"Princess, why hasn't Master come these past few days? Is he blaming you?" Nianxue asked, helping Lanqin along the path leading to the South Courtyard. Although Lanqin hadn't shown anything these past few days, Nianxue and the other maids were quite worried.
"It's only ten days, I'm not in a hurry, why are you all so anxious?" Lanqin gazed at the osmanthus tree in front of her, the fragrance of osmanthus wafting into her nose. She took a few greedy breaths and said casually.
Seeing Lanqin say this, Nianxue didn't reply.
Lanqin was actually a little uneasy, thinking to herself: "Fourth Prince, do you also think the same way as your mother?" Four days after Honghui's funeral, the Fourth Prince, accompanied by his wife, entered the palace to pay their respects to the newly returned Emperor Kangxi and to request Honghui be posthumously granted the title of Beizi. Presumably, they also visited Consort De at Yonghe Palace, where Consort De must have expressed her dissatisfaction with her that day. It was fortunate that his wife had been so magnanimous; what was the Fourth Prince truly thinking?
With these questions in mind, Lanqin stepped into the east courtyard. There she saw Ziran, Li Shubao, and Xicha carrying stools and picking osmanthus flowers under the osmanthus tree in the courtyard.
"What are you all doing?" Lanqin was immediately intrigued by the scene and temporarily put aside her unhappiness and worries.
"Your Highness, I'm picking osmanthus flowers!" Xi Cha said with a bright smile. These maids were bored staying cooped up in their rooms all day and were just looking for something unusual to do.
"Of course I know, but what are you doing picking these osmanthus flowers?" Lanqin walked up to Xicha and saw that the winnowing basket she was carrying was already covered with a layer of pale yellow osmanthus flowers.
“Princess, I only know that osmanthus flowers are edible and can also be used for beauty purposes. So I picked these osmanthus flowers first, otherwise they would all wither after an autumn rain. It would be such a pity.” Zi Ran said while standing on the bench and picking osmanthus flowers.
"Hmm, I knew osmanthus flowers could be pickled and mixed with honey to make tea. You all collect all the osmanthus flowers first, and I'll go think about how to use them," Lanqin said, then remembered Niu Baoquan and turned to go to the small kitchen.
"Master Niu, what are you doing?" As soon as Lan Qin entered the small kitchen, she saw Niu Baoquan standing in front of the stove, fanning himself.
“Princess, this servant is making beef soup. It’s already autumn, and it’s the perfect time to nourish yourself with beef and mutton. I just received some beef bones and beef from the head nanny. I’m thinking of making beef soup from these bones and freezing it at the bottom of the well so that it can be served to you whenever you need it.” Niu Baoquan quickly stood up and bowed to Lanqin.
“That’s kind of you. Master Niu, I wanted to ask if you know what kind of food can be made from osmanthus flowers, and now that autumn is here, the fruits are ripening in large quantities. Is there any way to use these fruits and flowers to make some special dishes?” Lanqin asked. She had always been very interested in food, and now she had so much free time to waste in the backyard every day.
“Well, this servant knows that osmanthus flowers can be used to make osmanthus cake, which is very common. Osmanthus flowers can also be mixed with honey and brewed with water, which is also common. This servant doesn’t know much else. Now that apples, pears, oranges and other fruits are ripe, we can make some dried fruit and jam,” Niu Baoquan said truthfully.
"Master Niu, have you ever made candied apples? You can also make candied pears and oranges. They're delicious and add a bit of variety to the dish. Master Niu, would you like to try it?" Lan Qin said.
"Candied apples?" Niu Baoquan said, his eyes darting around. He really didn't know how to make candied apples; he'd never even heard of them. But he was worried that Lan Qin would look down on him for not knowing how, so he hesitated to admit that he didn't know how.
“Yes, it’s okay if you don’t know how to do it, I’ll teach you!” Lanqin knew that Master Niu was probably unable to do it when she saw him hesitating.
"Oh, then this servant will obey Your Highness's orders." Seeing that Lanqin didn't blame him at all, Niu Baoquan immediately put his mind at ease and replied happily.
"First, have Uncle Li go to the head nanny's place and get some fruit. Then I'll teach you how to make candied apples, candied pears, and candied oranges. You can choose some fruit that's about to spoil; making them into desserts will both be delicious and prevent waste." Lanqin had once seen the head nanny leading people to bury baskets and baskets of apples that hadn't yet been distributed to the various courtyards. As for the fruits supplied to each courtyard, there was also a lot of waste. These women, who were confined to the inner quarters every day, dared not eat much in order to please the Fourth Master. So, even though the maids were all prettier than their mistresses, they still couldn't finish the food, and in the end, it all had to be thrown away.
"Oh. Does Gege mean that the appearance of the fruit doesn't matter, as long as it's not rotten?" Niu Baoquan asked, puzzled.
"Yes, anything unwanted or deemed unattractive from other courtyards can be used here. Since it involves peeling anyway, appearance doesn't matter." Lanqin gradually formed some ideas. Since she had nothing else to do, she might as well use this vast amount of time to do something. She loved to eat it, so she would share it with the maids in the courtyard, and then send some to the Fujin, Sister Song, and Geng Shi. Naturally, the most important person was the Fourth Prince. That was a must-have.
After giving instructions to Niu Baoquan, Lanqin left the small kitchen and saw Fubao sunbathing in the yard, so she went over to play with Fubao.
The maids were busy picking osmanthus flowers, while Uncle Li went out to get some fruit.
Lanqin played with Fubao for a while, then got tired. She didn't ask Nianxue to serve her and went back to her room to rest.
Lanqin didn't know how long she had slept, but she felt as if a pair of large hands were stroking her cheeks. Suddenly, she felt a little anxious and wondered if she was dreaming. She tried to open her eyes to see who dared to take liberties with her in her dream!
"You lazybones, it's not even noon yet, and you're already taking a nap?" A familiar voice came from above.
Lanqin suddenly opened her eyes and was shocked to see Fourth Master's face above her, looking right at her!
"Master, what brings you here?" Lanqin blurted out without thinking.
"What, you don't welcome me?" Fourth Master frowned. "Then shall I leave?"
After saying that, he made a move to leave, but was unexpectedly grabbed by Lanqin.
"Don't go, Master!" Lanqin sat up abruptly from the bed, grabbed the arm of the Fourth Master who was about to get up, and said urgently.
Fourth Master hadn't planned to leave in the first place. Seeing how much the little princess cared about his earlier joke, his mood brightened, and he teased, "You've lost all sense of day and night since I'm not coming. You're still asleep at this hour!"
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