Nothing happened overnight. At dawn, the hired guards took their salaries for fifty copper plates and went home.

After breakfast, Luo San set off for the county seat of Dexian.

Qingshu didn't want to be a female celebrity, and she didn't want to read, so she walked around the courtyard. When I looked up, I suddenly saw a bunch of red dried chili peppers hanging on the side of the small kitchen door, and smiled. She entered the house, "Xiaoyu, Xiaojuan, we have something to do." ”

Xiaoyu and Xiaojuan, who had just picked up the needle and thread, raised their heads, "Miss, what are we going to do?" ”

Qing Shu smiled and narrowed his eyes, "Xiaoyu, you go to the kitchen and light the stove in the dining hall where the women and children eat, and it will be hot." ”

Xiaoyu agreed, put away the needle and thread, put on the hat and went out.

Qingshu then sent Xiaojuan, "You go to Su's mother, tell Su's mother, take out half of the dried chili peppers stored in the warehouse, and send them to Xiaoyu." ”

Xiaojuan also put on a hat to protect herself from the cold, and turned around when she went out, "Miss, what do you want to do with dried chili peppers?" ”

Qing Shu smiled, "Just go, there are so many questions about where it came from." So saying, she went into the inner room, opened the cupboard, and took out a black and blue cloth garment, and took off the silk garment of the finest material on which she was wearing, and put it on cloth. She hung her clothes and cloak on a wooden hanger, put on her hat and cotton gloves, closed the door and went out, ready to go to the kitchen.

When I stepped out of the inner courtyard door, I saw the ancient butler standing on one side, as if waiting for her.

Qing Shu's steps paused, "What's the matter?" ”

The ancient housekeeper replied, "Miss, the yamen just sent someone to deliver the letter, and the two masked people who were captured alive died in the night. ”

Qing Shu was taken aback, "What? ”

Steward Gu's face was not very good, and he seemed to be very angry, "The cell boss got up early to find those two lying upright on the ground. The cell boss was not at ease, so he opened the cell door and went in to look, only to find that the person was dead and the body was cold. The yamen was investigating, and the preliminary judgment was that the problem was the meal given to the two last night. How it happened will have to be checked again. ”

Qingshu looked up at the sky, the sky was clear, it was a good weather. But good weather doesn't guarantee that bad things won't happen. "No signs of a break-in?" Getting rid of the two people who were captured alive is obviously a trick of the people behind the scenes to kill people and kill people.

The ancient butler, "said that there was no trace of an intrusion." ”

Qing Shu's face sank, "Sue the Yamen, I want an explanation." ”

"Yes." Steward Gu retreated.

Qing Shu stood in place for a moment, adjusted his feelings, and then went to the kitchen. Xiaojuan heard the footsteps, came out of the dining room and picked up the thick door curtain, and Xiaoyu opened the door.

Qing Shu entered the dining room, and a warm breath came to his face. Seeing that there were already a lot of skewers of dried chili peppers on the long dinner table, her mood improved, "Go to Sanniang and get two big wooden basins." ”

Xiaojuan promised to leave.

Qing Shu said again, "Take a clean cloth bag, a small bag will be done, not too big." ”

Xiaojuan agreed and went to the kitchen next door.

Qing Shu took off his hat and cotton gloves and handed them to Xiao Yu, pulled out a wooden stool and sat down at the table, "A few days ago, did Steward Ding make a wooden hammer for Maizi to play with?" ”

Xiaoyu replied, "That's the case." ”

Qing Shu thought that he was going to grab toys from Maizi, and he didn't think it was funny, "You go and borrow the wooden hammer." ”

Xiao Yu was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly went out to borrow it.

After a while, Xiaojuan and Xu Sanniang brought two large wooden basins and empty cloth bags that could hold ten catties of rice.

Qingshu asked them to put the wooden pot on the table, then took a bunch of dried chili peppers strung with thread and put it in front of him, broke off the green roots of the dried chili peppers, left the roots on the line, and threw the dried chili peppers into the dry empty pot.

