I was a queen in ancient times, no, a maid!

This girl from the Yang family is the sister of Marquis Zhenyuan, who has many brothers and cousins.

There is only one girl like this in the family, and she is very precious.

Otherwise, Yang Jinxi wouldn't be allowed to stay at home and not get married at the age of 20.

Cheng Yu followed Ding Xiang's steps and walked in. He first greeted Zhao Rulan and then met the girl from the Yang family.

Yang Jinxi looked at Cheng Yu, who was wearing a beige dress embroidered with plum blossoms.

He first looked at her clothes, then her waist, and finally his eyes fell on her exceptionally fair face.

Cheng Yusheng was already beautiful, with skin as white as snow, and big, black eyes that didn't look hollow. Her eyeballs were as bright as obsidian.

"What a beautiful pair of eyes."

"You are good-looking, but this coarse cloth cannot hide the brilliance of your pearl."

Cheng Yu realized that the girl from the Yang family was praising her.

"Miss Yang, you are too kind." Cheng Yu said modestly in a gentle voice.

Zhao Rulan looked at Cheng Yu and said with a smile: "Yu'er, since you are here today, stay in the mansion for a day. I will send someone to take you back tomorrow."

Zhao Rulan said this, which meant she must have something else to say.

Cheng Yu couldn't refuse at all.

She nodded and said yes. There was no need for Cheng Yu to tell her. The maid serving in the eldest lady's courtyard went out and told Taozi to drive the carriage back directly and there was no need for her to wait for Cheng Yu outside.

This also made Yang Jinxi look at Cheng Yu twice.

Then try the food cooked by Cheng Yu.

If Yang Jinxi is satisfied, Zhao Rulan will recommend Cheng Yu to go to the Yang family to prepare the birthday banquet for the old lady of the Yang family.

Old Madam Yang's celebration was not a big birthday but just a birthday party. It could not be said to be formal, but all the younger generations of the Yang family had to be present. If it were formal, they would not invite too many guests.

The family happily had a meal together.

At most, invite some close relatives and friends.

Friends in government and business circles will not send invitations.

After Cheng Yu met the eldest girl and the girl from the Yang family, she went downstairs. She was also thinking of meeting Sister Yan.

She didn't think about it that much when she was busy, but now that she has free time, she misses Sister Yan more and more.

After Cheng Yu left, Ding Xiang took the pastries that Cheng Yu brought, opened them, put them on a delicate pastry plate, and brought them to the young lady.

"This is the cake Yu'er just made, Jinxi, try it."

Yang Jinxi had noticed it a long time ago. In fact, she was just trying to smell the scent. She always smelled a hint of milk. She preferred sweets.

In fact, everyone in the Yang family loves sweets.

If you eat more, your taste will become more picky.

It’s really good that the pastries can make her want to eat them just by smelling them.

"What kind of cake is this? I've never seen it before?"

Yang Jinxi pointed at the small cake made in a paper cup. It looked full of milk flavor and, most importantly, was soft. When he poked it with his hand, it felt like foam.

Zhao Rulan didn't know either, she glanced at Dingxiang.

She had eaten a lot of cakes made by Cheng Yu, but she had never eaten or seen this kind of small cakes made in paper cups.

Ding Xiang said hurriedly, "This is called a cupcake. Yu'er said that it is made by adding fine flour, milk, sugar, and egg white, and then baking it in an oven. It is soft, delicious, and full of milk flavor."

This was the second time Dingxiang had heard this. The first time was at the buffet. She liked this pastry very much, so she asked Cheng Yu about it specifically.

Not only did Cheng Yu tell her the method, she also said that if Yinlanyuan Kitchen wanted to cook for the older girl in the future, they could get flour from her, as she sifted all the flour herself.

Zhao Rulan picked up one and asked Yang Jinxi to pick one up and try it.

***

Yan Jie'er lived with her mother Zhao Rulan in Yinlan Garden, but she did not live with her mother. Instead, she lived in Xiyuan, which was separated by a palace gate.

When Cheng Yu went over, Madam Li was taking care of the young lady in the yard with a little maid.

The maid who brought her here was a maid serving in the outer courtyard. After sending Cheng Yu here, she went back to work.

Cheng Yu looked at Madam Li and shouted, "Master..."

Madam Li looked up, her face full of joy, "Yu'er, why are you here?"

"I thought about coming to see you before the New Year. I miss you, Master, and Sister Yan."

Madam Li quickly picked up Sister Yan and said, "I'm fine here. I just need to take care of the young lady. She's still young, so Xi Que and I are the only ones who can take care of her."

The unfamiliar little maid was called Xi Que. She looked to be in her early teens, the right age to be obedient and easy to train and do things.

"But have you visited the elder girl?"

Cheng Yu said, "I just came from the eldest lady's place. The eldest lady asked me to come and see Sister Yan."

"Sister Haoyan has gained weight and height again."

As the girl was about to turn one year old, Madam Li told Cheng Yu that the little girl would slowly learn to walk, call for her mother, and occasionally kiss her.

