59 Song Dynasty Tea Making
◎◎
Jiang Qinglan asked Wang Huiniang to take him shopping for clothes, and ended up buying a lot of clothes for Tuantuan.
There are all kinds of summer skirts, pink, blue, green, purple, and so on.
She also selected two pieces of good satin for Yingtao and wanted to choose shoes for Huzi.
In the end, it was only after Wang Huiniang had persuaded him that he bought two sets for himself.
The two of them returned to the Xinghua Restaurant with lots of bags and were naturally warmly welcomed by everyone.
Yingtao never thought that she, a servant girl, could possess Shu brocade, and she held the material tightly in her hands.
Tuantuan stroked the shiny new clothes, jumped onto her sister's lap, hugged her neck, and said sincerely, "My sister is the best person in the world."
Jiang Qinglan pinched her chubby cheeks and said, "Is this the best thing in the world?"
Tuan Tuan nodded: "Yeah!"
Jiang Qinglan smiled and said, "Let's talk about this in two days. My sister is going to buy a house!"
Tuan Tuan took a deep breath and said, "Is it Daddy, Mommy and our home?"
"That's not it!"
Tuantuan was stunned for a long while, her heart bursting with joy in her little chest.
She moved her mouth but no words came out. Finally, she hugged her sister's neck and cried.
In fact, Jiang Qinglan has been arranging this matter since the Chinese New Year.
However, the current owner of the Jiang family mansion is a businessman from Quanzhou. He rarely comes to Lin'an and is quite mysterious, so he has been unable to be contacted.
Only in the last few days have we found some clues.
The current market value of the house was around one thousand taels. She had already made up her mind that even if the man asked for two thousand taels, she would buy it.
Not only for Tuantuan, but also for the original body - that poor woman.
On the other side, Xie Linchuan returned to the Prince of Dongping's Mansion in anger and immediately sent people to investigate Lu Fei.
This time, he put in a lot of effort and used the Xie family's spies to unravel the matter bit by bit, and actually found out a lot of things.
Three days later, he looked at the secret letter in his hand and sneered in his heart: "Good, this Lu Fei has done so many things in private."
At this moment, Pinglin came in and said cautiously: "Sir, someone from Zaozi Lane said that someone wants to buy the Jiang family's old house."
Xie Linchuan raised his eyes, his face expressionless.
Why are you telling him such a small thing? Did he buy the Jiang family's old house with the intention of selling it? Was he short of that little money?
Pinglin shuddered as if a steel knife had scraped his bones, and said hurriedly, "It was Madam Jiang who wanted to buy it."
Pinglin thought to himself: This house was originally bought by me as a gift for Madam Jiang.
When she finds out and is touched, she might not be so stubborn anymore.
Now she wants to buy it herself? Is she rich enough to afford a house?
Anyway, I'm in a bad mood right now, and the two of us are so angry about each other. I'm afraid this good thing will turn into a bad thing.
He then added, "How about this, I say the owner of the house is not in Lin'an right now, so let's talk about it later?"
Xie Linchuan tore the secret letter in his hand into pieces and stood up suddenly: "Why are you slowing down? Am I afraid of her?"
Ping Lin complained endlessly.
My God, you two are not afraid of each other, but I am afraid of you! If you go crazy, I will be the one who suffers!
He made up his mind that when the two of them met, he would stay away from them, and it would be best if Mo Shan went.
Little did they know that the sly Mo Shan had already left, saying that the princess had instructed them to air the books in Lingquan Courtyard while the sun was shining.
Pinglin was helpless.
On the appointed day, he had no choice but to shrink his neck and follow Xie Linchuan to the Jiang family.
…
Jiang Qinglan arrived at Zaozi Lane and saw that the main door of the Jiang family was wide open, which was rare today.
As we walked in, it was surprisingly quiet, with no one around. Only the spring breeze rustled the old plum tree in the yard.
When I entered the second courtyard, I saw a man standing outside the main hall with his hands clasped together, muttering something, as if he was praying.
