The Happy Farmer Wanderer-Chapter 739: The Domineering Princess Consort_1
Jing Yan brought back a large pile of pots and jars from the Underground Palace, so many that they filled the entire table.
Half an hour before Jing Yan returned, Li Qing, who had just finished with Zi Ling, looked at Jing Yan in shock, "Yan’er, do you plan to feed all of these to my sister-in-law? Isn’t that a bit too much?"
"Of course not, these are all for my husband," Jing Yan said with a smile.
"For... for me?!" Li Qing was even more bewildered; he had no idea what these were for, and the quantity seemed excessively large.
He had previously scavenged those elixirs with Shisan in the Underground Palace, which excited him for a long time, and he spent several nights sleepless, daydreaming about those items.
But now that Jing Yan had laid this mountainous treasure before him, he couldn’t muster any excitement.
He even felt like he was being kept, a feeling that was quite nice, but perhaps due to his straight male psyche, he found it somewhat awkward, like savoring gourmet delicacies but skipping out on the bill even though he was supposed to be the host.
With a gentle and faint smile on her face, Jing Yan spoke softly, "These elixirs have been carefully selected for my husband. There are those that enhance cultivation, aid enlightenment, and others for healing wounds and detoxifying—in short, I managed to collect about this many."
"Isn’t this a bit too much..." Li Qing said with a wry smile.
Jing Yan shook her head earnestly, "Not at all, I only chose some of the most commonly used ones with better effects. My husband often faces dangers, and his strength is temporarily low, so these things will all come in handy. Besides, not each type has just one bottle—there aren’t actually that many different kinds." 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
With a wry smile, Li Qing rubbed his face, "Alright, that really hit a soft spot for me."
"Since you’ve already brought them, Yan’er, it seems somewhat inappropriate not to accept them," Li Qing said with a smile.
Although doing so actually made him feel quite awkward.
"What’s mine is my husband’s, after all. If my husband needs something, he need only ask," Jing Yan said softly.
"That’s not quite how it should be. Aren’t you worried I might empty out your personal stash in one go? For such matters, you should tell me first. It’s okay to help me out with my troubles, but there’s really no need to give me everything all at once," Li Qing said gently.
Jing Yan nodded slightly, "Alright husband, I will speak to you first in the future before giving you everything all at once."
Li Qing: ...
He casually picked up a bottle of elixir from the table and took a closer look, only to find that Jing Yan had even written detailed instructions on it.
Though she had been very meticulous, her graceful and unrestrained ancient script was a bit challenging for Li Qing’s mind. He didn’t recognize many of the characters and could only guess the overall meaning.
If it were anything else it would be fine, but this was elixir—making a small mistake could lead to large errors, so it was no joking matter.
Li Qing had no choice but to say, "Yan’er, why don’t you tell me how to use these elixirs, and I will take notes myself. Although you have written it clearly, you tend to overestimate my abilities—I don’t recognize many of the characters."
Jing Yan’s expression shifted slightly as she spoke with a hint of self-reproach, "It is my fault. I had forgotten about this."
"The bottle in my husband’s hand is also a Revitalizing Pill. However, this pill is not used like the typical Revitalizing Pill; it was modified by a master elixir maker. It mainly addresses internal injuries and has a general effect on healing external wounds..."
Jing Yan started to explain each of the elixirs in great detail to Li Qing.
Li Qing picked up the pen and added some explanations and notes on how to use the item beside it.
Before he knew it, it was midday.
The lunch was extremely sumptuous. In consideration of this ancient character from a thousand years ago, Han Mei, along with Tian Yue’e and Wu Xingxing, had truly gone out of their way to prepare a table bursting with dishes.
Still, Han Mei seemed not quite satisfied. After the dishes were served, she said somewhat embarrassingly to Jing Yan, "I don’t know what you used to eat back then. I simply made a few dishes, and surely they can’t compare to the meals at your royal residence."
"Sister-in-law, this is absolutely a feast of delicacies. Back then, only King Qi could have so many dishes on his table during a meal. For us ordinary consorts and concubines, it was merely four dishes and a soup, with some desserts and fruits on the side. Although it was a royal household, in terms of food, it probably was far behind that of an ordinary commoner’s home today," Jing Yan said with a gentle smile as she pulled Han Mei to sit down beside her. "Sister-in-law, please come sit. If it weren’t for my poor cooking skills and that I was busy discussing some matters with my husband just now, by rights, I should have been the one to prepare this meal."
"Don’t worry about rights here. In our home, you listen to me," Han Mei said with a smile. "Go ahead and taste."
Jing Yan looked at the table full of exquisite delicacies, her gaze slightly lost in thought, then she chuckled lightly and said, "I can’t even remember what I had for my last meal?"
"Sister Yan’er, you had barbecue for your last meal," Xingxing giggled. "You missed breakfast because you ran off so early."
"Oh right, I actually meant my meal before that," Jing Yan said with a chuckle and a shake of her head.
"The meal before that... I wouldn’t know, Qingzi, you should, right?" Xingxing asked.
Li Qing laughed lightly, "Yan’er is probably referring to the last meal she had before her long slumber. Considering a thousand years have passed, it’s normal to forget. However, if she could remember, that’d be best. That way, the span of a thousand years might seem shorter and bring some comfort to her mind."
"My husband understands me," Jing Yan’s brows conveyed a slight shyness. She was indeed referring to the last meal she had before her deep sleep, trying to recall those past memories. It was probably due to the prolonged slumber that, no matter how hard she tried, it was difficult for her to remember.
After thinking for a moment, she gave up trying to recall further, picked up her chopsticks with a smile, and said, "Let’s not dwell on the past any longer. I should try the delicacies prepared by my sister-in-law and the ladies instead."
"Go ahead and eat; the dishes are getting cold," Han Mei reminded her with a smile.
The meal was eaten amidst a harmonious and cheerful atmosphere, feeling almost like the festivity of a New Year’s celebration.
This was, in a true sense, Jing Yan’s first proper meal in a thousand years. She had not eaten for a millennium and didn’t even need to eat to sustain herself, yet she praised every dish effusively, asking Han Mei for the origin and recipe of each dish as she tasted them, keen to learn.
Aside from the sweet and sour pork loin, which was not to her liking, she enjoyed every other dish without exception.
Li Qing watched with joy in his heart.
It seemed Jing Yan’s progress in adapting to local customs was quite satisfactory.
The dining habits of the nobility in the past might not indeed have compared to those of the present.
Not to mention other aspects, but the culinary skills of today definitely surpass those of the past by countless degrees.
And the meal that Han Mei and the others had put their hearts into making had clearly captured the tastes of this ancient character, Jing Yan.
