Ch 95: Guide to Feeding a Villainous Husband

Although he knew that the shop on Xuanwu Street was owned by Princess Siyan, Yu Jiuque still sent someone to verify it, and only after that could he respond to the broker.

Thus, Qin Xia could enjoy a few more leisurely days, continuing to enthusiastically bustle around the stove, occasionally giving Gao Yang some cooking tips.

As for Qiu Chuan and Qiu Yao, who were also living in the residence, they were almost always wherever Qin Xia was.

Shengjing was enormous, and so was the lord’s residence. Although the attendants were friendly towards the brother and sister, the two children still preferred to stick with familiar faces.

During this time, the stewardess, Madam Xu, took a liking to young Qiu Yao. Upon learning that this little girl could read, write, and even do arithmetic, she considered keeping her by her side to assist with tasks.

When Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque found out, they discussed the matter.

Qiu Yao was still quite young. Being a helper in Qinan County was one thing—there, the regular patrons were familiar faces, so there was no fear of her being bullied. Shengjing, however, was different. Comparatively, staying within the household might be a better choice.

However, they didn’t make the decision on her behalf. Instead, they asked Qiu Yao for her own opinion.

Qiu Yao admitted that she preferred reading, writing, and keeping accounts over serving dishes and washing plates.

“Madam Xu lacks a capable assistant. In that case, you can follow her from now on.”

Madam Xu was delighted by the news.

At the same time, she reflected that she had entered the palace before she even reached womanhood and, by the time she was released from the palace, she was already in her “half-old” years.

With no family left and her heart and mind weathered by time, she had long since given up the idea of starting a family or having children.

If she could adopt Qiu Chuan and Qiu Yao as her godchildren, it would bring her some comfort in her later years. At least, when she passed away, her grave wouldn’t be left unvisited.

Madam Xu’s proposal was thoughtful. Adopting them as godchildren rather than as full children wouldn’t make the siblings feel guilty about their deceased mother.

By this time, the two children had grown quite familiar with Madam Xu.

When they heard her proposal to become their godmother, they agreed without much hesitation.

Madam Xu chose an auspicious day, lit incense, had them kneel, offered tea, and went through the whole ceremony of changing their address.

Hearing the words “godmother” from them, Madam Xu couldn’t help but wipe away her tears. She then took out clothes and shoes she had made herself and gave them to the siblings.

For Qiu Chuan, there was a short, cross-collared robe and pants; for Qiu Yao, there was a long robe and a pleated skirt.

In addition, each of them received a new pair of summer cloth shoes, a pouch to carry, and a towel.

Since their mother had passed away and they had come to work at Qin Ji, Qiu Chuan and Qiu Yao had either worn old clothes brought from home by Yu Jiuque and Zheng Xinghua or ready-made garments that Qin Xia bought for them during the holidays.

Now, wearing clothes made by their godmother, the two children’s hearts were filled with complex emotions, and they hugged Madam Xu, crying together.

That evening, Madam Xu brought the two children to express their gratitude to Qin Xia and Yu Jiuque.

After they left, Qin Xia sighed with emotion, “Family ties are truly unpredictable, but I feel that even without their birth mother, having a godmother is still a wonderful thing.”

Fang Rong still didn’t know that he possessed the soul of someone from another world, yet treated him no worse than her own child.

Yu Jiuque poured him a cup of Eight Treasures tea, filled with chrysanthemums, goji berries, red dates, and raisins.

“Are you missing your godmother?”

Qin Xia smiled, “It’s more that I’m thinking we’ve finally settled down here in Shengjing. It’s probably time to send a few letters to Qinan County.”

There were four letters in total: one to the Liu family, one to the restaurant, and the other two to Xing Yiming and the distillery manager Tao Ke.

The letter to the Liu family was more like a personal letter, mentioning their recent move to the capital, while the others outlined some business matters.

Within the city, there was a mail service, and depending on the weight, distance, and urgency, they charged accordingly. Sending four simple letters to Qinan County without any enclosures would cost a whole tael of silver.

By the time they received the replies, it would likely already be summer.

…

“Master, the estate has sent another batch of fresh cherries. Would you like to take a look?”

This was a new habit among the servants of the Grand Attendant’s residence. In the past, even if there had been a whole basket of apricots or rare delicacies like dragon liver and phoenix marrow, their lord might not have even spared a glance.

But Master Qin was different. He enjoyed experimenting with all kinds of edible things, and whenever he made more food than necessary, he would share it with the people in the household. As a result, even though he had only been there for a month, everyone had already enjoyed plenty of delicious meals.

