Chapter 48 Mistake Su Zhihan returned to the manor and urged Jiang Zhenniang...

Upon returning to the manor, Su Zhihan urged Jiang Zhenniang to go to work. Now that she was the head cook, it didn't matter if she was a little late, but Jiang Zhenniang said, "Third Miss has been in a bad mood lately, so please be careful with your daily work."

"Don't worry, Third Sister is a kind person." Jiang Zhenniang then remembered that she hadn't told her daughter yet, so she quickly turned around and went into the house to take out the gold hairpin: "Look, Third Sister gave it to me."

Su Zhihan was surprised to receive a reward at this critical juncture, which confirmed that her mother was doing quite well in the Third Sister's courtyard.

Jiang Zhenniang smiled and said goodbye to her daughter before heading towards the Third Sister's courtyard. As soon as she entered the courtyard, she felt the atmosphere freeze once again, and then she learned from Xu Mama what the Second Sister had done.

The actions of the second wife, Xu, garnered widespread praise, while simultaneously humiliating the third wife, Zhou. The more others praised her, the more it seemed to repeatedly expose and condemn Zhou's status as a merchant's daughter.

Zhou, who was already feeling unwell due to her son's illness, sat up all night. After returning to the courtyard, her stomach churned, and she felt nauseous and vomited all night.

"Luckily, I still have the hawthorn paste and orange candy you gave me last time." As Xu Mama said this, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Third Sister. On the evening of Laba Festival, Third Sister Zhou was not feeling well, but she didn't want to be looked down upon, so she didn't want to call a doctor to treat her.

Seeing that Zhou was in distress, Xu's mother was anxious and suddenly remembered the apple and hawthorn paste and orange candy that Jiang Zhenniang had given her.

"I took some hawthorn paste and soaked it in water."

"After my wife drank it, her stomach felt much better."

"Later, they even praised your daughter for making delicious orange candy."

"If you like it, my lady, then I'll have Han'er make more later." Jiang Zhenniang was overjoyed to hear this. Last time, Han'er brought back a lot of hawthorns and oranges, and they were sour and astringent, and they hadn't sweetened even after a long time.

Seeing that the oranges would rot if left any longer, Su Zhihan decided to make them all into candied oranges. As for hawthorn, there were many more products made from it, from stir-fried hawthorn berries to hawthorn cakes, and from hawthorn cakes to hawthorn jelly. In the end, hawthorn paste, which has the longest shelf life, won the hearts of both.

Jiang Zhenniang remembers that there were still several jars in the cabinet.

Madam Xu readily agreed and took out two banknotes from her purse to give to Jiang Zhenniang: "I originally wanted to reward you again, but I just rewarded you yesterday and was afraid people would talk about it, so I asked me to give it to you privately."

"It's just a small thing I should do, please reward me..."

"Take it." Before Jiang Zhenniang could refuse, Xu Mama stuffed it into her hand, firmly rejecting Jiang Zhenniang's attempt to share it with her.

Jiang Zhenniang put the paper money into her sleeve and then brought the topic back to the beginning: "If Second Mistress bullies people like this, what will the lady do next?"

Mrs. Xu smiled and said, "Just you wait and see."

Despite Jiang Zhenniang's persistent entreaties, Xu Mama remained silent like a clam, unable to utter a word about San Niangzi's plans.

Jiang Zhenniang returned home full of curiosity, and couldn't help but gossip with her daughter. Su Zhihan listened, not yet figuring out what her third daughter planned to do, and only told Jiang Zhenniang not to tell anyone about it.

"I'm not stupid."

"Then you are one now."

“You’re different.” Jiang Zhenniang pouted and asked Su Zhihan how she was doing in the kitchen, and whether Madam Xu’s attitude had changed.

"...How dare you say that?" Su Zhihan felt embarrassed again when she remembered the embarrassing incident that morning. She looked at Jiang Zhenniang with a particularly resentful gaze: "When Chef Xu came to work, I didn't dare to look over there."

"Ahem, it was an accident, you know."

"Lady Xu called me over later and gave me some pointers on tableware." Despite the embarrassment, Su Zhihan pointed to the paper in front of her: "I've written it all down. There are still many festival banquets to come, so I can study them carefully."

