Ethan Song closed the window and turned to look at Feng Gui. He did not lower his chin at all, but just slightly lowered his eyelids and asked in a deep voice: "Have you found out?"
Feng Gui nodded and replied respectfully: "It has been investigated. Madam Yang and her brother Yang Peng are indeed from the Hongnong Yang family, and are siblings from the same mother. As for why the two siblings are in Wenshui, it involves the affairs of the previous generation."
As he spoke, he looked up at Ethan Song's expression and saw him sitting down in the armchair with a normal expression. He gently pressed the armrest with his index finger, then sat cross-legged on the pink octagonal table with gold and silver paintings, and continued:
"Mrs. Yang's mother, Hang, was originally from Jinzhou. Her ancestors had been officials for generations. Later, because her family fell into poverty, she had to marry Yang Qing, a direct descendant of the Yang family, as her successor. Yang Qing was a governor and was a handsome man. After Hang married him, they were in harmony and gave birth to brother and sister Yang Peng and Mrs. Yang."
"Unfortunately, Yang Qing was short-lived. He died of a sudden illness before he was forty. The two sons of the Yuan wife saw that Hang was cowardly by nature and had no one to rely on in Hongnong, so they made things difficult for her and treated her harshly in every way."
"In order to protect her two children, Mrs. Hang left the Yang family and returned to Jinzhou. She did not expect that she was not welcomed in the Hang family either, so she left Jinzhou again and went to Taiyuan Prefecture, where she bought land and a house and settled down in Wenshui. Later, Mrs. Hang became ill due to depression and died at the age of thirty. Mrs. Yang's brother joined the army at the age of seventeen. The head of the family knew everything that happened afterwards."
After Feng Gui finished speaking, his brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart: Madam Yang was a carefree little girl who was loved by her mother when she was young, but she met two black-hearted half brothers and suffered all kinds of grievances and humiliation; if it weren't for the fact that Hang was a gentle woman with a strong heart, and took Madam Yang and her brother to find another way out, with Madam Yang's current appearance, she would definitely be sold by those two vile guys for money.
Thinking of this, Feng Gui's eyes revealed a hint of resentment and pity.
After listening quietly, Ethan Song still had an expression of indistinguishable joy or anger on his face. There was no emotion in his dark eyes. He just told him to leave lightly, as if Madam Yang's tragic experience was nothing to him.
Feng Gui was puzzled, and for a moment he couldn't understand what the master of the house was thinking about this Yang lady. But this was not something he should think about, so he had to suppress his curiosity and quietly retreated, telling Shang Lu to prepare hot water, and the master of the house would be out in a little while.
How could he know that, although Ethan Song looked expressionless, he actually had a plan in his mind, he just didn't want others to see what he was thinking at the moment.
Shang Lu went to the tea room to boil water. Just as he added charcoal to start the fire, he heard a gust of wind howling outside. The pear blossoms were blown down like snow, and the branches and leaves trembled. Soon, it started to rain.
After Ethan Song finished washing up, he asked someone to light the lamp.
At that time, outside the window, dark clouds blocked the moon and it was raining heavily. The raindrops hit the green leaves in the courtyard, making a "click" sound. Ethan Song listened to those sounds, but his heart was extremely peaceful and he fell into a light sleep soon.
The rain continued all night long and only stopped gradually at dawn the next day. The garden after the rain was full of green and red. The grass beside the stone path was as green as emerald jade. The flower buds nourished by the spring rain became more vivid, and new flowers would bloom as long as they met the warm sun.
In the afternoon, Cassandra Shi was taking a nap in the backyard of the kitchen. A maid from the lady's yard came over and told her that she wanted two bowls of double-skin cheese in fifteen minutes, so Xier went to the backyard to look for Cassandra Shi.
Cassandra Shi agreed, stood up, washed his hands, and asked Lila to go to the ice cellar to get the fresh milk that had arrived this morning.
The ice cellar was not far from the kitchen. Lila soon took the pair of cards and went into the ice cellar to bring back half a basin of milk.
Lila carefully placed the porcelain pot of milk on the stove. Seeing Cassandra Shi standing in front of the long table, patiently separating the egg yolk and egg liquid, he smiled and said to her, "There are two large boxes of cherries in the ice cellar. They are like round and plump crimson jade beads. If they are used to make cherry biro, the taste will be excellent."
After hearing this, Cassandra Shi recalled what she had said to Sophie Yin that day, and soon she wanted to go out and buy some cherries to eat.
When she thought carefully, she had been here for several months, but she had never visited Taiyuan City properly. She didn't even know if there were any scenic spots suitable for sightseeing around Taiyuan City. Her heart began to get restless.
However, the aunt's family of three still lived in the mansion, and many old friends and relatives came to visit, so the kitchen was naturally busier than before they came, so they often came here to help make some snacks and sweet drinks.
Cassandra Shi thought about it and temporarily suppressed the urge to leave the house.
The first day of March was Grain Rain and also a day off. Logically, Ethan Song did not need to go to the government office today. However, due to many complicated matters, he still went to the office in the morning. When he rode back home on horseback, it was already afternoon.
In the main room, Ethan Song changed into his casual clothes and came out of the outer room. Just then, Shang Lu came in with a white porcelain crabapple plate and placed the plate full of bright red cherries on the small table on the couch.
"Have they been distributed to each courtyard?" Ethan Song picked up a plump, bright red cherry with his slender fingers and asked in a calm voice.
In the past, Ethan Song never asked about such trivial matters, so whenever the housekeeper came to Tuihanju to tell them about such things, Shang Lu and Feng Gui never took them to heart. Fortunately, today they saw that the cherries were very good, so they listened carefully to a few words and were able to answer.
