Chapter 135 Chapter 135 The banquet changed while...
Before the meal started, Zhao Mingsheng took Huang Yuexin to the main hall to pay their respects to the elders in the family.
As they entered the main hall, Old Lady Gu was holding Mother Meng's hand, praising her for the excellent care she had taken of the flowers. Mother Meng, grateful for all the care she had given Sheng, offered to let the old lady pick out a few pots of the finest peonies to take back home, much to the old lady's delight.
When he saw the two of them, he quickly called them over to look at him.
When Old Lady Gu saw the little girl in goose yellow clothes and with a well-behaved face beside Zhao Mingsheng, she felt that she looked familiar at first. But after Zhao Mingsheng reported her name, she remembered that she was the girl she had met at Lingyin Temple.
This was the first time Meng Mu had met her, but she had heard her daughter mention bits and pieces of stories about the young lady from the Huang family and her son.
Moreover, the sachet that Zhao Qingyue often wears is said to have been given by the young lady of the Huang family. As a mother, how could she not know what her son is thinking?
Seeing the girl's sweet and adorable appearance again, he was very fond of her. He warmly invited her to sit next to him. He even took off the white jade bracelet on his hand as a greeting gift and put it on the girl's fair wrist.
Huang Yuexin was startled by this sudden enthusiasm, but it was difficult to refuse, so she glanced at Zhao Mingsheng somewhat awkwardly.
Zhao Mingsheng, who received the signal, hurried forward to rescue the situation. After some laughter and jokes with the elders, he took Huang Yuexin to the warm room.
The warm room was filled with the intoxicating scent of spring, and the heating in the floor was causing a warm fragrance to seep out from the cracks in the blue bricks. However, Huang Yuexin's nose was instantly covered in a thin layer of sweat.
She also had a warm room at home, but it wasn't as effective as the one at the Zhao family's. She took off her cloak and looked around. She didn't see any extra charcoal fires in the room, so she said, "You've done a great job renovating your warm room. I'm also very sensitive to the cold in winter. I'll renovate it the same way next spring."
"It's just connecting the chimney of the underground dragon to the fire wall." Zhao Mingsheng handed the two men's cloaks to the old woman beside him, and knocked on the vermilion lacquer pillar with his green and tender fingertips, and the pillar made a hollow sound.
"There are ceramic pipes buried in the wall, and the charcoal gas comes from the boiler room in the west wing. This eliminates the need for ash and charcoal basins."
"No wonder the warmth in your room is more comfortable than that in a fumigation cage or a charcoal basin." Huang Yuexin's eyes were full of envy.
The two of them sat opposite each other on the warm couch, with a pot of almond tea with milk cakes brewing on the table.
Zhao Mingsheng opened a secret lid on the table. The moment he opened it, hot steam rose up, and the fragrance of osmanthus and the sweet smell of sweet potatoes immediately intertwined and spread in the air.
Huang Yuexin then discovered that the table was actually connected to the warm couch. The hollow inside of the table could maintain the temperature of the charcoal fire, making it perfect for stewing food.
Zhao Mingsheng took out the sweet potatoes that he had put in early in the morning. The honey-colored sugar juice was dripping down the cracked potato skin and was caught on a small silver plate.
She pushed the plate towards Huang Yuexin and said with a pout, "I know you like it. I've already prepared the blueprints for this warm room for you. Go back and ask your father to find some craftsmen. It will be finished in less than three days. I guarantee that your bedroom will be warm enough for silkworms to hatch before the twelfth lunar month."
Huang Yuexin didn't care about the heat when she saw the delicious food. She blew on it and took a bite. While eating, she muttered, "Then I'll embroider a silk handkerchief to thank you!"
This bite fills your mouth with fragrance.
Zhao Mingsheng: "This oven can not only stew sweet potatoes, but also beggar's chicken. Wait for you to come and try it next time..."
"It smells so good! What delicious food are you eating? I can smell it even from outside the house!"
Before Zhao Mingsheng could finish his words, the curtain of the warm room was suddenly lifted, and a figure covered in pink satin and snow-covered sable fur came in.
