~ I’LL BE A LOSER IF YOU CAN FIND IT ALL ~
After Mu Yunyao wrote out the recipe for the flower fruit tea, she tossed the matter to the back of her mind and focused on helping the Emperor recuperate his body.
When they were in Jiangnan, the Imperial Physicians had already admired Mu Yunyao. Mu Yunyao had been ordered to treat the Emperor’s illness, but she always consulted them before prescribing medication. In addition, the medicinal herbs and the like were all passed through their hands. She looked like she hadn’t taken any credit. Thus, the slight complaints in their hearts disappeared, and they began to admire her more and more.
In the Imperial Harem, Imperial Concubine De had spent more than ten days preparing everything that Mu Yunyao needed. Then, she brought gifts to request an audience with Grand Princess Yi De.
Grand Princess Yide had already heard of Su Yuyi’s actions and knew that Imperial Concubine De and Imperial Concubine Li were secretly enraged. Hearing that Imperial Concubine De came with gifts, she immediately understood her plans: “Qu Mama, let someone call Yao’er over to see what she plans.”
“Yes, this servant will go now.”
When Mu Yunyao arrived, Imperial Concubine De was already drinking tea in the main hall.
“Greetings, Grandmother. Greetings, Imperial Concubine De.”
Grand Princess Yi De waved her hand, gesturing for Mu Yunyao to come forward and sit beside her. “Quickly sit down. You’ve been helping the Emperor recuperate and spending all day with the various medicinal plants. Are you tired ?”
“Nothing.”
“Imperial Concubine De, didn’t you say you had something you needed Yunyao’s help with?” Grand Princess Yi De’s tone was light and indifferent.
Imperial Concubine De’s face stiffened slightly. Grand Princess Yi had just said a word of request, so she couldn’t order Mu Yunyao based on her identity and could only ask her for help. For thinking that she would ask for help for Su Yuyi’s sake, Imperial Concubine De ruthlessly gritted her teeth and said, “Princess Wenxian, I am embarrassed to say, and I didn’t want to trouble you. However, Imperial Concubine Yue is now pregnant with the Emperor’s son and can’t eat anything. I heard that you concocted a flower fruit tea during Lady Jin’s pregnancy, which is extremely suitable for women to drink during pregnancy. I have already collected everything, but I don’t know if I can ask the Princess to help me fry it for her.”
Mu Yunyao nodded happily. “Imperial Concubine De is too polite. I’ve already said there won’t be a problem naturally as long as everything is completed.”
She didn’t believe Mu Yunyao would consent so quickly. Imperial Concubine De’s face had a smile. “Someone, hurry up and bring things over so the Princess can see if anything is missing or not enough.”
Soon, a maid walked in, holding trays one by one.
Mu Yunyao walked forward and looked at the jade bottle in the first tray. She opened the bottle and gently sniffed the contents, then shook her head, “Imperial Concubine De, this bottle does indeed contain Winter Snow in December. However, it is very close to the snow on the ground, so this is impossible. It would be best if you took winter snow from the snow on the day of light snow or heavy snow season. The snow had to accumulate to a depth of two feet. The upper half of the snowfall had to be removed, followed by the middle half. After that, you should store it in a small bucket made from the heart of the ten-year-old plum blossom tree. This bottle of snow water has an earthy odor, making it unusable.”
Not to mention the palace maids carrying the tray, Grand Princess Yi De was even stunned when she heard this. How could this Winter Snow be so particular?
Imperial Concubine De’s smile stiffened, “What about these plum blossoms? Can it be used?”
Mu Yunyao stepped forward and stretched out her hand to pick two flowers, placing them in her palm. “The plum blossoms that Madam found are barely sufficient to use.”
“Two of them?” Imperial Concubine De looked carefully at the two plum blossoms and thought Mu Yunyao was making things difficult for her. “Why can’t I see anything special about these two plum blossoms?”
