Traveling to the ancient harem

Chapter 181 Roasted suckling pig and cold rabbit

Hongger came back with lots of gifts. Huang Ye didn't ask her whether her second brother had passed the test. Just by looking at the gifts, she knew that the Qiu family was satisfied.

The New Year gifts given by the Huang family this year were also very special. In addition to the normal local specialties, each family received an exquisite box containing some braised duck and a small jar of chili oil.

There are not many families that send New Year gifts to the Huang family. Apart from the families of the three ladies, there are also several old relatives who are still around. In addition, there are also people from the Li family where I am from. I sent the good news in advance. He has made great achievements in that small county town. This year's political performance was rated as excellent, and he is expected to make further progress this year. The head of the Li family is also a far-sighted person. He sent the New Year gifts in advance. This is also good. Only by frequent visits can the relationship become good.

In the blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. The Great Xia Dynasty celebrated the New Year at night. This was Huang Ye's last year at home, so the family took it very seriously. The old man got up early in the morning and asked Uncle Chen to post couplets on the door. He took the whole family to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors. Even Yu Ge'er, who was only one month old, was held and kowtowed.

Actually, Yu Ge'er also held a full-month banquet. Normally, together with Huang Ye's appointment as a concubine, these two events were both big happy events and should have been celebrated with great fanfare. However, the old man said that the Huang family only had a few relatives and friends, so it would be enough to invite these families to have some fun, and there was no need to make it too high-profile. Therefore, they only set up a dozen tables in the mansion and the celebration lasted only one day.

The families of the beauties selected into the palace this time were very low-key. Needless to say, the wife of the Marquis of Changning and the second wife wanted to hold a grand celebration, but they were under pressure from the old uncle and the first wife was not enthusiastic. In the end, under the old lady's combined soft and hard tactics, they just hastily invited a few tables of guests to celebrate.

Not to mention the Shi family. Shi Yaoyao was the daughter of the Minister of Personnel, but she was given the position of a talented person. Shi Zhong also felt that it was strange. He was afraid that something had happened in the palace. When he asked her, she refused to tell him. Therefore, the position of a talented person was not something to be celebrated, and in the end, it was not given to her at all.

Having said that, at Huang Ye's suggestion, the Huang family's New Year's Eve dinner started at noon. It had been snowing since morning that day, so hot pot was of course indispensable for lunch. In addition to the traditional dishes that were a must for the New Year, Huang Ye also specially prepared two dishes, a roasted suckling pig. Uncle Chen hired a craftsman to build an oven according to Huang Ye's drawings, and then the mung beans were already being roasted before daybreak.

When the golden roast suckling pig was brought up intact on a large tray, everyone exclaimed in amazement. The crackling sound made by the cut made Xuan Geer sigh from the bottom of his heart: "My sister is really a genius."

"Of course." Hong Ge'er had no doubt at all: "You can go out and ask around in the whole capital, our family's food is the best, and only a smart head like my sister can think of such delicious food."

The old man was too lazy to argue with the two of them. Instead of wasting time, he might as well eat a few more bites. The roasted suckling pig was so crispy and fragrant, but they didn’t even know to eat it while it was hot. What was the point of chatting?

The other dish was the prince's contribution. Huang Ye asked him to hunt a few fat rabbits and discard the thin ones, and made the cold-cooked rabbit that she loved most in her previous life. The prince was also a man who knew how to bargain, so Huang Ye promised him that he would give him a portion when the dish was ready. Only then did he happily fly out to look for rabbits. Today, when the dish was just out of the pot, Huang Ye served it a big bowl, which made him very satisfied.

"Is this really rabbit meat?" Hong Ge'er had eaten a lot of rabbit meat in the north, and he always felt that it had an earthy smell that affected the taste. But the cold rabbit that his sister mentioned was spicy, fresh and fragrant, and he couldn't taste the earthy smell at all.

"It's the wild rabbit that the prince went out hunting last night. The rabbit meat needs to be processed well to be delicious." Huang Ye couldn't stop eating. This cold rabbit was made by her herself, and Mung Bean helped her. She was afraid that Mung Bean could not make such authentic Sichuan-style cold rabbit.

After having a big lunch at noon, the Huang family took a short break and then gathered in the Funing Hall to drink tea and chat. Huang Ye held Yu Ge'er and teased him. The child was also strange. Sometimes he would get upset and pout when others held him, but he would be happy at any time only when Huang Ye held him. Even if he had just cried and tears were still in his eyes, as long as he saw his aunt holding him, he would immediately grin.

There was no custom of eating dumplings on New Year's Eve in the Daxia Dynasty, but there was a kind of pasta similar to dumplings. However, Huang Ye thought it was not delicious. Not only was the skin thick, but the fillings were all cooked meat, and the taste was not good either.

Huang Ye had asked Hongdou to help Luodou chop a pot of fresh meat long ago. She personally taught Luodou and the cook she brought with her how to season, how to stir, and how much ingredients to add. After she taught the cook well, she would enter the palace after the New Year, so she would not have to worry about no one knowing how to cook, and her family could eat it whenever they wanted.

When the dumplings with thin skin and rich fillings were served steaming hot, the old lady looked at the red meat filling that could be seen through the skin and asked unnecessarily, "Is this raw meat really edible?"

"Grandma, if you're worried, I'll eat this plate for you." Having already tasted the food, Hongger wanted to pull his grandmother's plate of dumplings toward himself. He could eat ten plates of such delicious dumplings by himself.

The old lady held down the plate in front of her. She seriously suspected that the child wanted to eat her share as well. Seeing that everyone was busy eating, she tentatively picked up one with chopsticks and put it in her mouth. The feeling of being so delicious that she wanted to bite her tongue filled her taste buds. She now had only one thought in her mind: why didn't Ye'er make such delicious dumplings for them before?