Mrs. Zhu drank down a bowl of brown sugar Yin rice porridge one gulp after another. Not only that, she also ate two radish egg pancakes.

The skin of this radish omelette is fried crispy, and the inside is fragrant and soft with shredded radish. The moldy tofu and small pickles are very comfortable to eat. Even the moldy tofu is delicate, soft and very fragrant, and the two small pickles are sour and crispy.

After eating, Mrs. Zhu couldn't help but said, "Wen Yi, I want to have some more porridge."

She still wants to drink a second bowl, the taste of this sweet porridge is really good.

The prefect Zhu immediately said, "Mother, wait a moment, I will go to the kitchen and get you another bowl right away."

When the prefect Zhu came to the back kitchen, Xu Qinyu had already finished frying the radish and egg pancakes. At the moment, the fat cook was sending the imperial food to the courtyards. The prefect couldn't help asking, "Ms. But there is still left? My mother wants to eat another bowl, Mrs. Xu is really good at cooking, my mother has not eaten for a few days, and I hope she can eat more now."

It's good to be able to eat, even the doctor said that his old lady's body has reached the point of exhaustion, so if you want to eat and drink, you can eat and drink quickly.

Xu Qinyu said with a smile: "There are still more, there will be adults and the old lady in a while, and the old lady will have as many bowls as she wants to drink."

She served Taishou Zhu another bowl of rice porridge with brown sugar. After saying a word, she took the food box and went to the old lady's yard.

I wish the old lady drank the second bowl of brown sugar yin rice porridge. When she was in good health, the most she could eat in the morning was a bowl of porridge and two cakes. Today, she ate an extra bowl. She was a little overwhelmed, but she still wanted to eat it, because the porridge tasted so good.

She also knew that she might only have a few days left, and she would not taste anything on her mouth. Her son hired many chefs in Raozhou City for him. Either the chefs were not good enough, or she didn't feel good after eating. It's tasteless, and I don't want to swallow it after I take it in my mouth. I think I'm going to go to the coffin when I'm exhausted, so I don't eat it.

Now that she has eaten such a morning meal, her appetite has improved by two points.

The old lady had just finished eating, and the maid had already delivered the morning food from the main courtyard.

I wish the eunuch would not eat with the children on weekdays, but now she will eat with Mrs. Zhu.

The two drank the porridge and were amazed. Only then did the eunuch Zhu realize that Liang Qianhu was not exaggerating. This young lady Xu's cooking skills are really at the peak, and they have never eaten sweet porridge that tastes better than this , soft and sweet but not too sweet, even the sweetness is just right, hooking people to drink one after another.

And the ordinary radish omelette is not ordinary, it is charred on the outside and tender on the inside, fragrant and soft, and it tastes delicious when served with a few side dishes.

Both of them couldn't help eating two bowls of porridge and two radish egg pancakes.

I wish the prefect had a bigger appetite. He ate four or five egg pancakes in one sitting.

Of course, there is no need to mention the compliments from other rooms in the backyard when they ate the food.

I am still curious about where my father or grandfather invited the new cook, this cooking skill is really amazing.

...

In the back kitchen, Xu Qinyu, Chef Wen and Chef Zhou were also eating, and the fat cook followed suit. In the end, everyone was full, and there was some rice porridge with brown sugar left in the pot, which was eaten by the fat cook. Feeling embarrassed, he scratched his head and said, "The morning food made by the little lady is really delicious."

Now she is completely overwhelmed by Xu Qinyu's cooking skills.

Next, we will prepare evening food for Mrs. Zhu.

Now it is just over 10 o'clock, and there are still three hours before the evening meal. Some ingredients need to be prepared in advance. Chef Zhou and the fat cook have washed all the kitchen utensils for the morning meal, and Xu Qinyu is preparing the dishes for the evening meal.

Her main dish in the evening is five courses, highlighting the five flavors of life, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty.

The representative of Xianxian is Yanduxian, so she brought ham, which is an indispensable ingredient for Xianduxian.

The stewed winter bamboo shoots with bacon that she used in the past is a simple version of pickled Duxian. Pickled Duxian is an Anhui cuisine among the eight major cuisines. The most prominent taste of this dish is Xianxian. The ingredients needed are ham, bacon, fresh pork belly, winter bamboo shoots There are venetian knots and lettuce, ham and winter bamboo shoots, but there are no tofu knots. Xu Qinyu asked Chef Zhou to go out and buy some tofu skins, and she will tie the tofu skins herself later. In fact, spring bamboo shoots are the best, but Right now, there are only winter bamboo shoots and no lettuce.

