A Thousand Hills

Chapter 336

Three days after Liulang left, Sanlang said, "I used to think that Liulang was fine at home, but when he left suddenly, I felt like there were so many people missing from the family."

Erlang said, "Yes, I don't know if he eats well on the way."

"Why can't the food not be good? It's not that I didn't bring a cook." San Lang said, "Liu Lang is not sister Xin."

When Sister Xin heard this, she was immediately unhappy and asked, "What's wrong with me?"

San Lang grinned, "You're fine? You're just a picky eater. Today I'm going to eat fish cooked by Chef Zhang, and tomorrow I'm going to eat shrimp cooked by Chef Li. When Liu Lang goes to Sichuan, it's enough to bring two cooks with him. If it were you, you would have to bring eight of them."

Sister Xin said angrily, "You are not the same. I was still talking about Taiping's chicken wontons a while ago."

Saburo glanced at Sister Xin with his thin eyelids, and said, "Aren't you angry that I didn't take you to Taipingju, but his chicken wontons are really good, not worse than those in our house. You know that? I heard that the chef of his family has been passed down for two generations. They don’t do anything all their lives, and they specialize in making chicken wontons. With such skills, they naturally make delicate ones. Although our cooks can also do it, they are not as meticulous as his family’s. Is that right, second child?" Saburo is an expert in dressing.In terms of diet, it depends on Erlang.

Erlang glanced at Bai Sanlang leisurely, and said to him, "You're getting bolder now, you don't even call your second brother anymore."

"Second Brother, Second Brother, Second Brother." Sanlang called out three times, and Erlang Fang said, "Well, Taipingju's wontons are pretty good, and it's better than our family's."

Sister Xin was so yearning after hearing this, she asked, "Second brother, have you eaten too?"

Shiro laughed straight, and said, "The second brother must have eaten first, and the third brother went because he said it was delicious."

Sister Xin's cheeks were puffed up in anger, and she said to the brothers, "One or two are disloyal. If you offend the king in the future, don't ask me to speak well for you."

Saburo hurriedly said, "We went to try it first, we thought it was delicious, so we took you there, look at this little temper, it will grow after a year or two."

Erlang had a round face, he just smiled and said nothing.

Goro said honestly, "Ah Xin, don't worry, my second brother bought a hill last year for [-] silver, and the hill is full of pine trees. Most importantly, there is a spring on the hill, and the spring water is sweet and sweet. The second brother ordered people to raise a thousand chickens on that mountain. The second brother said that when his chickens were ready, he would call the cook from Taiping home and ask him to cook chicken wontons. It would definitely taste better. Then we'll just have to wait and eat."

Sister Xin was eye-opening, and she didn't say that the brothers were stingy anymore, and said quickly, "I heard a story before that a prince in the previous dynasty wanted to eat pork, and the pig was raised from ginseng and deer. Second brother, you What do the chickens feed in the mountains?"

Erlang said, "Don't be stupid. Even if people eat ginseng and deer, they will get nosebleeds every day. Can pigs bear it? It's just a lie. No matter what it is, it's like raising chickens. It's a little bit different for chickens." A better environment is enough, but there is no need to feed the chickens any strange things. There is also the kind of medicine that feeds the chickens, and it turns out to be medicinal chickens. Foraging for food freely in the mountains, eating grass and insects in the mountains when hungry, and drinking spring water in the mountains when thirsty, so that after a year, they can be caught and eaten for cooking. At this time, the chicken is fat and tender, and the taste is just right, no matter when it is cooked. Wontons are still cooking, eat with my sister."

Shiro sighed, "Second brother, you can buy a mountain just to eat chicken."

Sister Xin said, "There are a lot of products on the mountain. There are pine trees, which can produce pine nuts every year. There are also all kinds of mountain products. When the trees grow up, they can be sold for money. They are not just for raising chickens. The mountain forests bought for five thousand silver , it must be a good mountain forest."

Erlang said, "When I bought the forest, the owner's family had already sold the trees that could be sold. The main reason is that the water in the land is good. I also ordered people to dig a pond, where I raised lotus roots and fish, as well as toads. put some."

Da Lang asked, "You don't raise any crabs, mother likes to eat crabs."

Erlang said, "The crabs are raised in the rice fields."

