Chapter 116 Chapter 116 In this critical moment, they are looking for...
A group of green-eyed Hu people lived in the hotel next door. The residents of Xuanyangfang were worried that these Hu people had different customs from the locals and would cause conflicts. As a result, except for being a little high-profile and rude on the day they fought for the room, this group of people kept an extremely low profile in the following days. As soon as the curfew was lifted every day, they would go out dressed in black and come back after the curfew at night.
This mystery aroused the curiosity and vigilance of the residents. Someone went to Chang'an County to file a complaint, and the county lieutenant personally brought the two Wu Hou into the hotel.
"What happened in the end?" Duan Zhiwei asked curiously.
Madam Wu came to visit with little Xinghua in her arms. When she was in confinement after giving birth, she ate two native chickens every day, so she became plump and even little Xinghua in her arms became chubby.
"They said that they checked the official documents and found nothing wrong. Those Hu people came to Beijing with their master to participate in the Qianqiu Festival." Madam Wu always worried that those green-eyed Hu people were human traffickers. Now she was relieved and helped Xinghua wipe the saliva from her mouth.
The Jinhua cat was having fun outside, and when it came in and saw the mother and daughter, it turned around and tried to run away, but was caught by Duan Zhiwei.
"I've been waiting for you here for a long time." Duan Zhiwei gently put it into Xiao Xinghua's arms. The latter happily rubbed the Jinhua cat's face with her chubby little face, smearing its face with saliva.
A few people were chatting in the restaurant when a foreigner in a black robe stood silently at the door of the restaurant.
Duan Zhiwei went to greet him: "What would you like to order, sir?"
The man's face was wrapped in black gauze, so his appearance could not be seen clearly. Only a pair of green eyes could be vaguely seen. He spoke Chang'an dialect very well: "Two basins of mutton and two pots of good wine. Come and get them later."
A bag of money was thrown on the table and the man in black turned and left.
Duan Zhiwei opened the bag and found it was filled with money: "This Hu man is really generous."
Pu Tao came out to complain: "Madam, the little wolf is doing something stupid in the backyard, come and take a look."
The child had always been well-behaved and never caused any trouble, but now he sat dejectedly by the well, his curly chestnut hair covered with lard, which shone greasy in the sunlight.
"What's wrong?" Duan Zhiwei hurriedly took the bath beans from the shelf to help him wash his hair.
The lard was sticky and hard to wash out when it caked on the hair.
Pu Tao was also angry and said, "Little Tiger next door said that Little Wolf had curly hair and green eyes, so he must be a Hu person. He also laughed at him. Little Wolf wanted to use oil to straighten his curly hair."
"This is outrageous. I will go and complain to his mother later." Duan Zhiwei said angrily.
The little wolf lowered his head and said nothing.
The bath beans were not very clean and couldn't be used to clean his hair. A Pan was at a loss as to what to do. Finally, Aunt Duan woke up from her nap and took a pair of scissors to cut off all the matted hair.
The hair on the little wolf's head became short, and from a distance he looked like a little monk from the Da Ci'en Temple. Everyone laughed.
He touched his round head and smiled.
In the end, Aunt Duan dragged Little Wolf to complain angrily. Little Tiger's mother was reasonable and quickly apologized.
The little wolf calmed down and regained his energy. He obediently went to the kitchen and stood on a small stool to help Duan Zhiwei knead the dough.
A group of black-robed men from the store next door had already visited the slave exchanges in the East and West cities with parchment, but had no results. In the end, they had to resort to the most stupid method: asking around.
But have you ever seen a seven-year-old boy with curly chestnut hair and green eyes?
Most people in Chang'an answered no, but an old man sitting on the side of the road said, "The blacksmith shop two blocks south has the child with chestnut hair you mentioned."
The man in black robes hurried over to take a look, and saw only a silly child squatting there, staring at the hammer and laughing. His hair was slightly curly and burnt yellow from the high temperature, and there was coal dust all over his hair.
The man in black robe was extremely angry.
Yuan Shenji sat on a dragon boat, which was carved entirely from agarwood, with a pearl in the dragon's head, floating on the Taiye Lake.
On the shore, a row of beautiful palace maids were busy placing thousands of glass lanterns into the water in advance, and the candlelight made the water surface sparkle.
The General of the Left stood next to Yuan Shenji. He had already inspected the Taiye Lake for a few times and felt bored, so he pulled Yuan Shenji aside to chat:
"I heard that Japan presented a stunning beauty, who was said to be born among glowing bamboos, and whose beauty shines like the bright moon. The imperial concubine even caused a scene in the harem."
"The Arabs sent another ten bottles of rose water. My mother received this reward two years ago and was very happy. She sprayed a lot of it on her clothes. As a result, she had a lot of rashes on her face the next day. It's obvious that this is not a good thing."
He chattered on for a long time before Yuan Shenji came to his senses: "What did the Turks pay tribute to?"
The General of the Left was stunned for a moment: "It seems that they paid tribute with more than a dozen wind lanterns, which are not valuable, and the saint did not like them very much, so he ordered people to hang them in the West Market on the night of the Qianqiu Festival for the people of Chang'an to enjoy, so that they can enjoy themselves together."
Yuan Shenji was not too reassured: "Could it be..."
"No." General Zuo Zhonglang waved his hand and said, "The inner guards have checked it and it's just an ordinary wind lantern." Don't worry, the Turks are surrounded by Wu Hou patrolling, so there won't be any big waves. But the Yimin people..."
Yimin was a small country close to Suiye City and was not to be feared. Except for the envoys who stayed in the Honglu Temple, the others were scattered in various inns.
