Reborn in the last years of Kangxi

Chapter 717

Although the sound of clappers beating the watch came from a distance, it was already the fifth watch, but it was the end of the month, there was no moonlight in the sky, and it was very dark outside.

On the kitchen side, the lamps were turned on, and the nurses and daughters-in-law who were on duty came over to start the stove one after another.According to the rules, outsiders are not allowed to enter the important area of ​​the kitchen, but now there are two uninvited guests.

"Oh, grandpa, grandma, the room is dirty, wipe the clothes carefully." The nurse in charge here, surnamed Qiao, is Zhang Yi's aunt, seeing Cao Yong and Chu Yu entered the kitchen, she hurried forward and said.

"Mommy, today is my wife's birthday. My uncle and I are here to show our filial piety. I want to make a bowl of longevity noodles for my wife by myself, so I have to trouble mommy to help me." Chu Yu said with a light smile.

After hearing this, Mother Qiao didn't dare to stop her, and said with a smile: "My uncle and grandma are still filial, it's rare to be so kind, my wife will be happy."

Speaking of which, Cao Yong is a person who loves food and is also quite interested in cooking.It's just that these days, it's important to "a gentleman stays away from the kitchen". When I was young, I could go to the kitchen when I had nothing to do, and look for the master to study the recipes; when I was older, when I came to the kitchen, other people's eyes would be weird.

On the other hand, Chuyu, influenced by her husband, was not good at cooking, but after a few years, she was able to cook very well.There is a small kitchen in Wutong Garden. When she has free time, she cooks two dishes, cooks a pot of soup, respects her parents-in-law, and coaxes the children.

The husband and wife did not prepare in the small kitchen today because there are small chopping boards there and there are not enough white cases, so they went to the big kitchen together.

Seeing that other people were waiting outside the door, not daring to enter, Chu Yu said to Mother Qiao: "Just leave one stove for my uncle and me, let the others come in and cook too, don't delay the breakfast of the courtyards. "

Mother Qiao bent over to answer, and went out to order everyone.

After all, in front of the master, everyone couldn't help tiptoeing, working silently, and no one dared to speak.

On Cao Yong and Chu Yu's side, they left a little maid to light the fire.Chu Yu reconciled the noodles, Cao Yong took the rolling pin, rolled half of the dough into a long oval, and cut into several long noodles.

The husband and wife were busy when they heard someone outside say: "Mother Qiao, Sister Zijing sent me a message, saying that the weather has been dry for the past two days, the young man's throat is tight, and the side dishes should be lighter. The fried pastry is also stopped." For two meals, replace it with dough or water, so as not to get angry."

"Go back and tell Miss Zijing, I wrote it down here. Just a few days ago, the pickled cabbage with mustard can be piled up, and the cucumbers sent outside are fresh and juicy. If you have a tight throat, do you know whether to cough or not? If you cough, it's best to drink winter melon ball soup." Mother Qiao said.

"I don't cough, but my throat is tight. It snowed a few days ago, and the kang was very hot. Sister Zijing has asked someone to set up several water basins in the upper room. It has been better in the past two days." The maid replied: " It’s my wife’s birthday today, and the sunflower courtyard only serves breakfast, and the dinner is served in the wife’s yard. Tomorrow, if Sister Zijing wants to pass on meatball soup, I’ll talk to my mother again.”

The two talked a few more words before the maid left.

Cao Yong and Chu Yu were in the kitchen, looking at each other with unnatural expressions.One of the two is going to work in the Yamen, and the other is going to take care of the housework, so they have nothing to do all day long.

As a result, the two sons moved to Sunflower Courtyard, and they were all taken care of by Zijing.

The cut noodles are good enough to hold two bowls.The remaining fist-sized dough can be pondered.Chu Yu took a look at the dough, kneaded it into long strips, cut it into small cubes, kneaded it into cat ears, and freed up a stove.

The breakfast in the Cao Mansion is mostly porridge with some pasta and side dishes.Therefore, preparations on other stoves are also fast.

When they were almost ready, someone from Lanyuan came to pass the meal, and Cao Yong put the longevity noodles into the pot.The soup is a broth with slick oil skimmed off, with a few poached eggs in it, and chopped green onions floating in it, it smells delicious.

After a while, the owl ear soup at another stove that Chu Yu took care of was also ready.

After filling the bowl, the cat ear soup was sent to the sunflower yard, and someone specially sent a message that it was not only for the two children, but also a portion of Amethyst; To Lanyuan.

It was already daylight, and the chill was still there.

Cao Yong and Chu Yu have been busy all morning, their bodies are quite warm, but they don't feel cold.

Fangcai Lanyuan's little maid who passed meals in the past didn't enter the kitchen, so he didn't see Cao Yong and his wife.On Lanyuan's side, they don't know that Cao Yong and his wife cook.

Because it was her birthday, Mrs. Li was also dressed festively today, with a magenta woolen cheongsam inside and a begonia red cloak over her head.In addition to the embroidered stitches all over the body, the neckline and cuffs are also embroidered with the auspicious pattern of "Swastika Changchun".

