090. Pear paste

After lunch, Rongse returned to the stove room. The remaining lotus roots had been diced, the pears had been shredded, and the ingredients such as red dates, rock sugar, and Sichuan fritillaria had also been prepared.

"Grind the lotus roots, and keep the lotus juice and lotus paste." Rong Se gave a brief instruction, then looked at the pot that had not yet been filled with water, walked forward to pour the shredded pears into the pot, and instructed: "Don't add water, light the fire."

After receiving the order, everyone immediately divided the baskets and went to work. Rongse stayed in front of the pot. After boiling for a while, the pear juice began to seep out. At this time, add ginger, Fritillaria powder, dried lily, loquat leaves and other medicinal materials, stir slowly to prevent the pot from getting stuck, and continue to boil. When the juice is almost boiled out, pour it into a vat, filter out the residue with filter cloth, and return the pear juice to the pot to continue boiling until it becomes viscous. Rongse picks up the dark brown thick liquid, pulls the sticky liquid into threads, and it is done.

"My Lord, what should we do with the lotus root?"

Uncle Liu asked loudly while filtering the lotus root juice.

Rong Se raised his eyes when he heard the voice, "Wrap the lotus root paste with a filter cloth, soak it in clean water and scrub it. When the lotus root powder is almost washed, leave it together with the lotus root juice. Keep the remaining lotus root paste and don't throw it away. Make meatballs with it in the evening."

Ingredients should be used to their full potential without wasting any residue.

Then he poured the sticky autumn pear paste into the glass bottles one spoonful at a time. In the end, four bottles of autumn pear paste were made from several large baskets of snow pears. Rong Se held them up and looked at them in the light, feeling quite satisfied.

This is his habit. He is prone to catching colds in autumn, but he does not want to take medicine or get injections, so he prepares some lotus root powder and autumn pear paste for himself.

Lan Ying pulled Rong Zhixu over to take a look, frowning and asking, "My Lord, this doesn't look delicious... Why is it so black?"

"This is for drinking with water. I didn't tell you to eat it directly." Rong Se laughed, "It's a good thing for quenching thirst."

Lan Ying's face showed an expression of humility.

"You are a little girl who doesn't know what's good." Rong Se snorted and pointed at the lotus root starch in the basin. "I'll make you some osmanthus lotus root starch in two days. It's sweet. You should like it."

Lan Ying has a special liking for food and is not picky. She nodded immediately with a sparkle in her eyes, "Okay!"

Rong Zhixu was envious and resentful at the same time when he saw Lan Ying being so casual.

This is what brother and sister are like.

Rong Se saw Rong Zhixu was silent and he didn't know how to coax the girl. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Xuanhe, is the egg custard tasty? Your injury hasn't healed yet, so I didn't make it too sweet."

Rong Zhixu was stunned, at a loss for a moment, then he bowed dignifiedly and said, "Thank you, uncle, it suits my taste."

Rong Se sighed, "Xuanhe, the palace doesn't have so many rules. If there is something that doesn't suit your taste, just say so. No one will blame you."

His appearance was not approachable enough, and his beauty was too sharp, like a piece of jade. However, his features were calm, his temperament was gentle, and his words were gentle and soft, even with a hint of careful sincerity.

Rong Zhixu was even more at a loss. She thought for a moment and said seriously, "... I dare not deceive the emperor's uncle. It is just right for me." After a pause, she added shyly, "I don't really like sweet things."

This is the truth.

Rong Zhixu really liked that bowl of egg custard.

Rong Se remembered that Rong Zhixu had not touched the brown sugar glutinous rice lotus root just now, so he nodded and said, "I understand."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yun Chu came in from outside.

"Your Highness, it's His Royal Highness Xuanhe." Yun Chu hesitated for a moment and glanced at Rong Zhixu.

Rong Se said softly: "Stop talking. What's the matter?"

Yun Chu lowered his eyes and said, "Your Highness, the young master of the Xi family wants to see you."

