Miao Chu

Chapter 371 Generous
The old lady lowered her head and thought for a moment before saying, "I have received the young lady's letter. This matter does sound troublesome. I will try to persuade her properly when the time comes."

She paused, then added, "But I'm just a mother, I can't make decisions for my son—when he comes back, I can only pass on the message. What he does then, whether he listens or not, is up to him."

As they were talking, Liu came out from behind.

Song Miao changed the subject, asking about the old lady's health, what doctor she had recently seen, what medicine she was taking, and whether Liu's diet was good. She also mentioned a few seasonal recipes for pregnant women that she knew.

Speaking of her daughter-in-law's diet, the old lady sighed and said, "I don't know why, this pregnancy has been very troublesome. She has little appetite all day long. The kitchen keeps bringing out spicy and sour dishes to cook. After eating them a couple of times, she doesn't want to eat them anymore just from the smell."

Liu said with a smile, "I'm feeling better these past two days—I've been craving more sour foods these past two days."

She pointed to the food box that Song Miao had brought and said, "The sour jujube cake that you sent is just right. I have always loved sweet and sour food. I used to really like hawthorn cake, but now that I'm pregnant, everyone says that I shouldn't eat hawthorn. I don't know if that's true or not, so I don't dare to eat it. With this, I can at least have something to eat to calm my stomach when I feel nauseous."

After exchanging pleasantries, someone brought out a return gift.

Song Miao accepted the gift without hesitation, thanked the gift, and then took her leave.

As soon as she left, in the Cao residence, the old lady took out the letter, placed it on the table, pointed at it, and then relayed Song Miao's words to her daughter-in-law before asking, "Now that you know, what are your thoughts?"

Liu said, “If Mother asks me what I mean, I only know that warriors use swords and scholars use pens. As an imperial censor, if he sees a great villain and does not step forward to impeach and denounce him, how can he have the face to receive a salary? He does his job, and the outcome is up to fate. Even if he is eventually punished, which official who is a proper censor has not been demoted or punished?”

He added, "If the banishment is truly too far and too remote, Mother is getting old and it's not good for her to travel so much..."

"What's there to be afraid of! I'm perfectly healthy!" The old lady waved her hand. "But you're pregnant. I'm thinking that if things really come to that, it would be better if we stayed in the capital. I've been through this before, and I can take a look at you and let him go to take up his post himself."

After discussing it for a while, Liu, who was pregnant, decided to go back to her room first because she was tired.

After her daughter-in-law left, the old lady couldn't help but sigh.

Although what I just said was not a lie, who really wanted their son to be punished for his words and be demoted?

Besides, the daughter-in-law is pregnant. Childbirth is always a life-threatening experience. If the mother is worried and anxious, she might feel unwell, which could affect the baby in her womb...

The old lady unconsciously glanced at the letter on the table again.

She thought about it again and again, but ultimately didn't do anything.

Next to the letter is the food box.

She opened the food box and saw small rolls inside. She remembered that this was the "sour jujube cake" that the young lady Song had mentioned earlier. She took out a small roll, tore off a piece, and tasted it.

Upon tasting, it has a very strong sour taste, but the sourness is not sharp at all; it is mellow and gentle, just the pure fruity flavor of jujube.

The sourness isn't just a fleeting moment, but lingers for a long time. However, after chewing a few more times, the sweetness emerges gently, intertwining with the sourness in a sweet and intimate way.

Because it was a proper gift, in addition to maltose, Song Miao also lavishly added a lot of rock sugar to make the sweetness clearer and cleaner. After chewing a couple more times, the sour and sweet flavors intertwined, and the acidity and sweetness were well balanced, making people's mouths water the more they ate.

This small, appetizing bite, which cut through the richness, made the old lady momentarily forget what she had been worrying about earlier.

After finally swallowing the sour jujube cake, the intensely sour and sweet taste lingered in her mouth. But then, her gaze shifted and she saw the letter again. She couldn't help but sigh deeply, feeling as if the sourness and sweetness in her mouth had faded, and a slight bitterness had begun to rise from the back of her tongue.

The old lady sat for a while before calling over a nanny. Pointing to the jujube cake, she said, "Pack out a small box, and send the rest to the east wing. It's so worrying to see her having morning sickness all the time."

The old woman agreed and indeed brought over a small box, taking out a small portion of the jujube cake and sending the rest to Liu.

