37 Cream Cake

◎The seeds of doubt spread like vines.◎

Song Jinyi took a bite of the snack beside her with her tea. She hadn't eaten for a day and a night, and the snack tasted a bit sweet, which made her feel nauseous.

She drank two cups of tea in a row, not taking Gu Jinyan's words to heart. She waved her hand and said, "Your Highness, you are worrying too much. Xie Wuyang is indeed just an ordinary person, at most an ordinary person with a good appearance."

If Xie Wuyang was really a royal family, how could he have almost fallen into the world of prostitution?

However, Song Jinyi came up with a different idea. Perhaps the prince spotted Xie Wuyang in the crowd and thought he was a foreign noble because of his appearance, so he paid special attention to him.

The foreign nobles did not issue an ultimatum to the other country... It is related to the friendly diplomatic relations between the two countries and cannot be taken lightly.

I just don’t know how the prince would treat Xie Wuyang if he was really a member of the royal family?

"I hope so." Gu Jinyan replied without any emotion.

At the turn of autumn and winter, the autumn atmosphere is fading. Compared with summer, the sky darkens early. The rosy clouds are swallowed up by the darkness bit by bit. Rows of wild geese struggle to cross the darkness and fly south.

Song Jinyi walked out of the main hall and immediately felt the chill of the autumn wind outside the hall. Her neck shivered in her stand-up collar, and she wrapped her clothes tightly and walked out with the palace maids.

As for the palace door, she heard the sound coming from behind and looked back curiously. She saw that the palace door had been opened at some point. Gu Jinyan was standing in front of the palace door with a peach-colored cloak with pipa pattern in his hand, as if waiting for someone.

Who could possibly have the Crown Prince waiting for him? Curiosity got the better of Song Jinyi. Instead of galloping out of the palace with the palace maid, she slowed down and secretly looked over there.

After a while, a group of people came from the other side. The woman in the lead was wearing a lotus-red silk skirt and had an exquisite bun. She was as beautiful as a blooming peony.

It was the first time that Song Jinyi saw such a beautiful person in Daxia. She looked like a beauty in a painting or a fairy in the sky.

She watched Gu Jinyan put a cloak on the woman and walk side by side with her. He seemed distant and polite, but Song Jinyi was afraid that even though they were so far apart, she could still feel the difference in Prince Gu's treatment of the woman.

He seemed to care deeply about that woman.

The palace maid urged her, and Song Jinyi hurriedly quickened her pace to catch up. She casually asked, "Who was that beautiful lady just now?"

"She is the Crown Princess of the current dynasty. You and I cannot discuss her casually." The eunuch warned.

******

Zhaoren Palace.

Song Jinyi took small steps across the blue bricks of the palace road. After walking for about half an incense stick of time, she arrived at the vermilion palace gate. The eunuch who led the way knocked lightly on the door knocker. The palace gate made a dull sound and was slowly pushed open a crack.

Song Jinyi peeked through the gap and saw the green tiles, red eaves, jade steps and red courtyard inside, which was so magnificent. Song Jinyi bent her waist slightly and stepped over the threshold. Her view widened. There was a large open square at the entrance, surrounded by flower beds on both sides.

Passing through the corridor on the side of the square, one sees a stone screen carved with green bamboo, and behind it is the main hall of Zhaoren Palace. The palace maid first took Song Jin to the small kitchen.

In my previous life, making cakes was easy with all the equipment I had.

Now here, everything has to start from raw materials, which is time-consuming and laborious.

Song Jinyi looked at the dazzling array of raw materials on the table and breathed a deep sigh of relief. It would be great if Xu Ruolan was here. The two of them had been together for a long time and had a tacit understanding, and she could even help her.

She first made the cake base with eggs, milk, flour and sugar.

Next comes the finishing touch – the cream.

The key lies in the light cream. Song Jinyi uses milk and butter to boil and stir to make light cream.

She made the whipped cream and looked around for a tool to whip it. If she was asked to whip it by hand, she was afraid that her hands would be broken and she might not even be able to whip the cream properly.

She looked at the bottles and jars on the counter and came up with a good idea. She found a sealable jar and put the right amount of whipped cream in it.

Find a strong chef to shake it up and down until it becomes a sticky semi-solid.

She poured the cream from the can into a dense foam, leaving the imperial chef standing by stunned. What was this? Without using any solidifying ingredients, she could transform liquid into this form.

In their eyes, this is as magical as magic.

She divided the cake base into three layers, placed the first layer in a bowl, placed fruits in the middle, and smoothed the surface with whipped cream. The same was done for the second and third layers.

Song Jinyi looked at the finished product. The shape was a bit rough, but there was nothing she could do as the conditions limited her performance.

The imperial chef in Zhaoren Palace waited for Song Jinyi to leave, then hurried in and swarmed to grab the remaining cream.

The milky white luster was like pearls, and the taste was very strange. They had never eaten anything so delicate and smooth. It was a bit like crispy fried food, but after tasting it carefully, they felt that it was completely different.

I also saw her pouring a lot of powdered sugar into it, and I thought she did, but the sweetness was just right. If there was less, the sweetness would be weakened and the taste would become bland.

The imperial chefs looked in the direction where Song Jinyi left with mixed feelings. This girl looked only about sixteen or seventeen years old, but she was very skilled in making dim sum and had a precise grasp of the proportions.

This is talent!