Su Zhihan's eyes lit up as she spoke.

Today she learned from Cao Mama that after the Laba Festival, it would be the beginning of people visiting relatives and friends, and there would be one banquet after another.

I learned a lot at the Laba Festival banquet, and I imagine I'll learn even more throughout the New Year holidays.

"Aunt Cao mentioned a lot of ingredients."

"I can't wait!" Su Zhihan couldn't help but grin foolishly as she thought about the ingredients that Cao Mama had mentioned for the New Year's banquet.

So many excellent ingredients!

Which chef could resist laughing when they heard that?

For the next few days, Su Zhihan followed Chef Xu around every day, learning how to process various precious ingredients.

For example, the first course is: Seven-Rank Imperial Bird's Nest.

This dish is a must-have at every banquet. The bird's nest used is a top-quality, precious product from Johor. The "seven grades" do not refer to the grade of the bird's nest, but rather to the seven different broths.

Clear broth, milk broth, seafood broth, sweet broth, vegetable broth... all sorts of soups that Su Zhihan had thought of and those she had never imagined were served one after another, intertwined with pure bird's nest, bursting forth with various flavors.

There is also a dish called "Fish Belly Stuffed with Lamb," which requires fresh, large yellow croaker stuffed with lamb cheek meat. Leaving aside the difficulty for a noble family in the capital to obtain large yellow croaker, the fact that only lamb cheek meat is used to stew this dish demonstrates its extravagance.

While Su Zhihan was amazed by the ingredients, she also enjoyed the process. A large amount of ingredients were transported into the kitchen, and after deducting a small amount for banquet dishes, the majority were left for the kitchen to use at will.

Su Zhihan, carrying various ingredients, not only practiced her skills with Yinghong and the others, but also looked forward to the arrival of the remaining ingredients.

However, she soon realized that something was wrong.

For the first few days after the Laba Festival, the supply of ingredients was normal. However, after the fifteenth day, the supply of fresh and precious ingredients became increasingly scarce. For example, the Xixia Tan sheep and Qinzhou fine-wool sheep, which were commonly used in the mansion, were not delivered for several days in a row.

In the past, this would have been absolutely impossible.

Madam Xu went to the Second Madam's courtyard twice to urge her on this matter. With the 18th of the twelfth lunar month approaching and the food supply still not normal, she went to the Second Madam's house again to urge her on the matter.

Su Zhihan was surprised and brought it up with the butcher and others when she sat down: "Aunt Lin, has this kind of delay ever happened in previous years?"

"Delay?"

"It's about the ingredients." Su Zhihan paused, then added, "After all, the 24th of the twelfth lunar month is just a few days away."

The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month is now the New Year's Eve, also known as the Little New Year. On this day, people invite Taoist priests and monks to their homes to chant scriptures and pray for blessings. They also prepare wine, dishes, and fruits to offer to the Kitchen God.

In addition to worshipping the Kitchen God, wealthy and powerful families would also hold grand banquets, inviting relatives and friends to gather together. Only with a lively and bustling atmosphere could they drive away evil spirits and ghosts.

The same applies to the Marquis of Zhongyong's residence. It is said that a banquet will be held on the 24th to invite many relatives and friends, and a fellow student banquet will be held on the 25th to invite the classmates and families of the young men.

Whether it's the marquis guarding the frontier, the second young master who is now enjoying a smooth career and full of success, or Chang Ge'er who is studying diligently at the Imperial Academy, they are all among them.

The people they associated with were all wealthy and powerful, each with a bright future.

If the second daughter-in-law doesn't care, she's already handed over the arrangements long ago; but if she does care, the ingredients are still nowhere to be found.

"This..." The butcher's expression turned strange when he heard Su Zhihan's question: "It's said that there was a problem on the way, and it's been delayed until now and hasn't been delivered yet."

"That's right." The cook next to her nodded, her heart filled with worry: "Cook Xu said that if they don't arrive soon, she'll open the storeroom and get dried scallops, deer tendons, and other ingredients."

"We have dried goods in stock, but other fresh ingredients... are time-consuming and laborious to process, and if they don't arrive soon, we might not be able to process them in time."

