Cute Wife Gourmet

Chapter 67: Selling oneself away

Helian Jing hurried back to the Ministry of War, and his eldest brother's guards told him that the prince had been looking for him for a while. Helian Jing wiped the sweat off his forehead and went to see his eldest brother.

"Where have you been?" Helian Xuan asked with a sullen face. He knew it as soon as Xiao Jing slipped away. Due to the presence of so many ministers, he couldn't say anything. He originally thought that Xiao Jing just couldn't sit still and went out for some fresh air. As a result, the guards came to tell him that Xiao Jing went to Tianshangju. The round trip only took less than half an hour, and he stayed there for no more than an incense stick of time. Was it just to meet Li Yao?
Helian Jing hesitated and said, "You guys are discussing matters, and I can't get a word in, so I'll go out and get some fresh air."

Helian Xuan stared at the sweat that kept oozing out of his forehead and sneered, "You're sweating all over when you're trying to breathe."

"It's hot outside." Helian Jing said guiltily.

Helian Xuan hated him lying the most. He wanted to give him something to do so that he wouldn't be so idle. Gradually, that kind of thought about him faded away. But he didn't expect that he would take a break from his busy schedule to go there.

"How can you not be hot after riding so fast all the way? Why don't you have lunch at Tianshangju before coming back?" Helian Xuan said coldly.

Helian Jing looked at his elder brother in surprise: "You sent someone to follow me?"

"I'm just curious about where you are going secretly? You have been uneasy since this morning. I heard that you often liked to go to Tianshangju recently. What is there that attracts you so much?" Helian Xuan said patiently. Even though Xiaojing is so obedient now, it will still be a headache if he really gets angry and competes with you.

"I like the food at Tianshangju. They have a new chef whose cooking skills are pretty good. I just wanted to try something new." Helian Jing remembered Zhao Qixuan's warning and did not dare to expose Li Yao.

"Really? Then I have to go and try it some other day." Helian Xuan deliberately said, "Or, let's go at noon today?"

Helian Jing said hurriedly: "I just went there to see if there were any new dishes, but there weren't any, and I'm tired of the rest."

Helian Xuan raised his lips in a half-smile: "You get bored really fast."

"Brother, why don't you go to Wanjiaxiang? It's newly opened and I heard it's pretty good."

Xiao Jing tried every means to prevent him from going to Tianshangju. What was he afraid of? If Li Yao was Xiao Jing's benefactor, Xiao Jing could have said it openly and even asked him to repay Li Yao well, but Xiao Jing kept it a secret... Helian Xuan was even more worried. How could he convince himself to believe Xiao Jing?
Li Yao happened to be friends with Chunyu, so it was difficult to do anything. This was a tricky matter!

While Helian Xuan was having a headache, Xia Chunyu was in extreme rage.

The servant from the Ye Mansion that Song Qi mentioned had arrived in Jinling, and Xia Chunyu met him as soon as possible.

A woman in her forties.

"Every word I said is true. I swear to heaven. If there is even a falsehood, I will be struck by lightning and die a miserable death." The woman swore to the heaven.

"Moreover, I'm not the only one who knows about this. Many people in the mansion know about it, but they're afraid to discuss it for fear of the Madam. The maid in charge of cleaning the main courtyard even heard the master and the Madam having a big quarrel over the eldest daughter's marriage. The Madam wanted the second daughter to marry the young master of the Wei family, but the master said that the marriage had been decided long ago, and with the Ning family watching, how could it be changed? As soon as the eldest daughter got married, the second daughter disappeared, and even Xia He disappeared. My lord, as long as I see the eldest lady of the Wei family, I will definitely recognize her." The woman continued.

She only lost a few small amounts of money in gambling and embezzled some public funds, so the lady drove her out of the house. Everyone knew that Yang Mama, who was by the lady's side, embezzled money and got away with it. She was not convinced, and someone happened to ask her about the Ye family, saying that there was a big reward, so she naturally told the truth and told everything she knew. Don't look at the Ye family's noble mansion and their etiquette and integrity, they have a lot of dirty deeds in their bones.

Although she didn't know why this noble-looking gentleman wanted to ask about the Ye family's affairs, she didn't care as long as the gentleman could give her the reward money.

Xia Chunyu believed that what she said was true, which explained why Miss Ye Er wanted to plot against Yaoyao.

Humph, he wanted to see how long Miss Ye could stay the eldest lady of the Wei family under the name of Yaoyao. The truth will come out sooner or later. Is she so sure that Yaoyao will never come back?
"What was the eldest lady like when she was at home?" Xia Chunyu wanted to know more about Yaoyao's past.

The woman sighed, "The eldest daughter is pitiful. Although she is a legitimate daughter, her life is worse than that of the servants. The master doesn't love her, the second daughter always bullies her, and the mistress deliberately says that she likes the food made by the eldest daughter, so the eldest daughter cooks for her every day. The mistress secretly feeds the food to the dog. That's not all. When the eldest daughter was sick, the mistress didn't send a doctor for her, saying that she was spoiled. She also didn't give her the monthly allowance, saying that she was saving it for her future dowry. All year round, the second daughter and the second young master have four new sets of clothes every season, but the eldest daughter is lucky enough to have one new set of clothes all year round..."

"Crack" the teacup in Xia Chunyu's hand was crushed by him.

Song Qi was startled and rushed forward to check: "Master, are you okay?"

