Chapter 55 (Cookies)
Palace
A beautiful woman was half lying on the soft couch. She looked to be in her thirties, with some traces of time at the corners of her eyes, but the rest of her body was well taken care of. She had a charming figure that was captivating and charming, and her gorgeous palace dress was neatly taken care of by the palace servants. Even though she looked so lazy, it did not look messy.
The weather was still a bit cold at the end of January, and there were two charcoal stoves in the palace, which just kept the temperature at a moderate level.
After a while, the woman moved, and the palace maid immediately stepped forward to help her turn around and put her clothes in order.
The woman curled her lips in comfort, her narrow and seductive eyes slightly opened, and she asked lazily, "What's the reaction from the Xiao family?"
The voice seemed lazy, but it revealed majesty and coldness.
The palace servant said hurriedly, "I don't see any difference. The Xiao family has never liked to go out much. It has been like this for many years. The servants in the mansion are also the same as before."
"Hmm?" Concubine Lu narrowed her eyes and spoke in a deep voice.
The palace maid's face turned pale, and sweat began to form on her forehead due to nervousness. However, she really didn't know what else to say. She kept recalling what she had seen in her mind, and finally she managed to say, "Early this morning, a servant went to Prince Chang's mansion and delivered a large can of milk."
Concubine Lu said with an unwavering expression, "And you sent it over specially?"
The palace maid whispered, "Yes."
"Where's Lao Wu?"
The palace attendant said stiffly, "His Highness said that he has many things to do in his new residence outside the palace, so he comes to pay his respects to the Empress on the first and fifteenth day of every month."
Concubine Lu's eyes turned cold, and she bit her lip in frustration. A hint of resentment lingered in her expression as she said unhappily, "Go kneel for an hour."
The palace servant shuddered all over, but seemed relieved, and went out to kneel down obediently. Although he was punished, it was better than having a knife hanging over his head. The queen's temper has been getting worse and worse recently, mainly because Prince Chang has regained power, and the princes have been crowned kings one after another, and there is no longer any special treatment as before.
Especially now that the fifth prince has been crowned king, Concubine Lu is even more uncomfortable as she cannot come to the harem at any time and cannot see her son.
When the empress was in a bad mood, she would punish these palace maids. She would not let them die, but would injure them. If she was not pleased with them, she would replace them. Countless palace maids came and went in the palace.
She knelt on the ground. The other busy palace maids looked at her with sympathy, but none of them dared to say anything and walked even more quietly.
Xue family
The young man came back from the west of the city again, his handsome face showing a bit of disappointment. He walked along sighing all the way, completely ignoring the woman who was watching him.
The woman frowned deeply and said in a deep voice, "Xue Jiahe, the imperial examination is about to begin. What are you doing out all day?!"
Xue Jiahe paused, bowed to the woman, and shouted, "Mom, I'm just going out for a walk."
Madam Xue strode closer and sneered, "Old Fifth, I gave birth to you, and I don't know you. How can you run out every day without any money? What on earth has attracted you to the west of the city? Could it be that girl from the brothel—"
"Mom, don't talk nonsense!" Xue Jiahe raised his voice in embarrassment and interrupted his mother's somewhat excessive words, but his flushed face and flickering eyes showed his guilty conscience.
Madam Xue stared at him closely, not missing a single change. She hesitated and asked, "If you're not from a brothel, then why do you always go there?"
Xue Jiahe didn't want to say anything more, so he bowed and said, "Don't worry, mother. I will do my best in the examination and won't delay."
He wanted to leave after he finished speaking.
Seeing her son's anger, Mrs. Xue softened her attitude. She quickly caught up with him and coaxed him softly, "Jiahe, I'm just angry that you're always going out and neglecting your studies. If you have anything to say, tell me. If there's a girl you really like, I'll go and propose to you..."
Xue Jiahe suddenly stopped and asked in surprise, "Really?"
