Before they knew it, it was August 14th. Tomorrow was the day Lu Qiqi and Feng Yuer had agreed to admire the moon.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunions. Most of the wounded soldiers in the camp were doctors who had settled down in the border town.
Therefore, they all applied to Physician Ren for leave, which always gave Physician Ren a headache.
There will be opinions about who should be assigned to guard duty in the military.
They won't say anything, but they'll constantly give you the cold shoulder. When asked, they'll say they have no opinion and will obey orders.
This year is different. The emperor sent many doctors to the military camp, so the imperial physicians were allowed to take a day off earlier so that the doctors who had families in the border town could have the Mid-Autumn Festival to reunite with their families.
Since the doctor had no home in the border town, he could enjoy the moon anywhere, so this year was the most comfortable Mid-Autumn Festival for Physician Ren.
Lu Qiqi was an exception. The imperial physician Ren considered that she had family in the border town, and he could not leave the young girl in the military camp to enjoy the moon with these old doctors.
If they cry then, who will comfort them?
Imperial Physician Ren has a daughter, and he's a complete doting father, so naturally he would think of these things.
Lu Qiqi was overjoyed to learn that she didn't need to leave Feng Yuer behind. She returned to her tent happily.
Because tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, Imperial Physician Ren specially gave her a holiday in advance, so at Shenshi (3-5 PM), Lu Qiqi carried her medicine box back to the camp.
We're getting ready to pack our things and head home.
When she walked out of the tent carrying a bundle, she saw Nineteen holding a dagger and humming a tune as he walked toward her.
When Nineteen saw her, he smiled and jogged over, his youthful spirit unable to resist showing off his new gift.
"Look, village chief, this is the dagger that Sister Shiyu gave me. She said it was a trophy from cutting off General Kedar's head."
General Kodar, judging from his name, is clearly not from the Great Jin Dynasty. Presumably, this was captured by Qin Shiyu during a battle against the enemy.
Nineteen handed the dagger to Lu Qiqi with both hands and excitedly introduced it, "I heard from Sister Shiyu that she chased Kodar for three days and three nights before finally killing him and taking his head."
The Tatars' daggers were forged from black iron, with rugged and smooth patterns on them, and when drawn, they gleamed with a cold light.
Lu Qiqi couldn't help but praise, "What a fine dagger!"
She sheathed the dagger and returned it to Nineteen, saying, "This is a rare find, keep it safe."
Nineteen sheathed the dagger and chuckled, "I'll keep it safe."
When he saw Lu Qiqi carrying a bundle, he asked, "Village Head, where are you going with that bundle?"
Upon hearing this, Lu Qiqi glanced at the bundle beside her and said, "Tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a day for family reunions. I must go back to reunite with my family."
"Will the family be reunited?" Nineteen murmured softly.
A hint of disappointment flashed across her face, which Lu Qiqi quickly noticed. She thought about how Nineteen was in the Shadow Guard, and the people in the Shadow Guard were all orphans.
After all, only orphans can do things without any worries or concerns.
Presumably, all of Nineteen's family members are no longer alive.
Thinking this, Lu Qiqi said, "Why don't you come back with me for the Mid-Autumn Festival? I'll make some mooncakes while we're admiring the moon."
Nineteen has always been craving Lu Qiqi's cooking. Ever since she won him over with a scallion pancake, he has been looking forward to her cooking again.
Such a good opportunity, the 19th Party Congress would naturally not let it slip by.
He told Lu Qiqi to wait for him for a while, then hurriedly ran to his older brother to ask for leave.
Although Nineteen is a member of the Shadow Guard, his responsibility is only to take care of the Crown Prince's daily life. However, since the Crown Prince has An Yi by his side, he is not needed most of the time.
"Are you asking for leave to go home with the village head for the Mid-Autumn Festival?"
An Yi's surprised voice instantly startled Song Yanqing, who was engrossed in reading a letter at his desk.
Nineteen tugged at An Yi's arm and said, "The village chief also said he would make mooncakes for me. Big brother, the village chief's food is so delicious. I want to try the taste of mooncakes."
Mooncakes were not actually rare in the Jin Dynasty. Every year before the Mid-Autumn Festival, pastry shops would produce them in large quantities for sale.
Friends and relatives will also buy them and exchange mooncakes as gifts, thus strengthening their relationships.
Mooncakes, a seasonal pastry, will no longer be sold by merchants after the festival.
Unlike the Shadow Guards, who are constantly occupied with official duties, the chances of eating mooncakes are extremely rare.
An Yi looked at Nineteen's expectant face and thought that his birthday would be in a few days, so he would give it to him as a birthday gift.
He said, "Go."
"Hey, thank you, Brother Xie."
Having said that, Nineteen happily left the commander's tent.
After meeting up with Lu Qiqi, the two rode their horses out of the camp and headed straight for the house rented by Li Changlong.
Doctor Luo and Doctor Huang decided to stay in the military camp, so Lu Qiqi sent them a bag of dried meat. These two old guys liked to have a drink or two when they had nothing to do.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival, one misses their loved ones even more. A couple of cups of wine with dried meat should be just fine.
Moreover, when it comes to serious matters, both doctors are reliable individuals and would not engage in excessive drinking.
Lu Qiqi tightened the reins, stopped outside the courtyard gate, looked at the closed wooden door, dismounted, and handed the reins to Nineteen, who had followed him off the horse.
Lu Qiqi took a hairpin from her hair and poked it into the brass lock hanging on the wooden door. With a click, the lock opened.
So she opened the door with practiced ease and had Nineteen lead the horse to the backyard to tie it up.
With the front door tightly shut, there was naturally no one inside. Lu Qiqi, carrying her bundle, went into the kitchen.
She plans to make red bean paste mooncakes today so that she can bring them to Feng Yu'er to try tomorrow.
Without hesitation, she prepared all the necessary ingredients, including red beans that had been steamed and boiled several times before being marinated in white sugar.
She picked up a red bean with her chopsticks and tasted it; it was soft, powdery, and sweet.
However, using candied red bean paste as filling is not smooth enough and needs further processing.
She found a mortar and pestle used by a child to grind rice paste, then put the red beans in to wash and grind them until no large, coarse particles were visible, and her job was done.
After Nineteen led the horse to the backyard, Lu Qiqi had already prepared the mooncake crusts in preparation for a fine feed.
Next, we'll make the red bean filling and then make the mooncakes.
Since there were no mooncake molds at home, Lu Qiqi simply rolled the dough into balls, pressed them into cake shapes, and then used star anise dipped in red water to imprint an octagonal pattern on them, for good luck and celebration.
The smell of red bean paste caught Nineteen’s eye, and she stared intently at Lu Qiqi’s skillful hands as she kneaded the dough, wishing she could stuff the freshly rolled mooncake into her mouth right away.
However, it's not possible right now. He had just tried to do that when Lu Qiqi slapped the back of his hand, leaving a red mark.
Lu Qiqi never expected that this silly kid, Nineteen, would actually try to swallow an unbaked mooncake whole.
If she hadn't stopped it in time, a mooncake that was about to be baked would have been wasted!
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