Chapter 90 Variety of Beef Recently, the lotus flowers in the garden have faded...
Recently, the lotus flowers in the garden have withered. The stems that were originally covered with flower buds have become bald. Then, a few days later, the lotus leaves also turned yellow and withered, like pieces of a tattered monk's robe.
Cheng Qianyue felt it was such a pity, she hadn't seen enough of the lotus flowers in the pond! But she soon stopped feeling sorry, because the palace servants dug out long sections of lotus root from the pond.
This was just dug out, it's so fresh!
As a result, Cheng Qianyue had several more lotus root dishes on her table these past two days, such as cold lotus root slices, spicy lotus root cubes, steamed lotus root balls, and lotus root steamed with glutinous rice and osmanthus... In short, there were quite a few varieties.
Cheng Qianyue specially ordered fried lotus root sandwiches today. Two lotus root slices, neither too thick nor too thin, are sandwiched between seasoned meat fillings, coated in batter and deep-fried. One bite reveals a crispy exterior and tender interior, with the meat filling filling juicy and flavorful.
Hongyan chewed on the lotus root sandwiches one bite at a time. After eating three, he looked up at Hongchao and Moyaqi, who were sitting next to him eating porridge, and asked in confusion, "Mother, can't my younger brother and sister eat lotus root sandwiches?"
Cheng Qianyue replied, "No, they can't. They're too young to eat anything but porridge and broken noodles."
Hongyan looked over with particular pity: Ah, so much time has passed and my younger brother and sister still can't eat these things, they can only eat sticky porridge, how pitiful!
Children eat slowly; Cheng Qianyue and Hongyan had finished eating, but Hongchao and the other two hadn't. After rinsing her mouth, Cheng Qianyue sat down in front of the two children and said softly, "Look at how much you're eating."
The children sat steadily in their special baby chairs, but their hands were always restless. Every time the nanny tried to feed them with a spoon, they would wave their chubby paws around in the air, perhaps trying to grab the spoon. The same thing happened with rice porridge; they would take a sip and then spit out half of it, leaving their bibs covered in food scraps.
Seeing that there wasn't much food left in the bowls, and that the children shook their heads and avoided the food when the wet nurse tried to feed them, Cheng Qianyue said, "That's all for today. If they get hungry in between, we'll feed them milk."
After the children were taken down and dressed, they all stood on the tatami mat looking out the window, waving their hands and hopping around. Cheng Qianyue knew they didn't want to stay inside and wanted to go out for a walk.
“Mother, I also want to go for a walk,” Hongyan said from the side.
Well, it's not hot anymore anyway, let's go for a walk. Cheng Qianyue readily agreed and took the adults and two children out to see the sights.
Just as he returned from his stroll, Jing Shun happened to be coming from ahead. He quickly bowed and said, "This servant greets Master Cheng. The Crown Prince has instructed that he wishes to have lunch with you at noon."
"Oh, let's have dinner together? No problem." Cheng Qianyue nodded and said okay.
Jing Shun smiled and said, "Today's ingredients are especially rare. The Fourteenth Prince presented the Crown Prince with half a carcass of beef, saying it was from a small calf. The Crown Prince specifically instructed me to ask you how you would like to eat it."
Huh? Beef, and veal at that. Cheng Qianyue's mind immediately skipped a beat; this was indeed a rare find.
In ancient times, there were no specially raised cattle for slaughter; only draft cattle existed. The law stipulated that draft cattle could not be slaughtered and sold privately; violators were punished with caning, and in serious cases, could even be exiled or sent to the army. Slaughter could only be carried out by informing the government if the ox was too old to work or sick. But since it was an old ox, the meat was bound to be tough and chewy, not tasty at all. She had tried it once before, and almost broke her teeth; her cheeks were tired and sore from chewing.
But the veal delivered now will definitely be tender!
Cheng Qianyue's mind immediately conjured up all sorts of ways to cook beef: stir-fried beef, clear-broth beef ribs, braised beef, beef hot pot... But it was almost dinnertime, and there wasn't enough time to make soup. She thought for a moment and said, "Make a slightly spicy stir-fry, and also some steamed beef dumplings. Also, tell the kitchen to start stewing the meat in advance, so we can have clear-broth beef soup for dinner, and we can also slice some tender pieces for hot pot."
