Chapter 39 Radish and Mutton Soup (1)
After cutting the radish, cut the onion and ginger. Just one portion of ginger, with a total of four or five pieces, is used when blanching mutton to remove blood foam.
He was silent for a while, and Huo Qi became more and more uneasy because of the silence. He dragged him and said, "Speak up!"
"What do you want me to say?" Pei Yan shook his head helplessly, "Let's save your life, Your Highness said. I want to save you."
"Your Highness doesn't have to save me." Huo Qi shook his head again and again, "King Li...King Li's ambitions, you and I both know, Your Highness should take the overall situation into consideration. The king left the story, and then..."
Pei Yan thought thoughtfully: "If you think so, why didn't you directly apologize with death?"
"I thought about it." Huo Qi closed his eyes tiredly, "But I I'm afraid that I will be caught by King Li and say that I committed suicide because of the fear of sin, and then His Highness will not be able to tell. So whether it is life or death, I have to ask His Highness to come up with an idea."
He was indeed a little clever.
It wasn't hard to figure this out at first, but what was difficult was that Huo Qi was still able to figure this out while he was in a state of fear.
Pei Yan smiled: "Then His Highness wants you to live, so you can live for the time being."
"...Okay." Huo Qi became hoarse. The room between the two was quiet for a while, and Huo Qi asked again, "Can I ask you something?"
Pei Yan: "You say." Huo Xi said
, "This is an imperial prison, and I have never seen a few escape alive. Your Highness Although you have the heart to save me, but in case you can't do what you want..."
Pei Yan: "You want me to intercede?"
"No, no." Huo Qi shook his head, the panic on his face faded, and he never saw the old condescension again. , but a serious look, "I, I have an outer room, and ... and two children. But the outer room is not from a good background. My parents are ashamed and refuse to give the name. I think something is wrong, but if I'm gone..."
Pei Yan understood: "I know. If you really make a mistake, I will personally send them to the Earl of Changyi, and I will persuade Changyibo to take them in."
This was the easiest way to think of it, but as soon as he finished speaking, Huo Qi shook his head: "No..."
Pei Yan frowned. Huo Qi also seemed to find it difficult to speak. After hesitating for a long time, he said with difficulty: "My mother...everything is good, but if the concubines are mean to their children, they have entered the door of the Earl's House, and they will not have a good life."
Pei Yan was puzzled: "Then what do you want to do? If you don't give it away When they go back, how will they live with their orphans and widows?"
As soon as he finished asking, he saw Huo Qi raised his eyes and looked at him begging.
Pei Yan still didn't understand for a while: "What do you think I'm doing? You can tell me a way, and I'll help you. If you can't do anything, I can't arrange a place for your wife and children."
Huo Qi finally stammered and said: " If, if I really have some shortcomings, can I... Can I ask you to take care of your classmates for many years and take them in... take them in?"
Pei Yan was stunned: "What did you say?"
Huo Qi didn't No matter how much he said, he stopped looking at him, avoiding his gaze, his face full of helplessness.
Pei Yan stared blankly at his dejected appearance. After a long while, he finally slowly believed that he was serious.
Also, those who have been imprisoned will probably feel that they are certain to die. Now even if the prince said he wanted to save him, they were not sure whether it would be possible or not.
Then if he really wants to die - it is reasonable to be afraid at this time, but thinking about the future for his wife and children is even more of a responsibility.
So Pei Yan had to think about the feasibility of what he said, and then realized that it didn't seem to be difficult.
Although he and Qinqin were still worried about money a few days ago, in the final analysis, the main expenses were his entertainment with his colleagues, as well as various walks during the New Year and festivals. In contrast, raising children's flowers was limited.
Even more embarrassing is how to hide people's eyes and ears.
Pei Yan thought for a while and said, "Okay, then I'll take them to my place today. If you really can't get out, they'll stay here at my house; if you come back safely, I'll send them back.
" Huo Qi was stunned for a moment. He was dumbfounded and shook his head: "No need to wait for the result."
