Border Cook

"Speaking of which, grandpa is really a fool. The Wen family is so rich and powerful that they can't afford to do so many businesses. But he has to touch these things. If someone really catches him and talks nonsense in front of the emperor, it will be disadvantageous to me. Mother still has to remind grandpa and uncle not to get too obsessed with money and forget the most important thing."

You know, right now his position as the crown prince is the most important thing, and everything else has to stand aside, otherwise it will be too late to regret.

Concubine Shu understood this truth, but she felt uncomfortable hearing these words.

Xiao Luochen is the eldest prince. Logically speaking, he will be the king in the future and the Wen family will be the subjects, so they should obey. But from another perspective, Xiao Luochen is the grandson of the Wen family and the younger generation. The Wen family is the backing that supports him and they should respect him.

But Xiao Luochen's words were full of accusations against the Wen family, without any respect at all. It was obvious that he looked down on the Wen family in his heart.

You must know that if there were no Wen family, even if you, Xiao Luochen, were a prince, you would have fallen to the same level as Xiao Luoan, becoming a running dog of others. How could you be as prosperous as you are now, with so many stars around you?
And why did the Wen family amass wealth?
The Wen family is a wealthy and powerful family with a huge industry that is beyond Xiao Luochen's imagination. The reason why they want to get involved in minerals and salt fields, which are supposed to be controlled by the royal family, is just to win over the ministers in the court and control the political power.

Everything they did was just to help Xiao Luochen stand out and successfully win the position of crown prince in the future. However, in Xiao Luochen's words, it seemed that the Wen family had fallen into the trap of money.

Concubine Shu complained for her family and could not help but argue, "Your grandfather and uncle are also planning for your future..."

Seeing Xiao Luochen's unhappy expression, Concubine Shu quickly changed her tone, "Of course, this also requires a certain method and approach. I will tell your grandfather and uncles when I have time."

"That's it." Xiao Luochen finally let out a breath and stood up.

"It's getting late. Why don't you stay here and have dinner before leaving?" Concubine Shu tried to keep him.

"No, I have an appointment with Meng Jijiu to have tea, so I shouldn't be late." Xiao Luochen explained.

The chief academic officer of the Imperial College, Lord Meng is in charge of all the affairs of the Imperial College. Lord Meng is an erudite scholar and is admirable. His second daughter is Xiao Luochen's wife, and the two of them have a father-in-law and son-in-law relationship.

Xiao Luochen and Meng Jijiu frequently interacted with each other, both for personal and official matters.

Upon seeing this, Concubine Shu did not try to persuade him to stay and just had him sent out.

Watching his receding back, Concubine Shu sighed.

Xiao Luochen had a bad temper and often lacked wisdom. Although she had given birth to three children since entering the palace, Xiao Luochen was the only prince. The two young ladies of the Wen family who were sent to the palace to assist her were also not able to conceive, so the Wen family could only count on Xiao Luochen and had no other choice.

But then again, although Xiao Luochen lacks ability, he is very motivated and has ambition and courage, which makes up for it a little.

No one is perfect, so we can't be too harsh on him.

Furthermore, as long as Xiao Luochen can become the crown prince and later the emperor, the next generation of girls in the Wen family will have grown up, and by then a few more can be selected to enter the palace. I don’t believe that we won’t be able to give birth to a few satisfactory ones.

When Concubine Shu thought about this, she felt much more relieved. She just asked people to set the table and sent someone to Chongyang Palace to ask the Emperor if he was willing to come for dinner.

When she learned that the Emperor was not free for lunch but would come over in the evening, Concubine Shu was overjoyed and quickly sent people to clean up and prepare, and she got busy.

It was a clear and cool autumn day. After a few days of good weather, it rained.

The rain was not heavy, just as fine as a cow's hair. If you were going out for a long time, you wouldn't even need an umbrella. But it rained all day, and on the second day, there was still no sign of clearing up. The rain was not heavy, and it didn't affect daily work, but it affected Xia Mingyue.

Originally, seeing that the weather was good, she wanted to dry some fruits. Then in autumn and winter, she could put these dried fruits in a pot, boil a pot of water and drink it. It would feel like fruit tea, delicious and good for health.

However, it rained continuously and the dried fruits were not dried, so they were very easy to mold. Xia Mingyue simply took some effort to put all the dried fruits in the oven, using the high temperature of the oven to completely evaporate their moisture.

The slices of dried fruits are not too thick. They are dried in the sun for half a day and in the shade for a day. Then they are baked for a full hour to make them completely dry.

The dried fruits can be eaten directly as snacks, or mixed with rock sugar and boiled into fruit tea. Drinking a pot of it in such rainy weather is extremely comfortable.

Especially when boiling fruit tea, a small charcoal stove is used. When the water in the teapot boils, the steam that comes out has a hint of sweetness. When the steam rises, the teapot lid hits the teapot and makes a slight "click" sound, which, combined with the gurgling sound made when the tea bubbles, forms an extremely beautiful symphony.

In such an atmosphere, Xia Mingyue inexplicably felt a little empty in her stomach.

It's not hunger, it's the feeling that your stomach feels a little lonely and you want to eat something. To be precise, it should be called greed.

That's right, Xia Mingyue was a little greedy and wanted to eat something to go with her tea to pass the rainy afternoon.

But the snacks we have at home, such as egg-fried peanuts, mini peach cakes, millet rice crackers, spiced meat jerky, etc., which we eat often, are really a bit boring.

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It's time to make some new snacks or treats!

When this thought came to Xia Mingyue's mind, she felt confused and didn't know what to do. She just supported her chin with both hands and stared blankly.

"Madam, what are you worried about?" Yin Qiao walked into the room and saw Xia Mingyue like this, and asked with concern.

"Nothing, I'm just thinking about what to do." Xia Mingyue replied.

Yin Qiao didn't know that Xia Mingyue was worrying about making snacks, so she thought she was worrying about what to eat in the evening. She grinned and said, "Manager Fu asked someone to get a basket of river shrimps. I saw that they are big and have a lot of meat. Why don't you make some dry fried river shrimps for dinner?"

The dry-fried river shrimps are crispy and delicious, and the more you chew them, the more fragrant they become. Fry a plate of them and eat them with porridge in the evening. They are very delicious.

"Okay." Xia Mingyue nodded, and then a light suddenly flashed through her mind.

Shrimp, fried shrimp...

Fried shrimp chips!
Yes, they are extremely crispy and full of shrimp flavor. They are perfect as a daily snack!
The more Xia Mingyue thought about it, the more her mind was filled with the aroma of shrimp chips. She didn't even want to wait a moment longer and simply started to get busy.

The first step is to peel the shrimp.

Autumn is the season when river shrimps are plump. Although they are not as meaty as sea shrimps, they are still filling enough. (End of this chapter)