Cheng Yu likes children, especially chubby, cute little babies like Yan Jie'er, which makes people feel happy.

"Sister Yan loves the little milk-flavored cookies you made. She eats them with great relish. I was thinking of asking you to make some more for her after she finishes eating them."

"Zhu'er just came and gave me a box of cakes, but she didn't tell me you were coming."

Cheng Yu took Yan Jie'er and held her in his arms.

He said teasingly, "I didn't tell Zhu'er that I was coming to see Sister Yan. I just distributed the cakes. It happened that the eldest girl called me, and I was afraid that I would not have time to come and see Sister Yan."

"It's just a moment. I still have to go to the small kitchen to help. The eldest lady wants to invite Miss Yang to have lunch today."

Madam Li sent Xi Que into the house to take out the young lady's quilt and dry it in the sun.

In winter, bedding needs to be exposed to the sun frequently to keep it soft.

She then said, "I guess the eldest lady wants to bring the young lady from the Yang family together with the prince."

"The Yang family's girl is a little older, and the prince is not young either. In terms of age, they are a good match. In terms of family background, the Yang family is not too high a class to marry into the Jing Palace."

Cheng Yu said softly, "According to what Master said, I think the girl is probably marrying down. I heard that the Marquis of Zhenbei has made greater contributions than the Crown Prince."

Madam Li laughed.

Then he said to Cheng Yu, "Let's just treat it as a joke."

"Master, I understand."

Madam Li was also afraid that Cheng Yu, who was young, would talk to the younger sisters, so she told others about it.

It was the eldest daughter Zhao Rulan's idea to invite the young lady from the Yang family to Prince Jing's mansion. Her purpose was not very obvious, but this morning, the eldest daughter asked Xiangling to go to the courtyard of the deceased prince to question him.

I asked the prince if he had felt better in the past few days, and he specifically mentioned that Miss Yang was here.

The Crown Prince has some relationship with the Marquis of Zhenbei. When the Crown Prince Zhao Shiyan was fighting on the border, he asked the Marquis of Zhenbei to borrow troops, so they have some friendship.

Considering this relationship, Zhao Shiyan wanted to come and meet the girl from the Yang family.

Cheng Yu was not interested in these things. Her mind was now completely focused on Sister Yan.

Sister Yan still remembers her, and she looked so happy when interacting with her.

After staying at Madam Li's place for half an hour, she was called to the small kitchen to prepare lunch for the eldest lady and Miss Yang before she could enjoy Sister Yan enough.

This was her first time visiting Yinlanyuan’s small kitchen.

After entering the palace, the ingredients Zhao Rulan bought were much more precious than those at the Lu family.

The spinach we eat is the freshest and cleanest one selected from ten kilograms of spinach.

Cheng Yu felt it was a waste.

It so happened that among the old women working in the kitchen, except for Madam Li who went to West Garden to take care of the young lady, the original Madam Wang was still there, while the two maids Chunya and Chunmiao who originally followed Madam Wang were sent away.

He is not a good cook and bought it after marrying into the Lu family.

Afraid that Mother Wang would train her own people and become the only ones in charge in the small kitchen, she replaced him.

The person in charge of the small kitchen now is a lady named Song who is about 35 years old. She is gentle and amiable in appearance. She is from Jiangbei and originally came to Kyoto to join her husband.

When her husband passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, he kicked her away.

The ten-year-old son chose to follow his wealthy father.

Madam Song sold herself into the palace and originally worked in the palace's main kitchen making cakes and tea. Later, when Zhao Rulan ate a braised lamb dish she made, she asked to come to the small kitchen.

Madam Song is young, about ten years younger than Madam Wang, but she came here to suppress Madam Wang.

Mother Wang was very unhappy.

But the eldest girl refused to see her, and Mother Wang was very upset. Now she had something to ask of the eldest girl, so naturally she did not dare to offend her.

Wang Mama's granddaughter Su Juan became the concubine of the second master of the Lu family, so she became a member of the Lu family.

The eldest girl was kind-hearted and spent money to redeem all the people she had arranged for Lu Er.

They were all Lu Er's people, so naturally they could no longer enter Prince Jing's Mansion, and their indentures were sold to them.

After Mei Niang was released from prison, she decisively aborted the child and left Kyoto.

She thanked Zhao Rulan for redeeming her. Although Zhao Rulan bought her back to sleep with Lu Er and was using her, Zhao Rulan made it clear that she was using her, and Mei Niang did not hate Zhao Rulan.

On the contrary, he was grateful to her for giving him some money.

You can still live a good life outside of Kyoto.

Xianglian and Sujuan didn't want to leave Zhao Rulan.

Zhao Rulan definitely could not take it back. Men and women who have started having sex are the same, they still have desires.

Whether for his own future or for his brother's sake, he couldn't let them stay in Yinlan Garden, not even in Prince Jing's Mansion.

If they did anything out of line, it would affect her reputation as their master.

Zhao Rulan directly rejected Mother Wang's words and warned her that if she still wanted to bring Su Juan back, she should go to the farm to rest in advance and stop working in the small kitchen.