Yuan Shenji asked in a deep voice: "Do you know why they do this?"
Zuo Zhonglang patted his shoulder and said, "Don't worry. We have already found out the truth. The Yimin Kingdom has never communicated with us. Now they suddenly say they are coming to pay tribute. How can we not be alert?"
"It is said that the youngest son of a certain royal family is stranded in Chang'an, and they are here to look for him."
In March, when spring comes and everything comes back to life, the vegetable shop delivers celery, shepherd's purse and broad beans. The people in the restaurant take a small couch and sit by the door, picking vegetables while basking in the sun.
Duan Zhiwei planned to make a broad bean cake with a crispy outer skin and a soft inner skin. He used yam mixed with flour to make the dough, put some tender green broad beans inside, and seasoned it with fennel. He then fried it in a pan over low heat so that the sweet bean aroma would be released to the greatest extent.
Don’t forget to cook a pot of oily, salty and fragrant rice.
Cut off the old roots of the spring bamboo shoots and trim the heads and tails of the shepherd's purse. Duan Zhiwei thought for a while and took down a piece of bacon from the beam. Use a knife to scrape off the frost on the outside, and the red and white bacon inside looks very tempting.
Heat the pan with cold oil, pour the cut bacon into the pan. With the sizzling sound of the hot oil, the white fat on the meat turns into shiny oil, and the edges of the lean meat are stained with golden burnt edges.
Don’t throw away the oil used for frying meat. Use it to stir-fry shepherd’s purse. Fry the tender and juicy vegetable until it is oily, then put it into the pot together with rice and simmer it.
When the rice absorbs the sweetness of vegetables and the salty aroma of bacon, a pot of delicious vegetable rice is ready.
When Yuan Shenji was hurrying home, it was already spring evening. The setting sun dyed the alleys of Chang'an with an amber glow.
Lanterns in the streets were hung up one by one, women called the children who were having fun outside to go home, and in the swallow's nest on the eaves, the returning old swallows fed the chicks, who poked their furry heads out and cried for food.
The spring breeze blew on Yuan Shenji's face, making him feel slightly itchy.
Everything is so beautiful.
As he approached the restaurant, he heard a burst of silver bell-like laughter from inside. Several people were sitting and listening to Aunt Duan telling stories, and they were all bent over with laughter.
Seeing him coming back, Duan Zhiwei hurriedly said, "Finally you're back. I've been waiting for you to have dinner."
She held the pot and placed it directly on the dining table. As soon as she opened the lid, a rich aroma accompanied by white steam wafted towards her. The rice was dyed a light amber by the oil, and green vegetables and deep red bacon were mixed in between, which looked very appetizing.
Duan Zhiwei took a rice spoon and served a large bowl to each person.
Yuan Shenji took a bite and tasted the deliciousness of seasonal vegetables, the aroma of bacon and the aftertaste of this year's new rice, which went perfectly together. The various flavors assaulted his taste buds, as if embracing an entire bright spring day.
He had lunch in the Daming Palace at noon. The Shangshi Bureau served all kinds of delicacies from land and sea, but Yuan Shenji felt that none of them was as good as the bowl of rice and vegetables served by Duan Zhiwei in this small restaurant.
After the meal, everyone began to chatter and ask Yuan Shenji what programs the saint’s palace had prepared for the Qianqiu Festival?
Yuan Shenji patiently explained that the sage would host a banquet for his ministers in the Hua'e Tower, during which there would be a rope-skills performance in which the beauties from the Ye Ting would tiptoe up from both ends of high-altitude ropes, and from below they would look like fairies with fluttering skirts.
There is a horse dancing performance in the Animal Taming Garden. One hundred white horses are adorned with pearls, jade, gold and silver, and young musicians play drums among the horses.
He spoke in detail and everyone listened with bated breath. When he talked about "Japan presented a beauty who grew out of bamboos", Duan Zhiwei almost choked while drinking water.
Then she took over the conversation and told everyone the story of "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".
An old man found a thumb-sized baby girl among the bamboos, took her home and named her Huiyueji.
This story is very interesting. When it comes to the part where the messenger from the Moon Palace comes to take the princess back to the Moon, the little wolf asks, "Chang'e?"
Duan Zhiwei went to pinch his round head and said, "Not bad, not bad, you have made progress. Chang'e knows everything."
He was still a little hesitant when he spoke: "Madam... my head..."
Pu Tao was still yelling about asking Hui Yueji what happened after she went to the Moon Palace, but Aunt Duan sent her back to bed: "It's so late now, no matter what the story is, I'll listen to it tomorrow!"
Duan Zhiwei and Yuan Shenji returned to the room. He still looked a little solemn, so Duan Zhiwei had to comfort him: "Okay, my good captain, if you still feel something is wrong, go to Jinwuwei and ask for a day off tomorrow to investigate the matter so that you can rest assured."
Yuan Shenji felt that what she said made sense. He remembered that the lanterns that the Turks had sent for no reason should still be hidden in the Treasure Pavilion.
Duan Zhiwei sighed: "Alas, it's a pity that I will never get to see what the Saint's Treasure Pavilion looks like."
Yuan Shenji thought for a moment and said, "Why don't you come with me?"
"Farewell, how can I enter Daming Palace whenever I want?"
The two chatted and soon turned off the lights and fell asleep.
Late at night, Honglu Temple.
A clear and pleasant female voice came from the room of the Turkic envoys: "Are you all ready?"
An ordinary man knelt before her and said, "My Lord, everything is ready. We are just waiting for the Qianqiu Night Banquet to arrive and engulf this prosperous Chang'an into a sea of fire."
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