Xiao Juan stared curiously and asked, "Miss, what are you doing here?" ”

Qingshu explained while making the second chili pepper, "The root can't be used, you have to throw it away." The chili peppers are mashed, and some of the seeds are taken to make seeds, and the remaining seeds are used to fry chili oil together with the chili flakes. It's a great condiment. ”

Xiao Juan sighed, sat opposite Qing Shu, pulled another basin to her hand, and began to root the chili pepper like Qing Shu.

Xu Sanniang also sat to the side and reached out to help.

Qingshu said to Xu Sanniang while doing it, "If you have something to do in the kitchen, you can go and don't worry about us." ”

Xu Sanniang said that she had finished cleaning up and continued her work.

Qing Shu didn't say anything, just remembered something and reminded them, "This is spicy!" Now the pepper is not broken, and it is better. Wait until it's mashed, when you're spicy. So, as long as you get your hands wet, don't touch your face, don't rub your eyes, or anything like that, otherwise, it's you who will be uncomfortable. ”

Xiaojuan took a chili pepper and sniffed it, "Miss, is it really that spicy?" ”

Qing Shu smiled, "If you don't believe it, you can try." ”

Xiaojuan said bluntly that she didn't dare and continued to do things.

Su's mother came and shouted outside, "Xiaoyu, hurry up and open the door." ”

Before Xiaoyu returned, Xiaojuan stood up to open the door, and then lifted the thick curtain.

I saw that Su's mother's arms were full of strings of red peppers, and she also grabbed a lot of strings of peppers in her hands, which was very funny, and she couldn't open the door at all.

Xiao Juan couldn't help but burst out laughing.

Su's mother scolded with a smile as she walked inside, "Stinky girl, dare to laugh at Mom, I'll clean you up later." ”

Qing Shu turned around and saw Mother Su's appearance, and couldn't help but wonder, "Mother Su, you can find someone to help you get it." ”

Su's mother has her own reasons, "No one is idle, and there is no need to greet others." Besides, this thing is light, it doesn't weigh at all, and it's okay to take as much as you want. ”

Qing Shu and Xu Sanniang smiled as they stood on her side, took off all the dried chili peppers she had grabbed in her hands and hung on her arms, and piled them on the table.

Su's mother stared at the two wooden basins, "What is this for?" ”

Xiaojuan closed the door and came over, "Miss said she wanted to fry chili oil." ”

Su's mother pulled a stool and sat down, "It's just okay at hand." With that, follow them to the pepper roots. So, a few of them sat together, chatting without saying a word, while doing things non-stop.

After a while, the little fish returned, holding a wooden hammer with a short handle and about the size of a woman's fist. She put the hammer aside and said with a smile, "The slave said to borrow the hammer, but the wheat was not happy and held it and refused to give it." The slave and maid said that the young lady should use it, and the young lady should use it to make food, and Maizi happily shoved the hammer into the slave and maid's hand. ”

Qing Shu smiled, "It's all a little gluttonous cat." ”

Su's mother picked up, "It's not all what you're used to, Miss!" ”

Xu Sanniang echoed, "It's such a reason, Miss is the most accustomed to these little ones." I don't know if you can see it, but these little ones are eating more than the other now. ”

Su's mother and Xiaojuan nodded and said that they were chubby.

Qing Shu said seriously, "Children are cute when they get fat." Think about it, when you touch their little hands, they feel fleshy, soft, and comfortable! ”

While talking and laughing, two wooden basins were filled. Xu Sanniang went to the kitchen and brought two more empty basins. Qingshu took the cloth bag, filled half of the dried chili peppers in the pot into the cloth bag, and then took the pocket rope and tied the mouth of the cloth bag tightly.

