Chapter 41 Sesame Almond Paste The next day, when Mu Xue woke up, it was daylight...
The next day, when Muxue woke up, it was already bright.
The dress she wore yesterday was so tight that it made her neck hurt, so Muxue changed into a Mongolian robe made of lavender palace silk, simply combed her hair into two long braids, and put on a pearl cap.
When she walked out into the outer room, several Mongolian maids looked at her secretly.
Although it is not a traditional dress, the princess's gown is really beautiful. Such shiny silk is really rare.
Mu Xue noticed this gaze, smiled and asked a Mongolian maid: "Do you think my clothes look good?"
The round-faced girl nodded vigorously: "Beautiful! I've seen so many..."
She originally wanted to address him in Mongolian, but she remembered that before she came, the older and more experienced maid had repeatedly emphasized that titles and the like should follow the Qing court's usage, so she changed her way of addressing him.
"I've seen so many concubines, but I've never seen such a beautiful robe!"
Mu Xue listened and seemed to be thinking about something.
There are many rolls of silk in her dowry, all of which are tribute satins and brocades. Take out any of them, and they are all good goods that are hard to find in the hands of merchants traveling to the grassland. Tushetu Khan's original wife is no longer with him, but he still has several concubines. Giving some to each of them can also be considered as a good relationship. Dorji's uncle's wife can also be sent some.
She turned around and told Aunt Wu in Chinese: "Go and make a few pieces of the satin you brought and put them in a box as a gift."
For these ordinary maids, Chinese still has some encryption effect. Aunt Wu immediately understood and went downstairs to prepare.
Mu Xue asked the Mongolian maid a few simple questions and it turned out that many of these girls were from herder families. Due to the war in the past two years, their cattle, sheep and pastures had all been damaged greatly, so they sold one of their daughters in exchange for money for fodder or a new lamb.
There were twelve of them in this group. They were trained for some time by the maids of Tushetu Khan's concubine.
"And what is your name?"
The round-faced maid looked up, flattered: "My name is Jia."
"Jia, what a nice name." Mu Xue said, "I also met an extremely smart Mongolian maid in the palace before. We called her Su Malagu. Girls raised on the grassland are all good."
Being praised by the nobleman, Jiayin's face turned red with excitement.
These Mongolian maids needed someone to look after them. Mu Xue thought of Nanny Kang, who used to take care of Dorji in Beijing. Now that she had returned to Mobei, Nanny Kang had one less big job to do, so she could take care of these girls.
Mu Xue asked, "Where is Madam Kang?"
"The servant is here."
Nanny Kang had been standing quietly at the door, but when she heard the princess calling her, she came out immediately.
Mu Xue instructed her, "You will be in charge of these new girls. Their food and other necessities should be the same as those of our ordinary maids, and you are not allowed to exclude them."
If they were sent to her, they would be considered hers, and she just needed someone who was familiar with the local situation. Even though they were new here, they still had to be cautious of them and wait and see what kind of person they were, but they might as well show a good attitude.
After a few brief instructions, eunuch Yanxi came to report that the meal was ready.
"Then, serve the meal," Mu Xue said, "and let the prince consort know."
The eunuch came in carrying the dining table, and soon after, Dorji followed.
He smiled when he saw Mu Xue: "I am so lucky. I can appreciate the beauty of the princess every day."
"Stop talking nonsense," Mu Xue pursed her lips, "By the way, thank you for planting the golden lotus."
"Since you want to thank me, can you let me eat the princess' breakfast for two more days?" Dorji sat down beside her, looking very familiar with the task.
Before Mu Xue could speak, he said, "Princess, please pity me. I am used to eating your snacks. It is difficult for the chefs on the grassland to make such exquisite snacks."
It's not like he hasn't been given food to eat before, and he should eat it every meal. Mu Xue saw the truth but didn't say anything, just nodded and agreed.
More people means more chopsticks. Besides, after spending so much time together, she gradually discovered one benefit of having Dorji accompany her for meals. He was good-looking and his eyes would light up when he ate something delicious. Just by looking at him, she would think: the food he was eating smelled so good! Unconsciously, she would eat half a bowl of rice more.
"Princess, the Fourth and Fifth Beile are here." Yanxi hurriedly ran in to report.
Not long after I came to report, I heard the voice of the Fifth Prince.
"It smells so good, Fourth Sister, what delicious food have you prepared again?!"
The Fifth Prince twitched his nose, pointed at the bamboo steamer on the dining table and said, "This smells good!"
"Rong'er, bring bowls and chopsticks to the two masters."
Mu Xue gave the order while standing up and opening the bamboo steamer. "You have a keen nose. This is the new lamb steamed buns that I have experimented with."
Shaomai is cooked differently in different places, some are stuffed with glutinous rice, some are stuffed with meat. This mutton shaomai is made by wrapping the tender mutton with a thin dough, and then steaming it in a steamer, which is full of meaty aroma.
The Fifth Prince bit into a mutton steamed bun, and the hot gravy flowed out, making him hiss like a snake, but he still insisted on finishing it.
"This is delicious! Why did you think of asking the chef to make this?"
Mu Xue smiled and said, "As the saying goes, a good cook cannot cook without rice. Now that we are here, it is difficult to get the ingredients for some of the snacks that we used to eat. So I thought of asking the chef to use local ingredients as much as possible to make some food."
The fourth prince stopped holding the chopsticks and looked at the smiling fourth sister.
During this journey together, he completely realized the sensitive nature of his fourth sister. She always kept some of her thoughts to herself, and only revealed them briefly. For example, at this moment, she was talking about food, but wasn't it about other things?
