At dawn in the imperial court, the Minister of Works presented refined salt to the emperor.
“Your Majesty, I have not failed your expectations. The refined salt has been successfully produced. Please examine it.”
“Good.”
“Where is the Minister of Revenue?”
“I am here!” The Minister of Revenue immediately stepped forward and bowed.
“I order you to distribute and sell the refined salt on a large scale. Do not allow the people to continue consuming mineral salt, and keep the price unchanged.”
“I obey your command!”
Meanwhile, Mu Jianxi was leisurely sitting on a reclining chair, fanning herself. She looked up at the increasingly hot sky.
“Why is it getting hotter and hotter? Is summer here already?”
“Yes,” Zhao Fohua replied from another lounge chair. “Yesterday was the Summer Solstice. Of course it will keep getting hotter from now on.”
Mu Jianxi suddenly sat up.
“I really want to drink iced beverages! Old man, let’s make iced drinks today!”
Zhao Fohua felt her forehead with concern. She wasn’t feverish—so why was she talking nonsense?
He looked at her skeptically.
“Iced drinks? That requires ice. Have you gone silly? Do you know how expensive ice is? We don’t have that kind of money. Ice costs a fortune. If you really want it, you can go ask the prince—he probably has stored ice blocks.”
“Is ice that expensive?”
“One jin of ice costs three gold taels. Do you think that’s expensive or not?”
“No need to look for him. I have a way. Your place should have saltpeter, right? I remember it’s used as medicine—pharmacies should sell it?”
“It’s not expensive? One jin of saltpeter only costs three copper coins.”
Hearing how cheap saltpeter was, Mu Jianxi immediately began calculating in her mind.
At that moment, Ye Yu and Ye Li entered. Mu Jianxi immediately locked onto them.
“In this hot weather… don’t you want iced drinks? If you do, go buy me some things.”
The two quickly nodded, eyes already filled with anticipation.
“Get as much saltpeter as possible. Four jin of brown sugar. Four liang of high-quality tea leaves. And some fresh milk.”
Her expression returned to normal as she listed the items.
An hour later, the two returned, panting heavily, delivering everything she had asked for. They had already once tasted her mulberry lemon tea before, and when they brought it back, the four of them almost fought over a single cup.
Ye Yu’s eyes flickered. He felt she was about to create something that would once again overturn their understanding of the world. Without hesitation, he climbed over the wall back to the prince’s residence to report.
“Your Highness! Miss Mu says she is going to make ice today!”
Gu Ruizé: “!!!”
He was so shocked that the book in his hand fell to the ground without him noticing. He immediately stood up and rushed out.
Mu Jianxi… Mu Jianxi! Just how many times will you overturn my understanding of you?
Mu Jianxi knelt down and sniffed the two large buckets of milk. It seemed freshly milked, with a faint raw smell. It had to be boiled first to eliminate bacteria.
After boiling the milk, she poured it back into containers and let it cool. Next, she prepared taro balls and pearls.
Bao Bao was very efficient and had already taken out all the necessary ingredients from her space and placed them in storage boxes.
At the same time, the system issued a mission:
“Please complete the production of milk tea and double skin milk: 80 bowls and one large vat. The system will reward you with a special gift.”
Mu Jianxi took out purple sweet potatoes and Lingyu taro from the storage box. Then she remembered the sweet potatoes she had dug up earlier.
“Ye Li, you and Ye Feng peel these. Let the old man slice them and steam them.”
During this time, Mu Jianxi went to the courtyard and checked on the puff pastries and drunken peanuts. Everything was running smoothly—they were clearly already fully trained.
“Bang!”
The gate was suddenly pushed open from outside. Gu Ruizé hurried in and grabbed her arm.
“You can make ice?”
Although confused, she did not intend to hide it—after all, it might become another source of income. She nodded, then turned and walked back toward the kitchen without another word.
He did not give up and followed her in, determined to see how she would make ice.
Back in the kitchen, Zhao Fohua had already finished steaming everything. Mu Jianxi separated the purple sweet potato, taro, and sweet potato into three bowls and added sugar, mashing them into paste.
Ye Feng and Ye Li also joined in, mashing the remaining bowls.
Once everything became paste, she added cassava starch and kneaded it, occasionally adding a bit of boiling water. After forming dough, she pulled a small piece, boiled it briefly in a pot, scooped it out, and put it back into the mixture to continue kneading.
Though they didn’t understand, they followed her instructions exactly.
“The rest is up to you. Roll them into strips, cut into thumb-sized pieces, and set aside.”
Half an hour later, two large bowls of three-colored taro balls and brown sugar pearls were ready. Next was the milk tea.
In the pot, she added sugar and tea leaves, stir-fried until melted, then poured in milk and simmered for fifteen minutes before setting it aside to cool.
With everyone’s cooperation, she also completed eighty bowls of double skin milk.
Finally, it was time to make ice.
“Ye Yu, fill this vat with water. I’ll show you a magic trick in a moment.”
“Yes!”
“Knock knock knock…”
A knock came from outside. Everyone turned their heads.
Zhao Fohua ran to open the gate, revealing three men.
The Crown Prince, the Prince of Runan, and the Prince of Duan.
Before they could speak, Zhao Fohua cut them off:
“We’re not selling in the afternoon yet. Come back later.”
Just as he was about to close the door, the Crown Prince stopped him.
“Wait!”
Hearing a familiar voice, Gu Ruizé’s heart shook. He looked up—and indeed saw his three elder brothers.
“Let them in,” he said.
Zhao Fohua stepped aside.
The three quickly entered, immediately noticing the piles of puff pastries and drunken peanuts. They swallowed hard, already smelling the sweet aroma in the air.
Gu Ruizé rubbed his temples helplessly, then introduced them:
“This is the Crown Prince. These two are the Prince of Runan and the Prince of Duan.”
Mu Jianxi greeted them calmly.
“Hello.”
They nodded in response.
“What brings you here?”
“We would like to buy some puff pastries and drunken peanuts. Would that be possible?”
Mu Jianxi waved her hand generously.
“It’s nothing worth mentioning. Just take what you like. Since we met, it must be fate. If you want more in the future, just come to my shop and pay then.”