If it’s not Pinglin, then who else could it be?
Jiang Qinglan was shocked. Why was he here?
Pinglin hurriedly shook his head, his face looking bitter, and raised his hand to point inside.
Seeing the man go in and his mission accomplished, he ran away as if there was a ghost chasing him.
Jiang Qinglan walked into the room and saw a person leaning crookedly in the rose chair, staring at her with a pair of eyes.
"Why is it you?"
Xie Linchuan asked, "Why not me? Who else do you think it was? Lu Fei?"
Jiang Qinglan was speechless. Something was wrong with him.
There was a strong smell of alcohol around him, and she frowned as soon as she smelled it.
She was truly grateful to him for what Pan Kai did during the Lantern Festival, and her expression towards him improved a lot.
That day at the Xinghua Restaurant, they talked about the Western Xia and Liao Kingdoms, and his reaction surprised her.
It seemed as if he was not a pampered child of Lin'an City, but like his original father Jiang Yuan, he was also determined to make a living for the people.
But when he drinks, like today, his true nature is revealed.
Alcohol makes cowards braver, and drinking to drown sorrows only makes one more sorrowful... Alcohol represents cowardice, escape, and numbness. She wants to be a sober and rational person and never touch a drop of alcohol.
She also didn't like men drinking, and at this moment, she couldn't accept his domineering attitude.
She shook her head and said calmly, "I didn't think it was you, nor did I think it was Lu Fei. I don't want any charity from anyone."
He was a moody man, and when he went crazy, he might even make the sky explode. Thinking of this, she just wanted to get away from him immediately.
He took out two silver bills from his sleeve and placed them on the long table in front of him.
"This is what we agreed on before. One thousand two hundred taels of silver, the land deed, the house deed, and the keys. Bring them here."
Xie Linchuan didn't move, but stared at the banknote for a long time. "Where did you get the money from?"
"Of course I earned it by running a restaurant."
Jiang Qinglan said immediately, but he regretted it as soon as he said it. What should I explain to him?
"Thank you, my Lord. I'm very busy. If you're sincere about selling the house, let's hand it over as soon as possible. If not, I'm leaving."
Xie Linchuan sneered: "How can your little shabby restaurant earn so much?"
He still remembered that when she was setting up a stall in Zhongwa, she got fifty taels of silver from him and was overjoyed.
Jiang Qinglan heard the sarcasm in his words and knew that he was going crazy after drinking too much. He didn't want to get entangled with him, so he walked away without saying a word.
But someone grabbed her hand and pushed her back, leaning against the wall. The strong smell of alcohol surrounded her.
"How did you earn it? By playing coy with Xue Qi? By secretly colluding with Lu Fei?"
"I do not seek fame and fortune among the nobles, but only to preserve my life in this chaotic world.[1] Is your method so... unbearable?"
Jiang Qinglan was startled, his face pale, and he said word by word: "Xie Linchuan, what did you say?"
Although he was arrogant and domineering, wanting to beat this person and kill that person at one moment, in the end, he didn't accomplish anything.
He had never said such humiliating words to her before.
Xie Linchuan half held her in his arms, his eyes red from drinking:
"What are you two plotting every day? Why would he give you so much money? Do you know that he..."
He didn't say this out loud in the end, he didn't dare to gamble.
He smiled somewhat self-deprecatingly, embracing this seemingly docile but actually arrogant heart, staring at this delicate yet stubborn face, and said softly:
"I gave you my heart, but you treated it like a worn-out shoe. You refused to believe a single word I said."
Suddenly he raised his voice again and said through gnashing teeth:
"Lu Fei, an ungrateful villain, Xue Qi, a profiteer who betrayed his family, what good are they?"
"One is heartless and ungrateful, and the other is flirting with a Liao female spy. Why would you still want to stick with them?"
"If your father knew you were so self-indulgent, what would he think?!"
Jiang Qinglan was so angry that his whole body was shaking, and his eyes pierced him like sharp swords.
