Banqin took the bundle from a maid and thanked her hurriedly.
"Because of the Twenty Zen Tea Party, some relatives came to the house. The Eighteenth Lady has to accompany the guests. It is inconvenient to go out these days, so I came here to say something to the lady." The maid said, "Madam knows that the lady is going too. The ladies at home are doing a wedding.
I also made one for my wife."
"Thank you, Madam, for your concern." Banqin thanked him again.
"Sister, please go in quickly. I'm going back. A car will come to pick you up on that day," the maid said.
The two women said goodbye and watched the carriage go before Banqin turned around and walked in.
"Who is it?" Xu Maoxiu asked while standing in the corridor.
Banqin explained the matter and Xu Maoxiu nodded.
The courtyard door was knocked again.
"Did you forget something again?" Banqin said, and hurriedly went to open the door again, but was stunned.
There was a strange man standing outside the door. When he saw Banqin, he smiled and walked inside.
"I haven't been here for a long time. It's really hard to find this house. I almost forgot about it." He said in his mouth.
Banqin was so frightened that she quickly closed the door to block it.
"Who are you looking for?" she asked.
Xu Maoxiu also stepped over with a serious look on his face.
The man also seemed startled.
"Isn't this the Chen family?" he asked, taking a few steps back and looking up at the door plaque.
The door plaque is empty and has no words.
"This is not the Chen family." Banqin said hurriedly, "This is the Cheng family."
The man yelled, with a puzzled look on his face, and looked inside again.
Xu Maoxiu has already walked over.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
Banqin hurriedly turned around.
"Lang Jun, someone is looking for the Chen family," she said.
Seeing Xu Maoxiu, the man outside the door couldn't help but take two steps back again.
"This is not the Chen family, this is the Cheng family. You made the wrong mistake. Go ask again." Xu Maoxiu looked at him and said.
The man looked at Xu Maoxiu and made a sound.
"It turns out I remembered it wrong." He said, a little apologetically, and hurriedly saluted.
Xu Maoxiu nodded, and the man walked away, looking around, muttering, and knocking on the door next to him.
"If you don't ask someone clearly, how can you ask like this?" Banqin said.
Xu Maoxiu nodded, and the two of them withdrew their gaze and closed the door. Only then did the man asking for directions look at him again, straightened his slightly bent body, and the foreigner's fear and uneasiness on his face faded, and his brows furrowed slightly.
He turned around and strode away.
Xu Maoxiu and Banqin, who are members of the family, naturally don't know about these matters.
The maid opened the door from the house.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"It's okay, someone is looking for someone." Xu Maoxiu said, "Sister is awake?"
The maid nodded, and Cheng Jiaoniang was already sitting in the hall.
"The shopkeeper initially planned to carve tofu," Xu Maoxiu said.
"Carving?" Cheng Jiaoniang said, "I'm afraid it's not easy to carve."
Xu Maoxiu nodded.
"Yes." He said, smiling, "Now Sun Cai is making tofu day and night, and Li Dashao and... Miss Banqin are also trying day and night."
Cheng Jiaoniang nodded.
"It's not easy to do," she said. "I don't know if it can be done. I only need these four or five days."
"Li Dashao's knife skills are pretty good, but he has never made such a soft knife, so he is unfamiliar with it." Xu Maoxiu said.
Cheng Jiaoniang thought for a moment.
"Remember to carve it in water when making it," she said.
Put it in the water?
Xu Maoxiu said oh and nodded.
"I took note of it," he said.
Cheng Jiaoniang pondered again for a moment. Xu Maoxiu knew that she was thinking about something and did not interrupt her. The room was quiet, except for the regular sound of bamboo beaters hitting stones outside.
The maid hurriedly responded, got up and knelt down in front of the tables of pens, inks, papers and inkstones.
"Mushroom soup." Cheng Jiaoniang said, "Put in daylily, fungus, shredded bamboo shoots and shredded mushrooms..."
The maid lowered her head and wrote quickly with her pen.
In the palace, the Queen Mother looked at the three people sitting on the floor in front of her.
"How's it going? Have you memorized it?" she asked, "It's already been a stick of incense."
The eldest prince put down his pen.
"Empress, my grandson has finished writing." He said.