Sister Xin really convinced Erlang, and said, "Second brother, no one can match you when it comes to food."

Saburo also deeply agrees.They all asked the steward to manage the Zhuangzi's shop, and they didn't ask the steward to fool him. But Erlang, for his own property, that's really not an ordinary plan.Also, Erlang, who harvested last year, set up a small hill, and he is quite good at living.

A few people were chatting, when a servant came in, saluted first, and said with a smile, "The concubine ordered the servants to come over and tell the ladies and gentlemen that Liu Ye's letter has arrived."

"Oh, so fast!" After only three days of leaving, Sanlang jumped up first when he returned with a letter from his family.Then, a group of brothers and sisters went to Wutongyuan to read the letter from Liulang.

Xie Moru had already finished reading, and was talking to the maid with a smile, when he saw that the children had come, he said with a smile, "Liu Lang ordered someone to send a letter from home, you should take a look too."

Saburo is always quick and fast, he went forward to take the letter from his aunt on the table, and said, "I'll read it!"

Rokuro wrote:
Dear parents:

As soon as I went out, I started to miss home, but the scenery on the road was very good.It was a bit hot at noon, so I slept in the car, and I would get out of the car for a walk in the morning, or ride a horse in the evening.At first, I was quite lonely outside.My elder brother said that I should be strict outside and not be looked down upon by others, so I always imitated my elder brother and put on airs with a serious face, which made my face a little stiff.

When Saburo read this, everyone laughed.Da Lang said with a smile, "I don't have airs."

Sister Xin grinned, "Brother, this is the demeanor of an elder brother."

"Since you were young, you have always liked to put on airs like a big brother in front of me and my second brother. Even though you are only a few months older, and your father is king, you always say that you are stable and that I am jumping off the hook." Sanlang is also eloquent.

Da Lang said, "Could they all be like you, like a monkey, only needing to climb a tree."

Shiro urged Saburo, "Third brother, read it quickly."

Sanlang pretended to cough twice, cleared his throat and continued, "I just entered Zhili today, and I saw the people from the second brother Zhuangzi, who gave me chicken, fish, lotus root and shrimp, and a basket of turtles. The second brother Zhuangzi raised it. It tastes very good, and Aunt Jiang also said it was delicious. I also brought mountain spring water, boil it and drink it cold, it tastes good, and the tea will not show the taste."

Erlang nodded, "That's true. Some spring water tastes good, but it's not suitable for making tea. However, my chicken hasn't matured yet, and the lotus root is still a little tender now. The fish and shrimp are edible. We didn't eat any of them." Well, Liulang is really delicious, let him taste it first."

Sister Xin asked, "Second brother, when will your chicken be able to grow?"

"The Mid-Autumn Festival is almost here."

"Success, then I'll wait." Sister Xin calculated, and it was almost there.

Sister Xin urged Sanlang to read the letter again, and Sanlang continued to read, "When passing through Zhili, Emperor Xue visited an old friend. The old man was named Dugu. He had a beard that was two feet long. Old Dugu There is a thick laurel tree in the husband's house, and there are a few buds now, I thought, if the fourth brother sees it, he will definitely be able to write some little sour poems." Sanlang also added to Shiro, "I said you can be a little sour What about poetry?"

Shiro jumped up, rushed to Sanlang's side to read the letter, and yelled, "Why are you still jumping and reading!" Thinking that Sanlang was not true, Shiro snatched the letter and added a sentence for everyone, "there is another sentence in front of it. It belongs to the third brother. Liu Lang said that during the past few days, Master Xue and Aunt Jiang were not talkative, and he really missed the way the third brother chattered when eating at home." Then, Shiro commented, "Twitter, this word Use it well, the third brother's attitude is all in front of his eyes."

Sanlang scratched the bridge of his tall nose and said, "Just now I said that I missed this kid a little bit, but I won't miss him from now on." He even said that he was chattering and didn't know how to respect his elder brother at all.

Liu Lang's letter recited to everyone in the family. When he was doing his homework, he would think of Fifth Brother, and even when he was sleeping, he would think of the incident when he was in the same bed with Sister Xin when he was young, and then he was bullied by Sister Xin, and when Sister Xin was young Gave him a nickname or something.Liu Lang said that he had forgotten it when he was at home, and for some reason, he remembered it as soon as he left home.