When Zhongcao arrived home in the afternoon, he did not rush back to the east wing, but went straight to the old lady's room.

He entered and greeted his mother, then hesitated for a moment before saying, "Mother... I have something to report. I've submitted a memorial to His Majesty several times, but he has always kept it in the archives without issuing a reply. I've already spoken with several colleagues, and we'll first request permission to submit it to the court tomorrow. If that doesn't work, we'll all go to the Imperial Secretariat the day after tomorrow. If that still doesn't work, I'll have to submit myself to the Emperor..."

The court audience was a meeting between the censors and the emperor. The attendants were dismissed and only the censors and the emperor remained in the hall. Even the historians were not allowed to be present. It seemed to be a very secretive event, but the phrase "I request a court audience" was enough to make a big fuss. Who could not guess what was going on?

Later, the so-called "joint impeachment" meant that all the censors and remonstrance officials of the Censorate would advance and retreat together, and impeach someone together.

If that fails, and they go to the palace again, all avenues for expressing opinions will be blocked, and the officials will have no choice but to stand outside the palace and petition the emperor face to face.

Since the founding of the Great Wei Dynasty, there has only been one instance of someone being forced to submit to the emperor's orders; almost every official who offered advice at that time was demoted or punished.

As Imperial Censor Cao was speaking, fearing his mother would find it difficult to accept, he was about to explain when he heard the old lady opposite him ask, "Was it the matter of the people from the Prince of Lu's mansion going to the capital's government office and asking them to release a suspect?"

Imperial Censor Cao was about to continue speaking when he heard this, and he was taken aback, asking, "How did Mother know?"

He added, "This is the case, but there are many other matters that are closely related to this one."

The old lady handed over the letter beside her, sighed, and said, "How come I didn't know—that Miss Song came today."

As she spoke, she pointed to several food boxes that had not yet been put away and said, "She sent a lot of food over and asked me to tell you some things, but they were all nonsense telling you not to care. I won't do them. If you do them, you'll be a spineless coward with no backbone."

“I gave birth to you and raised you, not to raise a useless person. Now that you have made up your mind, I won’t fuss about the court’s affairs. I’ve already discussed it with your wife. If there is a day when you are demoted, you go first. The two of us will stay in the capital with the child. After the youngest child is born and grows up, we can discuss the rest in detail.”

Seeing his mother assigning tasks one by one without needing any explanation or persuasion, and hearing that his wife also had her own ideas, making him appear hesitant and timid, Imperial Censor Cao breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly said, "It's not necessarily going to come to the point of being forced to leave! I know I have elderly parents and young children to support, so I will be very careful in my actions." The old lady snorted and said, "Your father once gave me a coconut carving, and I've even tasted coconut wine. If I really end up in Qiongzhou, I'll just have to accept my fate and let my mother taste what a real coconut tastes like."

She said a few more words before dismissing him, saying, "Go see your wife—she says she's not afraid, but she's definitely worried."

Imperial Censor Cao responded, stood up and walked out. After taking only a few steps, as his mind relaxed, a thought suddenly popped into his head.

He pressed for a moment, but couldn't hold on any longer. He turned around and asked, "Mother, you said that Miss Song sent over a lot of food—but I don't know what she sent? Where is it?"

On one side, Imperial Censor Cao was thinking about the food that Lady Song had brought, while on the other side, Song Miao left the Cao family's residence and, instead of rushing back, went around to the shop that sold cow and sheep milk and asked the shopkeeper if they had any yogurt extract.

Because she asked for a large quantity, the shopkeeper was confused at first and said, "We do have some, but we only give out a little and then throw some away. There's not much left. To make up the amount you want, you'll have to wait another two days—what does the young lady need it for?"

“I used it to make sour soup.” Song Miao recalled and gestured as she said, “I’ve had it a few times before. My family used the yogurt from making sour cream as a base to make a sour soup. The soup was sour and very appetizing. I suddenly remembered it today and decided to try making it myself.”

The shop owner also became curious and said, "This is the first time I've heard of doing it this way. I'll try it myself another day."

He also said that once he had saved enough in a few days, he would send it to the restaurant along with the goat milk he usually delivered.

When Song Miao asked the price, the shopkeeper laughed and said, "These used to be leftovers. They weren't sour enough, unless you added sugar. Who would want to drink them? I'm giving them to you, young lady!"

He added, “Your restaurant has been taking care of my business for so long, and I’ve never had to worry about it. Not only do you ask for goat milk every day, but you used to buy cow milk by the bucketful. I must be out of my mind to charge such a generous customer!”

