Old Lady Zhu drank the bowl of brown sugar rice porridge mouthful after mouthful. Not only that, she also ate two radish egg pancakes.

The radish egg pancake has a crispy outer layer and is filled with fragrant and soft radish shreds. The more you eat it, the more delicious it becomes. It is better than other radish egg pancakes made by others. She ate two in a row. The sweet porridge, egg pancake, moldy tofu and pickled vegetables were very satisfying. Even the moldy tofu was delicate, soft and very fragrant, and the two pickled vegetables were sour, crispy and refreshing.

After finishing the meal, Old Lady Zhu couldn't help but say, "Wenyi, I want to drink some more porridge."

She wanted a second bowl, the sweet porridge tasted so good.

Zhu Taishou immediately said, "Wait a moment, mother. I will go to the kitchen and serve you another bowl."

When Governor Zhu arrived at the kitchen, Xu Qinyu had already finished frying the radish and egg pancakes. The fat chef was sending breakfast to the various courtyards. Governor Zhu couldn't help but ask, "Ms. Xu, is there any sweet porridge left? My mother wants another bowl. Ms. Xu is a great cook. My mother hasn't eaten for a few days, and I hope she can eat more now."

It's good as long as you can eat. Even the doctor said that his mother's health is at the end of her rope, so if you want to eat or drink something, just eat and drink quickly.

Xu Qinyu smiled and said, "There are still some left. There will be some for the adults and the old lady later. The old lady can drink as many bowls as she wants."

She served another bowl of brown sugar rice porridge to Zhu Taishou. Zhu Taishou said something and carried the food box to his mother's yard.

Old Madam Zhu drank the second bowl of brown sugar rice porridge clean. When she was in good health in the past, she would only have one bowl of porridge and two cakes for breakfast at most. Today she ate one bowl more and felt a little full. In fact, she wanted to eat more because the porridge tasted so good.

She knew that she might only have a few days left to live, so nothing tasted good in her mouth. Her son had hired many chefs in Raozhou City, but either the chefs didn't cook well or the food tasted bland. She didn't even want to swallow the food. She thought that she was going to die soon, so there was nothing left for her to eat.

Now that she had this kind of breakfast, her appetite actually improved a bit.

As soon as the old lady finished her meal, the maid brought the breakfast from the main courtyard over.

Governor Zhu usually did not eat with the children, so now only she and Zhu were eating together.

The two of them took a sip of the porridge and were amazed. Governor Zhu then realized that Captain Liang was not exaggerating. The cooking skills of this Miss Xu were truly at the pinnacle. They had never tasted sweet porridge better than this one. It was soft, glutinous, sweet but not overly sweet. Even the sweetness was just right, tempting people to drink it mouthful after mouthful.

And the ordinary radish egg pancake is also extraordinary, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, fragrant and soft, and it tastes great when paired with a few side dishes.

They both couldn't help but finish two bowls of porridge and eat two radish egg pancakes.

Zhu Taishou had a bigger appetite and ate four or five egg pancakes in one breath. He felt a little full after finishing them. He rarely ate so much.

Needless to say, there were praises from other rooms in the backyard when they had breakfast.

Everyone is curious about where their father or grandfather hired the new chef. His cooking skills are really amazing.

…

In the back kitchen, Xu Qinyu, Wen Shi, and Chef Zhou were also eating, and the fat chef also got some of the treat. In the end, when everyone was full, there was still some brown sugar rice porridge left in the pot, which was all eaten by the fat chef. He felt embarrassed and said, "The breakfast made by the young lady is really delicious."

This time, I was completely impressed by Xu Qinyu's cooking skills.

Next, we have to prepare evening meal for Old Lady Zhu.

It was just past noon and there were still three hours until dinner. Some ingredients needed to be prepared in advance. Chef Zhou and the fat chef washed the kitchen utensils for breakfast, while Xu Qinyu prepared the dishes for dinner in the evening.

Her main dish in the evening is five dishes, highlighting the five flavors of life: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and salty.

The representative of salty fresh food is pickled fresh food, so she brought ham. Ham is an indispensable ingredient for pickled fresh food.