Qing Shu carried the loose half bag of dried chili peppers, his eyes turned to Xiao Yu and Xiao Juan, and finally handed the cloth bag to Xiao Juan, "No, don't you want to know how spicy it is, give you a chance." Grab it. As he spoke, he pointed to the northeast corner of the dining hall, "Take a stool over there, lay it out on top of it, and spread it out." You have to take the wheat's wooden hammer and beat it gently through the cloth bag until the peppers inside are finely crushed. Go ahead! Take it and hammer it slowly! ”

Xiaojuan didn't think much about it, took the cloth bag, took a stool and went to the position pointed by Qing Shu. When she was ready, she began to hammer the dried chili peppers through the cloth bag. The dried chili peppers crumbled quickly, and the spicy flavor rushed out of the cloth bag. She sneezed a few times in a row, and after a while, she burst into tears. She stopped her hand and looked at Qing Shu pitifully, "Miss, the slave is no good, the slave has to change with Sister Xiaoyu." ”

Qing Shu pretended not to hear and turned his face to snicker. They can smell the spicy smell from a distance, not to mention Xiao Juan, who is doing a mashing task at close range!

Su's mother sighed, "It's spicy enough." ”

Xiao Juan sneezed a few more times and protested, "Miss, you can't do this. Then he changed his tone and begged, "Is it okay to let the slave and maid exchange with Sister Xiaoyu?" ”

Qing Shu was still snickering.

Xiao Yu received Xiao Juan's tearful and pitiful expression for help, hesitated, and stood up, "Miss, the slave and maid will change with her." ”

Xiaojuan was moved, "Sister Xiaoyu, you are really ...... Sneezing ...... Sneezing ...... Good. ”

Qing Shu snickered enough, and then spoke, "Okay, let's pick peppers." I'll talk about it later. ”

Su's mother thought for a while, and said, "Miss, why don't you get it to the stone mill and grind it!" It's coming this way, and it doesn't have to be like this. She pointed to Xiaojuan's miserable appearance.

Qing Shu felt reasonable, "You can try." Then he thought about it, "However, if you take it to a stone mill and grind it, the seeds may break, and there is no way to get the seeds." ”

Xu Sanniang said, "Or, break it first and take the seeds, and then take the seeds to the stone mill for grinding." ”

Qing Shu nodded, "Yes." Na Cheng, you pick the roots, I take the seeds. Then he smiled and instructed Xiao Juan, "Go get a small basin, a basin to dry." Take another dry cloth. When you go out and see the wind, you won't feel bad for a while. ”

When Xiaojuan came back with her things, Qing Shu moved her position and sat in the farthest position from them. She put the small pot in front of her, then took the relatively large dried peppers from the large pot, wrapped them in a dry cloth and broke them one by one, shook the seeds into the small pot, and collected the seeds little by little.

But after a quarter of an hour's work, everyone in the room tended to have a little teary-eyed. Sneezing, sneezing...... Qingshu also began to sneeze.

Maizi, Shengge, and Zhou Xing ran into the kitchen with their little short legs, and the little girl followed behind and kept telling them to run slowly. Behind is Xu Wuniang, holding a needlework basket in her hand.

Maizi, Shengge, and Zhou Xing got under the thick curtain and pushed the door open into the dining room.

When Xiaoya came over, and was about to open the curtain of the thick door, Maizi, Shengge and Zhou Xing rushed out of the house with a scream, and skewered into Xiaoya, causing Xiaoya to sit on the ground.

The laughter of Qingshu and their children could be heard in the room.

Xu Wuniang, who was walking unhurriedly, hurriedly came over, helped the little girl and them up one by one, and asked if there was any pain in the fall.

Mai Zi, Sheng Ge and Zhou Xing raised their little faces and stared at Xu Wuniang with teary eyes, "Eyes, it hurts." ”

Xu Wuniang was stunned, this is a very painful fall, or why would you cry? However, I didn't fall on my eyes, what did my eyes hurt? Xiaoyu came out of the house and asked in a whisper, "Are they okay?" ”

A choking smell rushed out of the open door, Xu Wuniang took two steps back, "This, what kind of smell is this?" Why are you so choking? ”

Maizi complained again, "My eyes hurt." ”

There was another laugh in the room.

After figuring out what was going on, Xu Wuniang didn't dare to go in, and took Xiaoya and Maizi and they left quickly.