Xia Chunyu glared ahead with flames burning in his eyes. Yaoyao was actually being abused like this at home. No wonder she said last night that she would not be sad no matter how they plotted against her, because those so-called relatives were like wolves and tigers, and she did not love them, so she would not be sad.

The woman was also frightened by Xia Chunyu's ferocious expression and did not dare to continue speaking.

After a long time, Xia Chunyu calmed down and ordered, "Song Qi, take her down and settle her down properly. Wait for Madam Wei to come to Jinling. After confirming her identity, give her a reward and let her go."

Song Qi took the man away, and Xia Chunyu paced back and forth in the room.

He was filled with indignation. Mrs. Ye was the daughter of Ye Dakuan, a scholar of the Hanlin Academy. She came from a famous scholarly family, yet she could do such a sinister and despicable thing. If Ye Dakuan knew about this, would he vomit blood and die?

It would be better to first leak the news to Yaoyao's maternal grandfather, the Ning family, and let the Ning family come to disrupt the situation first. Xia Chunyu made up his mind, called people over, and gave some instructions.

After lunch, Ye Jiayao asked Zhong Xiang to study some ingredients for making pastries.

First is agar, which is a seaweed essence obtained from Eucheuma, Agar-agar or Glechoma longituba that is heated until melted and then cooled and solidified. It is rich in dietary fiber and is an important thickener for making pastries.

Zhong Xiang said: "Both Qilincai and Gelidium agar are available. I will go to the market myself tomorrow."

Ye Jiayao said: "Buy more. I have never made agar-agar before. It might be a waste of ingredients."

The second is the light cream, which is not difficult. Just boil the milk repeatedly and a layer of solidified fat will float on the surface. Just separate this layer of fat.

Deng Haichuan interrupted, "There are people raising dairy cows in our village."

Ye Jiayao said: "Then I'll leave this matter to you."

"Buy more fresh milk and we'll make it ourselves. As for the money, I'll take it first." Ye Jiayao said. She was embarrassed to ask Manager Li for the initial research funds. Fortunately, she still had seventy taels of reward silver, which she would ask for reimbursement after the research was successful.

The last item is coconut flakes. This is more difficult to make because coconuts are produced in the southern coastal areas and are rare in Yangzhou. At that time, there was no custom of using coconut flakes as a pastry ingredient. For example, sesame powder or bean powder was used to make glutinous rice cakes, which were not available on the market.

Zhong Xiang thought for a moment and said, "We can only ask the merchant ships in the south to buy this. Oh, and the Yong'an Marquis's daughter does business in the south. Can you ask her to bring some over?"

That guy with a pair of peach blossom eyes. Ye Jiayao pondered for a moment and said, "Then I'll go ask him."

Deng Haichuan asked curiously: "Brother Yao, the things you want are all very rare. What are they for?"

Ye Jiayao smiled and said, "I'll keep you in suspense for now, you'll know soon. I guarantee that this thing will be a big seller. Zhong Xiang, this is a great opportunity for you to become famous!"

Zhong Xiang smiled sheepishly: "I will do my best to help if I can."

Deng Haichuan smiled flatteringly: "Brother Yao, Brother Xiang, you can teach the brothers when the time comes."

Ye Jiayao glared at them: "Do you still want to take a break? Of course you have to learn. Maybe you will have to work overtime!"

Hearing Ye Jiayao's certainty, the two became more curious and full of anticipation. What could be such a big hit?

"Oh, I have a headache. I'll go take a nap first." Ye Jiayao's mind felt empty this morning and she was not in good shape.

"Okay, go and have a rest. I'll call you when the time comes." Zhong Xiang said.

Ye Jiayao didn't bother to be polite. She staggered up to the third floor, leaned back on the recliner in Fuqiu Pavilion, closed her eyes and fell asleep.

I can't sleep well, and I keep dreaming about various things, sometimes about my past life, sometimes about this life. Fortunately, this situation rarely happens, and most of the time I only dream about it. Otherwise, I might suffer from schizophrenia.

She didn't know how long she had slept when she heard someone calling her, "Brother Yao, Brother Yao."

Ye Jiayao opened her eyes and saw that it was Deng Haichuan. She closed her eyes again and asked lazily, "Is it time?"

Deng Haichuan said: "It is Shopkeeper Li who asked you to come."

As soon as Ye Jiayao heard that Manager Li was looking for her, her sleepiness immediately disappeared. She got up, straightened her clothes and went to meet Manager Li.

Shopkeeper Li asked her to sit down with a sad look on his face, and then he didn't say anything for a long time, just daydreaming.

Ye Jiayao thought, is the restaurant going to close? Otherwise, why does the shopkeeper look so miserable? Or did Helian Xuan do something to the restaurant? I really don't have the patience to sit here and watch a bitter face. If you have any problems, just tell me directly. We can work together to find a solution. If I can help, I will help. If I can't, I'm sorry, you can only argue on your own.

"Shopkeeper, what do you want to talk to me about?"

Manager Li's soul finally floated back from outer space, and he sighed and said, "At the business meeting today, Fu Ji proposed that Yao hold a cooking competition, with each restaurant participating as a unit, and three gold, silver and bronze awards will be awarded. Now I know why Xiang Yi Lou spent a lot of money to poach Chef Niu. It turns out that he got the news a long time ago, and I was the only one who was kept in the dark."

(End of this chapter)