If it were in modern times, she would have slapped him in the face!
Enduring the hot smell of alcohol around him, she clutched her sleeves tightly, as if she was being tortured in fire and water.
After a long while, she said in a trembling voice:
"It's none of your business to meddle in what's going on between me and Lu Fei. As for Xue Qi, he and I are innocent. Why are you insulting me and him like this?"
"My money was earned by me, penny by penny. What about yours? Did you earn a penny yourself?"
"You're just born into a good family and have a good appearance. What else is there to be proud of?"
Xie Linchuan was overcome with grief, as if a blunt knife were spinning in his heart. He stumbled and was forced to step back.
As the distance increased, I could see more clearly.
There was no trace of blood on her face, and she was shivering all over, like a fallen leaf in the autumn wind.
He felt very uncomfortable.
She has always been like this, smiling and talking to others, but never giving in to herself.
He was also extremely angry and sneered:
"Why should I make money? My family has enough money to last for several lifetimes. Even if I only have a good face and was born into a good family, I can make you live or die at will!"
After saying that, he swept his sleeves, and all the silver bills and wine jugs on the table fell to the ground, and the white jade porcelain cup broke into pieces with a snap.
Jiang Qinglan's figure flashed.
He was not wrong. He was a member of the ruling class in an autocratic society and had the power of life and death over ordinary people like them.
Her eyes slowly filled with tears. Not wanting him to see, she bent down and picked up the banknote with a wet corner.
She suddenly felt very tired and aggrieved.
It wasn't a fear of power, but rather the feeling of powerlessness that modern people feel in an authoritarian society. No one, including him, could understand her.
In a daze, she suddenly thought of Li Zhi, a rebel against the feudal autocracy in the late Ming Dynasty and a pioneer of modern thought.
He was the only one sober when everyone else was drunk. Do I often feel this powerless?
She thought again of Bruno, who insisted on heliocentrism and was burned alive by the Inquisition.
She read so many books and learned not only knowledge, but also their spirit of not fearing power and upholding the truth.
Those who come after us are enough to comfort people today.
She tilted her head back, refusing to let a single tear shed. Her eyes, filled with tears, looked like gardenias falling into a gurgling stream, only becoming clearer and brighter.
After a long while, she sneered:
"My life is in my own hands. Do you want me to live or die? It's up to you."
"I won't live up to your expectations. Even after I die and go to the underworld to see my father, I will never regret it!"
After saying that, she didn't care about his expression and walked away.
When she reached the center of the courtyard, she saw that the dense branches had obscured her figure. She raised her sleeves and wiped the tears from her face.
…
On the West Lake, a pleasure boat sailed to the center of the lake. The sky-blue curtains were blown up by the wind, swaying like weeping willows.
The boat is filled with fragrance, including the fresh scent of plants awakened by the tea cakes, as well as the wisps of burnt aroma from the roasting of pine charcoal.
It was Lu Fei who was baking tea cakes.
After the tea cakes were baked, Lu Fei used a tea grinder to push and pull them gently to grind them into powder.
His slender fingers took two rabbit-hair purple Jian teacups, poured the tea powder into them, and poured water along the walls of the cups.
Finally, use the tea whisk to whisk it back and forth until it becomes a thin stream rushing high and a turbulent snow wave.
After these tedious processes, a cup of tea is considered successful.
Xue Qi took it and took a sip.
I first felt the freshness of the snow foam, then the slight bitterness of the green tea, followed by the gurgling of saliva at the bottom of my tongue, which brought out some sweetness, and finally the fragrance of orchid, which lingered for a long time and filled my mouth with a lingering aftertaste.
Lu Fei's tea, like him, seems mellow and elegant, but in fact, he is unique. He smiled and said:
"It's not easy to get a cup of tea from you, Mr. Lu."
After Lu Fei finished drinking, he said sincerely:
"Brother Xue took care of her for me and suffered a lot from Master Xie. Brother Xue can drink as much of Lu's tea as he wants."
