Honoured Lady Jinyi’s delicious cooking was still fresh in Heir Zheng’s mind. Unfortunately, his grandfather’s health had been declining day by day recently, so he wasn’t in the mood to think about food. However, since Honoured Lady Jinyi had specially prepared those dishes for them that day, he decided to thank her personally if he happened to meet her in the inner court.
A glint flashed in Xiao Bojian’s eyes, but he didn’t say anything. However, he had already formed a plan inwardly.
Although Xiao Bojian was good friends with Heir Zheng, he was still an outsider and a male at that. It wasn’t appropriate for him to enter the inner court of the Zheng Estate.
He regularly came to the Zheng Estate as a guest, but he rarely set foot into the inner court. He would usually follow Heir Zheng to his study in the outer court; today was no exception.
Old Duchess Zheng had already been waiting at the entrance of her courtyard. Once she caught sight of Matriarch He and Chu Lian, she immediately stepped forward in welcome.
When she was within arm’s reach, she grasped Matriarch He’s hands with tears in her eyes. “Old Sister, you’ve finally come!”
Matriarch He patted her hand and reassured her, “You don’t have to stand on courtesy with us. Let’s go in to see Old Duke Zheng first. Do tell Sanlang’s wife if there’s anything that Old Duke Zheng can’t eat.”
Old Duchess Zheng wiped away her tears and nodded. Following that, she led Chu Lian and Matriarch He into the bedroom.
Old Duke Zheng was indeed quite ill. He seemed to be sleeping in a lethargic state and was in the midst of dreaming. He was even mumbling something unintelligible. However, he barely had any strength and his voice was so soft that Chu Lian had to move right next to him before she could hear what he was saying.
The moment she could finally make something out, she didn’t know how to react. Old Duke Zheng was already one foot in the coffin, but even in his dreams, he was mumbling, “Oranges… Crabs…”
How much of a gourmet was this Old Duke Zheng?
Chu Lian didn’t know how to check pulses, let alone anything to do with traditional Chinese medicine. There was still an imperial physician checking on Old Duke Zheng’s pulse next to his bed, so Chu Lian asked the physician what foods the old duke had to avoid in his condition. When she finally had a good understanding of what he couldn’t eat, she led Xiyan and Mingyan over to the small kitchen that the Zheng Estate had already prepared in advance.
The kitchen was outfitted with plenty of fresh ingredients. Some had even been sent in not too long ago after Chu Lian’s instructions on the way here.
It was the middle of autumn now, so it was just the time when crabs would be meaty and tasty. It was also the time when oranges ripened, so no wonder the old gourmet duke would be thinking of those two foods even in his sleep.
Since he clearly wanted to eat those, Chu Lian already knew what to do. How about some stuffed orange with crab meat?
Just like how you had to have the right medicine to cure a certain illness, you had to make sure the right dish matched the cravings of the diner.
Stuffed orange with crab meat wasn’t hard to make. They just had to pick some good, fresh oranges and a fat crab. They did have crab here in this kitchen, but they didn’t have any oranges here.
She ordered Xiyan to notify the servant waiting outside to find her some quality oranges. It was the season for oranges, so they shouldn’t be too hard to find.
The senior servant then brought two maidservants with her and quickly headed off to the outer court to find the steward in charge of buying ingredients.
Chu Lian prepared the crab herself, digging out the meat within the shell and giving instructions to Xiyan by her side. Mingyan was sent off to cook some ginseng porridge.
The crabs were ready in a short moment. By then, the senior servant had already returned with the fresh oranges that Chu Lian needed.
The oranges were brightly coloured and fragrant with a nice, even shape. At one look, you could tell that they were quality oranges. They had to cut open the oranges, remove the contents within and then pack it with stuffing made of crab meat, pork, water chestnuts, ground ginger and rice wine. After covering it back up with the cap they cut off the top, they had to put it on a steamer basket and steam it.