The Virtuous Concubine

Bai Fu seemed to be very sensitive to Malu's gaze. Soon she noticed her stare and looked back in confusion.

Malu saw this and did not hide it. He said generously: "I have been busy these days. I haven't gotten to know you well yet. I let you follow me around. I feel really sorry."

Bai Fu was not very enthusiastic, she just said that it was her job, and she listened to Aunt Shu Yu's instructions and followed the girl carefully. Seeing that she was not as frank as Bai Xia, Ma Lu did not talk much with her, and asked her to go to Liu Ma to get something, and then secretly winked at Liu Ma behind Bai Fu's back.

Madam Liu immediately understood and said, "Oh! Miss Bai Fu, I have just prepared some bird's nests and fish maw for the ladies in the harem. The best ones are still in the warehouse. Would you mind going with me to get them?"

Bai Fu looked back at Malu, who nodded slightly and told her to follow him. She then turned around and watched other chefs make soups openly beside the stove in the imperial kitchen.

Bai Fu had no choice but to follow Madam Liu. After successfully sending Bai Fu away, Ma Lu went to look for E Can. She came to look for E Can today because E Can asked Madam Liu to pass on a message to her, saying that he wanted to look for her. Second, she had to inform E Can about her new residence and promotion.

Ecan was in the corner checking the list of fresh fruits and vegetables he would need today when he saw a shadow in front of him. He looked up and saw that it was his granddaughter Malu.

Ecan knew that Malu had something to say to him. He looked around, found a nearby stove and started cutting vegetables on the chopping board next to it, as if he was teaching Malu knife skills or something. Both of them had smiles on their faces, but their conversation was very serious.

E-Chan gestured as he was about to strike with a knife: "How's the situation recently?"

Ma Lu helped collect the cut vegetables on a porcelain plate and said, "Now she is the fourth-rank official Rouwan, who is in charge of the daily affairs of the tea room in the southeast, and there are two little girls selected by Aunt Shuyu following her."

After hesitating for a moment, he said, "It's the one called Bai Fu. She's not very easy to use."

E Can's expression remained unchanged: "Then wait for two days. I will check for you here. If it is not suitable, I will tell you and talk to Shu Yu directly. Do you want to choose some golden dates, peanuts and lotus seeds? You will definitely need them in the tea room."

Malu was a little surprised after hearing this, and it took her a while to come to her senses, Eh, is this trying to induce labor???

Date, raw, seed?

Malu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This really made it difficult for Ecan, hahahaha - Ecan was a rough man, and since he was an old man, it was not easy for him to talk directly to his granddaughter, so he played a pun here, right?

Thinking of this, Malu pursed her lips and smiled: "What are you talking about? The palace is not just short of these few cents."

In modern times, Malu actually hated her family members' urging for marriage and childbirth. She always felt that they were blatantly treating people as tools. In fact, these people had never figured out the purpose and meaning of having children.

When she got here, she had the task of having a child, and Malu just wanted to have one sooner rather than later. I didn't expect that she was even more anxious than him. I really don't know how he came up with this idea!

E-chan couldn't laugh. As the head of the imperial kitchen, he was well-informed. He said to Malu, "There will be a big banquet in the uterus soon. It will be very lively. If you don't prepare these things early, you won't be able to get them even if you want them!"

Was there something important going on in the palace that would divide Kangxi's favor and prevent her from having children? What could it be?

When Malu heard this, he was about to ask more questions, but Bai Fu came back. Seeing this, she could only chat with E Can for a few more words about how to store the fruit after boiling it into glue, and then left.

Before leaving, Malu said to Aunt Liu, "Aunt, do you have any peanuts here? I need them to make snacks!"

Naturally, Aunt Liu picked out the best red-skinned peanuts for her. Each one was plump and looked festive. Taking this opportunity, Aunt Liu also stuffed some donkey-hide gelatin and longan paste under the peanuts to cover them.

This donkey hide gelatin and longan paste is the best for replenishing blood and qi. Just break off a small piece and boil it in hot water and you can drink it. Malu took the basket of peanuts, and seeing that the weight was not right, he did not let Bai Fu take it, and carried it back himself.

When he returned to the corner room of the Qianqing Palace, Malu remembered that he had forgotten to ask E-chan what the reason was for the big change in the Cining Palace a while ago. But it didn't matter. At most, he could talk to Bai Xia more. She would tell her sooner or later.

Then Malu started to get busy. She asked Bai Fu to wash the crabapple fruits that she had picked last time, peel them and take out the flesh. Then she mashed them into a paste and put them into a small bowl to boil, stirring them constantly.

I was not idle either, I peeled the peanuts and pounded them into small pieces with a small hammer, and then boiled yellow rock sugar syrup. After the yellow rock sugar melted, it looked like flowing amber, sparkling in the sun, and it was very beautiful.

She wanted to use this crabapple, part of it to imitate the method of making candied haws, and part of it to make jam and spread it on yam, which would be very delicious when the time comes.

Bai Fu was very skillful and was a good helper. Malu looked at her progress and carefully taught her how to control the fire and temperature and how to judge the degree of cooking of the jam pectin.

Seeing sweat on her forehead, Malu handed her a piece of white silk to wipe her sweat. Malu was very good at embroidery, but she didn't want it to be too conspicuous. Secondly, she always saw in palace fighting dramas that someone embroidered something and it fell somewhere, causing many disputes, so she just used white silk.

Bai Fu was stunned for a moment before she took the silk to wipe her sweat. When she spoke again, her words were more friendly. The two of them worked hard for an entire afternoon before they finished making the rock sugar crabapple fruit and crabapple yam.

The yam paste is made into the shape of small mountains, and it looks like a jade paperweight. The crabapple jam on top is bright red and translucent, and if you look closely, you can see a faint golden halo, which is actually a layer of shell after the rock sugar solidifies. There are some peanut crumbs dotted around, and a crabapple fruit is placed in the yam, with a small jade spoon next to it.

Bai Fu couldn't help but admire: "Young lady, you are so ingenious, it's rare. I wonder what this cake is called?"

Malu thought for a moment and said, "Let's call it 'Sunrise over Golden Mountain'!"

As the two were talking, Aunt Shuyu sent someone to ask Malu if today's tea was ready. It was estimated that tea would be served in an hour.

Malu put the snacks in the lunch box and went to get herself ready. She had to dress up to meet Kangxi. After all, beauty is a concept. One has to be beautiful all the time to form a deep-rooted impression that "she is really beautiful."

Bai Xia and Bai Fu both helped her. She quickly bathed, tied her hair, and chose a blue palace maid's costume, with only a peacock sapphire bead necklace and two crabapple flowers as decorations on her bun.

Just as he was about to put it on, Bai Xia was still worried: "The girl's hair isn't completely dry yet. It will be a headache if I braid it too early."

Malu thought about it and asked them to bring some clean cotton cloth. She first wiped her hair until it was about 50% to 60% dry, then divided her hair into several strands and wrapped them with cotton cloth. Soon the water on her hair was absorbed by the cotton cloth, and then she changed it.

At the same time, he took out a round fan and asked Bai Fu to fan her hair gently. After two or three rounds of this, her hair became dry and fluffy.

Before Bai Xia and Bai Fu could admire her, she applied rose water with some mint on the comb before letting Bai Xia comb her hair. This way the fragrance was subtle, and there was only a faint scent when walking, and only when you get close can you know what the fragrance is.