The butcher couldn't help but nod: "That's right."

They had handled far more banquet dishes than Cao Mama and Wu Mama, so they were well aware of the consequences of this delay: "Not to mention, the old lady only eats food made with water chestnuts and turtle skirts."

"Horseshoe crab? I've seen them in the market?"

“That’s different.” The butcher shook his head repeatedly and explained to Su Zhihan, “The water chestnuts that our old lady uses are raised in the local spring and fed with fresh fish, live shrimp, scallops and abalone on a daily basis.”

"Those creatures are few in number and have to be transported from a great distance. Even in the dead of winter, many will die or be injured during the journey here."

"The longer the journey, the more problems arise."

"I remember one year when it was hot, a hundred were sent over, but only about thirty survived. Half of them were injured on their backs and couldn't be used."

"Hiss, don't let this interfere with the affairs of the manor." Su Zhihan couldn't help but feel worried upon hearing this.

"I heard that Chef Xu went to the second wife's house to talk about this matter," the butcher nodded, looking worried.

Just as the butcher said, Chef Xu was in the second room at the moment, talking about the delay in finding ingredients.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Didn't I already have someone tell you that the deliveryman was delayed on the way? He will arrive in the capital in two more days. It won't bother you."

Madam Xu, the second daughter-in-law, leaned lazily against the couch. Two maids knelt on the footstool beside her. One of them held Madam Xu's hands firmly in her hands, while the other held a wolf-hair brush, dipped in a paste made of gold leaf and pearl powder, and carefully outlined patterns on Madam Xu's fingernails.

"My lady, you may not know this," said Chef Xu, bowing her head. "Many of the ingredients alone take three to five days to prepare. If the ingredients don't arrive soon, there won't be enough time to prepare them."

? ? ? ? ?

Madam Xu, the second daughter-in-law, hadn't taken it seriously at first, thinking that the cook, Xu, was probably just making trouble out of nothing and didn't trust her, who was new to taking over household affairs.

After hearing what Chef Xu said, she immediately sat up. The maid was a beat slower and watched as the gold thread traced lines through her fingernails, her face turning pale instantly.

Madam Xu had no intention of blaming the maid, but instead raised her voice and questioned, "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"My wife, I've already urged you twice."

"How am I supposed to know what's going on inside if you don't explain it clearly?"

"Reporting to Madam," the cook said, her anger barely contained as she suppressed her displeasure at Madam Xu shifting the blame onto her. "In previous years, this matter was always prepared by the household, and I have never handled it before, so I do not know the process."

"How could that be?" Madam Xu, the second wife, retorted with a stern face, "You're not a newcomer to managing the main kitchen, how could you not know the procedures?"

"Second Mistress, I really didn't know." Cook Xu finally couldn't help but add, "In previous years, Third Mistress personally handled the purchasing and preparation. I only found out from the storeroom that the ingredients hadn't arrived when I needed them."

Moreover, Chef Xu felt that she had done everything she was supposed to do. She had urged her twice, but Madam Xu hadn't taken her words to heart.

When Madam Xu heard that it was Third Sister who had been in charge of this matter in the past, her expression immediately changed. She dryly scolded Chef Xu a few times and waved her hand to dismiss her.

“The Zhou family, the Zhou family…”

"Truly a merchant's daughter, keeping even such matters under her thumb!" Madam Xu spat after the cook, Xu, left. She kicked the maid who had painted her nails wrong, telling her she no longer needed to serve in the house. Then she quickly summoned the stewards of the mansion, instructing them to contact the deliverymen and expedite their arrival in the capital before dawn the next day.

"My lady... this, this is unlikely."

"The letter from over there said it would take at least three more days to travel there." Manager Pang, wiping sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, listened to Madam Xu's request. "Even with the fastest horse, they won't arrive by tomorrow..."

"Then let's go to the city to look!"

"Go and ask the main kitchen for the list of ingredients they're missing. Quickly go to the shops in the capital and make sure they're all prepared for me." Madam Xu said with a stern face, glancing sideways at Steward Pang. "If this delays the affairs of the manor, you can forget about being a steward!"