Chapter 62: Visiting the Door

  It has been snowing for several days, and the weather is dry and cold, with a refreshing taste.

  On such a cold day, it's most suitable for making candied hawthorns.

  Watching the sugar syrup in the pot gradually thicken, Zhen Shiniang picked up a piece with chopsticks and swirled it in cold water, then took a bite. It was crispy and not sticky at all. She turned around and shouted to Qiujie in the house, "Bring over the hawthorn!"

  "Ah!" Qiujie put down the half-strung hawthorn and picked up the well-strung hawthorn skewer, walking out, "......can the young lady really make sugar gourds?" As she asked, her mouth was already watering with acidity.

  "You'll know when you see it." Zhen Shi Niang smiled as she stirred the sugar syrup, "Turn down the heat a bit." As she spoke, she picked up a mountain hawthorn and quickly rolled it in the syrup, then slapped it forcefully onto a wooden board that had been prepared with a layer of oil. Next, she picked up another one...

  She lowered her head and pulled out a few pieces of firewood from the stove, Autumn Chrysanthemum raised her head to see that Zhen Shi Niang had already rolled out over ten sugar gourds, each one bright red and crystal clear, making Autumn Chrysanthemum's mouth water. "Is that all? It's this simple?" she asked, "Miss knows how to do this, why didn't you make it in previous years?" Every winter, she and Jian Wu would watch others eating sugar gourds and drool with envy.

  Last year?

  In previous years, who had spare money to do this?

  This is all thanks to Xiao Yu's blessing, two days ago he sent another truckload of goods, and there just happened to be a bag of hawthorns, Jianwen and Jianwu saw them and shouted that candied hawthorn was delicious, so she started making it.

  "Is it that easy?" Seeing Qiuju staring at her, Zhen Shiniang smiled and said, "Let me tell you, the fire timing for this sugar syrup is the most difficult to grasp. If it's light, the sugar sticks to your teeth and is hard as a rock; if it's heavy, the flavor becomes bitter. In previous years, I was too busy with life to bother with this. Who has the patience to do this?" She pointed to the half-bowl of black, crystallized sugar syrup on the edge of the stove. "I just ruined one pot." In previous years, she would have been heartbroken - this white sugar was all bought with silver.

  Chrysanthemum spat out her tongue.

  "......Shall I try too?" Seeing Zhen Shining's success, Qiuju was eager to give it a go.

  "Hmm..." Zhen Shi Niang dodged to the side, making way for a clear space. "The sugar coating needs to be applied quickly, otherwise it will solidify and not stick evenly. When placing it on the wooden board, use force to slap it down, so that the sugar at the bottom of the sugar gourd will form a large piece, both visually appealing and delicious..." She reached out and grabbed a handful of sesame seeds, sprinkling them evenly over the sugar-coated sugar gourds.

  Qiu Ju carefully learned to make sugar gourds, but no matter how hard she tried, the sugar coating was always uneven. "I'm so clumsy!" She giggled as she looked at the two lumpy sugar gourds she had made.

  "Mother, mother!" Jianwen's voice came, "It's not good, it's not good! Many people have come to the front yard, Jikui auntie wants you to hide quickly!" The changed tone of voice carried a sense of impending doom and panic.

  Jian Wu was always mischievous. With a big temper, he would get angry and almost wanted to poke a hole in the sky. Zhen Shi Niang had never heard them speak in such a tense tone before, her heart skipped a beat, she quickly threw the sugar gourd she had just wrapped onto the wooden board, and ordered Qiu Ju, "Put out the fire, move the pot to the snowy ground to cool it down, be careful not to scald your hands."

  Wiping his hands on the apron, he turned to face the two children who were rushing towards him and pulled them aside. Avoiding the hot sugar pot on the stove, he asked, "What's going on?"

  "Chu Yiniang has arrived..."

  "Magpie Auntie told Mother..."

