Mrs. Wu watched Ms. Zhang finish the soup in her bowl and looked at her expectantly.
"how?"
Ms. Zhang closed her eyes and said, "This is truly a delicacy. I have never tasted such a delicious soup before. The broth alone is so delicious, and the ingredients inside must be even more delicious."
Wu nodded, "It's a pity that I can't bring you too much. I'll wait until after the Emperor's birthday. The princess said that we can all try it."
Ms. Zhang smiled and said, "That's understandable. After all, it's to be presented to the Emperor. If we could eat it now, wouldn't that be disrespectful? Speaking of which, Princess, this dish is really good. It seems like the Princess will be the first to receive the honors during the Longevity Festival."
Wu hummed, "I heard from Suxin that the princess is holding back this energy. She has sent people out to find out what the princesses of other families are doing these days."
Ms. Zhang's heart skipped a beat. "This is not easy to find out. Even in our mansion, you have been looking for this prescription for three days, and you only glanced at it. You can't remember the details."
Mrs. Wu took a sip of tea and pointed at it. "There's shark fin, abalone, duck, old hen, pork bones, pigeon, sea cucumber..." Mrs. Wu pretended to think about it, then continued, "There's also a lot of green vegetables, such as winter bamboo shoots and flower mushrooms. Oh my, there's a long row of them. It will take me a long time just to clean them all."
Ms. Zhang was surprised and asked, "Really? Then can't we come together during the production?"
"Of course. The soup base has to be boiled first. Oh, and there's also wine."
"Wine? What kind of wine?"
Mrs. Wu shook her head. "I don't know. It was served in a clay jar, without a red seal. Suxin said that this dish must be paired with this wine. Not the wine itself, but the jar that holds the dish. It must take advantage of the flavor of the wine in that jar. The wine was specially sent by the Second Mistress of Prince Shen's mansion."
"Oh? Not even in our house?" Ms. Zhang looked curious.
Wu nodded. "It's said that the princess was embarrassed to trouble Second Madam at first, so she used other wine jars instead, but the taste was not the same. So, in the past few days, the Shenjun Prince's Mansion sent several more jars. Maybe they wanted to make the dishes look good, the wine jars are so beautiful."
Ms. Zhang said "oh" unintentionally. It seems that the most important thing about this dish is the wine. Unfortunately, she didn't know what kind of wine it was.
A few days later, Wu had thoroughly explained the ingredients and cooking process for "Buddha Jumps Over the Wall" to Ms. Zhang. Ms. Zhang had a plan in mind. She even encouraged Wu to write down the entire recipe. Wu took the opportunity to review it from the beginning, and upon returning, she happily nodded and said, "No problem, this is how it's made."
"If you ask me, if we want to eat it, there is no need to use the wine jar. It is already delicious if we put it in the porcelain bowl." Mrs. Wu said with a smile.
Ms. Zhang nodded, "But if it's presented to the Emperor, it must be perfect."
Wu hummed, "Tomorrow is the last day."
"Why?"
"No further testing is needed. The finished product has met the princess's requirements."
After hearing this, Ms. Zhang thought for a moment and said softly, "Tomorrow, can the concubine take this servant with her?"
Wu looked at Ms. Zhang with a puzzled expression. Ms. Zhang said embarrassedly, "Today, thanks to you, I drank two mouthfuls of soup. It was already amazing. I don't know how delicious the ingredients are. Since we have to experiment tomorrow, I'm afraid that everyone in the small kitchen of Jing'an Garden is tired of it. I think..."
Wu understood and smiled, "Of course. Su Xin has something to do tomorrow and won't have time to watch over you. So please let me go early tomorrow. Yuan Dong and the others have to accompany the princess out, so it's just right for me to take you."
When Ms. Zhang heard this, she was very happy and thanked Mrs. Wu again and again.
------
Meng Qi was lying on the big kang by the window. Lixia knelt on the footboard with a jade hammer and gently massaged Meng Qi's calves.
"What's wrong? Do you feel a little looser?" Mother Liu asked with concern.
Meng Qi hummed, "If it weren't for Third Brother, I wouldn't bother with this. Running up that mountain, just climbing those steps, my calves are cramping."
Mother Liu smiled and poured a cup of tea and walked forward. "This truly shows your sincerity. Third Young Master, take the amulet you asked for and you will surely have a safe journey and everything will go smoothly."
Meng Qi sat up and signaled Lixia not to hit him anymore. "Yes, I told my third brother that he must wear the one I asked for."
Mother Liu looked at Meng Qi's little appearance and was delighted. "That's right, didn't the Third Young Master also say that the Third Young Madam begged him to take her with him only on the day he left, and once he left, it would be your turn to beg for her."
Meng Qi nodded proudly, "Third brother always loves me the most. Are those herbs and banknotes I asked you to prepare ready?"
Mother Liu smiled and said, "It's all ready. Please take a look at it later. If there's nothing else to add, I'll have Shitou take it back."
"Okay, send it back soon. It's the end of the year now, and I'm busy here. I'm afraid I won't have the chance to go back to the Marquis' Mansion. Send it now and let Third Sister-in-law see if there's anything you need. If it's hard to find, I'll tell you. You can ask the prince to go to the government for help."
When Madam Liu heard Meng Qi say this, she thought about her recent interactions with the prince, how she had been going to Bibo Hall almost every day, even staying late several times and being personally escorted back by the prince. She was delighted and smiled, "Yes, I'll definitely ask Third Madam when I go to see her off tomorrow."
Today, Meng Qi accompanied Zhang to the temple to pray for Meng Wei, and also asked for amulets and lucky items. To show their sincerity, neither of them took a sedan chair up the mountain, but walked up the steps step by step.
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