After all, she was going to be left alone in this foreign land.
He frowned at that.
The Fifth Prince didn't notice anything, and picked up another mutton steamed bun, praising: "I'll ask the chef to make this when I get back to the palace. The Queen Mother will definitely like it!"
Mu Xue gently touched the wrinkles on the top of the mutton steamed buns with her chopsticks and said calmly, "When are you going to leave?"
Before the Fifth Prince could swallow the Shaomai, the Fourth Prince said, "Three days later."
“So soon?”
"Fourth sister, we also want to stay a few more days." The fifth prince finally hurriedly finished eating the steamed buns and explained, "We just need to rush back to Beijing in autumn. There are still many things waiting to be done. Khan Ama may have other things to worry about before the New Year."
Mu Xue nodded, "Indeed, if the weather gets cold and it snows, the road will be difficult to walk on."
The Fourth Prince looked at her again, wanting to say something, but didn't know what, and in the end, he didn't open his mouth.
After breakfast, the brothers and sisters were led by Dorji to meet Tushetu Khan.
When they entered the king's tent again, Mu Xue noticed that the Fourth Prince deliberately lagged behind and let her walk in front. At first glance, it seemed as if she was leading her two younger brothers out on the street.
At the beginning, Mu Xue couldn't figure out whether this brother did it intentionally or unintentionally.
But after sitting down, she realized that he acted like this on purpose.
The tents were filled with nobles from the northern desert, and even the Chechen Khan and the Zasaktu Khanate specially sent people to welcome the distinguished guests from the Qing court who had come from afar.
Mu Xue sat quietly as usual. She had slept uneasily last night. In the cloudy tent, the buzzing sound of Mongolian greetings made her sleepy.
Her eyes were half closed, but the silver bowl on the table was picked up.
Maybe it was the maid who added milk to the tea, so Mu Xue didn't pay much attention to it.
The silver bowl filled with warm milk tea was placed on the table with a slight sound. She looked up and saw that the hand that placed the silver bowl was wearing a jade ring.
For a moment, her eyes opened wide.
Among these people, only one has the habit of wearing a jade ring?
She suddenly turned her head and saw that it was indeed the Fourth Prince!
Normally, he was a bit arrogant, and because he was a little older than Muxue, he always acted like a brother in front of her. He even scolded her once.
As a result, at this moment, the Fourth Prince personally made milk tea for her and brought it to her with a respectful look. How could he look like the cold and arrogant brother he usually was?
Mu Xue was really shocked?
No? Did she get some golden finger? She was so domineering that even the Fourth Prince was willing to be a servant to serve his sister?
The buzzing sound of conversation suddenly stopped, and the leading taijis exchanged glances with each other.
The Fourth Prince seemed unaware of it. He poured the milk tea leisurely, returned to his seat, lifted the corner of his robe, and sat down straight again.
Tushetu Khan glanced across the milk tea bowl and said with a smile, "The Fourth Prince has a very good relationship with the Fourth Princess."
"It has always been like this," the Fourth Prince said calmly, "Even Khan Ama loves the Fourth Princess very much."
The Fifth Prince realized it later and clapped his hands, saying, "That's right! The entire palace, from the Queen Mother to the Khan, all treat the Fourth Sister as the apple of their eye. No one dares to make her angry! Otherwise, the Queen Mother and the Khan will never forgive him!"
What this means is that the entire Qing court attaches great importance to treating the Fourth Princess with courtesy, and you guys can try to bully her.
Tushetu Khan stroked his beard and said, "Such a noble Fourth Princess, no one in Mobei would dare to bully her. Dunduobuduoerji, don't you agree?"
"Yes," Dunduobuduoerji stood up, clasped his fists, and said sternly, "Unless I die, no one can humiliate the princess."
The Fourth Prince smiled for a moment, and said in an intriguing tone: "If so, Khan Ama and us brothers and sisters can feel a little more at ease."
Tushetu Khan laughed loudly: "Please rest assured, my lord. I will love the fourth princess more than Dunduobudorji."
Muxue picked up the milk tea, and the steaming heat blurred her eyes.
It is true that my daughters and sisters care for me, but the occasional warmth is not entirely true? It is fake.
She lowered her head and took a sip of the salty milk tea. It didn't feel like she was drinking milk tea, but more like she was drinking a bowl of black sesame and almond paste, half black and half white, stirred together with a spoon, making it difficult to tell the two apart.
Tushetu Khan smiled and said, "The princess has come here to marry from afar. Although the master has given her a generous dowry, we have also prepared some gifts."
He raised his hand and gestured a number: "Two hundred miles of pasture and ten thousand cattle and sheep as our gift to the princess."
This was unexpected. Mu Xue put down the silver bowl and her eyes met with the Fourth Prince and the Fifth Prince.
The fourth prince nodded slightly. Tushetu Khan's move was also to "show his loyalty to the Qing court".
This scene seemed familiar. Muxue glanced at Dorji and thought that he was indeed the grandson of Tushetu Khan. It turned out that he learned this generous attitude from his grandfather.
She stood up and expressed her gratitude to Tushetu Khan, with a neither humble nor arrogant attitude: "Thank you, Khan."
No matter what his purpose and attitude are, what's in her pocket is hers. Mu Xue has cultivated an attitude that even if it is a sugar-coated bullet, she will eat the sugar coating and shoot the bullet back.
So, while chatting and laughing, she gained another two hundred miles of pasture and ten thousand cattle and sheep.
That's a good thing.
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