Chapter 74 (Jajangmyeon)

Yan Qiuyuan's intention behind the post seems obvious.

She was suspicious.

Perhaps it was because she heard that her name was Yan Shu, which was only one letter different from the original owner, that she felt something. Adding to their previous two encounters, maybe she also figured out something. After all, she had been reborn before, so "coming back from the dead" was not something difficult to accept.

But there is one thing, Yan Qiushu now has the support of the Xiao family, and she is also a newly-appointed county lady by the emperor, so her status is also different. She cannot act rashly, and can only send a message to test it out.

When Yan Qiushu saw the post, she actually felt a little empty.

She had been avoiding the Yan family because she didn't want to get involved. Now that her identity was suddenly guessed, she was worried that if something happened and it involved the Xiao family, it would really implicate them.

Especially since she has been conferred the title of Xiangjun, if something happens to her, it would be disastrous if she is accused of deceiving the emperor.

Just after having this midnight snack, Yan Qiushu felt much calmer.

Although the Yan family has the title of elders, they are not her real relatives after all. There was no DNA technology in ancient times. If she refuses to admit it, it should be okay, right?

Besides, she had a clear conscience. The original owner was forced to death by them. She took over this body against her will, so there was no need to feel guilty. Moreover, she had no feelings for anything related to the Yan family. To her, they were just a family in a novel.

Even if they stand on the moral high ground in the future and accuse her of filial piety, she will not be at all wrong.

The one who gave birth to this body was the original owner's mother.

That's all.

By the way, July 20th is the anniversary of the original owner's mother's death. Now that she has her own estate, she has to make some arrangements and hold a proper memorial service.

Also, I have to reject this visiting invitation tomorrow and tell Mrs. Xiao my true identity. It would be fine if it is not discovered, but if it is discovered, I still have to tell her to avoid being caught off guard in the future.

Yan Qiushu arranged tomorrow's affairs, put down the visiting card, and lay down softly on the bed.

sleep!

Next day

The sun is rising.

Yan Qiuyuan had just had breakfast. In front of her were steamed buns that her maid bought from the food street and her own white porridge. Although the steamed buns were a bit greasy alone, they tasted very good when paired with the white porridge.

She was eating leisurely when her personal maid suddenly came forward and said, "Miss, Lord De'an said that you will be married soon and have many things to do, so we don't want to waste your time. He also sent a blessing, wishing you and the Prince of Jin to live happily ever after."

Yan Qiuyuan was eating porridge. Hearing this, she frowned and looked a little unhappy, but not surprised.

If that person was really Yan Qiushu, he would definitely not dare to see her.

Even if a person's appearance has changed a little, there will always be some parts that have not changed. In the past, she always felt that this person was familiar, which made her uncomfortable. She thought it was the incident at the Xiao Mansion that made her feel uneasy. She didn't expect it to be Yan Qiushu!

She is not dead!

Yan Qiuyuan took a small bite of the dough. The outer shell was crispy and a little greasy, but the inside was soft. The overall taste was salty and just the right amount, with the aroma of scallion oil. She looked strange.

She has never eaten this thing called noodle nest.

I don’t remember that such a food street would appear in Kyoto this year.

She also found out that Yan Qiushu came to the Xiao family in August last year. In nearly a year, all kinds of fresh food always popped up in the Xiao family, which also led to the emergence of the food street today.

The fresh food inside was something she had never seen before, even though she had lived to be over 30 years old in her previous life.

How does Yan Qiushu know these things?

She shouldn't!

Even if she was really reborn like herself, it wouldn't be that serious, because that was how she was. Apart from being reborn once, she knew the direction of some major events in the future, and what her stepmother and sister, as well as those concubines in the backyard would do, there was nothing else.

And now with the appearance of Prince Chang, she knows less and less, and can no longer help Zhou Zejing much. At this juncture, Yan Qiushu comes back to life, and knows so many strange things...

To receive such a blessing, I guess this is definitely not an opportunity like rebirth.

Yan Qiuyuan had to think more.

Maybe Yan Qiushu herself had some other adventures, or maybe God compensated her with many things because he had taken away her marriage, such as the ability to make this thing called dimples.

That’s why food streets appear.

If this is the case, it would be a real waste of this ability in the Xiao family.

If only I could...

When Yan Qiuyuan thought of this, he felt a little regretful that he had snatched Yan Qiushu's marriage fate as soon as he was reborn. What if Zhou Zejing became emperor in his previous life with the help of Yan Qiushu's adventure? Then this time, he was afraid that he was in danger...