The salted meat stewed with bamboo shoots that she used before was a simplified version of pickled fresh, which is one of the eight major cuisines of Anhui cuisine. The most prominent flavor of this dish is the salty and fresh taste. The ingredients needed are ham, salted meat, fresh pork belly, bamboo shoots, bean curd knots and lettuce. Both ham and bamboo shoots are available, but no tofu knots. Xu Qinyu asked Chef Zhou to go out and buy some tofu skin, and she would tie knots for the tofu skin herself later. In fact, spring bamboo shoots are the best, but there are only winter bamboo shoots at the moment, and no lettuce.

Lettuce was already available in the Dasheng Dynasty, just like grapes. It was shipped back through trade routes with other countries a few years ago. As it has only been cultivated for a few years, the price is relatively expensive. Lettuce itself is relatively easy to grow. Depending on the sowing time, there will be mature lettuce in spring, summer and autumn. Now it is almost the june of the lunar calendar, so naturally there is no lettuce. This thing is still very expensive. Now that winter has arrived and there is no lettuce, we can also leave it there because we have winter bamboo shoots.

Bamboo shoots must be added to pickled fresh vegetables.

In addition to pickled fresh vegetables, she plans to make sauerkraut fish as a sour dish.

There were more sweet dishes, so she chose the sweet potato.

The most representative of bitter taste is bitter melon, but bitter melon seems to have never appeared here.

So for bitter dishes, she planned to stir-fry winter celery with dried garlic, which also has a slightly bitter taste.

For spicy dishes, Xu Qinyu plans to make Mapo Tofu.

In addition to these five dishes, there are some other home-cooked dishes, and a lighter soup dish, cabbage soup, is made for the old lady.

The soup needed for the cabbage soup is chicken soup. She had already killed the chicken in advance and started hanging the soup on the stove.

There are also a few home-cooked dishes.

Except for the absence of bean curd sheets, all other dishes were available, and the ingredients prepared by the kitchen were quite complete.

Chef Zhou went out to buy tofu skin.

Xu Qinyu was busy preparing the ingredients, while Wen and the fat chef were cleaning the kitchen utensils.

The fat cook was busy with his hands and his mouth, and he was still chatting with Wen. He secretly told Wen, "Sister, do you know my old lady? My old lady is also a pitiful person. She has only one son, the governor. Although the governor is very promising and has won an imperial decree for her, the old lady has a hard life because she has a concubine. The governor has an older sister, who was kidnapped at the doorstep when the governor was one year old. The old lady searched for her for many years but never found her. She cried so much that her eyes were blind. I heard that our governor was so ambitious just to find his elder sister."

After becoming a Jinshi (Jinshi), Governor Zhu asked many people to help him find his elder sister.

But his eldest sister was only five years old when she was lost, and he was only one year old. He had no impression of her at all. He only knew from his mother that she was very cute, with a fair and clean complexion, a small mole behind her right ear, and a round red birthmark on her lower back. That was all he knew.

He had been searching for nearly thirty years, and had finally brought back a few women of similar age with moles behind their ears and birthmarks on their lower backs, but they were not the eldest sister.

He was the prefect, not a fool. If he asked a few more questions, those people would start to hesitate. Then he would send people to investigate and it would be easy to find out the truth.

So now, Old Madam Zhu is almost dying, and Governor Zhu has kind of given up, thinking that he has been searching for more than 30 years, and now there are only a few days left, so how could he find her?

Hearing that the old lady had lost a daughter, Wen's heart skipped a beat. She didn't think too much about it, but she felt a little empathy because her mother, Gui, was kidnapped by a kidnapper and sold to a pawnbroker, and then bought by old lady Wen's family to be a maid.

But Gui only remembered that she was also abducted, and she couldn't remember anything else. Wen also thought about helping her mother find her relatives, but there was really no clue at all, so she had to give up.

After hearing what the fat chef said, Wen didn't think of Gui. After all, how could such a coincidence happen?

The fat chef continued, "The elder sister of our prefect has a mole behind her right ear and a round red birthmark on her lower back. There are many women with similar moles and birthmarks. Our prefect has met several scammers who thought that since he was young and promising, he would pass the imperial examination before he was 20, and if he could become a jinshi, his sister would have a good life in the future. But they were all exposed by the prefect later."

Hearing this, Wen was shocked. She asked with a trembling voice, "What did you say?"

The fat chef repeated his words again.

