiang Yanyi and left the palace, he was just about to leave the court.
Wujin Lane was the only way for the Chu family's carriage to return home. When the coachman was driving the carriage past, a servant suddenly jumped out from the side and blocked the way. The coachman pulled the reins tightly and scolded: "What are you doing? How dare you block General Chu's carriage?"
The servant remained unmoved and said, "My master's surname is Yang. General Chu, please come to the teahouse to chat."
Chu Chengmao was originally sitting in the car with his eyes closed, but when he heard this, he suddenly opened his eyelids.
Chu Yangui, who was sitting opposite him, was holding a book and leaning against the window. His green court robe made his face look more elegant and handsome. He entered the Hanlin Academy and served as a sixth-rank editor. It seemed that he was only responsible for compiling history books and had no real power. However, in previous years, this was a position that only the newly crowned champion could hold after entering the court.
There is an old saying in the officialdom that "only Jinshi can enter the Hanlin Academy, and only Hanlin can enter the cabinet." He is quick-witted, but his knowledge is still shallow. By staying in the Hanlin Academy for two years to compile history books, he can hone himself and accumulate knowledge, while also preventing the Chu family from attracting too much attention. He will have a chance to enter the cabinet in the future.
Hearing the words of the servant outside the car, Chu Yangui raised his head and saw Chu Chengmao's misbehavior. He understood and said with a smile: "Second brother, go."
Chu Chengmao opened the car curtain and walked out. Half of his body was leaning out and he turned back to tell Chu Yangui: "Then be careful on the road."
He turned around and told the driver: "Drive the cart steadily, and remember to help Fifth Brother when you get off the cart."
The driver nodded repeatedly.
Chu Yangui has consulted many famous doctors for his leg injury in the past few years, and has never stopped receiving acupuncture, moxa and fumigation. Now he can walk like a normal person, but he still feels dull pain when he carries heavy objects, and the pain is severe on rainy or cold days.
After Chu Chengmao got off the car, his eyes fell on the book in his hand again. Due to long-term illness and lack of sunlight, his skin color was always a little whiter than that of ordinary people, with a hint of weakness. His half-lowered eyes were dark and deep, as if hiding some undetectable evil spirit.
He didn't know when he developed this habit, but he always liked to twirl the string of nanmu Buddhist beads with his other hand when reading.
The world has been settled, but he still has a long way to go.
***
Chu Chengmao walked into the teahouse's private room. When he saw Yang Zheng sitting by the window, he was still in a trance and his throat was a little dry. He tried his best to make his tone sound calm: "What do you want from me?"
The bite wound at the corner of my mouth was aching again.
Yang Zheng sneered. The sunlight shone in from the window, and the agate pendant on her forehead shone brightly. She leaned back on the armchair, her eyes full of mockery: "General Chu, this is all you have. Do you think I will marry you if you ask His Majesty for a marriage?"
Chu Chengmao subconsciously touched the wound at the corner of his lip with the tip of his tongue, looked up at Yang Zheng and said, "I have to try, Yang Zheng, I have no other choice."
Over the past few years, he has tried every method he could think of to please her, but her heart is as cold as a knife now, what can he do
Yang Zheng looked at him and said nastily, "Your Majesty is sensible. Your Majesty will only agree to grant the marriage if I express my opinion. I refuse."
Chu Chengmao turned away in embarrassment, and only turned back after a while, his eyes reddened, "Princess, if you called me here just to tell me this, it's not necessary. I have something else to do, so I'll take my leave."
Chu Chengmao stood up and walked out. On his way out, he bumped into the waiter who came to serve tea, and he staggered but he did not stop.
Seeing this, the maidservant beside Yang Zheng said anxiously, "Princess, are we going too far this time? General Chu's eyes are so red..."
Yang Zheng said, "The Chu family has a really good family tradition. I've provoked him so much, but he still hasn't crossed the line. How come his temper isn't wild at all?"
The little maid was dumbfounded, and finally understood the fact that her princess liked wild things. No wonder her mouth was so swollen after seeing General Chu last time...
After Chu Chengmao left the teahouse, he didn't go anywhere and went straight to a tavern to get drunk.
The imperial decree for the marriage came down from the palace, but no one was found to receive it. The servants of the Chu family were so anxious that they searched everywhere for Chu Chengmao but couldn't find him.
Chu Chengmao, on the other hand, was drunk and emboldened. He was no longer bound by the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues as he was when he was sober. He secretly hijacked Yang Zheng's carriage and drove to the outskirts of the city.
After all, Yang Zheng had practiced martial arts since childhood, but after just a few moves, Chu Chengmao gagged and tied her up.
This drunken, bandit-looking fellow was completely different from the self-disciplined and polite General Jinwu who usually performed well. Yang Zheng was completely confused.
When they arrived at a reed-covered lake on the outskirts of the city, he carried Yang Zheng out of the carriage, took off his outer robe and spread it on a large rock.
Yang Zheng was dumbfounded when she saw him suddenly undressing, and wondered if this guy was a drunk beast.
In the end, Chu Chengmao just held her in his arms and sat on the big rock, watching the sunset over Yang Lake with her.
The evening breeze blew the reeds, and the sunset glow fell on the lake in the distance and the reeds nearby. The lake surface was sparkling, and ripples were also created in the reeds.
Chu Chengmao remained silent throughout the whole process. Only when the last rays of sunset disappeared between heaven and earth did he say in silence: "Reeds are lush and green, and white dew turns to frost."
Yang Zheng thought he was sober and tried to break the cloth bandage that bound her wrists, "Untie it for me."
Chu Chengmao burped, stared at her for a while, shook his head slowly, and said stubbornly, "No."
After getting drunk, he finally stopped hiding his sadness and hugged Yang Zheng tightly, just like when he was a child, knowing that his mother was seriously ill and would not live long, and naively thought that as long as he hugged his mother tightly, she would not leave him.
Tears flowed from his eyes, and he murmured, "The sunset at Yanghu Lake is the most beautiful. I want to watch it with you."
Yang Zheng's struggle weakened. It turned out that he had gone to so much trouble to hold her hostage just to watch the sunset with her.
She whispered, "I'm sorry."
The corner of his mouth raised and he smiled: "Chu Chengmao, how can I not like you..."
As she said this, she raised her head and kissed Chu Chengmao's lips.
She was reluctant to return any gift he sent her, and only after accepting it would she send someone to find a similar gift and send it back, pretending to return it to him.
She is the only daughter of Marquis Xing'an and the current head of the entire Yang family. If she has a simple temperament, the lineage of Marquis Xing'an will come to an end.
If the man she likes can't be moved by a sincere heart alone, then she doesn't mind using tricks to win the man's heart step by step, knowing when to be cold, when to be warm, when to be ambiguous... everything is calculated by her.
He was the prey she had taken so much trouble to trap, and now he was finally caught.
The author has something to say: Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2021-04-05 03:22:34~2021-04-07 16:18:12~
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