Everyone listened to the music.

Liu Lang also wrote many characters he saw on the road. He said that there was a son of a certain official's family, and it was already autumn.On the road, I saw a married wedding team on the small road. The bride rides a donkey instead of a sedan chair. Moreover, there is no saddle on the donkey's back.In addition, Liu Lang also sent many Zhili specialties, saying that it was given by the governor of Zhili. He had already given a copy to Emperor Xue and Aunt Jiang, which was for the family.

Saburo said longingly, "If I knew it was so interesting, I might as well give Liulang a ride."

Shiro also said, "When we went to Fujian in the past, we were too young to find it interesting. I don't know what Shu is like. In fact, it feels good to live in Fujian. Every summer there is always a sea breeze."

Erlang said, "It's rare to have fresh seafood."

Sister Xin really suspected that her second elder brother was born by the royal chef in the sky.

Needless to say, Emperor Mu Yuan liked Erlang's temperament.After the Chinese New Year, Erlang and Saburo also started to go to court, and the two of them also got some simple errands. Erlang went to the Department of Internal Affairs, and Saburo had already reserved the Ministry of War. Emperor Mu Yuan always liked him, so naturally he agreed.At first, Erlang was just a name for the Department of Internal Affairs, he was young, and he had just arrived, so there were so many old foxes in the Department of Internal Affairs, it was just a face to support him.As a result, Emperor Mu Yuan's poisoning incident last year involved the Department of Internal Affairs, and Emperor Mu Yuan thoroughly investigated the Department of Internal Affairs from head to toe.Although Erlang is a delicious person, he is not stupid, even if he doesn't realize it, his father pointed him out, so Erlang took the opportunity to gain the real power of the Department of Internal Affairs.

The Department of Internal Affairs is in charge of nothing more than the food and clothing of the royal family.

Erlang is really a particular person. Of course, when he takes care of things, it is inevitable that he will get a little bit cheap, but Emperor Mu Yuan has a deep feeling that the money is not spent, but it is more refined when it is used.

Take the chicken raised by Erlang, and keep the food for his family. Erlang sold [-] of them to the Secretary of Internal Affairs. He also named his chicken, Songlin Fairy Chicken.Of course, this is the first year. Due to the good profits, Erlang decided to expand the scale of raising chickens, but he must not over-raise the chickens.Moreover, it is raised one crop after another. Erlang also wrote a book "Matters for Raising Immortal Chickens" for this reason.

Anyway, since Erlang took charge of the Department of Internal Affairs, even the Mid-Autumn Festival banquet in the palace, Saburo said, "This year's Mid-Autumn Festival banquet is more elaborate than previous years."

Sister Xin also said, "In the past, the food was always served warm, and it tasted really good. This year, it's all hot and delicately made."

Saburo snickered, "It's so delicate, it's actually a reduction in quantity. In previous years, everything was full, but this year's dishes are beautifully arranged, which is not as affordable as in previous years."

Da Lang said, "At the palace banquet, not many people went there for food, it's better if there are fewer, and it's better to be frugal."

Because it's autumn and winter, Erlang has always been good at keeping healthy, so his complexion became more mellow, and he said, "This year, several cousins ​​got married, and the Secretary of Internal Affairs has to make ends meet, so he has to save money. Besides, palace banquets are always wasted. It’s quite big, so I came up with this idea. Even though the amount of dishes has been reduced by [-]%, it’s not a big deal, it’s just a reward for the palace servants to eat.”

After the Mid-Autumn Festival, on the morning of August [-]th, the family finally ate chicken wontons highly recommended by Erlang, and specially invited a chef from Taipingju to come to the palace to make them.Erlang took a bite first, savored the taste of the wonton slowly, and said with emotion for a long time, "It really is worthy of the chicken wonton made by my fairy chicken!"

The fifth prince's lips twitched when he heard this, and he thought, isn't it just a bowl of wontons.

Xie Moru tasted a wonton and said, "This chicken is well-raised, the meat is fat and tender, and Taipingjuli's stuffing is also good."

Erlang immediately ordered the maid to reward the cook with five taels of silver, and also specially warned, "Take my private room, don't take the public account."

