Chapter 66 Chapter 66 Getting married Prepare a bowl of rice noodles and kowtow...
Getting married is a very troublesome thing, whether in ancient times or modern times, Duan Zhiwei thought.
The first thing was to propose marriage. The man's family asked a matchmaker to go to the woman's family to propose marriage. Yuan Shenji asked an official matchmaker. It was just a formality, and then it was about asking for the name, proposing marriage, and accepting the betrothal gift.
A steady stream of betrothal gifts were sent from Yuan's residence, including the common albizzia, donkey-hide gelatin, cattail leaf, and Chinese rice, as well as expensive silk, leather, and black silk. Among them, a pair of live wild geese tied with a red string were extremely eye-catching.
Wild geese are the most difficult prey to capture and are very alert. When they rest on trees, old geese will be on guard and will fly into the sky at the slightest sign of trouble. Therefore, wild geese are rare, and when people propose marriage, they either send a pair of wooden carved geese as a substitute, or a pair of geese, called "geese and geese", but rarely real geese. Therefore, when this pair of majestic and awe-inspiring wild geese are sent to restaurants, many neighbors come to watch.
The little wolf and Pu Tao were very curious about the wild geese. They kept putting cabbages, wheat grains, snails, etc. in front of the wild geese. Finally, the little wolf was pecked on the head by the impatient female goose, and the two finally stopped.
Duan Zhiwei was dragged to Yunxiang Jiaxu to order a wedding dress. In this dynasty, there is a custom of wearing crimson for men and blue for women. Women usually wear blue wedding dresses when they get married. Duan Zhiwei originally thought that blue meant green, but she didn't expect that the ancients had a very broad definition of blue, including stone blue and indigo, and it was more blue than green.
Duan Zhiwei took a fancy to a set of sky-blue diamond-shaped brocade. The light rising from the brocade surface was like water vapor rising on a rainy day, and the surface was covered with intricate twin lotus flowers woven with silver embroidery thread.
Duan Zhiwei liked it very much. This set of embroidery reminded her of the misty Jiangnan.
Hu woman Esther apologized: "Sorry, Madam Duan, this set of Lianlizhi has been reserved."
"Is that so..." Duan Zhiwei was a little disappointed, but he didn't want to make things difficult for others, so he had to choose again.
A lady came down from the second floor and said, "Since this lady likes it, I'll give it to you."
The lady who was speaking was wearing a crimson brocade skirt with hunting patterns, and the pomegranate hairpins on her temples were sparkling with tiny red crystals. She had an air of luxury and looked like she must have come from a wealthy family. She was also beautiful, but her face looked extremely haggard and pale.
Esther said carefully: "But Madam He, we don't have a second set of this set of twined branches. If you regret it..."
The lady He smiled sadly and said, "I see that lady is full of joy, she must have married a perfect husband, so why not give her a better one? It doesn't matter who I marry, no matter how beautiful the wedding dress is, I won't be happy."
As she said this, she casually pointed to a set of indigo-colored embroidery next to her and said, "Let's go with this one."
Esther could only smile and say, "This set of fish-colored skirt is also good. The artist specially painted a whole set of sea and cloud pictures on the hem of the skirt."
Madam He nodded, then turned and left with her maid.
Duan Zhiwei glanced at her back for some reason, then looked at Esther, and his curiosity arose spontaneously: "Who is that lady?"
Esther sighed, "Mrs. He from the Taishi Ling family is going to marry the son of the Palace Minister family soon."
Esther looked confused. "Marrying into the Langya Wang family is like a golden opportunity. Why wouldn't she be happy about it?"
Duan Zhiwei patted her shoulder and said, "Esther, Esther, are you willing to marry a powerful but handsome man?"
Esther was so frightened that her face turned pale. She always loved beauty: "Forget it then."
After a few more words were spoken, Duan Zhiwei's waist was carefully measured, and she couldn't wait to ride the donkey cart back to the restaurant.
Chang'an had a rare few sunny days, so she took advantage of her free labor and called on her fiancé, who was a free laborer, to grind a large bucket of rice milk, knead it, press it, and finally put it on a rack to dry, and she could get a large portion of fresh and chewy rice noodles.