It was too spicy, and Qingshu didn't last long, and finally gave up this method of taking seeds. She took everyone to call it a day and decided to continue tomorrow.

On the second day, Qingshu changed his mind, and everyone sat around to remove the root and no longer take the seeds. When half of the dried chili peppers were removed from the roots, everyone packed the dried chili peppers into five cloth bags and threw them on the covered carts.

Qing Shu put on warm clothes, took Xiaojuan and Guan Pozi, took six guards, and rushed to Zhuangzi.

There is a big stone mill on Zhuangzi, and the coarse grains and white noodles eaten in Zhuangzi and the house are all ground on this stone mill, and only the white rice is bought from the rice shop. Naturally, if there is not enough wheat to eat in their own fields, they will still buy it from the rice shop outside.

The stone mill on the Zhuangzi is not open-air, it is housed in an empty house. In order to allow the air to circulate, Qing Shu asked the window to be opened. In this way, everyone will not be choked with tears.

Steward Wu took the small broom used on the stone mill, swept the table of the stone mill, carried a cloth bag and asked, "Miss, how much do you want to pour?" ”

Qing Shu looked at the big stone mill and said, "One bag is grinded three times!" "The whole dried chili pepper takes up a lot of space, and when it is ground, it will become very small.

Steward Wu opened the opening of the cloth bag, poured out a third of it, and then spread the dried chili peppers on the stone mill. He walked over and grabbed the handle of the stone roller on top and pushed it slowly.

After he pushed three times, Qing Shu called a stop, stepped forward and pulled a few dried chili peppers that began to crumble with a branch, "Let's go a few more laps and see." ”

Steward Wu pushed and grinded a few more laps.

Qing Shu took the branch and looked at it again, and said with a smile, "It's okay, take the seeds first." When the seed has been taken, try to grind it as finely as possible. ”

Xiaojuan took the sieve and waited. A woman in the Zhuangzi used a small broom to sweep aside the large pieces of dried chili peppers on the stone grinding table, making room for it.

Xiaojuan put the sieve in the empty space, and the woman took some crumbled dried chili peppers in a dustpan and poured them into the sieve. Xiaojuan began to sift gently, and the seeds of the peppers came out of the sieve holes and landed on the stone grinding table. After sifting several times, most of the seeds were obtained. Guan Pozi took the small cloth bag prepared in advance and put away the seeds. At this time, Zhang Da came over and pushed the mill with Steward Wu, while the woman followed behind them, and kept sweeping the chili peppers that were being ground with a broom.

Use a stone mill to pound faster than hand, wait until the pepper foam is fine enough, sweep it to one place, put it in a dustpan, and pour it into a large jar prepared in advance.

Qing Shu stepped forward to take a look, and sure enough, when it was finely ground, the remaining half of the seeds in it were also broken.

In this way, there was a delay of two hours on the Zhuangzi, which not only collected the pepper seeds, but also ground the pepper flakes.

Qingshu asked the kitchen to bring a small jar of two catties, filled most of the jar with chili flakes, and then followed him to the kitchen and heated some oil by himself. When the oil is hot and about to smoke, pour the oil into the jar of chili flakes. With a snort, the hot oil was poured on the chili flakes, and the spicy smell of the chili peppers rushed out and floated all over the kitchen.

Xiaojuan sniffed, "Miss, it's so fragrant." ”

Qingshu wiped her hands and told the woman in the kitchen, "This is a condiment for cooking, it's very spicy." If you like spicy food, you can also put some when eating noodles. I'll leave it to you. ”

When Qingshu returned with the ground chili flakes, the house was preparing to make dinner. With a mischievous mentality, Qing Shu told the kitchen that the staple food tonight was noodles, and the main dish was spicy cabbage. Xu Sanniang didn't know what spicy cabbage was, so Qingshu said that she was in charge of this dish.

