Lady Hou declared that today, the entire household would eat Five Spicy Cakes with Tusu Wine.
Grandma Sun doesn't need to cook; today's meal was brought directly from the main kitchen.
The Five Spicy Dishes Platter, also known as the Spring Platter, consists of five vegetables with strong or spicy aromas: chives, coriander, and rapeseed. After being washed, the vegetables are torn apart but not cut, and arranged on a plate in a decorative way.
Then add Laba garlic and shallots, along with incense sticks, and marinate overnight.
Made in the main kitchen, it also includes diced cured pork and finely chopped artemisia. Roll it up in a pancake and eat it; it's said to kill germs and ward off the cold. May it bring you a smooth and peaceful year ahead.
Served with a bowl of tripe soup made from finely chopped lamb tripe, everyone ate with beaming smiles.
Wang Yan also asked Aunt Sun to fry chili powder with peanuts and melon seeds to make chili oil.
Add some to the soup, then roll some more into the pancake; it's spicy and refreshing. Even my wife said it was delicious.
He then bestowed another purse of gold and silver peanuts, which would amount to about twenty or so.
Wang Yan happily put it into the small box and locked it up.
………………
On the eighteenth day of the first lunar month, after the New Year celebrations, Fangli returned and personally reported to Steward Wang that Fangtang had left Moyuan Academy. Fangtang was assigned to the laundry room.
If someone leaves the yard, should we then send another person in?
Fangli shook her head. "Young master has his own plans. First, promote Chun'er, who is of third rank in our courtyard, and then arrange for a little maid to enter the courtyard." Fangli slipped a purse into her hand.
Manager Wang touched the purse in his hand, his face crinkling with a smile.
"The person in the young master's courtyard is just a little maid being transferred in; the young lady can choose for herself."
Fangli took Hongye back to Moyuan Courtyard, called everyone over, promoted Chun'er to the second rank, and sent Hongye to serve Liu Xiang'er.
Chun'er was overjoyed. She packed her things and moved into Wang Ying's room without any trouble.
She took out a piece of light red fabric. "Sister Ying, I was going to put this in your trunk, why isn't it over there in the low cabinet?"
Wang Ying was taken aback. "How did you know I put the box in the low cabinet?"
Chun'er realized she had spoken out of turn, "I heard Xingzi mention it before, that she saw it when she came to help the older sisters tidy up the house."
Xingzi did know, and Wang Ying remembered.
After taking Chun'er inside to tidy up, Wang Ying went out.
Xingzi and I went to the plum garden in the backyard to pick plum blossoms, dried them, and stored them in small jars. We can use them to make plum blossom tea and plum blossom honey later.
Upon arriving at the plum garden, one could hear the cheerful sounds of birdsong and laughter, perhaps because there were already quite a few people inside.
Clusters of plum blossoms bloom in the wind, carrying a crisp fragrance, setting off the white snow beside them.
Wang Ying and her friends only picked the snow weeping plum blossom variety, filling two small baskets.
Standing there for a long time, I didn't feel cold at all. On the contrary, the crisp and clear air made my mind clearer and my mood improved a lot.
I went back to help Xingzi put the plum blossoms down, then turned around and said goodbye to Fangli.
It was time for her to rest, and she really didn't want to talk to Chun'er any more.
I don't know if it's because we're not compatible or for some other reason, but every time I talk to her for a couple of sentences, I feel suffocated and depressed.
Let's avoid this for a few days. I'll also take home the monthly allowance and rewards I've been saving under the bed for the past few months.
As soon as I got home, I heard my little sister cheering that we could go out shopping.
"What's wrong? Where are we going?"
When Wang Yan saw her return, she rushed over and said, "Mom said she'd take us to the market."
Wang Yan hasn't gone shopping properly since she returned, and she hasn't even left the Marquis's residence more than a few times. How could she not be happy?
Before the Lantern Festival was over, Aunt Wang dressed her in newly made clothes, applied plum blossom makeup, and gave her cheeks two rosy blushes. Then she took the two sisters out for a stroll.
The bustling crowds and the vendors' cries created a unique and charming atmosphere of everyday life. Wang Yan strolled around, a cup of perilla water in her hand.
The street was lined with all sorts of shops: taverns, teahouses, foot inns, butcher shops, and a constant stream of people performing crosstalk, shadow puppetry, and acrobatics.
As I walked, I was surrounded by a constant stream of cheers and applause.
Feeling hungry, they saw a stall selling clove-flavored wontons and begged Aunt Wang to take them there to eat.
"It's delicious! I've finally gotten to eat the famous clove wontons. Chunxue's description made my mouth water."
Aunt Wang asked in confusion, "Didn't I bring you here to eat last year?"
Wang Yan stuck out her tongue. Last year's events were over a decade ago for her, so how could she remember them so clearly? She just pretended that her family had never eaten this before.
"Did I forget the taste? Who remembers a bowl of wontons for a whole year? But this time I remember it, haha."
"You little rascal, I think she just wants an extra bowl of wontons." Wang Ying said as she brought over two fish baskets.
Wang Yan took a bite and immediately forgot all about the clove wontons. This one seemed to be made of stir-fried minced fish, coated with bean flour and wheat flour.
Dipping it in vinegar makes it tender, fresh, and delicious. After eating one, I still felt it wasn't enough and wanted to buy more, but Sister Ying stopped me.
"If we're full from this, what will we do with the snacks later?"
Later, we ate fried lamb intestines, which were made to order.
Clean the sheep's large and small intestines thoroughly beforehand, boil them in boiling water until cooked, and then remove and eat immediately. It's very delicious.
However, Wang Yan felt that it was not as delicious as the roasted golden sausage. The ingredients used were also sheep intestines. She stirred the sheep intestines with vinegar, then took them out and added another portion of vinegar with scallions and stirred them again.
Take out the sheep intestines that have been soaked in vinegar twice, rinse them with clean water, then chop some mutton, add salt, cumin powder, pepper, and egg white, and marinate for a while.
Put a thin layer of the marinated minced mutton into the cleaned sheep intestines, and hang them in a cool, ventilated place to dry for a week.
Then they would bring it over to sell. Wang Yan saw them skewering the sheep intestines with bamboo sticks. They cut them into pieces about half an arm's length, and then grilled them on fruitwood charcoal.
When the sausage is half-cooked, use a brush to evenly spread the beaten egg yolk on it while baking. The result is a golden and shiny sausage that is crispy and delicious.
Despite Yingjie's objections, Wang Yan insisted on packing two large bags.
One packet was to be given to Yingjie to take to Wang Xing when they returned home, and the other packet was to be given to the four Chuns.
When Aunt Wang wasn't throwing a tantrum, she seemed quite gentle. She smiled and packed two packs of roasted sausage, a large bag of fish dumplings, and a bag of candied winter melon for her.
When Wang Yan returned, she was carrying large bags and small packages. Chunyu smiled when she saw her.
"You're back just in time! You're lucky to have such a good meal. Chunxue just went to the kitchen and ordered a pot of Bo Xia Gong. Come and eat."
"What good news?"
Chunyu happily came forward, took her hand, and ran towards the back room while saying,
"Sister Zhiruo left the manor today, and Chunxue has been promoted to second class."
Wang Yan was overjoyed, "That's great!"
When Chunyu arrived at the back room, she saw that Chuncui and Chunlan both had sullen faces, and Chunyu was happy to see them like this.
She raised her chin, gave a soft hum, and pulled Chunyan inside to eat hot pot.
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