The Queen Mother happily asked someone to bring it over and saw that the handwriting on it was neat and consistent.
"Brother, the writing is good." She said, while looking at the other two people, she lowered her face and asked, "What about you?"
Prince Jin'an also put down his pen with a smile.
"Mother, I have finished writing." He said.
The chamberlain hurriedly went to present it, but the Empress Dowager glanced at it, her expression even uglier. The handwriting on a piece of paper was hasty, and only half of it was written.
"Didn't you already learn Gongyang Zhuan? His Majesty punished you to memorize it for three days. How come you can't even write half a chapter of Wen Gong now?" she said.
The prince of Jin'an County chuckled.
"Mother, sir, you asked me to learn it in one year, but it's only been half a year now. I'll definitely be able to memorize it in another half year," he said.
The eldest prince on the side had a trace of ridicule on his face, curled his lips in disdain, raised his chin a little, and straightened his figure.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I've finished writing too." The second prince hurriedly put down his pen, held up his paper and shouted as he staggered over.
"Oh, second brother, you wrote well." The Queen Mother praised, looking at the two big words on the paper.
"Brother Wei taught me well," the second prince said, waving the Queen Mother's sleeves.
The Queen Mother pursed her lips and smiled, then glared at the still laughing Prince Jin'an.
"Look at you, you still need children to help you out." She scolded in a low voice, "Go back and study hard. As time goes by, you will know what can be accomplished by messing around."
"Yes, your Majesty." Prince Jin'an said with a smile.
The Queen Mother shook her head.
"Okay, you go down." She said.
The third son hurriedly sat down and bowed before leaving.
Walking out of the palace gate, the second prince held the prince of Jin'an County in one hand and the eldest prince in the other.
"Brother, let's go play willow shooting." He said loudly.
"I still have books to read." The eldest prince said, reaching out and sweeping away the second prince's hand, speaking with a bit of alienation.
The second prince chatted.
"Let's go, let's go." Prince Jin'an said hurriedly.
"Prince, the second prince is young and doesn't know how to be diligent. Don't lead him into trouble." The eldest prince said.
These words were so serious that the waiters present all changed their expressions, but they did not dare to speak and lowered their heads to pretend to be deaf and dumb.
The prince of Jin'an County still had a smile on his face.
"Yes, yes." He said, "I have to be more diligent."
"Let's go study." The eldest prince said, looking at the second prince with a somewhat condescending look.
The second prince pouted and stretched out his hand to push him.
"I won't go with you." He said and ran away.
The servants were panicked and uneasy, and hurriedly followed him.
The eldest prince was upset because he had lost face. He couldn't see like a child. He turned around and saw Prince Jin'an who was still smiling.
"Trash." He said with a snort, threw up his sleeves and strode away.
The servants followed him in a hurry, and in a blink of an eye, only Prince Jin'an was left.
The Prince of Jin'an County looked at the direction in which the two were going, and slowly turned around.
"What you are fighting for is a gentleman, why don't you know it? He raised his hand and said: "Master is surrounded by princes, and I am the noble brother of the few princes." He lowered his hand and said: "This son is Chuan Fengxu, the county Yin outside Fangcheng. Who is it?"
Got a son? The prisoner said: Help meet Ding Ding. How weak."
The low chanting was accompanied by the sound of footsteps.
On the other side of the road, there was a fat and white waiter who couldn't help but stop.
"Zuo Zhuan?" He whispered, looking up and seeing the tall back of a young man walking away.
"What's wrong, Grandpa?" the little chamberlain beside him asked hurriedly, "Where do you want to turn left?"
"Turn your head, you don't know anything if you don't study." The fat waiter shouted with a glare.
The little waiter smiled and shrank his head after being scolded.
"Grandpa, my grandson doesn't study as much as you and can serve His Majesty," he said.
The fat chamberlain snorted and looked at the retreating figure.
"The eldest prince is just learning Zhou Rites now, and the prince of Jin'an County is only going to learn Zuo Zhuan next year, and now he has already carried it to Bozhou Li to interrogate prisoners?" He murmured, shook his head again, and smiled, "Up and down his hands, up and down his hands,
Who among the people in this palace is not like this?"
