Little Sizi came to my house and became the family's darling, and Li Shimin got anxious.

A gust of cool air hit me.

It wasn't a natural breeze, but a cool sensation that wafted over my head and from all around.

Li Lizhi looked up.

There are several square grids above my head, and the cool air comes out from there.

"Air conditioning." Li Yinxun glanced in the direction of her gaze. "It's what makes the room cooler."

Li Lizhi nodded, and the little princess put the shrimp dumplings into her bowl.

"Sister Seven Ducks".

The shrimp dumpling skin is so thin you can see the pink shrimp inside, and the siu mai is topped with orange crab roe.

The little princess turned her head and saw that the last shrimp dumpling had gone into Princess Chengyang's mouth.

Her lips immediately pouted.

Li Lizhi looked on speechlessly, picked up a shrimp dumpling from her bowl and gave it to the little princess, "Sister has some here, eat up."

The little princess shook her head, "Wobu wants it, this is my older sister's, my older sister's seventh."

Li Yin patted the little princess's head. "Lizhi, you can eat it yourself. If Sizi likes it, we can order another plate. There's no need to keep offering it to her."

As the eldest sister, when we were little, whenever there was something delicious at home that her younger brother liked, her parents would tell her to give it to him.

Li Lizhi looks to be only thirteen or fourteen years old, which would be equivalent to a junior high school student in modern times, still a child.

After getting caught in the rain, she wanted to hold an umbrella for someone else.

Li Lizhi felt a warmth in her heart when she heard that she didn't need to give way.

From a young age, she was taught by her grandparents to give way to her younger siblings.

Chengyang was so engrossed in the food that she selectively ignored what they were saying.

Now, she turned her attention to rice noodle rolls. The rice noodle roll skin was smooth, and the filling inside contained meat and shrimp, with a savory and delicious sauce.

He ate slowly and deliberately, his cheeks gradually puffing out.

"Sizi, this is delicious too, you should eat it."

"Second sister, please leave some for me..."

Li Lizhi put the shrimp dumpling in her mouth, and the fresh taste immediately stimulated her taste buds. The shrimp meat and crab roe were crunchy in her mouth, making her squint her eyes in happiness.

After finishing the shrimp dumplings, she picked up a piece of rice noodle roll and put it in her mouth. With the addition of various seasonings, the taste was naturally superb.

"Come, have some tea."

Li Yinxun pushed the teacup in front of Li Lizhi, and then instructed the two little princesses to eat chicken feet.

"Sizi, Chengyang, the tea is still very hot, drink it slowly."

Li Lizhi slowly took a sip and picked up the list on the table.

"Pu'er... Tieguanyin... Longjing..." she murmured, her brow furrowing slightly. "These are all teas?"

"Yes." Li Yinxun poured herself a cup of tea. "Morning tea, morning tea, tea is the main attraction. But we young people usually order a pot of chrysanthemum pu-erh or Tieguanyin."

Li Lizhi raised her head and looked at Li Yinxun: "How is the tea here made?"

"Huh?" Li Yinxun was taken aback. "So... you just stir-fry the tea leaves and dry them?"

"Stir-fry?" Li Lizhi seized on this word. "Isn't it made into tea cakes, then ground up and cooked?"

During the Tang Dynasty, the mainstream tea drink was steamed green tea cakes. Fresh leaves were first picked, steamed to kill the greenness, then mashed into a paste, pressed into tea cakes, dried over charcoal, strung together, and sealed for preservation. To drink, the tea cakes were broken up, ground into powder, and then boiled with water.

Salt or minced ginger are usually added as well.

"We don't drink it that way here," Li Yinxun waved her hand. "Our tea is pan-fried green tea, which is made by frying the tender leaves in a pan until they are dry. When you want to drink it, you just steep it in hot water, without adding anything else."

"How does it taste compared to your tea cakes?"

Li Lizhi was silent for a moment, then said, "Each has its own unique flavor."

She still prefers the tea from the Tang Dynasty.

Li Yinxun chuckled twice. "The tea in the teahouse is definitely not as good as the tea you drink. Here's what I'll do: in a few days I'll buy some high-end tea leaves for you to take home and brew."

"Then thank you very much, sister."

"Sister, this is it!" Si Zi held up her half-eaten shumai to Li Yinxun's mouth.

Li Yinxun took the little princess's hand and ate it in one big bite.

"Sister, yay yay!" The little princess held up another shumai, but this time it was for Li Lizhi.

The little princess didn't understand why her older sister and cousin were just talking and not eating anything.

They're all idiots!

Li Lizhi smiled and did not refuse the little princess's offer to feed her.

"Is it alright?"

"tasty."

Satisfied, Si Zi then focused on the chicken feet on his plate.

Li Lizhi ate slowly, her gaze falling on the plate of rice noodle rolls again.

She picked up a piece and examined the brown meat filling inside.

"What is this meat?"

"Pork," Li Yinxun explained. "Rice noodle rolls usually contain pork or beef, and sometimes shrimp."

"pork?"

Seeing Li Lizhi's questioning expression, Li Yinxun then remembered that castrated pigs were not yet widespread in the Tang Dynasty, and the main pigs eaten were black-haired native pigs, whose meat had a fishy smell, was high in fat, and was greasy.

Pork was also called "cheap meat" because nobles and officials preferred to eat mutton, while pork was mostly eaten by the lower classes.

Li Yinxun explained, "The breeds of pigs have been improved and no longer have a strong, unpleasant smell. Pork is now a necessity for everyone."

"I see."

Li Lizhi carefully chewed the piece of minced meat in her mouth.

The meat was very tender and didn't have the fishy or gamey smell she remembered about pork.

"Are the methods of raising pigs here different from those in the Tang Dynasty?"

She had raised pigs at home when she was a child, but she had never seen how pigs were raised in the Tang Dynasty.

"I really don't know," Li Yinxun said honestly. "But the pigs nowadays are all improved breeds, they grow fast, and the meat tastes better. As for the breeding technology... it should be much more advanced than in the Tang Dynasty."

"If we introduce these pig breeds and supplement them with improved breeding methods..."

She didn't finish speaking, but Li Yinxun understood.

This princess, while having morning tea, was thinking about whether she could move things back to the Tang Dynasty.

"I can find you some books on animal husbandry techniques so you can take them back and study them carefully. As for pig breeds, I can also help you purchase them."

Li Lizhi raised her head and looked at Li Yinxun very seriously: "If you can help me, I will be eternally grateful."

"Don't mention it, don't mention it." Li Yinxun waved her hand. "Sizi calls me 'sister,' and you're her family, so I'll definitely help if I can."

After saying that, he poured everyone a cup of tea.

The tea is served in a small porcelain teapot and then poured into even smaller teacups.

Sizi stared at the tiny amount of tea in her cup, her little mouth pouting.

"It's too small!" she protested. "I can finish it in one gulp! Not enough!"

Li Yin chuckled: "This is a teacup, not a bowl. Drink slowly."

"No!" Sizi slammed the cup down on the table, making a large circle with her two little hands. "I want a really big one! Filled to the brim!"

Chengyang couldn't help but smile as he looked at Sizi.

Li Lizhi also smiled slightly. In the Tang Dynasty, teacups weren't this small; a sip of tea was only enough to moisten the throat.