"Braised Big Balls in Oil? What kind of dish is that? I've never heard of it." Peach Blossom Nine was incredulous; he had never even heard of this dish before.
"Uh, that's a dish name from the 21st century, of course you haven't heard of it." Lanqin smiled and said, "This is my own idea. Put the lobster and spices together and braise them with chili oil. I guarantee that Ninth Master will be unable to put it down."
Lanqin's mouth started watering as she thought of the "Xuyu Lobster" restaurant across from the school gate.
"You can eat something so dirty?" the Tenth Prince asked incredulously.
Oh! People in the Qing Dynasty at that time disdained eating shrimp and crab. They thought shrimp and crab burrowed in the mud and must be very dirty.
“It’s edible, and very delicious,” Lanqin said almost without thinking.
Seeing the little princess beam with excitement when she talked about food, the Fourth Prince simply smiled and didn't say anything to stop her.
With some skepticism, everyone boarded the small boat.
Just as the Fourth Prince was about to pull Lanqin onto the boat, he heard her say again, "Your Highness, should we go and call the First Prince and the Third Prince? Children love fishing and catching shrimp the most."
Upon hearing this, Su Peisheng thought to himself: No wonder this little princess is favored; she really is quite different from other women.
"I'm afraid the Third Prince is too young. What if he accidentally falls into the water?" The Fourth Prince had actually thought of that, but he was worried that the child was weak and might catch a cold on the water.
“What you think is right, sir. If we catch any shrimp, we’ll let them come over and eat them too.” Lanqin’s heart tightened; she realized she hadn’t thought things through.
The small boats glided through the lotus pond like leaves, and some of the flower buds had already opened, revealing their tender seed heads, which were extremely cute.
The small boats dispersed, and Lanqin and Fourth Master chose a place to stop. Eighth Master's boat followed.
Strangely, today the Eighth Prince seems to keep glancing at Lanqin. Although she doesn't have eyes in the back of her head, people do have "heavenly eyes." If someone is staring at you, you can sense that person, and it's usually quite accurate.
"Fourth Brother, I'm coming with you today. Don't think I'm bothering you." Eighth Brother smiled at Fourth Master and ordered the servants to stop. The two boats were only a few meters apart.
"It's alright, Eighth Brother, please do as you please." Fourth Master didn't like the Eighth Prince to begin with, and since the Eighth Prince seemed so oblivious to his feelings, he didn't pay him any more attention and picked up his fishing rod to prepare to bait the hook.
The Eighth Prince also had his servants set up the fishing rods, while he gazed at the lotus pond in the distance.
Lanqin is speechless!
Damn it, the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince really don't get along! Lanqin seemed to sense that the two had already exchanged countless glances in the air, followed by a deathly silence and a pretentious act of ignoring each other.
Sigh, these two brothers! Actually, their backgrounds are quite similar, and their childhood experiences were almost identical. However, the Fourth Prince was luckier; he was given to Consort Tong, while the Eighth Prince was given to Consort Hui, the mother of the First Prince, at birth. Both grew up under the care of others, but Consort De, though born a palace maid, had a much better social standing than Wei, the daughter of a disgraced official. Later, Consort De rose through the ranks, while Wei seemed to have remained at the rank of Noble Lady for a long time before finally becoming a Consort Liang. The difference between them is obvious.
Lanqin took a short stick, tied some frog meat to it with a string, and put it in the water. While she was thinking about the backgrounds of her two sons, she waited for the lobster to take the bait.
"Little sister-in-law, it looks like something is biting your bait?" The Eighth Prince saw two black whiskers sticking out from the fishing line of Lanqin's simple fishing rod.
Ah! Lanqin quickly looked into the water and sure enough, it was a lobster's whiskers!
"Grandpa, Grandpa, a lobster has taken the bait! Look!" Lanqin was so excited that she didn't know what to do.
You know, catching crayfish was a game Lin Mengyao often played as a child. She remembers going to the ponds or reservoirs with the boy next door and catching a whole bucketful of crayfish. After bringing them home, they'd give them to their mother to make a delicious spicy crayfish ball dish, which the two children thoroughly enjoyed. (The author here is reminded of her mother, who passed away almost a month ago, and misses her cooking terribly.)
Fourth Master found her appearance amusing, but he couldn't very well refuse to cooperate, so he quickly picked up the net and handed it to Lanqin.
Lanqin picked up the net and carefully lowered it towards the spot where the lobsters were growing whiskers, then pulled it up. Two large, menacing lobsters had been caught in the net.
"Eighth Master, Fourth Master, look! I caught a lobster! I caught a lobster!" Lanqin held the net high, extremely satisfied.
You know, after growing up, Lin Mengyao could no longer catch crayfish in the rivers and streams of her hometown. Even in the big city, where the aroma of braised crayfish wafted through many places during the season, she could never taste the same flavor as she did in her childhood.
“Little sister-in-law, let me go crayfish fishing with you. Fourth Brother can fish for the fish,” the Eighth Prince suddenly said. In terms of composure, he was ashamed to admit he couldn't match the Fourth Prince's ability to sit silently for an hour or two while waiting for a fish to bite. Besides, he had just noticed that Lanqin was clearly having some difficulty handling the net.
"Eighth Brother, please do as you please," Fourth Master said, repeating his usual words.
Lanqin was quite happy to hear this, as catching crayfish definitely requires two people. One person holds the fishing rod, and the other holds the net; working together like this will result in a larger and better catch. Just now, Lanqin was indeed a bit awkward holding the fishing rod in one hand and the net in the other.
"Master, shall I go to Eighth Master's ship?" Lanqin asked softly, her head lowered.
Fourth Master remained silent, but then nodded.
Eighth Master ordered his servant to row the boat to the side of Fourth Master's boat, and Lanqin jumped over by taking the servant's arm.
The small boat rocked violently, and Eighth Master quickly stretched out a bamboo pole so that Lanqin could grab it.
He truly deserves to be called a gentleman; he is polite and well-mannered, leaving no room for criticism.
This was the first time Lanqin had spoken to Eighth Master at such close range, so she didn't dare look him in the eye and instead picked up her shrimp fishing rod and squatted down. Eighth Master squatted down about three inches away from her.
"Has your sister-in-law ever fished for lobsters before?" Eighth Master asked.
“Yes. I used to fish there often,” Lanqin said without hesitation.
Fourth Master (囧) =~
Does this little thing often go lobster fishing at the Ling residence? Ling Zhu is a fourth-rank official in the Ministry of Rites, how could he let her participate in such activities?
Seeing the astonished look in Eighth Master's eyes, and then glancing at Fourth Master's unpredictable expression, Comrade Lanqin finally realized that there was something wrong with what she had just said.
"I've gone fishing with the princesses on the farm a few times, and it was quite fun," Lanqin could only say to salvage the situation.
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