"I've never heard that rewards can go to the public account," Sanlang said to his father, coquettish and timid, scooping up a wonton and blowing, without delay in talking, "The emperor's grandfather really has vision, called the second brother In charge of the Department of Internal Affairs. There is no one in our family who knows how to live better than the second brother."

The fifth prince said with a serious face, "Your grandfather also said that your second brother is in charge of the internal affairs department well."

Saburo said in his heart that the Department of Internal Affairs is not only easy to manage, not to mention that the head of the Department of Internal Affairs is new, and there is no other royal family who overwhelms the second brother, so it is not the second brother who decides.He is in the military department, everything depends on the uncle's face.

The fifth prince and Erlang said, "Give your chicken a few cages to your fourth uncle's house."

Erlang responded with a straight face, and said to his father, "It's a fairy chicken."

The Fifth Prince commented, "I'm pretty good at naming things."

After breakfast, the Fifth Prince took his sons to court and school. Since Sanlang officially served as an errand, he always rides on horseback. Today, he forced himself into his father's carriage and took a peek at his father. Only with a pale face said, "Father, I have something to discuss with you."

"It looks like you have something to do, let's talk." The fifth prince said.The third son seems to have ADHD since he was a child, and he never rides in a car. Now he suddenly sits with him in a sports car.

Saburo said in a low voice, "When will Yong'an son-in-law return to court?"

"Why do you ask this?" The fifth prince just sat with his sleeves calmly.

San Lang said, "In our Ministry of War, we don't have a minister. It's not a common practice that the servants are acting as ministers."

"This has nothing to do with you." The fifth prince said, "You just joined the military department, and you were asked to learn to be an errand, just to learn from your uncle."

Saburo puffed his mouth and said, "Uncle guards me like he guards against thieves. He asks me to organize military plans and military strategies every day. He doesn't even ask me to be sidelined by the driver. What can I learn?"

"Presumptuous!" The fifth prince's face darkened, and he scolded, "Your uncle is your elder, and you are the one to say that about elders! If the official department is useless, why would the court set up such a department? The arsenal, the four divisions stand together, which one is the light and which is the most important? Could it be that you think that the oily water is the most important, and the oily water is the lightest? Frivolous! You don’t even understand the matter of the secretary, you can still do it What!" All the way, Saburo's face turned pale when he scolded him, if it wasn't for Sanlang's good mental quality, he would definitely be able to scare something wrong.

After being trained by his father all the way, Saburo didn't dare to mention the matter of calling Yong'an son-in-law back to the court.In fact, San Lang was very thoughtful, he was thinking that since Yongan Prince Consort is not here, so the Ministry of War is the Eldest Prince covering the sky with one hand, and when Yong An Concubine returns, San Lang himself will have something to do.At least, it's no problem to be able to do a good job at Dangdang.As a result, when he mentioned it to his father, the matter was not done, and he was scolded, which was really not worth the candle.

The fifth prince also said to his wife in the evening, "The children have grown up without knowing it. Sanlang, this kid, is too lively, he just wants to reach the sky in one step." How many years have others been in the yamen? , After a lot of things, before you have the status you have today, you want to take real power and make a good job as soon as the emperor airborne, isn't this a dream?Even when the Fifth Prince was in the Ministry of Rites, he did a few major events that shocked the court, and he gained the real power of the Ministry of Rites.

Xie Moru smiled, "Sanlang is only fourteen this year. Think about it, Your Highness, you were not on the job at that time. If you want to talk about jumping off, Xiao Tang didn't jump off before, and he is not good now. Sanlang has always been flexible, a flexible person, With a quick mind, there are many ways. The way Sanlang thought of is serious and feasible."

"Why, don't you really want Uncle Yong'an to return to court?"

"Your Highness, don't worry about this matter. Spend a little time on Saburo. It's not a bad thing to have a strategy, but things in this world must be done in a down-to-earth manner, step by step. Saburo is the grandson of the emperor, and the family can help him, but if you change your identity , if he was born as a commoner, would there be no way out?" Xie Moru smiled, "San Lang is not stupid, let him take his time."

