“This.” Cuizhu hesitated, unsure whether she should accept it.
“Keep it,” Jiang Sui said. “The imperial chefs just finished making it, so it is fresh and tastes just right.”
Cuizhu was pleasantly surprised. Although she had always served the Eldest Princess, she was not qualified to eat dishes prepared by the imperial chefs. While the princess occasionally rewarded them with food, it did not happen often.
“May this servant share this with Rulan, Juxiang, and Meixiang?” Cuizhu asked uncertainly.
These three were personal maids who entered the palace at the same time as Cuizhu, taking care of Jiang Sui’s daily life since they were young. They were also Cuizhu’s closest friends.
“Since I have given it to you, do as you wish with it,” Jiang Sui had no objections. “Let us go back to Fenghua Courtyard.”
“Understood, Your Highness.” Cuizhu carried the food box and followed behind Jiang Sui.
Mingyue Pavilion.
As soon as Ji Kongqing stepped into the courtyard, she called out loudly, “I am back! Ping’an, Ruyi, where are you?”
Hearing the familiar voice, Ping’an and Ruyi hurriedly came out of the servants’ quarters, excitedly rushing forward to greet him. “The Consort is back.”
“Mm-hm,” Ji Kongqing smiled and nodded. “I brought back some food for you two. Do not go to the main kitchen to eat tonight; eat this instead. It is made by the imperial chefs. Princess Wuyang could not finish it, so I asked her for it. She barely touched it.”
“It would not matter even if she had touched it,” Ping’an took the food in pleasant surprise. “How could we disdain food eaten by nobles? This is truly a supreme blessing.”
“Indeed,” Ruyi nodded as well. “Even if it were leftovers, we would be willing to eat them. Neither of us has ever tasted food made by the imperial chefs before. What an honor to our ancestors.”
Ji Kongqing opened her mouth, instinctively wanting to say that everyone is equal.
On second thought, she closed it. The social environment of this era was simply like this; living in it, they had long since adapted to its survival rules. Trying to change their mindset now would hardly do them any good.
“Heat it up before eating,” Ji Kongqing reminded them, seeing that Ping’an and Ruyi were already preparing to dig in. “Eating cold food will give you a stomachache.”
“Alright,” Ruyi followed Ji Kongqing’s instructions closely. “Ping’an, let us go cook the rice first, then steam the dishes over the rice so we can eat them straight away.”
“Okay. Consort, do you want to have your evening meal?” Ping’an asked Ji Kongqing.
“No, I ate too much at noon,” Ji Kongqing rubbed her belly. “If I get hungry tonight, I will eat the pastries I brought back. You two go ahead and get busy.”
“All right, Consort, just call us if you need anything,” Ruyi nodded and led Ping’an off to cook.
Leaving them to their work, Ji Kongqing walked over to the spot where the tomato seeds were drying and squatted down.
Finding that the seeds were nearly dry enough, she realized they were ready for planting.
After checking on the tomato seeds, Ji Kongqing went to retrieve the bags of seeds Ruyi and Ping’an had bought a couple of days prior.
Just as she was about to take some seeds out of the large bag to scatter into the soil, she suddenly noticed a small, palm-sized pouch tucked inside the large one.
With a puzzled expression, she pulled it out, opened the small pouch, and looked at the seeds inside.
A pleasant surprise crossed Ji Kongqing’s face. She lowered her head and sniffed them. It was a familiar scent.
In the original owner’s memories, chilis seemingly did not exist in this world.
Master Wei had not included any in the seasonings he gave her a couple of days ago either. Ji Kongqing had assumed chilis had not appeared in this era yet and had even fretted that she, someone who could not live without spicy food, was done for. She never expected to stumble upon them by accident.
Clutching the small pouch, she rushed into the kitchen and asked Ruyi, “Ruyi, where did you buy these seeds?”