Pei Yan said frankly: "If you fall on the front foot, I will pick them up on the back foot, which is too coincidental. It seems strange. If you are found out by good people, it will inevitably lead to extracurricular problems. But now you have just entered the imperial prison, and in the eyes of others, you have a prince as a backer, and it is far from the time to entrust your wife to offer your son. Take them away, and no one will think of you easily."
Huo Qi suddenly realized, nodded: "It's work."
Pei Yan took a breath, and then said: "You still need to tell me frankly, you and the child in the outer room. , who knows? I have to have an idea in my heart."
"No one." Huo Qi said lightly, "My parents know about the outer room, but I didn't mention the child or my parents, for fear that they would think this It's the blood of the Earl's Mansion, and she insisted on taking it back but refused to treat it kindly. Now I know so clearly that apart from you, there are only servants in her yard."
Pei Yan was relieved: "
That 's fine." In the afternoon of the sun, the sky that had been stuffy for a long time finally started to rain heavily. The prince could not leave the capital without authorization, so he had to have someone send the newly written memorial to the palace.
This memorial never mentions Huo Qi's affairs, but is still discussing the ownership of the garrison in the capital, completely ignoring the emperor's words to let him not mind his own business.
After the memorial came out of the palace, the prince stood alone under the eaves of Yude Hall and watched the rain for a long time.
He repeatedly recalled what had happened in the past few months, the changes in his father's illness, and even the eldest brother who had been fighting with him. In the end, all emotions turned into a kind of helplessness, at a loss for what was going to happen next.
At first he thought it was fear. But after careful separation, he didn't seem to be afraid, but since he was sensible, he has almost never contradicted his elders again.
The father, the queen, and the queen are all reasonable, and they can always talk about anything. Now that he knew that his father was angry and still bucked the trend, he felt a kind of discomfort in his heart.
However, Huo Qi's life was hanging by a thread, so it was worth taking a gamble. If the father was really just training him, he couldn't let irrelevant people take their lives for this.
And if he made a mistake... The
prince's brows twitched, and he cut off the thought, no longer thinking about it.
On the street, Pei Yan left the prison, and went to look for Huahen's residence according to the address given by Huo Qi.
Huahen was originally a brothel musician, but the house that Huo Qi had built for her was in the farthest square from Pingkang Fang, where the brothels were gathered. Huo Qi said that she did not like Pingkangfang.
It was already evening when Pei Yan arrived at the gate of the house, and the rain became more and more urgent. He stepped forward and knocked on the door. The one who came to open the door was a seven or eight-year-old servant, who squinted at him through the rain curtain: "May I ask who you are..."
Pei Yan didn't talk nonsense, and handed over the badge for entering and leaving the East Palace. The servant knew that Huo Qi was also from the East Palace, and after hearing him report Huahen's name, he stopped worrying and let the door open to invite him in. So Pei Yan stepped into the courtyard door, and as soon as he looked up, he saw a figure behind the window paper in the wing. He stepped forward and knocked on the door twice, but no one answered. He called out "Miss Huahen", but there was still no movement inside. Seeing this, Pei Yan knew that she was vigilant, so he stopped delaying, took two steps back, and kicked the door open with one kick. There was a burst of screams from women and children in the room. Pei Yanxin walked into the room and saw a woman in her twenties with tears on her face, but she still blocked the front and protected the two children behind her. The maid next door also ran over when she heard the sound, and when she saw a stranger, she immediately fell to her knees in panic: "Sir, our lady... our lady is not from the Earl of Changyi, and the Earl's residence does not recognize her! Please let the child down for her innocent sake!" After saying that, the maid kowtowed and hit the ground with a loud tom. Pei Yan put his hand on her shoulder, sighed, and said, "You are right, your lady is not from the Earl of Changyi, so remember this sentence in the future."
The maid was startled when she heard the words, her eyes full of confusion. Pei Yan stopped talking to her, walked a few steps to Huahen, nodded and said, "I am Pei Yan, the third son of Duke Dingguo. Huo Qi's life and death are unpredictable now, let me take you away first. If he is safe in the future , I will send you back to reunite with him; and if he makes a mistake..." He paused for a while, and turned his eyes to the two frightened children behind Huahen, "Before and after, these two children, It's my child."
