Chapter 272

: Yang Qi is released, so it is called the first year of life. [Note 1]

Today is the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. Temples such as Xiangguo in Kyoto serve five-flavor porridge. This porridge is commonly known as Laba porridge. On this day, in addition to cooking and eating porridge, every household will also give porridge to each other's elders, relatives and friends.

When it was still dark, A Xu had already gotten out of bed, held a candle to the kitchen, and poured the rice, beans, dates, millet and other various grains soaked last night into the cooking urn.

When he picked up firewood and threw it into the kitchen hall, Xu Yi came over to help him, fully dressed.

After Yan Quyue drove the mother-in-law and the coachman to Zhuangzi, A Xu started to take care of the food at home. Xu Yi knew his hard work and didn't want him to stay alone in the kitchen in such a cold weather.

The fire in the stove was burning brightly, and soon the stove became warm.

Xu Yi poured hot water into a bowl. There were sugar cubes at the bottom of the bowl. The hot water melted the sugar cubes. When the porridge was cooked, he could stir the sugar water into the porridge.

A Xu scooped out half a bowl and tasted the sweetness. He felt it was almost enough, so he took off the pottery jar and put it in the small stove.

There are two charcoal fires burning under the small stove. In this way, when Yan Quyue and A Jin get up, the Laba porridge will be hot.

"I'll wake them up." Xu Yi glanced at the gray sky and felt that it was almost time.

Last night there was a north wind outside the window and the snow kept falling. Yan Quyue had a restless sleep and didn't fall asleep until midnight.

Xu Yi opened the door gently and saw that Yan Quyue had woken up and was dressing up in a quilted jacket. Seeing Xu Yi coming back, she asked him if the flower on his back was crooked.

Yan Quyue held up the crown on her head and explained to Xu Yi: "I'm going to see Sister-in-law Jiao later. She teased me that my hairband was crooked last time."

Xu Yi said, "It's not crooked."

Then he added a gold-plated wire hairpin to her.

After a while, the two came out of the house hand in hand, and Ah Jin and Er Qing also came out. As soon as Er Qing came out of the house, he ran to add dry food to the two donkeys that were spending the winter in the north house.

The Laba porridge was to be eaten early. Ah Jin looked at Xu Yi and Yan Quyue and asked, "My brother has brought out the Laba porridge that is going to the Xing family. Do you want Erqing to send it over?"

"I'll go by myself." Xu Yi He said, "You guys eat first, you don't have to wait for me to come back."

Yan Quyue responded and called Ajin into the room to eat porridge with her. She will follow Mr. Jiao to Xiangguo Temple later. Today, in addition to the Laba porridge, there is also a vegetarian offering in Xiangguo Temple. The two of them have agreed to pray for their families and not bring any men with them.

Erqing wanted to drive, so he followed.

But A Xu has to stay at home and guard the door. On this day, I am afraid that many people will come to deliver porridge.

Xu Yi wore a cloak and went out with a food box. Unlike in the past, the doors of the neighbors' houses were open in the early morning and the doors were bustling. Anyone who saw him would stop and say hello.

"Mr. Xu, are you going out?"

"Have you eaten Laba porridge? We have cooked a lot at home. Come in and have a bowl?"

"Where are you going

, Mr. Xu?" "It seems that Mr. Xu is going to deliver porridge.

"..."

After walking for a while, Xu Yi came to the door of Xing's house. The door of Xing's house was also open. The concierge directed the two idle men with his hands to look carefully. When he turned around, he saw a tall man. A straight figure stood outside the door.

He was startled and trotted over quickly: "Why did Mr. Xu come here in person?"

He took the heavy food box in his hand and said with a smile on his face, "It's very cold outside, and there's not even any snow that fell last night." He said, "You can send someone to tell me about the Laba porridge, and I can go get it myself." He then said, "I just came to ask if the Laba porridge prepared for Mr. Xu is ready. It's a coincidence, Master." Go back to the study, you're here."

"Then I'll go to the study to find Brother Xing." Xu Yi said.

The concierge would not let Xu Yi go there alone, and immediately said with a smile: "I will go with Mr. Xu, just in time for the master to taste the hot Laba porridge."

Xu Yi said no, "You are still busy here, bring me the porridge. , I took it over to Brother Xing."

As he said that, he took the food box back from his hand.

Turn around and take Laba porridge to the study.

Xing Yuesen was not surprised that Xu Yi would come over in person. He smiled and stuffed a hand warmer into his hands and said, "I knew you would come over."

He took the food box and smelled the sweet fragrance before opening it. This Laba porridge smells of added sugar, and the beans and corn are cooked until they are soft and glutinous. It is so thick that it can be hung on a spoon. It looks very good.

Xu Yi smiled lightly and said, "If you deliver it in person, the meaning of the porridge will be different."

"That's what Brother Yi said." Xing Yuesen nodded.

I went out in person, and after a while, I came back with a bowl of hot Laba porridge.

Xing Yuesen personally served this porridge in a pottery vat, and it can be considered as a personal gift to Xu Yi.

Xu Yi took off the cloak he was wearing, and the two of them sat at the table, eating porridge and chatting.

Xu Yi did not hide the fact that he was going back to Yanting to practice folk medicine. He told Xing Yuesen about it when he came back from Tai Hospital.

Xing Yuesen was surprised for a moment and understood the reason why Xu Yi did this.

The new year is approaching, and the application documents submitted by Xing Yuesen for external transfer have not been approved. Xu Yi is a little worried for him, fearing that someone did it deliberately.

"Who do you think is trying to deny it?" Xu Yi asked him.

Xing Yuesen had a sullen face, shook his head and said, "I don't know."

