Du Hengshuang had a sullen face in the car. Xiao Shiji also knew that she was thinking of her father-in-law. And his relationship with Du Xiancheng was not only that of son-in-law, but also that of master and disciple. He felt bad and pulled Du Hengshuang gently.

He put his hand in her ear and comforted her: "Shuang'er, now that you are married to me, your father-in-law is alive in heaven, so you must be very happy. When the Double Ninth Festival comes in the autumn, I will take you to Luoyang to visit your father-in-law's grave."

When news of Du Xiancheng's death came that day, Fang Wu Niang had already returned to Luoyang with the Du family. Later, a tomb was built for Du Xiancheng at the Du family's ancestral grave in Luoyang.

Du Hengshuang was thinking about going back to Luoyang to pay homage to his late father. Xiao Shiji took the initiative to mention it. Du Hengshuang nodded quickly, shook Xiao Shiji's hand, looked up and smiled, "Thank you for thinking about my father."

"Your father is also my father and my master. You have forgotten that once you are a teacher, you will always be a father. I have two responsibilities, how could I forget?"

The two of them were whispering in the car, but they didn't see a grown-up man with black hair and black eyes and a lonely expression among the Franciscan pilgrims who were passing by. He was completely different from the blond and blue-eyed Franciscans.

The mission has finally passed, and the streets of Chang'an City can be used normally again.

The cart quickly returned to Xiao's house, just in time for the curfew when the neighborhood was closed and keys were dropped.

The Xiao family is now the largest official in this area, and Fang Zheng is very fond of Xiao Shiji.

He respectfully stood guard at the gate of the inner square, saluted Xiao Shiji's cart, and asked with a smile: "Master Xiao has just come back. You are really busy with things."

Xiao Shiji opened the car curtain and nodded to Fang Zheng with a smile. "Yufang Zheng is so polite. It's getting late. Let's go back and have a good rest."

The Xiao family's cart drove through the streets of Lifang and soon arrived at the door of their house.

The little maid from the Guan family has been waiting at the corner gate, chatting with several disciples.

Seeing that the uncle and the young master finally came back from the car, the little maid picked up her skirt and scurried back to the backyard to report the news to Mrs. Guan.

Mr. Guan is arranging a banquet in the central hall.

The banquet noodles from Zhuangyuanlou had just been delivered. Because it was dinner, it was too early and many of the dishes were cold and did not taste good. They were all delivered in small portions.

The row of chairs against the east wall has been removed, and there is a long nanmu table with dishes sent from Zhuangyuan Tower.

In the open space in the middle of the nave, there is a low dining table to the north, which is for Long Xiangye to sit on. Xiao Yanran is the youngest. She will sit with Long Xiangye and accompany her. There are two longer tables on the east and west sides.

The table at the lower table is Xiao Shiji and Xiao Taiji's husband

There is a place where the women are sitting. There is a long low table at the bottom of Xiao Taiji's side, which is for Aunt Jin and Chen Yuejiao to sit. Although they are not serious Xiao family members, but Long Xiangye asked them to eat together, they naturally

There is no disobedience.

Looking at the delicacies on the long table by the east wall, Guan couldn't even name most of them. She was a little timid, so she had to call Chen Yuejiao to accompany her.

Chen Yuejiao smiled and glanced at the dishes on the table, intending to give some advice to Mrs. Guan.

"Cousin, Zhuangyuanlou is just a medium-sized banquet restaurant, not the best. Here are hot dishes, including roasted white dragon, Wuxing and bream, open fire and water calf, Eight Immortals plate, Chop Tou Chun, Wu Sheng plate,

There are also brocaded turtles all over the place. This one is Tonghua soft beef intestine, made with mutton fat.

Fried. There is also a plate of bright shrimps. The old lady likes it the most. Just put it in front of her later. The sheepskin filigree is my favorite. Put it over here." Chen Yuejiao said, pointing her fingers.

These dishes are placed on the low tables where they will be seated.

When people in Daqi have a banquet, each person has a few dishes in front of them. They just bring the dishes one by one and place them on the tables in front of them.

Mrs. Guan exclaimed: "The Eight Immortals Plate over there is a roast goose?"

Chen Yuejiao giggled, covered her mouth and said, "My cousin also knows this dish?"

