Reborn as the Crippled King's Beloved
Chapter 273 is a great event that brings honor to our ancestors

Chapter 273: Chapter 273 is a great event that brings honor to our ancestors

"And what about this one? There are both green and red varieties."

Jun Yuyan picked up a red vegetable with a green stem, broke it open, and immediately felt a wave of spiciness reach his eyes.

"Why does it slightly resemble the spiciness of Cornus officinalis?"

"It’s a Chili Pepper!" Murong Jiu exclaimed excitedly, taking the Chili Pepper, and smelling it right under her nose, "Do you still remember the beef jerky I had the Merchant Convoy send to you? It was sprinkled with ground Chili Pepper, spice upon spice - so satisfying to eat!"

Jun Yuyan, of course, remembered the jerky. The first bite was so spicy, but the more he ate, the tastier it became.

"At that time, the ships brought Chili Pepper powder, which is ground Chili Pepper, mixed with spices like black pepper, star anise, and cumin. Pour some hot oil over it, soak the jerky in it, and that’s the spicy beef jerky I sent you."

Murong Jiu spoke until she almost salivated, she really liked spicy food a lot.

Besides Sweet Potatoes and Potatoes, which had high yields and could fill the bellies of the common people, what she looked forward to most was growing Chili Peppers.

So, she asked Lady Jing, "How is the yield of the Chili Peppers?"

"The yield is not as high as that of the green beans. After the seedlings mature, they can only grow about as high as a person’s thigh at most. However, it is still flowering, and we need to observe how many Chili Peppers can grow on a single plant."

"To have succeeded in growing them is already quite an accomplishment! Later, have the kitchen prepare some dishes with these from the basket and send them over to you all. You have been tending the Glazed Pavilion day and night - it’s been too hard on you."

Lady Jing smiled graciously:

"To ease the Princess Consort’s worries is Lady Jing’s honor. Seeing your smiling face, Lady Jing feels that everything is worth it. Moreover, the work you are doing is a great and beneficial endeavor for the nation and the people. That I, a humble woman, am able to participate is a tremendous honor. If my parents in heaven could see this, they would be very comforted."

She followed the few old Peasant Officials and witnessed firsthand how terrifying the yields of crops like Sweet Potatoes and Potatoes could be. Compared to rice and wheat, Sweet Potatoes and Potatoes were easier to grow, more resistant to heat and cold, and according to estimates, the yield from one acre was enough to feed a family of five for half a year.

If all of Great Yan were to plant them, even in times of famine no one would fear going hungry.

Murong Jiu held Lady Jing’s hand, telling her not to work personally and leave it to the underlings instead. She was the wife of Chang Chonghai and hence a guest of the Prince Mansion. Initially, Murong Jiu didn’t expect her and Xiao Qin to labor, yet she volunteered and greatly helped Murong Jiu.

Such merit would be enough for Lady Jing and the few old Peasant Officials to leave their names in history.

After sending Lady Jing off, Murong Jiu still wore a face full of smiles.

"Husband, how about we eat a fresh Persimmon?"

She was too curious about the taste of Persimmons. She had heard that their flavor was completely different from the ones on the trees, but she couldn’t imagine it.

Persimmon wasn’t like Sweet Potato and Potato that could be well-preserved on sea ships. All she got was a bit of seed, never having seen a fresh Persimmon fruit.

"Too cold..."

"Let’s blanch it in hot water."

Jun Yuyan couldn’t resist her coquettish plea, thinking that Uncle Zhai only told Ah Jiu not to eat things that were too cold. If it was blanched in hot water, it wouldn’t count as too cold, so he agreed.

Although the boiling water was too hot and peeled away the outer thin skin of the Persimmon, it did not affect its delicious taste.

A Persimmon the size of a fist was cut in half: one half went into Murong Jiu’s stomach, and the other half into Jun Yuyan’s.