Mu Yunyao indicated for Jin Lan on the side to come forward with warm water and then placed the chosen plum blossoms into the warm water. Seeing that the plum blossoms had spread their petals, she nodded and said, “The plum blossoms’ choice should be the three-year-old plum trees, and the varieties should also be quite specific. It would be best if you took only the red snow plum blossoms, and you must pay special attention to the timing of the picking. It would be best to choose the flowers that bloom on the first day, wait until they have been exposed to the sun, and then pick them up at noon. The flowers should be preserved intact, and the petals should be full of color. The red snow is the most resistant to cold, and the fragrance is strong, not dissipating for a long time. It has flavor when it is fried into flower and fruit tea. In addition, you can’t use your hands to pick the plum blossoms. Use ice cicadas silk wrapped in golden scissors to cut them. Moreover, it would help if you didn’t touch the plum blossoms in the middle, or they would be contaminated with a strange smell. Use a jade chopstick to clip it up and put it into a white jade bottle for storage.”
Ice cicada silk wrapped in golden scissors?
The corners of Imperial Concubine De’s eyes could not help but twitch as she looked at the third tray. “What about the spring rain and the sprouts? Is there anything particular about them too?”
“Naturally, the spring rain is needed to collect the raindrops from the spring equinox. In addition, after two hours of rain, it needs to be picked up with a glass lamp and placed in a glass bottle to be preserved. The tea bud was quite simple and did not require much effort. Only the two-year-old flower tea buds need to be collected. Because this tea is intended to be drunk by the pregnant Imperial Concubine Yue, the tea flavor should not be too strong. Before picking the tea leaves, clean the tea plants with clean dew and bring the iced cicada silk gloves to pick the tea buds.”
Dew to wash the tea plants?
Imperial Concubine De felt no need to listen to it anymore. She reckoned that she would never use the things she sent over!
“I didn’t expect this flower fruit tea to be so particular.”
Mu Yunyao shook her head slightly. “Normally, you wouldn’t be this particular, but isn’t Imperial Concubine Yue pregnant right now? It’s not easy to conceive the Emperor’s heir, so it’s natural to be more particular about what you want to eat. Imperial Concubine De, what do you think?”
Imperial Concubine De felt her chest tighten. What could she say? She wanted to say that there was no need to be so particular, just needed to make do with the situation. However, Imperial Concubine Yue was carrying the Emperor’s heir now, and if word of this got out, not to mention others, the Emperor would be the first to disagree.
“Princess, please write down the details carefully. I’ll have someone look around and see if they can find it.”
“Alright, then I’ll write it down carefully.” Mu Yunyao agreed.
Qu Mama quickly got someone to bring a pen and paper. Mu Yunyao wrote for four whole pages before she stopped writing.
Imperial Concubine De’s heart sank when she saw the densely packed words, “I’ve troubled the Grand Princess today. This Concubine will take leave now.”
“Alright. Qu Mama, send Imperial Concubine De out.”
“Yes.”
When Imperial Concubine De left, Grand Princess Yi De pulled Mu Yunyao’s hand and laughed, “You, why are you so naughty? With so many things to pay attention to, Imperial Concubine De probably won’t even be able to gather them in a few years of effort.”
Mu Yunyao pursed her lips and smiled, “What I said was also the truth. After all, the Imperial Concubine Yue is pregnant with the Emperor’s child, so naturally, we must pay extra attention to it.”
“Heh heh, what a clever and clever girl.”
“Grandmother made fun of me.” Mu Yunyao leaned on Grand Princess Yi De’s body, and her soft voice made Grand Princess Yi De’s smile grow even more intensely.
Only after a long while did Grand Princess Yi De stop laughing, allowing Mu Yunyao to massage her shoulders.
“Grandmother, after listening to me about the flower fruit tea’s recipe. Do you have any thoughts of tasting it?”
“You don’t have to say. I didn’t like the taste of flower fruit tea in the past, but after hearing you talk so much about it, I feel really greedy.”
Mu Yunyao’s eyes were filled with a glimmer. “Grandmother, even you want to try it when you hear it. It seems that the wives of the rich families outside are no exception. How about I toss some fruits and tea to sell?”
Grand Princess Yi De laughed again, “Our Yao’er is simply a little money fan and would fall into the eyes of the money. Well, with that extremely exquisite recipe of yours, I presume for the next few days, we will only be able to smell the fragrance of flowers and fruit tea in the Capital.”
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Pfft!
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