Madam Xue's eyes sparkled as she smiled and said, "Of course it's true. What's the girl's family background like?"
Xue Jiahe's enthusiasm was immediately extinguished as if a bucket of cold water had been poured down his cheeks. He calmed down and said hesitantly, "What if it's not good?"
Although he knew that the girl was in the Xiao family, he also heard from his nephew that she was not a real member of the Xiao family, but just a guest. She could live there for a long time, so she must have some relationship with the Xiao family. However, given the current situation of the Xiao family, it was not so easy for her to have some relationship with the Xiao family. It would be better for him to let his mother like her.
As a son, he knew his mother's temperament very well.
Madam Xue's smile remained unchanged, and she secretly said to herself, "As expected," and then she said softly, "That's not impossible. But Jiahe, you know that although you are the legitimate son, your eldest brother is already at home, and the Xue family's inheritance will naturally be divided among him. If you choose to take the imperial examination, you will definitely need someone in the court. It would be great to have a good father-in-law to help you..."
Xue Jiahe felt a chill in his heart and turned away.
Madam Xue hurried to catch up, and began to feel a little annoyed: "What else can I do? I am doing this for your own good. Besides, what's wrong with being the daughter of the Prince of Jin? She has the title of a county lady, her father is a prince, and her brother is also very promising and deeply trusted by His Majesty. Even if a new emperor ascends the throne in the future, her future will be very bright. With such a Yue family——"
"I don't need it!" Xue Jiahe growled with an ugly expression.
This outburst of anger shocked Madam Xue so much that her face turned pale. She didn't dare to chase her son and just watched him go. She stamped her feet in anger and said angrily, "Little ungrateful bastard! Isn't this for his own good? Marrying the Prince of Jin's daughter is really a bargain for him. He can't even insist on liking someone from a good family..."
"Grandma~" a little baby voice sounded.
Mrs. Xue's ugly mood froze for a moment, but quickly subsided and she smiled: "Hey, come here and give grandma a hug."
Xue Guangxiu trotted over, his big eyes twinkling as he asked, "Grandma, is my uncle getting married?"
Madam Xue smiled and asked, "How do you know?"
"Because he always asks me about Sister Shu's situation, my dad said he must want to get married. Grandma, can you help my uncle marry Sister Shu?" The child smiled expectantly on his face: "Then I can eat delicious food every day!"
Mrs. Xue's smile disappeared at this moment, and she wondered, "Sister Shu? Who?"
Xue Guangxiu said: "She is Xiao Pingzhou's elder sister."
Mrs. Xue then remembered and frowned. Her grandson and Xiao Pingzhou were in the same enlightenment class. Before, the Xiao family would send some food to the children to seek the parents' approval.
At that time, she even praised the cook for her good cooking skills. She didn't expect that her own son actually liked a cook?
Mrs. Xue's face darkened slightly, and she was about to get angry, but when she thought of her son who was obsessed with her and didn't let her say a word, she hesitated again. She was just a cook. If she took a concubine to appease her son first, it wouldn't be impossible.
She muttered that someone had to find out about the girl.
Even if she was a concubine, not everyone could enter her Xue family.
"A-choo!"
Yan Qiushu sneezed and rubbed her nose subconsciously.
Dongdong immediately pointed at her hand and was very happy: "Sister Shu, your nose is white!"
Yan Qiushu glared at him and smeared three white marks on his face: "Now you are like this too."
Dongdong covered his face in horror.
The two people next to them were still laughing, and Yan Qiushu went up to give each of them a wipe. Xiao Pingsong and Wan'er both exclaimed and quickly wiped their faces.
Yan Qiushu then shook her head, washed her hands, dried them, and kneaded them into a dough again. On the table beside her, the butter had already been extracted.
After being frozen overnight, a layer of milk skin will form on the surface of the milk, and under the milk skin is the fat. Scoop it out and put it into a bowl and stir it constantly. Add ice milk continuously during the stirring process to prevent the temperature from rising and the cream from melting.