The fifth prince sighed with a smile, "This kid..." He said again, "It's hard to say anything wrong with elder brother in front of the child. But if you want me to say, elder brother is too narrow-minded." Guarding against his son is like guarding against thieves. The son was assigned to a remote department. Although the fifth prince wanted to train his son, he was not very happy with the eldest prince's move.

Xie Moru said, "Beauty Zhao in the palace is about to give birth, if she can give birth to a prince, Concubine Zhao will be even more proud in the palace."

The husband and wife talked in private, and the fifth prince didn't shy away from anything. He asked his wife in a low voice, "It's been many years since the birth of my twelfth brother, and my father didn't pay much attention to the concubine. The imperial concubine can benefit from this. I really don't know how to describe that beauty Zhao."

"I don't go to the palace very often, but I have never seen it. I heard from my fourth sibling that although she looks good, she is not particularly outstanding in the palace. However, I heard that Zhao Meiren was born in a small commoner family, and her temperament is innocent. They are also talkative and laughable in the Mercy Palace, I think His Majesty likes lively people. I heard that although Meiren Zhao is a beauty now, her treatment is comparable to that of Jieyu."

The fifth prince said, "After all, I am pregnant with a prince."

Talk about a few gossips about his father, the fifth prince just laughed it off.

In fact, being able to tell the five princes to gossip once shows that Zhao Meiren is really not easy.

Since Empress Su passed away, Xie Moru didn't know much about Xie Moru's stay in the palace, but she also knew that even though Zhao Meiren was pregnant, she couldn't be favored, and Emperor Mu Yuan would visit her from time to time.Empress Dowager Hu saw that Meiren Zhao was favored by her son, not to mention she was pregnant with the prince, she also gave Meiren Zhao a lot of face and rewarded her from time to time.

This situation reached its peak until the beginning of September when Zhao Meiren lost the thirteen princes.

Emperor Mu Yuan loved the thirteen princes more than treasures, and he was named Yansong as soon as he was born. Even Meiren Zhao was promoted to three ranks in a row, skipping Jieyu directly, and ranked among the nine concubines as Chongyi.Even Emperor Mu Yuan's reward to the thirteen princes broke the example of the common princes and was quite generous.Emperor Mu Yuan was overjoyed, needless to say that the thirteen princes were baptized three times, and the emperor ordered all those who were qualified to go.

Xie Moru also had the honor to visit the thirteenth prince, he was full of milk, and he looked like he hadn't opened yet, but according to Concubine Zhao, he looked more like Zhao Chongyi.Xie Moru praised the Thirteenth Prince casually, Concubine Xie Guifei looked at Xie Moru with some deep meaning in his eyes, but it was only a light glance, Concubine Xie moved her eyes away.Xie Moru was puzzled, but didn't show it on his face, but couldn't help but glance at the thirteenth prince again.Concubine Zhao Gui said, "The auspicious time is coming soon, let's pick up the child and give it to the mother."

The grandma came to pick it up, but Xie Moru didn't give it to her. Holding the baby's baby in one hand, she said with a smile, "This baby was born really well, and he doesn't cry or fuss. As soon as I got it, I couldn't bear to return it." She said, Scanning the descriptions of Zhao Xie and the two noble concubines without trace at the end of his eyes, he felt that the faces of the two were a little unnatural.Concubine Xie was the one who quarreled, and said with a smile, "When Dalang Erlang and Saburo get married, you are afraid that you will not be hugged by your grandson."

Xie Moru smiled and handed the thirteenth prince to the nanny.

With Xie Moru's head, he couldn't figure out why Zhao and Xie were so unnatural when she hugged the thirteenth prince.You shouldn't be afraid of her murdering the thirteenth prince, right?There is no reason for this.

Let’s put it aside for the time being, before the Double Ninth Festival, Liu Lang asked someone to send two pots of green chrysanthemums from the middle of Sichuan, saying that they were dedicated to the emperor’s grandfather.Liu Lang wrote in the letter that there are only two pots of such green chrysanthemums in Heshu, and they will be sent home first, and then the father will present them to the emperor's grandfather.

At this moment, the whole family was surprised to see it, and the fifth prince was so happy that he even invited the fourth prince's family to come and enjoy it together.The four princes all said, "I only saw it in books before, and I didn't really believe that chrysanthemums were green. Now that I have seen it with my own eyes, I know it is true."