"Grandpa, what are the upper and lower hands?" the young waiter boldly asked.
"That's bullshit." The fat chamberlain glared and cursed, then kicked the little chamberlain, "Quickly leave, don't ask questions that shouldn't be asked, you have free time."
The young chamberlain hurriedly led the way, and the two of them soon left.
In the side hall, Prince Jin'an was sitting cross-legged, with a book in front of him. The book was not unfolded, but he lowered his eyes and was thinking about it. This continued for a long time, until the sound of voices came from outside.
"Your Highness, we are back." The voice of the chamberlain came.
The Prince of Jin'an County stood up and walked out. The room had been pushed open, and a guard sat in. His appearance described him as the person who mistakenly went to the wrong door of Cheng Jiaoniang's house in Yudai Bridge.
"How?" Prince Jin'an asked.
"Not from the Chen family, his surname is Cheng. He is a man, 26 or 27 years old, with a northwest accent. A maid opened the door, and no one else was seen." The guard said.
No, originally there was no hope for this question.
Prince Jin'an nodded and waved his hand.
"It seems that I have no choice but to ask Mr. Chen straight to the point." He smiled.
"The prince can't." The guard hurriedly advised.
Prince Jin'an smiled.
"Yes, I know." He said, "I'm not in a hurry. I'll just think of other ways. There will always be a way. There will be a way for everything, and everything can be solved."
This last sentence seems to be talking to himself.
The guard bowed his head and bowed before leaving. When he walked outside the door, he couldn't help but frown.
"What are you doing?" the waiter asked in a low voice.
The guard shook his head quickly and walked out.
After walking a few steps, I still couldn't help but stop.
He didn't know whether he should talk about this or not, but he always felt that the man named Cheng from Yudaiqiao looked familiar, and his eyes seemed to be familiar to him somewhere.
However, I may have misjudged it. With so many people coming and going in Beijing, it is inevitable.
The guard took a deep breath and continued to stride away.
When the sun was about to hit, Zhou Lang reined in his horse and found that he had reached the Yudai Bridge.
"Sir?" the boy asked.
Liu Lang took a deep breath, got off his horse, and knocked on Cheng Jiaoniang's courtyard door.
"It's you again? What are you doing?" Brother Jin shouted from the crack in the door.
What to do?
How did he know what he was doing and end up here!
"Do you still have money?" he asked muffledly.
"I won't lend it to you even if I have money!" Brother Jin said warily.
Zhou Lang kicked the door with his foot, scaring Neri Jin's brother to jump away.
Banqin came out after hearing the sound and opened the door regardless of Brother Jin's objection.
"Sir, my wife is not at home," she said.
"Going out again?" Zhou Lang asked with a frown.
What does a girl go out to do every day?
"Yes." Banqin said.
"What are you missing? Let's talk." Liu Lang said.
Banqin smiled slightly.
"Thank you for your concern, sir. There is no shortage of ladies," she said.
Liu Lang breathed out, turned around and walked away. After walking a few steps, he stopped and turned back.
Banqin stood by the door and was closing it, smiling sideways at Brother Jin.
When did this girl dare to laugh in front of him again?
And he dared to raise his head and speak? His waist also straightened...
The door slowly closed.
Whether it's a person or a thing, it's just a person, just a name.
Liu Lang withdrew his gaze, took the reins handed over by the boy, got on his horse and galloped away.
The tender white tofu is carefully put into the water bowl.
Li Dashao chose a thin bamboo knife from a row of knives of different sizes and materials in front of him.
People around him couldn't help but hold their breath as they watched Li Dashao bend over and reach into the bowl, start to turn the knife, and little bits of white flakes spread out in the water.
Cheng Jiaoniang's old shopkeeper Xu Maoxiu did not approach, but sat on the corridor and looked over. Not long after hearing the girl sigh.
Li Dashao straightened up and stared at the water bowl for a moment.
"Come again," he said.
The girl hurriedly took out another piece of tofu.
Li Dashao blinked his red eyes slightly and leaned forward to insert the knife again.
"It's no problem to carve a flower." Shopkeeper Wu said, carefully pushing a bowl over.
The maid sitting behind Cheng Jiaoniang couldn't help but wow.