Duan Zhiwei has been craving this for a long time. Before going to Jiawei this morning, I asked A Pan to stew a pot of rich and fragrant pork bone soup. I added rice noodles, a raw quail egg, a few slices of ham, and some mung bean sprouts and shredded black fungus to the soup.
This pot of rice noodles, topped with various vegetables and meat, is bubbling in the stone pot, and looks very appetizing. The soup is rich, the rice noodles are fragrant and smooth, and only lean meat is used when pickling the ham, which is very delicious.
The bean sprouts and shredded black fungus are added at the right time. The bean sprouts are crisp and the shredded black fungus is chewy.
Duan Zhiwei had been busy making rice cakes for most of the day and was so hungry that he didn't even have time to eat a few bites. I also cooked a bowl for everyone in the restaurant, and everyone liked it very much.
Seeing that everyone drank up all the soup, Duan Zhiwei hung a sign outside the restaurant: "Today we serve rice noodles with thick soup."
Chang'an had been sunny for several days in a row, and even the number of customers in the restaurant increased. Most of them were old customers. Knowing that the quality of Duan's restaurant was excellent, they ordered rice noodles with confidence, which kept everyone in the restaurant very busy. In the end, there was not enough pork bone soup, so they had to go to the butcher's shop to buy some large bones and continue to cook.
Duan Zhiwei was busy in the fire room. Aunt Duan came over, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan and said, "Zhiwei, there's a guest outside."
"What's so strange about a guest coming?" The restaurant was also short of ham, so she urgently braised some pork cartilage as a substitute.
Aunt Duan said, "That lady wants a bowl of rice noodles, with less flour, and an egg that is stewed until tender, with the yolk flowing out. It would be best if she also puts in some spring bamboo shoots, and the ham should not be thick, but sliced thinly, and some fresh lettuce that looks good, not wilted lettuce, preferably freshly picked this morning, and don't put in any chopped green onions or cilantro."
This man opened a business, so it was inevitable that he would encounter some rogues. This was the first time he had seen a customer who asked for such detailed information. Duan Zhiwei asked, "Do you think this is my imperial kitchen?"
Neither spring bamboo shoots nor lettuce were prepared, so she asked Aunt Duan to tell her, "If you like them, eat them; if you don't want to, forget it." Aunt Duan went and came back and said, "People said that it's okay without bamboo shoots and lettuce, just cook everything else according to the requirements."
After a while, Aunt Duan came over again: "My wife said that the bone soup tasted too bland, and the rice wine was a bit strong when the ham was pickled, covering up the original meat aroma."
Food has different tastes for everyone. Where did such a picky person come from? He's here to ruin the party, aren't he? Duan Zhiwei straightened his hair and went to the hall to argue with him.
The lady looked younger than Duan Zhiwei, wearing a grey coat. After Duan Zhiwei came out, she looked at her and said, "Madam Duan, nice to meet you."
Duan Zhiwei asked, "My lady, food is different for different people. If you think the soup is too bland or salty, you can tell me and I'll make it just for you. My family has always pickled the ham like this. If you're not satisfied, there's no way to change it. We only pickled some in the winter."
The woman said, "You used the wrong ingredients when you marinated the ham. You only used salt as the seasoning, not sugar. There's nothing to enhance the flavor. And you bought the cheapest rice wine. It's too strong and will cover up the original flavor of the ingredients."
Duan Zhiwei was stunned when she heard this. She recalled that it seemed that no sugar was added at that time. When rice wine was mentioned again, she looked up. Aunt Duan next to her coughed and turned her head away guiltily.
Without further ado, it must be that my aunt didn't buy good rice wine, so Duan Zhiwei could only say, "My wife has a good palate."
This girl was so eloquent that Duan Zhiwei couldn't help but want to recruit her. Unexpectedly, the lady's eyes turned cold and she said, "Let's talk about business next."
Business? What business?
"He Qiongzhu is familiar with you. Where did she hide my brother?"
