The Prime Minister’s Little Wife

Chapter 36: The Scheme Succeeds

The tiger meat weighed several hundred pounds, but Xu Zhizhi felt that stewing or stir-frying it wouldn’t be suitable. She wasn’t sure how to make it taste good, mainly because she had never eaten tiger meat before. She had only heard that it was tough and gamey.

So, she decided to braise it. Braised meat would be fragrant, and no one would be able to tell what kind of meat it was. That way, everyone would likely enjoy it without realizing what they were eating.

Once Xu Zhizhi had the idea, she immediately got to work. She called Chunhua and Lanhua over to learn.

First, she prepared the ingredients: tiger meat, Sichuan peppercorns, ginger slices, dried chili peppers, cinnamon, star anise, bay leaves, salt, soy sauce, rice wine, and scallions. Some of these ingredients weren’t available here, but fortunately, she had stockpiles in her portable space.

She blanched the meat in cold water with cooking wine to remove the gamey smell. Once the water boiled, she removed the meat and washed it clean.

She then placed the prepared meat and ingredients into a large pot, adding enough water to cover the meat. She brought it to a boil over high heat, then reduced the heat to low, covered the pot, and let it simmer for two quarters of an hour (about 30 minutes), until a chopstick could easily pierce through the meat.

The rich aroma wafted through more than half the village…

The braised meat was left to soak in the sauce for another hour to absorb more flavor.

Seeing her younger brother staring eagerly, Xu Zhizhi picked up a piece, sliced it thinly, and placed it in a small bowl. “Xiaowu, try it and see how it tastes.”

She also gave small bowls to Xiaohua and her younger cousins.

“Sis, it’s so delicious and fragrant!”

“…”

Her cousins and younger siblings ate with relish. They had never eaten braised meat before, let alone tiger meat, so they had no idea what they were eating.

She then cooked a pot of vegetable dumpling soup.

It was time to call the workers back for lunch.

Xu Dahu and Xu Daniu had just returned from town and reached the village entrance when they saw Wang Daya standing under a large tree.

Xu Dahu quickly walked over and asked, “Daya, is something wrong? Did your grandmother hit you again?”

Wang Daya lowered her head shyly and said, “Brother Dahu, my family is discussing our wedding. They said it’ll happen in the next few days.”

“Didn’t they say it would be after the harvest? Why the rush?” Xu Dahu blurted out without thinking.

Wang Daya’s expression fell. “Brother Dahu, don’t you want to marry me? Isn’t it a good thing to do it earlier?”

Xu Dahu was at a loss for words. He just felt that it was too rushed. Marriage was a lifelong event, and he wanted to give Wang Daya a proper wedding.

Seeing Xu Dahu silent, Wang Daya felt hurt and turned to run away.

“Brother, aren’t you going after her?” Xu Daniu asked.

Xu Dahu quickly caught up and grabbed Daya’s hand. “I’m not unhappy. I just feel it’s too rushed, and I’m afraid I won’t do a good job and end up disappointing you.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything earlier? I thought you were upset!”

From a distance, they could already smell the delicious aroma.

Xu Dahu said, “Sister Zhizhi must have made something delicious again. Daya, why don’t you come to my uncle’s house for lunch?”

Wang Daya’s mouth watered at the smell, but she politely declined. “That wouldn’t be appropriate.”

Xu Daniu chimed in, “Sister Daya, come with us. My sister’s cooking is amazing. You’ve never tried it before!”

The three of them rode the donkey cart home, tied up the donkey, washed their hands, and hurried to eat.

Everyone was already devouring the food with gusto.

Xu Daniu saw his sister and asked, “Sis, what new dish did you make? We could smell it all the way from the village entrance. We ran into Sister Daya on the way and brought her along.”

Xu Zhizhi looked at her younger brother, who had grown a bit taller, and said, “Braised meat. Try it and see if it’s good. Daya’s here? Chunhua, quickly get a bowl of rice for your future sister-in-law.”

“Haha! No need to try it. It must be delicious. Just the smell tells me it’s amazing,” Xu Dahu, the loyal fan, chimed in.