In addition to the clothes on her body, she also rarely brought a lot of jewelry.He wears a ring with an agate face on his hand, a pair of velvet flowers on his head, and a step shaker, and two pairs of gold hairpins inlaid with precious stones.

Her entire body was glowing red, reflecting Li Shi's fairer complexion.

Cao Yin couldn't help being stunned when he saw it, flatteringly said: "Could it be that Madam fell asleep and rejuvenated, why does she look younger than last year?"

Although I know that my husband is teasing, there is no woman in this world who doesn't care about her height and appearance.Li's face was angry, but his heart was also flattered.

Hearing the servant girl's report that the son and daughter-in-law had come, Li Shi and Cao Yin felt strange why they came so early.Greetings in the morning, usually after breakfast.

Cao Yong and Chu Yu entered the house, greeted Cao Yin first, and then the husband and wife knelt down in front of Mrs. Li.

Mrs. Li was taken aback when she saw her, and hurriedly stood up, trying to help her son and daughter-in-law up.But he was held down by Cao Yin, and Cao Yin said with a smile: "Madam, since your son and daughter-in-law want to give you a birthday, then you can bear it."

"It's all my own flesh and blood, why are you still making trouble? Get up quickly." Li still couldn't bear it, and stretched out her hand to wake up her son and daughter-in-law.

On Cao Yong's side, he had knocked down together with Chu Yu.

"May my mother be blessed like the long flowing water in the East Sea, and live longer than Nanshan." Cao Yong and Chu Yu said auspicious words and kowtowed three times.

After receiving the ceremony, Mrs. Li hurriedly stood up, helped Chuyu herself, and pulled her son up again, with a look of comfort.

At this moment, the maids have already set the dinner table.Hearing that this bowl of longevity noodles was made by his son and daughter-in-law, Mrs. Li couldn't help but her eyes turned red, and even Cao Yin was a little moved.

Seeing that the old couple were not eating with their chopsticks, Cao Yong and Chu Yu found a reason to come out of Lanyuan and return to Wutongyuan.

Time flies like water, and time flies like a shuttle.

Parents have been gradually aging, thinking about this, Cao Yong can not help feeling a little sad.

"Brother-in-law, why don't we prepare a big gift for the wife?" Chu Yu looked at her husband and said, "Apart from food and clothing expenses, the decorations are also changed every year. However, most of them are put aside, the real use Not much."

"Great gift?" Cao Yong was a little curious after hearing this, and said: "Apart from these, what else can there be? My wife has everything here, and using those antique decorations as a birthday gift is really not as real as a bowl of longevity noodles."

"Forehead son-in-law, which one is the wife most worried about?" Chu Yu leaned forward and asked.

"The most concerned thing? Apart from the father, there is only the little guy Changsheng. Isn't there an old saying, 'the old son, the grandson, the lifeblood of the old couple'." Cao Yong replied.

Chu Yu nodded, and said: "Yes, my uncle is the son of an old man, so my wife naturally has to worry about it. In addition to the matter of "catch Zhou" a few days ago, my wife didn't say anything on the face, so I'm afraid she doesn't feel at ease. According to my It means that Daoxiang Village has made a lot of money in the past few years, even if you buy a dowry for your daughter, it won’t be enough. Why don’t you take out some money and buy some real estate for my uncle, so that my wife will not have to worry about it.”

"Both Tianyou and Hang Seng didn't buy property, so they bought it for Chang Sheng? Everyone spoils him so much, how can he be self-reliant and self-reliant, isn't he going to become a dude?" Cao Yong disagreed and shook his head after hearing this.

"My son-in-law, this is just to make my wife feel at ease. The discipline is still to be disciplined, not to manipulate my uncle." Chu Yu said: "I haven't added any public property in these years, although the income of the son-in-law's Zhuangzi is handed over every year. The public, but that is the forehead property after all. When the uncle grows up, the family will not be able to divide that."

Cao Yong originally wanted to say that it would not be too late to buy it when he grows up, but thinking of the eighth elder brother who died of illness, it is inevitable that the world will be impermanent.

He nodded and said: "You are right, so let's do it this way. It's just that you don't need the money from Daoxiang Village. The money sent by Guangzhou over the years is still a little rich, and it's almost the same."

Chu Yu shook her head, and said, "My son-in-law, let me give a share too. The business in Daoxiang Village is so good, but all the money is in my hands. Even if the wife doesn't say anything, I feel sorry for it. We are all a family. , it’s not good that we have a lot of money here, the wife doesn’t have enough money, doesn’t she?”

The husband and wife are not people who value money too much, and they are filial to Li's needs, so they didn't care about anything. According to what Chu Yu said, they took out tens of thousands of taels and prepared to tell He Maocai to go when he came to Beijing. Buy Zhuangzi...

After the discussion, the couple had breakfast.