Who is He Qiongzhu? Duan Zhiwei was confused. She only knew He Zhizhang, who was named He. He said things like "I don't know who cut out the fine leaves" and "I left home when I was young and returned when I was old."
The lady was confused by her nonsense and said angrily, "Still pretending. I saw her at Yunxiang Jiaxie this morning and she gave you a piece of cloth. You two must be familiar with each other."
"I'm not familiar with her!" Duan Zhiwei was also very angry. How could he get into trouble just because someone gave him a piece of sky-blue material?
She told the person in front of her what happened in the folding shop, and she asked half-believingly and half-doubtingly, "Really?"
"Of course it's true, how can it be false?"
The woman thought for a while, put down the money and left.
It was almost time for dinner, and diners came in in twos and threes. Most of them were interested in the new rice noodles and said they wanted to try them. Su Xun and Zhen Hui came together. They were both ninth-rank recorders now and had similar personalities, so they got along well.
Zhen Hui was assigned to the Censorate, where he was busy copying memorials from morning till night. Today, he had a rare free day, so he went back to the restaurant and begged Duan Zhiwei to give him a serving of tofu with green onions, as he had been craving for it for a long time.
The two ordered two bottles of wine. The more he drank, the redder his face became. He mustered up the courage to start scolding the Palace Minister Wang Che, saying that he was arrogant and unreasonable, and had seized the farmers' land. Now that his son was getting married, he spent money like water and openly accepted expensive gifts from officials at all levels.
Duan Zhiwei served him the green onion tofu dish he had ordered, and reminded him, "There are so many people here, and if you shout so loudly, someone with ulterior motives might hear you."
Su Qi was also a little angry. Wang Che's son Wang Lang was a lustful man. It was bad enough that he lingered in Pingkangfang every day, but now that he was about to get married, he actually openly took a commoner girl. How hateful.
Turns out he's a scumbag. No wonder Mrs. He looks so depressed.
After a busy day, everyone finished dinner and went back to their rooms to rest. Duan Zhiwei took a bath and returned to her room to continue her embroidery work under the lamp.
Embroidery was something she learned later, and she worked very slowly. It took her a month to complete what Ah Pan could do in a few days.
While she was enjoying embroidering, someone came in uninvited.
Yuan Shenji came in with a paper bag of dried cherries and touched her face with the bag.
Duan Zhiwei took it, opened it and ate one, then asked him, "Have you eaten your evening meal?"
Yuan Shenji said, "I have used it in the government office."
"That's a pity. The rice noodles made from the rice milk you grind yourself are delicious." Duan Zhi said with a smile.
"It's okay. I'll eat it in two days." The mill was difficult to pull and his arms were a little sore.
The two chatted for a while. Duan Zhiwei thought about what happened during the day and told him about it. Yuan Shenji's face darkened: "The Yu Zhongcheng does have a bad reputation in the court, and his son is even more immoral. I think it's because of the protection of the Langya Wang family that the saint is reluctant to punish him."
Duan Zhiwei said "tsk", "That girl who married into his family is so pitiful." She thought of Madam He whom she met in Jiawei, the beautiful woman was haggard and looked very pitiful.
Yuan Shenji came over and took her into his arms: "Why bother thinking about others? You and I will be married soon, so think more about me."
He looked down at the embroidery in her hands, an agarwood-colored bra embroidered with plum blossoms.
Duan Zhiwei was not used to the ancient kind of clothes, so she specially found some bamboo and ground it into a frame, and then asked A Pan to help sew it, so that it would have support when she wore it, making it easier for her to work.
Yuan Shenji's eyes swept from her face to her chest, and he couldn't help but roll his Adam's apple. He went to the table to get a large cup of cold tea and drank it. Then he said, "Instead of plum blossoms, why not embroider some locust flowers? I like that."
She buried her head in her embroidery and continued, "It's easy for you to say that. I can only embroider this simple one. Do you know how difficult it is to embroider acacia flowers?"
After saying that, she reacted and rushed over to hit him: "I don't care what you like, who wants to wear it for you to see?"
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