Zhao Xiu glanced at the map. After passing Gaoshan Town, there was Xiaoguan. The Tibetans would stop for a rest at the market here, so he should be able to catch up with them, so he agreed.
Lou Yunchun had already been delayed here for a day and had to continue on his journey.
He left a special envoy letter for Zhao Xiu, which was stamped with his official seal. Once he found Yu Hu, he could take the official post to Liangzhou without having to take a long detour.
He left the Vietnamese doctor to Zhao Xiu, and the other one was taken away by Lou Yunchun and handed over to the town commander stationed in Gaoshan Town for disposal.
The town general's camp was short of cooks, so they stuffed him into the kitchen to cook and feed pigs. This is a different story.
Lou Yunchun walked on the moon and left Gaoshan Town. The cool night wind made his face stiff.
At this moment, a sound of bamboo and wood rose from somewhere, echoing in the deep canyon, evoking people's homesickness.
He looked up at the moon hanging overhead, wondering what his Ajahn was doing at that moment.
Do you miss him?
Under the moon, Xu Jiang led the little maids to make insect-repellent incense in the yard.
Mosquitoes have been a nuisance these days. The little girls' bodies are covered in red and white mosquito bites, which looks very pitiful. Even Mrs. Lou and Lou Jing cannot avoid it occasionally.
But she, perhaps because she was intoxicated by the smell of cork and mugwort in the bookstore, was not attracted by mosquitoes.
Seeing that the girls were scratching so badly, she simply followed a folk remedy and developed a mosquito repellent incense to see if it could solve the problem of mosquitoes and flies.
Having made up her mind to make incense, she went to the lotus garden early this morning to collect duckweed and pick mint, and asked the little maids to clean them and put them in a high place to dry.
The sun is very hot now, and everything has been dried up after a day.
Yinyin brought duckweed and mint for Xu Jiang to deal with.
Xu Jiang then asked the maids to bring a few stone mortars and incense grinders, and divided the Magnolia officinalis, Notopterygium wilfordii, and Chuanxiong that she had brought back from Qianjintang together with duckweed and mint, and asked the little maids to pound them one by one with the stone mortars.
After crushing, grind it into fine powder with a fragrant grinder, and finally sieve it for later use.
In addition to these incense materials, charcoal must also be pounded and ground into carbon powder. The reason for adding charcoal is that the above-mentioned incense materials are not easy to burn after being made into incense powder, so it is needed to help the fire.
You cannot choose ordinary stove charcoal, otherwise it will produce a lot of smoke. You cannot choose ash charcoal either, as it will burn too quickly and waste the incense.
Xu Jiang chose silver-bone charcoal, which burns slowly, is smokeless and non-toxic. The incense it produces has no odor and is long-lasting, and can burn all night.
After the incense materials and charcoal are ground into fine powder, mix them according to the recipe, add appropriate amount of elm bark powder, add water, stir, knead, and beat, and finally form a black incense mud.
Thinking of making incense, Xu Jiang used discarded boards to carve several incense molds in the shapes of clouds, cranes, lotus, rabbits and gourds.
Press the hollowed-out incense mold onto a smooth and flat drying board, then fill it with incense mud and smooth it out. Then use the same carved shape of the incense mold to fit into the hollowed-out part of the incense mold and demold the incense mud.
Xu Jiang used a rabbit incense mold. After removing the mold, a lively black rabbit fell on the drying board, causing the little girls to exclaim in surprise.
Then came the crane, lotus, cloud and gourd, which made the little girls eager to try. Seeing this, Xu Jiang simply assigned the process to them and let them play.
Mrs. Lou and Liu Mei watched from the side and couldn't help but smile.
Xu Jiang came over with her pitch-black hands raised. Liu Mei hurried to fetch water to wash her hands, while Madam Lou wiped her sweat with a handkerchief and fed her tea. She squinted her eyes and enjoyed it so much.
Over the past few days, she has become more and more comfortable in the Lou Mansion and has become closer and closer to Madam Lou.
Mrs. Lou asked, "Does this fragrance have a name?"
"Yes, because its fragrance carries the scent of water, clear and ethereal, so it is named Pingzong."
“Nice name.”
Xu Jiang smiled slightly. "It's drying up quickly. It will be ready for use tomorrow. I'll light it for you myself then."
Mrs. Lou touched her face and said, "Okay."
By the time the little girls had taken shape from the molds, the moon was already at its zenith. Xu Jiang held the teacup and looked at the moon.
This moon is one in the sky, one in the lamp, one in the eyes, and one in the heart.
During the Lesser Heat, the first sign is the arrival of warm winds, the second sign is that crickets will live in the house, and the third sign is that eagles will begin to prey.
During this time of year, people in the capital have the customs of eating summer lamb, eating new food, eating summer noodles, eating lotus roots, fishing, and wearing jasmine in their hair.
Xu Jiang wore a jasmine hairpin given to her by Lady Lou in her black hair. The hairpin was white, fragrant, and very pleasing to the eye.
Xu Jiang picked some dewy flowers last night, poured boiled water into a white porcelain jar, set up a thin bamboo curtain, picked jasmine flowers one by one, and placed them upside down on the curtain to let the fragrance flow into the water.
This is jasmine scented tea.
In the morning, Xu Jiang took advantage of the fact that Dongyang had not yet risen and the fragrance of flowers had not yet faded, and she poured tea into the teacups. She also added freshly picked flowers covered with morning dew, and then went to serve tea to Lou Jing and his wife.
"What a good idea." A cup of tea washed away the foul air lingering in his lungs, leaving only the fragrance of flowers. "With you here, our garden has seen so many new and unusual things. Many of them are unheard of and unseen. When I tell those old guys about them, they're so jealous they say they have to come and see them someday."
Xu Jiang smiled and said, "We have more tea than we need. My uncle is going to the Yuan residence for a banquet today. Why not chill some of this tea and bring it over to enjoy with you gentlemen? That would be in keeping with the custom."
There is also a custom of eating ice during the Lesser Heat. Lou Jing bought some ice yesterday for his family to enjoy, which is just right for this jasmine fragrant tea.
Lou Jing stroked his hand and said happily, "That's great!"
Xu Jiang poured the remaining tea into a porcelain bottle, sealed it, and then put it into an ice bucket. She asked the servant to carry it to Lou Jing's carriage. After seeing Lou Jing off, she packed up her things and went to the bookstore.
Yesterday I made an appointment with Manager Wang to eat summer lamb. The lamb was a black sheep he caught in the countryside. It was slaughtered and eaten right on the spot. In addition to the lamb, there was also new noodles and freshly harvested fruits and vegetables. It was a very lively occasion.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
