28. Skillfully Painted Goldfish Bean Cake
◎Lou Yan and his companion are drunk◎
Early this morning, Yan Yunzhao entrusted the small shop to Jingming and two others, and as usual, he was going to Biyuefang to find Lady Du to improve her cooking skills, but was stopped by Lou Su:
“I will go with you.”
"I'm going to learn martial arts from Lady Du of Biyuefang. I shouldn't run into Lou Chengjing, so don't worry."
Yan Yunzhao gave him a reassuring smile, but Lou Su remained unmoved, his thin lips pursed, still insisting on going with her.
"All right."
Yan Yunzhao waved his hand and took Lou Su with him.
I don't know why Lou Su looks at Lou Chengjing as if he is a great enemy. Lou Fangzhu is indeed a bit absurd and treacherous, but surely he wouldn't kill me?
Having lived for two hundred years in both his past and present lives, Yan Yunzhao has seen all sorts of storms and waves. As long as no one puts a knife to his throat, he can always smile and say, "Calm down, calm down."
It would be more convenient for one person to use the teleportation array, but since Lou Su was also there, they had to avoid him. So the two of them walked all the way to Biyuefang.
"Lou Su, have you been feeling any better lately?"
Counting the days, it has been more than half a month since she "confiscated" the Azure Dragon Jade Pendant and sealed it in a wooden box with magic. Lou Su should no longer experience such frequent unbearable pain, coughing up blood and fainting.
The wind was strong today, and dust blew into his face. Lou Su coughed a few times, covering his face with his sleeve, and said with a light smile, "It is indeed a bit better."
Although he still looked somewhat sickly, thanks to Yan Yunzhao's daily nourishment of goji berry stewed chicken soup, braised pork knuckle, and stir-fried bullfrog with vinegar, his body visibly became stronger.
So Yan Yunzhao speculated that perhaps half of the reason his health was so poor before was because he was starving?
"Lou Su, what did you used to eat at home?"
Lou Su thought for a moment and replied, "Probably some fruits and wild vegetables."
No wonder he's in poor health; it really is from being hungry. Yan Yunzhao shook his head with a sigh, resolving to put more effort into his diet from now on.
They chatted idly all the way until they reached the side gate of Biyuefang, where they saw Lou Chengjing lounging in a deck chair, seemingly waiting for Yan Yunzhao.
Upon seeing the person accompanying Yan Yunzhao, Lou Chengjing paused for a moment, then resumed his flamboyant demeanor.
"Brother, it's been a long time."
Lou Su glanced at him indifferently, nodded, and then walked straight past him to follow Yan Yunzhao into the workshop.
Yan Yunzhao sensed a tension between the two, and Lou Su remained silent with a stern face, so he dared not ask any more questions and went to the kitchen to find Lady Du based on his memory.
Upon reaching the kitchen door, Lou Suwen said, "I'm going to talk to Lou Chengjing. I'll wait for you in the inner hall."
Yan Yunzhao nodded, his mind racing: Judging from the atmosphere between the two of them just now, was he going to go and vent his anger on him?
Yan Yunzhao felt that he should find a suitable time to subtly inquire about their relationship.
A faint floral fragrance filled the kitchen. Upon closer inspection, it was clear that Madam Du had already prepared all the ingredients in small porcelain bowls: flour made from grains, fine salt, various syrups, and more than a dozen seasonings for making snacks, including flower petals, lotus seeds, and herbs.
"Madam Du has prepared everything perfectly. Are you making pastries today?"
"Exactly. Pastries are widely loved, but there are many tricks to them. Princess Changning especially loves delicate and sweet pastries, so the cooks often put a lot of effort into the pastries at the winding stream banquet."
"So that's how it is."
"As usual, we kneaded the dough first."
Having worked as a cook her whole life, Du Niangzi's shoulders and elbows were strong from years of training, and she could easily knead a lump of dough the size of a washbasin.