Wen's head was buzzing. She knew that Gui had a small mole behind her right ear, and she also knew that Gui had a round red birthmark on her lower back.

Gui had no idea what was going on because she couldn't see her lower back. It was Wen who discovered it when she was bathing her and told her about it.

Wen's heart was beating wildly. She asked the fat cook again, "How old is the governor's eldest sister?"

The fat chef asked, "You're almost fifty-five this year, right?"

Even Mrs. Wen's hands were shaking. Although she couldn't remember her exact age, she looked to be around 54 or 55.

Could it be such a coincidence? The age, the mole behind the ear, the birthmark on the lower back all matched.

Also, when she came to the prefect's mansion, could it be that the prefect looked at her because of her appearance?

In fact, she doesn't look much like Gui when she was young, but she doesn't look like Old Master Wen either. Could it be that she looks like Old Madam Zhu?

Wen had something on her mind. It was not that she was greedy for fame and fortune, but her mother's life experience was also a regret in her heart. If possible, she hoped to help her mother find her relatives.

Forget it, just do your work first and ask when you leave.

Even though Wen was anxious, she did not dare to talk nonsense to the prefect.

Although they all matched, the fat chef also said that there were women who matched before who came to claim her as their relative, but she was not the governor's eldest sister.

Today, Yu Niang is here to cook for the old lady, so she cannot be delayed. Her actions all concern Yu Niang, and she cannot be let out of the governor's mind, thinking that Yu Niang is greedy for fame and fortune and is in a hurry to claim her relationship with him.

After cleaning the kitchen and kitchen utensils, Xu Qinyu had almost prepared all the ingredients. The chicken soup in the stove was still on low heat, so there was no need to worry about it.

A maid came over and invited the two to go to the guest room to rest.

Xu Qinyu did not refuse. She woke up too early in the morning and was still a little sleepy.

It's not time for dinner yet, so we can rest for more than an hour.

Xu Qinyu went to the guest room and slept for more than an hour. Wen couldn't sleep and kept thinking about how to tell the prefect about this.

When it was time for dinner, the maid came over to call for help, and Xu Qinyu finally woke up.

In fact, both Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu had come to the kitchen, but when they learned that the cook was resting in the guest room, they did not disturb her.

The evening meal is also the amount for more than 20 people. Xu Qinyu finds it very easy to prepare. Just like the brown sugar rice porridge, she only needs to make a big pot.

The first dishes to be made are those that take a longer time to prepare and whose taste will not be affected if left for a while.

Of course it’s pickled fresh vegetables and sauerkraut fish.

There are a lot of kitchen utensils in the back kitchen, and Xu Qinyu can take care of two or three pots at the same time.

The ingredients for pickled fresh vegetables are ready.

The salted meat has also been soaked. First, add ginger, scallions and Huadiao wine to a pot of cold water, and blanch the fresh pork belly.

Cut the blanched pork belly into thick slices. Similarly, cut the salted pork and ham into thick slices. Put them in a casserole and simmer over low heat for half an hour.

Cut the bamboo shoots into pieces and blanch them in water. Pour them into the casserole with the meat slices together with the tripe. You don't even need to add salt. The salty taste of the salted meat and ham is enough. There is no need to add other seasonings. The saltiness of the ham and salted meat is prominent in this pickled dish, as well as the freshness of the other ingredients. You can taste the flavor of the ingredients themselves. After adding the bamboo shoots and tripe, continue to marinate on low heat for half an hour. Finally, sprinkle with chopped green onions and it is ready to be served.

The whole prefectural government was filled with the aroma of salty and fresh food.

Various aromas spread in the air, and everyone in each courtyard and room looked eagerly towards the kitchen, looking forward to the evening dinner.

Although they did not eat as many delicacies as other wealthy country gentlemen and tycoons on weekdays, they had enough food and drink, and occasionally went to restaurants in the city to have breakfast and dinner, but there was no dish that they looked forward to so much.

After waiting for a long time, the evening meal was finally ready and sent to each room by maids and servants.

Xu Qinyu also instructed the maid to start serving the dishes to Old Lady Zhu with the pickled fish, then the shredded taro, stir-fried winter celery with fragrant dried tofu, mapo tofu, and finally this pickled fresh dish. After tasting these five dishes, the old lady could eat any other dishes.

