Tang Dynasty: The pot is tied to the duck nest, the little rhinoceros is here!

"Oh, right, this is a crystal dragon and phoenix cake that Mother made herself this morning! Although it's not as delicious as the food you brought from Jade Capital, it's still a token of Mother's affection. You should take it with you so that the young immortal can have a taste."

As soon as Empress Zhangsun finished speaking, her maid Qiuyue stepped forward with a box and handed it to Li Lizhi.

"It's Mother!"

Empress Zhangsun then gave a few more instructions and left.

"Let's go!"

After Empress Zhangsun left, the little boy immediately raised one of his chubby arms.

With a cheer, he grabbed his dead tablet and ran towards his toy car.

Modern time and space.

Jiang Fan had already gotten up. He hadn't slept in the villa last night; instead, he had returned to his rented apartment. Perhaps he hadn't yet adjusted to the life of a wealthy person. Living alone in a large villa, he always felt a sense of emptiness.

Of course, Jiang Fan had considered hiring a few nannies, but he was worried about exposing Si Zi's identity.

At this moment, he was lounging on the living room sofa, listlessly scrolling through his phone.

I open my mobile banking app every now and then, and when I see that dizzying string of numbers for my account balance,

Then he couldn't help but giggle, swiping his finger across the screen, scrolling through the string of numbers from beginning to end and from end to beginning.

He couldn't help but count the balance again, and after confirming it was correct, he leaned back.

He sank completely into the soft sofa, pressing his phone against his chest.

With my eyes closed, my mind begins to uncontrollably conjure up beautiful blueprints for the future:

Now that we have a villa and a car, how about buying a yacht? A plane? And then taking Xiaosi and the others around the world...?

Just as he was immersed in his sweet fantasy, a beeping sound came from the bedroom.

Then Xiao Sizi drove the children's stroller, bringing Chengyang and Li Lizhi to the living room.

As soon as Xiao Sizi got out of the car, her big eyes darted around and she immediately spotted Jiang Fan lying on the sofa, looking like a corpse.

She scurried over on her short little legs, calling out in her childish voice as she ran:

"Honey! I'm back! Are you sleeping?"

Upon hearing Xiao Sizi's voice, Jiang Fan immediately opened his eyes and sat up with a smile.

He had barely settled down when Xiao Sizi, like a small cannonball, accurately pounced into his arms.

Jiang Fan picked her up and placed her on his lap, explaining with a smile, "No, I was just thinking about something."

He looked up at Li Lizhi and Chengyang who were following behind him: "Lizhi, Chengyang, you're here. Please have a seat."

"Brother Fan, these are crystal dragon and phoenix cakes made by my mother. I hope you don't mind!"

Li Lizhi carried the box to the coffee table and gently placed it down.

"This...this was made by Empress Zhangsun herself? How could I possibly dislike it?"

Jiang Fan said with a smile, "Not to mention the pastries made by Empress Zhangsun herself, even this wooden box is definitely made of Phoebe zhennan wood. There's no way around it; the ancient royal family all liked to use this kind of wood."

Jiang Fan leaned forward, opened the wooden box and looked inside carefully. The little Sizi in his arms also stretched out its little head to look around.

Inside the box, small pastries were neatly arranged.

The cake appears to be made from steamed glutinous rice and red dates, with a dragon and phoenix design embedded inside, making it crystal clear, gorgeous, and auspicious.

Under Li Lizhi's urging gaze, Jiang Fan took out a piece.

The moment you bite into it, your tongue immediately touches the extremely soft and tender glutinous rice—after being steamed for a long time, the rice grains have long lost their grainy texture, turning into a soft and glutinous texture between cake and glutinous rice, sticky but not mushy, and it melts in your mouth with a gentle touch.

Immediately afterwards, the rich, sweet aroma of the red dates burst forth, and the date skins were steamed until they were almost transparent.

It breaks at the slightest touch, and the jujube paste inside turns into a natural red bean paste consistency.

The cake is also studded with candied dates or raisins, which adds an extra layer of clarity and sweetness.

"Brother Fan, how's it going?"

Li Li asked.

"Excellent, excellent! I never expected Empress Zhangsun's cooking skills to be so good!" Jiang Fan exclaimed in amazement.

"Brother, I want some too!" Little Sizi, being a foodie, naturally wanted to eat as well.

"This was made by your mother for Fan-ge, you can't eat it..."

"Waaah, I only have seven yuan." Little Sizi said pitifully.

"Haha, here you go!" Jiang Fan took a small piece and stuffed it into Xiao Si's mouth.

The little ox chuckled triumphantly, swallowed it whole, and ate it with loud "woo-woo-woo" sounds.

"Brother Fan, you spoil her too much..." Li Lizhi sighed helplessly. Just as she was about to say something more, she saw Jiang Fan take a piece of dragon and phoenix cake and stuff it into her mouth.

Li Lizhi had never been so intimate with a man before, and her cheeks suddenly burned—from her neck all the way to her ears.

"Chengyang, this is for you!" Jiang Fan, unaware of Li Lizhi's change, took out another piece and fed it to Chengyang.

"Young master, my tablet is out of battery!" Chengyang said while eating and holding his tablet.

"Hmm, I don't have any left either." Little Sizi then remembered and immediately carried the tablet computer from the car to Jiang Fan with her short legs.

"It's okay! When we get back to the villa, your brother will charge you up."

Jiang Fan said with a smile.

"Lizhi, if your phone runs out of battery, just use the solar-powered power bank I gave Sizi last time. I've already given you the data cable."

"Yes, Lizhi understands."

~

"Alright, I'll eat the rest of the crystal dragon and phoenix cakes myself. You guys haven't eaten yet, have you? I just saw a pretty good Cantonese dim sum restaurant on a video! I'll take you there to try it."

Jiang Fan changed his shoes and spoke to the three little princesses.

Li Lizhi looked at Jiang Fan with a blank expression. "Brother Fan, what is morning tea? Is it... tea drunk in the morning?" She thought it was some kind of special tea ceremony.

"Brother, I want to know you again!" Little Sizi followed up in a childish voice.

"Haha, don't worry, you'll get plenty of meat. Cantonese morning tea isn't just about drinking tea; it's a very special form of breakfast, or you could say a food culture."

People like to go to the teahouse in the morning or forenoon and order a pot of tea.

Then, accompanied by a variety of exquisite snacks, you can chat and drink tea.

As you slowly savor the food, you'll find a wide variety of dim sum: shrimp dumplings, siu mai, chicken feet, rice noodle rolls, egg tarts, water chestnut cake… the list goes on and on. Each item comes in a small portion, allowing you to sample a multitude of flavors.

He simply listed a few classic examples.

"Oh..." After listening, Li Lizhi roughly understood, nodded, and her eyes revealed a bit of curiosity and anticipation. "That sounds very interesting."

"Yay! Time to eat!" Little Sizi was so excited that she immediately jumped up from the sofa.

Although she had never tried it, as a little foodie, her stomach was already at the point where she could "identify what it tasted like just by hearing its name."

As Jiang Fan murmured the name, the little tummy started rumbling.

Princess Chengyang also showed an expectant smile. The two little girls, one on each side and Li Lizhi following behind, went out the door with Jiang Fan.

If you could only read one historical novel in your life, it would probably be "The Great Tang Dynasty: The Pot and the Duck, Little Rhinoceros is Here".