The fourth concubine was also surprised, and said, "Where did you find this flower?"

Xie Moru laughed, "Liulang wrote in his letter that every year before the Double Ninth Festival in Rongcheng, Sichuan, there will be a chrysanthemum fair. Florists from all over the country will participate in the competition, and the top three will be judged. It is said that this green chrysanthemum will be there last year, and this year Liulang will come to Sichuan. , I heard that there is such a rare chrysanthemum, so I bought it and ordered people to send it back to the imperial capital and present it to His Majesty."

The fourth prince and concubine said, "It's strange that Sichuan is the land of abundance, and there are such rare things."

San Lang talked quickly, and introduced to the fourth aunt, "It is said that it was raised by a lady from a scholarly family in the middle of Sichuan. The day before this lady was born, her family had a dream, and the dream was that the garden was full of flowers. Once this young lady was born, she was very good at raising flowers when she was a little older, and I don't know how capable she is. After more than ten years of hard work, she has raised this green chrysanthemum. People call this girl Juxian girl."

The fourth prince and concubine sighed, "Sure enough, there are some origins, otherwise, there will never be such rare chrysanthemums."

San Lang yearned for it very much, "I don't know how to describe this chrysanthemum fairy girl, but it must be a strange woman who can raise such a wonderful flower."

The fourth prince joked, "Why, Sanlang, you don't look at flowers enough, and you still have to look at people?"

Saburo hurriedly said, "Si Bo, I'll just say it, don't get me wrong."

The Fourth Prince had a serious face, "Well, Fourth Uncle does not misunderstand."

Saburo glared at his father, hummed and stopped talking.Erlang said, "It's a pity that there are only two pots, otherwise I can try it. How about making a pot with this green chrysanthemum?"

Saburo hurriedly said, "Don't waste everything, burn the piano and cook the crane! You want to eat the green chrysanthemum! What else do you not want to eat? My God, such a flower fairy, someone wants to eat it! Oh! Oh my God!" Saburo looked like he was holding a heartbreaking aria!
The fourth prince and his wife couldn't help laughing, Erlang's face was slightly warmed by the smile, and said, "Which year will you not eat chrysanthemum pot! Let me just say, to be honest, white chrysanthemum tastes best in chrysanthemum pot. Those famous products, instead It doesn't taste good."

Saburo almost fainted when he heard it.

Emperor Mu Yuan was also very happy when these two pots were offered, and he smiled and said to the fifth prince, "Liu Lang mentioned these two pots of rare and famous chrysanthemums in his letter to me, and I was still thinking, why didn't you send them to me? Could it be that you want to keep secret what my emperor's grandson Xiaojing gave me?" Liulang was encouraged by the emperor's grandfather to go to Sichuan with blood, and he often corresponded with the emperor's grandfather.Therefore, Emperor Mu Yuan talked about Liu Lang very kindly.

The fifth prince laughed and said, "Son, how dare I keep my father's stuff secret, but it's the first time my son has seen such a famous product. When he arrived yesterday, he opened his eyes and couldn't help asking fourth brother and fourth sister-in-law to take a look too. , I will send it to my father right away today." He told his father about the source of the green chrysanthemum, and about the fairy chrysanthemum.

Emperor Mu Yuan was very happy. Because of this famous product, he held a chrysanthemum appreciation banquet on the Double Ninth Festival. The monarchs and ministers wrote many small sour poems praising green chrysanthemums. Among the emperor's grandsons, Shiro's sour poems were the best , Emperor Mu Yuan rewarded two famous inkstones.

After the Double Ninth Festival, it entered October, Zhao Chongyi was out of confinement, Xie Moru entered the palace to pay his respects, and saw Zhao Chongyi was also speaking in the Charity Palace, Xie Moru was stunned when he saw Zhao Chongyi.Concubine Xie was startled, she quickly got up and pulled Xie Moru, "You haven't seen her before, this is Zhao Chongyi."

Xie Moru was stunned and quickly recovered, saluted Zhao Chongyi slightly, pursed the corners of her lips slightly, and sneered inwardly, wondering how Zhao Chongyi was favored so much, her eyebrows and eyes were somewhat similar to her mother.

Xie Moru is really disgusting.

(End of this chapter)