Chapter 018 Counterattack

From early autumn to the beginning of winter, Yao Niang had mastered her fingering and could even play some simple music scores.

Yao Niang also changed her clothes from light skirts to heavy winter clothes. She came back from learning konghou in the morning, and when she passed by the grocery store on the way, she immediately shouted, "Uncle Lian, I want to go down."

Uncle Lian, who was driving the carriage, stopped the carriage. Knowing that his daughter wanted to buy snacks, he smiled and moved the footstool down, letting the maids help her get down. Yao Niang immediately ran to the counter selling cakes. The second brother recognized her and even bent down to ask, "What does Miss Yan want?"

"I want half a pound of Yu Lu cake, half a pound of jujube paste pastry, three ounces of milk cake, and a box of pine nut and lily pastry." Yao Niang came prepared.

After buying the cakes, she wanted to buy some fruits. She looked around and said, "Citrons don't taste good, but they taste good. My mother likes them very much. Let's buy some of them first. Let's buy some of my favorites. Second brother, I want kumquats, pears, persimmons, winter dates, and two big pomegranates."

After she finished choosing, she asked the maids to take them away, and she went to the preserved fruits section. Winter is the season for eating plums, and sugar-coated green plums, perilla plums, and rose plums are the best-selling ones. Yao Niang certainly would not miss any of them.

After buying these, Yao Niang said to Uncle Lian who was hurrying to catch the car, "It's not snowing yet. I want to go to the gate of Yulou to buy some mutton buns."

The buns there are different from those in other places. The bun skins there are layered and crispy, and the mutton inside is not fishy at all. Yao Niang and my parents all love to eat them.

Uncle Lian took her there to buy some steamed buns. It turned out that many people were buying the plum blossom buns next to it, so she asked Hongxiu to buy two baskets. So they returned with a full bag.

Seeing her like this, Xie couldn't help but laugh and said, "No wonder you came back so late, did you go shopping?"

"Well, mom, close your eyes and guess what I bought?" Yao Niang kept the question in suspense.

Xie was also very cooperative and really closed her eyes. Yao Niang put the mutton buns under her nose. She sniffed and immediately guessed what it was: "Yulou mutton buns."

Yao Niang smiled and said, "Yes, I bought it especially for you. Oh, and I also bought citron for you. Don't you love the taste of citron the most?"

If the food in the market can be famous, it must be one in a million. Xie couldn't help but sniff and said, "Thank you, daughter."

"Mom, why are you being so polite to me? Oh, by the way, there are also plum blossom buns for which many people are queuing up. You have to be careful when eating them, as they are full of soup. I couldn't help but take a bite in the carriage, and the soup almost burned my tongue." Yao Niang stuck out her tongue for Xie to see.

Xie was very distressed, but then she heard someone walk in and say, "Yao Niang, are you going to clear out the whole street? If we put all your things on it, we won't have anywhere to sit."

When Yao Niang saw that it was Yan Yingqi who brought Yan Jingzhao in, she felt something was wrong and quickly asked the servants to send all the snacks and fruits to her room, leaving only a few buns.

She originally thought that Yan Yingqi and Yan Jingzhao would not eat it, so she was planning to have it just by herself and her mother. However, she did not expect that Yan Jingzhao, who was always picky about food, would secretly finish all the plum blossom buns.

Yan Yingqi, who had just said that she had bought out all the food on the street, was actually busy eating mutton buns. Xie took two of them from his mouth and ate them.

"I thought our Yao Niang was good at buying snacks." Xie was very happy.

Yao Niang laughed and said, "In fact, I also saw someone rolling the fish into long strips and frying it until golden brown. Don't ordinary people sprinkle five-spice powder on it? The spice of that person is cumin powder from India, which is very, very fragrant. I smelled it that time, and I bought a can of it from the grocery store this time. I will ask the kitchen to sprinkle it on the fried food when I make it. This can of cumin powder is very expensive, it cost me three hundred coins, and I didn't expect it to be so expensive."

"Let's try making croaker for dinner. The croakers in autumn are all stored in the ice cellar, and we still have some now." Xie was quite interested in food.

Yao Niang looked at Yan Jingzhao on the table and said, "Brother, I found a problem with you."

Yan Jingzhao looked up and asked curiously, "What's the problem?"

"You just don't like home-cooked meals, especially traditional meals. You prefer fresh food from outside. Last time I bought you crab roe baked buns. I was just being polite because I thought your brother wouldn't like them. But he didn't expect me to be polite and ate them all." Yao Niang covered her mouth and laughed.

Yan Jingzhao looked embarrassed.

He is currently studying in Yingtian Prefecture. On weekdays, his family usually delivers meals to him, or he goes out to eat with his classmates. Although he has an unrestrained and uninhibited manner, he is a son of a wealthy family after all, so he will not buy food from snack stalls. Yao Niang is different. She will not refuse anything that tastes good.

Yan Yingqi couldn't help but ask, "Yao Niang, how is your konghou playing going?"

"I have almost learned the fingering. My teacher told me to practice more. To be honest, maybe in the future, it will not be Li Ping who plays the konghou in China, but I, Concubine Yan, who plays the konghou in China."

Yan Yingqi laughed loudly and Yao Niang pouted.