"What..." Huahen couldn't return to his senses for a while, and suddenly realized what his words meant, and shook his head abruptly, "If, if he leaves, our mother and son will go with him. "
He entrusted you to me because he wanted you to live a good life." Pei Yan said warmly, thinking that the matter was undecided, so he was not in a hurry to persuade him, "Anyway, just follow me. Go to my place and wait for peace of mind. His news, so as not to cause unforeseen branches."
Huahen nodded hesitantly, and was about to take his two children with him, but just took a step and became vigilant: "How do I know...how do I know if you are talking about it? Really?" Pei Yan had no choice but to take out Donggong's waist card again and show it to her. Hua Hen didn't look like the little servant and believed it when he saw it. He took it over and groped for a long time to distinguish it carefully. He felt that it was the same as the one on Huo Qi's body, so he finally let go of his guard, and lowered his head and explained softly: "Young master forgives the sin, the concubine is herself. It doesn't matter if she lives or dies, but as the concubine is the mother of two children, she has to act cautiously." "I know." Pei Yan smiled indifferently, stretched out his hand, and asked her to go out first, "The carriage is outside the door, you Wait for me in the car." Huahen didn't ask any more questions, nodded and went out. Pei Yan glanced at the maid, and ordered her to pack up some daily necessities for Huahen to take away, and ordered the servant to call out the rest of the servants in the yard, and finally found the body deeds of all of them. Just stepped out. Huahen sat in the center of the car, restless, and opened the curtains and looked out several times in a short time, only to feel that the rain curtain made people panic. After finally waiting for Pei Yan to come out, she was inexplicably relieved, and she finally calmed down. However, Pei Yan was not seen entering the carriage, and when he looked out, he saw that Pei Yan was already seated on the carriage. Huahen was embarrassed for a while, and opened his mouth and said, "Young Master, won't you come in and sit?"
Pei Yan tilted his head, but didn't look at Huahen: "Both men and women don't kiss."
Huahen was stunned, and then he was stunned that what he said was inappropriate, and his face was red, and he didn't say a word.
In the main courtyard of the house, Chu Qin looked at the rain curtain outside the window, feeling inexplicably uneasy. This kind of unease made her feel flustered. She thought it was the discomfort of pregnancy, but she gradually realized that it seemed to have nothing to do with the pregnancy, just an indescribable sadness, illusory and intangible.
So she had to take care of herself. It was obvious that her mother was by her side, and Mrs. An was working as a female red beside the round table not far away, but she couldn't say anything to them.
It was like this until dinner was approaching, and Mrs. An returned to the west courtyard first. Madam Guo looked at the time, got up and walked to her side: "It's time for dinner.
" Let's use it with Daddy, I'm not too hungry...wait for Pei Yan for a while."
After all, it's not difficult for her to hide a little emotion after living her whole life. Mrs. Guo didn't worry about it, she just smiled: "Okay, then I'll go back first. I see that Pei Yan has been very busy recently. If he comes back too late, you should eat some first."
"I know. "Chu Qin smirked and asked Qingqiu to carry an umbrella to send her mother back. As soon as Mrs. Guo left, she continued to stay silent.
When the rain is heavy enough, the sky and the earth will be shrouded by water mist, the water mist is cold, blocking the view, making everything hazy, even the small yard in front of it becomes impossible to see at a glance. to the end.
Chu Qin felt cold, not cold on the body, but cold in the bottom of his heart.
She was sweating uncontrollably, but she had no intention of calling people in to serve her. She only gave birth to an inexplicable inquiry, trying to find a source for this feeling.
This feeling seems a little familiar.
She stared blankly at everything in front of her, seeing the rain and fog in front of her getting darker and darker as the night darkened, and suddenly, a flash of lightning flashed in her mind!
She remembered that the rain seemed a lot like the night he brought the outer room back in the last life.
At that time, they were still living in Dingguo Gongfu, so everything around her was different from now.
But rain is the same. The same night rain and the same coldness made her feel uncomfortable. She remembered that night when she was lying on the bed in the main courtyard of Muyuan Garden, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. .