When dinner was served, Mr. Lu stared at the noodle bowl in front of him, staring at the suspicious red floating on the noodle bowl, "What kind of noodle is this?" ”

Lu Niangzi asked Sheng Ge to sit down, served Sheng Ge a small half bowl of white rice, and replied without raising her head, "Miss Today cooked, made a dish called spicy cabbage, and cooked special shredded pork noodles." I said I wanted to give you a try, and I just sent someone to send it. "Since Mr. Lu married Liu Biyan and came back, it didn't take long for Qingshu to let them cook and eat in the yard. Therefore, if there are no major events or special circumstances in the house, the meals of their family of three are made separately, and Mrs. Lu makes them herself.

Mr. Lu took chopsticks, picked the noodles, and lowered his head to eat the noodles. After eating the noodles, he quickly changed his face and turned his face to cough violently.

Lu Niangzi was startled, "What's wrong?" What's wrong? ”

Sheng Ge also stared at his father who was already blushing and thick-necked.

When the cough was enough, Mr. Lu scolded angrily, "Qingshu, this girl is making it bad again, do you still want to kill Mr.?" Then he stared at the suspiciously spicy cabbage that was just as red, "There must be something wrong with this dish." ”

Mrs. Lu looked at Mr. Lu suspiciously, and took a piece of spicy cabbage and sent it to her mouth. After that, she immediately widened her eyes, hissed spicy, and ran to the side to pick up the tea bowl and drink water.

Sheng Ge felt that his father and mother were strange, and stretched out the small chopsticks he used to grab spicy cabbage. When Mr. Lu saw it, he immediately blocked it with his hand, "Son, son, we can't eat this." "If you eat it, you'll die.

On the other side, in the snack room in Qingshu Courtyard, Qingyang and Luo Xiaorong were all there. Qing Shu gave each of them a bowl of shredded pork noodles, and then sprinkled a little fried chili oil on each noodle bowl, "Eat!" It's a little spicy, but it's delicious. ”

So Qingyang and the four of them began to eat noodles. It was the first time they had eaten spicy food, and although Qingshu gave it less, everyone hissed spicy. However, they seemed to like the taste very much, and no one said they wouldn't eat it, and they were happy to eat it with the dishes on the table.

Qing Shu saw that they liked to eat, smiled happily and squinted, and kept eating spicy cabbage while eating noodles.

Seeing her eating cabbage vigorously, Hao stretched out her hand to clip it. By the time Qing Shu raised his head, it was too late to stop it, because Hao had already eaten, and his fair little face turned red.

Probably children have the courage to try! Ming Minghao's miserable appearance was in front of him, and Qingyang and they were not afraid of death and tasted the taste of cabbage. The results speak for themselves, and they all stick out their tongues and shout for help.

Qing Shu saw it and laughed loudly.

It was not only them who were cleaned by Qingshu's chili oil, but also the ancient housekeeper, Du Zhongxia, and Luo San, who came back from the bottom of the matter.

However, although the whole person succeeded, but later, Qing Shu really regretted it. Because Mr. Lu and Luo San fell in love with the taste of chili oil, they always shouted to bring the chili oil when they ate, which was to the point of no spicy or unhappy.

It seemed that two days had passed peacefully, but that night, two suspicious black shadows appeared in the county seat of Dexian County, they moved quickly, and silently crossed many roofs, and finally landed on the roof of the largest silk village in Dexian County.

They work together seamlessly. This action, that cover. That action, this cover. They went into the backyard of the shop and smoked the sleeping guys, who couldn't wake up until dawn. After that, one stood guard on the roof, and the other went to open the back door of the shop.

Outside the back door, stood two men who were also dressed in black. Behind them, a horse-drawn cart was parked. The man who opened the door waved his hand, and the two men quickly entered the courtyard. Horse after horse of all kinds of fine material was removed from the shop and storeroom and loaded onto the cart. In case of falling, this board is fenced in advance. With a fence, not only can it prevent it from falling, but it can also be stacked high and loaded.

When the cart couldn't fit anymore, the two men in black drove away. Because the horses' hooves were wrapped with thick cloth in advance, and the wheels were also covered with a layer of coarse cloth, the carriage walked in the dark without the sound of horses' hooves or wheels.