The Legend of Zhen Huan: Year after year, we share the spring breeze

Early the next morning, Caixing woke up on time according to her biological clock, then quickly got dressed and washed up, thinking to herself that on her first day as the Shangtianguang official, she must leave a good impression in front of the other palace servants.

To her surprise, there was no one in the yard. She walked from the front yard to the back yard, and from upstairs to downstairs, but did not see anyone.

So she swept the yard, watered the flowers, lit the stove and boiled water, but after doing all this, still no one came.

She walked into the bedroom carefully, but did not find the palace guard on duty. An Lingrong was sleeping in a strange posture on the bed.

After she turned the skylight three times, she finally saw Xiao Luzi.

"Sister, why did you get up so early?" Xiao Luzi was very surprised. "Are you not used to sleeping in a different bed?"

Caixing looked at the already bright sky and asked, "Is it still early?"

Xiao Luzi explained with a smile, "Our young master will not get up until the beginning of the morning, so the servants only need to get up half an hour earlier. There are fewer people in our palace and less to do."

At the beginning of the Si hour, Shen Meizhuang had already eaten breakfast and finished reading a book!

"My lady, don't you need someone to keep watch at night?" Cai Xing asked curiously.

"The young lady said she's not used to having someone next to her while she sleeps, so there's no need to keep watch."

"What if the young master wakes up in the middle of the night?"

"The young lady usually doesn't wake up in the middle of the night. She said that if she wakes up, she will wake up and fall asleep again in a short while. Don't worry about her."

"So what do you usually do?" Cai Xing asked curiously.

"We had nothing to do most of the time, so we played cards. The young master wouldn't let us gamble with silver, so we cut straw paper. Whoever lost had a piece of the straw paper stuck on their face."

During the daytime, you can rest for ten hours out of twelve hours a day.

Only Xiao Luzi was a little busy. He needed to deliver messages to Xianyue Pavilion and Bitong Academy, and occasionally go to Jingpin's place.

Seeing Caixing's shock, Xiao Luzi asked tentatively: "Sister, why don't you go back to sleep?"

"..."

Sure enough, An Lingrong woke up at the beginning of the 9th hour. When Caixing heard the noise and entered the hall, An Lingrong had already put on her clothes. Xiao Luzi brought her water for washing her face. After washing her face and rinsing her mouth, An Lingrong did not want Caixing's help and put on makeup by herself.

"Caixing, help me comb my hair. Just a simple bun will do." An Lingrong really doesn't know how to do this. The bun style is complicated, and she can only do a ponytail.

Caixing finally found its place.

An Lingrong has fair skin and delicate features, and even the simplest bun makes her look fresh and refined.

While she was combing her hair, the palace maids had already prepared breakfast.

"Cai Xing, go eat next door. You don't need to be served here."

Caixing came to the next room, where Xiao Luzi and two other young eunuchs and palace maids were already waiting for her. The breakfast on the table was exactly the same as An Lingrong's, but with even more portion.

After An Lingrong's breakfast was brought from the imperial kitchen, it would be divided into two portions, one for An Lingrong herself and one for the palace servants. Fortunately, the breakfast had a lot of variety and An Lingrong ate little, so it wasn't a waste.

"Is it like this every day?"

"Yes!" The little palace maid looked only twelve or thirteen years old. Since she came, she had been living from dawn to dusk, eating well and doing little work. Her life was like a dream.

Caixing hurriedly finished her breakfast and returned to the main hall, while An Lingrong was still eating leisurely.

Seeing her come in, he waved to her to sit on the stool next to him. Caixing didn't dare to sit down, so she stood next to her.

An Lingrong didn't force it, and asked with concern, "Cai Xing, are you full? The food here isn't as good as what you get in the palace. I'm sorry to have let you down!"

"My lady, don't say that. I don't feel wronged at all." She knew that An Lingrong was good to the palace maids, but she didn't know she was so good to them.

"I'll take you out for dinner!"

After breakfast, An Lingrong began to embroider.

Caixing discovered in despair that she had nothing to do again!

It feels really uncomfortable to be idle.

Half an hour later.

"For you." An Lingrong cut the thread.

Caixing, who was standing next to her, was daydreaming. When she heard the voice, she quickly came back to her senses and saw An Lingrong smiling and handing her a handkerchief.

Caixing was flattered. She didn't expect that the young lady would personally embroider a handkerchief for her.

When I took it and looked at it, I saw a five-pointed star with a smiling face on the handkerchief, which was playful, cute, lively and smart. There was also a line of words embroidered below it: Twinkle, twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are.

This is my own name!

The more Cai Xing looked at it, the more she liked it. "Thank you, my lady. I like it very much."

Seeing that she liked it, An Lingrong felt a sense of accomplishment.

"My lady, Miss Liuzhu, who serves Lady Wan, is here!" Xiao Luzi entered the hall to report.

An Lingrong twisted her stiff neck, and Caixing stepped forward to massage it.

