Chapter 163 Steamed Food
Zhu Huaizhen thought that the four words "abundant nature and abundant resources" were over, so she wanted to strike while the iron was hot and write a letter to her elder sister, Princess Rongyang Zhu Huaishu.
Zhu Huaizhen had already thought about the content of the letter, so he just chatted about family matters.
Unfortunately, the Yulin Army galloped forward to convey the emperor's will.
This time it is "prospering" and Zhu Huaizhen's blessing.
"Ali, have we been recognized?" Zhu Huaizhen said gloomily.
Steaming is not difficult, just prepare the steamed food.
"Zhen'er, isn't this very reasonable?" Lou Li shook his head and laughed.
"But what does the Emperor of Nanchu mean?" Zhu Huaizhen suddenly whispered in Lou Li's ear.
After hearing this, Lou Li shook his head and laughed again.
He didn't care what Emperor Cheng of Chu meant.
In the past few days, three hundred of his Jinyiwei have sneaked in one after another, all of them are elite forces.
"Never mind, I won't offer any steamed food this time." Zhu Huaizhen curled his lips.
However, Zhu Huaizhen never expected that steamed products are more difficult to obtain than treasures.
There is another intuitive criterion for judging treasures, namely value.
There are no steamed dishes, everything depends on Concubine Miao’s words.
For example, when it came to a dish of steamed pork ribs with lotus root, Concubine Miao frowned after tasting just a small piece of lotus root, saying that the lotus root was crisp and not the tender and pink texture she liked. Emperor Cheng of Chu was so distressed that he ordered the Yulin Army to capture the peasant woman who presented the steamed dish. The peasant woman knelt down and kowtowed, trying to explain that she had searched several ponds for lotus roots but couldn't find a single piece of soft and sticky lotus root. Concubine Miao became even more unhappy after hearing this, wondering if she was not worthy of eating soft and sticky lotus roots. Seeing that Concubine Miao was unhappy, Emperor Cheng of Chu ordered the eunuchs to peel off the peasant woman's fingernails alive. The bloody appearance frightened several palace maids who had just entered the palace.
When this story spread among the people, it made people gasp.
However, Zhu Huaizhen discovered that the people of Nanchu seemed numb.
They turned around and lit incense to ward off evil spirits and prayed to the gods and Buddhas.
The ingredients of this exorcist incense are agarwood, cloves, amomum villosum, perilla, musk, bletilla striata, and camphor. First, clean the agarwood and soak it in a musk solution for a day and a night. Remove the agarwood and dry it in the shade. Grind it into a fine powder and set aside. Next, grind the cloves, amomum villosum, perilla, and an appropriate amount of camphor into a fine powder and set aside. Next, grind the bletilla striata to extract the sticky juice and mix it with the two incense powders to make two different incense pills. Finally, place the agarwood powder incense pill on top and the mixed incense pills made with cloves, amomum villosum, perilla, and camphor below, and press them into a fragrant cake.
Unfortunately, the evil-repelling incense cannot dispel evil spirits.
"Tu Mi, people in Nanchu are so timid." Zhu Huaizhen muttered.
Another example is a dish of steamed beef with shiitake mushrooms, the meat was tender and rich in mushroom flavor. Concubine Miao, despite being unable to eat mushrooms, insisted on trying them. As a result, she developed a rash all over her body and had to consult more than a dozen imperial physicians for pulse diagnosis and prescriptions. Emperor Cheng of Chu, heartbroken, ordered the Imperial Guards to capture the cook, tie her up under a fragrant plum tree, and feed her mosquitoes all night, causing her body to swell and ulcerate.
Another example is a dish of steamed shrimp balls with glutinous rice. Concubine Miao took a token bite and declared it fishy and stinky. Without a second thought, Emperor Cheng of Chu ordered the Imperial Guards to capture the girl. A eunuch suggested that the girl swallow the live shrimp to give Concubine Miao a taste of her suffering. Overjoyed, Emperor Cheng rewarded the eunuch. Consequently, the girl was forced to swallow one shrimp after another, skin and shell intact, until her throat bled and she was nearly mute.
"Why are all the injured people women? Where are the dead men?" Zhu Huaizhen couldn't help but frown.
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