When she thought about this, she found it difficult to eat the delicious breakfast in front of her.

God really treats Yan Qiushu well!

She put down her chopsticks.

Seeing that she had only eaten so little for breakfast, the maid gently advised her, "Miss, you still have to embroider your wedding dress later. If you eat less, you won't have the energy to embroider."

Yan Qiuyuan embroidered most of her wedding dresses herself. Although she was not good at other things, her embroidery was excellent. She also wanted others to think highly of her when she got married.

As a concubine's daughter, she had suffered enough in her previous life, and in this life she was used to being strong in everything.

Hearing this, Yan Qiuyuan's heart sank, but she sat back and continued eating. However, the steamed buns that she thought tasted good before now tasted sour.

Why can Zhou Zejing become emperor just by marrying Yan Qiushu and make an engagement with her? But all the unexpected events happened!

Even the unspoken relationship between the Fourth Prince and Hsiao Wya did not happen!

If something happened to Xiao Huaiting, the Xiao family would definitely support Prince Chang instead of Zhou Zejing. From the time the third prince got into trouble until now, it has been completely beyond her expectations.

We can't let things get out of control any further.

Only when everything returns to the starting point, perhaps everything will be safe.

Yan Qiushu liked Zhou Zejing so much, she must have remembered it now. If Zhou Zejing proposed marriage, she would definitely agree, right? What about the Xiao family at that time? The food street would only belong to Zhou Zejing. In addition to the food street, there must be more things she didn't know, otherwise how could the deposed prince become the Prince of Chang overnight?

Yan Qiuyuan finished the last bite of food unknowingly, wiped her tears, went to the study, and wrote a letter with a sad but serious tone.

Yan Qiushu's magical ability cannot be given up.

After so long, she was very confident that her position in Zhou Zejing's heart would not change much because of Yan Qiushu. In this case, the sacrifice was nothing. She still wanted to be the most noble woman!

When the letter was delivered to Prince Jin's Palace.

Yan Qiushu was at the Xiao residence apologizing to Mrs. Xiao.

Of course, she didn't invite him for free, she also brought breakfast, fried noodles with soybean paste.

The methods of making these pasta dishes are very simple. The main thing is to make the frying sauce well. The pork cannot be all lean, but should be fat and lean. After stir-frying the fat, add diced mushrooms to enhance the flavor, then add sugar, soy sauce, the sweet noodle sauce used for roast duck, and chopped green onion, ginger and garlic, stir-fry, and finally add water and boil for a while.

You can make more fried sauce in one go. Yan Qiushu made quite a bit and left some for the children to eat. She then brought the rest to Mrs. Xiao.

Today is neither the first nor the fifteenth day of the lunar month, but there are still many people paying their respects, including Xie Qingyun, Xiao Huaiqi and his wife, Song Mingdai, Xiao Huaiyu, and Xiao Huaiya.

But she always comes here after having breakfast.

So when Yan Qiushu went there, she hadn't arrived yet, but the other adults were all there.

Seeing her coming, several people were a little surprised. In their minds, Yan Qiushu was even more of a homebody than Xiao Huaiyu. She would only come out occasionally and was so low-key that if she hadn't always cooked delicious food, everyone would probably have forgotten that there was such a person in the house.

Why did you come here specially this morning?

Xie Qingyun gave up trying to pick up the steamed bun and said with a smile, "Ah Shu is here, so there must be something delicious. I have to wait."

Seeing this, Xiao Huaiqi stopped eating and said, "Then I have to wait too."

Xiao Huaiyu pursed her lips and smiled: "Dongdong came over early in the morning and took Wan'er to look for you. He said he smelled the fragrance from your place. What delicious food did you make today?"

Yan Qiushu felt a little embarrassed when she was looked at, and she coughed lightly: "It's not a good thing, it's just fried noodles."

The food court has them all. She gave Xiao Huaiqi all the recipes for ingredients she knew and those that could be made directly. It was up to him how to arrange them, but now basically they have all appeared one after another.

As expected, they all liked fried noodles with soybean paste.

Xie Qingyun shook her head: "That's different, yours must be tastier!"

Yan Qiushu smiled, and together with Shui Xuan, she put the food box on the table, took out the noodles and fried sauce inside, one portion for each person, not much, just half a bowl: "We came a little late, and I was afraid that you would eat it all, so I didn't make so much, just stir it."

