Chapter 553: Mutton Soup (4)
After preparing the mutton soup, Chu Lian told Wenqing to watch over the fire. She then took a box filled with steamed buns over to He Sanlang.
The mutton soup needed to cook for some time. It would probably be ready in a little over two hours. The freshly steamed buns could be used to fill their tummies in the meanwhile.
Chu Lian had told Wenlan to prepare Shandong steamed buns. The buns were even bigger than a man’s fist. The stuffing wasn’t the usual minced meat; instead, the meat had been chopped into small cubes, which had been mixed with plenty of spring onions before getting wrapped up in a bun. These Shandong steamed buns were large in size and had a fresh taste thanks to the spring onions, so they wouldn’t lose out to the southern soup dumplings.
The exquisite food container could only hold four of these steamed buns at a time.
Laiyue had been watching the kitchen intently for a long time. After seeing that Chu Lian had left, he shamelessly asked Senior Servant Gui for a steamed meat bun…
He Changdi was really hungry now, so he ate three steamed buns in one sitting. Even though Chu Lian usually didn’t like greasy foods, she was still able to eat an entire Shandong steamed bun.
After finishing the steamed buns, the aroma of the mutton soup drifted in from the kitchen.
The wind was blowing from the east today and Songtao Court’s kitchen was located on the east side. The breeze carried the delicious fragrance in, filling up the entire courtyard.
Even He Sanlang couldn’t help swallowing his saliva.
Chu Lian thought that little action was amusing. “I made some mutton soup. it’ll be ready in about an hour.”
He Changdi raised his brows. They were both seated on the chaise. Chu Lian was sitting knees bent near the window on the inner portion, while He Sanlang reclined against the outer part of the chaise. He readjusted the blanket on Chu Lian’s legs and said, “A soup cooked with mutton?”
“That’s right. I noticed that it was served quite often in the camp back at the northern border!”
The situation in Liangzhou was different from the central region of the Great Wu Dynasty. The barbarians’ main source of meat came from goats and sheep, so it was natural that they ate mutton often.
He Sanlang’s mouth twitched. He immediately lost his appetite when he thought about the mutton soup that the army cooks made…
The soldiers at the northern border had joked about the top three dark cuisines of the northern border troops. The first place winner just happened to be mutton soup. Chinese olive porridge took the second place, while the dry wheat pancakes that were harder than rocks placed third…
Back in the kitchen, Wenqing noticed that the mutton soup was ready, so she poured it into a specially prepared claypot. After placing the claypot in the food container, she brought it over to the bedroom.
Countess Jing’an was on a strict diet since she was still taking medication. Thus, Chu Lian didn’t send her any mutton soup. As for the matriarch, since they had already had their confrontation out in the open, it wasn’t necessary for her to go out of her way to express goodwill to the matriarch’s cold shoulder.
Thus, the mutton soup became an exclusive treat for the third branch. Of course, Chu Lian hadn’t forgotten the old gourmet, Great Doctor Miao. She had already sent Wenlan over to deliver some Shandong steamed buns and mutton soup to him.
Pan Nianzhen was casually walking around the gardens of the Jing’an Estate when a maidservant suddenly came to report that Third Young Master and Madam had returned.
Pan Nianzhen was surprised by the news. She knew that He Changdi and Chu Lian had gone to the Ying Estate today. She had heard that it was for the coming-of-age ceremony for the Eighth Miss of House Ying, who was Chu Lian’s younger sister. With such a close relationship between them, Chu Lian shouldn’t have returned so early. Why had she come back when it was only past noon?
Pan Nianzhen bit her lip in thought and quickly went off to report the news to her mother.
He Ying had much more insight into this than her daughter. Her eyes darted back and forth as she gripped the handkerchief in her hand and gritted her teeth.
He Ying had been managing Guilin Restaurant ever since Matriarch He had taken it back.
She had reopened the long-closed Guilin Restaurant on the very day they had taken it back. It has been reopened for two days now, but the results were shocking. Guilin Restaurant used to be so busy that reservations had to be made several months in advance. However, there were barely any customers now.