There's an art to kneading dough. It's not about stretching it out and then putting it back together; rather, it's about focusing your strength while kneading, concentrating the force in the center of the dough. Yan Yunzhao understood this principle well, and he had seen Lady Du kneading dough in the same way.
However, seeing that Madam Du added milk instead of water, he asked curiously, "Although adding milk to dough makes it taste better, it is difficult to preserve. If left for too long, it will inevitably become fishy and smelly. Besides, if you don't mix it with water, the dough will become stiff. Why does Madam Du still do this?"
Lady Du laughed and said, "Miss Yan is young, but she has a lot of experience. The dough is stiff, not because of what was added, but because of the fermentation. Indeed, many people have misunderstood this."
Yan Yunzhao nodded as if she suddenly understood. She made few pastries, mainly focusing on dishes and noodles, so she had indeed learned something in this area.
Once the dough had risen, the two of them worked in an orderly fashion, manually drawing patterns and carving cake molds.
“Princess Changning loves goldfish, so training goldfish is extremely important.”
Yan Yunzhao nodded, spread out the Xuan paper, and picked up his brush to apply ink.
This was truly her forte. In her previous life, Yan Yunzhao was forced to learn traditional Chinese painting for several years. Although she was still rusty and had only learned the basics, she was still praised by her teachers for her talent.
With just a few strokes, a goldfish comes to life on the paper, its tail curved in a round shape. Traditional Chinese painting does not emphasize how realistic each stroke is, but rather its spirit and charm. A painting full of spirit and charm can be called a good painting.
Lady Du had finished drawing the picture and nodded repeatedly while holding Yan Yunzhao's goldfish: "It has a lot of spirit. My style seems a bit traditional, so let's use your version."
The goldfish painted by Lady Du is clearly the work of a skilled craftsman, exquisite and detailed, but it lacks a certain liveliness.
For Princess Changning, the pastries naturally had to be unique and not available on the market, ideally with some novel designs. Once the pastry molds were carved, Lady Du, along with Yan Yunzhao, prepared the ingredients, personally handling everything from selecting the flowers to soaking the sugar.
"These pastries must be paired with fine tea. Since the pastries are sweet and rich, the tea should be slightly bitter, such as black tea or ripe Pu'er tea, which are sweeter. They should never be served with these."
Yan Yunzhao nodded: "The princess would definitely not be interested in ordinary green tea, but Lixi Town does not produce tea. How can we get good tea?"
"I had already ordered my maid to make a trip to Yunzhou to pick the early spring tea tips from Yunjing, so that they could be made into tea bricks and ready to be brewed and drunk on the day of the event."
Lady Du led Yan Yunzhao through the entire process of making imperial pastries. Yan Yunzhao realized that the key to imperial pastries was the use of high-quality ingredients, meticulous steps, and attention to detail in the addition of ingredients and baking. There was a set of procedures for making them.
Once the goldfish-shaped pastries are baked, they need to be colored and outlined with a small calligraphy brush. The coloring is made from ground chrysanthemum, dried tangerine peel, and other ingredients. It has a pleasant fragrance and emphasizes green and healthy ingredients.
However, Yan Yunzhao found that while the taste was good, it lacked a certain novelty. Du Niangzi's pastries were exquisite, not simply sweet, but perfectly balanced between sweet and savory, with a subtle milky aroma.
Would it be much better if we replaced this white flour with loose and rich bean flour?
She had a very fruitful day. She wondered how things were going on Lou Su's side. With that thought, she strolled leisurely into the inner hall.
The two men sat in the hall, one in the main seat and the other in a side seat. Lou Chengjing's face was ashen, as if he had been humiliated, while Lou Su remained calm and composed, sipping his tea and keeping silent.
It's easy to tell who lost this verbal battle.
Yan Yunzhao watched the two men's expressions with great interest. He never expected that Lou Su, who usually seemed so easy to talk to, could make Lou Chengjing, with his arrogant nature, unable to get the better of him. It was quite amusing.