Until there are more and more cotton-like things, and finally they are scooped out and shaped into butter. It is just that because it is not processed by machines and is purely manual, the color of the butter can only be off-white, but after being squeezed by the oil paper, it is still a square solid.
She cut a piece with a knife and put it into the pot, where it immediately melted into oil and water. Yan Qiushu then put two slices of meat on it and added a little pepper and salt. A simple steak was ready.
The children were originally wondering what they could make with this thing, but after tasting the steak which had a different taste and a hint of milk, they understood and pestered Yan Qiushu to make more food.
But Zhou Zhaoqin also came.
The child's mother just passed away, and he definitely wouldn't be able to eat meat dishes. However, Yan Qiushu still hesitated for a moment. Is milk considered vegetarian?
Fortunately, Aunt Xu was knowledgeable and told her that milk is vegetarian, and eggs, if they are first-laid eggs, that is, unfertilized eggs, are also vegetarian, so Yan Qiushu thought of making Erbao.
And among the bags, toast is her favorite.
It is being kneaded into a dough at the moment.
Wait for fermentation, knead it, ferment it again, add butter and knead it again until it becomes a smooth dough. Check whether it can be stretched to the point of having a glove membrane.
At this step, wait for it to ferment for a while, then press it again to expel the gas inside, knead it into a ball, put it in a baking iron box, and finally put it in the oven.
In addition to toast, Yan Qiushu also made a lot of cookies, which is a much simpler step.
While waiting for the toast to bake, the cookies can be taken out halfway. Because there is an open flame here, the greaseproof paper will burn, so the bottom of the cookies is in direct contact with the iron plate. After taking them out, you need to pry them open one by one with a small iron shovel.
"I'll do it, I'll do it!" Dongdong volunteered, raising his little hand high.
Yan Qiushu handed him the small iron shovel. Round yellow biscuits lay on the iron plate. With a small knife and a little force, the biscuits turned over and fell off.
Wan'er took the chopsticks and picked up the food one by one and put it on the plate.
After Dongdong had pried a few of them, Yan Qiushu waved to Zhou Zhaoqin: "Second Prince, do you want to help?"
The young boy, who had been standing obediently by the side, had been motionless. However, upon hearing this, his eyes visibly brightened. Just as he was about to step forward, Nanny Li held him back, frowning and saying, "Miss Yan, the Second Prince is not someone you can order around!"
Yan Qiushu went straight to Aunt Xu's side, pulled Zhou Zhaoqin over, and asked, "Do you want to come?"
Zhou Zhaoqin pursed his lips and nodded slowly.
Dongdong also listened to the movements of his hands. Although he was a little reluctant, Zhou Zhaoqin looked too pitiful. He handed the small spatula over and reminded him: "Be careful, don't touch this iron plate with your hands, it's very hot!"
"Yeah." Zhou Zhaoqin curled the corners of his lips slightly, blinked his bright eyes and came over, prying open the small cookies one by one. There were not many in this plate to begin with. After he had pried them all open, he looked at Yan Qiushu with some pride and wanted to speak, but quickly calmed down and lowered his head.
Yan Qiushu rubbed his head and said, "Wow, you're amazing! You pried it off quickly and well!"
Zhou Zhaoqin couldn't help but let the smile widen.
Yan Qiushu smiled and went to the restaurant with the children: "Let's go eat some cookies!"
"Okay! I want to eat a lot!" Dongdong had been looking forward to it for a long time and was the first to run in. Wan'er and Xiao Pingsong were also infected and couldn't wait to go over and sit down first.
Yan Qiushu walked over slowly, holding Zhou Zhaoqin's hand.
Nanny Li, who was ignored the entire time as if she didn't exist, had a very dark face and felt helpless and anxious.