"Eh——I dare not say that!" Xue Qi waved his hands and laughed.
"How can it be that I'm taking care of her? It's actually her who helps me make money. She's like the God of Wealth! Yali said that I smile even in my dreams at night."
Lu Fei just smiled and said nothing.
He and Xue Qi were of the same age. After Xue Qi took an exam, he suddenly had an epiphany, gave up his official career and went to the Liao Kingdom to do business.
The Xue family was so angry that they vomited blood, but he still went. Later, he abducted the daughter of a Liao noble and brought her back, further exacerbating the hostility between him and the Xue family.
At that time, everyone thought that Xue Qi was a heretic and a disgrace to scholars, but Lu Fei knew that he was a master strategist and had a keen mind, so he regarded him as a close friend.
Xue Qi thought about it again, rubbed his chin, and asked curiously:
"Speaking of which, Madam Jiang, where do you get all these wonderful ideas? Those potatoes, everyone used to say they'd be poisonous if eaten, so how come she knows how to avoid getting poisoned?"
This question has been hidden in Xue Qi's heart for a long time, but in order to prevent his relationship with Lu Fei from being leaked, they rarely meet, so he has no way to ask this question.
Lu Fei stood up, walked to the window, and let the breeze brush across his cheeks.
In the distance, the Gem Mountain is ochre red like fire, and the waves under the boat are rippling like silk.
He seemed to be lost in the past and smiled:
"Even as a child, she often made surprising remarks. Everyone said Qu Yuan wrote the best of 'Li Sao,' but she read it simply to find the fragrant flowers and herbs. And that potato, I wonder what secret book she got it from.
"Compared to Li Sao, she likes to read Tian Wen more. She also said that she had thought about those questions, but couldn't come up with the answers, so she wrote to me and asked if I knew the answers..."
Xue Qi echoed this: "In the beginning of ancient times, who was it that taught the Way? The world had not yet taken shape, so how could we examine it? [1] These questions are indeed difficult to answer."
Lu Fei raised his hand, pressed down the curtain fluttering beside him, and his expression gradually became serious:
"Master Jiang said she has a lively personality and asked me to be more tolerant. But how can I be tolerant..."
It was love. He loved her liveliness and agility. That was something he could never find in the books of Confucius and Mencius, or in the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues.
Xue Qi naturally knew about their relationship, otherwise, he would not have agreed to Lu Fei's request.
He sighed and patted Lu Fei's shoulder: "I know, you have no choice." Then he changed the subject, "By the way, you and Princess Fu'an, are you really together?"
Xue Qi knew how troublesome it would be to mess with these princesses.
Lu Fei had regained his composure: "It's half true, half false. This matter was caused by Master Xie."
"Ah!" Xue Qi was shocked. He had experienced Xie Linchuan's domineering personality many times.
Little did he know that he had calculated Lu Fei, who was hiding behind the scenes, so clearly and forced Princess Fu'an on him.
"Then do you have any solution?"
Lu Fei smiled faintly: "Princess Fu'an is nothing to be afraid of."
He said silently in his heart: Xie Linchuan... is the biggest threat.
…
At dawn, a pale moon was still hanging on the willow branches.
The morning market had just begun, and the Xinghua Restaurant was bustling with activity. Wang Huiniang and Yingtao were busy among the crowd, taking orders and seeing off customers, constantly welcoming and seeing off guests.
On the other side of the counter, in a sky-blue Ru kiln plum vase, two branches of apricot blossoms are in full bloom, complementing the painting of "Apricot Blossoms and Misty Rain in Jiangnan" on the wall.
For a moment, Jiang Qinglan was stunned, not knowing whether he was looking at flowers or paintings.
I was daydreaming when I felt someone push my shoulder.
Wang Hui Niang said, "What are you thinking about? I called you several times but you didn't hear me. You need to pay the bill over there."
Jiang Qinglan woke up quickly: "Which table? I'll go now."
Wang Hui Niang snorted, "I got married a long time ago. If you haven't rested well, then go back and get some sleep."