This is the five flavors of life. Xu Qinyu also wants Old Madam Xu to be at ease. This is the last journey of life. Looking back on the past, she has experienced everything, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty. She hopes that Old Madam Xu will leave without any regrets.

The maidservant brought the dishes to the old lady's room one by one, and Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu also accompanied them for the evening meal.

Normally, the prefect's family did not need maids to serve the dishes during meals. This time, the little maid repeated what Xu Qinyu had said.

Governor Zhu smiled and said, "Then do as the young cook said. You can give each dish to the old lady to taste."

Old Lady Zhu thought every dish was delicious, especially the last one, pickled fresh pork. Old Lady Zhu said tremblingly, "This, this dish is the best, salty, full of salty fragrance, Wenyi, you guys should try it too..." Not only that, there were big chunks of meat in it, she could taste the salted meat and pork belly, and the other kind of meat was very salty and fragrant, also pork, but the way it was cooked was very different from the first two kinds of meat. The meat was stewed very soft and she could chew it with her teeth, and the winter bamboo shoots and tofu skin in it absorbed the soup, making it fresh and fragrant.

After tasting the last dish of pickled vegetables, Old Lady Zhu suddenly understood the young cook’s intention.

Starting from the sour taste of the first dish, it goes through sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty.

The young chef is letting her experience all five flavors of life, and I hope she has no regrets.

Tears slowly fell from old lady Zhu's eyes, which had already become blind. How could she leave without regrets if she hadn't found her daughter?

When Governor Zhu saw my mother crying, he felt sad too.

He also tasted these five dishes.

This little cook is really thoughtful.

Old Madam Zhu cried but didn't say anything else. It had been fifty years and she was already at the point where she had one foot in the coffin. She no longer had any hope in her heart.

The evening meal tasted delicious. Even though Old Lady Zhu felt sad, she still ate very full.

The same was true for Governor Zhu and Mrs. Zhu.

What surprised them most was the pickled fresh vegetables and turnip soup.

It was the first time she had eaten turnip soup cooked this way. The soup should be made with chicken soup, without any chicken oil. It was skimmed cleanly, the soup was clear and the taste was rich and fresh. The turnip was tender and sweet. She ate a lot.

After dinner, old lady Zhu was so tired that she fell asleep again.

Governor Zhu went to the kitchen in person to thank the young cook and gave them a reward of fifty taels of silver.

Xu Qinyu accepted the thank you and planned to return to Yuanbao Town.

After Governor Zhu left, he could not help but glance at Wen in front of the kitchen, but in the end he did not ask.

He just thought that Wen looked a bit like his mother who was in her thirties, but over the years, he had seen a few people who looked like his mother, and in the end, they were not the eldest sister.

What's more, the Wen in front of him was only in her thirties, which did not match the elder sister's age.

Governor Zhu walked past Wen. Wen opened her mouth, wanting to ask something, but no words came out.

If that wasn't the case, she was afraid that the prefect would think they were greedy and vain, and that Yu Niang might want to open a big restaurant in Raozhou City in the future. She didn't want to influence the prefect's opinion of Yu Niang.

Finally, Zhou Daqing drove the carriage to send the two back to Yuanbao Town.

Along the way, Wen Shi didn't say a word. Xu Qinyu saw that Wen Shi was distracted and couldn't help asking, "Mom, are you worried about something?"

There is nothing to hide about this matter. Wen usually would not hide things from Yu Niang and would always discuss it with her.

She told Yu Niang what she had heard from the fat cook in the prefect's mansion about the prefect's eldest sister being kidnapped, and said, "Actually, your grandmother was also kidnapped. You all know this, but your grandmother also has a small mole behind her right ear and a round red birthmark on her lower back. Her age is almost the same, so I am hesitant."

She was also afraid that if her mother was not the prefect's sister, both her mother and Old Lady Zhu would be disappointed, especially Old Lady Zhu. She was already in this state. If she was given hope and it was dashed, she was really afraid that Old Lady Zhu would not be able to bear the shock and pass away, and that would mean they would become enemies.

Xu Qinyu was preparing food in the yard at that time and did not hear what the fat chef said. Now when she heard what Wen said, her heart was pounding. She thought for a while and said, "Mother, let's ask grandma when we get back to see if she can remember anything. Have you asked the chef in the prefect's mansion about the prefect's hometown? If grandma can remember anything, she can tell whether she is related to the prefect by blood."

