Zhou Lizhang came to Beijing

Fu Zhiqiao arranged a small purchasing team to go beyond the Great Wall, with Wang Qi as the team leader. They set off from Beijing and drove all the way to the Wenya Grassland to buy beef and mutton from the local herders.

The round trip took more than two months, and they brought back several live cattle and sheep.

Autumn is almost over, and winter will be here soon.

Fu Zhiqiao plans to add some beef and mutton dishes to the Taibailou winter menu, as eating more beef and mutton can warm the body when the weather is cold.

She already had a plan for how to eat beef, but she was still figuring out how to eat lamb. She would slice the lamb for hot pot, use the lamb bones and offal to make lamb soup, and roast the lamb leg... She had already tried lamb hot pot a couple of days ago, and it was indeed worthy of the lamb from the Wenya Grassland. The meat was firm and chewy, with no gamey smell at all.

Tonight we're having roasted lamb leg.

Make a few cuts on the surface of the prepared lamb leg to help it absorb the flavor, marinate it with special seasoning for an hour, and then roast it over charcoal.

The lamb leg was served as a whole leg, with the skin roasted to a golden brown and sizzling with oil, its powerful aroma filling the lungs.

"This lamb was specially brought back from the Wenya Grassland by someone. It was marinated in a secret sauce before being roasted. All the spices used for roasting were sourced from the Western Regions. Come and try it and see if it's delicious."

"Delicious! Your method is sure to be delicious!" Xie Zhuo praised enthusiastically.

Fu Zhiqiao took a small knife and cut off a few slices of mutton, putting them into Xie Zhuo's plate. The next second, Xie Zhuo took the knife and, imitating Fu Zhiqiao's technique, sliced ​​off pieces of mutton and put them into Fu Zhiqiao's plate.

The two smiled at each other and began to enjoy their meal.

The roasted lamb leg has a crispy, fragrant skin and is juicy inside. The meat is thick but not dry, and the crispy exterior and tender interior make it irresistible!

Fu Zhi Qiao was very satisfied with the roasted lamb leg. She decided to have Wang Qi take more people to Wenya Grassland again. This time, it wouldn't be a small-scale operation like last time. She planned to buy several hundred head of beef and mutton to make a winter-limited delicacy for Taibai Tower.

There are also cattle and sheep raised on farms near the capital. Most of the cattle are draft animals and cannot be used for work. However, the quality of the mutton on these farms is much worse than that of the sheep from the Wenya Grassland. In order to maintain the high-end style of Taibai Tower, she decided to use the best mutton.

Based on the route, it was estimated that the expedition team would reach the Wenya Grassland in October, and it would be at least November before they returned to the capital.

The journey was long and arduous, and it was certainly unrealistic to bring back a large number of live cattle and sheep. Dead animals are always easier to transport than live ones, so her plan was to slaughter most of the cattle and sheep before transporting them back, and bring back a small number of cattle and sheep alive.

The temperature in the gentle grasslands is already quite low after October. Slaughtered beef and mutton are placed in ice storage to freeze, and then a layer of water is poured on top to completely seal them. This way, there is no need to worry about the beef and mutton spoiling during transportation.

Bringing back such a large quantity of beef and mutton at once was a bit too much for the caravan's current manpower. Therefore, she turned her attention to Peng Gaofei. The Peng family caravan had many years of experience trading abroad, and his help could make this border procurement trip go more smoothly.

In order to persuade Peng Gaofei to protect her border detachment, Fu Zhiqiao paid the price of one hundred jars of premium Taibai liquor.

It has to be said that Peng Gaofei has learned his lesson. Nowadays, top-grade Taibai liquor is extremely hard to find in Beijing, and Peng's shop suddenly has an extra hundred jars of top-grade Taibai liquor in stock. He won't be short of liquor to sell for a long time to come.

The border detachment and the Peng family caravan had set off together a few days ago. Before leaving, Fu Zhiqiao reminded Wang Qi that if he came across any vendors selling spices from the Western Regions along the way, he should buy them all.

