Yu Wan'er took two bites of her favorite almond cookies, and felt her mouth was dry and tasteless. She ate two pieces and stopped.
Seeing her slumped over the table with her head down, not even eating her favorite almond pastry, Ye Jinyun couldn't help but ask curiously:
"What's wrong with you? You look like a frosted eggplant and you don't even want to eat your snacks."
"I have no appetite. This snack is too dry and feels uncomfortable in my mouth," Yu Wan'er said listlessly.
Lin Qingtang also echoed: "Well, the weather has been getting hotter these past two days, and I often have no appetite and can't eat."
After hearing what the two said, Ye Jinyun suddenly realized that she almost forgot that they were ordinary people, and women at that, who would not be able to eat when the weather was hot.
Because of her special physique, she is not very afraid of heat, so the change in weather does not affect her appetite. She still eats as much as she should every day. Even Yin Zhu praises her for being blessed with a good appetite.
Ye Jinyun thought about it in his mind, in this backward ancient time, is there any way to make people have an appetite to eat in the summer?
After thinking for a long time, Ye Jinyun still couldn't come up with a good idea. At this time, Xiao Lizi, who was beside Lin Qingtang, came to report that the ice cubes allocated to Yingquan Palace had been delivered and placed in the rooms of the three young masters.
Ye Jinyun slapped his thigh and said, "Got it!"
The other two looked at her with confusion.
"What's going on?"
"Let's go make shaved ice." Ye Jinyun stood up in high spirits and walked towards the small kitchen in Yingquan Palace.
Although the two didn't know what she was going to do, they followed her to see what was going on.
Since the beginning of summer, as the weather has become warmer and food has become difficult to store, the imperial kitchen, in addition to being responsible for the diet of the emperor and the empress dowager, no longer delivers meals to the palaces of the concubines every day.
The palace maids and eunuchs from each palace would go and get fresh ingredients and cook them for their masters in the small kitchen in the palace.
Ordering someone to get a piece of clean ice, Ye Jinyun asked Xiao Quanzi to crush the ice in a clean container, and then asked Qing'er and Yinzhu to remove the seeds of the watermelons they had received today, put them in a large bowl and squeeze them into juice.
Ye Jinyun felt that this was the good thing about this dynasty. There were more varieties of fruits than during the Qing Dynasty in China, and the taste was also good. However, they were not easy to preserve, so the prices were relatively high, and few ordinary people bought them to eat.
But the imperial palace was not short of these things. Every day, each palace could receive fresh fruits and vegetables. For those above the rank of concubine, they could even eat rare fruits that were tributed to them.
Watermelon, grapes, apples, lychees... these are very common in the palace. In summer, each concubine in the palace can receive two watermelons, two bunches of grapes, and a small basket of lychees every day. In other seasons, they will be replaced with seasonal fruits.
Seeing that Xiao Quanzi had almost finished grinding the ice cubes and Qing'er had squeezed all the watermelons into juice, Ye Jinyun asked Yinzhu to find three exquisite porcelain bowls, peeled some grapes and lychees, and started making shaved ice.
When she was in the Ye Mansion before, she made a living from her stepmother Yang, and she was lucky to have enough to eat. How could she have the opportunity to let Ye Jinyun make these exquisite things? This was her first time, and even Qing'er knew for the first time that her young lady could do these things.
Put a large spoonful of crushed ice into a porcelain bowl and pile it into a pointed shape. Then scoop up the squeezed watermelon juice with a spoon and put it into the bowl, about one finger's distance from the rim of the bowl. Stop and don't continue to put it in to prevent the ice from melting and overflowing.
Then pour some honey on it, put a few pitted grapes and lychees on it, and sprinkle the crushed almonds used to make almond crisps on it. The shaved ice is ready.
Taking the spoon handed over by Qing'er and putting it in the shaved ice, Ye Jinyun let the two of them taste it with anticipation.
Yu Wan'er had been drooling as soon as she poured the watermelon juice into the bowl. After waiting for a long time, she was finally able to taste it. She immediately took the bowl, scooped a spoonful and put it into her mouth.
"Wow, so cool, so cool, so delicious!"
After taking a bite, Yu Wan'er exclaimed in surprise, and then scooped another spoonful of shaved ice with almonds and fruit pulp into her mouth.
"Hmm, it's delicious. The watermelon flavor is icy and sweet, and the almond on top is crispy. It feels amazing when it mixes with the fruit pulp in your mouth."
Lin Qingtang looked at her shaking her head while eating, and couldn't help but pick up a bowl, scooped a spoonful and put it into his mouth. Then his eyes lit up. This thing called shaved ice was really delicious.
She had never seen such food before. It made her feel cool all over. Eating a bowl of it in the summer really helped to relieve the heat.
Ye Jinyun looked at the two people who were eating happily and felt very satisfied. He also picked up the last bowl of shaved ice and started eating it with satisfaction.
She hadn't tasted this flavor for a long time. Eating shaved ice seemed to bring her back to the summer vacation of her student days in her previous life. At that time, she would go to the ice cream parlor at the school gate every day, order a cup of shaved ice, enjoy the free air conditioning, and sit there for an hour or two.
Speaking of air conditioning, she missed it even more. Fortunately, she had a special physique and didn't feel hot without air conditioning. Otherwise, in ancient times when people had to wear more clothes, summer would be really unbearable!
Yu Wan'er finished the shaved ice in the bowl in a few bites. After finishing, she looked at Ye Jinyun eagerly, wanting to eat more.
Ye Jinyun gently tapped her forehead, "This is something cold, you can't eat too much, otherwise you will have diarrhea. Also, eating too much cold food is not good for a woman's body. Do you understand, little glutton?"
After hearing this, Yu Wan'er pouted regretfully, and begged Ye Jinyun to agree to do it again tomorrow. Only then did she smack her lips in satisfaction and stop playing around.
Ye Jinyun and Lin Qingtang quickly finished the shaved ice in their hands, and then handed the method of making shaved ice to Qing'er and Yinzhu.
Ask them to make the remaining shaved ice ingredients and distribute them to the palace maids in Yingquan Palace to relieve the heat. If there are not enough ingredients, they can take their own portion to make it.
After hearing this, Lin Qingtang and Yu Wan'er said that they could also use their own share and try their best to take care of every palace maid in Yingquan Palace.
Ye Jinyun turned around to express his gratitude to them, and Lin Qingtang smiled slightly.
"It's already hard for the palace maids to be slaves. As masters, we should take care of them as much as we can. You and I are not masters who treat people harshly, so we should treat them well."
Yu Wan'er also nodded in agreement. Her father and mother had taught her this since she was a child.
Ye Jinyun was even more moved after hearing this. She was a worker in her previous life, so naturally she could empathize with the working people. She didn't expect that these two young ladies who were born in feudal aristocratic families could also be so considerate of the servants. She really couldn't help but feel emotional.
The palace maids in Yingquan Palace were filled with tears of gratitude after receiving the cooling drinks distributed by their masters. They felt that their masters cared about them in this way, and that their hard work was worth it. From then on, the palace maids in Yingquan Palace were of one mind with the three masters.
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