Noticing the small pouch in Ji Kongqing’s hand, Ruyi froze for a moment before answering promptly, “When Ping’an and I went to buy seeds the day before yesterday, this servant asked if there were any strange, novel seeds we had not seen before, just as you instructed.”
“The seed shopkeeper gave this as a free extra. He said a merchant friend of his brought them back from the country of Persia, claiming that whatever grows from them is poisonous, inedible, and can only be raised as flowers.”
“Poisonous?” Ji Kongqing frowned.
“Mhm. He said eating them makes your tongue and throat feel like they are burning in a fire. But figuring that you wanted novel seeds, Consort, I brought them back anyway.” Ruyi recounted what the shopkeeper had said back then.
Ji Kongqing smiled, immediately realizing that people in this era simply did not understand how to eat chilis; otherwise, why would they think they were poisonous?
However, she also deduced from Ruyi’s retelling that the spice level of these chilis should be decent.
She spoke up without hesitation: “Tomorrow, we will plant these seeds.”
“How much should we plant?” Ruyi asked.
“A small half of the cleared land will be planted with these. I will lay out the plan tomorrow,” Ji Kongqing decided.
“Understood,” Ruyi and Ping’an nodded, grasping Ji Kongqing’s intentions.
The next day, the Emperor’s reward arrived: a chest containing a thousand taels of pure white silver.
Gazing at the round silver ingots gleaming in the chest, Ji Kongqing stroked her chin. She took out a few ingots and headed to Wang Fugui, the chief steward of the princess’s estate: “I need to go out.”
Wang Fugui recognized Ji Kongqing and bowed obsequiously, “Consort, the Princess has already given instructions that you are free to leave the estate this month without needing to report it.”
“Oh, is that so? Very well, sorry to bother you.” Ji Kongqing promptly tucked the silver away and headed out. Not long after, she returned with a stack of white bamboo paper, a set of writing brushes and ink, and a few white goose feathers.
“This is.” Ping’an did not understand what Ji Kongqing wanted a few goose feathers for.
“Quill pens,” Ji Kongqing smiled at her. “You will see when the time comes.”
With an air of mystery, Ji Kongqing carried these items into her room and used a small knife she bought outside to begin crafting quill pens.
After failing twice, she finally grasped the essentials and successfully made three quill pens.
A smile broke across her face. She pulled out a sheet of bamboo paper, added water to grind the ink, and began sketching on the paper.
She drew all the way until the Zi hour, which was midnight. Folding the finished draft and putting it away safely, she called for Ping’an and Ruyi to prepare water for washing.
The two of them had been waiting for Ji Kongqing the whole time. Hearing her voice, they woke up immediately, transferred the water that was still hot in the pot using wooden buckets, and poured it into the bathing barrel.
“You two go to sleep,” seeing that both Ping’an and Ruyi were drowsy, Ji Kongqing realized how late it had gotten. “I will handle the rest myself.”
“Consort, please leave the water be. Ruyi and I will empty it tomorrow morning.”
Ruyi felt that these chores were naturally her and Ping’an’s duty. The Consort was already good enough to them, not even making them serve her while she bathed, so they could not let the Consort do this sort of work.
“Alright,” Ji Kongqing understood their mindset as well. “I know.”
After taking a bath, Ji Kongqing drifted into a deep sleep.
Early the next morning, after finishing breakfast and pocketing some silver, Ji Kongqing took Ping’an and headed out.
The two went to a blacksmith’s shop and a pottery workshop. Upon arrival, Ji Kongqing showed them the blueprint she had drawn, asking them to replicate it one-to-one, and also placed an order for a batch of ceramic tiles with a total deposit of 20 taels.
The blacksmith promised delivery in half a month, and the pottery workshop gave the same timeline. Ping’an left the address of the back door of saj princess’s estate so they could deliver the goods directly through it when ready.
Aside from that, Ji Kongqing went to a place that sold toothbrushes and tooth powder, commissioning a brush similar to a toilet brush for a deposit of 200 wen.