She naturally understood the imperial concubine's hint. She was not Zhou Zhaoqin's wet nurse. As for the third prince, except for the third prince himself who was a prince and whom the emperor was reluctant to kill, almost all the others were dead, including Zhou Zhaoqin's wet nurse.
The Imperial Concubine sent her here, hoping that she could coax Zhou Zhaoqin into hating Prince Chang and his wife. However, before she could react, the place had changed and the Imperial Concubine also had news. In this case, it would be better to sow discord between the Xiao family and Prince Chang.
This is more suitable. The imperial concubine has also prepared an excuse. If the patient fails to take good care of the child, the punishment will be fair and square.
But Zhou Zhaoqin, who hadn't eaten much in recent days, not only finished a whole bowl of rice in one go yesterday, but now he was so obsessed with this cookie. Looking at the sugar added to it, he thought, "How can you expect to lose weight if you eat like this?"
The key point was that no matter how she deliberately made trouble, the seemingly arrogant Miss Yan ignored her and was always gentle and patient with Zhou Zhaoqin, making her punch like hitting cotton, but it had no effect at all.
If it really was of no use at all, she couldn't even imagine what the Imperial Concubine would do.
Nanny Li was very panicked and quickly followed, just as she was about to speak about testing the poison.
The woman in front of her had already frankly asked her to take it: "You can only take one piece, hurry up."
Nanny Li's face darkened, but since this was the Xiao family, she didn't dare to act too arrogantly. She could only pick up a piece of food with a depressed look on her face, muttering to herself, "What good cooking skills are these? What kind of weird and bizarre things are these? How can they be delicious? I've never seen anything like this before..."
But as soon as the biscuit entered her mouth, Nanny Li was stunned again.
Compared to yesterday's fried rice, this thing called biscuit in her hand is amazing!
The texture is extremely crispy, seemingly dry and hard to chew, but it softens with a little saliva. The rich milk flavor and sweetness are mixed with a subtle saltiness, which is truly sweet but not greasy. With a little force, the biscuit seems to break into crumbs in her mouth, and the "crunch, crunch" sound of chewing decreases little by little, and finally disappears imperceptibly, leaving only a sweet milky fragrance between her lips and teeth.
This taste...
She feels like she can eat as much as she wants!
Just as the present moment came to light, the woman smiled and handed the biscuits to the four children: "This is your portion for today. Don't eat too much, or you won't be able to eat lunch later."
Then the children thanked her in their baby voices. Zhou Zhaoqin, who had been silent these past few days, followed the other three children's lead and said earnestly, "Thank you, Sister Shu!"
Yan Qiushu smiled and said, "You're welcome."
Each child got six biscuits, and she ate two of the remaining ones. Aunt Xu and Shui Yu got five, and there were just enough left.
Just after dividing the pieces, Yan Qiushu took the remaining ten pieces and was about to hand them to Shui Yu and Nanny Xu, when she suddenly realized that someone was staring at her. She followed her feeling and looked over, and saw Nanny Li looking at her.
Seeing her looking over, Nanny Li was about to smile: "These cookies are really ingenious and taste great."
Yan Qiushu: "Thank you."
Then he handed the cookies to someone else and clapped his hands: "Let's make another one! One for each yard. Pingsong and Wan'er, you can take them back later."
The three children, who were eating happily, nodded quickly: "I know."
After Dongdong finished speaking, he continued to hold the biscuit and took a big bite. A neat gap appeared on the crispy biscuit, and a few crumbs stuck to the corner of his lips. He pursed his lips, chewed with his teeth, and his cheeks bulged. After he finished eating the biscuit in his mouth, he stuck out his tongue, not forgetting to eat every bit.
Nanny Li took a deep breath, and the air was filled with the aroma of milk. It was even more unbearable because she had tasted it before. But she could also tell from Yan Qiushu's expression just now that she had no share in this thing!
She felt a little regretful and thought that she should not try it this time.
No, it should have been earlier. She shouldn't have offended this girl in the first place!
Really not giving any money at all!
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