Later, after many years, she realized that what she cared about was that he hadn't told her before. If he had told her the truth long ago, she probably wouldn't care about the existence of that outer room.
In this lifetime, it shouldn't be like that.
She thought that he might not have an outer room in his life, because he treated her so well, he almost stayed by her side when he had a little spare time, and he didn't look like he had time to see the outer room.
Besides...what if it wasn't the rain?
Chu Qin was uneasy, and she talked to herself for a long time in her heart, telling herself repeatedly that it should be fine. But after Qingqiu returned to the room with the oil-paper umbrella, she still glanced at it and told her, "Go to the concierge and wait for Saburo."
"Ah?" Qingqiu raised her head with surprise. Chu Qin concentrated and explained: "It's raining too much, you greet him."
"Oh." Qingqiu smiled clearly, "Okay." After saying that, he took the umbrella and went out of the house again, and went to the concierge to wait.
The unease in Chu Qin's heart did not subside because of this arrangement. As soon as Qingqiu left, she started thinking wildly again. In the end, she had to force herself not to distract herself and start looking for work for herself.
But it's even harder to calm down if you can't read a book and become a female celebrity. After thinking about it, Chu Qin took Qingquan to the dining room. In the dining room, Xiao Zhang had basically rested, and was just waiting for the various hospitals to come to pick up the meal. When he saw her coming over with an umbrella in person, he was startled, and ran out of the room to greet her, not caring about the rain. Why did you come in person? With such a heavy rain, you are still pregnant."
Chu Qin looked as usual, with a smile on the corner of his mouth: "The rain is too cold, I have nothing to do, and I have no appetite to eat, come. Cook a soup for the young master."
"?" Xiao Zhang couldn't help but wonder: is this rain cold?
It's summer. In his opinion, the rain just made the sultry weather a little more comfortable, and it was far from being "cold" enough.
But on second thought—Xiao Zhang quickly found an explanation for the matter: Mrs. Chu is pregnant, I heard that she often feels strange during pregnancy, and it is normal to feel cold now.
Xiaozhang didn't think about it any more, asked what soup she wanted to make, and went over to prepare the ingredients.
Chu Qin is not very good at cooking. He heard that there is fresh mutton today, which came from the grasslands in the north, so he and Xiao Zhang asked for a piece of lamb shank and half a white radish.
Xiao Zhang knew what she was going to do when she saw these two things, and cut vegetables swiftly with her hands and feet.
The lamb shank should be cut into cubes without the bones. Xiaozhang picked almost thin ones. After cutting, only four or five of them were attached to a bit of fat. The stewed soup was enough to make a layer of oil on the surface of the soup. Peel the radishes and cut them into cubes. Many restaurants outside the radish and mutton soup like to cut the white radish into thin slices, but in fact, the white radish stewed in this way is soft and glutinous.
After cutting the radish, cut the onion and ginger. One portion of ginger, with a total of four or five slices, is used when blanching mutton to remove blood foam; two portions of shallots, one is the white section of green onion, the other is chopped green onion, and the white section is also used for blanching, The chopped green onion waits for the soup to simmer and then sprinkles it in for freshness.
While he was busy, Chu Qin found a small wooden bench beside him to sit. When he was done, Chu Qin stepped forward to take a look, and there were only two things left for her - one was boiling water, and the other was stewing soup.
Boiled water is a simple job, just throw the onion ginger and mutton into the pot, and add a small spoon of cooking wine. Wait for the water to boil, skim off the blood, and remove the mutton.
The stewing soup is simpler. The blanched mutton and sliced radishes are thrown into the pot, boiled on high heat, and then simmered on low heat. Don't worry about it before the pot is out.
Such an easy thing is actually not enough to distract her. Perhaps it was because she came to the pantry to change the environment after all, and Chu Qin was still in a more relaxed mood. After a busy moment, she waited for the soup to simmer on the stove, and then she sat down again and chatted with Xiao Zhang idly.
After chatting for a while, a little girl ran in outside. The little girl held an umbrella in her left hand and a food box in her right. She ran to the door and shouted, "Brother, why don't you go back! I brought you dinner, eat it quickly!"
