138. Matcha Milk Tea
“My mother said… it’s best if we don’t show ourselves in front of His Majesty…” Lin Lingrong said.
The little dumpling then suddenly realized.
My mother also said that.
Lin Lingrong was afraid of being recognized as the child of a disgraced official.
The little boy rushed forward and hugged Lin Lingrong: "No, no! The Grand Tutor said it's alright!"
Lin Fuman added, "Sister, that incident happened several years ago, and nothing's happened, right? It's clear that the big shots have forgotten about it. Besides... and with me and Little Moon here, if anyone dares to gossip, we'll beat them up!"
"Hit him! Hit him!" The little dumpling waved her little fists along with her. "Big sister, go! Little Cloud really wants to see you!"
Lin Lingrong gently shook her head: "I'd better not go. County Princess, please apologize to the Princess for me."
Lin Fuman stamped her feet anxiously: "Sister! With me and Little Moon here, what are you afraid of?"
“It’s not that I’m afraid…” Lin Lingrong lowered her head, “It’s already very good as it is now. Although Father doesn’t like us, at least no one bullies us anymore. Life is getting better and better, and I don’t want to break this balance…”
Things have been going surprisingly well lately. Lin Fuman has become a very good person, and they have even become friends.
Although Duke Anguo still disliked the mother and daughter, he simply ignored them and did nothing about it. Their lives actually became more comfortable as they avoided each other.
She is satisfied with her current life, and therefore, she is even less willing to take risks.
"But--"
“Lin Fuman,” Lin Lingrong interrupted her sister, “Don’t try to persuade me anymore. I will not bring any risk to my mother.”
Lin Fuman immediately fell silent.
The little dumpling realized that her older sister was determined not to go to the palace, so she didn't try to persuade her anymore. Instead, she patted her older sister and said, "Don't be sad, big sister. Yue'er will bring you something delicious!"
Lin Lingrong smiled again upon hearing this: "You two go have fun, but be careful not to do anything reckless. The palace is different from home, so be cautious."
"Mmm!" The little dumpling nodded.
Lin Fuman nodded, "Don't worry! I'll definitely surprise the princess!"
“…?” Lin Lingrong paused. “It seems you didn’t listen at all.”
-
The next morning.
On the carriage heading to the palace.
Today, only Xiao Tuanzi and Lin Fuman entered the palace, and Qu Zijin was the one responsible for escorting them into the palace.
Qu Zijin had a lot to say to Lin Fuman, who seemed unreliable upon entering the palace for the first time: "Second Miss of the Duke of Anguo, after entering the palace, you must remember: do not sway your skirt when walking, do not show your teeth when laughing, and do not speak loudly..."
"When you meet the princess, you must perform a full curtsy, bending your knees to this angle—" he gestured, "and when you speak, you must refer to yourself as 'your subject's daughter,' not like this 'oh my…'"
"besides……"
The little dumpling tugged at Qu Zijin's sleeve: "Grand Tutor, you've said this three times already!"
"Did you say that?" Qu Zijin was taken aback, then became nervous. "Then repeat it again, how should you greet Consort Xian?"
Lin Fuman and the little dumpling exchanged a glance and said in unison, "Reporting to the Grand Tutor, we are not going to see Consort Xian!"
"What if? What if we encounter something?" Qu Zijin looked a little anxious. "Also, is there really no problem with the invention of the Second Miss of the Duke of Anguo?"
Lin Fu patted the bundle: "Grand Tutor, don't worry, it's just some food, absolutely nothing—"
"Food?!" Qu Zijin's voice rose. "Food in the palace has to be tested for poison with silver needles! You, you, you..."
The little dumpling quickly smoothed things over: "Grand Tutor, don't be in such a hurry! Sister Fufu's cooking is delicious!"
Qu Zijin was still very worried, constantly muttering to himself and repeatedly checking.
The carriage swayed along the way, and Qu Zijin's instructions never stopped.
By the time they arrived at the palace gate, Lin Fuman and the little dumpling were so dazed from being nagged that they could only nod mechanically, "Yes, okay... I'll remember..."
After passing through many palace gates, we finally arrived at the agreed-upon place.
Qu Zijin was unable to enter the inner palace herself, so she was led in by palace maids.
The little princess had been waiting impatiently for a long time. As soon as she saw them, she lifted her skirt and ran over: "Little Moon! Why did you take so long to come!"
Lin Fuman quickly bowed and said, "This humble woman greets you—"
"Oh, don't give me that!" The little princess grabbed Lin Fuman's hand and looked her up and down curiously. "You're Lin Fuman from the Duke of Anguo's mansion, the one who makes all sorts of novelties?"
Lin Fuman blinked: "Does the princess know me?"
