flstandardbreds Chapter 235 Cousin
Chapter 235 Cousin
How did Song Jiaojiao become Mrs. Huide?
"Oh, you didn't know that? On the day of the New Year's Eve palace banquet, the Emperor personally bestowed upon Song Jiaojiao the title of Third-Rank Consort, with the honorary title of Lady Huide."
Hearing the Empress's explanation, Liu Xuewen finally understood. But that wasn't the point; the point was how Song Jiaojiao had entered the palace and even attended the palace banquet!
"Alright, now's not the time for reminiscing, cousin. Tell me, did Mrs. Huide own a sugar workshop?"
"There is one. You know the rice candy I sent last year? That was developed by Sister Song. The candy she used was sweet potato candy."
Liu Xuewen sat down casually, answered with a grin, and was still chewing on a dried apricot.
"So, does that mean Lady Huide really knows how to make sugar?" the Queen said excitedly, her face beaming with an uncontainable smile.
"Lady Huide, whatever you desire, as long as it is within my power, I will grant it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I don't want anything, but Consort Li just seems to enjoy chatting with me. I'm afraid that if I say something wrong, I might offend her. I hope Your Majesty can put in a good word for me."
So they came seeking protection. The Empress thought to herself, this is so simple. Putting aside everything else, just the two generals from the General's Mansion are enough to make Consort Li hesitate and not dare to act rashly.
"That's easy to agree to. I will accept it."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I would also like to trouble you to prepare paper and pen."
Song Jiaojiao thought that in her previous life, white sugar was refined using chemical products, which did not exist in ancient times. However, the initial steps for making white sugar were the same as those for making brown sugar, except that there was an additional decolorization process at the end.
Song Jiaojiao thought for a moment, and then she had an idea.
The yellow mud water leaching method can be used. A suitable amount of clean yellow soil is sieved to remove a large amount of impurities, leaving only clean yellow soil. The sieved yellow soil is then dried and a small amount of water is added and stirred into a mud-like consistency.
Finally, mix it evenly with the solidified brown sugar. The loess has a certain adsorption capacity and can adsorb some of the pigment impurities in the brown sugar. After standing for several hours, rinse the sugar block repeatedly with clean water to remove the loess from the brown sugar. The sugar will fade significantly. Then, boil and concentrate the faded sugar again. After crystallization, you can get white sugar with high purity.
After a cup of tea, Song Jiaojiao put down her pen and handed the dried sugar-making recipe to Aunt Zhichun.
The Empress was very excited and took the prescription from Zhichun. Song Jiaojiao had written it in great detail, specifying the dosage, the amount of water, and the cooking time.
After receiving the prescription, the Empress said, "It's getting late, so I won't keep you any longer. This is my jade token, which allows me to enter the palace at any time without having to announce myself. Consort Huide, this token is for you."
Song Jiaojiao accepted the jade pendant handed to her by Aunt Zhichun, knelt down to express her gratitude, and said, "Your Majesty, I thank you. I will take my leave now."
"Yes, Zhichun, you escort Madam Chengen and Madam Huide to the palace."
After Song Jiaojiao left, Liu Xuewen immediately said, "Cousin, if there's nothing else, I'll be going too."
The empress simply waved her hand, completely ignoring him.
Liu Xuewen didn't pay much attention; he was now focused on finding out what had happened to Song Jiaojiao, whom he hadn't seen for over half a year.
After everyone left, the Empress and her entourage hurried to see the Emperor. Usually at this time, the Emperor would be in the Imperial Study reviewing memorials.
"Your Majesty, the Empress requests an audience," Chief Steward Yu announced as he entered.
"Please come in." Why would the Empress want to see him at this time? Could it be that there's been a result regarding the Second Prince's matter?
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects."
"Get up! What brings the Empress to me at this hour?" The Emperor led the Empress to sit on the soft couch.
He chose this empress himself; the two had known each other since childhood and could be considered childhood sweethearts.
The current emperor is not the Empress Dowager's biological son. His birth mother had no background and died in childbirth. He grew up by the Empress Dowager's side. The Empress Dowager originally had a child, but unfortunately, the child fell into a pond when he was three years old. Due to the lack of timely treatment, the child survived for a month but eventually passed away.
Later, the late emperor saw that the empress dowager was not in good spirits after the death of her child. Coincidentally, the emperor was born, and the empress dowager raised him.
"Your Majesty, I have a prescription that requires Your Majesty's decision."
"Oh, what prescription?" the Emperor asked curiously.
The Empress herself took out the prescription and handed it directly to the Emperor without having anyone else do it.
Seeing her caution, the emperor suddenly became interested in the prescription.
When the Emperor opened it, he looked at the Empress in disbelief, then looked at the prescription again.
She asked in shock, her voice filled with disbelief, "Your Majesty, is this really true?!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, I checked it repeatedly before I dared to show it to you."
The Empress nodded heavily; she was well aware of the importance of this matter.
"Great! This is wonderful! God bless the Great Jin!!!"
The Emperor stood up excitedly and repeatedly said "good" in an excited tone.
"Your Majesty, did you come up with this prescription?"
The Empress gently shook her head. "It is not me, it is Lady Huide."
Upon hearing this, the Emperor recalled that a few days ago, Consort Li had said that she was bored in the palace and wanted to find someone to chat with. She had just found Lady Huide, but she was not in Consort Li's palace. When did she go to the Empress's palace?
"Mrs. Huide?"
"That's right. Today, Consort Li summoned Lady Huide. When I heard about it, I invited her over. It just so happens that Lady Chengen also came to the palace today."
The Empress offered an explanation, saying she wasn't afraid the Emperor would misunderstand, but rather that he might think Lady Huide had ulterior motives, which would render her actions today meaningless.
"Your Majesty, you don't need to say anything. I believe you." The Emperor took the Empress's hand, and at this moment, Chief Eunuch Yu, with his keen insight, dismissed all the servants.
When the Empress came out again, it was already dark.
"Guards, draft the decree. Lady Huide has contributed a prescription and is hereby promoted to the rank of Second-Rank Zhaoyi, awarded a thousand acres of fertile land, a thousand taels of gold, and granted the fief of Tong'an County."
…………
Liu Xuewen left Kunning Palace and quickly caught up with Song Jiaojiao.
"Sister Song, Aunt Zhichun, you can go now. I will escort Lady Huide out of the palace later."
Seeing that the two had something to say, Zhichun left.
The three of them left the palace. "Jiaojiao, I'll wait for you in the carriage."
"Okay, mother."
Lady Cheng'en nodded to Liu Xuewen and then got into the carriage.
"Sister Song, what exactly happened? How could you call Madam Chengen 'Mother'?" Liu Xuewen was shocked. What had he missed?
"Well, it's hard to explain in a short time. Just know that I'm from the General's Mansion." Song Jiaojiao said calmly. At first, she only knew that Liu Xuewen had a complicated background, but she didn't expect that he was actually the Empress's cousin.
"But you, I didn't expect you to be so well hidden. You're actually related to the Empress."
"Hey, I didn't expect you to come to Beijing, that's why I didn't tell you. Sister Song, you won't be mad at me, will you?"
Liu Xuewen asked nervously, fearing that Song Jiaojiao would stop talking to him and he would no longer be able to eat her cooking. He knew that this was a huge punishment for a foodie.