The Dasheng Dynasty already had lettuce, just like grapes. It was brought back through trade routes with other countries a few years ago. Because it has not been planted for a few years, the price is relatively expensive. Lettuce itself is better to grow. Depending on the time of sowing, spring, summer and autumn There are ripe lettuce, and it is almost the twelfth lunar month, so naturally there is no lettuce. The price of this thing is still very expensive. Now that it is winter, it is not necessary to let it go, because there are winter bamboo shoots.

Pickled Duxian must put bamboo shoots.

In addition to pickled fresh and sour dishes, she plans to make pickled fish.

There are many sweet dishes, so she chose taro.

The most representative of bitterness is bitter gourd, but it seems that bitter gourd has never appeared here.

Therefore, for bitter dishes, she plans to use winter cress to stir-fry and dry, and this dish is also slightly bitter.

A spicy dish, Xu Qinyu plans to make Mapo Tofu.

In addition to these five dishes, there are other home-cooked dishes, and the old lady made a relatively light soup dish with cabbage in soup.

The broth needed to serve the cabbage was chicken broth, and she had killed the chicken ahead of time and started hanging the broth on the stove.

There are also a few home-cooked dishes.

Except that there is no louver, other dishes are available, and the ingredients prepared by the kitchen are quite complete.

Chef Zhou went out to buy tofu skin.

Xu Qinyu was busy processing the ingredients, while Mrs Wen and the fat cook cleaned the kitchen utensils.

The fat cook was constantly working on his hands, and his mouth couldn't stop talking. He was still talking to Mrs Wen. He secretly told Mrs. Wen, "Does the big sister know about my old lady? My old lady is also a pitiful person, so she is the prefect. Son, although the prefect is very promising, and even earned her an official life, the old lady has had a hard life, because the old lady has a daughter, and the prefect has an elder sister. When the prefect was one year old, he She was kidnapped at the door of the house, and the old lady has been searching for many years, but she has not been able to find it. She cried until she was blinded. I heard that our prefect is so ambitious to find the eldest sister."

After Zhu Zhu was admitted to the jinshi, he asked many people to help him find his eldest sister.

But the eldest sister was only five years old when he lost it, and he was only one year old. He had no impression of the eldest sister at all. That is to say, he knew from the old mother's mouth that the eldest sister was very cute. There is a small mole, and there is a little round red birthmark on the back waist, but there is really nothing else.

He searched for nearly 30 years, but he was brought back a few women of similar age, with moles behind the ears and birthmarks on the lower back, but she was not the eldest sister.

He is a prefect, not a fool. If you ask a few more questions, those people will hesitate, and then send someone to check, and it is easy to verify it.

So now, Mrs. Zhu is about to die, and Prefect Zhu has given up, thinking that he has been searching for more than 30 years, and now there are only a few days left, how can he find it.

Hearing that Mrs. Wen once lost a daughter, Mrs. Wen sighed in her heart. She actually didn't think too much about it, but she felt a little bit of empathy, because her mother, Mrs. Gui, was kidnapped and sold to Yaxing, and then by Mrs. Wen's house. Buy it to be a little girl.

But Mrs Gui only remembered that she was also abducted, and she couldn't remember anything else. Mrs Wen once thought about helping her mother find relatives, but there was no clue at all, so she could only give up.

Hearing what the fat cook said, Mr. Wen didn't even think about Mrs. Gui. After all, how could there be such a coincidence.

The fat cook added, "Our prefect's sister has a mole behind her right ear and a round red birthmark on her lower back, but there are many women with similar moles and birthmarks in the world. Our prefect I just met several liars, thinking that the prefect is young and promising, and he was admitted to the jinshi before twenty.

Hearing this, Wen Shi was shocked, and she asked in a trembling voice, "What did you say?"

The fat cook repeated the words again.

Wen's brain was buzzing, she knew that Gui had a small mole behind her right ear, and she also knew that Gui had a round red birthmark on her lower back.