The roasted lamb leg suited Xie Zhuo's taste perfectly, and he ate more than half of it.

After the bowls and chopsticks were cleared away, the servants brought over a pot of tea.

Xie Zhuo took a sip of tea and asked, "Why is this tea sweet?"

"Do you like the fruit tea I just made?"

She made the fruit tea with leftover peaches, using brewed Maojian tea as the base. She crushed the peaches to extract the juice, added a little honey, and stirred it well. The tea had a slightly sweet and sour flavor. After eating a large plate of meat, a cup of fruit tea was the perfect way to cut through the grease.

Xie Zhuo's attention wasn't on the fruit tea; he stared intently at Fu Zhi Qiao's lips. Her red lips became even more moist and translucent from the fruit tea. Xie Zhuo felt his throat getting even drier, so he picked up the teacup and took a big gulp.

When Fu Zhi Qiao asked him about the taste of the fruit tea, he said the same thing: "I like everything you make."

Fu Zhi Qiao: "..."

After eating and drinking well, Xie Zhuo stopped joking and told her about his whereabouts over the past few days.

He hasn't been in the capital these past few days because he went to the southern border to search for a herb called Illusion Grass, which can cause people to fall into a coma and enter a state of living dead.

The fruit of the Illusionary Heart Grass is poison, while its root is the antidote. Xie Zhuo needs a complete Illusionary Heart Grass to simultaneously refine both the poison pill and the antidote. Only by extracting both the fruit and the root from the same Illusionary Heart Grass can he obtain a poison and antidote that counteract each other.

The Illusion Grass has a low reproduction rate, grows only on high-altitude cliffs, and has extremely strong vitality.

Right now is the time when the fruits of the Illusionary Heart Grass are ripe. Winter will come soon, and if we miss this year, we'll have to wait until next year to harvest them.

Time was of the essence, so Xie Zhuo led a group of people to make the trip himself. Fortunately, the Illusionary Heart Grass was only difficult to harvest, and it had not yet become extinct.

There were almost no other plants growing around the Illusion Heart Grass. He led a dozen or so guards to search the mountain for two days and two nights before finally finding it. The Illusion Heart Grass has now been given to the local witch doctor to be made into pills. He asked Wang Qianxin to stay there and came back first to tell Fu Zhiqiao the good news.

"Ji-joo, I came to tell you that I will definitely keep my promise!"

Not long ago, Fu Zhiqiao had been imagining her miserable life after marrying into the royal family. Now, when she suddenly heard Xie Zhuo promise her that he would definitely keep his promise, she was a little unsure how to respond and could only mumble an "oh".

Seeing that Fu Zhi Qiao wasn't as happy as he had imagined, Xie Zhuo felt inexplicably uneasy. He thought that Fu Zhi Qiao still harbored resentment about what had happened before and didn't quite believe him, so he reiterated his position: "Qiao, I'm serious. I definitely won't break my promise to you this time."

"I hope so." Xie Zhuo's confident statement made Fu Zhi Qiao's expression change slightly. She avoided eye contact, not wanting to continue the discussion, and had to find an excuse to steer clear of the topic.

Xie Zhuo didn't think too much about it. After relieving his lovesickness, he returned to the palace. He still had many things to take care of.

*

Two days later, Yu Roulan's letter arrived.

In her letter, Yu Roulan asked her if she had encountered any difficulties in her haste to return to the capital, and told her not to bear her troubles alone.

Fu Zhiqiao felt warm inside after reading the letter. She replied that her business was going smoothly and told Yu Roulan not to worry. She also mentioned that Taibai Academy was about to start, and she wouldn't be able to make it back in time, so she asked Yu Roulan to attend the opening ceremony in her place.

The day after the letter was sent, the results of the provincial examination were released.

"The results are out! They'll be released soon!"

"Don't push, or I won't be able to see..." The area outside the examination hall was already packed with people. There were candidates who came to wait for their results, servants and guards who came to check their masters' results, and most of the others were just people who came to watch the excitement.

