The Virtuous Concubine

Dachun helped Malu pack her things, and after saying goodbye to her, he was relieved to see Malu carrying her small package and following Aunt Shuyu. She was sent by Fuxi Efu Li Yongfang to take care of concubine Li. Li had been selected into the palace for four years in the tenth year of Emperor Kangxi's reign, but there was no sign of pregnancy.

She has been learning medicine and martial arts since she was young. Since the number of servants around Concubine Li is full, she has not been able to be transferred to her side for the time being. So her performance has always been well-behaved.

Although she felt lonely after Malu left, she also had more opportunities to review her martial arts when Aunt Liu was away. If she didn't move, her body would rust! And Malu was too conspicuous. Although she tried to hide it, she still attracted a lot of attention. Naturally, she had to be extra careful when living with her.

Malu naturally didn't know this, and was still following Aunt Shuyu to identify people one by one! After meeting the people in the tea room one by one, she had a rough idea of ​​what was going on, and then she was assigned to make snacks.

This job was indeed easy, and Malu even felt that this job was created for her. The imperial kitchen provided the complex snacks, but sometimes the imperial kitchen was too far away, and it was sometimes too late to get fresh snacks, and serving tea alone was too simple, so the tea room vacated a corner room next to the tea-making room.

There are some very basic materials and cooking utensils in this corner room, and it needs someone who knows how to make snacks to cooperate with the tea maker to make some snacks occasionally. Everyday, this little palace maid also needs to get the ingredients for making snacks. If someone else goes to get them, there will definitely be a fight. This is originally the work of the tea room people taking away from the imperial kitchen, and the imperial kitchen has to pay for this extra expense, which is bound to cause a commotion.

Since Malu's grandfather, E-chan, was in charge of the imperial kitchen, the imperial kitchen would certainly have no objection to her doing this, so it could be said that she had the best of both worlds. Shu Yu also considered this and agreed to Aunt Hongyu's request.

When Malu first arrived, her job was to learn how to make tea from Shuyu. After she understood tea, she also made some snacks for Shuyu to taste. Only when they were qualified would they be sent to the emperor. Of course, this was based on the premise that the emperor usually only drank tea and rarely touched the snacks. Most of the time, they were for the ministers who were discussing matters together, so Malu, a new soldier, was asked to make them.

Shu Yu had three maids who helped manage tea-making utensils, tea leaves and water. They were named Qin Yu, Tian Yu and Li Yu. After Ma Lu wrote down these names, he found that everyone in front of the Qianqing Palace had the word "Yu" in their names. He couldn't help but ask Aunt Shu Yu what was going on when no one was around.

When Shu Yu heard her question, he smiled and said, "You are quite perceptive. That's true. This was pioneered by Aunt Hongyu. She was praised by the Emperor several times. Later, the Emperor gave her the name "Hongyu" and praised her for brewing Zhengshan Xiaozhong, which was as red as red jade. Later, I was brought out and took over her job. Therefore, in the Qianqing Palace, only those who have been praised by the Emperor and are willing to stay in the palace for life are qualified to be called by the name of the Yu generation."

Malu thought it was ridiculous, but she thought that this was an ancient time when the emperor was the most respected person, so it was normal for everyone to like to take advantage of him. Seeing the three "Yu'er" girls in front of her with a hint of vigilance towards her, she felt helpless - she, a paratrooper, must have offended them.

I'd better just make snacks! After a while, they knew they were not a competitive person. Malu didn't care about the name of jade. She was already a palace maid, so why bother with jade?

No matter what is in the name, it can't change the miserable fate, we are all pitiful people! Thinking of this, Malu felt that her name was not good, and she became even more depressed. But she didn't feel depressed for too long, because Aunt Shuyu really understood a lot!

Aunt Shuyu taught her the taste and characteristics of various teas, let her taste some, and explained some basic rules of the teahouse. But learning these was not enough, she asked Malu to make a special snack suitable for this tea based on the taste of Xinyang Maojian.

Xinyang Maojian is one of the teas most often given to ministers who held meetings in the Southern Study of the Qianqing Palace. Its tea soup is clear and bright, and its taste is fresh, mellow and sweet. After brewing, its aroma is as pure and noble as ripe fruit.

Malu saw that the brewed Xinyang Maojian tea leaves were tight and green in color. Especially the new buds, which were shaped like sparrow tongues, and he made up his mind. This tea is green tea, which is slightly bitter before turning sweet, so it should be eaten with something sweet. Since it looks like sparrow tongue, he would make a chestnut cake that is pressed into the shape of a fruit!

Thinking of this, she went to the imperial kitchen and asked Madam Liu for various small molds for pressing cakes. She also brought back the best chestnuts, taro and some spinach to experiment again and again.

The chestnut cake commonly eaten in the capital is actually too sweet in Malu's eyes. It is paired with Beijing cake slices and chengsha filling, stacked up layer by layer to make five layers, and then the small diamonds cut from the Beijing cake and shredded green plums are used to form a pattern. It is then poured with sugar syrup boiled from white sugar and sugar osmanthus.

In ancient times, sugar was a precious commodity, so everyone loved to eat sweet things. But the emperor and his ministers ate a lot of sugar, so she decided to make a refreshing and filling chestnut and taro paste version.

Malu cooked chestnuts and taro and mashed them into a paste. She used chestnut paste as the base, spread a layer of taro paste in the middle, and then covered it with a layer of chestnut paste. After making the pastry, Malu used a mold to shape the fruit, then dyed the leaves green with spinach juice, and then poured osmanthus syrup on the branches and trunks before stopping.

Malu looked at these plump and round fruits and tasted one. He found it delicious, with a rich chestnut aroma and a chewy texture. In the middle, he tasted a soft filling of taro paste and a hint of sweet osmanthus candy.

But there was still something missing, so after thinking for a while, Malu put the steamed chestnut cakes on a flat pan and fried them with osmanthus sugar for a while. Sure enough, the chestnut and osmanthus flavors became stronger, and there was a bit of a strong burnt aroma.

The system watched the whole process from the sidelines, and was so envious! Humans have so many ways to entertain themselves. It was not idle, and helped to open points redemption channels and learning materials related to dishes and cooking skills. It suggested that Malu put this dish on the mall to exchange for points, and then try more dishes in the system data.

Malu was speechless: "That's not good. There is a fixed number of things to use in the palace. It will be difficult for me to explain if one plate is missing. Just be careful when you first come here."

The system just felt a little regretful, as this kind of imperial-level snacks could definitely be exchanged for a lot. But it didn't force it, and reminded Maru not to forget this exchange channel when he got familiar with the place.

Malu also learned to fight for benefits with it: "When will you send me some learning materials on tea art? I still want to learn how to serve tea, otherwise when can I meet Kangxi. He won't specially summon a chef to praise him for his delicious food. Besides, he probably won't eat my snacks."

The system said that as long as you learn to a certain level from Aunt Shuyu and meet the evaluation standards, rewards will be issued naturally. It is actually very happy to have such a tasker who knows how to make progress and look for opportunities. It's a pity that the channel for cooking has just been opened and the back door can no longer be used.