Cao Yong had to go to the yamen in the morning, and Chu Yu sent someone to send a carriage to the Duke's mansion and Sun's house to pick up his aunt and grandmother...

*
The Forbidden City, the yamen of the House of Internal Affairs.

Cao Yong glanced at the smiling sixteenth elder brother, and waved his hand to dismiss several scribes and pen notes.

When there were only the two of them left in the room, Cao Yong took a careful look at Elder Sixteen and said, "Master Sixteen looks fine, does the new prescription work this time?"

Brother Sixteen has used two smoking cessation prescriptions in the past month since he returned to Beijing, but none of them are very effective.The recipe used this time is the third one.

Elder Sixteen waved his hand and said: "How can it be so easy? It's not because of my great perseverance. I prepared a rope and ordered Zhao Feng to tie me up. After two smoking addictions, my appetite has improved a lot recently. "

"Although it's a bit bitter, it's gratifying to congratulate Brother Sixteen for his perseverance." Cao Yong praised him sincerely.

Brother Sixteen glanced at Cao Yong, and said: "It's not all because of you. A few days ago, I took my grandfather to the front door to see the opium ghost. The appearance of that person is not human, ghost is not ghost, it is really not dead. Forget it. I don’t want to be like that, no matter how hard it is, I have to suffer.”

"How many persevering people are there in this world? The harm of opium should not be underestimated." Brother Sixteen sighed, and then said: "It's good among the people, but if it spreads to the army, it's worse than the red-clothed cannon." Terrible. They have become heavy smokers, who can still ride a horse and hold a knife?"

Cao Yong nodded and said: "Although it cannot be said that it is the disaster of subjugation and extinction of the country, it is not far away!"

"I went to the Ministry of Households to check. At the Guangzhou Customs, the East India Company has a lot of opium in the land this year. Tomorrow, I will find an opportunity to talk to Huang Ama to restrict or ban the opium trade." Brother Sixteen said.

"Anyway, it's right to control, and there is no need to ban it completely. Xinglin needs to use opium as medicine, so just limit it in moderation." Cao Yong said.

"Okay, speaking of this, I almost forgot the business." Brother Sixteen said, took out a palm-sized brocade box from his arms, handed it to Cao Yong, and said, "This is what Er Niang prepared for my aunt." Birthday gift. I originally wanted to go to celebrate my aunt’s birthday, but your family didn’t have a treat today, and I was in Xiaozhong, so I went rashly, and it was too eye-catching. Please pass it on to me. Our share, the first few days Ri Fujin sent someone over there."

Cao Yong took it, please don't ask Brother Sixteen to convey his thanks to Wang Bin...,

*
Cao Mansion, outside the gate.

The carriage sent to Sun's family arrived first, and because her son had already entered school, Cao Ying took her daughter back here to celebrate her aunt's birthday.

With the arrival of the mother and daughter, there is also a half-car birthday gift.From clothing materials to gold and jade ornaments, the gift list is written on two pages.Since the holy birthday festival, the queen mother bestowed wishes, and Sun Jue began to ask his wife to prepare birthday gifts.

According to Cao Ying's original intention, birthday noodles and clothing materials were given away as usual in previous years.But Sun Jue thought it was too polite, so he asked people to buy and change some antique decorations, and even melted down some gold objects at home to make a golden Buddha.

"There is no better mother than a daughter", Cao Ying knew her mother Zhao Jia's nagging temperament.When she returned to her natal home with this "heavy gift" carefully prepared by her husband, she didn't feel elated at all, but felt a little uneasy.

Giving this gift, I don't know that it will cause my mother to talk about it for several years.

Originally, one is the biological mother and the other is the aunt, even if the etiquette is high, the former should be regarded as the former, and one should not favor the other to such an extent.

Regarding the rumors about the identity of her aunt Li, Cao Ying heard her husband mention it twice.She didn't believe it, but it was the empress dowager's great love that attracted the villain's tongue.

If it was a real golden branch and jade leaf, why would it be kept in Bao Yi's house?Even if he has no choice but to raise him in Bao Yi's house, what kind of good son-in-law can't be found, and he has to marry Cao's house to fill in the house?

For example, the late grandma Sun Taijun asked her daughter-in-law to set the rules, but she didn't divide the first house and the second house.If my aunt is of royal blood, how dare the old man...

*
Fangjia Hutong, Guogong Mansion.

Looking at the birthday gift prepared by his wife, which was just two clothes and two pairs of shoes, Seshtu hesitated and asked, "Is it too light, do you want to add some?"

Cao Yi shook his head and said: "No need, my wife is not an outsider, so she still cares about those things that show her face? Although my wife is good at sewing, she wants to make the master's clothes. Now that she has gained longevity, she has to pay tribute to the palace every year and festival. My wife is different from others. She doesn’t pick materials very much when she wears clothes, but she picks handwork very well, and she doesn’t like to wear clothes that are cut outside. Although my needlework is a bit clumsy, it’s because of my heart, and my wife will like it..."

(End of this chapter)