[Red Mansion] A little chef came to the Grand View Garden

Liu Mei asked Liu Mu about the dishes prepared by Liu Mu. The mother and daughter gathered together and drew up the entire banquet list for Jia Mu to entertain the two concubines.

In Liu Mei's opinion, this noodle dish is almost a summary of Honglou Cuisine.

Before serving the main course, Mother Liu prepared four dried fruits, four salty dishes, and four cold dishes.Liumei saw that the four kinds of dried fruits are kernel sand, ginkgo, chestnuts, and pine nuts; the four kinds of salty and fresh fruits are pepper oil water shield sauce, fried radish in sauce, eggplant and chicken marrow bamboo shoots; the four cold dishes are Liumu's best. Special dishes: rouge goose breast, goose palm duck letter, marinated pigeon eggs, Shaoxing drunken chicken.

Mother Liu was busy making hot dishes, she turned her head and said to Liu Mei: "Mei'er, you go up to help Lian Er|Grandma and the others are going to serve the dishes, and when they turn around and ask about the dishes, you can help me and agree." .”

Liu Mei knew that Concubine Beijing had seen her last time, and this time she "came here because of her reputation", there was a little bit of her reason in Nineteenth, so she readily agreed, turned around and followed the servants of Rongxi Hall, Serve the cold cuts before the main course with side dishes.

She followed the servants of Jia's mansion to the flower hall of Rongxi Hall where Jia's mother hosted a banquet for the two concubines.The flower hall was quite lively, the two concubines were talkative people, and they were talking about current news with Jia Mu.Mrs. Wang and Aunt Xue would occasionally interject a few words to make fun of them.Mrs. Xing and Sister Feng were also present, but they just sat quietly without making a sound.

As a result, Concubine Bei Jing spoke.She pointed to Sister Feng standing behind Mrs. Xing, and said: "I saw this child last time at Qingxu Temple. At that time, he was like a chatterbox, with one set of jokes after another. Why is it the same now? It looks like a gourd with its mouth sawn off?" She said, looking at Mother Jia, "Could it be because of me that she was arrested?"

Liu Mei also secretly looked at Sister Feng.

I saw that Sister Feng's makeup was exquisite, but she couldn't hide the slight loneliness in her expression.Today, she has a calm demeanor, and at first glance she seems to be much more stable, but upon closer inspection, there is a kind of lifelessness in her attitude.

Mrs. Jia Muwang quickly apologized.Jia's mother pointed to Sister Feng, "It's easy to teach the concubine to know that since I saw the concubine last time, this child has raised another brother, and he has a son and a daughter under his knees. How can he be like a child?" Mess around?"

When they heard that Sister Feng had a brother, the two concubines congratulated her together.It was also mentioned earlier that when my brother was full moon, it was the time of national filial piety, so there was no big banquet in the Rong Mansion. The two concubines remembered this time, and they all made up the gifts for Hu Ge'er in a hurry. Gave it to Sister Feng.Then Jia Mu beamingly asked Sister Feng to come up and thank the two concubines.Sister Feng came up to thank her with a smile on her face, but Liu Mei looked at it coldly and felt that Sister Feng's smile was really forced.

Grand Concubine Bei Jing saw Sister Feng coming up to thank her, she hastily avoided it, and asked: "Last time in another courtyard, I also saw the girl under your aunt's knee, is she in the mansion now?"

When Mother Jia saw that Concubine Beijing mentioned Jia Min, she couldn't help being a little sad, but when she saw that Concubine Beijing asked about Daiyu, she became happy for a while, and hurriedly ordered someone to invite Daiyu, and then ordered Baochai, Baoqin and sisters Sanchun to wait for her. Invite them together, come and kowtow to the two concubines.

Lin Zhixiao's family immediately took orders.

Liu Mei took a look at the opening, and took a few servants to spread cold dishes and side dishes on the table.

Concubine Bei Jing recognized her at a glance, and said with a smile: "This girl is also an old friend!"

Liu Mei bowed and saluted, and said with a smile: "The concubine actually remembers, the servant girl is very honored."

Jiamu and the others sat aside, and they were quite surprised to see that Concubine Beijing remembered a little maid whom she had only met once.

Concubine Bei Jing was very interested, and said with a smile: "The last time I was in the other courtyard, all the delicious food and drinks were cooked by this girl, and now I want to taste your handicrafts—"

Seeing the twelve cold dishes and small dishes being served first, she couldn't help but move her nose slightly, and turned her head to look at Concubine Nan'an with a smile: "This kind of wine smells... Sister, look at what I said. When you come to Rong Mansion, you will definitely be entertained with good wine and good food!"

The servant woman next to her heard this, and quickly apologized and said with a smile: "The concubine is laughing, and the wine has not been served to you, so I want to ask you, should I use Su wine, Huiquan wine, or Western wine?"

Concubine Beijing and Concubine Nan'an were a little puzzled, "It's not served yet, so what is the aroma of this wine...?"

Liu Mei smiled when she heard this, and moved the plate of Shaoxing drunken chicken to Concubine Beijing's place, and explained softly, "Don't take offense to the concubine, this is the smell of drunken chicken, drunk with ten-year-old Shaoxing distiller's grains. Yes, but don't worry, this cold dish smells good, but it doesn't taste like alcohol, let alone intoxicating."

"Ten-year-old Shaoxing wine?" Dowager Bei Jing became interested, and turned her head, "Whether it's Su wine or Shaoxing wine, I will serve less. It seems that rice wine is always suitable for these dishes."

Liu Mei secretly nodded in her heart, thinking that this concubine whom she hadn't seen for a long time was really good at eating.

For a while, the cold appetizers were spread over her head, and Liu Mei stepped back and went back to the big kitchen to help her mother.

