Seeing him frown again and again, Qi Yize grew increasingly curious about the contents of the letter.
“Yu Zhizhi is still waiting outside the residence for your reply. She said that whether you agree or refuse, someone must go out and inform her.”
Blinking eagerly, Qi Yize asked, “Can I read the letter?”
Without even thinking, Zhao Yunjin immediately refused.
“No.”
“Then can you at least tell me what she wrote?”
Seeing how nosy he was being, Zhao Yunjin lifted his teacup, took a slow sip, and answered leisurely,
“She invited me to lunch at Fuju Restaurant tomorrow at noon as an apology.”
“Are you going or not?”
A faint smile appeared on Zhao Yunjin’s lips.
“Tell her I agree first. As for whether I’ll actually go… what do you think?”
Qi Yize instantly understood.
Yunjin was planning to give Yu Zhizhi a little hope first, then slap her with disappointment afterward.
Time quietly passed.
Yu Zhizhi was still waiting outside, while Zhao Yunjin had already returned to his study and was leisurely reading a book.
Unable to hold back any longer, Qi Yize asked,
“Aren’t you going to send someone out to tell her?”
“No rush. Let her wait another quarter of an hour.”
Qi Yize gave him a thumbs-up.
“That’s a pretty ruthless move.”
He understood that his friend intended to teach Yu Zhizhi a lesson and show her that he was not someone to be trifled with.
Compared to Zhao Yunjin, Yu Zhizhi was still far too inexperienced.
Yu Zhizhi ended up waiting outside for a full half hour before someone from the Sixth Prince’s residence finally came out.
Zhao Yi wore a stern expression and said flatly,
“My master agrees.”
Yu Zhizhi knew immediately that the Sixth Prince had deliberately dragged things out to put her in her place.
Based on his usual style, he was definitely not the type to procrastinate.
“You should tell your master that his work efficiency really needs improvement,” Yu Zhizhi said bluntly.
Zhao Yi glared at her, clearly displeased.
“You…”
“You what? I know you don’t like me. In that case, I’ll leave.”
Yu Zhizhi ran over to her younger brother and stuffed all the apricots they had picked from the ground into both sleeves.
She planned to turn them into dried apricots over the next few days.
A healthy and delicious snack that Xiaochen and her parents would surely enjoy.
Looking at the noticeably barer apricot tree, Zhao Yi frowned.
“What happened here?”
One of the guards quickly explained everything.
“She only kicked the tree once at first. Later, after waiting too long, she got impatient and kicked it several more times.”
After hearing Zhao Yi’s report, Zhao Yunjin merely replied,
“It’s fine.”
His master clearly had no intention of pursuing the matter.
At that moment, Zhao Yunjin found himself wanting to see the expression on her face when she kicked the tree.
Was it really as crude and ridiculous as Qi Yize had described?
He also wanted to see her expression when she complained about his poor efficiency.
More than that, he wanted to see how she would react tomorrow when he failed to show up.
He imagined she would probably explode in anger.
And perhaps do something even more unexpected.
After returning to the Yun residence with her younger brother, Yu Zhizhi headed out again and visited a blacksmith shop.
There, she paid extra to have a copper hotpot stove custom-made on an expedited schedule.
Another three taels of silver gone.
Next, she went to the Yun family’s general store located in the Haixi District.
At the time, Fang Lanzhu was inside checking the accounts.
The moment Yu Zhizhi saw her, she explained her purpose.
“Daughter, take whatever you need.”
Yu Zhizhi smiled sweetly.
“Thank you, Mother!”
Though the store was small, it had everything she needed.
After looking around, she quickly found dried chilies, Sichuan peppercorns, dried mushrooms, and other ingredients necessary for making hotpot base.
Her plan was to prepare the broth base tonight and make both spicy and non-spicy versions for the Sixth Prince tomorrow.
Unfortunately, there was no doubanjiang in this era, so she had to substitute it with a local fermented bean paste sold in the shop.
As for star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon bark, tsaoko, and other spices, her mother informed her that they could only be purchased from herbal medicine shops.
Another key ingredient for authentic hotpot broth was beef tallow.
While vegetable oil or lard could be used as substitutes, the flavor would never be quite the same.
Left with no choice, Yu Zhizhi decided to try her luck at the only place in the capital legally permitted to sell beef.
To her surprise, she actually managed to buy a chunk of beef fat.
The downside?
It cost her a full one hundred copper coins.
She also planned to return tomorrow to purchase fresh beef and fatty beef slices as hotpot ingredients.
Beef.
Fatty beef.
Surely such premium ingredients would be enough to demonstrate her sincerity.
She would make the Sixth Prince so satisfied that he would call her “Auntie” three times.
And completely forget all the drunken nonsense the original owner had said to him.
By the time she finished shopping and returned to the Yun residence, the sun was already setting.
The western sky glowed with soft shades of red as night slowly approached.
After dinner with her parents and younger brother, Yu Zhizhi eagerly rushed into the kitchen to begin preparing the hotpot base.
The Yun household was simple.
Besides the family themselves, there was only Uncle He’s family of three working there.
Normally, Aunt He handled all the cooking.
So when she saw Yu Zhizhi entering the kitchen, she looked utterly shocked.
After all, she had heard many rumors about this young lady.
Raised in luxury at the Prime Minister’s residence for so many years, how could she possibly know how to cook?
Wasn’t she just making a mess?
Seeing Yu Zhizhi carrying two heavy baskets, Aunt He hurried over to help.
“Miss, if there’s anything you need, just tell me. There’s no need for you to do it yourself.”
Yu Zhizhi smiled.
“Don’t worry, Aunt He. I know what I’m doing. But I’ll need your help cleaning this beef fat and rendering it into tallow.”
“No problem, Miss.”
Aunt He nodded repeatedly.
Soon afterward, Yu Zhizhi began soaking spices and preparing the dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns.
Once everything was ready, she started cooking the hotpot base.
The beef tallow melted into the pot.
After adding the spices, she instructed Aunt He, who was tending the fire,
“Remember, keep it on low heat the entire time.”
“I understand.”
Yu Zhizhi focused intently on the pot.
Only after the spices had become dry, crisp, and fragrant—fully infusing their aroma into the beef tallow—did she remove them.
Making hotpot base required patience.
There was no room for carelessness.
If the ingredients burned, the flavor would be ruined.
As the cooking continued, Aunt He caught a faint but enticing aroma.
She instinctively sniffed the air.
For the first time, she truly began to believe that Yu Zhizhi actually knew how to cook.