The yamen runners posted a large red notice of good news at the entrance of the examination hall.

Everyone pushed and shoved forward, craning their necks to see the names on the list. This red list was related to the fate of countless people. Below the list were messengers who would deliver good news to the candidates on the red list as soon as possible, in order to earn some money for doing so.

"I passed the exam!"

"I passed! I ranked seventy-third!"

Occasionally, excited shouts could be heard from the crowd, some of them ecstatic, others of sorrowful grief.

With the results of the provincial examinations released, the number of people holding banquets at Taibai Tower increased, mostly to celebrate those who had passed the exams and become scholars. Fu Zhi Qiao had anticipated this, and Taibai Tower would present a "Top Scholar's Trotter" as a blessing to everyone who held an exam banquet.

The "Top Scholar's Trotter" is actually just braised pig's trotters, but it has been repackaged and given a better name. The word "trotter" is a homophone for "exam question," so using "Top Scholar's Trotter" to wish the examinee success in the exam is perfect.

The man hosting the banquet at Taibai Tower this noon is Lu Siqing. He is thirty-three years old this year and has been taking the imperial examinations for many years. This year, he finally passed the provincial examination with a score of sixty-ninth in the capital and rural examinations, thus becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial examinations). Passing the provincial examinations qualifies one to become an official. Moreover, no one in the Lu family has ever been a particularly outstanding scholar. Lu Siqing is the first to pass the provincial examinations, so he is bound to have a grand celebration.

"After eating this 'Scholar's Trotter,' you're sure to pass the imperial examination with flying colors and achieve top honors!" Defu said with a smile as he personally served the trotter to Lu Siqing.

"Haha, then I'll take your kind words, shopkeeper." No one dislikes hearing auspicious words, and Lu Siqing's eyes narrowed with laughter.

After the provincial examination, there are the metropolitan examination and the palace examination.

Every scholar who passed the provincial examination would soon take the metropolitan examination. Candidates from all over the country would gather in the capital. Taibai Tower would offer special dishes to symbolize the top scholar's trotters, a lucky omen for those who passed the imperial examination. People couldn't help but want to have this good fortune!

The recipe for braised pig's trotters is a slightly modified version of the braised meat recipe by Fu Zhiqiao. Several spices were added, and after being simmered over a low flame for several hours, the pig's trotters are rich but not greasy, and have a sticky and fragrant taste.

Looking at the bright red and shiny pig's trotters, Lu Siqing's appetite was whetted. One bite revealed their tender and smooth texture, so delicate that the meat easily fell off the bone. The rich aroma of the sauce burst in his mouth, leaving him with an unforgettable aftertaste.

"Champion's Trotter, Champion's Trotter, delicious taste! Good omen!"

Seeing that Taibailou had not just given any dish a nice name to fool him, but had carefully cooked the pig's trotters and paired them with the auspicious name "Golden List Trotter Name" to bless him, Lu Siqing was very satisfied. After returning home, he told his friends that he had eaten the champion's trotters at Taibailou and that the taste was absolutely amazing!

Pig trotters come in both lean and fatty varieties. For poorer families, buying them to eat is considered a treat, as they not only taste good but also have auspicious connotations. Gradually, the name "Scholar's Trotter" spread within his small circle.

Originally a dish given as a gift at banquets, it gradually became a dish ordered by guests, especially those taking the imperial examinations, who would always order the "Champion's Trotter" when dining at Taibai Tower.

Taibai Tower took advantage of this trend and hosted many banquets.

As lunchtime ended, Taibai Tower gradually quieted down, with only a few tables of guests still dining in the main hall.

The workers, who had been busy all noon, were now taking a break in shifts. Defu was at the door, calculating with his abacus. Recently, many customers had been specifically asking for Zhuangyuan Trotters. Defu would record the number of trotters sold each time, and he would report the results to Fu Zhiqiao to see if they should promote Zhuangyuan Trotters more based on the current market situation.

"Is Miss Fu Zhiqiao here?"