The "talented" Song Jinyi was waiting in the outer hall at this moment. She heard rustling noises from the main hall, and a figure swayed behind the lattice door. The lattice door was slowly pushed open. The palace maid reminded her, and Song Jinyi hurried forward to salute.

The Queen Mother leaned on the beauty couch, her face tired, as if she had just woken up from a nap.

The maid carefully took the cake and showed it to the Queen Mother. She raised her eyelids lazily and said calmly, "I don't think this 'cake' is anything special. It's a bit large, but not as delicate as ordinary pastries."

Song Jinyi chuckled and said, "When it comes to food, taste is naturally the most important thing. If appearance is more important than taste, then that's putting the cart before the horse. I learned how to make this cake from outside."

The birthday person is supposed to cut it up with a knife and share it with family and friends, so they can enjoy the delicious food and celebrate the festival happily.

The Queen Mother narrowed her eyes, looked at her, found her very interesting, and waved her hand.

The palace maid tasted a bite with a silver spoon and then cut it into four equal parts with a knife.

The Queen Mother tasted a piece and raised her eyebrows in surprise. It was quite delicious.

When Nanny Sun saw this, she was secretly happy that she had made the right bet.

The Queen Mother is old and her appetite has not always been good, but I didn't expect her to eat a whole cake today! I guess the cake tasted really good.

The Queen Mother wiped her mouth and told the palace maid, "Send one portion to your Majesty's palace, and the remaining two to the Eastern Palace." Then she asked someone to bring tea to relieve the greasy feeling.

Song Jinyi had already thought about the cake's sweetness, and even made some porridge to relieve the greasiness. She continued, "If the Queen Mother doesn't mind, I've also made some porridge in the kitchen to relieve the greasiness."

The Queen Mother had tasted her cooking, so she naturally trusted the porridge she made and asked her to serve it.

While making the cake, Song Jinyi also boiled a small pot of red beans in the kitchen. She cooked and crushed the red beans, poured in a small amount of rock sugar, and cooked until it was slightly thick.

This time, borrow the ready-made glutinous rice balls, pour the separately cooked balls into the red bean porridge, sprinkle some dried osmanthus flowers, and you're done.

Song Jinyi had just taken the hot meal out of the house when she almost bumped into Nanny Sun who was coming towards her.

Song Jinyi looked at the bowl of food that shook slightly but didn't spill a single drop, and muttered, "Fortunately, fortunately."

Nanny Sun came to see what kind of porridge she had made. When she looked down, she saw that it was red bean porridge. She frowned and said worriedly, "Red bean porridge? Madam Song, don't ruin your reputation."

Song Jinyi said: "The key to this delicacy is not the taste, but the memory."

Song Jinyi carried the red bean dumplings into the inner hall.

The empress dowager half closed her eyes and looked down at Song Jinyi. When she saw the red bean dumplings, she was slightly stunned.

The Queen Mother took the bowl of soup and gently stirred it with the spoon. "Why did you make this so suddenly? I happen to be craving this, too."

Red bean dumplings are also a specialty of Yunzhou. Almost everyone in Yunzhou has eaten them. Perhaps the familiar food aroused the empress dowager's homesickness. While savoring them carefully, the empress dowager chatted with Song Jinyi about Yunzhou.

Relying on the original owner's memories, Song Jinyi talked about the newly opened snack shop in Yunzhou, Yunzhou's most famous Zui Liuxia, and Yunzhou's newly built Xixiatai...

The empress dowager was in a good mood. She asked the eunuch to move a round rosewood stool to her side and let Song Jinyi sit in front of her. This was a great honor. Finally, she kept Song Jinyi to have dinner.

Nanny Sun said at the right moment, "Madam Song is such a good cook, why don't you stay in the palace and cook for her?"

Song Jinyi covered her face with her hands and coughed, then said with embarrassment, "It is a blessing for me to be able to share the Queen Mother's worries. However, my parents are old and they are both in their hometown. It is difficult for them to leave them. I only hope that I can fulfill my filial duties in the future."

Since ancient times, sages have said: "Filial piety is the first of all virtues."

Even the Queen Mother cannot go against the teachings of the sages.

Song Jinyi fulfilled her promise: to make the Queen Mother happy.

The Queen Mother forgave all the cooks and asked Song Jinyi what reward she wanted.

Song Jinyi said: "I just want..."

******

It was already late at night when Song Jinyi returned to the outer palace. She was like an inflated balloon in front of the empress dowager, and every move she made was tense.

Now that she was back, she felt exhausted and had no energy at all. She even felt tired walking back to her room. Halfway through, she suddenly remembered that she had something important to do.

She came to visit Xie Wuyang at his residence. She heard from the eunuch who was taking care of Xie Wuyang that the imperial physician had examined him, re-used medicine, and bandaged his wounds. He was not seriously injured and had been in a coma because of anemia and malnutrition.

She squatted in front of Xie Wuyang's bed, resting her head on her hand, looking at Xie Wuyang. Xie Wuyang's eyelashes were so long that they seemed like they could swing on a swing.

She whispered, "Why don't you wake up?" She stayed for a while, twisting his hair. It was as soft as seaweed in the sea. His golden hair matched his snow-white skin. He looked like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty from Grimm's fairy tale.

So beautiful, like an exquisite porcelain doll. Her eyes suddenly flashed, she retracted her fingers, and remembered the prince's words - only nobles from foreign countries could have such an impressive appearance.

The seeds of doubt spread like vines.