Ancient Foodie Survival Guide Chapter 24 (Part 3)
Translated by Serena Love
Edited by Azure and unsaltedfish
Chapter 24 (3): Bamboo Forest
Jiang Shuyao had made stew that evening, and felt that the smell was all over her hair. After changing her clothes, she slowly wandered around the house.
Since marrying into Duke Xie’s mansion, she had rarely gone anywhere beyond the kitchen and the main hall. In such a vast estate, she had only ever explored a small corner and didn’t even know her way around.
Tonight, the breeze was cool and gentle, and the moon hung bright and clear. Light of heart, she did not trouble herself to call for a maid to guide. Instead, she wandered alone through the mansion, drifting beneath the silver wash of moonlight.
Duke Xie's mansion deserves to be the home of the princes who have been passed on for centuries. The courtyard of the mansion was exquisitely arranged, the road was wide, and the courtyards were elegant and simple. The mansion had both a luxurious, majestic corridor and a graceful, elegant pond lined with green willows.
She wandered around randomly and found a small bamboo forest.
Not daring to go in, she planned to turn back, but took the wrong direction and went around the Qushui Pavilion, which was next to the small bamboo forest.
In the pavilion, two people were sitting opposite each other. They were dressed in robes and looked very romantic. After a closer look, they turned out to be Xie Xun's eldest brother, Xie Li, and second brother, Xie Lang.
Jiang Shuyao hadn't brought her maid along and was wandering around the mansion at night. Noticing their eyes on her at this hour made her feel a little awkward. She planned to nod from a distance and slip away.
Xie Li stopped her. "Third sister-in-law, where's your maid?"
Jiang Shuyao stopped and explained, "I just wanted to walk around the yard, so I didn't take people..."
Xie Li put down the chess pieces in his hand and said sternly, "This is not Count Xiangyang's house. You can no longer act like you were in your boudoirs. Just walk around in the inner yard. Don't go to the outer courtyard."
Jiang Shuyao received a scolding, but she didn't say anything and left.
Halfway, she felt aggrieved. Even if it was necessary to reprimand her, it was the old madam's business, how could Xie Xun's elder brother get involved?
Although Xie Li was a full generation older than them, after all, ‘the eldest brother is like a father’, there was no need for him to be so harsh with her, was there? Couldn’t he just speak to her properly?
The more she thought about it, the more stifled she felt. What did they mean by “this is not Count Xiangyang's house”? Did that mean that now that she was married here, she couldn’t even step out into the backyard? Stuck in her own courtyard all day, even the most homebound person would go stir-crazy eventually.
Even the original owner, who tended to lose her temper in front of the Xie family, wouldn’t have put up with this, and all the more so for Jiang Shuyao, whose nature had always been straightforward and blunt.
She didn't go far and turned around fiercely.
Xie Li just poured himself a glass of wine and was about to raise his hands to toast, when he saw Jiang Shuyao running back with a sour face.
He put down the wine glass and frowned and remarked, "She's really like the rumors; she behaves so freely."
Before Xie Lang, on the other side, spoke, Jiang Shuyao had already said, "Eldest brother-in-law just said something wrong. Although I am not the daughter of the Xie family, since I am married to this house, I am Xie Xun's wife, the lady of the third branch. Don't I have the qualifications to walk freely in the mansion?"
Xie Li had spent many years immersed in officialdom. Although he had inherited the Xie family’s fine features and was strikingly handsome, he gave off an air of solemnity and rigidity, commanding respect. In his presence, people instinctively moved more cautiously, afraid he might find some flaw in their every action.
He frowned at her words, his expression growing even sterner and more imposing.
"I know that I had a bad reputation before marrying, but after I got married, I didn't cause trouble, nor did I offend my elders. I’ve stayed quietly in my room—”
Jiang Shuyao argued fiercely, her words brimming with indignation, only to be abruptly cut off by a gentle voice tinged with quiet resignation.
"Third sister-in-law." Xie Lang didn't hold back his smile, "You misunderstood."
On the first day of the marriage, when the bride offered tea, it was the first and the only time Jiang Shuyao saw Xie Xun's two elder brothers. At that time, as a younger sister-in-law, she didn't dare to look up to see what they looked like. She only remembered the corners of the two's majestic official uniforms.
Now that the moonlight was bright, Jiang Shuyao finally saw their looks clearly.
Both of them looked similar to Xie Xun, except that the eldest brother, Xie Li, looked more dignified, and there was a light line between his brows because of daily frowning. The second brother, Xie Lang, had taken off his official uniform and put on a robe. He did not look like a master of the duke's mansion, but more like a literati who indulges in landscapes and travels.
He behaved suavely, with a soft and magnetic voice, and said to Jiang Shuyao, "You are not very familiar with Duke Xie's mansion. What if you stray into a remote place and encounter a malicious subordinate?
Jiang Shuyao was slightly startled.
Xie Lang said again, "However, our mansion treats our subordinates strictly, and they are all born in the family. This kind of evil thing will not happen. It's just that my eldest brother and I were drinking and talking with Prince Wu just now. Prince Wu is lustful and would act rudely. Although it will not make our sister-in-law suffer by getting looked at, if he were attracted to you, what would you do?"
Jiang Shuyao blushed because of his gentle and polite tone. It turned out that they did not treat her with prejudice, but she thought that they had something against her, and because of this, a misunderstanding happened.
She tugged at the corner of her sleeve, her tone suddenly softened, and she was ashamed. "Sorry, I misunderstood. I was rude to say just now. I hope my eldest brother-in-law and second brother-in-law will forgive me."
