As dawn broke, the princes, along with their principal wives, left the post station. Tulichen and his guards took over all the affairs, and Narentuya, following the Empress Dowager's wishes, began to assume responsibility for the Liujiao sect.
After Qingyan had a quick breakfast, Yin took her to rest.
As noon approached, Qingyan regained consciousness and heard Yin's deep voice asking questions and the twins' replies coming from the hall.
"Master, you're finally awake." Su Lan heard the sounds from the inner chamber and came over. She saw Qing Yan sitting with the covers on, his long black hair loose, lazily looking outside.
"Hmm, are the children all up?" Qingyan asked.
“Yes, Your Highness, Narentuya has already begun teaching the Right Wing Prince’s wife and others manners. Apart from the four princesses who married into the capital, everyone else must learn manners,” Sulan quickly replied.
The Mongol wives were not so easy to tame; the Empress Dowager was too strict with them. On the grasslands, there were not many rules for such people to begin with.
"Hmph, you don't learn from others, yet you think you can lead them astray?" Qingyan sneered, and once she finished dressing, she put the matter out of her mind.
Inside the hall, the children waited for their mother to wake up, and they all had lunch together.
Qingyan helped Sulan into the hall. Yiken'e was the first to call out "Mother." Yinzheng was talking to Yiken'e about what happened yesterday. Batu Buhe sat obediently next to Yiken'e.
"Father, have we found the real arsonist?" Yiken'e was more concerned about whether Kangxi would issue an edict of self-reproach.
If that's the case, Emperor Kangxi certainly wouldn't have a good New Year.
“We’ve found them. They’re from the Right Wing Prince’s tribe, so… Granny Narentuya has gone back to teach them manners.” Yin replied directly.
Soon, the servants laid out delicious food on the table, and Yin took the children to have lunch.
During breakfast, Yin heard the voices of the twins and got up. Hafeng was held by Yin and placed in a baby high chair.
"Fourth Brother, can you really do it, Narentuya?" Qingyan asked, looking at Yin.
The Mongol wives were exceptionally stubborn; they might cause trouble for Emperor Kangxi during the New Year because of this matter.
“Whether it works or not, we’ve temporarily seized a handle on the Mongolian tribe. Batu Buhe, even if you return to the grasslands, you must not forget the rules.” Yin really didn’t want this child to suffer any more grievances, so he could only repeat himself again and again.
Batubuhe nodded: "Okay."
After lunch, all the food was cleared away. Qingyan specially asked Sulan and the others to take some peeled garlic cloves and a few glass trays, preparing to let the children pickle Laba garlic.
“We got back too late yesterday, so we can only pickle them today.” As soon as Qingyan’s food was brought out, the twins started putting garlic cloves into the jar.
Batubuhe has been watching the twins' actions closely, hoping to follow suit.
"Mother, why are you making all this?" Batubuhe realized that these things didn't exist on the grasslands at all.
"Laba Festival isn't just about Laba porridge; it also includes Laba garlic, which can be pickled and used to make dumplings," Qingyan quickly explained to Batubuhe.
Batu Buhe looked completely bewildered, but after listening to Qingyan's explanation, he slowly began to cook Laba garlic according to Qingyan's method.
Huricha stood at the doorway, staring blankly at Batubuhe making Laba garlic in the dining room.
On the grasslands, neither the prince nor his concubine would let Batubuhe do these rough jobs; they were all done by the kitchen staff. Unexpectedly, in the Fourth Prince's residence, the twins would actually do these things.
"Fourth Master...this..." Hu Richa had barely uttered a word when Su Peisheng pulled him away.
Batubuhe glanced at Huricha's retreating figure, then turned to look at the twins, before quickly continuing with what he was doing.
"Father, where did Huricha go?" Batubuhe asked curiously.
"It's alright, just be good and do it. The kitchen is preparing red bean paste dumplings. Once you've made the Laba garlic, we can use them." Yin quickly reassured Cheng.
Under Qingyan's arrangement, the Fourth Prince's kitchen no longer followed the previous rules, and occasionally some other festival dishes appeared.
Yay!
The children started cheering. Qingyan had been catering to the three children's tastes, and of course, Hafeng got a bowl of shrimp balls.
After eating the shrimp balls in the hot pot, he had been looking forward to today's festival. Yin specially asked Imperial Physician Yuan, and following the same advice, gave Ha Feng a total of four shrimp balls.
As evening approached, the twins and Batubuhe sat quietly at the dining table, and surprisingly, Hafeng didn't make any noises.
"Today is our family's first day of the twelfth lunar month. We have your favorite red bean paste dumplings, but you can eat them later," Yin said, seeing how eager the twins and Batu Buhe were to try them.
The three of them pouted slightly and began to eat the food in front of them.
Qingyan prepared some hot pots suitable for the three children, using modern pots, while Hafeng was taken care of by his nanny.
"Let's get ready. No waste! We'll only cook what we can eat." Qingyan looked at the three guys, who were eager to try the low hot pot.
At Yin's command, the three children began to eat hot pot.
Yinhe and Qingyan used a copper hot pot, with their favorite dishes laid out in front of them, some of which were produced in Qingyan's vegetable shed.
"Goodness, this is a good idea. The three of them can finally eat by themselves." Yin thought with satisfaction.
During festivals and banquets held in the palace, there were often hot pots that would burn princes or princesses. Although Emperor Kangxi was always on guard, there was no guarantee that no problems would occur.
Now, Qingyan has used this method to train her three children on how to eat hot pot.
"Mom, this tastes really good." Yiken'e ate the noodles she had cooked herself, feeling very hungry.
The bowl at Qingyan had some chili oil in it, and eating mutton and pickled garlic made it feel like I was eating at Donglaishun.
"It tastes really good, Fourth Brother, let's eat more hot pot in winter, shall we?" Qingyan looked at Yin and said.
In her opinion, hot pot is an essential item, and the two of them often eat it in the summer.
"If you like it, that's good. You still need to eat other things!" Yin naturally nodded in agreement.
Every winter, Qingyan would arrange special meals to keep him from feeling too cold and even help him maintain his health.
"Alright, the food list has been written. Also, Physician Yuan said we should eat more mutton, as it's good for nourishing the body." Yin and his son Yiken'e didn't like mutton soup, so she had no choice but to use this method.
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