"I once went to a banquet with my mother and saw this dish." Guan was a little embarrassed, and pointed to the cold pint on the other side and asked, "What is this?"

Chen Yuejiao walked around to the other side to take a look, and said casually: "That's Qingliangzhi. It's made of civet meat. It needs to be stewed for more than ten hours before it can be made into a soup. It can be cut into small pieces after it's cooled in well water.

It’s all lumpy. There’s also jellyfish, with raw lotus root added, and it’s very delicious when mixed in the soup. Hey, there’s also fish breasts, which are pretty good, fragrant and tender. This young lady should like it.”

I glanced around the table and saw the cold toad soup in a large vat of fine white porcelain with a deep belly and a wide mouth. I said happily: "Master is really generous. Cousin, look at this cold toad soup.

A small bowl costs five hundred yuan in a restaurant, so a big jar like this probably costs fifty taels of silver."

Guan was surprised, walked over and walked around the cold toad soup for a long time, stared at it and said, "It's so expensive, could it be made of dragon meat?"

Chen Yuejiao covered her mouth and laughed so hard, "My cousin is really funny. This is made of fresh clam meat and clam juice, plus stock, chicken egg white and pea kernels to thicken it. Fresh lily is also added in it, which is crispy, cool and smooth.

Thick and delicious. - I think this dish is specially prepared for the eldest mistress, and we are all touched by the eldest mistress." He looked very happy.

Guan Shi felt sour in her heart, curled her lips and said, "Even if you have money, you can't waste it like this. Can you become an immortal by eating it?" with a gloomy look on his face.

The servants waiting in the room exchanged glances with each other, lowered their heads and smiled sullenly.

Chen Yuejiao hurriedly tugged on Guan's sleeve and said with a smile: "My cousin is a diligent and thrifty person who manages the household. The old lady and my cousin's husband both share my feelings for my cousin."

When Guan thought that she had asked Du Hengshuang to help her buy back the needleworkers who had been released, she turned her displeasure into joy and ordered the maids and ladies in the house to set out chopsticks and prepare the meal.

"In addition to dishes, there are also staple foods. Here are locust leaf cold noodles and raw 24-qi wontons, as well as Jianfengxiao and raw duck flower soup cakes, which are for everyone. This small bamboo tube

The Huangliang rice is specially for the old lady." Chen Yuejiao looked at the servants setting out the dishes, and then ordered them to serve the staple food.

"Is the Huangliang rice too rough?" Mrs. Guan was puzzled. Long Xiangye is a person who never tires of fine food and fine meat. Sometimes she finds fragrant rice too rough, let alone the yellow rice eaten by her servants.

Rice.

Chen Yuejiao deliberately showed off, pointing to the yellow bamboo tube and said: "This is not ordinary yellow rice. This is carefully selected and cooked fine millet. Then sea cucumber, squid, chicken and shrimp are cut into fine pieces and steamed.

Then stir-fry it with cooked millet. When eating, put it in this bamboo leaf roll. It is fragrant and not greasy, and it is very nourishing."

Guan Shi suddenly came back to her senses, looked at Chen Yuejiao suspiciously and said, "I don't even know these things, how do you know so much?"

Chen Yuejiao's father was just a drug store owner who was in court for selling counterfeit medicines. He died of illness in prison not long after he was imprisoned. They were the only two women left in the family. The Chen family members were not vegetarians, so they were pressed hard every day.

Either they wanted to remarry Aunt Jin, or they wanted to find a son-in-law for Chen Yuejiao. They had no other choice, so they went to Chang'an City to join their mother.

Chen Yuejiao was born in such a family. How could she know the dishes commonly used by wealthy families? Not only did she know the names, but she even seemed to know how to make them.

Chen Yuejiao screamed inwardly. She was so distracted when she saw these familiar dishes that she forgot to pretend to be stupid. In desperation, she hesitated for a long time before she said softly: "To be honest, cousin, I used to be unable to open the pot at home, and my mother took care of it.

I worked as a maid in a wealthy family and stayed in their kitchen for a while."

This is true. However, Aunt Jin's maids only do chores in the kitchen. When the master cooks, he keeps them and other handymen far away, so it is impossible to know such detailed information.