Jiang Qinglan said nonchalantly, "Who said I didn't get enough rest? I slept until dawn, but I was just dazed for a while."
Wang Huiniang was puzzled. What was there to emphasize about whether one slept well or not?
Jiang Qinglan also knew that he had spoken out of turn, so he shook his head and said:
"I'll give Master Xue a message later. Tell him to be more careful these days and bring more guards with him when he goes out."
"Could it be that the Pan family's restaurant is up to some new tricks?" Wang Huiniang immediately became serious.
Since the Pan siblings were expelled, half of the Pan family taverns in Lin'an City have gone bankrupt. The remaining ones are managed by Song Wen himself, but business is not as good as before.
Jiang Qinglan really didn't know how to tell her about himself and Xie Linchuan, so he just said, "Just go and deliver the message."
As he was speaking, a tall, thin young man ran in like the wind and said, "Madam Jiang, can you please have a moment with me?"
It was Pinglin.
Jiang Qinglan had no choice but to go to the backyard with him.
Pinglin said with a bitter face, "Madam Jiang, the prince sat in the Jiang family's old house all night yesterday and asked me to bring this to him early in the morning."
After saying this, he placed a small wooden box on the millstone. He opened it again, and inside were the land deeds, house deeds, and keys. Undoubtedly, they belonged to the Jiang family's old house.
Jiang Qinglan thought to herself: Who sits there or not, who sleeps or not, it's none of her business. But facing the wooden box, she also felt a little suspicious.
She had gone to the Jiang family's old house yesterday to buy a house. But if she took the key, she was worried that he might have some conspiracy, such as sneaking into her house in the middle of the night.
She then asked, "Are all the keys here? Do you have any backups?"
This thing was given to him by his master. Pinglin had no idea whether there was a backup, so he hesitated for a moment.
Jiang Qinglan immediately said, "Take it back, I don't want it anymore."
Pinglin fell to his knees with a thud: "Madam, save me! You know my young master's temper."
Seeing that Jiang Qinglan still had a cold face, he touched the cold stone millstone and said with a sad face:
"If I don't do this job well, I'll be dead if I go back. I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well crash into this millstone and die."
Jiang Qinglan was both angry and amused.
Fine, fine, now you can use life and death to control her, whether you live or die has nothing to do with me. Then he said sarcastically:
"Just go outside and jump into the Chunbo River. Don't die here with me and delay my business." He was about to leave.
"My wife!" Pinglin was frightened. He crawled on his knees to Jiang Qinglan, but he didn't dare to hug her legs, so he had to stop her with his body.
"I'm really sad! When he got angry before, at most he would hit me and scold me a few times, but last night he didn't say a word. It's scary. Who knows what will happen next."
Jiang Qinglan sneered in his heart. He had drunk too much yellow wine, so why should he be angry or sad?
Just because he is unhappy, can he stab others in the heart with a knife?
She hadn't said anything yet, and he was already complaining? Who was he showing this to?
Pinglin added, "Madam Jiang, you are the Bodhisattva Goddess in heaven, the Water Moon Guanyin of the South China Sea. You have the kindest heart. If you don't show sympathy to the prince, then please show pity to us servants."
Pinglin, a seven-foot-tall man, was kneeling on the ground crying, looking extremely miserable.
Jiang Qinglan hesitated. He knew how to manipulate her, and she fell for it.
But she wanted to buy a house anyway. Even if she didn't live in it, she would be happy to take Tuantuan out for a walk occasionally.
She said, "Wait a minute."
She took out the banknotes from the backyard and handed them to him: "One thousand two hundred taels, that was agreed upon before."
Pinglin was a little hesitant. His master only asked him to bring the land deeds and did not mention the money.
Seeing that he didn't want to take the money, Jiang Qinglan pushed the box in front of him and folded the banknote: "Okay, go jump into the Chunbo River!"
Pinglin quickly jumped up and snatched the banknote away: "My lady, you are so kind. Pinglin will definitely repay you!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
