Chapter 82 Chapter 82 Midnight Song of the Four Seasons In the early summer night,…
At that moment, everyone hid behind Yuan Shenji. Duan Zhiwei pulled his sleeve and said, "Knife, where is your knife? Hurry up and draw it."
Yuan Shenji was confused: "Why would you draw a knife in a restaurant? Aren't you afraid of scaring away the customers?"
Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to point to the bronze mirror on the table, and then stood on tiptoe and whispered in his ear: "The bronze mirror on the dining table was bought by me from the Hunyuntan in the east of the city at a low price from a foreign merchant. It can talk, and it said that it traveled with its owner in the Western Regions."
The bronze mirror on the table jumped up in anger: "You were listening to the story so happily just now, but now you think I'm a demon. Isn't that a bit too cruel?"
Everyone looked at each other, feeling that the mirror's behavior was not evil at all. Plus, Yuan Shenji's presence gave them a sense of security, so they all hesitated and came out from behind Yuan Shenji.
The bronze mirror was satisfied: "I told you I'm a good mirror."
Duan Zhiwei saw that Yuan Shenji looked very tired and knew that he was busy last night. She felt reluctant to let him go, so she put her hands on his shoulders and pushed him to the bedroom in the backyard to catch up on some sleep.
The weather in Chang'an was getting warmer. Duan Zhiwei took out her bamboo and rattan pillows to cool off. Yuan Shenji lay down and held her hand and said, "Don't worry too much. We are all in the restaurant. Nothing will happen. If anything happens, just come and call me."
Duan Zhi smiled and fanned him with a palm leaf fan: "That's enough. Captain Yuan cares so much about the people. I am really touched."
She bent down and kissed his cheek gently: "I'll make some refreshing honeysuckle soup for you to drink when you wake up."
Yuan Shenji gently stroked the slightly cool place she had kissed, smiled and nodded, closed his eyes and fell asleep.
She quietly closed the door and came out. Aunt Duan had returned to her room early and no one knew what she was doing. Ah Pan got up early and went back to his room for a nap. Only Pu Tao and the little wolf were still lying in front of the food table, clinging to the bronze mirror and asking it to continue telling the story that had just been interrupted.
Bronze Mirror cleared his throat and said, "It is said that the king named Jinhua was kind and fair in governing the country, and treated the people well. He moved Longju so much that Longju voluntarily became his mount..."
Pu Tao looked at the little wolf in confusion, then at the bronze mirror: "As a king, why would his parents name him Jinhua? Jinhua should be a girl's name. You must have made this up."
Bronze Mirror was furious: "This is really a rumor I heard in Quzhi Country. Believe it or not."
Duan Zhiwei found their conversation interesting, so she took a stone pestle and sat down next to them, slowly crushing dried garlic, fennel, star anise and other spices. She wanted to try making instant noodles.
In fact, people in the Qing Dynasty knew how to make instant noodles. It is said that the chef was too busy and accidentally poured the cooked egg noodles into the boiling oil pan and fried them. He had to take the eggs out and cook them again. Unexpectedly, the taste was very good and it was very popular among diners.
Yesterday, Ah Pan rolled out a long and thin piece of egg noodles. Duan Zhiwei took two wooden sticks similar to knitting needles, leaned on the small beard bed and slowly knitted the noodles.
The chatterbox Mirror couldn't help asking her, "What are you doing?"
"Making some noodles." Duan Zhiwei didn't even raise his head, but just carefully weaved the noodles into a square pancake.
She knitted for a long time with her head down and felt her neck a little sore. She reached out and pinched the side of her neck. The mirror beside her kindly reminded her: "The soreness in your neck is probably caused by strain from bending your head down for too long. Chop the white radish into paste, wrap it in a ramie towel and apply hot compress. It will feel much better."
Duan Zhiwei readily followed the advice. There happened to be a lot of white radishes piled up in the corner of the fire room. She chopped some, wrapped them in a ramie towel and applied them to her neck. Sure enough, she felt the pain was relieved.
She had a greater admiration for the bronze mirror, so she thanked it sincerely.
The bronze mirror was also quite pleased with itself: "It is said that I, the mirror, know everything in the world. Back then, I followed my master to sneak across the Yumen Pass..."
The weather was very good today. A bright sun hung in the blue sky like blue silk. The air in the restaurant was hot and sticky. Perhaps because they had just had lunch, even the two children, Pu Tao and Little Wolf, were swept away by a tide of sleepiness. They rubbed their eyes, got up, and went back to the house for a nap.
Duan Zhiwei finally managed to weave a few pancakes, but considering the hot weather, she could only go to the fire room and fry them before they went bad. So she had to say goodbye to the bronze mirror apologetically, and left behind a curtain with a plate of pancakes.
Only the bronze mirror was left standing on the dining table, still talking endlessly to the air: "My master and I passed through the Great Sand Desert, a desolate Gobi desert with no streams, no flowers or trees, no boundaries, no roads to be found, only steep Gobi deserts and distant mountains..."
It spoke for a long time, but then seemed to realize that no one was listening to it, so it shut up.
After a long time, a low, lonely sigh came from the restaurant hall.
At about 3 p.m., everyone woke up from their nap and got up to work one after another. Little Wolf and Pu Tao carried the bronze mirror into the fire room to work. The bronze mirror regained its talkative nature and began to tell its legendary experiences again.
Duan Zhiwei wanted to try making roujiamo.
When talking about the delicacies of the Sanqin area, the roujiamo, which has been passed down for thousands of years, can be regarded as a representative.