Of course, Guan didn't know about this at all.

Mrs. Guan suddenly realized. She felt a little ashamed that she had wrongly blamed Chen Yuejiao. She held Chen Yuejiao's hand and comforted her in a low voice. "Thank you for your hard work. Don't worry, from now on, you will live with me in the Xiao family. If I have something to eat, you will be indispensable."

And my aunt’s.”

Chen Yuejiao raised her head, her slender eyes already filled with tears, and bowed to Guan Yingying, "Thank you very much, cousin, for surviving. If there is a chance, Yuejiao will definitely repay cousin in the future."

Mrs. Guan smiled and did not take Chen Yuejiao's words to heart. After all, a widowed daughter who was dependent on others would either marry into a poor family as a wife or become a concubine to a wealthy family. How could she expect Chen Yuejiao to repay her?——

If she can get married well and not be a drag on her, thank God.

Chen Yuejiao thought she was hiding it well, but as soon as Xiao Shiji arrived, her eyes were like strings, going around Xiao Shiji's body in circles. Guan Yunlian and Xiao Taiji both saw it, but

Just to expose her. The two of them were willing to let Aunt Jin and Chen Yuejiao stay because they had some worries that were not humane to outsiders.

"The second young lady, the eldest young lady and the uncle are back." The little maid who was looking at the gate just now ran in like an arrow and reported to Guan.

Guan was overjoyed, put Chen Yuejiao's matter aside, and said hurriedly: "Go to the eldest young lady's yard and tell me that I have something to see the eldest young lady."

The little maid took the order and left.

Mrs. Guan entrusted the affairs here to Chen Yuejiao, "Help me invite my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law to come and sit down for a meal. I will personally go and invite the eldest mistress and uncle."

Chen Yuejiao nodded with a smile and watched Mrs. Guan go away with the two maids.

As soon as Du Hengshuang and Xiao Shiji returned to their courtyard, they heard the maid come in to report that the second young lady wanted to see the eldest young lady.

This was specially communicated to the servants. They are all sisters-in-law, and they should not be so divided. However, Xiao Shi and yesterday just used two janitor women to make rafts and punished these servants for "disrespecting the big house".

Because of the crime, the servants of the Xiao family did not dare to be independent anymore, so they all came to the side of the eldest mistress, and the second mistress and the second master all stayed behind.

Xiao Shiji walked behind the screen to change his clothes without commenting.

Du Hengshuang smiled and said to the maid: "Take the second young lady to the East Room. I will change my clothes and go there."

Guan followed the maid into the East Room and waited.

The furnishings in the room once again dazzled her eyes, but since there was a maid waiting nearby, she didn't dare to look around and chatted with the maid with a smile.

Du Hengshuang didn't let her wait long. She changed into a homely red half-arm with a bamboo leaf pattern and a moon-white skirt. She took off some of the jewelry on her head and took Zhihua to the east room.

Mrs. Guan stood up in a hurry, exchanged a few words of greeting, and then said evasively: "Sister-in-law, can you take a moment to speak?"

Du Hengshuang glanced at Zhihua.

Knowing what he meant, Zhi Hua hurriedly bowed and went out.

Guan plopped down on her knees in front of Du Hengshuang and begged: "Sister-in-law, save me!"

Du Hengshuang was startled, helped her up quickly, and asked, "What happened?"

Guan told the story of her own decision to dismiss the sewing people. At the end, she begged: "Sister-in-law, I really don't know what is wrong with this matter. I thought that letting them go without any value would be good for my official reputation."

.—I really didn’t mean to.”

When Du Hengshuang understood the whole story, she couldn't help but feel dumbfounded. She smiled and helped Guan sit down on the brocade stool, and said softly: "Second brothers and sisters, I am not a civil servant. What do you want to do with such a good official reputation? Besides, these needlework and threads

People originally collected it

At that time, you spent a lot of money, and by letting go, you let go of four to five thousand taels of silver. If you want to talk about extravagance, you spent watermelons and saved sesame seeds." After a pause, he shook his head and said:

"This matter is too big. I can't make the decision. I need to ask the uncle for instructions."

Guan was so frightened that she almost fell down from the brocade stool and said tremblingly: "How can it be so expensive?"
To be continued...