"Don't worry, I won't implicate you!" Jin Xiu said in a stiff tone. "I just admire his vast knowledge and didn't think of anything else." As she spoke, her voice gradually choked with sobs. "Besides, Mr. Min is not that kind of person... I, I gave him clothes, hats, shoes, and socks, and he, he returned the silver to me..."
"Ah!" Luo Mei exclaimed in a low voice, unexpectedly surprised.
Shen Muqing, who was eavesdropping from behind the window lattice, was also taken aback.
Jin Xiu was only sixteen this year, and it was the age of being reserved and waiting to be released. She had a slender figure, with curves that were both subtle and alluring, a pale oval face, and large eyes that sparkled like spring water, charming and captivating. Even in Shen Muqing's memories of two lifetimes, he had never seen such a beautiful girl... Unexpectedly, Mr. Min actually declined such an encounter.
For some reason, Shen Muqing didn't feel a sense of admiration for Mr. Min's noble behavior, but instead felt something surging up inside her, making it hard to breathe and causing a slight pain in her chest.
Would Mr. Min also refuse Jinxiu in a different situation?
For example, Jin Xiu is Shen Zhen's daughter...
Shen Muqing suddenly remembered the scene when they first entered the mansion that year.
A group of thin and frail little girls were brought to Kyoto by a human trafficker from Shandong, each with a look of terror in their eyes... Madame Wang picked and chose, only selecting two pretty ones, Jinxiu and Yingfen... Suddenly, a young girl with a festering sore on her head rushed in, kowtowing to Madame Wang: "My name is Luomei, I can read and write, I won't be a burden, please buy me, madam..."
Her face changed, and she was dragged out. She hugged the door frame and wouldn't let go, her small fingernails instantly turning grayish white... Shen Muqing knew for the first time that selling herself wasn't an easy thing to do.
Everyone inside and outside the house was silent.
An old woman's voice came from afar: "Two girls, why are you standing in the wind talking?"
"Oh, isn't that Wang's mother? How come you have time to visit Jing Shun today..." Lu Mei pretended to be casual and exchanged pleasantries with the visitor, "I haven't seen Mother for quite a few days either..."
Shen Mu Qing gently closed the window and let out a deep sigh.
******
That morning, Luomei failed to stop Jinyou.
Luo Mei stood alone under the eaves of the house, waiting for Jin Xiu to return with a wooden expression.
Shen Muqing sat at his desk, holding a copy of the Analects and reading it randomly, indicating that he still had things to do, in order to calm down Mei's heart.
After a while, the two of them finally entered the house.
Her face was pale and her eyes were swollen like peaches. The outcome was already self-evident.
Lu Meiming's eyes narrowed slightly as she saw Shen Muqing's clear gaze pause on Jinxiu for a moment. She hastily laughed and said, "The wind outside is strong, the sand blew into my eyes."
"Shen Muqing just shook his head and said with a smile: 'If your eyes hurt, go back to the house and rest for a while!'"
Luomei didn't dare say anything else, and Jinxiu already had a tearful look on her face. Luomei hastily knelt down and said: "Then I'll send Jinxiu out."
Shen Mu nodded slightly.
Luo Mei smiled bitterly and hurriedly supported Jin Xuan out.
******
Shen Mu Qing and Luo Mei walked in silence all the way to Li's place.
The hall was quiet, with only two old women standing in the corridor talking. When they saw Shen Muqing, they smiled and came over: "Miss, Mr. Liu has arrived, and Manager Wang is accompanying him in the east wing to write a prescription."
Shen Mu Qing thought that the main hall and the corridor of Chao Xi Tang were separated by a fake mountain made of Taihu stone, since Wang Da Zong Guan and Liu Xian Sheng were in the east wing, he could also go to the west wing from the handrail corridor.
Then he took the fallen plum blossoms from the western corridor and went to the main house.
Several maidservants and wives saw her, and they all knelt down to pay their respects. Mrs. Li heard the commotion and hastily said: "Miss is back, why did you return so late? Are you hungry? Quickly come over here, I've made your favorite walnut and jujube paste cake, fill your belly. After Mr. Liu leaves, we'll set out the meal."
Shen Muqing, dressed in mourning attire, had just paid her respects to the Li family and was sitting on the kang when Chen Yiniang personally served her a cup of Liu'an clear tea. As Shen Muqing sipped her tea and ate two pieces of pastry, Wang Mama came in with a prescription, saying: "Master Liu said that you are suffering from physical weakness, and now that autumn has arrived, your body can't withstand it. Your heart fire is raging, and your clear yang energy is not rising. He has prescribed a Beneficial Qi and Intelligence Decoction. After taking a few doses, you will be fine."
Li looked at the prescription in Wang's mother's hand without looking at it, and said listlessly: "Just go get the medicine according to the prescription."
Wang's mother went at the call, and Li asked Chen to lay out the meal. Shen Muqing took advantage of the time when the maids were setting the table to tell about Mr. Min.
"Old Master said it so quickly!" Li was somewhat surprised, but immediately became happy, "Then this afternoon, the young lady will go to the kitchen to take a look."
Shen Muqing didn't expect this either, nor did he think Li would be so anxious.
Li said with a smile: "Mu Qing, don't be careless, or you'll lose out. Even the rice we eat at home has seven or eight varieties. Which type of rice is fragrant when cooked, which type is sticky, and which type has texture, all need to be distinguished clearly. Otherwise, if you mistake silver ginkgo for long waist rice, the price difference will be several points... And as for oil, what's vegetable seed oil, tea seed oil, and honey fragrance oil, all need to be clearly distinguished..."