“Well, let’s go take a look then.”

Qin Xia muttered a few words and walked into the courtyard where the kitchen was located.

Two bamboo baskets were placed on the ground, and the cherries inside were even redder than the last batch.

However, their taste wasn’t as good as before.

After eating a few, Qin Xia said, “It rained a few days ago, so this batch of cherries isn’t as sweet.”

He motioned for others to try, and everyone agreed with his assessment.

They weren’t sour, but they weren’t sweet either. When eaten, they tasted watery.

After tasting them, Qin Xia wiped his hands.

There was no way he could let all these cherries go to waste, so after thinking for a moment, he decided it would be best to turn them all into jam.

Now the kitchen staff had something to do for the day.

Every single one of them was given a task, with everyone using toothpicks to pit the small cherries.

The pitted cherries filled an entire large basin. A little vinegar was drizzled over them, and then they were poured into a pot with a generous amount of sugar. No water was added at all; the cherries would rely purely on their own juice as they simmered slowly over a low flame. Once the fruit had softened and thickened, they would let it cool and jar it.

Qin Xia didn’t have to worry about food spoiling in the summer heat anymore. Like any wealthy household in Shengjing, the residence had its own ice cellar.

With the current weather, stepping inside would chill you to the bone, causing goosebumps to rise. Items stored near the entrance would be kept cool, while those stored deeper inside would be frozen solid.

It just goes to show that no matter the era, it’s always better to have money.

A little later, Gao Yang arrived.

Qin Xia planned to make two new dishes that night, so he had Gao Yang watch and learn.

For example, this jam could be used not only in desserts or spread on steamed buns but also in cooking meat, thanks to its natural fruity aroma and sweet-sour flavor.

And the best meat to pair with this flavor? Duck meat.

Compared to chicken, duck is fattier and richer, making it a perfect match for the sweet and sour jam.

The whole duck was cut into large pieces, and with the skin side down, both sides were pan-fried until golden brown.

The duck skin, full of rich fat, looked incredibly appetizing.

The duck was set aside while the leftover fat was used to sauté whole garlic cloves and ginger. Based on Qin Xia’s experience, the garlic cloves in this dish would be delicious as well—perfectly bite-sized.

The duck was placed back into the pot, this time with the skin side up, and then the seasonings were added.

Duck needs to be cooked with wine, and since this was a sweet-and-sour dish, rice wine was used instead of yellow wine.

Additionally, vinegar and soy sauce were poured over the duck, giving it a glossy red hue. Depending on the size of the duck, several large spoonfuls of cherry jam were added, along with a piece of rock sugar, before water was poured in, and the dish was left to stew.

This method of cooking wasn’t something seen in the restaurants back in Qinan County, and Gao Yang was paying close attention as he learned.

The duck meat needed to be stewed until fully cooked and flavorful, which would take quite some time. After covering the pot, Qin Xia left the heat control to the kitchen staff and went to check on the rabbit meat that had been marinating for a while.

The rabbits were the ones brought back from the estate. Since they only had injured legs, they had been kept in cages for a few days, just waiting for Qin Xia to decide how to cook them.

He initially thought of trying “Pixia Gong” (a type of rabbit dish), but then realized that these rabbits were too old for that.

The idea of leng chi tu (cold-eaten rabbit) suddenly popped into Qin Xia’s mind.

This dish, perfect for pairing with wine, was hard for even a cook like him to resist.

Seeing that the marinated rabbit cubes were well-seasoned, Qin Xia decided to have Gao Yang try his hand at preparing the dish.

Gao Yang stood nervously in front of the large iron pot, waiting for Qin Xia’s next instruction.

He started by heating a generous amount of oil and frying the spices.

Leng chi tu uses a variety of spices, enough to fill an entire plate. There were the usual ones like scallions, ginger, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns, but also less common ones like fennel and sand ginger, all of which released layers of complex aromas as they hit the hot oil.

Once the spices were fried, they were removed, and the oil, now infused with their flavors, was used to stir-fry the rabbit meat cubes.

The rabbit meat was cut into small pieces, so it cooked quickly, turning color in no time.

“Add the spices back into the pot and stir-fry slowly until the rabbit meat is crispy and fragrant,” Qin Xia instructed.

Gao Yang followed the instructions carefully.

The pot contained meat from two large, fat rabbits, and the rabbit cubes filled the pot to the brim. Gao Yang stirred with determination, focusing intently.