Mother Wang didn't dare to talk to the eldest girl anymore.

Seeing Cheng Yu coming today, Mother Wang naturally wanted Cheng Yu to join her in targeting Madam Song.

"Miss Yu'er, I just heard Miss Dingxiang say that you will be the one to make lunch today, and I was very happy."

"Your cooking skills are truly amazing. Not everyone can compare to you."

"See, the big girl still likes to eat the food you cook."

Cheng Yu was not stupid. She knew that Wang's mother's sudden show of goodwill was just a weapon to use her as a weapon.

"What the eldest girl eats is decided by her, so we just have to listen to her."

"I'll go check out today's ingredients first."

Cheng Yu said calmly and went to check the ingredients.

As the year draws to a close, the ingredients in the kitchen become more abundant.

In addition to chicken, duck, and fish, there are also mandarin ducks, geese, even hares and musk deer, as well as half a lamb, pork thighs, and pork ribs. There are many ingredients.

Cheng Yu selected meat from the ingredients and began to prepare today's lunch.

Look at the white and clean lotus root. Cheng Yu first made glutinous rice lotus root with osmanthus honey, and then fried it.

I made pot stickers with mutton filling. I put a little bit of chopped water chestnuts in the pot stickers to improve the taste, and then I made braised mutton.

I made sweet and sour pork ribs, spicy prawns, and steamed sea bass.

Seeing that there were several baskets of oysters, Cheng Yu made some grilled vermicelli scallops, and specially made them with minced garlic and shredded red pepper flavors.

Abalone and goose feet, spicy shredded beef, braised mandarin duck meat, and fried pigeon with pepper and salt.

The soups are old duck stewed with dendrobium and cordyceps, and West Lake beef soup.

Including cold dishes and seasonal vegetables, there are a total of twelve dishes and two soups.

Red bean paste-filled steamed buns and mutton-filled pot stickers are two staple foods.

These steamed buns and pot stickers were suggested by Cheng Yu and made by Madam Song. Apart from anything else, Madam Song is very skilled in making pastries and she can make them into various shapes.

Like today's steamed buns, Mrs. Song made them according to the twelve zodiac signs.

Each of them was beautiful and delicate, and Cheng Yu couldn't help but praise Miss Song for her dexterity.

"Miss Yu'er's cooking is the best. The food you cook is delicious and tasty. As for me, I am good at making some specialties, but the taste of my specialties is not as good as Miss Yu'er's."

"There are always people better than you, and there are always people better than you."

The food Cheng Yu cooks tastes really good, because she uses a wide range of seasonings.

Especially for stewed dishes, which require spices, she is willing to add them.

She cooks the same way in modern times, with natural ingredients from supermarkets as well as some technology and hard work.

Her favorite thing is to add natural spices, stir-fry them first, then add hot water and stew them with the meat.

Food cooked in a casserole is indeed more delicious than food cooked in an iron pot or a non-stick pan.

After a few compliments to each other, it was time to serve the food.

Cheng Yu was busy delivering meals to the side rooms with everyone else.

As she walked and stopped, she could naturally see the prince who had arrived at Yinlan Garden at some point.

I didn't dare say hello, after all, I had just rejected him some time ago, and he was so angry that he fell sick for several days.

The food was served quickly and Cheng Yu was called over by Zhao Rulan.

Today Cheng Yu prepared some dishes that Zhao Rulan had never eaten before. Zhao Rulan asked some questions and Yang Jinxi listened and savored the flavors.

Zhao Shiyan also took a seat and just watched Cheng Yu serve food to Yang Jinxi and explain how to cook.

He was displeased.

"If you're not a cook, why would you listen to this? Miss Yang, please come in."

If it weren't for brother Yang Jinxi's sake, Zhao Shiyan would never have come.

There was no rule in the imperial court that men and women should sit at different tables, but Zhao Shiyan obviously didn't like Yang Jinxi and he didn't look happy the whole time.

Cheng Yu, who was originally introducing the abalone and goose feet dish in detail, immediately stopped talking.

Yang Jinxi looked at the small pieces of abalone, picked up the delicate fork and was about to put it into his mouth, but accidentally knocked over the bowl beside him.

Fearing that the soup in the bowl might scald Yang Jinxi, Cheng Yu immediately reached out to block it.

The whole bowl of soup spilled all over Cheng Yu's arm.

She groaned, a smile on her face.

"I'm sorry, Miss Yang. I put it in the wrong place and spilled your soup. I'll bring you another bowl right away."

Yang Jinxi hurriedly said: "I was careless just now, are you okay?"

Cheng Yu forced a smile and said, "It's okay."

But her face didn't look like she was alright.

Cheng Yu walked outside quickly and began to lift up her clothes, only to find that her arms were badly burned.

When she was about to put down her clothes, someone grabbed her wrist.

"Do you feel the pain now? You were pretending to be indifferent just now. Who were you being considerate of?"

"Come with me. If you don't take care of this, you'll be left with a scar."

The man said this, his words filled with pity and anger.