Rong Zhixu suddenly froze, his expression tense.

"Xi Chaoyi?" Rong Se put down the autumn pear paste in his hand, his gentle expression faded, and he snorted with a fake smile, "Seeking an audience? He must be here to cause trouble. Tell him to wait in front, and I will go to meet him."

Yun Chu nodded: "Yes, I will arrange it."

Rong Se let down his rolled-up sleeves. He was dressed quite casually in the mansion, even his hair was tied up with a hairpin. He looked very different from the Regent Prince who was dressed in gorgeous clothes and had his hair tied up with a golden crown. But when his eyebrows were lowered, a sharp edge was hidden.

"Xuanhe, if you want to see him, go to the back." Rong Se looked at Rong Zhixu and said, "I will tell the outside world that you are seriously ill and will not show up again in two days. If you don't want to see him again, then go around the mansion with Lan Ying."

He was thoughtful and gentle in his words, and Rong Zhixu could not find any reason to refuse.

Rong Se said this and went out.

Rong Zhixu hated and feared Xi Chaoyi and couldn't make up his mind. But Lan Ying grabbed her hand and pulled her out.

"Come on, let's watch secretly. The prince is really good at making people angry. Let's see how the prince deals with that bastard."

Rong Zhixu was helpless.

Rong Se, who was walking in front, paused.

...Is this little girl Lan Ying praising him or insulting him?

.

When Xi Chaoyi was invited into the front hall by Yun Chu, he saw Rong Se wearing casual clothes and sitting in the upper seat.

"Your Majesty, I am here to see you." Xi Chaoyi stepped forward and saluted.

"Yes." Rong Se said calmly, "Master Xi, I have said it before, we have a long way to go."

Xi Chaoyi was drunk and had just woken up when he heard that Rong Zhixu was taken away by Rong Se. Not only that, the entire Xi family would become the laughing stock of Jinjing. He was very smart and knew what to do at this time. He put down his face and smiled apologetically: "It was my fault. I heard that my wife was in the prince's mansion, so I came to take her back. I made a mistake and I will never make the same mistake again in the future."

Rong Se raised his eyes slightly and looked outside the door.

Lan Ying and Rong Zhixu were right behind.

After a while, there was silence all around.

Seeing Rong Se's unpredictable expression, Xi Chaoyi remained silent, and then said, "Your Highness, after all, is my first wife. If she stays at a man's house, it will not be good for her reputation."

"This is none of your business."

Rong Se withdrew his gaze. He was just waiting. If Rong Zhixu had softened his heart, he would not have needed to continue talking. However, Rong Zhixu was still calm.

"Xuan He is your first wife and also my niece." Rong Se's eyes were cold and serious. "The eldest princess of the dynasty was whipped by a concubine. Where can I put my royal family's face? Xi Chaoyi, you come to me to ask for my first wife? When you let the servants insult her, you didn't think that she was your first wife. You should be polite when you apologize. Are you here to ask me for punishment?!"

At the end of his speech, Rong Se slammed the table, making a loud bang.

Xi Chaoyi was not in the right, his face turned green and red for a while, and he said, "Prince, this is a family matter!"

"Then I must get involved in your Xi family's affairs." Rong Se stood up and stared down at Xi Chaoyi. "You ruined yourself, so you can't blame Xuanhe. You, huh... a coward who only dares to attack women."

Xi Chaoyi's foot was stepped on and his face suddenly twisted. He stood up suddenly.

The two men confronted each other.

Rong Se slowly gave a provocative smile and looked at Xi Chaoyi with eyes full of ridicule.

"Can't you listen to the truth?" Rong Se said softly, "Xuan He is in the Regent Palace. Master Xi can find her and bring her back, but - it depends on whether you have the ability to do so."

Xi Chaoyi's face turned gloomy and distorted several times, and even burst out with murderous intent. Rong Se stared at him without avoiding or retreating.

