Zhao Wei sent Zhao Qixuan away, and when he returned to the inner courtyard to go to the room, Zhao Xiu was accompanying Zhang's to pick garlic cloves.

When Zhang saw him coming, he asked, "Is Qixuan coming?" But something happened to Ze Ge'er? She has already heard her grandson say that she is entrusting Zhao Qixuan to take care of the injured Zhao Ze, firstly, to prevent the Jiannan Hou Mansion from having a relationship with Zhao Ze, who is out of the clan, to prevent Zhao Yan of the Niu clan from climbing up the pole, and secondly, because he can trust Zhao Qixuan. She didn't object, she just heard that Zhao Qixuan came to the door, and she was a little worried that there was something wrong with Zhao Ze, so she just wanted to ask.

Zhao Wei didn't plan to confess to his grandmother now, so he smiled and said, "Zhao Ze is much better, grandmother doesn't have to worry." I asked Brother Qixuan to call Lao Zhangtou and them to lie to the Niu family, saying that Zhao Ze was so injured that he couldn't get out of bed and couldn't go to see her, and she didn't force Zhao Ze to do anything anymore. I also told Lao Zhangtou that if the Niu family sent someone to call Zhao Ze again, it was not allowed to reach Zhao Ze's ears, and if it was difficult for someone to come, he would ask the guys in the shop to drive people away. ”

Zhang was quite satisfied with this, recited the Buddha, and sighed: "It's not good to drive people away, in the end, it is the person sent by Zege'er's grandmother, and he is good at persuading people to leave." ”

Zhao Wei was noncommittal, and in order to change the topic, he asked his sister who was busy with some curiosity: "What is this doing?" ”

"Pick garlic, prepare to pickle garlic tomorrow." Zhao Xiu said with a somewhat complaining tone, "Grandmother said that this is a common practice in the family every year when my grandfather was still alive. Porridge is only eaten on this day, but garlic can be eaten until the beginning of spring, and my grandfather loved to eat this with noodles. Since his death. The family hadn't done this for ten years, but my grandmother suddenly became interested, saying that everything should be done according to the old rules. She wouldn't let me leave it to the kitchen man. He said that he would pick the garlic with his own hands and pickle it by himself. I accompanied my grandmother to pick garlic cloves here for a long time, and my whole body smelled of garlic. ”

Zhang's attention was immediately diverted, and he glanced at his granddaughter with a smile: "It's just some garlic flavor, what's this?" When Emperor Taizu was still there, every time he arrived in Laba, whose daughters didn't smell of garlic all over their bodies? Laba pickled laba garlic. This is a custom left over from the founding of the country. The royal family of the capital, the official eunuch family, the civil and military generals, all do it, and they also take their own pickled garlic as a gift in the first month. Then. If anyone's pickled garlic is good, it is a face-saving matter, and even Emperor Taizu will praise it. However, after Emperor Taizu went, this old custom was gradually rarely mentioned. Nowadays, I don't know how much people in Beijing still retain this custom. We are the old home of the honorables. It is also common sense to revisit the old precedents of the early years. If you turn around and pickle it well, you can also use it to send it to our friends in the New Year. ”

Zhao Wei thought for a while: "In this way, when I was young, it seems that I did eat this thing during the Chinese New Year. Early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, my grandfather got up for breakfast, and thought that he was greasy the night before, so he asked the kitchen to make noodle soup. I can eat it with garlic, and I can eat a big bowl. I remember that the garlic was emerald green after it was marinated. Grandfather also said. Our garlic has a secret recipe, and other families can't compare to it, even Emperor Taizu has praised it for being delicious. ”

Zhang smiled: "Do you remember what happened so long ago?" Our family does have a secret recipe, which was left behind by Mrs. Qin when she was alive. At that time, she had pickled garlic and sent it to the palace for Emperor Taizu's Empress Yuan's mother, saying that it was appetizing, and Emperor Taizu had also eaten it, and she also played tricks to ask her for a prescription, but she refused. The formula for replenishing the body, Mrs. Qin used it for your aunt to marry, saying that the woman has excellent physical conditioning. ”

Zhao Xiu smiled when he heard this: "So, if the palace also makes laba garlic, it is very likely to have the same taste as our pickled one?" ”

