Farmhouse life after traveling back to ancient times

I remember when I used to cook, I put more onions, ginger and garlic, and the dishes tasted better.

In addition, seasonings such as onion, ginger and garlic are also added to the pickled vegetables, but this is rare at this time.

"Most of the pickles we have now are pickled one by one, right?" Du Wenxiu was not quite sure.

I remember mentioning to Yue Niang before that we could try pickling several vegetables in a jar to create a variety of flavors.

Yue Niang nodded: "Yes, although I have suggested to pickle several kinds together before, I am afraid that the flavors will mix together, and since it has been turned over by the earth dragon, I haven't had time to try it yet."

"Well. Then use this brine to pickle long beans, garlic sprouts, white radish, bamboo shoots, cucumbers and ginger together and try it out. If it tastes good, make a large batch."

"Okay." Yue Niang agreed readily.

Nowadays, when people pickle vegetables, they prefer to retain the original flavor of the vegetables, and not many people try to pickle them together like this.

"Since we are going to use a lot of these spices in the future, we can talk to the merchant from the Western Regions. Maybe we can negotiate a lower price. We can also see if he has any other fruits and vegetables suitable for making pickles."

"Yes, that's right." Yue Niang wrote down everything and asked someone to make the contact when she returned.

There were voices outside, and soon Du Wenchan ran in with a red face and whispered to Du Wenxiu to go out, saying that there was a guest.

Du Wenxiu couldn't help but wonder what kind of guest could make Du Wenchan's face as red as a boiled shrimp.

He hurriedly went out with Yue Niang, and when he took a look, he found that she was someone he knew. It was Mrs. Jiao who had introduced Qiao'er to someone else.

"Auntie Jiao, long time no see. How come you have time to come and visit me today?" Du Wenxiu greeted her with a smile.

When Mrs. Jiao saw her, her face smiled like a flower. She stood up from the stool and greeted Du Wenxiu and the other person.

Du Wenxiu quickly extended her hand to invite her to sit down. She sat down and took a sip of tea before saying:

"I'm here to congratulate Madam Du. I originally tried to matchmake your Qiao'er with someone but it didn't work out. Later I heard that she married a scholar, the son of the county lieutenant. I also talked to someone else about it. Fortunately, it didn't work out, otherwise it would have ruined Qiao'er's good marriage."

Du Wenxiu smiled and thanked her. Mrs. Jiao said, "I heard that Madam Du bought a farm here. I wanted to come and visit her, but I was afraid it would be too abrupt. So I came here on the pretext of a happy event to ask Madam Du for some tea."

Du Wenxiu heard the hidden meaning in her words and couldn't help but become interested, so he asked, "I wonder what good news Aunt Jiao has to tell me?"

"Well, excuse me for being so rude, but I would like to ask which family the young lady who just came in is from, how old is she, and is she married?"

Du Wenxiu naturally understood what she said, so she smiled and said, "That's my mother's daughter. She's sixteen years old now and still unmarried. Could it be that you're here, ma'am?"

Mrs. Jiao smiled happily and clapped her hands on her thighs:

"Oh, that's really a marriage given by heaven that you have to wait for. I came here this time because someone has taken a fancy to Madam Du Er and wants to marry her to be the mistress of the family."

"Oh? Which one is it?" Du Wenxiu asked puzzledly.

Mrs. Jiao smiled and pointed outside the door, saying, "He is a neighbor, but he is the young master of the Zhu family, a wealthy family in Zhujia Village."

It turned out to be him. I just saw him at the farm two days ago, but he sent someone to propose marriage to him today. This was too quick.

Seeing Du Wenxiu lowered his head and said nothing, Mrs. Jiao smiled and said, "We are all neighbors. I think Madam Du knows a little bit about this. Although Master Zhu is a widower, he has no children."

As he spoke, he leaned forward and chuckled, "If Second Lady Du marries and gives birth to a son, won't all of the Zhu family's wealth fall into the hands of the young master and Second Lady Du?"

Yue Niang said quickly, "Auntie, please don't lie to us. I heard that Master Zhu has a powerful concubine in his house. It's not that easy to be the mistress of the house."

Mrs. Jiao looked at her with some displeasure in her eyes, which only flashed away for a moment before she smiled again:

"Madam An is right, but in this world, even the peasants who can save a little food can still find a little money to marry a concubine, not to mention the wealthy Zhu family."

"This house is filled with endless gold, silver and jewelry. Not to mention raising a concubine, we can even afford to raise several more."

"If you say this concubine is powerful, isn't it because there is no mistress in the harem? If there is a mistress, she will take over all the household affairs. How can a mere concubine really turn the tables?"

Mrs. Jiao snorted and said to Du Wenxiu, "These things are really not worth worrying about. The Zhu family really has endless money. It's not easy to find a family like this."

Du Wenxiu curved her lips and said to Mrs. Jiao with a smile, "I understand your good intentions, but I am just a sister. My sister's aunt is still here. I have to discuss it with her before I can reply to you."

As he said this, he took out a few large coins and stuffed them into Mrs. Jiao's hand: "This is for you to buy some wine, please don't despise it."

"Well, tell me, tell me, I haven't done anything for your family yet, but you've already spared me a lot of money for running errands. How can I bear this?"

Mrs. Jiao smiled helplessly. Under Du Wenxiu's persuasion, she accepted the huge sum of money and said that she would go back to the Zhu family to report and come back in two or three days.

Du Wenxiu and Yue Niang sent her to the door, then turned around and stopped smiling.

"Don't listen to her nonsense. The Zhu family is not a good place to go." Yue Niang said to Du Wenxiu.

Du Wenxiu was also thinking about it, and told Yue Niang about how he and Du Wenchan met Young Master Zhu in the fields two days ago.

"Look, that maid should know how difficult Concubine Liu is. Besides, Master Zhu's late husband was the cousin of Master Zhu and Concubine Liu, and it was Concubine Liu who killed him."

Yue Niang gossiped and A'luo and Du Wenchan, who had just come out of the house, were also shocked when they heard it and asked hurriedly to investigate.

Yue Niang told them in detail what she had heard. A Luo frowned and said:

"Oh, with such a complicated relationship and such a powerful family, it's no wonder that Master Zhu is a simple, honest, talented and handsome man, but a widower. I think the problem lies here."

Yue Niang smiled and said, "It's not that no one proposed marriage to Master Zhu before, but no sooner had they made contact than Madam Liu came knocking with her family."

Then he lowered his voice and whispered, "Once, the woman who proposed marriage was very fierce. She had a fight with Aunt Liu in the street. The people she brought with her tore her clothes... Tsk tsk tsk tsk. After that, no one dared to discuss marriage with Young Master Zhu anymore."

Du Wenxiu couldn't help but wonder, "She is trying to stop Young Master Zhu from getting married. Could it be that she is planning to make him her legal wife?"

Yue Niang curled her lips and said, "That's probably true. She is the daughter of Master Zhu's uncle. She was brought in as a concubine. Maybe she wants to make her the wife."

"So there is this layer of relationship. The Zhu family is really not a good family. If I enter the family, won't I be suppressed to death by my cousin's concubine?"

Even A'Luo was amazed. Although Du Wenchan said nothing, her expression showed that she agreed with it.

Yue Niang smiled and said, "If this is the only relationship, it would be fine, but this concubine Liu is not comparable to an ordinary concubine."