He had always kept a low profile in Dali Temple, except that the method he used to solve the case last time was a bit ridiculous. Fortunately, the case was successfully uncovered and the victim was guilty. Although the criminal was pitiful, he acted in extreme ways. Death penalty can be avoided, and those involved in murder will be exiled.

As soon as this punishment was announced, three people from the prisoner's family were directly imprisoned, making the matter a big deal. Later, Xing Yuesen learned that the other party moved his family not long after, and he didn't know where he went.

As for the three people who were imprisoned, they were in the land where the barbarians were exiled after the autumn. If they could survive, they should be in the place of exile by this time.

"Is this the case?" Xu Yi looked at him with a strange expression.

Xing Yuesen: "..."

He touched his chin and said a little funny: "If I am forced to stay in Kyoto because of this matter, I am afraid someone is deliberately trying to punish me."

In this way, this calm situation is actually a good thing. What will happen later Anyway, we have to wait until after the Chinese New Year.

There's no point in rushing the matter. Xu Yi nodded and said, "Let's get through this year first."

Speaking of Chinese New Year, Xing Yuesen happened to have something to ask Xu Yi.

As the New Year is getting closer, Xing Yuesen wants to prepare New Year's gifts for several of his bosses. In previous years, Xing Yuesen would place orders from caravans coming from central Sichuan and send Sichuan and Sichuan local products and Sichuan brocade.

His family is engaged in the Sichuan brocade business. Every June, Mr.

Even thinking about this hard-to-find Shu brocade, colleagues would not turn against Xing Yuesen.

But this year Xing Yuesen wanted to give him something else, and the deer Xu Yi gave him last time was very good.

"Are there any deer in Zhuangzi?" Xing Yuesen asked.

Xu Yi said: "There are two adult deer and two young deer. These young deer will have to be raised until next autumn."

The deer meat is a great supplement, and more and more noble people eat deer in winter. When Xing Yuesen heard that there were two deer, he felt in his heart A move.

Each of the three bosses sent half a deer to their families, and kept half of the deer to eat during the holidays. They also picked some Sichuan brocade sent from their families, and this year's New Year's Eve was well arranged.

Xing Yuesen asked Xu Yi if he could sell the deer to him.

Xu Yi smiled and said, "You don't need to buy a deer if you want it. I'll just give it to you. Neither Yan Quyue nor I like to eat this deer. We won't make much money if we sell it. If we don't sell it, we'll keep it in the village." I still need food, so why don’t I send it to you? "

We are all close friends, so sending two deer is not a problem for him.

Moreover, when the weather was cold, Xing Yuesen sent Amu to deliver several pieces of Sichuan brocade of good quality and color, saying that they would make them clothes for this winter.

That piece of Shu brocade is worth hundreds of dollars.

Worth more than a deer.

Xing Yuesen didn't want it. A deer could be sold for a lot of money.

"I don't want it from you. You can tell me how much it will cost. If it doesn't work, I'll ask someone else." How can we support it in the future?"

Xu Yi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll sell it to you at the market price."

Xing Yuesen then took out the money and ordered the two deer with satisfaction.

……

soon.

New Year's Eve.

On this day, Shang Hongshen sent the boy over and said that what he had promised him before was fulfilled.

Xu Yi was overjoyed. Before going to see Shang Hongshen, he rushed to Zhuangzi on the outskirts of Beijing.

Winter is cold and there are not many fresh seasonal vegetables. As a New Year gift, people will also prepare a basket of seasonal vegetables that are difficult for ordinary people to eat. It just so happens that leeks and orchid sprouts are grown in the village.

Fresh and tender leeks are very beneficial to people's hearts. They are delicious fried or boiled and are very popular among the nobles of Kyoto.

And orchid buds are actually the buds of a kind of orchid. The orchid buds in the poem: "The wall is shaded by snow, and I feel that the orchid buds are tender." The orchid buds in [Note 2] refer to it.

Xu Yi also saw it in the New Year's gift sent by Butler Lu. After discovering that there were such edible orchid buds in the village, he felt that these orchid buds would be a perfect gift.

As soon as he arrived at Zhuangzi, he asked Butler Lu to prepare a basket of leeks and orchid buds.

While waiting, he saw the woman in the village cutting mint, and then he remembered that there was mint paste prepared at home.

These peppermint pastes will add to the annual gift list prepared by each family when giving gifts during the New Year.

The door-to-door gift for Shang Hongshen is also indispensable.

On the same day, Xu Yi drove back to the city before dark.

He was wrapped in cold air and came into the room with windy steps to warm up. Yan Quyue saw that his fingers were stiff from the cold and quickly added charcoal to the brazier.

It was already getting late, and it would be rude to visit rashly at this time. Xu Yi asked Erqing to run errands to Shang's house to send greeting cards.

Early the next morning, he came to Shang's house with gifts.

Shang Hongshen met Xu Yi in the study and handed him the document that Xu Yi had been thinking about for several days.

Shang Hongshen said: "With it, you will not encounter obstacles in setting up medicine in Shuzhong. If someone troubles you, you can go to Zizhou Medicine to seek justice."

Xu Yi opened the document and took a look. Not only was it covered with Tai The official seal of the hospital also has a dazzling red seal that is particularly conspicuous.

"This is..."

He looked at the chapter, a bold idea suddenly came to his mind, and he looked at Shang Hongshen in disbelief.

Shang Hongshen smiled lightly and said: "You want to start medicine. How can you do this without the permission of the officials? The dean informed the officials of the matter. The officials heard that you were so considerate of the people and praised you in front of the dean."

Only one or two people in the entire Imperial Hospital can be praised by officials.

Even Shang Hongshen would inevitably feel jealous after learning about this honor.

Xu Yi was in a daze for a moment: "..."

He didn't know how to answer, so he could only bow and thank them for asking for this thin document for him.

With it, Xu Yi feels much more at ease.