45. Zhuochunlou hosted a banquet for the top scholar.
◎New Business◎
That morning, Yan Yunzhao woke up feeling light and cheerful, as if he had had a good dream the night before.
What did I dream about?
She rolled over contentedly, and the hazy memories of her dream surfaced in her mind.
Red tents, spring light... and silver bells?
Yan Yunzhao snapped back to reality, sat up abruptly, and blushed involuntarily.
How can one have such absurd and shameful dreams?
A quick glance to the side revealed the slanting sunlight streaming through the window; Lou Su's bed was already neatly made, indicating he was already up.
Thankfully, he wasn't there, and Yan Yunzhao breathed a sigh of relief. If Lou Su knew about last night's dream, he would definitely hold a grudge for a long time.
Yan Yunzhao lifted the quilt and stood in front of the bronze mirror to look at herself. Her face was rosy and not like usual. How could she face people like this?
She applied a thin layer of powder to her face to conceal her complexion, simply tied her hair into a bun, and paired it with a silver tassel hairpin. She specially chose a peach-colored flowing cloud skirt, which made her face look less red in the morning, although it was still a little hot when she washed up.
Yan Yunzhao, oh Yan Yunzhao, don't be obsessed with beauty!
She angrily poked her face in the mirror, but when she turned around, she was caught off guard by a pair of round eyes.
"Fluffy?"
The kitten was standing high on the cabinet, at eye level with her. Hearing her call, it jumped into her arms and rubbed against her affectionately. Yan Yunzhao took the opportunity to scratch its fluffy head and asked in confusion, "Don't you usually sleep in the east wing at this time?"
Rongrong rolled around in her arms. Yan Yunzhao thought that perhaps there were important guests in the building today and they were having a meeting in the east wing. Otherwise, given Rongrong's lazy personality, how could she have come over to play so early in the morning?
Carrying the cat, I walked around the corridor. The screen in the east wing was half-closed, and I could vaguely see two people sitting in the main seat talking in hushed tones. They were Lou Su and Lou Chengjing.
Holding Rongrong in her arms, Yan Yunzhao hadn't intended to eavesdrop, but a clear sentence reached her ears:
"When the clan heard that you were going to take your betrothed back home, everyone was in an uproar."
Lou Su listened to Lou Chengjing gritting his teeth and seemed to chuckle softly: "It's rare to see them so united."
Yan Yunzhao paused, then leaned back and listened quietly behind the screen. Lou Chengjing remained silent for a long time. After listening intently for a while without any sound, Yan Yunzhao quietly moved a few steps further inside.
"She is the key to the detoxification, so those old men can't wait for you to marry her so that they can get rid of the blood poisoning they've had for most of their lives."
Lou Chengjing gritted his teeth and leaned forward: "What are you thinking? I can't tell if you're protecting her or trying to harm her."
Lou Su spoke calmly, recalling the two people in her dream yesterday, and subtly curled the corners of her lips. She said slowly, "I will definitely marry her rightfully. It's just that they are too naive to think they can use her as a poison."
Lou Chengjing took a sip of tea, placed the teacup on the table, and said calmly, "So you're just going to watch your clansmen die?"
Yan Yunzhao frowned, trying to decipher the meaning behind their words. His heart pounded like a drum as he leaned in to listen quietly.
“They have long harbored ulterior motives, and whether they live or die is none of my concern. Besides, being burdened with blood poison is the fate of our people.”
Lou Su's tone was extremely indifferent. Upon hearing this, Yan Yunzhao was startled and lost her balance, accidentally bumping into the screen in front of her.
A loud crash rang out, and the two looked in the direction of the sound. They saw a figure in peach-colored robes appearing and disappearing behind the screen. Rongrong jumped out of Yan Yunzhao's arms and landed steadily under the watchful eyes of the two people in the room.
When Lou Chengjing saw a cat approaching his feet, he wished he could shrink into his chair. However, with outsiders present, he had to feign composure, though his neck was already drenched in cold sweat. He kept a straight face and didn't lash out.
Rongrong, on the contrary, liked to provoke Lou Chengjing. She swaggered onto the tea table, forcing him to shrink back a few feet with a gloomy face.