Persimmon was not as sweet as a regular persimmon, but somewhat sour instead, yet not purely sour; it had a fresh, tangy, sweet-and-sour taste, with sweetness prevailing over sourness. Its flesh was slightly grainy, a completely different flavor from the native fruits and vegetables of Great Yan.

"If you slice it and sprinkle some sugar on it, it must be even tastier. However, the people of overseas countries like to cook it into a sauce, which I imagine would also taste sweet and sour. I wonder what it would taste like if stir-fried."

There were a few more bright red persimmons left, which Murong Jiu cut open for Chun Tao and Hong Yi to taste. The young wolf came over and sniffed but wasn’t very interested.

She also had Chun Tao take some to her master Xiao Wen and left the rest in the kitchen to be cooked with string beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and so on. After the dishes were done, they would send some to Peasant Official Lady Jing as well.

Her father and brothers had already returned to the General’s Mansion.

Although they had spent the New Year at the Prince Mansion, if they didn’t go back by the first day of the New Year, the General’s Mansion would be covered in mold, and besides, ancestor worship rituals needed to be performed.

Moreover, this morning, while Murong Jiu was still asleep, Jun Yuyan and her father and brothers had already gone to the palace to kneel and kowtow, attending the annual New Year’s greeting ceremony.

In previous years, the event had been extraordinarily lively with banquets held in the Princes’ palaces. However, this year, with the Second Prince under house arrest and the Third Prince still recovering from his injuries, the Emperor wasn’t in the mood. That’s why Jun Yuyan could come back early to be with her.

Murong Jiu decided to wait until the kitchen came up with the tastiest dishes before inviting her father and brothers over to eat.

According to Lady Jing, crops like persimmon, string beans, and chili peppers were maturing quickly one after another in the Glazed Greenhouse, ensuring there would be plenty to enjoy for a while.

Moreover, many other crops had begun to flower.

One crop called corn was mentioned by Lady Jing as having already developed green husks, with silks growing out. It was estimated that in another ten days to a fortnight, they would be mature.

Corn could be ground into cornmeal, which could replace wheat.

All in all, Murong Jiu was full of anticipation for the days ahead.

But the few new dishes in the kitchen were really giving the cooks a hard time.

They had never seen these vegetables before and had no idea how to handle them. Hearing that these were seeds from overseas, grown in the enormous Glazed Pavilion of the Prince Mansion, they became even more cautious and racked their brains on how to properly prepare them.

Because they didn’t know the flavors, after much consideration, they decided to try steaming, boiling, and stir-frying. Aside from the persimmons and chili peppers, which were few in number, there were plenty of sweet potatoes, potatoes, and string beans.

When Chun Tao delivered the vegetables, she specifically reminded them that the string beans needed to be well-cooked.

By the time Murong Jiu and Jun Yuyan got to taste the dishes, it wasn’t too late, just in time for lunch. The table was filled with various attempts at cooking with those new ingredients.

Divine Doctor Zhai and Xiao Wen were also present, and the four of them enjoyed a completely foreign feast, a "foreign" delicacy across the seas.

"Hmm, this stir-fried potato is delicious, crispy and tender with a hint of garlic—it’s so fragrant!"

Murong Jiu casually picked a dish and found it quite tasty, quickly urging everyone to try it while deftly placing a helping onto Jun Yuyan’s chopsticks.

Divine Doctor Zhai tasted it and nodded, "Hmm, indeed it’s good!"

Jun Yuyan was also somewhat surprised; the potato may not have looked impressive, but it actually tasted very good. There was also a whole steamed potato on the side, with a small stack of dipping sauce made of vinegar and soy sauce next to it.

The taste was passable as well, different from the stir-fried flavor, leaning more towards a floury and sticky consistency, and while the stir-fried sweet potato wasn’t crispy but somewhat soft and sweet, the boiled one tasted rather better, albeit a bit starchy. It was far easier to eat than the mixed grain flatbread with bran people commonly ate.

Murong Jiu’s gaze fell on the plate of scrambled eggs with chili peppers farthest from her, and she swallowed her saliva, her chopsticks eager to dive in.