Chapter 109
Princess Danyang felt that her stomach was full. Only then, she stopped the chopsticks. At this moment, she suddenly realized that she had eaten so much.
"Master, are you alright?" Attendant Chang asked worriedly. She had heard that some cooks would put a kind of additives into their meals and the diners would keep eating those meals after consuming it. She was afraid that Princess Danyang fell for this.
Princess Danyang had heard of those kinds of matters.
"There’s no problem." She was sure that this meal was normal. It was truly delicious and she couldn't help eating this much.
As long as there was no problem, Attendant Chang was relieved. At the same time, she was curious. Was this dish that delicious?
Princess Danyang smiled when she saw her expression.
"Try it." She said.
Attendant Chang had served her since she was young. She naturally treated her differently.
"Master..."
"Since I told you to taste it, taste it."
Attendant Chang picked up the chopsticks. There were ten dishes on the table. Princess Danyang only ate two or three bites of each dish before she was full. Attendant Chang picked a piece of mutton from the fish wrapped in mutton and put it in her mouth. In an instant, her eyes flashed in disbelief. Why was this dish so fresh!
She was reluctant to swallow what was in her mouth. She wanted to savor its taste.
"Now you know." Princess Danyang said.
Attendant Chang came back to her senses, put down her chopsticks, and stood beside her.
Princess Danyang looked at the drinks next to her. There were three glasses of wine. One was gorgeous and magnificent. The other was like fine nectar and jade dew. The last one was even more peculiar. It got green smudges.
She picked up the third cup and took a sip. The name of the wine was ‘Flowing’. After drinking it, it did have that flowing feeling.
After a while, Princess Danyang put down her wine glass.
Soon, Jin Jiao Yue was called into the suite.
"I want to meet your cook." Princess Danyang stated.
"I'll go and ask for you." Jin Jiao Yue replied.
"Okay." Princess Danyang nodded.
Jin Jiao Yue got out of the suite. Her steps became faster and faster and she came to the backyard.
At this time, Jiang Yun Zhu had finished cooking the lunch and was resting.
"Boss." Jin Jiao Yue called out, whispered about Princess Danyang’s matter, and then looked at Jiang Yun Zhu. What was she going to do?
Jiang Yun Zhu didn't plan on anything. In fact, the day Madam Yang came, she thought about what to do if Princess Danyang or Academician Shen came to the store one day.
Nothing much. Let nature take its course. She didn't want to please them. And there was no need to avoid them on purpose.
Thinking of this, she stood up and walked to Princess Danyang's suite.
The sound of knuckles knocking on the door was very crisp. It could be heard that it was a female knocking on the door.
"Come in." Princess Danyang was a little nervous.
Jiang Yun Zhu pushed the door open and entered, "Guest, you want to see me?"
The moment she came in, Princess Danyang felt her eyes light up. Jiang Yun Zhu was wearing a sky-blue dress today. There were no accessories on her body and her black hair was slanted. While her skin was rosy and her eyes were bright.
What stood out was her comfortable aura that made people like her.
Princess Danyang didn't expect Jiang Yun Zhu to be like this. She had thought that if she had something to do with her son, then she might be a charming little woman who was good at making soup and had captivated her son. He had considered she might be full of amorous feelings and that was why the iron tree bloom.
But it wasn’t like this!
She looked Jiang Yun Zhu up and down, not letting go of any details.
Jiang Yun Zhu let her look at her, neither humble nor overbearing. It was as if she was a restaurant owner, waiting for the guest to speak.
Her attitude made Princess Danyang uncertain. Could it be that she was thinking too much? Or she didn't know her identity, that's why she was so calm.
"Are you the cook of the restaurant?" Princess Danyang asked.
"Yes. I’m also the owner of the restaurant." Jiang Yun Zhu replied.
Princess Danyang wanted to ask her if she had anything to do with her son, but she stopped. She didn't want to have any more unpleasant matters between her and Shen Feng Ming.
After thinking for a moment, she asked, "Can you make a Taibai duck?"
"En." Jiang Yun Zhu replied.
"Can you make one for me? I'll take it away." Princess Danyang said. In fact, when she saw this dish on the invitation earlier, this intention popped up.
Jiang Yun Zhu was surprised. She called her here for this matter?
Princess Danyang said, "My mother liked this dish very much. But after changing many cooks, none of them could make that kind of taste."
Princess Danyang's mother, the Empress Dowager? Wasn’t she... No, Jiang Yun Zhu's heart skipped a beat. She suddenly remembered that the Empress Dowager seemed to have died this summer in her dream.
According to the ancestral system of the Xia Dynasty, after the death of the empress dowager or the queen, the sun would exchange for the moon and hold a one-month national mourning. During the period of national mourning, officials weren't allowed to feast and have fun. Nor could they marry. While the common people had no such taboo.
Marquis Anping was a court official. He naturally had to abide by this rule. No banquets were allowed for a month. At that time, Jiang Yun Zhu was practicing cooking skills in the Marquis Anping's Manor and had some recollection.
Jiang Yun Zhu thought carefully about when the Empress Dowager died. She remembered that it seemed to be the end of July.
It was the end of June. So it was soon?
Her complexion changed a few times.
Originally, a high-ranking person like the Empress Dowager had nothing to do with her, but she was Shen Feng Ming's grandmother. Although the royal family had been ruthless since ancient times and it wasn't uncommon for brothers to build walls and father and son to kill each other, Princess Danyang remembered that the Empress Dowager liked to eat Taibai Duck...
Princess Danyang saw her strange expression and asked, "Why?"