This is all we can do now.

More than two hours later, Zhou Daqing sent the two back to Yuanbao Town. It was already dark, and they hurried back to Raozhou City, where the city gates were about to be closed.

Xu Qinyu found an inn for Zhou Daqing to stay in first and return to Yuanbao Town tomorrow.

After returning home, Xu Qinyu went to find Cheng Ge'er first and asked about the restaurant.

Wen went to find Gui and told her that the old lady in the prefect's mansion also had a daughter who was kidnapped, and asked Gui if she could remember anything from her childhood.

Gui felt sad when she heard this. She didn't know why. Although she had never met Old Lady Zhu, she could imagine how a frail old lady missed her daughter. Just thinking about it made her feel very sad.

"Mom, please think about it carefully."

Gui recalled carefully, "I was probably about four or five years old when I was kidnapped. I only vaguely remember a dilapidated gate made of wood with holes and cracks on it."

She didn't know why, but she still vaguely remembered a broken wooden door like this.

Could it be that he often plays at the door?

I really can't think of anything else.

After hearing this, Wen didn't know what to do.

She only heard about this from the fat cook, and she was afraid that the governor would not tell everyone what the wooden door in his house looked like.

Wen chatted with Gui for a while, and seeing that Gui really couldn't think of anything, she let her rest early.

Xu Qinyu quickly returned from the third branch of the Wen family. Nothing happened at the restaurant. Cheng Ge'er said that after the notice was posted, the diners were very considerate and just asked whether the restaurant would be open tomorrow. Cheng Ge'er said it would, and the diners left satisfied.

When Xu Qinyu returned, Wen talked to her about it. Xu Qinyu thought about it and told Wen, "Mother, let's do this. When Chef Zhou returns tomorrow, have him take you and grandma to the governor's residence. When you get there, you and grandma should not meet Old Lady Zhu first. Ask the governor if he can remember what the original gate of the house looked like. If it's the same as what grandma said, maybe grandma is really the governor's sister. If the information doesn't match, there's no need to alarm Old Lady Zhu."

As for why Zhou Daqing wasn't asked to take this question.

If my grandmother had any relationship with the Zhu family, Zhu, as the governor of Raozhou City, the highest official, was afraid that the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu in the capital would not only dismiss him but also murder him if they knew about it.

Wen also knew this.

If my mother is really related to the governor by blood, this matter cannot be spread at all.

After talking, the two went back to their room to wash up and go to bed.

At night, Gui had a dream.

The scene in the dream was that she vaguely remembered the somewhat broken wooden door. The upper left corner of the door was cracked and there was a hole. Even the traces of the crack were clear in the dream.

In front of the wooden door, there was a girl about four or five years old, squatting at the door and playing with stones.

The little girl's appearance was blurry. After looking at her for a while, a soft female voice came from behind the wooden door, "Shun Niang, go back to the house for dinner."

The little girl responded crisply, stood up happily, opened the wooden door and walked into the yard.

But in the dream, I could not see clearly the courtyard and the gentle figure of the woman. Everything was blurry. Only the shabby wooden door and the voice of "Shu Niang" were clearest.

At this point in the dream, Gui suddenly opened her eyes and gasped for breath.

In the second half of the night, Gui could no longer fall asleep. At dawn, she heard the noise outside and got up. She went out and saw that it was Yu Niang and her daughter. She told them about the dream in which a woman gently called her Shu Niang.

Xu Qinyu and Wen looked at each other. Wen was originally going to go to Raozhou City with Gui again today, so Wen talked to Gui about it.

Gui nodded and said, "Okay, I should go there too."

This way, no matter whether they are relatives or not, there will be no regrets.

Xu Qinyu went to find Zhou Daqing and told him that her mother-in-law and grandmother were going to Raozhou City for something, and hoped that Zhou Daqing would send them to Raozhou City when he returned today.

Zhou Daqing was naturally willing to do so.

Although it was early, it was time for breakfast when they arrived at Raozhou City. Xu Qinyu asked Wen and Gui to set off immediately. The two children at home were being taken care of by Ning Jie'er, and Xiang Jie'er would be here soon, so they didn't need to worry about the family.