"I know. There's so much food here. I'm sure you'll be full." Mrs. Xiao said softly. She picked up her own portion and stirred a piece of noodle with her chopsticks.

The light-colored, steaming beige noodles are covered in thick fried sauce and some crispy cucumber shreds.

When the noodles were lifted up, the fried sauce slid down from top to bottom, dyeing the noodles brown with the sauce, and the aroma of the fried sauce also emanated.

When Mrs. Xiao smelled it, her eyes suddenly showed a lot of delight and she stirred faster, and soon the whole bowl of noodles was dyed with color.

At this point, you can eat.

She picked up a piece of noodles with chopsticks, which had some meat and mushroom pieces on it, and ate it in one bite. Although there was no soup in the noodles, she still enjoyed it. The salty and sweet fried sauce and the chewy and elastic noodles made this combination a very good breakfast.

Although according to etiquette, eating too fast is considered impolite.

But after Mrs. Xiao finished her bite, she didn't care about anything else. With a slight "slurp", a big mouthful of noodles covered with fried sauce was taken into her mouth.

Satisfied with the meal, she wiped the corners of her mouth that were covered with brown sauce, but without even having the time to wipe it clean, she continued to eat another bite.

The noodles, which were not much to begin with, were finished in a short while.

At the end, there were still two cucumber shreds soaked in fried sauce in the bowl. Mrs. Xiao ate them, then picked up a steamed bun and took a small bite. The bun was soft and sweet. Although the flavor was not as strong as the fried sauce, it was also very good.

Xiao Huaiqi thought he ate quite fast. After all, he was a man. No matter how gentle he looked, he ate faster than most women. But when he looked up after finishing his meal, his mother's bowl was empty. He said in a dumb voice, "It seems that this fried sauce really pleases my mother."

Mrs. Xiao said slowly, "When did I stop liking what Ah Shu made? I ate all the stinky tofu, but you didn't."

"Ahem!" Xiao Huaiqi coughed and changed the subject.

Xiao Huaiyu even interrupted the dining atmosphere: "Second sister-in-law, you have a small appetite, can you finish it? Why don't you give it to me?"

Song Mingdai glanced at her and said nothing.

Xiao Huaiyu quickly smiled and continued eating his own.

Xie Qingyun also finished eating and chuckled: "Oh, sometimes I really envy Pingsong and the others. They can eat as much as they want at any time."

Speaking of children, Song Mingdai and Xiao Huaiyu's eyes softened.

Yan Qiushu was the slowest. She finished her meal, drank a sip of tea and cleared her throat.

This action immediately attracted the attention of several people at the table.

Yan Qiushu's movements became a little stiff, but she still swallowed the tea in her mouth smoothly and looked at Madam Xiao: "Aunt, Master, Madam... I have something to tell you."

Madam Xiao smiled. The wrinkles around her lips that had been tight for many years had been smoothed out in recent days. She looked softer overall. "Tell me, have you decided to be my daughter-in-law? Or why not just get married as soon as Lao Liu comes back?"

Xie Qingyun and others tilted their heads and smiled.

Yan Qiushu was embarrassed and her face turned red, but the tension in her heart was relieved. She coughed and said, "Actually, it's like this. I'm not really an orphan. My biological father is the eldest son of the Yan family, and my mother is his aunt. In the Yan family, I'm the fifth child. I came to the Xiao Mansion to seek a shelter. I didn't confess before, and in the eyes of the Yan family, I was already dead, so I don't want to have anything to do with them anymore."

"But now, His Royal Highness Prince Chang has recommended merits for me, which may result in my half-sister recognizing me. I am afraid that it will bring trouble to the Xiao family, so I want to tell you that if it will affect the Xiao family, I will live in the manor. How about that?"

Yan Qiushu finished her words in one breath and then stared at them with her big eyes, waiting for their reaction.

After waiting for a while, no one said anything. They still looked at her with a faint smile as before.

No anger, no annoyance, and no blame.

Yan Qiushu blinked, her heart gradually calmed down but also felt a little confused: "Don't you blame me for keeping it a secret?"

Mrs. Xiao burst out laughing.

Xie Qingyun covered her lips and said with a smile: "Ah Shu, you are so silly, did you really think we didn't guess it? You usually reveal so many flaws in your words, I thought you were waiting for us to find out."

Yan Qiushu took a deep breath: "Hmm???"