Zhao Mingjing's words stopped abruptly - she suddenly saw a girl in a goose yellow jacket sitting upright on the warm couch. She looked familiar yet unfamiliar, with sparkling honey on her fingertips.
"Third sister, you've arrived just in time. This is Sister Yuexin, the young lady from the Huang family. We met her last time at Lingyin Temple."
Thinking they weren't familiar with each other, Zhao Mingsheng quickly introduced them. Then, turning to the other side, he smiled and said, "This is my third sister, Zhao Mingjing, from the Marquis's family. Of the three of us, she has the best nose. Like a kitten, she comes to me just by smelling something."
Huang Yuexin still remembered this young lady and nodded and greeted her in a friendly manner.
"Okay, no wonder I didn't see you in the main hall just now. You must have been hiding in this warm room eating sweet potatoes. Fifth sister is so partial. She didn't even bother to invite me when she had something delicious." Zhao Mingjing pretended to wipe away the non-existent tears with a handkerchief and said, "Well, our sisterhood has faded."
Zhao Mingsheng: "Then do you want to eat it or not?"
"eat."
How can I hold back the tears that have already flowed to the corners of my mouth?
The girl sat down obediently on the edge of the couch, and the next second her mouth was blocked by a piece of sweet potato.
They were all girls of the same age, and after eating a few sweet potatoes, they quickly became familiar with each other.
"By the way, I haven't congratulated you yet."
"Congratulations for what?" Zhao Mingjing tilted her head while chewing the sweet potato in her mouth, not reacting for a moment.
Zhao Mingsheng joked: "Of course, congratulations on marrying your ideal husband!"
The last time they were at Lingyin Temple, she noticed that Zhao Mingjing was interested in Li Jia Dalang.
Zhao Mingsheng: "I heard from my grandmother a while ago that she originally wanted to see Erlang from the Yong'an Earl's Mansion for you, but you chose Dalang instead."
Old Madam Gu and Old Madam Yu were old friends, and the two families were interested in a marriage alliance. However, in my grandmother's eyes, the eldest son of the Li family was not the best choice.
His biological mother passed away and his stepmother was jealous. Although Old Madam Yu also loved her eldest grandson, she loved her younger grandson more. Li He's situation in the Li family was not good.
Thanks to Li He's own efforts, without relying on his family's influence, he won the third place in the imperial examination three years ago and was favored by the emperor. Now, at such a young age, he has become the right envoy of the fifth-rank Jingsi Department. The Earl of Yong'an still attaches great importance to his eldest son.
But men are still mostly in the front hall of the state, so how much can he take care of the household affairs in the backyard? In addition, being the eldest daughter-in-law is difficult. Given Zhao Mingjing's personality, Old Lady Gu is also worried that she will suffer if she marries him.
But I still couldn't change the third girl's determination to get married.
Zhao Mingjing hummed lightly, her tone serious. "I chose him."
"Grandma thinks that Li Jia Erlang is good, but I don't think so. I don't like him being idle all day long, walking cats and playing with dogs at such a young age."
"Then Dalang will like it?" Huang Yuexin also spoke up to join in the fun.
Zhao Mingjing's cheeks flushed instantly. "He is... very good and treats me very well."
Zhao Mingsheng understood. It seemed that something had happened between them that she didn't know about.
Zhao Mingjing suddenly narrowed her almond-shaped eyes, "You're still blaming me! You're at an age where you're planning marriage, but you haven't made any progress?" She said with a confident tone, "I've been through this myself, so I can help you with some advice."
"You don't have to worry about it. It may be ready in the spring." Zhao Mingsheng said as his eyes swept over the white jade bracelet on Huang Yuexin's hand. That was the jade bracelet that Meng's mother put on her personally when she met the elders in the family just now, praising her for being well-behaved.
Feeling that Zhao Mingsheng was hinting at something, Huang Yuexin hurriedly picked up the milk almond tea. The rim of the white porcelain cup was immediately stained with light pink lipstick, and she was unaware that the milk foam was on the tip of her nose.