Shen Muqing had always thought that cooking was a very complicated matter, and now hearing this, his head grew even bigger. However, seeing Li's eager gaze, he could only repeatedly nod in agreement.
After lunch, Li Shi kept Shen Muqing to accompany her for a nap. She didn't wake up until the afternoon when she washed her face again, combed her hair, and had Cui Lian bring two silver lotus flower hairpins, two pieces of Suzhou's embroidered handkerchiefs, two bars of jade-flower soap, and twelve taels of silver. After packing them up, she called in Jin Cai's wife and handed the things over to her.
Jin Cai's daughter-in-law happily gave a gift to Li Shi and then went forward to give Shen Mu Qing a blessing.
Li smiled and said, "I've heard that the Lin family agreed to let you marry in because you can make 300 kinds of pickled vegetables - our girl isn't here to steal your food bowl, you can't keep secrets from me!"
The daughter-in-law smiled all over her face: "Don't worry, madam, I'll make the dishes that the young lady likes."
The maids and daughters-in-law all looked at the big feet of Jinlian's wife and burst out laughing - since the fifteenth year of Qing'an, the fashion of footbinding had become more and more popular. Although it was better in the north, in Jiangnan, even when the man's family came to see the woman's family, the first thing they looked at was the feet, and then the face.
The wife of the wealthy family smiled and followed: "At that time, the family was poor, and they could only take care of their mouths, where would they still take care of their feet."
Lin Jincai and his wife were not born into the Shen family, but were bought by Shen Zhen when he was serving as Left Policy Advisor in Sichuan. They also had a few mu of thin land, but their only son Lin Rui Chun fell ill, and they sold all their property to treat him with silver. Later, they had no livelihood, and the Shen family wanted to invite a woman from the stove to be a servant. Lin Jincai's wife voluntarily sold herself into the Shen household because of her good skills. Lin Jincai followed Wang Da, his wife served in the kitchen, and their son guarded the gate in the garden. Because he was clever and resourceful, he gained the favor of Li Shi. Five years ago, when he was 14 years old, he was sent to work as an apprentice in a silk fabric store opened by the Shen family in Hangzhou. Last spring, he was promoted to second-in-command.
Li saw everyone laughing, but frowned and thought of his daughter's bound feet.
When the daughter was six years old, someone was invited to bind her feet. She ran all over the yard and was brought back by her grandfather. She hid behind him and refused to come out. Her grandfather looked at her pitifully and said, "Wait until you're a bit older before binding your feet." Two years passed, and she grew up even more strong-willed. The woman who came to bind her feet was dismissed without being able to do anything, and Mr. Min was summoned to persuade the grandfather, but in the end, her feet were not bound.
Seeing Li staring at her skirt, Shen Muqing secretly called out "not good", hastily shifted and tried to hide her feet under the skirt.
But it was too late, Mrs. Li thought of this heart disease again, the smile on her face faded, and she ordered Wang's mother beside her: "After entering the wealthy daughter-in-law, don't go to the big stove anymore, go to my small kitchen to work, and don't take care of tea and food, just focus on teaching the girl."
Everyone in the room looked at each other in dismay, unsure why Li said to change her face and then changed it. Wang's mother quickly responded and led the daughter-in-law who had just arrived back out.
Shen Muqing understood in her heart. She called Xiangxiang to change the Lingyun White Hair that Li Shi loved to drink, and personally handed it to Li Shi: "Don't worry, madam, I will definitely follow Jin Cai's wife to learn well and guarantee that the dishes I make are even more delicious than hers."
Mr. Li saw her smiling face, thinking of the hardships she had endured by his side and the joy she had brought him over the years, feeling both love and resentment in his heart. He sighed, finally taking the teacup from her and taking a sip.
******
By the second day, Shen Muqing began following Jin Cai's daughter-in-law to learn how to cook.
What is Lianzhu sauce, what is Yuanshen sauce, and what is Hongluo sauce? How are these sauces made... What is Laicu vinegar, what is Taohua vinegar, and what is Baijiu vinegar? What dishes do they go with... There are so many trivial things that can't be counted. Fortunately, Shen Muqing was very serious about learning everything, and in her past life she had been in and out of a large hotel, so she quickly became familiar with these ingredients, and began to learn from Jincai's wife how to ignite the fire, burn firewood, and control the heat on the stove.
Shen Yue Rong knew, told Li Shi, also wanted to follow and learn.
Since making two sets of clothes for Shen Yuerong, Li gave her several pieces of embroidered fabric to make some winter clothes for herself, thinking that she could keep her confined in the house. Who knew that this Shen Yuerong was also a capable person and made three lined jackets and two padded jackets in just a few days, which surprised Li and made her not dare to underestimate her. Now hearing what she said, she couldn't find an excuse to stop her, fearing that it would make her look down on her instead, so she nodded in agreement.
Shen Yue arrived at the kitchen and saw Shen Muqing placing a water clock there, adding firewood to it. She couldn't help but laugh: "Miss doesn't need to be so meticulous, even if you get married, there will be servants by the stove..."
Shen Mu Qing smiled and said with a serious tone: "Since Madam has allowed you to follow and learn, how can you be so careless and sloppy?"
Actually, she was because in the past when reading books only said that reading books is good enough, household chores are not good at all, thinking of taking this opportunity to learn well...
(Tomorrow at 12 o'clock, voting will be available, sisters, please support me!)