Chapter 208 Small Kitchen Crafts
Su Qianqian heard the news two days later. She was playing with a group of children together with Yin Yueniang Su Xinxin, and grilling oranges and sweet potatoes for them in a charcoal pot.
In fact, Su Qianqian has always been craving for roasted durian, but she was afraid that growing it would scare the Qin family, so she planned to start growing special varieties of fruits if she had the chance next year.
Now her Cuiying Building and Huarong Pavilion are making huge profits, and have become the main consumption places that are indispensable to the daily lives of wealthy ladies. All she needs to do is to keep it safe, so as not to be too ostentatious and be noticed by the emperor, which would be disastrous.
Su Qianqian called Qin You as well.
The little girl is two years older than Zhu Youcheng. She is very well-behaved and sensible. However, because she is too sensible, Su Qianqian always feels distressed.
Just like when she was a child and she and her mother left her father and lived with her grandmother, even though everyone loved her and cared about her feelings, she would still carefully observe everyone's expressions.
Su Qianqian asked Qin You to play with her younger brothers and sisters, gave them oranges and sweet potatoes, and let them drink the fruit juice soda water made by Su Qianqian. The little girl's face gradually showed the innocence that a child should have.
The children were eating and playing happily, with the wet nurse taking care of them. Su Qianqian, Su Xinxin and Yin Yueniang hid aside to talk. It was at this time that the maid reported that Qin Yuzhuo had arrived with Zhou Jinxi and Zhuang Yan.
The three of them have recently been practicing martial arts together in the small training ground with Qin Mian and Qin Li. When they came, they were all dressed in tights and sheepskin boots, looking very heroic.
"Third sister-in-law, I heard that His Majesty has issued an order that we will go to Crouching Tiger Mountain for autumn hunting in three days. If the military officers are not on duty, all civil officials above the fifth rank must accompany him. The wives of the princes and dukes and civil officials must also accompany the queen, princess and other ladies. All of us in Wuning Marquis's Mansion, except for the children, will go."
After Qin Yuzhuo and Yin Yueniang Su Xinxin exchanged greetings, they hurriedly told Su Qianqian the news.
"I thought it was just that? Well, go hunt some game and I'll ask the cook to come up with some new dishes to reward you heroines."
Su Qianqian leaned calmly on the Arhat bed, chewing some dried fruit.
"Why us? Third sister-in-law, you didn't understand. We all have to go, including the Crown Prince's wife and Miss Yin..."
"What am I going to do? Am I going to hunt prey, or to deliver food to the prey?"
Although Su Qianqian is good at darts, she has never practiced archery. Moreover, hunting involves not only archery but also horse riding. She has no interest in doing nothing but going to the mountains to starve.
"Third sister-in-law, I will teach you archery and horse riding. When I hunt, I will share the prey with you. I won't let you lose face."
Qin Yuzhuo winked at Su Qianqian.
Naturally, she had her own plan. The Qin family had not participated in the autumn hunt for many years. In previous years, the young ladies would always show off to her how much fun it was after returning. This time, she wanted to let them see that not only the men in the Wuning Marquis' Mansion, but even the girls were not inferior to those men.
"Madam Su, I thought you were a straightforward person, but how come you were frightened by an autumn hunt? If you admit that you are scared, we will not try to persuade you anymore." Zhou Jinxi said with his hands behind his back and raised his eyebrows.
"Scared." Su Qianqian answered without hesitation.
"You...why are you like this..." Zhou Jinxi had never seen anyone who gave in so easily and didn't know what to say.
"Madam Su, the Crown Prince's wife will also be there. If everyone has fun together, they can take care of each other when something happens. But whether you are willing to go or not is up to you. Yuzhuo, don't force it."
Zhuang Yan said with a smile at this time.
[This girl is really smart and her words hit the nail on the head. She might as well go for her sister's sake. 】Su Qianqian pondered in her heart.
"Okay, I'll go." She answered straightforwardly. Zhou Jinxi opened his eyes wide and pointed at her: "You, you, you..."
Yin Yueniang and Su Xinxin looked at each other and were both overjoyed.
Su Qianqian prepared lunch. The cook in her small kitchen has now mastered the cooking skills. Basically, she can eat whatever she wants as long as the ingredients are available. Today, she took advantage of her free time to invite Yin Yueniang and Su Xinxin to bring the children to her house, so that they can taste the things they can't eat on weekdays.
Green leafy vegetables are rare in this season, and only wealthy families can eat them occasionally. However, when everyone saw the green blanched Chinese cabbage, the yellow and green osmanthus melon slices, and the tiger skin green peppers with meat filling on the table, they were still surprised.
"How come there are so many seasonal vegetables? And I've never seen this dish before. It looks delicious." Zhou Jinxi has always been casual and did not hide her salivation at all.
"This is grown in a special way in the farm. It's actually similar to the flowers in the greenhouse, but the cost has been reduced as much as possible. In the future, the people will be able to eat some vegetables in the winter. The Anmin shop should be selling them soon."
Su Qianqian explained with a smile, feeling a little proud.
Soon the table was filled with dishes: tomato and meat stew, dry pot potato chips, crispy eggplant boxes, boiled fish, sweet and sour pork, spicy duck head, sweet and sour spareribs...
"These are the dishes that the cooks have tried to make. I think they taste pretty good. Please give them a try."
Su Qianqian gave all the credit to the cook and introduced the flavors one by one.
The children had a separate table with dishes specially prepared for them, which were naturally less spicy and soft.
"Well...if this dish were brought to our house, my father probably wouldn't be thinking about spending money at Anmin Restaurant every day, and my mother wouldn't have to criticize my father in a sarcastic tone every day!" Zhou Jinxi couldn't help but say while eating.
"Don't do that. Uncle Zhou will probably have to come to our house for dinner every day!" Qin Yuzhuo said with a smile.
Everyone laughed along. The children over there also ate with relish as they listened to the adults being happy. The seven-year-old Zhu Youcheng acted like an older brother and took care of Yin Yueniang's three sons. Zhu Youhuan and Baoyun exchanged the tastes of the dishes with each other, as if they had become good friends.
Everyone enjoyed the meal with relish. The girls were cheerful, and Su Qianqian and her sister and Yin Yueniang were not restrained. There were not so many rules as usual, and there was laughter in Tinglan Courtyard.
The decree for the autumn hunt was passed on to all the mansions that needed to accompany the emperor, and Old Madam Su called Tutor Su to her side.
"Son, although Zhang made mistakes in disciplining her children, she is still the head of our Su family. It is not a good idea to just disappear from her house. The wives of the fifth-rank officials must accompany you on the autumn hunt. If you go alone, it will be a disgrace to the Taifu Mansion."
Tutor Su groaned in silence. He had to admit that he had shortcomings when it came to managing the household. He had failed in his duties both as a husband and a father.
"This time, you should bring Zhang and Miaomiao with you. After all, our Su family only has Miaomiao as a daughter. If she gets married, she will be someone else's daughter-in-law, and she will be a guest when she comes back."
Old Madam Su stroked her wrist. Although it didn't hurt anymore, she didn't dare to use force easily.
"Okay, I'll listen to mother. But if they cause any more trouble, they won't be able to leave this house anymore."
Su Taifu said in a deep voice.
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