Perhaps it was because Yan Yunzhao's facial expressions were too rich, Lou Chengjing glanced at her and said in a sinister voice, "I have good news, are you going to listen or not?"
"Listen, listen."
“There’s a cook at Guiyue Tower who runs a banquet called ‘Flowing Wine Cups’. Fang Yi was replaced because she wasn’t feeling well, so I just happened to recommend you to go up there.”
Yan Yunzhao was overjoyed, but then she thought about it and found it strange: "I have a long-standing feud with the owner of Guiyue Tower, so why didn't she stop me?"
"I don't know. In short, as a princess of noble birth, you must put a lot of thought into the food and drink and prepare it carefully. You can stay at Biyuefang today, and take whatever you need."
These words sound nice, but Lou Chengjing's face clearly showed that he was saying one thing and meaning another, and he obviously didn't want to look at Lou Su any longer.
Yan Yunzhao thought to himself: She's actually quite arrogant.
Lou Su put down his teacup and said gently, "If you need me, I will stay here with you."
Yan Yunzhao nodded. She was indeed short of some rare ingredients. Looking for them elsewhere would be time-consuming and laborious, and probably difficult. It was good that she could stay at Biyuefang.
Seeing that the two really wanted to stay the night, Lou Chengjing seemed to roll his eyes, snapped his folding fan shut, and strode out, his voice carrying far: "Fuzi, you make the arrangements, make sure they are 'well taken care of'."
He deliberately emphasized the last four words through gritted teeth. It was amusing to see him so humiliated, and Yan Yunzhao couldn't help but raise the corners of his lips.
It was getting late, and Fu Zi arranged two rooms in the same courtyard for the two of them. The courtyard was elegant and unique, quite suitable for enjoying wine and admiring the moon.
Having a rare moment of leisure from tending to the shop, Yan Yunzhao was in high spirits and asked a maid for directions to the wine cellar to fetch two jugs of sweet and refreshing wine.
"The table on the right..."
Following the maid's directions, Yan Yunzhao retrieved the wine and invited Lou Su to drink with him under the pavilion in the small courtyard.
Lou Suben declined to drink, saying, "I'm not a good drinker, so Miss Yun Zhao should drink it herself."
"Don't worry, I'm not a big drinker. I specially ordered some flower-flavored wine. I won't get drunk. I'm just trying it out."
Yan Yunzhao filled the exquisite cup with wine, pushed it to Lou Su, and the two drank it down in one gulp after clinking glasses.
It was cool and slightly sweet at first, but after swallowing it, it tasted bitter, spicy and pungent. Although it had a floral fragrance, it was not a thirst-quenching drink. After drinking one cup, Yan Yunzhao felt as if his stomach was on fire.
The two drank cup after cup until the pot was empty, then collapsed onto the table, feeling dizzy.
Yan Yunzhao seemed to see several Lou Su overlapping and separating in front of him. He barely managed to prop his head up and shouted at him, "Lou Su, what did you say to Lou Chengjing today? Hiccup, you made him so angry, his face was as blue as stone! Haha..."
After saying that, he laughed to himself.
Lou Su wasn't in much better shape; her fair face was flushed, like the rouge on Yan Yunzhao's face, and she spoke with a slight stutter: "You should...stay away from him, he has ill intentions..."
Before he could even finish asking "why," Yan Yunzhao leaned against a pillar, feeling nauseous but unable to vomit. After a long while, he finally slumped back into his chair, still drunk.
"Why should I stay away from him? Are you... are you jealous?"
Yan Yunzhao picked up the sealed pot, intending to refill it, but Lou Su snatched it away.
"You are my future wife, I can't kidnap any demons or monsters."
After saying that, Lou Su lay down on the table and fell into a deep sleep.
Yan Yunzhao was originally in a daze, her mind seemingly a jumbled mess. Upon hearing those two words, she paused for a moment, pondering for a long time before remembering their meaning. In that instant of realization, the cool night breeze also cleared her mind somewhat.
"My future wife?"
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