Transmigrated into the fat wife of the future prime minister

Chapter 14 The Treacherous Gu Yunyi

Yun Sheng stared at Xu Qingmeng, looking pitiful.

Unfortunately, Xu Qingmeng didn't take the bait at all, and knowing it was hopeless, she could only run off to play with her friends.

Xu Qing dreamed of having a frying pan custom-made, so He Shi went out to find a blacksmith, but Gu Yunyi was still in the kitchen.

Xu Qingmeng asked in confusion, "Is there anything else?"

Gu Yunyi shook his head. "No, as you said, if you eat too much, sitting for too long makes it harder to digest."

Xu Qingmeng didn't say anything, just nodded and ignored him, continuing to prepare her fillings. Tomorrow she needed to prepare steamed buns, pies, tofu pudding, and soy milk, so there were quite a lot of things to prepare.

Gu Yunyi wandered around the kitchen, touching this and that every now and then, and then he would ask Xu Qingmeng what it was and what it was used for.
Xu Qingmeng didn't pay any attention, just thinking he was bored. She answered whatever he asked casually, since she was good at it.

No matter whether Gu Yunyi asked about common ingredients, uncommon ingredients, or rare spices, Xu Qingmeng could explain them to him very clearly.

Gu Yunyi nodded repeatedly, then uttered a sentence.
"I had only heard that my wife rarely went out, but now it seems that she is quite knowledgeable. She doesn't even leave the house, yet she knows so much."

Xu Qingmeng's hand, which was preparing the filling, froze. Then she complained, "Lust is a double-edged sword. How could I have fallen for it? I let him test me for so long. I was so stupid!"
"Little sister!"

Xu Qingmeng quickly put down what she was doing and went outside. She saw that it was the original owner's second brother.

"Second Brother, what brings you here?" Xu Qingmeng quickly stepped forward and asked.

“Father said you were running out of firewood, so he asked me to bring a cartload over.”

"Second brother, come in quickly."

Xu Qingmeng led her second brother into the courtyard, and Gu Yunyi also came out of the kitchen.

As soon as Xu Erge entered, he smelled a delicious fragrance. "Little sister, what are you making? It smells so good!"

Xu Qingmen, dreaming of the braised food in the pot, hurriedly said, "Second Brother, please sit down first, I'll serve you some."

Xu Qingmeng took out two bowls and scooped out two bowls of tofu pudding. One bowl had sugar in it, and the other had savory, and she served them to Xu Erge.

"Second brother, this is the tofu pudding I made today. Please try it."

"Tofu pudding, this looks similar to tofu, but it's much more tender. It's so delicious, little sister, the savory one is even better."

Hearing her second brother's words, Xu Qingmeng became even more determined to sell both sweet and savory products. However, she was still missing some dried radish and small shrimp for the savory ones. She could pickle the radish herself, but she didn't know if they would sell the dried shrimp. She would have to look for them carefully.

Xu Qingmeng lifted the lid of the braised food pot again, poked it twice with a chopstick, twisted off a chicken leg, put it on a plate, and then handed it to Xu Erge.

The chicken was stewed until tender, making one's mouth water just looking at it. Xu Qingmeng thought it would taste even better if it were soaked until evening.

"Little sister, what is this?"

"Second brother, try it quickly."

Xu Erge took the plate, looked at the chicken leg on it, and without any hesitation, picked it up and took a bite.

"Mmm, delicious, so delicious! Little sister, when did you learn to cook like this? You used to never lift a finger at home!"

Xu Qingmeng glanced at Gu Yunyi beside her and quickly interrupted her second brother.
"Second Brother, I'm glad you like it. I'll pack some for you later so you can take it back for Father and everyone to eat together. Besides, I'm thinking of helping the Gu Family Restaurant open." Second Brother Xu put down his bowl, staring wide-eyed at Xu Qingmeng.
“Little sister, this won’t do. Doing business is too tiring. Is Gu Yunyi treating you badly? Although our family isn’t rich, your brothers can support you. At worst, we can get a divorce and go home.”

"No, no, I just wanted to help my husband with some of the burden," Xu Qingmeng quickly explained.

Xu Erge knew that what his little sister said went; once she made up her mind, it was usually difficult to change it. He remained silent for a moment, then spoke.
"Alright then, I'll bring you firewood every two days from now on."

As Gu Yunyi listened to their conversation, his doubts about Xu Qingmeng deepened, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong.

Xu Qingmeng went in and filled some more tofu pudding, and also filled some braised dishes from the pot for her second brother Xu to take back with him.

Brother Xu quickly got up to say goodbye, as he still had to rush back to work in the fields.

After seeing off her second brother, Xu Qingmeng hurried back to the kitchen to work, to avoid being questioned by Gu Yunyi again. She didn't have the brains of a big shot like him.

Seeing her fleeing in panic, Gu Yunyi had no intention of letting her go, and then followed Xu Qingmeng to the kitchen.

Xu Qingmeng knew she couldn't avoid it, so she could only make up a story.
“My lord, you don’t know, Xu Family Village is backed by hills. In the years of war, many people passed through and even settled there. When I was a child, an old man passed by and thought I was innocent and cute, and extremely smart. So he taught me some knowledge. Based on my photographic memory, of course I remembered it all at once!”

The war was real, and given how much her family doted on her, it was possible they wouldn't keep her confined at home. However, Gu Yunyi didn't believe her claims of being innocent, cute, and clever.

Xu Qingmeng didn't care whether he believed it or not; her face showed a resolute attitude, and it really did seem like the truth.

Gu Yunyi remained silent and smiled, "My wife is really lucky, just like I was back then."

"Oh? So my husband was just as likable as I was before?" Xu Qingmeng looked over inquisitively.

Gu Yunyi rolled his eyes at Xu Qingmeng, then turned and went back to his room.

Xu Qingmeng's thoughts drifted back to the book, where she remembered that Gu Yunyi's mentor, Mr. Shen, was an outstanding scholar who had passed the imperial examinations twice during the reign of the late emperor.

During that period, the late emperor was obsessed with military expansion, and the status of scholars was seriously neglected. However, with the passing of the late emperor, a year-long struggle for the throne began, and power shifts within the court were frequent, implicating many officials. Mr. Shen was one of the victims.

After the new emperor ascended the throne, in order to fulfill the late emperor's last wish and continue to advance the cause of unification, he went through several more years of war.

Finally, after the dynasty was unified, the new emperor began to implement new policies, vigorously develop agriculture, and improve the social status of scholars.

However, the new emperor seemed to still harbor resentment towards those who had been drawn into the struggle for the throne, or perhaps he simply didn't have the time to reinstate them. Therefore, those who were promoted were often the newly appointed scholars from humble backgrounds.

Fortunately, Mr. Shen was open-minded and loved nature. In the book, he left behind a deep teacher-student relationship with Gu Yunyi.

In addition, he often traveled among mountains and rivers, recording his observations and feelings in poems and prose. These poems and prose are exquisite and admirable, demonstrating Mr. Shen's demeanor as a true scholar and gentleman.

Not long after, Xu Qingmeng threw the vegetables into the pot again, scooped out some of the braising liquid, and started braising the pork intestines.

As evening fell and darkness descended, the dockworkers finished their shifts, and Xu Qingmeng's braised dishes were ready to be served.

Madam He lit several oil lamps in the hall and, just as she had done in the morning, arranged the tables side by side in front of the shop, neatly arranging the braised food that Xu Qingmeng had retrieved.

The glossy color and the fact that it was fresh out of the pot made it smell delicious, and it quickly attracted a lot of people.

(End of this chapter)