Mrs Gui didn't know it, because she couldn't see the lower back, and Mrs Wen discovered it when she was bathing her before, and told Mrs Gui.

Wen's heart skipped a beat, and she asked the fat cook again, "How old is the prefect's eldest sister?"

The fat cook said, "It's almost fifty-five this year, right?"

Wen's hands were shaking a little. Although Mother couldn't remember her exact age, she was about fifty-four or five years old.

Could it be such a coincidence? The age, the mole behind the ear, and the birthmark on the lower back are all aligned.

And when she came to the prefect's mansion, was the prefect looking at her because of her appearance?

In fact, she doesn't look like Gui Shi when she was young, but she also doesn't look like Mr. Wen. Could it be that she looks like Mrs. Zhu?

Wen's had something in her heart, she was not greedy for vanity, her mother's life experience was also a pity in her heart, if possible, she hoped to help her mother find relatives.

Forget it, work first, and ask when you leave.

Even though Wen Shi was in a hurry, he didn't dare to talk to the prefect.

Although they are all matched, the fat cook also said that there have been women who have been matched before to recognize their relatives, and it is not the elder sister of the prefect.

Today, Yuniang came to cook food for the old lady, so she couldn't delay Yuniang, her actions were all related to Yuniang, and the eunuch couldn't let the prefect think that Yuniang was greedy for vanity and rushed to recognize her relatives.

After cleaning the kitchen and kitchen utensils, Xu Qinyu has almost prepared all the ingredients, and the chicken soup on the stove is still hanging on a low fire, so don't worry about it.

A little maid came and invited the two of them to the guest room to rest.

Xu Qinyu didn't refuse, she woke up too early in the morning, and she was still a little sleepy.

It's not time for evening food yet, and can rest for more than an hour.

Xu Qinyu went to the guest room to sleep for more than an hour, but Wen couldn't sleep, and kept thinking about how to tell the prefect about this matter.

Xu Qinyu woke up when the little maid came over to call for someone while cooking evening food.

In fact, Zhu Taishou and Mrs. Zhu both came to the back kitchen, and when they learned that the cook was resting in the guest room, they didn't bother.

Evening food is also for more than 20 people, Xu Qinyu is also very easy to cook, just like the brown sugar yin rice porridge, it can be cooked in a big pot.

The first thing to do is the kind of dish that takes a long time and does not affect the taste after a while.

Naturally, it is salted fresh fish with pickled cabbage.

There are a lot of kitchen utensils in the back kitchen, and Xu Qinyu can take care of two or three pots at the same time.

The pickled fresh ingredients are all ready.

The bacon has also been soaked. First add ginger, scallions and Huadiao wine to the cold water pot, and blanch the fresh pork belly.

Cut the blanched pork belly into thick slices, cut the bacon and ham into thick slices, and put them in a casserole on low heat for half an hour.

Cut the winter bamboo shoots into pieces and blanch them in water, and pour them into the casserole with the sliced ​​meat. You don’t even need to add salt. The salty taste of bacon and ham is enough, and you don’t need to add other seasonings. The saltiness of ham and bacon, as well as the freshness of other ingredients, are the taste of the ingredients themselves. Add winter bamboo shoots and venetian knots, continue to marinate on low heat for half an hour, and finally sprinkle with chopped green onion and it will be out of the pot.

The whole prefect's mansion is filled with the smell of salty and fresh.

All kinds of scents spread, and all the courtyards and rooms looked eagerly in the direction of the back kitchen, looking forward to the evening meal.

Although they don't eat as much delicacies as other rich country gentry and rich people on weekdays, they still have plenty of food and drink, and occasionally go to restaurants in the city to have some morning and evening meals, but there has never been any dish that they can look forward to so much.

After finally waiting for the evening food to be ready, the maids and servants sent it to each room.

Xu Qinyu also told the little maid to prepare dishes for Mrs. Zhu, starting with pickled fish, then shredded taro, fried winter water celery, mapo tofu, and finally this pickled fresh dish. After tasting these five dishes , other dishes, the old lady can eat whatever she wants.

These are the five flavors of life. Xu Qinyu also wants Mrs. Xu to relax. Looking back on the last journey of her life, she has experienced everything. She hopes Mrs. Xu will leave without any regrets.

The little maid brought the dishes one by one to the old lady's room, and Zhu Taishou and Mrs. Zhu also accompanied them to eat evening food.