Xie Lang saw her looking down and shook his head with a smile. "She looks very different from the third child's wooden temperament."
This elder's attitude made Jiang Shuyao even more embarrassed. She once again apologized, "This younger sister was reckless."
"Okay." Xie Li said. He glanced at Xie Lang and beckoned to him not to bully the little girl. She said to Jiang Shuyao, "Third sister-in-law, call a maid to lead your way, don't get lost."
His tone was still majestic, but Jiang Shuyao now knew that he was not scolding.
The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she became. She walked in the direction of her courtyard and happened to run into a maid on the way, so she asked her to lead the way back.
Back in the courtyard, Xie Xun also happened to return from the main kitchen. The two met at the entrance of the courtyard. Seeing her look strange, Xie Xun asked aloud, "Where did you go?"
Jiang Shuyao was still thinking about the earlier encounter, and Xie Xun suddenly came out and called her. She replied, "I just went outside for a while."
"Oh." Xie Xun nodded. While he was trying to find a word, Jiang Shuyao patted her head and hurried to the small kitchen.
Xie Xun followed her curiously.
The thick wood under the stove has been burned, leaving only the residual temperature to stew the lou-mei slowly. Jiang Shuyao opened the lid, and the rich and fragrant scent instantly permeated the room.
The most important thing for lou-mei was the preparation of brine. Common spices such as green onion, ginger, garlic, sugar, star anise, cinnamon, bay leaf, white cardamom, tangerine peel, etc. were indispensable. The missing dried chili was replaced with cornel oil.
To enrich the flavor of the braising broth, a specially prepared herbal sachet had to be added. Jiang Shuyao asked Bai Zhi to go to the pharmacy to grab the ingredients: licorice, black cardamom, pepper, tea olive, agarwood, dong quai (female ginseng), ginkgo, etc. Wrapped in fine gauze, the bundle was placed at the bottom of the pot and left to simmer, allowing the fragrance of each herb to seep thoroughly into the broth.
For the first batch of braising, some pork belly and pig’s trotters had to be added to ensure the broth was rich and fatty. This way, when duck necks, duck wings, braised eggs, lotus root, dried tofu, and the like were cooked in it, they would all take on a luscious, full-bodied flavor.
Jiang Shuyao picked up a big iron spoon, fished out the marinated meat, and put it in a bowl. The rich marinated aroma made Xie Xun regret that he had gone to the main kitchen to eat.
He looked at the stew in this bowl. The color was red, the smell was delicious and mellow, and the skin was wrapped with a dark red braising broth, which was translucent and attractive.
Xie Xun looked at the ingredients in the bowl and wondered, "What is this?"
At this period of time, even humans would be less expensive than cattle. Only cattle that died of old age or sickness were allowed to be slaughtered. Therefore, Jiang Shuyao did not make beef but chose duck, pork, and other meats.
“Lou-mei. These are duck wings, duck necks…and this here is chopped pig’s trotters,” Jiang Shuyao introduced them one by one.
He could barely understand it before, but when Jiang Shuyao said the word "trotter," Xie Xun looked at her in astonishment.
Although the high-born nobility did consume pork, it was far from mainstream. Their tables more often featured seafood, river fish, wild fowl, and domesticated poultry. Perhaps it was because pigs were raised in filthy conditions, or because uncastrated boars carried a strong, gamey stench, either way, pork was seldom seen at the dining table. Even when it did appear, it was meticulously prepared; eating pig’s trotters as Jiang Shuyao did was virtually unheard of.
Xie Xun watched the chopped pig's feet, which only vaguely looked like the original shape of the pig's feet, and suppressed the gluttony in his stomach which was just about to move.
Jiang Shuyao explained, "I've processed them carefully, they are not dirty at all, and they're actually quite delicious." In modern times, trotters were really expensive, okay?
But after finishing speaking, she hesitated, "I guess the eldest brother-in-law and the second brother-in-law can't accept it either."
Xie Xun's ear moved. Eh? Eldest brother-in-law and the second brother-in-law? Who?
Jiang Shuyao took out the pig's trotter, arranged the rest of the braised meat, and poured a layer of braised sauce on it. She called a maid to send it to Xie Li and Xie Lang.
“Just say it’s my way of making amends. If they don’t mind it, eldest brother-in-law and the second brother-in-law can try it to accompany drinks."
The maid nodded and left respectfully.
Xie Xun thought about it, but was unable to guess the intersection between Jiang Shuyao and his two brothers, so he asked, "Why did you give them food?"
"Isn't it to apologize?" Jiang Shuyao didn't intend to elaborate. She closed the lid, and she left the small kitchen.
Xie Xun was stunned for a while. He hadn't tasted it yet, so how could he leave? If everyone didn't eat any, it would be fine. But how could his eldest brother and his second brother get a share!
He followed her depressedly, roughly guessing, "Did you run into them when you went out just now?"
Jiang Shuyao nodded.
“Were they playing chess in the pavilion again?"
Jiang Shuyao curiously asked, "How do you know?"
Xie Xun thought: Of course he knew. The two stinky chess addicts sat there all year round to play chess, but their chess skills have not improved at all!
After Xie Xun returned to his room, he could not stop thinking about the delicious lou-mei just now, and at the same time thinking about his eldest brother and the second brother.
Finally, he just got up and went to the bamboo forest.
He knew the temperament of his two elder brothers. One was old-fashioned and followed the rules, and the other liked elegance. Maybe they didn't want to eat unique foods and wasted Jiang Shuyao's thoughts. He could bring the bowl back and settle it by himself.
***
Pure’s TL Note: Just to clarify, the chess they are playing is Chinese Chess, otherwise known as Xiangqi.
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