Jing Shun agreed and went back to report.
Before lunchtime, Yinreng arrived early. Cheng Qianyue greeted him cheerfully and asked, "Master, where did this calf come from?" She had been so focused on how to eat it that she forgot to ask where the meat came from; could it be an illegally supplied delicacy?
Yinreng sat down and said, "It's from the Fourteenth Estate. They said it was a calf that was less than a year old. It was planted in the fields during the autumn planting season, but because it rained a few days ago, the field ridges were slippery and it fell off the edge of the field, breaking its leg. That's why it was slaughtered."
"I see," Cheng Qianyue said, sighing, "That's such a pity."
"If it weren't a pity, how would we have beef to eat?" Yinreng said with a smile.
That's true.
Lunch was served a while later: stir-fried beef with chili peppers and garlic sprouts, and two baskets of steamed beef dumplings. The stir-fried beef was a bit too spicy for Yinreng, and he couldn't help but drink water after a few bites, so Cheng Qianyue ate most of the plate. But there were still steamed dumplings, which both Yinreng and Cheng Qianyue liked.
The dumplings are filled with beef and lotus root, and they have incredibly thin wrappers and generous fillings. Dipped in a sauce made of vinegar and soy sauce, and served with pickled garlic, each bite is an unparalleled delight. Each steamed dumpling is also very generous in portion size, four per steamer basket, each about the size of a palm. After eating these, you won't need rice or steamed buns.
Cheng Qianyue ate three of the two baskets of steamed dumplings, and Yinreng ate the rest.
We ate quite a lot for lunch today, so the two of us went out of the house to stroll around the courtyard to digest. After a while, we saw Hongyan also coming out of the east wing, holding his belly. After asking him, we found out that he had also eaten beef dumplings.
In the evening, the family of three sat down together for a beef hot pot. The broth was a clear, stewed beef soup, made with large chunks of beef and beef bones simmered for a whole afternoon, resulting in a clear, white broth. A bowl of this, sprinkled with chopped green onions, cilantro, and pepper, was so delicious it was almost unbelievable.
However, Yinreng doesn't eat scallions or cilantro. It's not that he completely avoids them; he can tolerate the taste, but he won't eat them. Cheng Qianyue had just personally served them the soup, casually sprinkling some condiments into their bowls. Now, Yinreng was manually picking them out bit by bit. Hongyan, following suit, used a spoon to skim off the cilantro floating on top of the soup.
Cheng Qianyue said, "Let me serve you another bowl. I just got carried away and forgot that you don't like scallions and such."
As Yinreng picked out the scallions, he said, "It's alright, it would be better if they didn't have this flavor." Hongyan nodded in agreement.
Cheng Qianyue: Although I don't understand your strange hobbies, I still respect and wish you well!
Two days later, Cheng Qianyue got tired of the beef soup and asked the kitchen if there was any raw beef left. Lin Quan'an replied, "Yes, the Crown Prince ordered that eight catties of beef be allocated to our Donglizhai, and there are still five catties left. The kitchen staff put the beef in the ice cellar, and I was watching them thaw it when I went over just now."
That's great! Cheng Qianyue wants to eat steak!
She said, "Have someone pick out two pieces with good texture, cut them into thick pieces about half the size of a palm and the height of a fingernail, thaw them, sprinkle them with pepper and coarse salt and marinate for 15 minutes, then heat the iron plate over high heat and fry them until cooked."
Lin Quan'an guessed and asked, "Does Master want to eat roasted beef?"
Cheng Qianyue said, "Pretty much. I just want something thicker and more tender. Oh, and tell the kitchen staff to plate it on a white porcelain plate, with some fruit and pine needles as garnish." She paused and then added, "Also, go to the front and ask if the Crown Prince is free at noon. I'd like to dine with him."
Lin Quan'an immediately replied, "This servant understands, this servant will go and ask right away."