Usually, the prefect's house doesn't use maids to prepare food for meals, but this time the little maid explained what Xu Qinyu said.

The prefect Zhu said with a smile: "Then follow what the little cook said, and you put them one by one for the old lady to taste."

Every dish made Mrs. Zhu feel delicious, especially the last pickled Duxian. Mrs. Zhu said tremblingly, "This, this dish tastes the most delicious, salty, full of salty fragrance, Wen I suggest you eat it too..." Not only that, there are large pieces of meat inside, she can taste bacon and pork belly, the other kind of meat is very salty and fragrant, and it is also pork, but the specific method of making it is very different from the first two kinds of meat, The meat was stewed so soft that she could chew it with her teeth, and the winter bamboo shoots and tofu skin inside were full of soup, fresh and fragrant.

After tasting the last salted Duxian dish, Mrs. Zhu suddenly understood the intention of the little cook.

Starting from the sour taste of the first dish, it is sweet, sour, bitter, spicy and salty.

The little cook is letting her taste the five flavors of life, hope she has no regrets.

I wish the old lady's invisible eyes slowly dripped with tears. She didn't find her daughter, how could she leave without regret.

Zhu Taishou felt uncomfortable seeing his old lady crying.

He also tasted these five dishes.

This little cook is very caring.

Mrs. Zhu had cried before, but she didn't say anything more. After fifty years, she had already stepped into the coffin, and she had long since given up hope.

Evening food tasted very good, even if Mrs. Zhu felt emotional, she was still very full.

The same is true of Zhu Taishou and Zhu Shi.

What amazed the two of them the most was the pickled Duxian and soup cabbage.

It’s the first time I’ve eaten womb in this way. The soup should be made of chicken broth, without any chicken fat, and it’s been skimmed clean. The soup is clear and the taste of the soup is strong. The taste of the dish is fresh, tender and sweet, and she ate a lot.

After eating evening food, Mrs. Zhu was very sleepy and fell asleep again.

Zhu Taishou personally went to the back kitchen to thank the little cook, and gave a reward of fifty taels of silver.

Xu Qinyu took the thank you and planned to set off back to Yuanbao Town.

Before the prefect Zhu left the kitchen, he couldn't help but glanced at Wen Shi again, but in the end he still didn't ask.

He just felt that Wen's appearance was two or three points similar to his mother in her thirties, but over the years, he had seen a few people who looked like her mother, and in the end it was not the elder sister.

What's more, the Wen family in front of me is only in her thirties, so she doesn't match the elder sister's age.

Prefect Zhu walked in front of Wen Shi, Wen Shi opened his mouth, wanted to ask but didn't ask.

If not, she was afraid that the prefect would think they were greedy for vanity, and Yuniang would want to come to Raozhou City to open a big restaurant in the future, and she didn't want to affect the prefect's opinion of Yuniang.

Finally, Zhou Daqing drove the carriage to send the two of them back to Yuanbao Town.

Along the way, Wen Shi didn't speak, Xu Qinyu saw that Wen Shi was out of his mind, and couldn't help asking: "Mother, is there something on your mind?"

There is nothing to hide about this matter, Wen Shi usually would not hide it from Yuniang, and would discuss it with her.

She told Yuniang about the abducted elder sister of the prefect who was told by the fat cook in the back kitchen of the prefect's mansion, and said, "Actually, your grandmother was also abducted, and you all know about it, but your grandmother I also have a small mole behind my right ear, and a round red birthmark on my lower back, and my age is about the same, so I am hesitant."

She is also afraid that if the mother is not the elder sister of the prefect, both the mother and the old lady Zhu will be disappointed, especially the old lady Zhu, who is already in this state. If the stimulus is gone, then the revenge will be settled.

Xu Qinyu was processing ingredients in the yard at that time, and didn't hear what the fat cook said. Now that she heard what Wenshi said, she felt a little bit upset in her heart. She thought about it and said, "Mother, let's ask grandma after we go back. Let's see if grandma can remember something, mother may have asked the cook of the prefect's mansion about the prefect's hometown? If grandma can remember a little bit, she can tell whether grandma and the prefect are related by blood."

Now it can only be like this.

After more than two hours, Zhou Daqing sent the two of them back to Yuanbao Town, it was already dark, and now they rushed back to Raozhou City, the gates of the city were about to be closed.