"Alright, alright, the dinner is about to start, let's go to the main hall."
Zhao Mingsheng also knew that Huang Yuexin was shy, so he changed the subject and led the two of them out.
The banquet begins.
Zhao Mingsheng and the kitchen staff had each of the dishes carefully selected. The roasted whole lamb was especially special. With a flick of the chef's knife, the lamb ribs unfolded like a folding fan, their heat and scorched aroma reaching everyone's noses.
The meat on the lamb neck is the softest and tenderest. With the chef's delicate knife skills, it is sliced into evenly thin slices and dipped in the prepared dipping sauce. Although it is so spicy that it makes people gasp, no one can resist putting down their chopsticks.
The last dish Zhao Mingsheng arranged for the meal was shad and bamboo shoot soup.
The shad itself is rich in fat, but the fat added to the soup actually makes the base lighter. Simmering it for an hour with the winter bamboo shoots adds a touch of the delicious flavor of the bamboo shoots. As a delicious after-meal soup, it helps digest food and helps to eliminate the greasiness of roasted lamb.
Zhao Mingsheng scooped up half a spoonful of milky white fish soup and took a sip. He also felt that the fish soup was extremely delicious. Before he put the second spoonful into his mouth, he suddenly heard the sound of cups and plates breaking in the men's seat next door, followed by the sound of tables and chairs colliding.
A man's surprised voice came from behind the rosewood screen: "Brother Li! What's wrong with you?"
"Brother Li's lips are turning purple. Could it be that he's been poisoned?"
"How could he be poisoned? Could it be this dish..."
"Is there anything wrong with me eating it?"
"So, I feel like I have some abdominal pain..."
Suddenly there were four loud noises.
Zhao Mingsheng felt something was wrong, thinking that something might have happened next door. When she stood up suddenly, she saw her second aunt Li collapsed on the ground next to her grandmother, her ten fingers tightly clutching her dress around her abdomen, looking as if she was in unbearable pain.
"Mom!" Zhao Mingjing, who was standing by, was also frightened and rushed to Li. "Mom, what's wrong with you?"
Soon after, several other female guests at the table also developed the same symptoms.
The banquet suddenly became chaotic.
"Everyone, please be patient. My father and younger sister know a little bit about medicine. Let them take the pulse of Brother Li and the person with abdominal pain to see what's going on." A clear male voice sounded from the chaos.
When everyone heard that there was a doctor on the scene, they felt much more at ease and the noise subsided.
Zhao Mingsheng knelt on the ground and held Li's wrist, where the pain was the most severe, with one hand. He felt that her pulse was like a noose, which was indeed a sign of poisoning that had spread to her spleen and stomach. He quickly took out the Wenxiang Pills he carried with him and gave one to Li.
This medicine is made from Chinese medicinal materials such as Codonopsis pilosula, licorice, and dried ginger. After adding borneol, the medicine has a mild nature and is most effective for those with spleen and stomach colic.
Seeing Li's face turn from pale to rosy, Zhao Mingsheng felt relieved.
Upon hearing that Mr. Zhao had given the same diagnosis, he quickly ordered someone to send some incense pills to the guests who had abdominal pain.
Fortunately, as Zhao Mingsheng expected, everyone had the same symptoms, and after taking the pills, everyone's condition stabilized.
Li, whose stomachache had temporarily eased, regained a little strength and yelled, "What kind of Hongmen Feast are you setting, you damned girl? You must still be upset about me bringing my nephew over a few days ago! That's why you put something in the food to poison me... Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"
Before she could finish her words, Zhao Mingjing, who was standing beside her, covered her mouth with a handkerchief and said, "My mother is confused because of the pain. Don't blame me, don't blame me."
Are you insisting that she poisoned the food before you even find out the truth?
Those who came today are relatives, friends and my brother’s classmates. What good will it do her if she poisons their food?
Zhao Mingsheng was so angry that he laughed, "Second Aunt is confused. You should have a good rest. I will definitely give everyone an explanation for what happened today."
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