As the summer heat intensifies, the lady loses her appetite, much to the worry of Qingqian and the other maids.
Grandma Sun specially opened a small kitchen to cook for her, preparing a dish of pickled plum and ginger early in the morning, paired with cold noodles made with locust leaves that had been rinsed in cold water. The refreshing and tangy flavor was the perfect appetizer.
Wang Yan was curious about what locust leaf cold noodles were, but it turned out that they were made by taking tender leaves from the locust tree, washing them carefully, crushing them in a mortar and pestle, and then filtering out the residue with fine gauze.
The green juice extracted from the pounding was mixed with water and flour to form a dough. The lady liked to eat wider noodles, so Aunt Sun rolled them out to be about two fingers wide.
Boil the vegetables in a pot until cooked, then remove them. They have a strong locust tree aroma. Rinse them briefly in ice-cold water, then pour the tender juice from the pickled vegetables, plums, and ginger over them and mix.
Grandma Sun then chopped a clove of garlic, half a cucumber, added a little chili oil, sesame soy sauce, and sesame oil, and mixed it with shredded chicken.
The lady ate a whole bowl of noodles in one go, and also ate quite a bit of the side dishes and shredded chicken that were served.
Sister Qingqian rewarded her with a silver ingot, and Aunt Sun held it in her hands, thanking her repeatedly.
Wang Yan and her friends got a free bowl of noodles, topped it with two large spoonfuls of chili oil, mixed it up, and ate it with side dishes. They ate it with gusto, enjoying it immensely.
When she got back, she thought about making a refreshing soup to drink.
After much thought, I decided to make sour plum drink. The tea room had all sorts of ingredients, except for licorice root.
Grandma Sun brought her a package, and after taking the licorice root, she prepared dried plums, dried tangerine peel, mulberries, hawthorn, roselle, and rock sugar.
First, soak it in clean water for an hour, then pour it directly into a small teapot, add several large bowls of water to fill the teapot, bring it to a boil over high heat, then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes.
After turning off the heat, add rock sugar, let it cool, then scoop out the residue and hang a small wooden bucket in the well to freeze for half an hour.
Find two clean bamboo tubes, make two bamboo straws, add half a cup of ice and more than half a cup of plum juice, then drizzle some crushed osmanthus flowers on top. It's refreshing and cooling, and nothing could be more soothing.
Fifth Sister was also given a cup. This time, she didn't bother Aunt Sun anymore. Instead, she ran to the tea room, hugged Wang Yan's waist, and begged her to make more so she could take it home and drink it slowly.
Wang Yan quickly copied down the recipe and gave it to the Fifth Miss's head maid. The maid gave her a purse containing five or six silver peanuts and three or four gold peanuts.
It's very small, more than half the size of a normal one. It was probably made so small so that it would be easy for Miss Wu to grab.
Speaking of the Fifth Miss, she really showed her support. Wang Yan looked at the basket of lychees she brought and suddenly thought of a favorite summer drink from her past life: Lychee Iced Jasmine.
She also wanted to try making it for Miss Wu; it was delicious and beautiful, and the kids would definitely love it.
Take jasmine flowers and steep them in water at around 80 degrees Celsius. Peel the lychees, add ice cubes and honey, and mash them into a paste.
Then pour the brewed tea into the lychee puree, filter out the dregs, and keep only the tea.
It tastes fragrant and sweet, which is the kind of flavor that kids love. Miss Wu just heard that something delicious was being made, and she doesn't want to leave.
Now, a glass of iced tea is all it takes to beat the summer heat.
She held a cup of tea, drank it happily, and smiled with her eyes crinkling.
If you serve your mistress well, the madam will naturally reward you. Qingqian gave her a small silver ingot.
In just one morning, she earned four months' worth of wages. Wang Yan was overjoyed.
After the lychee iced jasmine tea was served, the Lady Hou drank it and thought it was very good. She then asked the Lady Hou to go to the old lady's courtyard and teach her how to make this fruit tea.
When Wang Yan arrived, she found that the old lady's tea room had a wide variety of fruits. She then selected green grapes and jasmine, and added lychees to make a pot of iced tea.
The honey was reduced by a fraction, and green grapes were added for a nice color. It tastes sweet and sour, like a beverage.
The old lady also suffered from the summer heat, but after drinking this, she was able to eat again.
The older sister who was serving Wang Yan came out with a smile and put a pearl hairpin on each side of the two buns that Wang Yan had styled.
This round and translucent bead is quite expensive; the maidservants here are indeed generous.
I've saved enough money to buy another person's freedom. *Gives a mental thumbs-up!*
Her lychee iced jasmine tea quickly became a sensation throughout the mansion, and the Lady of the Marquis even asked her to brew this tea at the lotus appreciation banquet in a few days.
"Aunt Sun, please take me with you too," Chunlan said hurriedly as she approached.
During the days she swept the kitchen in the backyard, she discovered that Aunt Sun was making pork jerky, spicy strips, and the like, for which she received a considerable amount of rewards each month.
Seeing that Fuling and Chunye had come to help, and that Aunt Sun had never shortchanged them, she felt envious and had long wanted to try making snacks to earn some pocket money.
But Aunt Sun didn't respond to her at all. This lotus appreciation banquet would be attended by many wealthy young ladies and ladies.
Third-class maids generally didn't have the right to go forward; they could only make some snacks and maybe get a few coins as a reward.
"Girl, sweeping the floor every day is tiring enough. You finally have some free time, so you should go and rest."
Well, it's hopeless. Chunlan walked away dejectedly.
………………
Upon hearing that the Marquis's residence was going to hold a lotus appreciation banquet, Xu Shaoqing made a huge fuss about going.
Jiang had no choice, and it would be too strange if she didn't go. Knowing that Gu Ting was not in the Marquis's residence, she simply agreed to her request.
Xu Shaoqing wore a light red silk dress, embroidered with crabapple blossoms in silver thread.
A matching silver brocade belt cinched her waist, and as the gentle breeze blew, the flowing gauze made her even more charming and lovely.
The one who came to lead the way was Wang Ying. The people from Moyuan Academy were supposed to stay in the courtyard and not come out.
Who would have thought that Aunt Yang was a troublemaker, and she specially slipped two ten-tael silver ingots to Steward Wang.
So Wang Ying was sent to lead the way. Jiang Shi, unaware of this, was still excitedly going to the garden with her daughter to admire the flowers.
When the two arrived at the Lady of the Marquis's place, Qingyu, who was by Lady Gao's side, immediately looked rather unpleasant upon seeing Wang Ying's expression.
He whispered in his wife's ear, then walked up to Wang Ying and said, "Come with me to the main kitchen and bring me two plates of fruit."
Once they were on the road, he asked again, "Why did Mo Yuan Academy come out to help today? Did the entire academy come out?"
"It was Steward Wang who sent them. He said two of the maids who were guiding us had stomach problems and weren't feeling well, so he temporarily sent two people. It was me and Hongye."
Qingyu asked casually, so she didn't think much of it. When they arrived at the place to get the fruit, Qingyu made an excuse to keep her there while she took the fruit and left.
After Qingyu came out, she randomly found a maid, handed her the fruit, and then quickly walked to Hongye, who was guarding the garden gate.
When they arrived at the destination, they saw Hongye carrying a winnowing basket full of purses. Upon closer inspection, they found that each one was embroidered with red beans.
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