"Returning to the master, the Madam, Madam Gao, the eldest lady, the young ladies and the gentlemen have all been sent to their rooms. There are still two baskets left in the ice cellar."
Ethan Song took the cherries in his hand and looked at them carefully, then said softly, "Since there are still two baskets left, pick half a basket and send it to the kitchen tomorrow, and make cherry baskets to send to the various courtyards. Don't forget to send them to the lady living in the mansion, and let the kitchen staff divide the rest among themselves."
The cherries were the first batch of ripe, carefully selected fresh fruits specially presented by the prefect of Taiyuan this spring. The master of the house actually wanted to reward them to the people in the kitchen. This was the first time in the world that such a thing had happened.
Although Shang Lu was greatly shocked, he did not dare to show it on his face, let alone say anything. He nodded respectfully and said yes, then took a few steps backwards before turning around and leaving.
Ethan Song sat on the couch for a while, ate a few cherries, then went to the study and called Feng Gui in to serve him with writing materials.
Feng Gui carefully ground the Hui ink on the white-glazed animal-foot inkstone. After the ink was ground, he pressed the Xuelang paper on the table.
Ethan Song took out a purple-hair brush and dipped it in ink, then he picked up the brush and wrote down two lines of poetry: "The lotus is not as beautiful as the beauty's makeup, the wind blows through the water palace and the pearls and jade are fragrant."
Although Feng Gui, who was standing quietly at the side, was only slightly literate, it was obvious who the patriarch was thinking of when he wrote this sentence.
Feng Gui did not expose his thoughts, but said meaningfully: "Cherries are sweet and sour, fragrant and tender. The young lady eats a lot of them every spring. Even the lady praises them highly. I think the lady living here will also like to eat them."
Even so, Ethan Song still thought he was talking too much and glanced at him coldly. Feng Gui immediately lost his temper and dared not say anything more. All of a sudden, the only sound in the study was the movement of writing.
Under the eaves, Ju Bai was leaning on the railing feeling sleepy. Rui Sheng entered the yard and saw only her, so he walked up to her and gently patted her shoulder.
Ju Bai opened his sleepy eyes drowsily, and seeing that the person coming was Rui Sheng from the Taifu's courtyard, he immediately lost all sleepiness, stood up and straightened his clothes, and asked, "Sister Rui Sheng is coming here at this time, but what does the Taifu want to see the master of the family for?"
Rui Shengyin smiled and said, "It's a very elegant event. The Madam asked the owner to come over for tea. The Madam and the Young Master are also here."
Ju Bai quickly agreed and went to the study to pass on the message.
Ethan Song put down the pen and ink in his hand, washed his hands casually in the silver basin, and left the study.
They came straight to Cuizhu Residence and entered the door. Clara Song was grinding tea with a stone mill. When he saw Ethan Song coming, he looked up at him with a smile and said loudly, "Second brother, please sit down quickly and try my cooking today."
Ethan Song smiled faintly, said "good", and then sat down next to Meng Lichuan.
"When I got married, my second sister was only nine years old and had just come to live with me." Song Qingyin said, raising her hand to indicate the height, "Time seems to have grown legs. In the blink of an eye, my second sister has grown up so big that she can even make tea for us."
Samuel Song's smile deepened when he heard this, and he continued, "It's not enough to just cook for us. In my opinion, it's time to find a good marriage for my second sister."
As soon as these words fell, Clara Song's face turned red with shame. He put down the millstone in his hand and was about to argue with Samuel Song, saying aggrievedly: "I made tea for you with good intentions, but you picked me up and made fun of me."
Mrs. Xue saw this, covered her mouth and smiled, and said, "Second Mother, stop arguing with him, the water will boil soon. Since you are angry with him, just don't let him drink tea later."
Suddenly, laughter broke out in the room. Two maids came in with lacquered food boxes, took out six plates of exquisite snacks, and placed them on the table.
Evelyn Madam looked at the plump Meng Fu with a kind gaze and said, "This tea-flavored yam and red bean cake is the most glutinous, fragrant and sweet. Quickly take one and give it to Tuannu."
Song Qingyin sighed, took out a piece and broke it into two halves, "I just had double-skin cheese with Tuannu before I came. I'm afraid if I eat too much now, I won't be able to drink tea later, so use half a piece to taste it first." Then she gave the other half to Meng Fu to eat.
Meng Fu, who was six years old at the time, was at the age where she loved snacks. She took the tea, yam and red bean cake with a smile, put it into her mouth all at once, and praised it for being delicious after just one bite.
Song Qingyin also thought it was delicious. Thinking of the various cakes and sweet drinks she had eaten in the mansion these days, she couldn't help but ask with a smile: "Is the chef who makes these tea cakes and snacks in the mansion newly invited from Yangzhou? He can make some delicious ones that I have never eaten in Chang'an City."
Mrs. Xue smiled and said, "She is not a girl from Yangzhou, but from Wenshui County in Taiyuan Prefecture. She is not only clever but also very pretty."
Song Qingyin was very curious after hearing this, so she asked again: "She looks very good, is she a girl?"
Clara Song skillfully poured tea leaves into the boiling water with salt, and said, "She is not only a very beautiful girl, but also the sister of the man who saved my life."
As the sister of the third brother's savior, she should have been a guest of honor in the mansion. Why would she cook all these things herself?
Song Qingyin was puzzled and was about to ask more questions when she heard Ethan Song, who had been silent until now, speak up: "If Tuannu likes to eat double-skinned cheese and tea-covered yam and red bean cake, ask someone to ask Madam Yang to come over and write down the recipe."
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