Jiang Yun Zhu came back to her senses, "There is no duck in the kitchen today. Would Guest want to wait a while and I'll send someone to buy it. Or come back tomorrow?" she asked.
Princess Danyang happened to want to chat with her, "I have no matters. I’ll wait."
Jiang Yun Zhu calculated the time. Taibai Duck took a lot of time, "It may take more than two hours."
"No problem."
"Okay." Jiang Yun Zhu got up, called Yun Du, asked him to buy a duck, and told him the skills of picking ducks.
After that, she wanted to go to the kitchen to prepare related things.
"There's no rush. My mother must have had lunch by now. Just make the duck before dinner." Princess Danyang said, beckoning Jiang Yun Zhu to sit down.
Jiang Yun Zhu sat on the chair next to her.
Her behavior was so composed. Princess Danyang was very curious about her previous experiences.
"Where are you from?" she asked.
"Changfeng Manor." Jiang Yun Zhu answered.
Not Lu Prefecture? Princess Danyang slightly froze, but continued to ask, "Are you new to the capital?"
"En."
"Who did you learn your skills from?"
...
The two chatted for a while. Princess Danyang seemed to understand Jiang Yun Zhu better, but she was not sure if she had anything to do with her son.
At this time Yun Du came back, Jiang Yun Zhu immediately stood up and became Taibai Duck.
Taibai Duck was a famous dish in the Tang Dynasty. One could tell from its name that this dish had something to do with the poet Li Bai. According to legend, during his tenure in Sichuan, Li Bai especially liked to eat a local stuffed duck. Later Emperor Xuanzong of Tang announced him to enter the court. He thought that he met an enlightened Lord, improved the method of this stuffed duck and dedicated it to Emperor Xuanzong.
After Emperor Xuanzong finished eating, he was full of praise and named this dish ‘Taibai Duck’.
It was a pity that Li Bai was unhappy all his life. Later he resigned from post. Only the Taibai duck’s shadow was left behind. Few people knew its taste.
Jiang Yun Zhu made the Taibai Duck based on ancient books and Li Bai's experience and was satisfied after many experiments .
After the duck was cleaned up, it was put into a jar with aged Huadiao wine, Pseudo-ginseng and other ingredients. Seal the mouth of the jar with tissue paper and steam for an hour. The Taibai duck was ready.
For this dish, it was best not to uncover the tissue paper on the mouth of the jar before eating. Jiang Yun Zhu directly put the jar into the food box and handed it to Princess Danyang.
It was getting late. Princess Danyang got someone to carry the food box and went directly to the palace to meet the Empress Dowager.
Jiang Yun Zhu wasn't sure whether the Empress Dowager would like the Taibai duck she made. Elderly. Sometimes what they missed was the old feeling.
She had tried her best. That was all to it.
She picked up Simba and went to the back to rest.
Today Shen Feng Ming and Yang Sheng came earlier than usual.
Yang Sheng was also here to eat. After eating and drinking two glasses of wine, he left.
When Shen Feng Ming was left, Jiang Yun Zhu happened to have something to say to him.
Simba seemed to like Shen Feng Ming quite a bit. Often when he came, it would squat next to him. Like now.
Jiang Yun Zhu found it interestingly. She directed to Shen Feng Ming, "Your mother came to the store today."
Shen Feng Ming was about to hand Simba to Jiang Yun Zhu when he heard that. He paused, "What did she come to do?"
"After eating, she asked me to make a Taibai duck and took it to the empress dowager." Jiang Yun Zhu answered.
Shen Feng Ming frowned slightly. Only to eat?
Jiang Yun Zhu didn't continue talking about this matter. Instead, she asked, "Empress Dowager?"
"She had forgotten a lot of things. Especially recent events. She often forgets them very quickly. On the contrary, she sometimes remembers past events very clearly." Shen Feng Ming said.
Jiang Yun Zhu listened. Why did it sound a bit like Alzheimer's disease? "Did she see the doctor?"
"The imperial doctor had checked. There is nothing wrong with her body. She only often forgets things."
"Where is Celestial Doctor Wu? What did Celestial Doctor Wu say?" Jiang Yun Zhu asked.
"Last year, Celestial Doctor Wu checked. He used needles and prescribed medicine. The symptoms were only delayed. Later, Empress Dowager said that she wasn't sick and didn't want to take medicine and needles. Everyone could only go her way." Shen Feng Ming explained.
Jiang Yun Zhu remembered in the dream that the empress dowager would die at the end of July this year. It stood to reason that Alzheimer's disease wouldn't kill people so soon. So in the end... was it a sudden illness, or some accident?
Shen Feng Ming saw her worried face and his expression softened, "Royal Grandmother is very kind to me. My father and mother often quarreled. Royal Grandmother often called me into the palace, saying that she wanted me to accompany her. Actually, she is worried about me.
She often told me not to blame my mother. "
Having said this, Shen Feng Ming stopped. In fact, he later understood why his mother married his father- to win over the Shen Family and for Emperor Qinglong's throne.
He lowered his long eyelashes, raised them again, and looked at Jiang Yun Zhu.
Jiang Yun Zhu didn't have time to ponder his thoughts. She asked directly, "Do you know where Celestial Doctor Wu now?"
Her idea was to ask Celestial Doctor Wu to help check Empress Dowager. That was all she could do. Of course, when Celestial Doctor Wu comes, she would discuss with him to find a safe solution.
"I know." Shen Feng Ming replied.
At this time, Princess Danyang had already entered the palace with a food box and met the Empress Dowager.
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