Chapter 123 Fish Pot
I breathed a sigh of relief after drinking the wine. Serving the emperor is like serving a tiger. Today I felt it firsthand.
"You don't seem very happy?" The Fourth Master narrowed his narrow eyes again.
"Happy! Who says I'm not happy?" Wen Jiu smiled for a moment: "When I'm in front of you, you're so happy that the air is sweet!"
The Fourth Master looked at the warm wine for a long time and asked: "What is air?"
Wen Jiu blinked twice: "...It's just the air you breathe into your stomach."
Fourth Master: "Why is it sweet?"
Wen Jiu: "...Nonsense, just listen to it."
The Fourth Master took a long time to react, then suddenly said seriously, "Is it because I'm by your side?"
Wenjiu: "...You are right." You are so smart!
The Fourth Master looked at Wenjiu suspiciously, feeling that there was something wrong with Wenjiu's tone.
But when I think about it carefully, I don’t think there is anything wrong. She just wanted to say that it’s comfortable to be with me, right?
I don’t know why the little thing has so many strange things in its mind.
Not far from the carriage, there was a bonfire. The servants of each family were building a stove around the fire and cooking meals for their masters.
Wen Jiu glanced around and his eyes landed on An Luhai. Sure enough, An Luhai was still preparing the Fourth Master's meals, with a few young eunuchs helping him. The head chef, Zhao, was nowhere to be seen.
An Luhai had already sautéed the spareribs until they were fragrant and hot. He then suddenly added two large ladles of water and instructed the eunuch, "Watch the pot carefully. Simmer on high heat for 25 minutes and then turn to low heat. Make sure it's cooked through." The two eunuchs next to him immediately responded.
He wiped the sweat off his forehead and immediately ran to the pot next to him to heat the oil.
"What are you planning to do?" Wen Jiu asked.
"Our master loves mutton, so we're planning to make cumin mutton..." He replied subconsciously, then realized something was amiss. He looked up and immediately knelt down: "Lord Beile! Miss!"
The Fourth Master didn't even look at him. He just glanced at Wen Jiu, and suddenly he became curious about what kind of food Wen Jiu would make. The instant noodles she made before, the milk tea, and the fried chicken nuggets were all delicious. Yes, and the wontons, too. I still remember how they tasted.
"Get up," Wen Jiu said with a smile, "How many dishes have you cooked?"
An Luhai wiped the sweat from his forehead and glanced cautiously at the Fourth Master. Seeing that the Fourth Master was only looking at the girl, he breathed a sigh of relief and immediately replied respectfully, "Young lady, three meat dishes are already available: roasted spare ribs, braised pork bones, and stewed chicken with mushrooms. Today's chicken is very tender. It's a pheasant that Master Buyan just shot in the forest. It's just been cleaned up and is already in the pot."
Wenjiu nodded: "No wonder it smells so good, then let's do it this way, don't do anything else.
Prepare some beef and mutton, some vegetables and vermicelli, and we'll have a hotpot."
"Pot?" An Luhai was stunned for a moment, then immediately replied, "Miss, but we didn't bring a copper pot? Besides, the broth in this pot will take a while to boil, so I'm afraid we'll have to wait a long time."
Wenjiu waved his hand: "You don't need a copper pot, a large iron pot will do. You don't need to boil it for too long. If there are any large bones, throw them in and boil them first."
As he warmed the wine, he rolled up his sleeves and said, "It's cold today. It would be more comfortable for everyone to have a hot pot. I'll make the hot pot soup base with you."
"Warm the wine!" Just as he finished speaking, the Fourth Master beside him suddenly uttered these two words in a cold voice.
Wen Jiu's hand, which was about to roll up his arm, stopped for a moment. He turned around to look at the Fourth Master and saw that dark clouds were already brewing over his head.
He immediately put down his sleeves and smiled sweetly, "Master, I won't do it myself. I'll let Xiao Anzi do it. He has great skills. I'll just watch from the side."
When An Luhai heard this, his eyes turned red.
The girl is flattering herself. She has worked in the kitchen for many years, but still has no chance to show herself in front of her master.
Now that the girl is here, and the master is following her, doesn't that mean she has to cook in front of the master?
He immediately knelt down with a thud: "Master, don't worry, I will not let you do it, and I will definitely prepare the meal."
The Fourth Master stretched out his hand to warm himself by the fire, and suddenly asked, "Why are you alone?"
An Luhai was startled. Just as he was about to reply, Zhao Quan came running over and said, "Greetings to Lord Beile. Good luck to Lord Beile. I just went outside and bought some fresh fish. Would you like to take a look?"
He brought a large basin and said cheerfully, "This fish is very fresh. We caught quite a few. They'll be delicious in soup or pan-fried."
Wen Jiu looked over at Zhao Quan. Behind him were several young eunuchs, all soaking wet. They had camped by the river, which was now frozen solid. From a distance, a patch of water was visible, perhaps a hole they had dug to fish.
Even if they were catching fish, they could just put down the nets, but why did they get people soaked? The faces of those young eunuchs were pale from the cold.
"Why are you all wet? Hurry up and change your clothes and have a bowl of ginger soup."
Several young eunuchs behind him knelt down as if they had been pardoned and kowtowed to Wen Jiu: "Thank you, young lady! Thank you, young lady!"
Zhao Quan felt quite guilty, and with a quick glance he said, "Lord Beile, I deserve to die. I was busy catching fresh fish for you, and it was really hard for them."
The Fourth Master waved his hand and said, "Just grill the fish. Don't you want to eat grilled fish? Let them grill it for you however you want." The rest of the words were said to Wenjiu.
Wenjiu was delighted to hear this: "Thank you, sir. Will you arrange dinner for me?"
The Fourth Master simply said, "It's up to you."
Wenjiu squatted down to look at the fish. It was indeed very fresh. "Well, sir, let's have the fish hotpot, shall we?"
The Fourth Master raised his eyebrows: "Fish pot?"
Speaking of which, he has eaten beef and mutton, can fish be cooked in a pot?
Wenjiu nodded vigorously: "The fish pot is very delicious. It's so cold, add some more ginger slices to the pot and stew it until it becomes milky white. Just drinking the soup is very comfortable."
The Fourth Master nodded and said, "It's good to try it." After hearing what she said, he felt that it tasted good.
"Miss, I'll make arrangements right away." Zhao Quan then called out to An Luhai, "Hurry up and clean up the fish. You're usually very careful, so if you go and clean up the fish, the master and the young lady will be able to eat it with peace of mind."
Wenjiu frowned subconsciously. There were so many young eunuchs sitting idle, why did he have to use the chef in the kitchen to do this?
Then Zhao Quan took the spatula from An Luhai's hand and pushed him away from the stove.
An Luhai didn't dare to refute, he lowered his head and went to get the fish and the fish basin.
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