  Jianwen and Jianwu spoke at the same time, then simultaneously closed their mouths, staring at each other.

  Look at Jianwen again, and then look at Jianwu. Zhen Shiniang spoke up, "Brother Wen, you speak first."

  "There are many people outside, Aunt Jiemei said it's Chu Niang from the General's mansion, she came to find you, let me tell you to hide...". Jianwen finished speaking in one breath, pulled Zhen Shiniang and went out, "Mother, quickly leave from the back door, I and my brother will go find Uncle!"

  Since childhood, Xun'er has been influenced by Zhen Shi's teachings. When the situation is unfavorable, she would rather retreat and come back another day, adhering to the principle of not taking unnecessary risks when outnumbered. At such times, she must adopt a roundabout strategy and absolutely cannot charge forward recklessly like a fool.

  First save your own life, then go get reinforcements.

  "What kind of people are they?" As she undid her cloak, Zhen Shiniang's eyebrows furrowed into a knot. Far from the General's mansion, she had been living a secluded life free from worldly disputes, so why wouldn't these people let her be?

  "...altogether six, all women!" Jian Wu added, "And two men are watching the carriage at the door."

  "Did they see you?"

  "When the magpie aunt heard that they had reported their names, she let my brother and me hide first. We saw from the corner of the wall that as soon as they entered the door, they made Magpie Aunt kneel down..."

  "What!" Zhen Shining's voice changed, "They made Xi Wu's aunt kneel in the snowy ground?"

  Magpie Aunt immediately knelt down. Jianwen and Jianwu nodded simultaneously.

  "…Quickly, Autumn Chrysanthemum, come with me to take a look!" This cold weather is no joke, and having the magpie kneel in the snow is not a laughing matter. He pushed Jian Wen and Jian Wu, "You two quickly go find Magpie Aunt's husband and bring him over!"

  The stove had already been put away, and she was carrying the finished sugar gourd out when she heard this, Autumn Chrysanthemum hurriedly placed the sugar gourd on the shelf in the middle of the courtyard, turned around to support Zhen Shi Niang and left.

  "Sugar gourd!" Jian Wu stretched out his hand to grab it, but was stopped by Zhen Shi Niang, "......it's too hot, it will sour your teeth, it's better to eat after it has cooled down." She pushed the two of them together towards the outside, "You go find Uncle Ji Ku first, and when you come back, sit in this courtyard to eat, don't go to the front courtyard!"

  "Got it!" He turned back to gaze longingly at the bright red sugar gourd on the shelf, and then swallowed hard, before running off in a flash.

  As soon as she turned the corner, Zhen Shining took a sudden breath of cold air.

  Only a few women with blooming flowers were surrounding the kneeling magpie in the center, pointing and discussing. Suddenly, as if someone shouted, a slender and delicate maid lifted her foot and kicked the magpie's round belly.

  "Stop!" Zhen Shiniang shouted loudly, her heart skipping a beat.

  If this foot really goes down, it will be a dead body for two lives!

  At the sound of drinking, the little maid hesitated for a moment. Autumn Chrysanthemum had already rushed over like flying, swept past the crowd, pushed the little maid away with one hand, and blocked Xi Que's face.

  Don't look at Qiujie, she may be thin and small, but she's used to doing heavy labor like carrying water and chopping firewood, so she has a lot of strength. Those delicate and tender young maids can't withstand her push, let alone when she uses all her might after running for a long distance. Suddenly, the little maid flew out more than ten feet away, fell flat on her back, hit the back of her head on the hard frozen ground, and fainted.

  "Wu Er!" someone in the crowd exclaimed, a small servant girl quickly ran over to support the servant girl called Wu Er, while others surrounded Qiu Ju with a loud shout.

  Chrysanthemum is also anxious.

  As the crowd gathered around, she took a step back to the edge of the courtyard, picked up an iron shovel and swung it at the crowd, "Who dares to come forward? I'll fight you all!" Her eyes were filled with red threads.