The air froze for a moment. Yan Yunzhao's cheeks burned. She leaned against the crooked screen and walked out, laughing twice to smooth things over: "Why is Master Lou here today? I was just about to call you for some breakfast."
Lou Su smiled gently at her, as if he hadn't been the one just now: "I happen to be craving osmanthus dumplings today."
"There's still some left in the kitchen, I'll go and simmer it." Having gotten an excuse, Yan Yunzhao fled the east wing as if escaping.
The thick soup broth was bubbling away, with dried osmanthus flowers constantly being stirred up. Yan Yunzhao didn't even notice how many of the dumplings had overcooked.
"Master, don't let the dumplings burn." The cook noticed her staring blankly and quickly poured a bowl of water into the pot. Only then did Yan Yunzhao notice a faint burnt smell coming from the bottom of the pot, and she hurriedly scooped the dumplings out.
"It's Liu Mama who's so meticulous. You go ahead and get busy." Yan Yunzhao smiled at her. Liu Mama smiled and responded. After taking a few steps, she remembered something and turned back, saying, "Master, as usual, you'll make the pastries today. The guests only appreciate yours."
Yan Yunzhao paused for a moment, then said, "I'll do it then."
"In addition, the second young master of the Liu family in Puyang has passed the imperial examination and ordered Zhuochunlou to host the top scholar banquet. A few days ago, Miss Luo had already instructed people to purchase ingredients and asked the owner what dishes he wanted to make, and submitted a list of dishes for his consideration."
Yan Yunzhao placed six bowls of glutinous rice balls on the table, sprinkled some powdered sugar on them, and nodded thoughtfully upon hearing this.
Granny Liu wanted to say something more, but seeing that her master seemed preoccupied and his eyes were not as smiling as usual, she didn't say anything more and put down the porcelain bowl in her hand to go and busy herself elsewhere.
Yan Yunzhao carefully considered the conversation between the two and roughly deduced about 70-80% of the story: many demons were poisoned by blood during the suppression battle, and many of their ancestors' descendants survived to this day with the blood poison still attached to them. Lou Su was fortunate enough to be saved because he happened to meet her. So what about the others? They were probably coveting the effects of her Spirit-Gathering Grass, just as Lou Chengjing said.
However, she believed that Lou Su had his own plans.
After making today's pastries, her magical energy was almost depleted. All sixty-eight different kinds of pastries today were made by Yan Yunzhao; normally, she could make about a hundred different kinds.
For some reason, not only has his magical power been depleted rapidly recently, but his cultivation has also stagnated. Yan Yunzhao had no choice but to suspect Lou Su again.
Could it be that he did something underhanded?
These past few days she deliberately avoided mentioning the matter of magical powers, but Lou Su was quite conscientious. After hanging up the sign for closing at Zhuochun Tower, he still transferred the magical powers to her as usual.
Yan Yunzhao's soft black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her face was as white as if bathed in moonlight. Even without makeup, she was captivating to behold.
After transferring his magic power, he gently moved his fingers away and looked at the person in front of him, even his breathing became a little lighter.
"Speak."
Yan Yunzhao rolled up his sleeves and sat cross-legged on the bed, looking as if he were about to interrogate someone.
The dim candlelight inside the room flickered on Lou Su's face, making the smile on his lips even more pronounced.
"Regarding the magic power... I did indeed tamper with it. I was just afraid that you'd recently believed Lou Chengjing's nonsense and would stop talking to me." As he spoke, he carefully put his arm around Yan Yunzhao.
"Then why did he say that?"
"It's a long story," Lou Su said, lowering his eyes and recalling for a moment before admitting, "He is the grandson of my grandfather's old friend, and we have known each other since childhood. Later, a change occurred in the clan, and our paths diverged, which gradually led to enmity between us."
"So the change in the clan... was because of that blood poison?"
Lou Su nodded slightly. "Lou Chengjing came here for this reason. He followed our scents to get here, and his purpose is to take you back and save our people."
"But I will protect you and not let anyone else get a single thing on you."
Lou Su's eyes reflected the flickering candlelight, and Yan Yunzhao nodded steadily, leaning against him.
"Of course I believe you."
...
As before, the two of them were busy with the affairs of the building during the day and shared a room at night, exchanging magical powers. Their days were peaceful for a while, until the second young master of the Liu family in Puyang was about to have his apprenticeship banquet. Yan Yunzhao was invited to host the banquet and moved into the Liu family mansion.