By the time they finished all this, it was already noon. Ji Kongqing took Ping’an to find a wonton stall and ate several bowls of wontons.
In the afternoon, they went to the city’s most renowned carpenter, handed over the blueprint she had drawn, and ordered a wooden water tank and a rocking chair with a deposit of 1 tael of silver.
After placing those custom orders, they headed to the brick kiln to commission a batch of blue bricks.
Along the way, she asked the brick kiln owner, “Boss, can you make hollow bricks here? The kind with good thermal conductivity and hollow centers, where I can burn firewood below and the top gets hot. I have a blueprint I drew myself. Take a look and see if you can make them.”
The owner took the blueprint, looked it over, and pondered for a moment: “Customer, this is not difficult. However, the bricks you are asking for need to be 3 feet long and 2 feet wide, requiring special customization, so the price might be a bit higher.”
“The price is fine,” Ji Kongqing shook her head. “As long as you can make them. I will need about 20 pieces of this kind of brick.”
The owner nodded: “An advance deposit is required, about 10 taels of silver.”
“No problem. Roughly when can you deliver?”
“Including the batch of blue bricks you customized, delivery will be in about half a month.”
“Great. Ping’an, give the owner our address.” Ji Kongqing pulled 10 taels of silver from her pouch and placed it in the owner’s hand. Ping’an gave the owner the address, telling him to deliver the goods and collect the remaining balance upon arrival, after which the two returned to the estate.
When they got back, Ruyi had already planted the seeds into the soil and watered them according to Ji Kongqing’s instructions before she left that morning.
The water on the ground had not completely dried by the time Ji Kongqing and Ping’an returned.
“Not bad, Ruyi. From now on, this plot of land is left in the care of you and Ping’an. I am lazy,” Ji Kongqing praised them upon seeing how well they had done and immediately delegated the task.
“This servant obeys,” Ruyi was thrilled that she was useful to Ji Kongqing, smiling as she accepted the assignment. “Ping’an and I will tend to it with the utmost care.”
“Ruyi, how long does winter last in the capital?” Ji Kongqing suddenly asked.
Ruyi thought for a moment: “Winter in the capital lasts for a little over four months. The weather starts turning chilly every year beginning in November and lasts all the way until March of the following year.”
“And the temperature? How cold does it get?”
Unlike modern people with weather forecasts who knew exact temperatures, Ruyi could only describe it roughly: “At its coldest, the surface of the water freezes a thick layer of ice, and even with cotton quilts at night, it is hard to fall asleep from the cold. Wearing cotton robes during the day is still freezing, and hands and feet frequently crack and develop sores.”
“What about keeping warm? How do people stay warm?”
Ruyi looked as if she had recalled something sorrowful: “Ordinary families basically just use charcoal braziers for warmth. However, back when this servant was still at home, my mother and I were not allotted charcoal fire; it was all saved for my younger brother and father, and the amount was very little.”
“Mm, I see,” Ji Kongqing lowered her eyes. “I do not feel like cooking tonight. Ruyi, you and Ping’an go to the main kitchen to fetch my evening meal, and wake me up when you get back.”
“This servant obeys.” Ruyi pulled Ping’an away.
After they left, Ji Kongqing went back to her room to draw blueprints. The teacup on the table was still lukewarm, clearly heated by Ruyi just before she was expected back.
During today’s outing, Ruyi and Ping’an had also collected the meals meant for the servants.
Even though Ji Kongqing had told them to eat together with her, the two girls still felt it violated protocol.
Unable to persuade them otherwise, Ji Kongqing let them be, but she would still set aside a portion of her own meals to supplement the two girls’ diet, meaning their meals were considerably better than those of the other servants.
Fenghua Courtyard, Jiang Sui’s study.
“What has the Consort been up to recently?” Jiang Sui asked with a serious expression as she trimmed the branches of a potted plant. Behind her stood An Wu, clad entirely in black.