"An'an, the Dark Pavilion has reported that there is unrest in the south, which is quite troublesome. I need to go and see for myself. I will be leaving soon. Before I go, I want to see you one last time and say goodbye."

"When will you return?" Yan An asked.

"The Hundred Flowers Banquet is less than a month away, and I will definitely return before then to attend with you. During my absence, if you need anything, go to Linglong Pavilion to find Manager Wang or to the Prime Minister's Mansion to find Qi Hongchen. The Xuan Tie token I gave you allows you to freely enter and exit the Dark Pavilion. Seeing the token is like seeing me, and they will take you to the Dark Pavilion. The token Mo Zichen gave you can also be used to command Beiming Manor. Don't be reckless if anything happens. I will be back soon." After saying this, he turned to leave.

I never imagined that the two tokens I obtained so easily would have such a great use. I've got a treasure! Hehehe...

"Watsu-won, wait a moment." Since Watsu-won said it was a bit tricky, it must be quite complicated. Thinking of this, Yan An suddenly had several porcelain bottles of different sizes in his hand.

"These bottles are antidotes. There are many poisonous insects in the south. These are insect repellents to keep them away from you. When I was a child, any insects I caught were highly poisonous, so be careful. These are wound medicines, these are the corpse-dissolving water that An Yi needed, and these are water from Tianshan Mountain. Keep them safe." Yan An put the porcelain bottles into a box and placed it in Yue Xiyuan's arms.

When Yue Xiyuan heard that he had been given several more bottles of antidote pills, he grabbed Yan An's hand and looked at it. He was relieved when he saw no wound.

"The antidote doesn't require much blood, just a few drops, don't worry."

Yue Xiyuan was also somewhat shocked to see that the bottles in his arms had suddenly appeared in Yan An's hands, but he didn't ask any questions. He believed that Yan An must have her reasons for not telling him, and he was confident that Yan An would tell him everything one day.

Yue Xiyuan kissed Yan An's forehead and said, "Wait for me to come back." Then he turned and left.

"Next time you come, don't climb through the window. Just use the door. There's no one on watch at night," Yan An said to the air.

Upon hearing this, Yue Xiyuan assumed that Yan An had left the door open for him, and couldn't help but feel secretly delighted, thinking that his wife had left the door open for him...

If Yan An knew that Yue Xiyuan thought this way, she would definitely say he was shameless. She hadn't kept anyone to watch over her at night since she came back.

Half a month has passed in the blink of an eye, and Yan An has had a very fulfilling time. He gets up at the hour of Si (9-11 AM), goes to Ji Ren Tang to see Mo Zichen at noon, and spends his afternoons studying medicine and practicing martial arts in Zi An Courtyard.

Mo Zichen's tuberculosis has almost healed, and he will be fully recovered after taking medicine for a few more days. Madam Yan also had the servants clean up and renovate the villa next to Yan Yi so that Mo Zichen could stay there after he arrived. Therefore, the Yan residence has been very lively these past few days.

Recently, Yan An has taken a liking to brewing wine again. He has tried brewing several jars, but they were either very dark in color or had a very unpleasant smell. However, Yan An became more and more determined after each failure, determined to brew a few jars of good wine before Mo Zichen entered the manor, so that Yue Xiyuan could taste it when he returned.

It was the season for lychees, so Yan An prepared to brew lychee wine.

Yan An took some lychees, thinking that since Mo Zichen had just recovered from a serious illness, he should drink some low-alcohol liquor. He prepared rock sugar and a wine jar. After peeling the lychees, Yan An washed and dried them together with the wine jar. He put the lychee pulp into the wine jar, poured in the liquor and rock sugar, and thought that it would be delicious, good for beauty and health. He also added some water from Tianshan Mountain, sealed it well, and made several more jars and put them into his space.

It's easy to imagine how much Tianshan water Yan An has wasted on brewing wine during this period. If others knew, they would be heartbroken.

Yan An thought that plum wine would be good, so he took some more plums, washed and dried them like lychee wine, and put them into a wine jar with white wine and rock sugar. He also added some water from Tianshan Mountain, sealed it well, and made several jars, which he then put into his space.

"Mission accomplished. I have a feeling this time it will definitely succeed. When Brother Zichen comes, we'll have some drinks and give some to Yue Xiyuan."

Thinking of this, Yan An couldn't help but miss Yue Xiyuan, wondering how things were going on his end and whether everything was going smoothly.

In fact, the two exchanged letters every few days, all delivered by Manager Wang. Yue Xiyuan had been gone for nearly twenty days, and Yan An had three letters in his possession. Normally, Yan An should have received one letter by now.

"Perhaps he's just been busy," Yan An comforted herself, after all, Yue Xiyuan had mentioned in his last letter that this matter was somewhat tricky.

Three days later, Yan An got up very early today. He thought he would cook some dishes for Zi Chen when he came to the mansion. In modern times, Yan An was the best cook besides studying. After all, he lost his parents at a young age and was in poor health, so he could only cook for himself. Over time, his cooking skills became superb.

"If Mom and my eldest brother like spicy food, I'll make spicy chicken and spicy blood curd. If Dad and my brother Zichen like sweet food, I'll make squirrel-shaped mandarin fish and sweet and sour pork ribs."

A while ago, Yan An found that there were no dried chilies, so he dried some himself. He didn't know how they would taste, but he planned to try them today.

Before Mo Zichen's tuberculosis had healed, General Yan, Jiang Luo, and Yan Yi visited him at Ji Ren Tang several times. General Yan and Jiang Luo were very fond of Mo Zichen and regarded him as their godson. Today, Yan An planned to prepare food in the East Kitchen, so he asked his elder brother to pick up Mo Zichen.

Yan An chopped the chicken into small pieces, prepared a lot of side dishes for Mao Xue Wang (a spicy Sichuan dish), took a fish, and cut it with swift and skillful knife work. After all the side dishes were prepared, Yan An put the marinated chicken pieces into the oil and fried them. Soon, a spicy chicken dish was ready.

Since there was no hot pot base or fermented bean paste available, Yan An could only make a simulated base. He could still stir-fry the red oil, added some seasonings, poured in boiling water, and after the water boiled, he put in the prepared side dishes to cook and take them out. He then added chili slices, Sichuan peppercorns, minced garlic, poured hot oil over them, sprinkled chopped green onions, and served the dish.

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