The Second Sister of a Farmer's Family's Path to Imperial Destiny

In a blink of an eye, it was the day for Guo Xin to go to Suining City.

"Miss Guo." Qingluan was waiting at the door of Guo Xin's house at the end of the morning hour with the carriage. When she saw Guo Xin coming out, she went to greet her.

Guo Xin nodded and asked, "Why isn't Xiaoyue here?"

Qingluan helped Guo Xin get on the carriage and said, "Xiao Yue has gone to work for the shopkeeper. She should not be back until next year's New Year. I will be the one to take over from now on."

"Thank you for your help, young lady." Guo Xin said politely.

They traveled quickly all the way, almost without stopping, and finally arrived at Suining City at 2:15 pm.

Before entering the city, one could sense a majestic atmosphere that was different from that of a small town. The towering city walls and the well-trained soldiers on top of them made people speak three times more quietly.

Outside the city gate, there was a queue of people waiting to enter the city. Some were carrying baskets of vegetables, some were holding books, some were human traffickers pulling several people, and so on. Qingluan did not join the queue, but drove straight to the side of the city gate.

Qingluan handed over an iron token. After carefully comparing it, the guard at the city gate respectfully invited Qingluan in.

Once you enter the city, it is more lively than outside the city. The bluestone paved road allows the carriage to move smoothly. The vendors on both sides of the road are orderly and popular. The bustling crowds on the road and the carriages everywhere demonstrate the strength of this city.

The carriage had to move very slowly in the crowd. After an unknown amount of time, it arrived at a relatively deserted street. Qingluan said, "Miss Guo, we're here. Please get off."

Guo Xin jumped off the carriage and looked at the plaque hanging high above that read "Zhao Mansion".

"Miss, please follow me closely. Don't walk around randomly. Be careful not to get lost." Qingluan said to Guo Xin who was staring at the plaque behind her.

The entire palace is huge, with three courtyards and multiple entrances formed by a strict central axis symmetry. If Guo Xin had not followed Qingluan closely, he would have been lost in the palace.

The flying eaves and green tiles are intertwined and winding, which is exquisite and elegant yet majestic.

I don’t know how many doors I walked through before I arrived at a guest room.

"Girl, this is where you live. Put your things down and follow me to the kitchen."

Guo Xin didn't have much stuff, so he put down his bag and followed Qingluan to the kitchen.

"I wonder if Sixth Master has any requirements for food?" Guo Xin rolled up his sleeves, looked at the kitchen filled with smoke, and turned to ask.

Qingluan complained in her heart. The Sixth Master's requirements for food were hard to describe. Every time she cooked according to his requirements, she only received various critical comments. So far, only the food cooked by Miss Guo in front of her had not been criticized. So she said, "The Sixth Master usually requires a dessert after the meal, and has no requirements for other things. You can use the cooks and ingredients in the kitchen as you like. If there is no ingredient you want, you can tell the cook to buy it."

Guo Xin nodded. This Sixth Master wasn't that difficult to please. He would do whatever he said.

Looking at the wooden table piled with ingredients, there is a chicken, which is just right for making a five-fingered peach stewed chicken soup. This Sixth Master is young and energetic, and he wants and needs to replenish his vitality. This five-fingered peach stewed chicken soup is just right for replenishing qi and essence, and has the effect of strengthening the spleen and eliminating dampness.

"I wonder if you have any five-fingered peach, wolfberry, coix seed, water chestnut, and red dates?" Guo Xin asked tentatively. If not, he could just change to some simple soup.

The fat aunt next to him smiled and pointed to the cabinet next to Guo Xin and said, "All of these are in that cabinet. But this is the first time I've heard of cooking like this. Usually, those medicinal herbs are for the young master to stew some medicine because he is weak."

After saying that, they followed Guo Xin curiously, wanting to see what she was doing. After all, before Guo Xin came, they had heard rumors that the young man had never been picky about the food cooked by this girl, and so he even ran all the way from Suining City to that small town.

Guo Xin washed the herbs, chopped the chicken into appropriate sizes, blanched it, put it into a clay pot, and simmered it over low heat.

"Girl, don't we need to add ginger to get rid of the fishy smell?" the fat aunt asked doubtfully. According to her decades of experience, ginger is necessary to get rid of the fishy smell, otherwise it will not taste good.

What’s more, you don’t even need to stir-fry the base ingredients before making the soup, so that the soup will have flavor. This method is really novel.

Guo Xin explained: "There is no need to add ginger to this soup. These herbs are enough. When it is stewed, it will taste very fresh and sweet."

The fat aunt was skeptical about this, after all, it overturned her previous experience, but she still silently wrote down the method of making soup.

After stewing the soup, Guo Xin looked at the remaining chicken. It was just right for making spicy chicken, which was a famous Sichuan dish in his previous life.

When I sent duck blood vermicelli soup to Liu Ye before, I found out that he quite likes spicy food, so I dared to make it.

This dish tests your control of the heat. If it is over-fried, it will taste dry and woody. If it is not fried for too short a time, it will not be cooked through.

Looking at the dazzling array of spices and seasonings in the cupboard, Guo Xin couldn't help but look envious. These precious spices were not available to ordinary people like himself. Only the rich and powerful could use them. They were simply out of stock.

She took out soy sauce, salt and pepper from the cupboard to marinate the chicken, and took out some processed dried Evodia rutaecarpa and Sichuan peppercorns. Because the dish still needed to be marinated for a quarter of an hour, she turned to making dessert.

Looking at the milk in the bamboo tube, I would choose ginger milk over double skin milk. The failure rate of double skin milk is too high. If it doesn’t taste good, I’m afraid my good job as a cook will be ruined.

"Auntie, can you help me grind a small bowl of ginger juice?" Guo Xin was not very familiar with the placement of the kitchen utensils in the kitchen. Seeing that Auntie Pang was staring at him, he felt a little uncomfortable and asked.

Auntie Fat saw that she was finally being ordered around, and her eyes narrowed with a smile. She had always been working in the kitchen, and she was not used to just watching others do things, so she said, "Okay~"

This ginger milk has very high requirements on the temperature of the bowl. If the temperature is too low or too high, it will not be done well.

Guo Xin put the bowl into the pot and heated it to the appropriate temperature. He then boiled the milk until it was slightly boiling and scooped it into a new bowl. He then took the ginger juice handed over by Aunt Pang, poured it into the new porcelain bowl, then slowly poured in the milk and covered it with a lid.

Soon, the chicken pieces are almost marinated. Heat oil in a pan, put the chicken pieces in and fry until golden brown, then remove from the pan. When the oil temperature rises, fry them again. Pour out the excess oil, add the scallions, ginger, garlic, and Sichuan peppercorns, stir-fry until fragrant, then add the chicken pieces, add a little soy sauce and sugar, and finally add white sesame seeds to enhance the flavor and serve.

The whole process went smoothly and the aroma was fragrant. Aunt Pang was amazed that this was actually possible. She wrote down the recipe silently. Unfortunately, her memory was not very good. She always memorized the first part but forgot the second part, so she had to give up.

At this moment, the soup in the pot was ready, and the fat aunt served it on a plate to Master Liu.