"Liu Zhu, is there something wrong, sister?"

Liu Zhu answered cleverly, "My lady, today the Emperor has gifted you a braised oven-roasted duck. My lady invites you to come and taste it, and has also invited Concubine Hui!"

Braised oven roast duck is a way of eating brought from Nanjing by the emperor of the previous dynasty. The popular "Beijing Roast Duck" in later generations was developed based on it.

Just thinking about it makes me drool. "Please tell my sister that I will be there later."

After changing clothes, An Lingrong walked out with Caixing. From a distance, she saw Shen Meizhuang and a few others walking slowly towards them.

"Sister, go slower." An Lingrong held Shen Meiyu's hand, and the two walked towards Bitong Academy together.

Shen Meizhuang looked at Caixing, who was showing off her new handkerchief to Caiyue, and asked, "Rong'er, Caixing didn't cause you any trouble, did she?"

"No, I really like Caixing!" He then asked Su Ye, "Are you adapting well in Xianyue Pavilion?"

Su Ye smiled shyly, "The people in Xianyue Pavilion treat me very well."

Not only is he very nice, he almost treats her like half a master!

Shen Meizhuang pulled out a stack of banknotes from her sleeve and handed them to An Lingrong, "Take these!"

"Wow... so much money!" An Lingrong's eyes lit up. She picked it up and looked at it carefully, looking like a money-grubber.

But to Shen Meizhuang's surprise, An Lingrong only glanced at it for a few seconds before handing it back to her. "Sister, no need!"

Shen Meizhuang asked in confusion, "Why? Now that your father has lost his official position, life at home must be difficult. Sending this money back home might help make their lives easier."

An Lingrong knew her father very well. "Sister, although my father was dismissed from office, he still has the salary of a Yuanwailang, which is enough for a comfortable life. If I take your money and send it back, he will think that I am favored in the palace and will try to get me to help him get his official position back. Wouldn't I be asking for trouble?"

Shen Meizhuang nodded: "Then go to Concubine Jing and redeem your IOU!"

"Sister, we played cards with Concubine Jing just to kill time and make her happy. Even if I didn't pay her back, she wouldn't ask me for it. If I took your money and gave it to her, then the nature of our friendship would be different. Our friendship would only be based on money!"

Shen Meizhuang thought for a moment and said, "You are right. I was overthinking it. You should take the silver. It will be convenient to use it as a reward for others."

"Everyone in the palace knows that I am a poor concubine. If I spend lavishly, it will only arouse suspicion."

Shen Meizhuang was about to say something when An Lingrong was touched and said with a smile, "Sister, if I take your money, I won't have an excuse to go to you and Sister Zhen's place for free meals. Okay, okay, the roast duck is not tasty anymore because it's cold. Let's go!"

After saying that, he prepared to pull Shen Meizhuang forward.

Su Ye was anxious, "My lady, please go slowly."

"Yes, yes, you can't go fast, you have to go slow."

The three of them entered the hall and sat at the table. Then a young eunuch brought up the sliced roast duck along with cucumber strips, sauce, and pancake wrappers.

The cooking method for roasting duck in a stewed oven differs from that of roasting duck in a hanging oven. First, fuel is placed in the oven, ignited, and the furnace chamber heated to a certain temperature before being extinguished. The duck is then placed on the iron cover and roasted by the charcoal fire and the heated walls. Because this method involves roasting the duck without an open flame, the oven temperature rises initially and then drops naturally during the roasting process. The heat is gentle but not intense, and the air is humid. This ensures even heating of the duck, minimizing fat and water loss, and preventing the skin and meat from separating. The resulting roasted duck is a reddish-brown color, free of impurities. The skin is shiny and crispy, while the meat is white, tender, and delicious.

An Lingrong looked around and didn't see what she wanted, so she tapped the cup with her hand.

This action confused Zhen Huan, but Shen Meizhuang understood, "This girl wants to drink wine."

"The one who understands me is Sister Mei!"

Zhen Huan laughed and ordered, "Jinxi, go get some wine."

Su Ye also followed.

After a while, Jin Xi brought a pot of wine, and Su Ye placed a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in front of Shen Meizhuang.

Since the three of them often ate together, An Lingrong did not care about hierarchy. She took the lead in wrapping two slices of duck meat in a pancake and handed them to Shen Meiyu, then wrapped one for Zhen Huan and ate last.

Shen Meizhuang took a bite and frowned.

Zhen Huan asked with concern: "Sister Mei, is it not delicious?"

"It tastes good, but a bit greasy!" After saying that, he quickly took a sip of orange juice, trying to suppress the nausea in his stomach.

An Lingrong quickly swallowed the duck meat in her mouth, stood up and served herself a bowl of shrimp and tofu soup. "This soup is light, sister, try it."

Shen Meizhuang took a few sips and thought it was good.

The three of them ate while talking about the emperor's return.

The dispute has begun!