He was actually hoping that Xi Chaoyi would get irritated and take action in the palace.

This way he had enough reason to deal with Xi Chaoyi.

But the other party was not stupid. Even though Rong Se repeatedly poked at his pain points, Xi Chaoyi remained calm and said coldly, "Does the prince really want to make things difficult for me?"

A hint of disgust flashed across Rong Se's eyes, and he said lightly, "Yes."

Xi Chaoyi was so angry that he was speechless. In the end, he could only throw up his sleeves, coldly said "just wait and see", and returned home in defeat.

After he left, Rong Se patted his sleeves and hummed softly.

Lan Ying pulled Rong Zhixu in, and said with a smile, "Master, are you just going to let him go like this?"

"What else?" Rong Se shook his head with great regret, "I deliberately sent everyone away. There are only him and I in this room. If he had the courage to take action, we could have detained him today. Unfortunately, he didn't dare."

Lan Ying's face turned pale, "That won't do. I'm still here. If that bastard dares to touch my master, I'll smash his head!"

Rong Se imagined the force of Lan Ying's punch and suddenly felt a little pain in his head. He waved his hand and said, "Okay, I'm going back to sleep. You should stop playing with Xuan He and let her rest more."

Rong Se was already sleepy. He yawned with his hands covering his lips and walked out slowly. When he reached the door, he suddenly turned around. The sunlight fell on his eyelashes, and his handsome face seemed to become elegant and holy.

"Xuanhe, well done."

Rong Zhixu was stunned by this sentence and muttered to himself: "Uncle..."

"I'm flattering you." Lan Ying put her hands behind her back and walked briskly in front of Rong Zhixu. "You saw it just now, the master is protecting you. If you change your mind and go with that bastard, you will let him down."

Rong Zhixu met those bright eyes and suddenly understood why Lan Ying insisted on bringing her to watch this play - she wanted her to see how Rong Se protected her.

"I will always remember your kindness, uncle."

Rong Zhixu looked at Lan Ying and said softly, "You care about the emperor's uncle so much, he treats you well, right?"

"The master treats you very well." Lan Ying looked at Rong Zhixu with a smile, but her expression suddenly became a little gloomy, and then she said softly: "Your Highness, you are very lucky."

Rong Zhixu thought of the past few years when she had laughed at herself, and wondered how this rich young lady from the palace could understand her helplessness. She smiled and said, "How can it be considered lucky to accept a thief as your mother and sacrifice yourself for nothing?"

"But you're still alive."

Lan Ying shrugged, looked at her seriously, and said, "Besides, isn't it better now? Everything will be fine in the future, Princess, have you ever seen heavy snow in Jinjing?"

Rong Zhixu didn't understand why, so he nodded slightly: "Of course."

"When I was a kid, I heard that rich people would walk in the snow to appreciate plum blossoms." Lan Ying said softly, "I don't understand. Winter can freeze people to death. The lives of the poor are buried under the snow. What's so good about this vast expanse of white snow? It's really cold. I've seen many people freeze to death, die of hunger, and die of illness. I even thought that I couldn't escape such a cold winter either."

Rong Zhixu was stunned.

Lan Ying didn't say much, just smiled, "When the master saved me and my two brothers from the Yun family, we were involved in murder cases and were almost arrested by the officials and thrown into jail. When we came back, we had to - forget it, you don't know how much I envy you. But you see, if anyone dares to bully me now, I will smash his head! The same goes for you!"

Rong Zhixu suddenly realized that this bright and lovely girl had also experienced a lot, and some of her experiences were not even easier than hers.

After a moment of silence, Rong Zhixu suddenly reached out and touched Lan Ying's hair, and said softly, "Then you... have worked hard too."

Lan Ying was slightly stunned, her ears slightly red, and she lowered her head embarrassedly.

"I just want to tell you that everything will be fine."

Rong Zhixu chuckled: "Okay, I understand."