  Those who can go out with Chu Niang are all big girls in the general's mansion, proud and noble like a young lady from an ordinary family, speaking softly and slowly every day, hating that they can't run away with just one blow of the wind, who has seen such a scene?

  One by one, they were so scared that they retreated far away, trembling with fear as they looked at Qiu Ju, not daring to come forward.

  What kind of bird is this!

  Nan Zhen's daughter was arrogant and the maids she raised were also rough and wild, like a lunatic. Seeing Qiu Ju like this, Chu Xinyi let out a cold hum in her heart and stood still, staring at Qiu Ju.

  As the mistress, she must have the proper demeanor and cannot retreat like a maid.

  Although her two legs were cramping up from staring at the fierce Qiujie, Chuxinyi still stood there motionless, forcing herself to calmly ask Qiujie, "......Are you also a maid of the great madam? What's your name?" As long as this little maid dared to admit that she was a maid of Zhen Shiniang, she wouldn't be afraid.

  In the general's mansion, there is still a distinction between superior and inferior.

  The other maids, seeing their master calm down, no longer fled in panic, but nor did they dare to step forward. They trembled with fear and gathered behind Chu Xinyi, staring at Qiuju from a distance.

  It wasn't that fierce, Autumn Chrysanthemum was also forced to be urgent, now seeing everyone didn't dare to come forward, she stopped her hand, only holding the iron shovel and staring at everyone fiercely.

  Zhen Shi Niang let out a sigh of relief as she quickly walked over to the crow, "It's cold on the ground, hurry up and get up." As soon as she saw that the crow's two cheeks were swollen, she couldn't help but exclaim, "Heavens, how did you get beaten up like this?"

  "It's nothing, slave." Xīquè shook her head and refused to get up, lowering her voice and saying, "Miss hasn't seen her, she is Chu Yíniáng, the real person in power in the General's mansion, we can't afford to offend her..." She pushed Zhen Shiniang out with all her might, "Miss, don't bother, just let me kneel here, if she vents her anger on me, she won't trouble you again." Otherwise, letting her go back and report to Shen Zhōngjiǎo wouldn't be a joke.

  "…I wasn't going to bother you anyway!" Zhen Shiniang's voice was cold, with a rare hint of anger. "But if you don't get up now, you'll disturb the fetal energy and miscarry. Be careful, or you won't be able to have children in the future!"

  She has lived for two lifetimes and has never seen anyone as stingy as you!

  Kneeling there silently and letting others beat her up is not as good as Xiao Qiujie from her family, who would fight back regardless of who the opponent is.

  This remark was effective, and the magpie was so frightened that its face turned pale, no longer daring to kneel. With great effort, it helped Zhen Shiniang stand up, its eyes passing over Zhen Shiniang to meet Chu Xinyi's gaze behind her. Its body couldn't help but tremble. In the past, when she was at the Yuanshuai Mansion, she often got beaten and had grown accustomed to it. She wasn't afraid in the least; what she worried about was that her young mistress would be blamed by Shen Zhongjie for this incident and be driven out of the ancestral mansion under some pretext.

  This is Chu Xinyi, she is Shen Zhongge's darling, it is said that Shen Zhongge spoiled her to the sky, and even the stars dare not give way to the moon.

  As the abandoned wives of their husbands, how can they be provoked?

  Jian Xi Que looked back in horror as Zhen Shi Niang slowly turned around.

  She involuntarily took in a breath of cold air.

  Chu Xinyi wore a lotus-colored gold-embroidered flower narrow sleeve, with a snow-white silver fox fur coat draped over her shoulders. She had on a pair of crimson deerskin boots with upturned toes, which stood out starkly against the pristine white snow. A crystal hairpin inlaid with pearls was slanted across her cloud-like hairdo, from which hung a large red gemstone that reached down to her forehead.

  Her eyebrows are like ink paintings, her eyes are like autumn water, and a delicate small face is indescribably soft and gentle.