When Liu Ruyan heard that her father wanted to raise Liu Xuening as his legitimate daughter, she was furious. She rubbed her hands under her sleeves, and the anger in her eyes gradually faded, replaced by contempt and mockery: "Hmph, a lowly woman born to a maidservant dares to compete with me."
"Yes, Father. I will remember your teachings. I'm going to rest now."
"This concubine will also take her leave."
"Mother, is Father really going to abandon me?" Liu Ruyan had been raised as the mother of the nation since she was a child, and now she felt as if she had fallen into an abyss.
"Don't worry, Ruyan. You just need to recover from your injuries. I will handle Liu Xuening and that wretched maid myself."
Liu Youlin had three wives and concubines: Zhang, Zhao, and Wang. When Zhang gave birth to Liu Ruyan, she was seriously injured and unable to have children. So she gave her maid, who had been part of her dowry, to Liu Youlin. The following year, Liu Ruyan gave birth to a son, Liu Yanyi. Liu Youlin was overjoyed and often stayed overnight in Zhao's room. The following year, Zhao gave birth to Liu Xuening. Over the years, Zhang and Zhao had lost their youthful beauty. Three years ago, Liu Youlin met a dancer at Xianrenzui and took a great liking to her. He then took her as a concubine, calling her Wang.
"Granny Zhang, find a way to put this purse under Madam Zhao's bed, but be careful not to let anyone find it."
Zhang was holding a purse, a precious item she had painstakingly found. If all went well, Zhao would disappear from this world.
"Yes, sir. This old servant will take care of it immediately."
These past few days, the capital has been quite peaceful due to the approaching birthday of the Empress Dowager, but things have been in complete chaos within Yan An's space.
Ever since returning from Linglong Pavilion that day, Yan An had been troubled by what to give his aunt for her birthday. After looking around, he felt that nothing was suitable. Then he thought of the Tianshan Snow Green Tea seeds he had obtained from Old Man Bai Qing. These were tea leaves that grew on the Tianshan Mountains and were said to have the effects of prolonging life, beautifying the skin, and strengthening the body. Thinking that he had water from the Tianshan Mountains, it shouldn't be difficult to grow them. So he asked Old Man Bai Qing for them, saying that he would make tea for him when they grew.
These past few days, Yan An has been digging holes and planting tea in his own little plot of land in his space. In just one day, the Tianshan Xuelv tea sprouted, and in just three days, it already had buds. Yan An never expected that his first planting would yield such a good harvest.
As the day went by, Yan An picked many buds and leaves, but how to cook them and whether to cook them at all proved to be a dilemma for him.
Yan An took a small jar of fresh Tianshan Snow Green tea and went to Mingxiangfang, the largest teahouse in the capital.
Is your shopkeeper here?
"May I ask what business this young lady has with my manager?" The servant of Mingxiangfang saw that the newcomer had an extraordinary demeanor and must be a young lady from a prominent family, so he dared not be negligent.
"I have a jar of fresh tea here and would like to ask the shopkeeper for help in figuring out how to process it into tea."
Yan An opened the tea canister and showed it to the servant. He was shocked by what he saw.
"Tianshan Snow Green?" The servant swallowed, took two steps back, and looked incredulous.
"You know him?" Yan An hadn't expected to run into an expert as soon as she stepped out.
"I had the honor of meeting you once a few years ago with the manager. Please have a seat here, Miss. I'll go and call the manager right away."
"Thank you." Yan An didn't stand on ceremony and sat down to wait.
"But does this young lady have Tianshan Snow Green tea? I am Manager Liu of this Tea Fragrance Shop. May I take a look?"
Yan An handed the jar to Manager Liu.
"It's Tianshan Snow Green, and it's actually fresh Tianshan Snow Green! I wonder how this young lady obtained it?"
"I obtained it by chance. Since Manager Liu knows that this is Tianshan Snow Green, do you know how to cook it?" Yan An asked.
“Miss, you may not know this, but Tianshan Snow Green Tea is extremely fragile. It’s even more unlikely to find fresh Tianshan Snow Green Tea outside of Tianshan. Therefore, this tea doesn’t need to be roasted; freshness is best. However, the weather in Tianshan is different from usual, so fresh tea leaves can only be preserved for a few days, at most one day. If we use a glass bottle, it might last longer, but even the royal family rarely sees such bottles. What you can buy on the market is all dried Tianshan Snow Green Tea. Tianshan is shrouded in mist and fraught with danger, making Tianshan Snow Green Tea even more rare and hard to come by. Even in the capital, you might only get one or two ounces a year.”
Manager Liu was very fond of tea, and he was extremely excited when he saw the Tianshan Snow Green tea.
"If you want to preserve it for a longer time, you can simply dry it and pack it away."
"Thank you, Manager Liu. This small jar is my way of thanking you for clearing up my doubts today." Yan An handed the small jar of tea he had brought with him to Manager Liu. Although it was less than an ounce, it was still a rare find in these four kingdoms.
"Manager Liu, please don't refuse, accept it." Yan An didn't like to drag things out; once it was given to him, it was given to him.
"Thank you so much, Miss. May I ask how I should address you? If you ever need my help in the future, I will do my utmost to help you." Manager Liu said with great enthusiasm, and couldn't help but cry tears of joy.
"May the General's Mansion be at peace."
"So it's Princess Yue'an. This humble servant greets Princess Yue'an."
"No need for such formalities, Manager Liu. Thank you very much for today." Yan An needed to go back and continue preparing the Empress Dowager's gift, so he did not linger.
Manager Liu excitedly saw Yan An out, and jumped up excitedly the moment he returned to his room.
Yan An returned to Zi'an Courtyard, and with a thought, entered her spatial dimension again. She found several glass bottles, one for fresh and one for dried. She prepared to give two bottles to her father and mother, two to her brother, two to the Empress Dowager, two to Yue Xiyuan, and also to the Emperor…
"No, no, picking tea leaves is exhausting enough. Let's dry some first and make them as birthday gifts for the Empress Dowager."
Last time, Yue Xiyuan said that the wine he had given Qi Hongchen and Su Jingzhan had all been drunk and had not been sent to the Empress Dowager. He asked Yan An to give him a few more jars. Yan An also brewed some hawthorn wine and lychee wine, which would be perfect to whet the appetite as the weather gets warmer.
The day before the Empress Dowager's birthday, Yan An got up very early and saw that the Tianshan Snow Green had been dried in the sun for the past few days, so he put it into the large glass bottle he had prepared.
"Perfect, two cans exactly. Everything is ready, just waiting for Aunt's birthday."
Back inside, he used his consciousness to enter his spatial dimension, filled three small jars with fresh Tianshan Snow Green tea, and prepared to send them to his father, mother, and brother.
"Father, Mother, and Elder Brother, I've come for breakfast."
The three of them were surprised to see Yan An so early in the morning. "Has the sun risen in the west?"
"What do you mean, brother? Can't I get up early and have breakfast? I'm not giving you any of my good stuff later, hmph."
"Don't be like that, my dear brother's sister, what good stuff do you have?" Anything good from your sister must be top-notch, I can't refuse it.
“Oh, this is Tianshan Snow Green, a seed I got from my master.”
Yan Cheng was originally a military officer, and there were not as many rules in the Yan family as in other families. At this moment, there was no one else except the four members of the Yan family. Yan An took out three jars from his space. They all knew about Yan An's affairs, so there was no need to hide them.
"My sister's good things are truly extraordinary. You are truly my good sister." If Yan Cheng hadn't stopped him, Yan Yi would have run up and hugged Yan An.
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