Xu Dahu led Daya to the kitchen to eat.

The workers, halfway through their meal, started chatting while eating.

“Zhizhi, your braised meat is so fragrant. Can I save some to take back for my son?” one of the men asked sheepishly.

The other villagers also looked at Xu Zhizhi with hopeful eyes.

Thinking of the several hundred pounds of meat she still had, Xu Zhizhi said, “Uncles, eat your fill at lunch. When you come back to work this afternoon, you can each take a portion home to share with your families.”

“Zhizhi, are you really going to serve food in the afternoon too?”

“Zhizhi, is it true? Will there still be meat in the afternoon?” another villager asked.

“Then I’ll eat less now and save some for the afternoon,” Xu Dazhuang said.

“Yes, we picked up over a hundred pounds of wild boar meat yesterday afternoon. Don’t worry, eat your fill now and work hard. This afternoon, I’ll make more, and each of you can take a big bowl home to share with your families,” Xu Zhizhi declared confidently.

With that, everyone ate even faster.

After the meal, they went back to work with renewed energy.

Xu Dahu pulled Wang Daya over to Xu Zhizhi and said, “Sister Zhizhi, when we were coming back, we ran into Daya. She said her family is discussing our wedding in the next couple of days.”

Xu Zhizhi was puzzled. “Didn’t they say it would be after the harvest? Why the rush? Are there any auspicious dates coming up?”

“You like Daya, right? It’s good to bring her home early. Her life at the Wang family isn’t easy.”

Xu Zhizhi continued, “Go back and tell Auntie to invite the matchmaker who arranged your engagement. She should go to the Wang family with the betrothal gifts and set the wedding date.”

“Dahu, go to the west end of the village and find Qiu Dixian, the geomancer who helped us with our land last time. Ask him to calculate the most auspicious date in the near future. Tomorrow, send the matchmaker to the Wang family with the date.”

After Xu Dahu and Daya left, Xu Daniu said, “Why is the Wang family in such a hurry to marry off Sister Daya? Could there be something going on?”

Xu Zhizhi thought to herself, This younger brother isn’t stupid.

But she wasn’t sure if her guess was correct, so she didn’t say anything.

“What could possibly be wrong? They’re going to marry her off anyway. Daya’s life at home isn’t easy, so she’s probably happy to leave earlier.”

Xu Zhizhi couldn’t figure out why the wedding was being moved up. Was Old Lady Wang still scheming for the bean sprout recipe? Hadn’t they already said they would teach everyone?

Although it was a bit rushed, Auntie had already prepared everything. The difference between now and after the harvest wasn’t that big.

Xu Dahu went to Qiu Dixian, who calculated that the most auspicious date in the current month was three days later.

Xu Zhizhi told her uncle that tomorrow, when Dahu and the others went to town to deliver bean sprouts, she would go with them to hire a chef from Drunken Fragrance Pavilion to prepare the wedding banquet.

Of course, Xu Zhizhi would pay for the chef herself.

Such an important occasion called for a grand and enviable celebration. Recently, their family had been selling bean sprouts daily and had earned some money.

When Wang Daya heard that her family wanted to marry her off to the Xu family earlier, she was overjoyed and went to the village entrance to wait for Xu Dahu.

Brother Dahu was truly wonderful. Not only had he treated her to a delicious meal, but it was also the best meat she had ever tasted in her life.

Now, everything was settled. The wedding date was set for three days later.

In a small village like theirs, news spread like wildfire.

When Wang Shishi and her maid heard that Daya would be married off in three days, it meant that in six days, they could get their hands on the bean sprout recipe.

This way, Wang Shishi could sell the recipe to Fragrant Garden Pavilion and use the money to fund Zijun’s imperial examination.

Lately, they had been short on funds and had even considered pawning their jewelry.

Wang Shishi was beyond excited.

Their scheme had finally succeeded.

—

[Author’s Note]

This is set in a fictional historical background. All settings and details are purely imaginary, so please don’t take them too seriously.

If you enjoyed this, remember to add it to your collection! Much love~ ^_^

(End of Chapter)