285 Sausage
Today, Yu Niaoniao asked Chun Feng to buy a lot of tofu.
When Xiao Juan saw the tofu, his forehead could not help but twitch.
Could it be that she still wanted to make stinky tofu?
He wanted to say something but hesitated. He wanted to persuade her to eat something else. It was good to eat anything, but not this smelly thing.
Xiao Juan’s senses were sharper than ordinary people, including his sense of smell. Therefore, the stench affected him more strongly.
“Do you have to eat tofu? Can’t you eat something else?”
Yu Niaoniao said excitedly, “But I want to eat tofu recently.”
Xiao Juan looked at her sparkling eyes and could not bear to ruin her mood.
Forget it, he would let her be.
He was already prepared to endure the stench again tonight.
However, when dinner was served, he did not see any traces of stinky tofu. He could not help but ask.
“Niaoniao, where’s your tofu?”
As Yu Niaoniao scooped the soup, she said, “It’s marinating in the vat. It’ll take a few days to marinate.”
Xiao Juan was very surprised. “Didn’t you make stinky tofu?”
“No, I plan to make fermented tofu this time. It’s completely different from stinky tofu.”
At this point, Yu Niaoniao smiled slyly and deliberately asked.
“Do you want to eat stinky tofu? You won’t be able to eat it tonight. I’ll fry it for you tomorrow.”
Xiao Juan refused without hesitation. “Thank you, I don’t eat stinky tofu.”
Her resistance could be said to be quite firm.
Yu Niaoniao could not help but chuckle. It seemed that Duke Lang really did not like stinky tofu.
This time, not only did she marinate the fermented tofu, but she also marinated some salted duck eggs and century eggs.
It was almost the new year.
According to the rules of the Dayan Dynasty, the officials of the Imperial Court were on leave from the first to the fifteenth day of the new year.
The Justice Department was rather special. The Eagle Guards only had five days of annual leave. From the sixth day of the new year, they had to take turns until the fifteenth day of the new year. Then, they returned to their normal rest time.
During lunch, everyone ate and chatted about how to spend the annual leave.
At first, Yu Niaoniao listened excitedly. Later, she realized that Lo Pingsha was sitting alone in the corner eating quietly. After the Eagle Guards, he did not participate in the discussion.
As a result, he looked out of place.
Xiao Juan sensed her abnormality and followed her gaze. He saw Lo Pingsha sitting in the corner and could not help but ask.
“Why are you looking at Little Lo?”
Yu Niaoniao voiced the confusion in her heart.
“Little Lo doesn’t seem to be looking forward to the annual leave.”
Xiao Juan explained, “There’s no one at home anymore. Even if it’s the holidays, he’s homeless. In the end, he can only stay in the Political and Legal Division like in the past.”
Yu Niaoniao said, “Then he’s too pitiful.”
Xiao Juan saw through her thoughts and took the initiative to ask.
“What do you want to do?”
Yu Niaoniao blinked. “Shall we invite him to our house for the New Year? It’s more lively to celebrate the New Year with more people!”
Xiao Juan replied casually, “As you wish.”
What he didn’t say was that he used to spend the New Year in the Justice Department like Lo Pingsha.In any case, his parents were not in the Imperial Capital, and there were no relatives in the Langjun Imperial Palace to accompany him. He might as well use this time to settle the unfinished matters.
Yu Niaoniao was very happy.
After dinner, she ran to find Lo Pingsha and invited him to the Langjun Imperial Palace for the new year.
Lo Pingsha was stunned for a long time before he reacted.
“Why?”
Yu Niaoniao was puzzled. “What do you mean why?”
Lo Pingsha asked, “Why did you invite me to spend the New Year with you?”
Yu Niaoniao said, “Because it’s lively with more people.”
This reason was not enough to convince Lo Pingsha. He hesitated.
Yu Niaoniao continued, “I’ll prepare a lot of delicious food for the new year. Duke Lang and I don’t have a big appetite. We might not be able to finish it. We need your help.”
Upon hearing that there was good food, Lo Pingsha was immediately tempted.
“In that case, I’ll accept it.”
Yu Niaoniao immediately smiled. “Then it’s settled. Come to the Langjun Imperial Palace for the new year. I’ll get someone to tidy up the guest room for you in advance.”
Lo Pingsha looked at her bright and warm smile and felt his heart warm.
“Okay.”
Today, there was no smelly tofu or durian. Xiao Juan felt that his way home had become much easier.
When they returned to Langjun Imperial Palace, Chun Feng and Ye Yu immediately came to report.
“Princess Consort, we’ve already bought the pig intestines you wanted. Do you want to take a look now?”
Xiao Juan was speechless.
He thought he had misheard and could not help but ask.
“Pig what?”
Ye Yu was more honest. When she heard this, she thought that Duke Lang did not hear her clearly and immediately repeated, “A pig’s intestine is the intestine in a pig’s stomach. It’s long and contains…”
Xiao Juan quickly interrupted her. “Alright, I understand.”
It turned out that he had relaxed too early.
Although there were no durians and stinky tofu today, there were pig intestines!
Xiao Juan had never eaten pig intestines in his life.
He simply could not imagine how something dirty and smelly like pig intestines could enter his mouth.
Xiao Juan tried his best to remain calm. “Niaoniao, I have no objections if you like to make some strange things to eat, but forget about the pig intestines. Let’s change to something else to eat, okay?”
However, Yu Niaoniao was very insistent.
“No! I want to make sausages with pig intestines. When I was in Bashu, my mother would make sausages every New Year. This is our family’s custom.”
Xiao Juan had never eaten sausages, but at the thought of making them with pig intestines, he had no appetite.
“Can’t you make sausages out of something else?”
Yu Niaoniao shook her head.
Xiao Juan had no choice but to compromise again.
“Do it if you want.”
He had endured the stinky tofu and durian, so he did not care about another strange dish in the form of pig intestines.
Yu Niaoniao instructed the kitchen helpers to clean the pig intestines.
She cut the pork and marinated it with ingredients for a period of time. Because Xiao Juan could not eat spicy food, she specially mixed two flavors of meat filling. They were salty and sweet, and spicy.
The small intestine was soaked in vinegar and yellow wine. After washing it, it was washed in hot water. Then, it was drained and placed on the funnel.
Next was stuffing the intestines.
This was a laborious job. In the past, when she was in Sichuan, these things were done by her stepfather, Feng Lianghan. Later, when she returned, Dang Gui and Feng Lianghan did it together.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t let the servants do these things, but Madam Xie said that this was a traditional New Year project at home. It had to be done by the family together to create a festive New Year atmosphere.
But now that Feng Lianghan and Madam Xie were no longer around, and Dang Gui was also thousands of miles away from her, Yu Niaoniao could only clean and stuff the intestines herself.
She was about to make a move when she suddenly heard Chun Feng and Ye Yu remind her.
“His Highness is here.”
Yu Niaoniao immediately stopped what she was doing and turned to look at the door. She saw Xiao Juan standing outside the kitchen door.