"Not necessarily." Zhang smiled and said, "There are also recipes in the palace, which are handed down by Emperor Taizu's family, which are a little different from ours, but the taste is also very good." I heard that Emperor Taizu liked spicy taste, so the laba garlic produced in the imperial dining room in the palace was spicier than the outside. ”

Zhao Xiu felt a little surprised: "I heard that this thing is the flavor of the north, isn't Emperor Taizu from Jiading?" Why does his family have a family secret recipe for laba garlic? ”

Zhang smiled: "Who knows? In fact, I have also seen Emperor Taizu, and I have heard more about him, I think he is not so much like a person from the south, but more like a man from the north, his taste preferences are very different from those of us there, he likes salty, fresh and spicy, but he is the most impatient with sweet and sour things. At that time, every New Year's Festival, there was a banquet in the palace, and the things on the banquet did not have a Shanghai flavor. There are also old princes in the clan who complained that the dishes were not palatable, saying that since Emperor Taizu became the emperor, even his taste has changed, and he does not take into account the preferences of the elders. This is very different from the time of the first emperor, I heard that the first emperor preferred sweet and sour soft and glutinous tastes. Before your grandfather died, I also participated in two palace banquets, and almost all the dishes at the banquet were famous dishes from the south of the Yangtze River, and the old people of the clan were very satisfied. At that time, the royal family of the clan could be said to be full of praise for the first emperor, praising him for being more generous and kind than Emperor Taizu. ”

Speaking of this, Zhang couldn't help but sigh. At that time, no one thought that the forgiveness of the first emperor might not be a good thing. Emperor Taizu was tough, but there was never any chaos underneath. The first emperor was lenient and peaceful, but during his reign, the court was full of miasma, the relatives were powerful, the clan rebelled, and the military would be suppressed. I don't know if Emperor Taizu was hesitant to make his eldest son the prince because he saw the drawbacks. But then again, Emperor Taizu also said that the first emperor loved sweet glutinous and must have a soft and glutinous personality because of his different tastes, can such a man support a country. It's just a preference for food taste, how can you judge a person's personality? King Ying is not necessarily very smart and capable. Emperor Taizu was affected by the slanderous rumors of Concubine Guo Shu and King Ying at that time, right? If it weren't for his favor for many years, how could King Ying have the courage to do something rebellious?

Zhang shook his head secretly and sighed, but Zhao Xiu had another guess in his heart, if Emperor Taizu really crossed his predecessors, his dietary preferences did not match the original body. It can be explained. It is said that the first emperor was born to him and Yuan Pei, and when he raised an army to resist the Qing Dynasty, his eldest son was born for many years. King Ying was born after he ascended the throne and became emperor. If Emperor Taizu traveled through his predecessors, and he only crossed after the birth of his eldest son, he probably thought that the later King Ying was his biological son, right? However, Taizu did not choose King Ying as the prince in the end, but made the eldest son of the predecessor as the crown prince, and I don't know what the considerations were. But in any case, the first emperor and King Ying are actually half a catty. No one is better than anyone else, and they are too far behind their father, Emperor Taizu probably felt very disappointed back then, right?

Of course. This kind of thing will only be clear to the person concerned. Zhao Xiu just made up for it casually, and quickly left it behind.

She asked Zhang, "Grandmother, when we lived in our hometown before, it seems that we never heard you talk about pickling garlic." Why is that? Do you pickle a lot of side dishes at home every year? ”

Zhang said: "The south eats this from time to time. I don't like it very much, it's your grandfather who likes it, and I only take people to pickle it every year. In the first few years when I went back, there were a lot of things at home, and the two of you were small, who would eat the pickled garlic? That is, I have returned to the capital this year, Laba is approaching, and I am going to boil porridge again. That's when I remembered it. Back then, garlic and rice beans for porridge were always prepared together. She was in a trance: "Every time Laba is coming, your grandfather urges you to pickle garlic." In fact, he didn't like to eat this bite when he was young, and later he followed Emperor Taizu to fight everywhere, and he was used to eating, and he panicked when he didn't eat it for a long time. ”

She remembered how the couple got along back then, smiled knowingly, and said to her grandchildren: "When the Chinese New Year comes, put a plate of pickled garlic and send it to your grandfather's spiritual throne to offer." He hasn't eaten this thing for many years under Jiuquan, but I'm afraid that he has already been hungry. ”