After she finished speaking, she noticed Chu Qin was in the room, his face turned pale with fright, and hurriedly greeted
her: "Chu Niangzi." "No." Chu Qin smirked, remembering that she had seen this little girl herself. At that time, they were still living in Dingguo Gong's mansion. She ordered a barbecue, and it was this girl who came along with Xiaozhang.
She then asked Xiao Zhang: "This is your sister?"
"Is that so?" Xiao Zhang snorted, and when Chu Qin heard what he said, he casually asked, "A distant relative?"
"No." Xiao Zhang shook his head. "The slave's surname is Li Zaozhang, her surname is Gong Changzhang, and her single name is Yun, so she calls her Yun'er. Her parents were also sold in Dingguo Gong's mansion. He entrusted her to the slave's parents and said that he would be a child bride-in-law for the slave. The parents originally planned to do the same, but later they felt that it was not good. They planned to wait for her to grow up, and then give her another marriage, instead of asking her to follow. Slave."
He said this calmly, with a smile in his eyes, leaning over to help Yun'er wipe the dirt off her shoes. Yun'er didn't like it, she tilted her head and said, "My parents are talking nonsense, I just want to marry my brother!"
Xiao Zhang sneered when he heard it, and stood up and patted her forehead: "Adults are talking, children are not allowed to interrupt!"
"Brother is not an adult!" Yuner raised her head to retort, her serious but innocent look like Chu Qin also Laughed.
Chu Qin stretched out his hand and pulled her in front of him: "Why do you want to marry brother?"
Yun'er said, "Brother treats slaves well!"
Chu Qin asked again: "What else?"
Yun'er frowned. After thinking for a while, he said again: "Brother will always treat the slaves well!"
Chu Qin couldn't help but tremble in his heart.
It is a luxury for one person to treat another person all the time.
She smiled complicatedly, and when she heard that the pot seemed to be open, she didn't want Xiaozhang to intervene, so she propped herself up and stepped forward to check.
Before she could lift the lid, she heard Qingqiu shouting from outside: "It's raining too much, sir, slow down!"
She was chasing after the umbrella while she was talking, but Pei Yan didn't slow down at all, and walked ahead with big strides. , with a livid face.
After he came back, he originally went to the main courtyard first, wanting to tell Chu Qin about the flower marks. When he arrived at the main courtyard, he saw no one. When he asked the servants who were guarding the courtyard, he knew that Chu Qin was going to the dining room.
Looking at the pouring rain outside, Pei Yan's head suddenly became big!
In such a heavy rain, what is she running around while pregnant? The ground in the house is covered with bluestone, which is slippery and slippery in rainy days. Besides, even if you don't wrestle, it's hard to catch a cold!
Standing in front of the stove, Chu Qin sighed, and just turned his head to the side, he saw that he had rushed in.
"Qinqin!" He grabbed her hand and saw that there was no sign of getting wet on her body, he was slightly relieved, and said, "Don't be busy, go back to the room, I have something important to tell you."
This sentence made Chu Qin's mind suddenly sink, and everything disappeared without a trace.
She clearly remembered that his opening remarks were like this in his previous life. That's because they weren't so close at that time, his name was different, and he didn't have those words of concern. He just said, "Chu Qin, I have something important to tell you."
It turns out that in this life, it's still the same. No matter how good he was to her, the outer chamber would still exist.
Chu Qin pulled the corner of his mouth and forced a smile: "I know, the outer room, you brought them back."
"Have you heard?" Pei Yan was stunned, then nodded, "Yes, there are two more Child."
After saying that, he was about to pull her out of the house, but she seemed to have strength suddenly and broke free from his hand.
The dull thunder in the sky rang for a while, and the electric light illuminated the dim dining room. She raised her head one by one, her eyes fell on him, and finally asked the words that had been buried in her heart for decades: "Tell me honestly, how long have you been?"
Pei Yan was stunned: "What? ?"
Chu Qin's thin lips trembled lightly: "She already has two children, Pei Yan..." She stared at him intently, and asked slowly, "I'm not so intolerant, right?"
Hearing this, Pei Yan Naturally I understood what she meant, but I was even more confused: "Ah?"