"Oh my God, this peony flower is so lifelike!" she said, "Is it really carved from tofu?"
"Yes, yes, it took just two days of practice." Xu Maoxiu said, looking at Li Dashao with some admiration.
I really didn't expect that this cook, who seemed to have nothing special about him, could have such skills.
"He is an honest person, but he is stupid and just keeps practicing his craft. When he was an apprentice with the master, he was the most useless. He couldn't figure out new dishes and flavors, but he practiced the basic skills the most solidly. There are gains and losses in this, right?
It’s hard to have both." Shopkeeper Wu sighed.
Cheng Jiaoniang nodded.
"Then the carving is done." She said, "What else is there to do?"
"Because it is a vegetarian meal and it is worshiped in front of the Buddha, Li Dashao felt that the flowers were not innovative, so he wanted to make something more appropriate." Shopkeeper Wu said.
The maid's eyes widened and she looked over there. Li Dashao changed another piece of tofu and tried again without any discouragement.
"But, there are only four days left, so what else can we practice?" she couldn't help but say.
"If it doesn't work, we will use peonies in the end." Shopkeeper Wu said, "Anyway, we mainly rely on tofu, and its shape is the icing on the cake."
Cheng Jiaoniang nodded, and the three of them stopped talking and looked at Li Dashao who was carefully carving over there.
Banqin here walked into the market with a basket, and someone immediately greeted her.
"There are new cabbages that arrived today. I specially kept them for you, Miss Banqin."
"Miss Banqin, come and see these muttons."
"Miss Banqin, I got you those heart, liver, lungs and stuff you mentioned last time..."
Banqin answered each one with a smile, picking and choosing. It was hard to tell that this was only her fourth time here.
There were many people standing in front of the butcher's shop, including two better-dressed women who were talking.
"Dr. Zhang's family." Banqin came over and shouted inwardly.
The two women turned to look at her, with a bit of arrogance on their faces. Although these wealthy and powerful purchasers and servants were not popular at home, they were superior to others outside.
A fat man wearing a greasy apron came out and grinned when he saw Banqin.
"Girl, here you go, things are ready for you." He said, "It's really strange, it's so clean, why do you want this?"
"Master, that can be used as medicine." Banqin said, while looking at the two women outside as if inadvertently.
"For medicine? What kind of medicine should be used for this heart, liver and lungs?" the man shouted in surprise.
Banqin smiled and said nothing.
"Miss Banqin, you are coaxing me." The man smiled.
"What I want to coax you to do is some tonic." Banqin said with a smile.
"What to make up for?" the man asked.
"It's nothing, just keep in shape, turn white hair into black, etc." Banqin said.
The man stared, then laughed.
"Where can I find this kind of medicine?" he said.
The two women who had been standing outside without speaking now looked over and turned their eyes on Banqin.
"Others don't have it, but I have it at home." Banqin smiled and said no more. He reached out and took the wrapped things from the store clerk, put them in the basket and walked away.
"Who is this?" A woman suddenly asked as she watched Banqin walk away.
Zhang Dongjia, who was about to turn around and go back, said oh.
"I live in Yudaiqiao, and my family's surname is Cheng. I don't know how many people in the family use it a lot every day, and they are all heart, liver, lung and so on..." He said, and he said again, "Is it really true? Used as medicine?”
The two women looked at each other.
Surname Cheng…
This surname is very loud in the family now, and everyone knows it, because the master and his wife talk about it every day, especially after Tong Nehan, who has recovered from illness, comes to the house as a guest, and listens to what the lady in charge says, and the master eats it. When I went down to eat, I was even a little bit crazy and wanted to get sick or something.
Fortunately, the madam persuaded her, saying that if Mrs. Cheng didn't treat the disease now, she would really die if she really got the disease that she couldn't treat.
But doesn’t Mrs. Cheng live in the Zhou family?
The two women hesitated for a moment, then gritted their teeth and looked at the girl who was walking down the street with her basket full, then raised her feet to catch up.
"..Hey...Mama Gu, the mutton you want is ready...Hey? Where are the people?"
The clerk in the store stood at the door and looked around in confusion.
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Two chapters combined into one, no updates in the afternoon. (To be continued)