Zhao Wei agreed with a smile, and Zhao Xiu said, "Do we have to wait until tomorrow to start pickling garlic?" Why not start pickling today? Then we can make offerings to my grandfather's spirit earlier. Besides, you and your brother are talking so interestingly, I can't wait to taste the taste of laba garlic pickled in our family's secret recipe. ”

Zhang said with a smile: "Even if you pickle it today, you can't open the altar until Chinese New Year's Eve, how can you eat it immediately?" Don't make trouble, hurry up and pick the garlic for me, don't mix the bad ones in it. ”

Zhao Xiu stuck out her tongue and continued to pick out the garlic cloves sent from the kitchen for her, the garlic cloves in the wooden basin were all peeled by the kitchen today, and some garlic clothes were mixed in it, Zhang asked her to choose one of them that was clean and white, complete and beautiful in appearance, picked out and thrown into another big white porcelain bowl, ready to pickle eight garlic tomorrow. She has been picking for a long time, and she has already picked two large bowls, this is the third bowl, and I really don't know when I will be able to pick the head.

has a granddaughter to do her work, Zhang's hands are empty, and it just so happens that Lu's mother came to report that the vinegar has been bought, which is the one she patronized back then. Zhang's was overjoyed and hurriedly said: "Ask someone to pour some and send them up, I'll taste it and see if it's different compared with that year?" He smiled and said to his grandson: "Brother Wei, try it too, you also ate laba garlic when you were a child, do you remember the taste?" ”

Zhao Wei was a little uneasy, looked at his sister, Zhao Xiu made a grimace at him: "Very good, brother, I help my grandmother pick garlic, you help grandmother pickle garlic, right?" ”

Zhao Wei bared his teeth at her and whispered, "Shut up." Don't let Grandmother hear! Zhao Xiu grinned, touched the clothes on his body with his hand, and immediately dyed him with a garlic smell. Zhao Wei hurriedly took two steps back, looked at his grandmother checking the third bowl of garlic cloves that Zhao Xiu had just picked, didn't pay attention to them, and quickly reached out and pinched his sister's nose. Zhao Xiu smiled and dodged.

When Zhang raised his head, he saw the scene of the brother and sister fighting, and said, "How old are they, and they still look like children." Brother Wei, you are an elder brother, and you are a Hou Ye, why do you still play with your sister? ”

Zhao Wei touched his head in disdain, bowed his head and said nothing. Zhao Xiu saw her grandmother's stern look, for fear that she would continue to teach her brother, so she hurriedly said: "Grandmother, Wang Fu is here, I don't know what is going on?" ”

Zhang was stunned and looked at the door, and it happened that Wang Fulai walked through the verandah in front of the glass window and came to the door to ask for a meeting. She called him in and asked, only to know that it was the Guangping Wangfu who handed over the post: "The prince and the prince entered the city early this morning, and this time the son went to the palace to ask the queen mother to go to the palace, and asked someone to deliver a letter to our Hou Mansion, and some fresh vegetables and fruits, saying that they were planted on the Zhuangzi, remembering that the old lady loved to eat when she was in the Zhuangzi before, and she also sent it with the post." ”

Zhang was happy again, and sighed again: "The prince is so polite, you thank me for my good life, the people who sent things over, each of the leaders has a first-class seal, and each person who runs errands with the car has a second-class seal, politely invite them to have a glass of wine, warm up and then leave." ”

Wang Fulai took the order and left. Zhang smiled and said to Zhao Wei: "I started talking about it a few days ago, and the prince is almost time to come back, but I don't know which day it will come, I only went to the palace yesterday and asked that I haven't come back yet, and I was trying to send someone to go today, but I didn't think they had arrived." ”

Zhao Wei smiled: "Grandson will reply to the post in a while." If it was early for the prince and the prince to return from the palace today, the grandson would rush over to meet him before dark. ”

Zhang nodded: "That's good, if it's too late, forget it." Tomorrow morning, if you go over to greet the prince, it's the same. ”

When they were talking, Zhao Xiu was listening to the explanation, thinking that Gao Zhen had also returned to the capital, he couldn't hold back in his heart, and he couldn't wait to go over to talk to him tomorrow. In contrast, the invitations of the girls of the Fang family to the poetry meeting have become overshadowed. (To be continued......)

PS: Update late...... Cover my face, I admit that it was because it was cold, so I was lazy......