When she came back to the table to watch again, she saw that Daiyu Baochai and the others had already arrived, and the two concubines were meeting and questioning one by one, and offering greeting gifts.

It was obvious that Concubine Bei Jing was most interested in Daiyu, so she only pulled Daiyu by her side, and asked and talked carefully.

However, Concubine Nan'an is interested in everyone. Since Yingchun and below, Sanchun has carefully looked at each of them, but for the two Bao girls of the Xue family, she only asked about her family background and let it go-Baoqin felt a little embarrassed, Baochai, on the other hand, remained calm and thought nothing of it.

Jia Mu and Mrs. Xing Wang looked confused, and looked at Sister Feng from time to time.But Sister Feng, the instigator, didn't pay any attention to it, she just stood aside with low eyebrows and did not respond to the questioning eyes of the few above.

Liu Mei watched from the side, feeling a little apprehensive in her heart—what exactly is Sister Feng trying to do by hooking these two gods back?

For a while, the two concubines saw some girls from Jia's mansion, and they sat down again.Jia Mu asked if the hot dishes and desserts were ready, and if they were ready, she was ready to have a feast.

At this time, Liu Mei had also returned to the big kitchen to help her mother.

The list of hot dishes and desserts was decided by the mother and daughter Liu Mei after discussion, and the above dishes are all classics in the Red Mansion cuisine.Mother Liu had already prepared all the materials in advance. The mother and daughter divided the work and each served a few dishes. Soon the aroma filled the whole big kitchen, and the servants outside also probed their brains. Two people, you can leave now."

Hot dishes come out continuously: deep-fried quail, steamed duck fermented with wine, braised deer tendon, steamed marinated sturgeon fish, braised Siamese pork, stir-fried goji sprouts with oil and salt, fried gluten with artemisia, shrimp balls and chicken skin soup, There is also a big bowl of steaming green fragrant rice and japonica rice...

Liu Mei looked at these hot dishes being packed into the food box one by one, and felt an indescribable feeling in her heart—it seemed that this banquet was a summary, and after this table was finished, the script was finished, and the dream It will draw a period, and when the song ends, people will leave.

For some reason, Liu Mei suddenly felt a little bit reluctant.

Indeed, she was ups and downs in this world of Red Mansions, originally just to complete the task, but now she feels that she cannot be separated from this world... She has lived here for so long, and has had relationships with many people The intersection creates friendship... Now it's hard for her to imagine how she should bid farewell to this world.

"Mei'er, are you tired?" Mother Liu came over and looked at her daughter with concern.

"Drink some son's tea, so you can feel more refreshed," Mother Liu handed over a tea mug, "I'll make the dim sum together in a while, and then I'll be done."

Liu Mei took a sip from the mug in her mother's hand, it looked like a thick strong tea, after taking a sip, she felt that it was full of fragrance, pure and unaffected.

"Mother, what kind of tea is this?" Liu Mei asked curiously.

"Your father specially entrusted someone to bring it back. It was born in the Fragrance Cave in Fangchun Mountain, called 'A Cave of Thousand Reds'." Mother Liu replied casually.

Liu Mei's shoulders trembled when she heard this, and she quickly asked: "Mother, is there another kind of wine called 'Wan Yan Tong Cup'?"

Mother Liu was busy making some goose oil rolls with pine flesh, and she replied without turning her head: "Yes, I sent up the jar of ten-year-old Su wine today. , the marrow of ten thousand trees, so there is an alias called 'Wan Yan Tong Cup'."

Liu Mei turned her head to stare at Mother Liu, subconsciously feeling that something was wrong—she couldn't be the kind of woman who could say "the pistil of a hundred flowers, the marrow of ten thousand trees", plus this "thousands of reds in one cave" "With "Wan Yan in the same cup"...

At that moment just now, Mother Liu seemed to be bringing salt to the world of red chambers.

"mother……"

Liu Mei was inexplicably terrified, but Mother Liu didn't seem to know what she said just now, she turned her head to look at Liu Mei, and said with a smile, "Look at the steamer, the tofu skin bag you put in The rice cake, and the water chestnut cake...don't over steam it!"

For a while, she became the mother Liu Mei was most familiar with again.

But Liu Mei's heart was still pounding, and her back was slightly wet, as if she was covered in cold sweat at that moment just now.

Immediately, the superior came to urge the snacks, Liu Mei and her mother hurriedly packed and presented all kinds of snacks they had made, and the two followed them to the flower hall of Rongxi Hall to serve them.

In the flower hall, however, there was a lot of joy and harmony. Concubine Nan'an was sitting at the head, and everyone else was congratulating her.

"Congratulations, princess!"

"Concubine He Xi, now Nan'an County Palace is one level closer to Rongguo Palace."

After hearing this, Mother Liu quietly asked the people around her what the happy event was.

"Grand Concubine Nan'an recognized our third girl as a foster daughter!" Lin Zhixiao's family secretly told Mother Liu.

"That's a good relationship!" Liu's mother didn't know what to say, "The third girl is in her early years!"

Mother Liu just thought that Tanchun was a concubine and suffered from Aunt Zhao's burden. If she could get the support of a relative from Nan'an County's palace, it would be cheaper to get married in the future.

Lin Zhixiao's family obviously thought the same way, "Isn't it?"

"It seems that Concubine Bei Jing has taken a fancy to Miss Lin, but no matter how persuaded by others, she refuses to accept her as a daughter-in-law. I'm afraid she has other considerations—"

Needless to say, Concubine Beijing liked Daiyu so much, but refused to recognize her as a foster daughter, presumably there was an intention of the two families getting married.

Liu Mei was shrinking behind Mother Liu watching all of this, everyone in the flower hall was happy, but she was the only one, feeling like the mountain rain was about to come and the wind filled the building.