"Of course!" the little princess exclaimed excitedly. "Little Moon said you can jump rope? And you can blow rainbow bubbles!"
"Yes, yes!" the little dumpling exclaimed happily. "Little Cloud, Sister Fufu brought a new invention today!"
"Really? What is it? What is it?" The little princess couldn't wait to see Lin Fuman's bundle.
Lin Fu mysteriously dodged away: "Princess, guess? It's related to food!"
"Candy figurine? Candied fruit? Or..." The little princess gave the same guess as the little dumpling.
"None of them!" Lin Fu proudly opened the bundle, revealing a small wooden box. She opened it, "Ta-da! This is my improved candied hawthorn!"
The little dumpling and the little princess both went over at the same time.
The little princess had never seen candied hawthorns in person, but the little dumpling recognized them: "Huh? Sister Fufu, why are they different from the candies Yue'er usually sees?"
"I removed the pits from the hawthorns, filled them with red bean paste and glutinous rice, and coated them not with syrup, but with a syrup made from honey and flower petals!"
The little princess picked one up in amazement: "This petal is really embedded in the sugar! It's so beautiful!"
"Not only that!" Lin Fuman pulled out a small porcelain bottle. "You dip it in this when you eat it. It's a plum dipping sauce I made; it's sweet and sour..."
The three little girls sat around the brocade cushion, taking turns tasting the food.
The little princess squinted her eyes as she ate: "So delicious! Is this candied hawthorn? It's so good! I knew there were lots of delicious things outside the palace!"
The little dumpling's face was covered in sugar stains: "Sister Fufu is so amazing!"
Lin Fuman smiled and said, "That's nothing! I have another special skill! I can make a drink called milk tea, and I guarantee you've never tasted it before!"
"Milk tea?" The little princess tilted her head curiously. "What's that?"
"It sounds delicious!" The little dumpling was very excited.
Lin Fu excitedly took the little dumpling and the little princess's hands: "Let's go to the small kitchen, I'll cook it for you right here!"
The three little girls ran to the nearest small kitchen.
Lin Fu tied on an apron and stood on a small stool with an air of importance: "Sugar...milk...found!"
Lin Fuman continued rummaging through the shelf: "Tea...wait, what's this?"
She found a small porcelain jar containing green powder.
The little dumpling stood on tiptoe, pawing at the stove with both hands: "Look at the moon, look at the moon..."
"Hey—hey!" The little princess lifted her up from behind.
The two of them peeked out together.
“Huh, Yue’er doesn’t recognize this…” Actually, the little dumpling didn’t recognize any of the seasonings, but she still observed carefully and gave the answer.
"I know, this is tea powder!" the little princess said proudly. "It's delicious for making tea or pastries!"
Grind the tea into powder and pour it into hot water.
Tea leaves can be ground into a fine powder and used for both tea preparation and pastry making.
Lin Fu held the small jar with delight: "Great! That means this is matcha powder! It's even better than I wanted! We can make matcha milk tea now!"
She deftly heated the milk, added sugar and the green powder, and stirred it in a very professional manner.
The little dumpling stood on tiptoe to look: "Sister Fufu is so amazing! This green thing is so pretty!"
"Of course!" Lin Fu proudly poured the brewed liquid into three delicate little bowls. "This is called matcha milk tea, and it's best to drink it while it's hot!"
The little princess eagerly picked up the bowl: "I want to be the first to try it!"
Having tasted the delicious candied hawthorns before, she took a large gulp without any suspicion this time—
"Wow!"
"Hehe, it tastes good, right?" Lin Fu proudly raised her face. "If you like it, drink more! I'll make more if you want..."
"It tastes awful!" The little princess scrunched up her face.
"Huh?" Lin Fu was stunned. "How is that possible?"
The little princess covered the little dumpling's mouth with one hand to stop her from drinking, while covering her own mouth to try not to spit it out: "It really tastes awful, not just awful, but—wow! It tastes so bad!"
"This shouldn't be..." Lin Fu was incredulous, and she quickly took a bite.
"puff--"
She vomited it all up: "Ugh...why is it fishy, fresh, sweet, and salty all at the same time..."
Sweet, salty, incredibly fresh, seafood-like, rich milk flavor...
Each one on its own is delicious, but if you put them all together, the taste becomes terrible.
The little dumpling looked at the little princess, then at Lin Fuman, and asked cautiously, "What...what does it taste like?"
A royal chef rushed over upon hearing the commotion and was shocked to see the opened porcelain jar: "Oh my goodness! This is seaweed powder, for making soup! The tea powder is in the cabinet next door!"
The three girls looked at each other in bewilderment.
---
Seaweed powder: An ancient version of MSG.
This can be understood as taking a big gulp of milk tea with MSG added.
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