At this point, she couldn't help but ask again, "That young master—the one who came to collect goat's milk every day—hasn't come for many days. Why hasn't he come?"

The sudden question startled Song Miao, and after a moment, she replied, "Is this Young Master Han? He went to another state on official business. Is there anything you need to see him about?"

He then asked, "Is it because we don't have enough money for goat milk?"

"No, no," the shopkeeper hurriedly waved his hand with a smile. "He left some money in his account before he left, enough to last him a year or two. I'm just asking for no reason, I don't even know if he'll ever come back."

He added, “He once asked me about a food called something called milk tablets. He wanted to buy some and told me to let him know when I found it. At that time, I didn’t know what milk tablets were. He said he would find someone to inquire about it and send a message to me once he got the recipe.”

"Actually, after hearing what he said, I took it quite seriously. Lately, I've been asking around and finally found two prescriptions. I was just about to compare which one to use when someone actually came to deliver a letter the other day, also giving me a prescription, saying that Young Master Han had asked someone to find it for him..."

"He's not here right now. After those breast implants are made, they'll be sent to your wife's place. Do you want to take a look and see which one to use, or if you want to change it? Once you've chosen one, if you don't want to change it, I'll make it according to the instructions."

Upon hearing the words "milk tablets," Song Miao paused for a moment. After receiving the recipes and scanning the instructions, she read them twice before she could fully grasp the content, even though the instructions were clearly written in black and white.

She could hardly help but recall the day when the other party brought a bag of goat milk to her door.

The weather was still hot at the time. The two stood at the door chatting and talked about their daily lives. He mentioned that meals were provided on the riverbank outside the city, including porridge. The porridge was quite thick, and although it wasn't very tasty, it was still a rare treat. Song Miao then casually mentioned a type of milk tablet she had eaten when she was a child.

The milk slices are slightly salty, and they taste especially good when sandwiched in steamed buns. But the most interesting thing is that they are used to cook porridge—putting a few slices into white porridge will give it a faint milky aroma.

Song Miao has never been used to eating cow's milk, but if she uses milk tablets, she can eat milk tablet porridge without any problems.

The two chatted about the milk tablets for a while. Song Miao even remarked that she had only seen and eaten them by chance when she was a child, and she didn't know where her family had found them. She hadn't seen them for a long time now.

He only shared his regret at the time, and said that he would go out and look for it in the future, and if he found it, he would bring it back.

Song Miao replied that even if he had one, he couldn't bring it back because it couldn't be kept for long, and that even if he saw it, he shouldn't waste his time.

Who would have thought that the recipe for milk tablets would be right here waiting for us?

Song Miao calmed herself down and carefully read the words on the recipe into her mind before taking out one of them and saying, "Let's use this one first. There's nothing to change in the recipe. I'll trouble the shopkeeper. It's only the first time, so there's no need to make too much. I'll just try it out first."

Since she came to the door at that time, she took the day's goat milk with her.

The shopkeeper was very polite and specially gave Song Miao a bamboo tube of yogurt. He saw her off several steps from the door and waited until she got on the mule cart before returning to the shop.

Just then, her old mother came out from behind and followed her out to take a look. After seeing the mule cart drive away, she asked, "Was that the young lady from Song's shop in Suanzao Lane?"

The shopkeeper responded and took out the recipe that Song Miao had chosen, saying, "Then Miss Song said to use this recipe—one spoonful of salt. Mother, let's find some time these next few days and try making it."

Her mother, without a word, took a few steps forward, looked in the direction the mule cart had gone, and couldn't help but ask again, "Why do we never see the two of them going in and out together—have they not returned yet, or are they just waiting for something? The milk and goat milk have been delivered here for so long, and we went to great lengths to find the recipe..."

The shopkeeper spat at her mother and said, "Hey, what do you know? At times like these, the longer the delivery goes on, the better—don't tell anyone about the customer!"

The old woman spat back at her, saying, "Do you think I'm a pig brain?!"

He added, "Besides, I see that he's very open and generous, while you're being overly cautious!"

As the shopkeeper selling cow and sheep milk walked back and forth, Song Miao rode in a mule cart all the way to Suanzao Lane.

She sat in the car, listening to the various hawking noises and voices outside, but paid no attention to them, focusing instead on carefully considering the matter in her mind.

(End of this chapter)