Watching Wan Shi’s departing figure, Yunyi said puzzledly, “Clearly she got her wish and personally avenged Fifth Young Master, so why doesn’t Second Madam look very happy?”
Hearing this, Changsun Shi’s mind quickly flashed to the events that occurred before Li Zhiyun’s disappearance on the road to Taiyuan. Could Second Madam have… Before the thought was complete, she dismissed it. No, aside from her husband, she had never mentioned this matter to anyone. Second Madam couldn’t possibly know. Moreover, that was just her speculation—whether it was true or false remained unknown.
She secretly drew a breath, suppressing the racing thoughts in her mind. “Second Madam probably just killed someone, so her emotions are somewhat unstable. No matter how bad Yin Shishi was, he was still a living person.” Then she said to Xiuzhu, “Go to the kitchen and prepare a calming tea to send to Second Madam.”
“Yes.” Xiuzhu responded and quickly headed to the kitchen. At this time, the evening meal was almost ready in the kitchen, with maids and servants packing food into containers to send to each courtyard.
Xiuzhu took the glutinous rice, sour jujube seeds, and other ingredients for calming tea, put them in a pot with water, and found an empty stove to carefully cook it. After a while, a maid came in carrying a large bowl. Xiuzhu recognized her—it was Qiulin from Li Chengzong’s side, who was very meticulous in her work. She watched as Qiulin poured the contents of the bowl into a pot, added firewood, and soon the pot began emanating waves of bean fragrance. Xiuzhu sniffed a few times and said, “Are you making soy milk?”
Qiulin lifted the pot lid, skimming off the foam on top while smiling, “Sister Xiuzhu, you’re half right. It’s beans, but not soy milk—it’s douhua. After Da Lang tried it once, he thought it was very delicious, so my lady has me cook a bowl for him every day.”
“It’s rare for Da Lang to have something he likes to eat.” Hearing this, Qiulin agreed deeply, “Isn’t that right? Ever since Da Lang started eating solid food, my lady has had people prepare different dishes for him every day, but Da Lang just doesn’t like them. This has worried my lady terribly—she’s afraid Da Lang will go hungry.”
Xiuzhu laughed, “Now with your douhua, Lady Ji can worry a little less.”
After adding raw vegetable oil, Qiulin said, “Who knows when Da Lang will get tired of it? When that time comes, we’ll have to worry again.”
The two chatted back and forth. Before long, Xiuzhu’s calming tea was ready. After pouring it into a bowl, she said, “I’ll take this to Second Madam first.”
“Mm.” After Xiuzhu left, Qiulin ladled the cooked soy milk and poured it into a basin of prepared salt brine. As soon as she poured it in, she immediately covered it tightly with a lid, keeping it warm with charcoal fire underneath. After waiting half an hour like this, the soy milk would coagulate and become douhua.
At this time, the evening meal was ready, and the kitchen was no longer as busy as before. Only a few people remained to clean up.
Qiulin had helped her mother grind soy milk and make douhua since childhood. Without needing to look at the water clock, she could estimate the time. After lifting the lid, the originally water-like soy milk had indeed coagulated. After tasting it to confirm it was the same as before, she began ladling it into bowls. She just needed to add soy sauce and some crushed peanuts for seasoning, then it could be served.
“Eh, you add soy sauce to douhua?” A clear voice suddenly rang in Qiulin’s ear. She looked toward the source of the voice and saw an unfamiliar woman with a double-loop hairstyle. “Who are you?”
“I’m called Ah Yue. I just came to work in the residence, responsible for serving the eldest young madam. What about you—what’s your name?” The woman said with a smile. Her face was somewhat round, and when she smiled, she looked very cute, like a porcelain doll, inspiring fondness.
“I’m called Qiulin. Lady Ji assigned me to serve Da Lang.” Hearing Qiulin’s words, Ah Yue immediately called out affectionately, “Sister Qiulin,” then said, “By the way, this douhua—is Sister Qiulin preparing to give it to Da Lang?”
Qiulin nodded, “Yes, Da Lang doesn’t like to eat other things, but he loves the douhua I make.”
Ah Yue pointed her slender index finger at her chin, “Sister Qiulin, don’t blame me for saying something unpleasant, but adding soy sauce to douhua is the most inferior way of eating it. It completely destroys the natural sweetness of the douhua itself. It’s really a waste that Da Lang likes to eat it.”
Seeing her disparage something she had worked hard to make, Qiulin couldn’t help feeling a bit unhappy. “Douhua has always been seasoned with soy sauce and other things. According to what you’re saying, should we eat it plain without adding anything?”
Ah Yue was good at reading expressions. Seeing Qiulin’s stern face, she quickly said, “I’m just speaking the truth, not deliberately targeting Sister Qiulin. Please don’t be angry with me.”
With her saying this, Qiulin couldn’t maintain her stern expression and said, “I’m not angry, I just think what you said makes no sense.”
Ah Yue looked at the remaining douhua in the basin and said, “Why don’t I also prepare a bowl of douhua? After Sister Qiulin tastes it, then consider whether what I said makes sense.”
Qiulin didn’t believe she could make anything delicious without soy sauce, so she said, “Fine, I’ll give it a try.”
Ah Yue smiled sweetly. After ladling the douhua into a bowl, she tested the temperature, then called over a kitchen helper, “Where’s the honey?”
“There, it’s on that cabinet.” Following the helper’s directions, Ah Yue stood on her tiptoes to take down the bottle containing honey, poured the honey in a circle over the douhua, then handed it to Qiulin. “Here, Sister Qiulin, try it. It’s definitely much better than your original flavor.”
This was the first time Qiulin had seen someone pour honey on douhua. She didn’t believe it would be very delicious, but after tasting a mouthful, her expression immediately changed. The honey brought out the natural sweetness of the douhua itself, creating a smooth and rich texture completely different from her previous soy sauce version—something that made one want to taste it again and again.
After Qiulin took another taste, her displeasure was completely gone. She said in amazement, “The douhua with honey added does indeed taste better and is quite unique. How did you know about this?”
Ah Yue smiled, “An old woman who made douhua taught me this before. Adding honey was her secret technique. Don’t look at it as simple—how to add it, how much to add, when to add it, there’s knowledge in all of it. Everyone who tasted her douhua said it was delicious. I only dared to speak that way because I had tried it.” Then she said, “Sister Qiulin, take this to Da Lang. He’ll definitely love it even more.”
“Mm.” Qiulin nodded repeatedly, ladled another bowl, and had Ah Yue add the honey before saying, “I’ll take this over first so Da Lang doesn’t get impatient waiting. I’ll come find you later.” Then she said tentatively, “Ah Yue, could you teach me this technique?”
“Of course.” Ah Yue’s ready agreement made Qiulin extremely happy. “Great, I’ll come find you at the eldest young madam’s place later.”