After dinner, Yan Yingqi and Xie talked about Yan Jingzhang's marriage: "I feel relieved now that his marriage is settled. But I really can't do anything about his academic performance. We are in Nanjing, a place with rich cultural heritage, and we have hired famous teachers for him, but he just can't make progress."

In fact, in addition to talent, studying also requires hard work. Yan Jingzhao was raised by the third old lady. Although she spoiled him a lot, Yan Yingqi and the first wife often asked about his homework. The third old lady was naturally strong-willed, so she paid great attention to Yan Jingzhao's studies over the years.

Furthermore, Yan Jingzhao himself was also very hardworking, but because he was successful at a young age and too straightforward, his emotions were very distinct. The last time Yan Jingzhang was criticized by the teacher, it was because he heard that he had privately visited the emperor's uncle and couldn't even answer the questions. Yan Jingzhao beat him up directly. Zhen and Yin Yi Niang asked him to teach them more, but he directly told Yan Jingzhang to reincarnate.

Now when he heard Yan Yingqi bring up this topic, he just snorted coldly.

Yao Niang glanced at her brother and could not help but slip back to her room. When she came back this time, Xin Wan, Qian Niang and Ying Niang were all there, so she took out the snacks and dried fruits she bought today to entertain them.

They gathered together to peel pomegranates and eat them. Compared to when they just came back from the northwest, their relationship was much better now. Even Yingniang and Yaoniang's relationship was not very close, but it was not bad.

"I knew you came back from outside, so I thought you must have brought something back. I didn't expect it to be true." Xin Wan smiled.

Yao Niang laughed and said, "In winter, my mouth is always dry and I want to eat some fresh fruit. I sent them out to buy some, but I was afraid they wouldn't be able to buy what I wanted. So I happened to pass by and bought a lot."

In fact, it wasn't that everyone was short of food, they just wanted to find an opportunity to walk around. Either they came over or Yao Niang went over.

For a while, everyone was talking about Yan Rubai's marriage again. Yan Rubai had held her coming-of-age ceremony last month and would be getting married at the end of the year.

Yingniang suddenly asked, "Third sister, have you given these foods to Brother Zhou?"

Yao Niang shook her head: "What are you talking about, girl? My mother is taking good care of him. Why does he need me to send him food? It's not enough for me to eat by myself."

Although Yao Niang was young, she was well aware of the strict rules for men and women, especially since Xie had told her that the most important thing for a woman was her reputation as a consort and that a woman's reputation should be flawless. Therefore, since Zhou Lingguang came to live in their house, Yao Niang could only count the number of times they had met on one hand.

"Actually, Sister Bei was like that before, and now she's like this. I don't like it." Ying Niang said.

Yao Niang had no choice but to pretend she didn't hear it, and said, "Since you're all here, let's discuss making some needlework for Sister Bei, so as to avoid making a mistake again."

Qianniang is good at painting and needlework, while Yaoniang learned from Xie. She spends about an hour every day on needlework and now can make purses.

Xin Wan was weak and could not do much needlework in a year. Ying Niang was still young and she was the youngest among the sisters. She just said, "I will just make two skeins and go over."

"It's good enough for you to give two silk ribbons at your age." Yao Niang said with a smile.

After a few people had a few laughs, they played back-sixes and flower cards before leaving. For dinner, they cooked barramundi into fish fillets, roasted them, and sprinkled them with cumin powder, which almost made Yao Niangxiang dizzy.

"Mom, it's really delicious, crispy and fragrant." Yao Niang stomped her feet in pleasure.

Yan Yingqi coughed lightly, and Yao Niang quickly put her legs down, but the cumin powder was too fragrant, so Xie also added a little pepper powder to enhance the taste.

But she didn't allow them to eat too much: "It's dry weather, and you still eat so much. Be careful not to get irritated. Be sure to drink chrysanthemum tea after eating."

"Just listen to me." Yao Niang smiled.

Xie was happy to see that everyone was eating well, especially now that Jing Zhao and Yao Niang were getting closer to her, she had no regrets, but having no regrets did not mean that she could forget what Zhen had done. Since the last time she sent someone to see An'er, she had been very obedient. Xie asked her to investigate in the open, and to use her own people to verify in secret.

I never thought that it was really Zhen who whispered in Yan Yingqi's ear. Although she said it very covertly, it was definitely her instruction.

In this case, Xie will not let her go.

Yan Jingzhang's engagement to Zhen was very grand, and Xie naturally went to help. She also said to Old Madam Yu: "It's like your cousin is marrying into your family. You can just hope to have grandchildren. What a good marriage."

The Yu family is the old lady Yu's family, so it is true that this is true. It was Zhen who proposed this marriage, so Zhen was also very proud of it.

But in the blink of an eye, Xie joked, "My son is already engaged, and I think Sanlang won't be far behind. Compared to Erlang, Sanlang is easier to deal with. I think childhood sweethearts are better than anything else."

These words made Old Lady Yu smile brightly. Of course, she was willing for her own grandson to marry her own granddaughter. However, Zhen was very unhappy about it. Not to mention that Xin Wan's parents were both deceased, she was thin and looked ill-fated, she was a very decent person and was definitely not fit to be a clan wife.

But Xie brought it up in front of so many people at this time. Zhen suppressed her rage and looked at Xie, but Xie looked back at her without any fear.