After Lin Quan'an left, Cheng Qianyue had someone clear the table. She asked for a white, printed cloth to cover the table and then place two vases of fresh flowers on it. It was just before evening, otherwise they could have lit candles and had a candlelight dinner.
Cheng Qianyue was taken aback. Oh, right, why not have a candlelight dinner? But what's done is done, is it too late to change it now?
Just as she was thinking about this, Lin Quan'an returned from outside, his eyebrows drooping, and said, "Reporting to Your Highness, the Crown Prince is hosting a banquet for several gentlemen at noon, so I'm afraid he won't be able to come."
Cheng Qianyue asked him, "Which gentlemen did you invite?"
Lin Quan'an replied, "There are the Third Prince and the Fourth Prince, as well as the Prince of the Second Rank and the Prince of the Third Rank, and the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Princes who have recently been receiving instruction from the Crown Prince. I heard that the Crown Prince ordered a whole cow feast to be prepared and invited the gentlemen to dine together."
Cheng Qianyue said "Oh," and then the idea of a candlelight dinner came to her mind. She quickly added, "Go tell the kitchen staff that we won't have the roast beef this morning; we'll have it for dinner. Go again later and invite the Crown Prince to have dinner tonight."
When Yinreng arrived in the evening, he saw the East Fence Study bathed in candlelight. The palace lanterns from this year's Lantern Festival hung under the eaves, creating a scene reminiscent of the sunset reflected in the courtyard. Entering the room, everything was shrouded in a greyish gloom, with only two candlesticks in the east wing casting a faint glow.
Cheng Qianyue came out from the inner room and said, "Master, come and have your meal."
Yinreng walked to the dining table in the east wing, saw the dazzling array of food and decorations on it, and smiled, "Why are there only a few candles lit?"
Cheng Qianyue said, "I did it on purpose. Don't you think it's nice this way? One room, two candlesticks, an ordinary couple having dinner together, how cozy is that?"
Yinreng remarked with emotion, "In that case, you and I have experienced the joys of ordinary life."
During the meal, the grilled steak was indeed highly praised. Yinreng complimented the chef for grilling it so well, saying the meat was tender, juicy, and not dry at all. He finished his meal bite by bite and then said, "Looks like I'll be coming over to mooch some of your beef for the next few days."
Cheng Qianyue thought this was a compliment to her for having many ideas, and said with great pride, "Then, sir, send your beef over, and I guarantee you'll have a different dish every day."
Yinreng shook his head and said with a smile, "Mine, mine is all gone, that's why I have to take advantage of yours."
"Huh?" Cheng Qianyue was quite surprised. Could it be that he distributed the beef to the people in the inner quarters and didn't keep any for her? But then she thought that couldn't be the case, so she asked, "Did you give the beef away, Master?"
Yinreng nodded and said, "Give it to the younger ones." The Fourteenth Prince had sent over half a skewer of beef, but after removing the bones, it was only about fifty catties of meat. He gave himself twenty catties, ten catties to the Crown Princess, eight catties to Donglizhai, three catties to the eldest princess at Fanghuatai, and seven catties to Hongxi and Hongjin at Taoyuan Study. That's how it was roughly divided up.
As a result, when he hosted a banquet for his younger brothers at noon today, he learned that the beef given to the Fourteenth Prince, besides being presented to Changchun Garden, had only been given to him, the Crown Prince, and none of his other brothers had received any. So, Yinreng simply gave each of them a pound or half a pound to take home, thus distributing his entire allowance.
After hearing the whole story, Cheng Qianyue clicked her tongue twice in her heart: "Putting aside others, isn't Fourth Master the Fourteenth Master's own brother? Why didn't he send anything over?"
Yinreng sighed and said, "These two brothers are really..." One is reserved and stubborn, while the other is carefree and reckless. To be honest, they don't seem like brothers at all!
Cheng Qianyue listened to the gossip for a bit, then put the matter aside and turned to Yinreng, saying, "Then Your Highness has no beef left. If you want to eat it, you'll have to wait until later."
"Yes," Yinreng said, "What, you can't bear to part with it?"
"How could I be reluctant?" Cheng Qianyue said generously, "Since you're so generous, I can't be stingy either. Just come on over, I promise there will be plenty!"
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