Xu Qinyu found an inn for Zhou Daqing to live in first, and returned to Yuanbao Town tomorrow.

Back home, Xu Qinyu first went to find Brother Cheng and asked about the restaurant.

Wen Shi went to look for Gui Shi, and told her about the abducted daughter of the old lady in the prefect's mansion, and asked Gui Shi if she could remember something from her childhood.

Gui felt uncomfortable hearing that, for some reason, although she had never met Mrs. Zhu, she could imagine how a dying old lady missed her daughter, just thinking of this made her feel very uncomfortable.

"Mother, think about it carefully."

Gui recalled carefully, "When he was abducted, he should have looked about four or five years old. He only vaguely remembered a dilapidated courtyard gate, which was made of wood with holes and cracks on it."

For some reason, she still vaguely remembered such a broken wooden door.

Could it be that they often play at the door?

I really can't think of anything else.

Wen Shi didn't know what to do after hearing this.

She only heard about this from the mouth of the fat cook. I am afraid that the prefect will not tell everyone what the wooden door of the house used to look like.

Wen Shi chatted with Gui Shi again, seeing that Gui Shi really couldn't think of anything, he let her rest earlier.

Xu Qinyu came back from Wenjia Sanfang soon, nothing happened at the restaurant, Brother Cheng said that after posting the notice, the diners were very considerate, just asked if the restaurant would open tomorrow, Brother Cheng After saying that it can be opened, the diners left satisfied.

When Xu Qinyu went back, Wen Shi talked to her, Xu Qinyu thought for a while and wanted to tell Wen Shi, "Mother, how about this, let Chef Zhou take you and grandma to the prefect's mansion when he returns tomorrow. , When you arrive at the prefect’s mansion, you and your grandmother should not meet Mrs. Zhu, and ask the prefect if you can remember the original courtyard gate at home. If it’s the same as your grandmother said, maybe your grandmother is really the elder sister of the prefect. If the information is correct No, there is no need to disturb Mrs. Zhu."

As for why Zhou Daqing was not allowed to bring this question to ask.

In case grandma had something to do with Zhu's family, prefect Zhu, as the prefect of Raozhou City, the highest official, was afraid that the new emperor and Empress Dowager Fu in the capital would not only dismiss the prefect, but even murder them.

Wen Shi is also aware of this.

If the mother and the eunuch were really related by blood, this matter should not be spread at all.

The two said that they also went back to the house to wash and sleep.

At night, Gui Shi had a dream.

The scene in the dream was that she vaguely remembered the broken wooden door. The upper left corner of the wooden door was cracked and there was a hole. Even the traces of the cracks were clear in the dream.

In front of the wooden door, a girl of four or five years old was squatting at the door and playing with stones.

The little girl's appearance was blurred. After watching for a while, a gentle female voice came from behind the wooden door, "Ms. Shu, go back to the house for dinner."

The little girl responded crisply, got up cheerfully and opened the wooden door and walked into the yard.

It's just that in the dream, couldn't see the courtyard and the figure of the gentle woman clearly, everything was blurry, only the dilapidated wooden door and the voice of "Ms. Lady" were the most clear.

When the dream came here, Gui suddenly opened his eyes, panting heavily.

In the second half of the night, Gui Shi never fell asleep again. It was just dawn, and when she heard the movement outside, she also got up and went out to meet Yuniang and her daughter. She told about the woman in the dream who called her "Sunniang" softly. .

Xu Qinyu looked at Wen Shi, Wen Shi was going to Raozhou City with Gui Shi today, Wen Shi told Gui Shi about it.

Gui Shi followed suit and nodded, "Okay, I should have gone there too."

In this way, no matter whether it is a relative or not, we will not have any regrets.

Xu Qinyu went to find Zhou Daqing, and told him that there was something wrong with his mother-in-law and grandmother going to Raozhou City, and hoped that Zhou Daqing would send them to Raozhou City when he returned today.

Zhou Daqing is naturally willing.

Although it was early, when it was time to go to Raozhou City to eat the morning meal, Xu Qinyu asked Mrs. Wen and Mrs. Gui to set off immediately. The two children in the family were looked after by Ning Jie'er, and Sister Xiang would come over later.There is no need to worry about the two at home.