Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 701 Sweet

Upon hearing Wang Yan's voice, Xie Yuyan immediately shoved the plate in her hand to Yu's mother. In just a short while, she had already ruined two or three pots of food.
In short, there were so many that even Mother Yu couldn't carry them all. So, while Mother Yu was hurriedly tidying up, a round cake fell to the ground and rolled "tumble" to Wang Yan's feet.

Wang Yan lowered his head and looked over.

The round cake was thrown and rolled around, but it remained intact. Looking at the mess in the room and the flour on Ayan's body, he could guess who had done it, so he bent down and picked up the round cake.

"We can't eat it," Xie Yuyan said immediately.

Wang Yan reached out and patted the dust off the round cake: "What kind of cake is this?"

Mother Yu couldn't help but laugh out loud. It was hard to believe that such a clever man like her husband could say the wrong thing.

"This isn't a cake, it's osmanthus shortbread," Xie Yuyan said. "However, making sugarcane is too difficult, and it involves grinding sugar and layering shortbread, so I modified it..."

After the changes, it's just a bunch of hard candy mixed together.

She noticed something was wrong, so she added more cooked flour to prevent the food from being too sticky. In her view, cooking was just like that: add water if it's too salty, add sugar if it's too bitter, add flour if it's sticky, and add water if it's too dry.

If everyone is in control of their own strengths and weaknesses, things won't turn into a complete mess. And then... even if it looks bad, it doesn't matter, since it will all end up in our stomachs anyway.

Unfortunately, it's one thing for a smart person to think, but quite another to do it.

Wang Yan looked at Yu's mother, silently asking, "Why did A-Yan suddenly think of making such complicated food?"
Mother Yu sighed inwardly. After the eldest daughter-in-law went into the kitchen, she found a jar of honey osmanthus and a jar of maltose, and then said she wanted to eat osmanthus shortbread.

She immediately sensed something was wrong. Her cooking skills were far inferior to Zhang Niangzi's. If Zhang Niangzi were here, no matter what the eldest daughter-in-law made, Zhang Niangzi could always find a way to salvage it. As for her, she felt somewhat powerless.

Moreover, she always felt that whatever the eldest daughter-in-law did was right, and she didn't want to argue with her at all. So she just let it go and became an accomplice.

Wang Yan blew on it gently and then put the round cake into his mouth.

Very hard...

He used all his strength to bite off a piece, and he could taste that it was very sweet, even bitter.

However, Wang Yan attributed this to the fact that the taste in his mouth was inaccurate, because his heart felt sweet.

"sweet."

Wang Yan drew a conclusion.

"It has the aroma of osmanthus honey."

Empress Dowager Xie, who had been feeling uneasy in the kitchen, suddenly felt much relieved. Perhaps it wouldn't taste as terrible as it looked?
“Don’t throw it away,” Wang Yan said. “Have Sangzhi pack it up and bring it with me.”

Xie Yuyan was about to stop him, but Wang Yan lowered his eyebrows slightly, looking aggrieved: "When you're busy at the yamen and don't have time to eat, you can at least find a moment to eat a piece of candy."

"Have Sang Dian buy some tomorrow."

Xie Yuyan had barely finished speaking when Wang Yan grasped her hand. He looked at her, his eyes filled with joy: "This was originally made for me, how can I take it back?"

Xie Yuyan was about to speak when Wang Yan interrupted her, saying, "Thank you, my lady." If they lost the osmanthus candy today, it would be difficult to get Ayan to make it again in the future.

Seeing that the sugar candy had been taken away, Xie Yuyan had no choice but to let her have her way. She asked Mama Yu to call the cook over to prepare some food for Wang Yan before the two of them went to the main house to talk.

The cook, who had been waiting outside, breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Xie Yuyan's back. She had been terrified when she was prevented from going in, fearing that the woman might accidentally burn down the kitchen.

How come such a capable lady can't even enter the kitchen?
The cook was about to enter when she smelled a burnt odor. Without thinking, she rushed to clean up the mess.

Wang Yan changed out of his official robes and prepared to wash up. He looked at Sang Zhi, who had followed him, and asked, "Who came to the courtyard today?"

Sangzhi then told the story of Zhou Niangzi and her daughter.

"The eldest lady really liked that girl. She kept Zhou Niangzi talking for a long time and even asked Su Man to find out about those people's backgrounds."

Then Sangzhi recounted the news Su Man had brought back. The lady hadn't kept these things from them, nor had she instructed them not to tell the young master.

Wang Yan nodded and asked, "Did Madam give the rattle drum to that family's girl?" Sang Zhi replied, "She also told Madam Zhou why we came here."

Xie Yuyan wouldn't do this without a reason.

Wang Yan pondered carefully. Did he want the villagers to voluntarily surrender to the yamen and reveal their identities? If they did, they would guess that A Yan's identity was extraordinary and would try to find out information from her.

Ayan subtly advised them.

This explanation is more reasonable, but Wang Yan vaguely felt that the osmanthus candy tonight was also unusual.

Osmanthus-flavored shortbread is a common treat at family banquets. If there are children in the family, the matriarch will definitely make a plate of it. The scene of the children sitting together, waiting to share the shortbread, is particularly lively.

Every household makes this crispy candy for the children, and it just so happens that some children came to the yard today.

Is this a coincidence?

Is Ayan homesick, or does she have something else on her mind?
It wasn't that Wang Yan was suspicious; when he entered the kitchen, he happened to see a complex expression in A Yan's eyes, a mixture of emotions that he couldn't quite put his finger on.

What could be troubling Ayan is not the case at hand, so it must be that something else has happened.

It seems he needs to keep a close eye on Madam Zhou and her daughter.

After washing up, Wang Yan went to Xie Yuyan's room.

The kitchen prepared a bowl of vegetarian noodles and two side dishes, which still carried a hint of osmanthus fragrance when they were brought over. The cook looked at Wang Yan with considerable unease.

"My lord... this..." There was too much maltose on the pot. She washed it several times, thinking that it was all washed away. But she didn't know that after the noodles were cooked, she could still smell the sweet aroma.

“I like osmanthus honey,” Wang Yan interrupted the cook, “This is quite good.”

The cook breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully, she had gotten through this ordeal.

"Eat quickly," Xie Yuyan urged Wang Yan, "It's getting cold, you'll be able to get some sleep after you've eaten your fill."

After daybreak, someone from the government office will surely come looking for him, and then he won't be able to rest.

Xie Yuyan sat to the side, gazing at Wang Yan, and suddenly felt an urge to tell him her secret. Not only was she from the future, but... she might have met someone she hadn't met in her previous life.

He is a very important person to her.

Xie Yuyan looked at Wang Yan: "Lend me a few people tomorrow, I have some use for them."

Wang Yan didn't ask any further questions: "Tell me who you want to borrow when you go to the yamen tomorrow."

Xie Yuyan nodded.

Wang Yan slowly finished the remaining soup in the bowl, naturally taking the opportunity to glance at A Yan a few more times.

It was Xie Yuyan who urged him to leave the courtyard and go to the second hall of the yamen to rest.

Wang Yan carried the lantern and gradually walked away.

That hazy light was like a flame burning in her heart, growing stronger with the breeze.

Perhaps it was because everything in this life was too wonderful that she wanted to make it even more perfect, which is why she went to investigate that family's background.

……

The next day, when Zhou Lanqi arrived, Xie Yuyan was enjoying the cool air in the courtyard.

Zhou Lanqi placed the food box on the table: "These are just the kinds of pastries that people in the village often eat. Please don't find them offensive, Madam."

(End of this chapter)