The surface of the freshly baked Baiji steamed bun is slightly bulging. Cut the bun from the side, and the hot steam mixed with the wheat aroma of the white bun will come out. Then put the braised meat that has been soaked in the marinade for a day, which is shiny and fragrant, into the bun.
Because the weather was hot, in order to prevent diners from losing their appetite due to the summer heat, Duan Zhiwei added some diced bamboo shoots and chopped bay leaves, which were spicy and pungent, to the braised meat, and also added shredded pickled cucumbers to relieve the greasiness.
Because it was the beginning of summer, fresh green broad beans were on the market, so Duan Zhiwei made a new dish of egg yolk broad beans. This seasonal vegetable is simple to make, just stir-frying it in a pan, but the beauty lies in the bright and oily color, the yellow and green color matching each other, and the fragrance of seasonal vegetables. It makes people feel comfortable just by looking at it, and is very suitable for consumption in early summer.
At dusk today, there were many diners sitting in the restaurant. The sun began to fade away, covering the city of Chang'an with a layer of dim yellow gauze.
Aunt Duan scooped a bowl of well water, took a break, and stood by the door lintel to watch the clouds outside being dyed orange-red by the sunset glow.
Suddenly a carriage stopped at the door, and a middle-aged man who looked like a butler got out.
Aunt Duan knew him; he was the steward of the residence of Li Heng, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, and he would come back sometimes to buy food, so she greeted him warmly.
The housekeeper looked a little distressed and said, "Is Madam Duan here? If you have any refreshing and delicious food, I will pack it up for my husband to take back."
Li Heng returned home from the Dali Temple in a rage today. It happened that the kitchen at home had prepared some red pine mutton and fried walnut kidneys, both of which were hot foods. Li Heng was not satisfied when he saw them. He didn't eat a single bite and hid in the study.
The housekeeper had no choice but to take a carriage over here, knowing that Li Heng liked the food in Xuanyangfang and Duan's Restaurant.
Duan Zhiwei, considering that Li Heng was a good friend of her husband, generously packed up a portion of all the dishes on tonight's menu for him, and also gave him a jar of freshly pickled cucumbers.
Seeing the Li family's carriage go away, Duan Zhiwei asked Aunt Duan in confusion: "I didn't realize that this Dali Temple Shaoqing is quite picky about food."
Her voice was a little loud, and was heard by two regular guests at the next table. They were the assistant teacher and the academician of the Imperial College. After hearing what Duan Zhiwei said, they just smiled and said, "Li Shaoqing's inability to eat has nothing to do with being picky about food."
Duan Zhiwei asked: "What does this mean?"
A big hand gently held her shoulders from behind. Duan Zhiwei turned her head and saw Yuan Shenji behind her, shaking his head gently at her.
Duan Zhiwei then realized that it was inappropriate to discuss the secrets of a fourth-rank official in public, so he shrugged his shoulders and went into the fire room.
After the evening meal, everyone cleaned up, moved a few food tables to the backyard, put them together, and sat around the osmanthus tree in the yard to have their evening meal.
Generally speaking, in the summer months, although everyone likes to sit in the backyard to enjoy the cool air and chat, because of the bites of summer mosquitoes, everyone has to carry plague-repellent pills, but even so they still get bitten by mosquitoes from time to time.
However, today, following the advice of Tongjing, I burned the remaining medicinal herbs from the Dragon Boat Festival, such as Atractylodes lancea and Angelica dahurica, together. The smoke from the burning can drive away poisonous insects and mosquitoes.
You know what, the effect is really good.
The bronze mirror was very proud: "Of course, when my master and I traveled in Baishui City, it was hot there, surrounded by water, and the people were troubled by poisonous insects..."
Four wind lanterns were hung in the courtyard, and the bright moonlight did not make it feel dark. Everyone sat down to have their evening meal.
Duan Zhiwei was about to pick up some food when he suddenly thought of something and asked Yuan Shenji who was sitting next to him, "What were you talking about this morning and this evening?"
Yuan Shenji was enjoying himself while eating the delicious broad beans with egg yolk. When he heard this, his face turned serious. "On the eve of the Dragon Boat Festival, the old man who was taking care of the apricot garden suddenly disappeared. After a few Wu Hous searched around, they found his body on a small boat by the Qujiang River."
"A few days later, a woman's body was found in an alley in Guangxingfang. She was apparently trying to walk into the street with her grandson, but was stabbed to death. However, the child next to her was safe and sound."
"The morning before yesterday, the Qianniu Guards were patrolling near Yanping and saw a young man lying in a pool of blood..."
Ah Pan interrupted, "How do you know that all these cases were committed by the same person?"
In the magnificent Chang'an, hundreds of thousands of people of all skin colors and different beliefs hide in the night. It is normal if a murder happens occasionally.
Yuan Shenji said: "Because after killing someone, the murderer will leave a poem behind."
"What poem?"
"Midnight Songs of the Four Seasons" His expression was particularly solemn in the night: "The first one is an old man in his twilight years, holding a piece of white linen in his hand, on which is written the Winter Song of Midnight Songs of the Four Seasons. The second one is a slightly stronger woman, and in her hand is the Autumn Song of Midnight Songs of the Four Seasons..."
"The third young man, on the red wall next to him is written 'In May, Xi Shi picked flowers, and people looked at the narrow and beautiful flowers'. This is the summer song of the Midnight Four Seasons Song."
The moon disappeared behind the dark clouds, leaving only a corner of the lantern swaying gently in the dark night, and everyone's beards stood up.
But Yuan Shenji hadn't finished speaking yet. He took a sip of wine and continued, "But the 'Song of the Four Seasons at Midnight' is not finished yet. The Dali Temple suspects that the murderer will make another move to complete the spring song of this poem."
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