The Liu family held two banquets. The banquet to thank the teacher was mostly attended by the teacher, classmates, and relatives and friends. The banquet for the top scholar was a lavish affair, with many prominent figures from the town invited to celebrate. A long banquet was also set up along the street.
Yan Yunzhao was not surprised that this business fell to Zhuochunlou, after all, she was the only one who could buy the freshest vegetables in winter, and even the wealthy and picky Liu family could not find any fault with the ingredients.
Zhuochun Tower was managed by Lou Su and Sancao Yao. When Yan Yunzhao entered the Liu Mansion, he only brought Miss Luo and a few cooks with him.
The Liu family of Puyang was a scholarly family, but in recent years their fortunes had declined, and they hadn't produced a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations) for generations. However, the second young master of the Liu family unexpectedly became the top scholar in the imperial examinations. Upon hearing this, the entire Liu family was overjoyed. Even the grandmother, who had been bedridden for many years, was able to get out of bed and walk around. Naturally, the banquet was held on the grandest scale.
The Liu family mansion, though not grand, possessed a simple and elegant charm. The Liu couple valued this banquet highly, not only arranging a spacious residence for Yan Yunzhao but also assigning several maids to serve him.
During his stay at the Liu residence, Yan Yunzhao first went through the guest list with Miss Luo, planned the dishes and portions, and got to know the cook in the main house of the Liu residence. The banquet preparations began in full swing.
In Lixi Town, banquets are held in order of serving cold and hot dishes. Cold dishes are mainly served as appetizers for distinguished guests, and they need to be both appetizing and refreshing, as well as refreshing and good for drinking. For large-scale banquets, each cold dish needs to be carefully considered, and vegetarian dishes, pastries, and braised meats are all indispensable.
Yan Yunzhao had previously planted a lot of sunflowers, amaranth, yams, edamame, and other vegetables on his own land. He could also buy the common ginger and garlic seasonings used for the banquet in town. However, the kale that the matriarch of the Liu family loved was very rare in Lixi Town, so he asked Miss Luo to go to the western part of the town to buy it. After several rounds of discussions on selecting vegetables and compiling a list, the preliminary preparations alone took more than half a month.
The banquet to thank teachers is scheduled for the eighth day of next month. Yan Yunzhao is leading the cooks in planning the dishes. The progress is not fast, but the Liu couple has not sent anyone to urge them. They are kind and honest people.
In the small courtyard where Yan Yunzhao lived, there was a bamboo grove by the window, near her desk. At noon, dappled bamboo shadows fell on the desk, and she would often get distracted while flipping through recipes, her gaze drawn to the scenery outside the window.
"Young lady, have some warm tea and rest."
Yan Yunzhao, resting his chin on his hand, snapped out of his reverie. A maidservant placed a teacup on the desk. On the desk, a stack of various cookbooks, some rickety and others high up, covered everything from culinary history to cooking methods and ingredient selection.
Yan Yunzhao took a sip of tea, glanced at the note on the paper that read "the mustard greens are stir-fried with pork before cooking," and then felt it was inappropriate, so he dipped his brush in ink and made a big cross on it.
Let's just blanch it instead.
Seeing that Yan Yunzhao was deep in thought, the maid smiled and said, "The mistress told me to tell you to tell the young lady to just have the servants do the small things and not to overwork herself. The mistress also said that the banquet should not be too formal and boring. I heard that Zhuochunlou has two dishes called 'hamburger and pizza' that are very popular in town. The third young lady insisted on trying them, so I thought I would put them on the table for the guests to try as well."
"ah?"
Hamburgers and pizza?
Yan Yunzhao was stunned for a few moments, and a large blob of ink had already fallen from his brush onto the paper.
Unexpectedly, of all the dishes and desserts she created, the two "snacks" that were personally selected by Madam Liu were the ones she created. Just imagine how the hamburgers and pizzas stood out among the exquisite dishes on the table.
However, since Madam Liu had said so, she had no choice but to comply. She only hoped that on the day of the banquet, with so many people around, she could use her magic to prevent the cooks from noticing anything amiss.
But what you fear most is often what comes to pass.
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