Being a cook isn’t just about skill—it also requires strength and endurance.

Gao Yang was a competent chef who, despite his own experience, wasn’t arrogant. He was more than willing to humbly learn from the younger Qin Xia.

Having worked his way up from an apprentice to a proper chef in a restaurant, Gao Yang had a solid foundation in cooking, which made it easy for him and Qin Xia to communicate.

No one knew how long he’d been stir-frying, but by the time the scent had lured all the dogs in the residence to gather wagging their tails at the kitchen door, Gao Yang felt the meat was nearly done and called Qin Xia over, saying, “Boss, is the rabbit meat cooked enough?”

Qin Xia walked over to the pot.

He saw that there was oil but no water left in the pot, and the rabbit meat had shrunk to about half its original size. Nodding, he said, “It’s ready.”

Gao Yang grinned, “Then I’ll finish it up.”

The final step was the essence of leng chi tu — adding chili peppers.

The dried chili segments, left with their seeds, filled the air with a sharp, eye-watering spice as soon as they hit the heat. Soy sauce, oyster sauce, a spoonful of Shaoxing wine, and a piece of rock sugar were added, making the dish a fiery spectacle. Just the smell was enough to make anyone break into a sweat before even tasting it.

After plating the dish and sprinkling it with white sesame seeds for garnish, Qin Xia took a whiff of his own sleeves, realizing they too had absorbed the pungent chili scent.

He left Gao Yang to finish preparing the remaining dishes for dinner, treating it as a small test, while he checked the time and went back to his room to change his clothes.

“Husband, I’m back.”

Yu Jiuque, having worked hard all day, finally relaxed after entering the gates of the He Guang courtyard.

Especially when he smelled the aroma of the food from afar, he felt like he could easily eat five bowls of rice.

When Qin Xia came out of the inner room, he saw Yu Jiuque squatting and playing with Da Fu.

“What’s for dinner tonight?”

He tilted his head up, a smile on his lips, and asked Qin Xia, “What’s for dinner?”

“There’s perilla cherry duck and cold-eaten rabbit. As for the rest, I left it to Gao Yang to handle.”

By the time he had also changed and came out, the table was already set with all the dishes.

In addition to the two dishes Qin Xia had personally prepared and guided, there were also braised tofu with pork, pea shoots in superior broth, and fish-fragrant eggplant.

Yu Jiuque hadn’t had a proper lunch and was quite hungry. After exchanging only a few words, he quickly shoveled a couple of mouthfuls of rice into his mouth.

Just hearing the name of the perilla cherry duck made it an appealing dish. The taste was rich and delicious, with a sweet and sour cherry flavor. Besides the cherry’s tangy sweetness, he could also taste a subtle flavor he couldn’t quite place, which he figured must be the perilla.

Switching from sweet to spicy, the cold-eaten rabbit was loaded with chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns, making his lips and tongue tingle with a delightful numbness. He kept gasping for air, “Sss ha sss ha,” but couldn’t stop eating.

Qin Xia focused on tasting the three home-cooked dishes that Gaoyang had prepared.

The oil tofu was cut in half and coated in a light starch, releasing flavorful broth with each bite, perfect for eating with rice.

The superior broth pea shoots were enhanced with salted duck eggs and century eggs. The shoots were bright green, and the broth had a golden hue. As for the fish-fragrant eggplant, it was slightly off in terms of the frying technique, but Qin Xia knew this was due to his own high standards.

From an ordinary person’s perspective, this dish could easily be served at a restaurant.

After finishing half a bowl of rice, Yu Jiuque finally caught his breath. Qin Xia had to remind him to eat more slowly and chew properly.

“You keep missing meals all day, and then you come back and wolf down your food. You’re going to ruin your stomach sooner or later.”

Yu Jiuque, with his cheeks stuffed full of rice and vegetables, chewed a bit more before swallowing.

“Since Eunuch She retired, the Directorate of Ceremonial has had a batch of new people come in. Though they’re technically my team, I’m still getting used to them. Once things are sorted out, it should get better.”

Then he added, “I was so hungry when I got back that I almost forgot. The shop on Xuanwu Street has been thoroughly investigated—it’s completely clean. What do you think, husband? Shall we settle on that place?”

Qin Xia served a bowl of pea shoots to Yu Jiuque, placed it in front of him, and after thinking for a moment, said, “Let’s go with it.”

He did have a particular fondness for that lotus pond.